“There are many occasions in the life of Sri Ramakrishna that connect him with Lord Shiva.
One day Sri Ramakrishna was pacing back and forth on the northeastern veranda of his room in Dakshineswar. He was in a spiritual mood, completely oblivious to his surroundings. Mathur was then seated alone in a room of the kuthi (bungalow) near the nahabat, and was watching him through a window. All of a sudden Mathur ran out of the house, threw himself down at Sri Ramakrishna’s feet, and began to cry profusely.
“What are you doing?” said Sri Ramakrishna in alarm. “You are an aristocrat and Rani Rasmani’s son-in-law. What will people say if they see you acting like this? Calm yourself. Please, get up!”
Mathur gradually got control of himself and said: “Father [as he called Sri Ramakrishna], I was watching you just now as you walked back and forth — I saw it distinctly: As you walked towards me you were no longer yourself. You were the Divine Mother Kali from the temple! Then, as you turned around and walked in the opposite direction, you became Lord Shiva! At first I thought it was some kind of optical illusion. I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but I saw the same thing. As often as I looked I saw it!”
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In the Shiva Purana, Lord Shiva manifested as a column of light when Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu were each proclaiming himself as the greatest among the deities. This particular manifestation of Lord Shiva is known as Lingodbhava-murti.
In Kamarpukur, Chandramani, the mother of Sri Ramakrishna, saw a flood of light emanate from the Shivalinga and enter her body. And she felt that she was with child! Thus, Sri Ramakrishna was born in this age as the lingodbhava, the light of Shiva.
Sri Ramakrishna was born three days after Shivaratri, on 18 February 1836, a few minutes before the sunrise. Just as at the birth of the incarnation of this age, a light spread over the world, so, even today, the light of knowledge is spreading to every corner of the world, dispelling the hordes of darkness in the forms of ignorance.
As soon as the baby Ramakrishna was born, Dhani, the midwife, placed him on the floor to attend to the mother. On turning her attention to the child, she was surprised to find that he had somehow rolled into the fireplace, and was lying there all covered with ashes – like Lord Shiva! If our goal is God, the ashes symbolise the turning away from (or burning of) the sensual, a renunciation of the worldly to attain the spiritual. One Puranic story tells how Lord Shiva burnt to ashes the god of love (that is, sensual delights). Describing Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother said that renunciation was the jewel of Sri Ramakrishna.
Sri Ramakrishna performed various sadhanas and re-affirmed the validity of each. But he realised Lord Shiva without any effort. When he was nine, Sri Ramakrishna was asked to play the role of Lord Shiva in a dramatic performance on the night of Shivaratri. As he was adorned as Lord Shiva, he soared into a divine consciousness. And the devotees themselves were transported, as it were, to the very abode of Lord Shiva. Sri Ramakrishna remained in that ecstatic state for three days!
In the samudra-manthana episode, Lord Shiva took in the poison that emanated from the churning of the ocean by the gods and demons to obtain the nectar of immortality. At the end of his earthly life, Sri Ramakrishna had throat cancer. One viewpoint is that it was the result of Sri Ramakrishna’s swallowing the poison of the karmas of the millions of struggling souls who were seeking his shelter. Both drank the poison and kept it in the throat for the welfare of the world.
Sri Ramakrishna used to say: Jiva is Shiva, and Shiva is jiva. In other words, we ordinary beings are really Shiva but ignorant and bound. Our goal in life should be to reclaim our Shivahood.”
Sri Ramakrishna on Shiva
- A man freed from bondage is Śiva; entangled in bondage, he Jiva.
- Śiva has two states of mind. First, the state of samādhi, when He is transfixed in the Great Yoga. He is then Ātmārāma, satisfied in the Self. Second, the state when He descends from samādhi and keeps a trace of ego. Then He dances about, chanting, ‘Rāma, Rāma!’”
- Brahmhan and Sakti are identical That is good. ‘I am Śiva’-that is a good attitude. But I must tell you something else. The process of creation, preservation, and destruction that is going on day and night is due to Śakti, the Power of God. This Primal Power and Brahman are one and the same. Śakti cannot exist without Brahman, just as waves cannot exist without water. There cannot be any instrumental music without an instrument.
- Weeping, I prayed to the Mother: ‘O Mother, reveal to me what is contained in the Vedas and the Vedānta. Reveal to me what is in the Purana and the Tantra.’ One by one She has revealed all these to me. “Yes, She has taught me everything. Oh, how many things she has shown me! One day She showed me Śiva and Śakti everywhere. Everywhere I saw the communion of Śiva and Śakti. Śiva and Śakti existing in all living things-men, animals, trees, plants. I saw them in the communion of all male and female elements.
- Opinions are but paths. Each religion is only a path leading to God, as rivers come from different directions and ultimately become one in the one ocean. Oneness of God “The Truth established in the Vedas, the Puranas, and the Tantras is but one Satchidananda. In the Vedas It is called Brahman, in the Puranas, It is called Krishna, Rāma, and so on, and in the Tantras It is called Śiva. The one Satchidananda is called Brahman, Krishna, and Śiva.”
- One day, while worshipping Śiva, I was about to offer a bel-leaf on the head of the image, when it was revealed to me that this Virat, this Universe, itself is Śiva. After that my worship of Śiva through the image came to an end. Another day I had been plucking flowers when it was revealed to me that the flowering plants were so many bouquets.”
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