Draft:Swami Brahmananda

• Comment: and poorly written/translated. Theroadislong (talk) 16:24, 26 August 2024 (UTC)

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Swami Brahmananda (21/01/1863-22/04/1922) born Rakhal Chandra Ghosh and popularly known as Maharaj or Raja Maharaj within the Ramakrishna Mission. He was the founding president of Mission, the responsibility he carried till his death. He was called Raja (Hindi word for king) by his God brothers because once Shri Ramakrishna said about him that he can run a kingdom .

Early life

Rakhal Chandra Ghosh was born on January 21, 1863, in village Shikra, Basirhat, 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India into a Zamindar family. His father was Anand Mohan Ghosh and mother was Kailash Kamini Gana. He lost his mother at the age of five. His father married second time to Hemangini, who adored the boy like her own son. Later Rakhal Chandra had three stepbrothers Gopal, Bhupal, Nepal and three stepsisters. Rakhal Chandra and his siblings studied in a primary school opened by their father for them in the village.

Swami Brahmananda

In 1875 Rakhal Chandra moved to Kolkata and started schooling at Training Academy. Young Rakhal used to visit local gymnasium where he met Narendra Nath Dutta (Swami Vivekananda), both developed a bond and started attending Brahmo Samaj gatherings.

Marriage and meeting with Shri Ramakrishna

Rakhal Chandra was married in 1881 to Vishveshwari the daughter of Bhuvan Mohan Mitra a physician at government hospital and Shyamasundari. His brothe-in-law Manomohan Mittra took Rakhal Chandra to Dakshineswar Kali Temple and introduced to Shri Ramakrishna. Manomohan Mitra's maternal cousin Ram Chandra Datta was also a devotee of Shri Ramakrishna and thus Rakhal Chandra started visiting Shri Ramakrishna often. During this time Swami Vivekananda also started to visit Shri Ramakrishna. Rakhal Chandra enrolled in Vidyasagar College where Swami Vivekananda and and Baburam Ghosh (later Swami Premananda) were also studying. Rakhal Chandra introduced Baburam to Shri Ramakrishna in 1882. Thus all three friends started became close to Shri Ramakrishna and meet him often. Rakhal Chandra left his family and started living with Shri Ramakrishna in Dakshineshwar temple complex since 1884.

Monastic life

Rakhal Chandra, Shri Ramakrishna's wife Holy Mother Sarada Devi and Latu Maharaj (Adbhutananda) had nowhere to go in Kolkata, thus Balaram Bose, a house holder devotee of Shri Ramakrishna requested them to stay at his home (Balaram Mandir). Although rest of the boys closely associated with Shri Ramakrishna, stayed at their homes but they had already decided to become monk.

In October 1886 Surendra Nath Mitra and Swami Vivekananda took a dilapidated house in Baranagar (also Varah Nagar) and Tarak Nath Gosal (Swami Shivananda), Gopal Chandra Ghosh (Advaitananda) moved into it and sooner it was followed by Swami Vivekananda, Rakhal Chandra, Swami Premananda, Niranjan (Swami Niranjanananda), Sharat Chandra (Swami Saradananda), Shashi (Swami Ramakrishnananda), Kali (Swami Abhedananda), Yogin (Swami Yogananda) and Latu (Swami Adbhutananda). This house later became Baranagar Math the first monastery of Ramakrishna Mission.

In January 1887 Swami Vivekananda and others took formal Sannyasa vows in Baranagar Math chanting Mantra from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. They got new names- 1. Narendran Nath Dutta: Vividishananda (later changed to Vivekananda), 2. Rakhal Chandra Ghosh: Brahmananda, 3. Baburam Ghosh: Premananda, 4. Shashi Bhushan: Ramakrishnananda , 5. Sharat Chandra Chakravarty: Saradananda, 6. Gopal Chandra (Older Gopal): Advaitananda, 7. Kali: Swami Abhedananda, 8. Naranjan: Niranjanananda, 9. Sarada Prasanna: Trigunatitananda,10. Hari: Turiyananda. Remaining six boys got Sanyasa later on successively, they adopted new names; Tarak Nath Ghosal: Shivananda, Subodh Chandra: Subodhananda, Latu: Adbhutananda and Yogin: Yogananda. Gangadhar took Sanyasa in 1890 and became Akhandananda and Hari Prasanna took Sanyas in 1899 and took the name Vijnanananda.

To relieve from the grief of Shri Ramakrishna's death, Swami Brahmananda along with Holy Mother and Swami Turiyananda went to Puri in November 1886. Both Swamis performed a rigorous Tapasya for two months and came back to Baranagar Math and started their monastic life.

