Shakti Puja and Sri Ramakrishna

Shakti Puja and Sri Ramakrishna

By Swami Ishatmananda

Prabuddha Bharata, June 2010, The Tantra Way – II, Vol. 115, No. 6, pp 365 – 371.

https://advaitaashrama.org/Content/pb/2010/062010.pdf

“Yeh kya daivi maya; what divine miracle is this!”—these words remind us of a wonderful incident in the life of Sri Ramakrishna: It was midnight. A heavily built sannyasin with matted locks was standing in the middle of the Ganga somewhere between Baranagar and Dakshineswar.

Though in the middle of this mighty river, he could not find sufficient water to submerge his frame. This sannyasin was Totapuri, Sri Ramakrishna’s Vedantic preceptor, who had stepped into the river to end his life and get relief from unbearable bodily pain. All of a sudden, the Ganga was merely knee­deep and he could not drown himself. Awestruck, Totapuri cried: ‘Yeh kya daivi maya.’1 How could this happen? The one responsible for this miracle was standing on the bank of the Ganga at Dakshineswar. He was overjoyed at having convinced his illumined master about the existence of Shakti, of Kali.

…

‘The future’, Swami Vivekananda believed, would  ‘call Ramakrishna Paramahamsa an Incarnation of Kali.’ ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I think there’s no doubt that She worked up the body of Ramakrishna for Her own ends.’ Swami Ramakrishnananda observed:  ‘It was the Mother of the universe, Kali, who incarnated as Sri Ramakrishna to bestow knowledge and devotion to her sons and daughters.’  One may ask, if Sri Ramakrishna was himself the Divine Mother, then whom did he pray to and call ‘Mother’? Was he praying to himself ? To answer in his own words, ‘I saw Satchidānanda come out of this sheath. It said, “I incarnate Myself in every age.” I thought that I myself was saying these words out of mere fancy. I kept quiet and watched. Again Satchidānanda Itself spoke, saying, “Chaitanya, too, worshipped Śakti.”’ He also said: ‘There are two persons in this [his own body]. One, the Divine Mother—yes, one is She. And the other is Her devotee’ .

The same divinity practised austerities as Sri Ramakrishna and also bestowed the vision of Mother Kali upon devotees. Why did this divine play take place? Because of his love for humanity. Sri Ramakrishna used to call both the subtle and the gross universe the kingdom of Shakti. By worshipping Shakti he awakened the spiritual energy inherent in humankind and also showed it the realm beyond this universe of Shakti.