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Om Thakur, our Beloved Father, on this 26th Day of February 1982, we, the
devotees of Sri Ramakrishna, dedicate this Volume – Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita
Centenary Memorial – at Your lotus-feet in memory of the Great Day a hundred years
ago, when for the first time, You and Your Divine Word touched Revered M.’s heart for
the peace and joy of humanity.
Yourself, accompanied by Holy Mother, Swami Vivekananda, Sri M. and Your
other beloved Disciples, do bless us, be always with us, guide us in the right direction!
May the entire universe be the abode of peace and happiness real!
Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita Peeth
Sector 19-D, Chandigarh
26 February 1982
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Preface To 1st Edition And Acknowledgements
The 26th of February, 1882! On this day was created religious history, for from all available evidence, it was on this day that Sri M., the apostle and the evangelist, met his Lord and Master, Sri Ramakrishna, for the first time and heard His divine word which was to bring the Kathamrita, the Nectar of His Word into being, for the peace and bliss of the strife torn restless world. On being asked which was the greatest event of this life, Sri M., himself said without a moment’s hesitation: “The day I had my first darshana of Thakur (Sri Ramakrishna) in February 1882.”
Regarding this date, 26 February, 1882 there is some uncertainty in the minds of some devotees, because Sri M. himself did not record the dates of his first three meetings with the Master in so many words. However, he did say that his first meeting took place on a Sunday … ‘a few days after the 23rd of February 1882’. The only Sunday after 23 February 1882 till the end of the month fell on 26 February. This is our reason for
taking this date as the day of Sri M.’s first meeting with Thakur, and therefore of the beginnings of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, the Gospel, though only in seed form.
To celebrate this great day we promised ourselves a yajna, by collecting all available views on the Kathamrita and its Recorder and publish them in the form of a Centenary Memorial which we hoped would help remind our readers of the glory of the Great Master, his Word and his Evangelist. Sadhus and devotees of Sri Ramakrishna were therefore invited to offer their ahutis (oblations) in the form of write-ups into this
holy venture.
We are happy that quite a few of them agreed and even those who could not, sent us their blessings. When even two sadhus of Thakur sit together to talk of Him and His Lila, there surely, He is. In this Volume, so many sadhus and devotees have joined their hearts and heads that we feel, to our great joy that our sankalpa, our holy resolve, is amply fulfilled by His never-failing grace.
Whether literary or devotional, contributions to this Volume are all offerings to the feet of the Great Master made lovingly by fond hearts. This only we may claim for them in all humility.
While we thank Thakur for His unbounded grace, we would be failing in our duty if we did not express our sincere gratitude to Srimat Swami Vireswaranandaji Maharaj, President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission and all those who accepted our invitation to write for this Volume. We had been forewarned that we were undertaking ‘a most difficult project’ but our generous contributors and friends have
made it possible in the long run. We sincerely thank them.
We are also thankful to the authors, journals and institutions which have permitted us the use of copyright materials. We have tried to make all
acknowledgements in the body of the book itself but if inadvertently any omission has been made we offer our sincere apologies.
The Kathamrita is sometimes criticised for repetitions of Thakur’s teachings in different places. If this is a valid criticism in the case of the Kathamrita, it would be more so in the case of this Volume, for quite a few of our contributors repeat the same facts though in different contexts. However, we feel that repetition of truths in different contexts is an invaluable advantage in the domain of Reality for it is only by repetition that spiritual truths leave their impression on the mind which, alas, normally remains so full of worldly dross.
We regret that it has not been possible for us to use diacritical marks even where they were indicated by our writers. Our apologies to them. Our apologies also to those authors who find their write-up split in two parts or shortened or slightly edited. We were constrained to have recourse to these devices to make the matter received conform to the scheme of the book. May we point out, in this connection, that while inviting
contributions we had left our authors full discretion to choose their subjects and the length of their write-ups. It was only when most of the contributions had been received that the book began to take some shape in the mind of our editors.
As the table of contents shows, the Volume has been divided into four parts:
1. Sri Ramakrishna, 2. The Kathamrita, 3. Sri M. and 4. Sri Ma Darshan.
Needless to say that the editors were guided into this scheme by Thakur’s great dictum: ‘Bhakta – Bhagavata – Bhagavan’, which if we may interpret means, that God, His Word and His (genuine) Devotee are one and the same. Thus the Volume achieves a unique unity in spite of its
being so unplanned! Who dares plan Thakur’s work!
We also express thanks to our friends who have helped us in this venture by making timely donations. Our thanks are specially due to ‘Sri Marwari Charitable Society’ Kanpur, from whom we received our first generous donation for this Volume.
In the end, may we add that the views expressed in this book are essentially of our devotee contributors individually – not necessarily of any organisation. Those who read this Memorial Volume may attain bhakti at Sri Ramakrishna’s feet – this is the sole prayer of Sri Ma Trust.
Ishwar Devi Gupta
PUBLISHER
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