A Unique Friendship~I

Such a conspicuous contrast between Sri Ramakrishna and Keshab Chandra Sen was no hurdle to their intimacy. They were absolutely informal with each other. They had fun and frolic alongside elevated discussions. It is easily perceptible from their conversations that the line dividing them as Hindu and Brahmo petered out and, thereby, one confided in the other without the least prejudice

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Sri Ramakrishna wasn't a follower of the claptrap Hinduism usually ladled out to gullible simpletons. His established faith was: Each religion is great as it assists one to reach God. There was a perfect consistency between his belief and behaviour.

He mixed freely with Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, Brahmos and others. He was extremely cordial with them. His fascination for other religions was genuine. He was very interested to see how their devotees prayed and meditated. Those who impressed him in their prayer and meditation became dear to him immediately.

One such was Keshab Chandra Sen of Brahmo Samaj. Ramakrishna saw him first in 1864 at the Adi Brahmo Samaj. He noticed him keenly while he was meditating after the prayer there. This triggered his interest in Keshab which developed into a close friendship later.

As both were open-minded and prone to new ideas, there was a perfect rapport between them. Hence, applying his tactical spiritual nuances, Ramakrishna annihilated Keshab's inhibitions against image worship. Since they knew one another well, they called on each other many times.

Ramakrishna praised Keshab to others amply for his spiritual maturity. Appreciating him, he once told him: "They are heroes indeed who can pray to God in the midst of their worldly activities. They are like men who strive for God-realization carrying heavy loads on their heads." He knew full well how sincerely Keshab kept his mind on God despite his various activities.

Keshab, likewise, spoke highly of Ramakrishna in his lectures. He also wrote articles on his greatness in "Indian Mirror", "Sulav Samachar" and in other Brahmo magazines. Ramakrishna's disciple Abhedananda said Keshab spoke on Ramakrishna's wonderful spirituality in a lecture held at the Town Hall of Calcutta, and printed a booklet of Ramakrishna's sayings to distribute among the people around. According to him, Keshab was, in fact, the first to preach Ramakrishna to the public.