##09 (Vivekananda) Guru Ramakrishna (I) Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

Ramakrishna, the God-man,
At Kamarpukur, Bengal, was born,
In a poor family of Brahmin,
Devoted to their ancient religion.

He grew up as a child
In the country-side,
Amidst cows, trees
And rich rice fields.

In studies, he wasn’t so keen,
As he was always seen
Moving with spiritual men,
With his endless devotion.

From the age of six years,
He used to go into trances
When meditating on gods
With his closed eyes.

The death of his father
Made the family suffer
Down with poverty further,
With none to take care.

By then, he was sixteen.
So, he went to join,
At Kolkata, his brother
And stayed with him there.

With no interest in studies,
He took up the duties
In the Kali temple, as a priest
That suited his spiritual taste.

Ignorant of the scriptures,
And formalities in rituals,
His daily worship in the temple,
With his songs, went simple.

He realized in this way,
The presence, one day,
Of Kali, the Goddess,
And fell down unconscious.

Intoxicated by this bliss,
He sang songs in praise
Of the Mother Goddess
With his eyes full of tears.

It was his total surrender
To Kali, the Universal Mother,
And a minute passed never
Without a thought of her.

People thought he was mad,
But for them, he never cared.
He followed his own method
Which others never understood.