Brahmananda as a pilgrim

On February 1889 Swami Brahmananda, Holy Mother, Advaitananda and some house holder devotees went to Antpur, Tarakeswar, Kamarpukur and Jayrambati., they returned to Kolkata after a month.

Swami Brahmananda's intense spiritual quest once again urged him for pilgrimage and in December 1886 he asked permission from Holy Mother to perform Tapasya. Swami Vivekananda did not want Maharaj to go alone therefore he adviced Swami Subodhananda joined him on his first pilgrimage to north, central and western India. They went to Varanasi via Baidyanath Shiva temple, Deoghar. From Varanasai they went to Omkareshwar Temple then to Nashik and stayed on the bank of Godavari River, from there they went to visit Mumba Devi Temple, Mumbai, Dwarka, Bet Dwarka, Porbandar,Junagadh State Girnar and Ahmedabad. From Ahmedabad they went to Pushkar Lake Rajasthan and spent more than a week there.

On February 1890 both Swamis reached Vrindavan where Swami Brahmananda performed very strict spiritual practice. Swami Subodhananda went to Uttrakhand alone and Swami Brahmananda continued his Tapasya in Vrindavan.

In September, Swami Brahmananda left Vrindavan and traveled to Kankhal on foot. He stayed in a hut on the bank of Holy Ganges. In November Swami Vivekananda along with Swami Turiyananda appeared in the hut of Swami Brahmananda in Kankhal. Here they got the news of Swami Akhandananda who was ailing in Meerut, thus they left for Meerut. Coincidently Swami Subodhananda, Swami Saradananda and Advaitananda also appeared in Meerut, this was a rare union of seven disciples of Shri Ramakrishna outside Kolkata. On January 1891 Swami Vivekananda secretely left Meerut for Delhi. Swami Brahmananda and Swami Subodhananda also went to Delhi and met Swami Vivekananda in the house of a devotee. Swami Vivekananda went to Alwar and both Swamis moved around Delhi and in March they started a year long journey that included Uttarakhand, Punjab and Sindh. They reached Jawalamukhi, Kangra , Baijnath and stayed there for few months. Then they descended to the planes of Punjab and visited Pathankot, Gujranwala, Lahore, Montgomery and Multan. From Punjab they went to Sind and visited Sadhu Belo in Sukkur and Karachi. They reached Varah Nagar Math on February 29, 1892, the appearance day of Shri Ramakrishna.

In April 1893 Swami Brahmananda and Swami Turiyananda were performing Tapasya while wandering different places in western India when they met Swami Vivekananda in Mumbai. Swami Vivekananda took both Swamis to Mount Abu and arranged for them to perform Tapasya in the same cave where he had stayed. Leaving them in Abu, Swami Vivekananda went to Khetri Nagar.

After a month in May Swami Brahmananda and Swami Subodhananda met Swami Vivekananda in Abu Road railway station. Swami Vivekananda went alone and both Swamis continued their stay in Mount Abu. In July Swami Akhandananda came in search of Swami Vivekananda but found Swami Brahmananda and Swami Subodhananda instead. All of them moved to Ajmer than to Jaipur. In July Swami Brahmananda and Swami Subodhananda came to Vrindavan and stayed for about a year in a hut near Kusum Sarovar .

In June 1894 Swami Brahmananda and Swami Subodhananda went to Ayodhya and spent two months in Tapasya. Swami Brahmananda came back to Vrindavan in August and reached Kolkata in January.

On May 1, 1897, in Balaram Mandir among the disciples of Shri Ramakrishna and House holder devotees the Ramakrishna Mission

was formed, Swami Vivekananda became it's president and Swami Brahmananda was elected as President of Kolkata center. In August 1900, Swami Vivekananda relieved himself from the responsibilities of the Ramakrishna Mission and appointed Swami Brahmananda as it's President, the position he held till his death.

Establishing Ramakrishna Mission

In 1903 Swami Brahmanand along with Swami Subodhananda went to Varanasi and then to Kankhal, he stayed in both places for a month and guided the Sanyasis then he went to meet Swami Turiyananda in Vrindavan. They spent two months in Tapasya there. He went to Prayagraj to meet Swami Vijnananda who has just started activities of Ramakrishna Mission there, he then went to Vindhyachal and stayed for three weeks than he came to Kolkata alone.

In 1906 Swami Brahmananda took Swami Premanand to Puri, via Bhadrak, later Swami Shivananda and Swami Akhandananda joined them. Maharaj reached Kolkata in December 1906.

