##09 (Vivekananda) Guru Ramakrishna (I)

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.