u2018I do not covet earthly kingdom, or heaven, or even salvation. The only thing I desire is the removal of the miseries of the afflicted!u2019 If these words of Prahlada, the great devotee, could be found truly reflected in anyoneu2019s life, it was in the life of Swami Akhandananda, the third President of the Ramakrishna Order.u00a0
The name u2018Swami Premanandau2019 given to Baburam by Swami Vivekananda at the time of accepting the monastic orders, was a true reflection of his basic trait universal love.u00a0
While in ecstacy Sri Ramakrishnau2019s behaviour would often be mysterious. One day in such a mood, he sat on the lap of a young man, Sharat Chandra by name, and remarked, u2018I was testing how much weight he could bear.u2019u00a0
It is said that Swami Vivekananda at the time of Sannyasa wanted to take the name u2018Ramakrishnanandau2019 for himself, but gave it up in favour of Shashibhushan, who, he thought, deserved it best.u00a0
Author of several exquisite Sanskrit hymns on Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Devi u2013 the most popular one being u2018prakritim paramamu2019- Swami Abhedananda was a rare combination of several talents like intellectual acumen, devotional fervor and yogic introspection.
Nityaniranjan Ghosh, more commonly known as Niranjan, was probably born in the village Rajarhat-Vishnupur (Bengal), but lived in Calcutta with his uncle.u00a0
The depression brought about by the loss of a gold watch led the young Sarada Prasanna to Dakshineswar seeking peace. Master Mahashaya, the celebrated author of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna who was his teacher, led him to his future guru.u00a0
The darkness of a crisis in life often acts like the twilight before dawn leading to the effulgence of the sun. When Gopal Chandra Ghosh of Sinthi (Calcutta) lost his wife and was heartbroken, that very grief led him to Sri Ramakrishna, seeking relief.u00a0
At the behest of Swami Vivekananda, but most reluctantly, Swami Subodhananda rose to speak before a gathering of monks and novices of the Math. And lo! There was an earth-quake! (It was the earthquake of 1897). It was really an u2018earth-shakingu2019 speech!
Though counted among the disciples of Sri Ramakrishna and guided by him, Swami Yogananda was the first initiated disciple of Sri Sarada Devi, popularly known as the u2018Holy Mother.u2019