In February 1907, Maharaj initiated Amulya, Krishna Lal and Yogindra into Sanyas mantra. This was the first Sanyas ceremony after Swami Vivekananda left his mortal body. Maharaj went to Puri in May and came back to Belur in January 1908. In April, Maharaj went to Varanasi and laid the foundation stone of Kashi Sevashram and reached Belur after a month.

In June, Maharaj left for Puri and stayed with Swami Ramakrishnananda. Both Swamis moved to Chennai in October. Both Swamis visited Rameshwaram in December and stayed there for a week and then they went to Madurai.

In January 1909, Maharaj inaugurated Bengalore Ashram and reached Kolkata in June but soon left for Puri and Bhadrak, he reached Belur in March 1910. In May Maharaj reached Varanasi along with Swami Shivananda and other devotees to inaugurate Ramakrishna Mission Home of Service and stayed for a month. In May 1910, Maharaj went to Puri and stayed there for six months. In May 1911 again Maharaj went to Puri and came to Kolkata along with Swami Turiyananda in December.

In March 1912, Maharaj along with Swami Turiyananda and Swami Shivananda reached Kankhal and celebrated Durga Puja in Kankhal for the first time. In November Maharaj reached Varanasi and Holy Mother also reached Varanasi from Kolkata. On the presence of Holy Mother and Maharaj, a grand Kali Puja (Diwali) was celebrated in Varanasi Ashram. Maharaj reached Belur in April 1913. In June, Maharaj along with Swami Akhanandananda and Swami Premamanda went to Antpur and stayed there for a week. In October, Maharaj went to Varanasi and stayed there till August 1914, he then went to Ayodhya from Varanasi for a week and came back to Varanasi. Then he came to Belur via Prayagraj along with Swami Premananda in November.

In May 1915, Maharaj went to Puri and came back to Belur in December. In January 1916, Maharaj visited Kamakhya along with Swami Premananda and other monks. From Kamakhya, Maharaj went to Mymensingh and Dhaka. In February, Maharaj laid foundation of Ramakrishna Mission Temple, Dhaka, then he went to Kashimpur, Narayanganj and Goalanda. He reached Howrah via train. During this journey Maharaj also visited Deobhog, the birthplace of Sadhu Durga Charan Nag.

In July, Maharaj reached Chennai and laid foundation of Math, in August he reached Bangalore. Maharaj stayed in Shivasamudram for a week. In November, Maharaj visited Mysore, Aluva, Ernakulam, Kottyam, Haripad and Kollam. In December he visited Padmanabhaswamy Temple and laid foundation of Math. Maharaj visited Kanyakumari, Nagercoil and Suchindram.

In January 21, 1917, the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda was celebrated in the presence of Maharaj in Bangalore Math. In February, Maharaj visited holy places in Tamil Nadu. In March, Maharaj visited Tirupati and reached Puri in May. In November, Maharaj reached Udbodhan office.

In October 1919, Maharaj reached Bhuvneshwar to inaugurate the Ramakrishna Math and came back to Kolkata in March 1920 but soon returned to Bhuvneshwar.

On July 22, 1920, Maharaj got the news of departure of Holy Mother in Bhuvneshwar. Maharaj came to Kolkata via Puri in December.

In January 1921, Maharaj and Swami Saradananda reached Varanasi. The birth anniversary of Shri Ramakrishna was celebrated on March 11 in Varanasi Ashram in the presence of both Swamis.

In April, Maharaj and Swami Shivananda reached Bhuvneshwar and then to Chennai and Bangalore. On October, the Durga Puja as well as Kali Puja was celebrated in Chennai Ashram for the first time in the holy presence of Maharaj and Swami Shivananda. In November, both Swamis reached Bhuvneshwar and reached Kolkata in January 1922.

In February, Maharaj reached Antpur and laid foundation of a school. Maha Shivaratri was celebrated in Antpur in the holy presence of Maharaj.

Maharaj reached Belur at the end of February and stayed in Balram Bhavan. On April 10, 1922 at evening 8.45 PM Swami Brahmananda left his mortal body after a brief illness.

Teachings of Swami Brahmananda

Swami Vivekananda had very high regard for Swami Brahmananda. Swamiji once said "In spirituality, Rakhal is ahead of us all", he also said "Rakhal is spiritual dynamo". Swami Brahmananda's spiritual teachings are condensed in the book, 'Dhyan Dharma tatha Sadhna', which is Hindi translation by Swami Vyomananda from Bangla title 'Dharmaprasange Swami Brahmananda'.

Swami Brahmananda's teachings are:

• Call God with open heart, it will clean your mind.
• Meditate regularly, even if the mind is unrest, with time it will settle down.
• Spirituality doesn't develop in haste, but if you are persistent it will develop surely.
• Tranquility of mind comes through love for god.
• Celibacy is must for spirituality.