The New International Encyclopædia/Ramakrishna

RAMAKRISHNA, rä′mȧ-krĭsh′nȧ (1833-86). A celebrated Hindu yogi or ascetic. He was born at Kamarpukar, near Jahanabad, in Bengal, and was the youngest son of a poor Brahmanic family. At sixteen years of age he attended the school of his eldest brother, Ramkumar Chattopadhyaya, at Calcutta, and followed him when he was appointed priest to the temple of the goddess Kali, founded in 1853 at Dakshinesvara. He became a devotee of Kali, and began a course of twelve years of asceticism. The fame of his humility, sanctity, and wonderful teachings spread, and crowds of people of all classes, including Keshub Chunder Sen, fell under his spell. His conduct was characterized by great tenderness and humility, and his teachings were distinguished by simplicity and purity of language. Consult Müller, Ramakrishna, His Life and Sayings (New York, 1899).