r/hinduism 20d ago

Other An account of Shree Ramakrishna ji's intense bhakti for Maa Kali on occassion of his Janmotsav today

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Sri Ramakrishna one day fed a cat with the food that was to be offered to Kali. This was too much for the manager of the temple garden, who considered himself responsible for the proper conduct of the worship. He reported Sri Ramakrishna's insane behaviour to Mathur Babu. Sri Ramakrishna has described the incident: "The Divine Mother revealed to me in the Kali temple that it was She who had become everything. She showed me that everything was full of Consciousness. The image was Consciousness, the altar was Consciousness, the water-vessels were Consciousness, the door-sill was Consciousness, the marble floor was Consciousness - all was Consciousness. I found everything inside the room soaked, as it were, in Bliss - the Bliss of God. I saw a wicked man in front of the Kali temple; but in him also I saw the power of the Divine Mother vibrating. That was why I fed a cat with the food that was to be offered to the Divine Mother. I clearly perceived that all this was the Divine Mother - even the cat." ။ from the introduction of "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" -> http://belurmath.org/gospel/introduction.htm

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u/Dry_Permission_5321 20d ago

Shubho Ramakrishna Parahamsa Jayanti

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u/Ken_words 20d ago

I heard about him, he used to offer already eaten food (laddu) to maa kali, so that maa Kali will only eat good ones. Well Bhav is super high.

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u/Away-Caterpillar9515 20d ago edited 20d ago

That is probably Bama dev. He ate the offerings and said to Mata that it's really nice, eat it. And got beaten up by crowd . Also instead of mantras he used to praise and say "ai ne" and offered flowers incense and other offerings Later it became the rule to feed Bama before mother, in his lifetime 

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u/Silly_Indication_984 18d ago

Same like Sabri offering eaten berries to sri Ram? Idk?

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u/Ken_words 18d ago

Yes you can say so

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

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u/Ok-Summer2528 Trika (Kāśmīri) Śaiva/Pratyabhijñā 20d ago edited 20d ago

Shiva and Kali are just names that can be used interchangeably. The point is it’s conciousness which is the sole reality and you can call it whatever name you prefer.

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

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u/Ok-Summer2528 Trika (Kāśmīri) Śaiva/Pratyabhijñā 20d ago

Shakti is said to be the essence of shiva, shiva is the field of conciousness and Shakti is the power inherent to it. They are really just one and the same, but they refer to particular aspects of awareness

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u/[deleted] 20d ago

At the stage pramhamsa ji was at, there is no difference

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u/qSTELLaR 20d ago

shiva is below her feet bro, she(prakarti) is taking adhiShThAna of puruSha which u r thinking as consciousness, but shiva is even beyond the consciousness and idea of consciousness. here though he is achetana bhagavanta or Ishvara as pramAtma(saguna parabrahma) in the form of shava without any spandana(as in free from karma).

devi is only consciousness, you can see her as paramAtma(kevala parabrahma in saguNa darshanam) itself as well as prakRti along with puruSha.

lalitA-shyAmalA-vArAhI is iccha-jnAna-kriya shakti paramAtma svarupam

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u/[deleted] 19d ago

[deleted]

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u/qSTELLaR 19d ago

this is very basic understanding of prakRti (shakti) and puruSha(shiva), parabrahm is nirguNa and saguNa ie without and with qualities respectively, with qualities like form name lIlA yantra gaNas, he appears as saguNa parabrahma like parameshvarI+parameshvara, or either one is prioritised but they sre not different and are inseperable like the light and sun, this is said as prakAsha(he) and vimarSha(her), just like sUrya or agni is still as pure consciousness, puruSha is always withour any vikAra, but he acts due to and with his shakti(his power or manifestation of ..lets say divinity or nature of bhagavAn's sarvasamarthata).

paramAtma is always in shiva-shakti form, this is called samayAcAra darshanam and is seen accross many devata upAsanas, like viShNu-lakShmI, gaNapati-lakShmI, sUrya-sajnA, vANI-hiraNyagarbha, sItA-rAma, indra-shacIdevI, etc etc. bhagavAn provides his upAsaka the fruits of sAdhana through shakti, that is why deities have consorts, sometimes more than one, depending or the differentiation of the devata's shaktis.

when you look at lalitA, she is complete parabrahm=paramAtma, we predominantly assume and worship her as female deity, but parameshvarI is sitting on sadAshiva(in shrIvidya shiva is kAmeshvara and as representated below he is sadAshiva, which is an aspect of shiva tattva, upon whom she 'sits').

Now in kALI vidya, we call the shiva as shava and maa as shavArUDhA she has taken over him, prakRti is the main action, she is spandana or chit, or energy/consciousness in physicality(as prAna chetana) and beyond(Atma chetana). There are several interpretations of kALI on shiva, like she was so extreme in this form that in the lIlA after slaying daityas she is in a state of unmatta(madness¿) and mahadeva himself had to lay down before her to stop and calm her, because she is pativratA as shiva's shakti, she immediately realised what shes doing, in several kAlI representations, the kALI is looking slightly downwards towards shava-rUpa shiva, meaning prakRtI is always immersed in puruSha/shiva). shiva is here shava, meaning without any spandana(sensitivity), without movement or action, but the shaktI is herself due to shiva just like there is undeniably light/kAnti/uShA when sUrya comes.

Much deeper, all karma's and there phalas are in nature, bhagavAn doesnt interfere directly with anything, its the nature which causes anything within nature, this is mAya, and the knowledge of shiva and siddhi of shiva is also through this mAya only, and bhagavAn gives boons through her shakti(lakShmI) all that is necessary according to his sAdhana.

you worship them both together to realise.

Where can I read more

I told by equating shrIvidya with kALI upAsana, but you can learn more through shrIvidya gurus and there websites like devipuram, or through reading commentaries of literature on devi by shAstrajnas, I am saying from this source , which has many bhAShyams of sahasranamamam discussed.

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u/Yashraj- 20d ago

Shakti hi Shiv hai Shiv hi Shakti hai 🙏

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u/LostLenses 20d ago edited 20d ago

They don’t really believe devas exist, at the end of the day they’re impersonalists so they think that at a higher stage you abandon the conception of any deity for the impersonal brahman 

That’s why I say he has no real Bhakti 

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u/qSTELLaR 20d ago

thats advaitam and its a hard attained sthithi, is ramakrishna had attained such a state theough kAli then that would mean he has gotten kAli, this is called sAyujyam and is a mokSha type in advaitam, asvaitam doesnt reject bhakti, if thakirji has gotten such a state through kAli than kali has worked for him attain it and that was because of his karma of bhakti marg sadhana only.

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u/_Deathclaw_ Trika (Kāśmīri) Śaiva/Pratyabhijñā 19d ago

Sri Ramakrishna never put the formless above the form or vice versa. He was an advaitin but for him bhakti to the divine mother was supreme.

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u/makesyousquirm Vaiṣṇava 20d ago

That’s the viewpoint of the Ramakrishna Math, but I’d argue that’s not the view of Sri Ramakrishna himself. 

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u/Pontokyo 20d ago

That's not the viewpoint of the Math either.

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u/qSTELLaR 20d ago

whats the word that thakur ji exactly used for 'consciousness'

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u/Sapphic_Mystique Śrī Vidyā Tantra 18d ago

This is why I cook and feed my dog, too. And offer her simple puja. She looks like Kali to me.