As I Saw Swami Ranganathananda Ji : Sw Ishatmananda Ji

Swami Ranganathananda
( 1908 - 2005 )
Birth and Early Life
Swami Ranganathananda was born on 15 December 1908 in Trikkur, a small village near Trissur in Kerala.
As a young boy, he once uttered some bad word, picked up at school, in front of his mother. She reprimanded him saying: “’ My boy, your tongue is the abode of Vani, or Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. Don’t soil it by using foul language against others.” These words penetrated deep into him. His speeches in later years testified to the fact that Saraswati was truly seated on his tongue.
Beginning of Monastic Life
As a young boy, he was always bubbling with energy. He later said: “Love of adventure and dislike for an easy life, and the German philosopher Nietzsche’s dictum ‘live dangerously’ has been with me ever since(childhood).” Even at a tender age, his keen and perceptive mind reacted to the virus of untouchability, then ubiquitous in Malabar. He made it a point to break caste distinctions. When he was about fourteen, Sri Ramakrishna entered his life through The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and he was never the same again. Religion now became palpable. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, which he read subsequently, further revolutionized his mind and determined the future course of his life. The spiritual fire of his soaring young soul was stoked when he was initiated by his guru, who was then in a high spiritual state in Ootacamund. The initiation also testified to an earlier mystic dream the young boy had had about his guru. His young but mature soul naturally responded to the higher call of renunciation, service and God-realization, and in 1926 he joined the Ramakrishna Order in Mysore.
The first twelve years of Maharaj’s monastic life, spent at the Mysore and Bangalore ashramas, were days of hard work, study and meditation. He was involved in a host of Ashrama chores -from cooking and dishwashing to supervising the Ashrama hostel. He loved hard work. I have never known tiredness in my life, he would say later. Amidst the busy routine, he also found time to memorize the Gita and the Vivekachudamani. He would recall this whenever someone complained about being too burdened with work to make time for oneself.
Swami Ranganathananda’s phenomenal mental acumen and memory were a revelation to many- even scientists. His sharp intellect and tempered devotion set him apart from the ordinary.
He avidly and intensely studied not only Indian scriptures and mythol­ogy but also those of other religions. In his intellectual journey, he traversed through the minutiae of Eastern and Western philosophies, the various branches of science, history, sociology, psychology and economics- in fact, there was no field of knowledge that he did not touch. His intellec­tual appetite was so great that even ordinary subjects received his attention, not to speak of scientific discoveries and social trends, with which he kept himself abreast till the very end. The development of his brain was complemented with his athleticism. He exercised regularly and was agile and vigorous. Even in his seventies, Maharaj could be seen playing volleyball, leaping and smashing the ball like a young man. His missionary activity reflected a wonderful blend of ancient wisdom and modern science. He had commenced addressing the prisoners on ethical and spiritual life in Mysore Jail in 1933-34, and this he continued in Bangalore, among the youth, where he moved in 1935.
After Bangalore, Swami Rangnathananda was secretary and Librarian at Ramakrishna Mission, Rangoon, Burma, from 1939 to 1942. When Rangoon had to be evacuated in the face of an impending Japanese invasion, he chose to return to India on foot along with thousands of other refugees, braving untold dangers but yet helping many on the way. During 1942-48 he headed the Mission’s Karachi centre. His lectures there were very popular and were attended by all sections of society. Following the closure of the centre in the wake of the Parti­tion, he was sent to head the Ramakrishna Mission in New Delhi between 1949 and 1962. This period turned out to be the most fruitful in the centre’s history. Apart from helping the victims of the Partition who were temporarily sheltered near Delhi, Maharaj built a temple, a students’ library and an auditorium that used to be packed with the city’s elite during his lectures. During 1962-67 he was in Calcutta as Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture and Director of it’s School of Humanistic and Cultural Studies. His lecture in the city became very
well known among the intelligentsia. Then, for twenty years to 1993, Maharaja was President of Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad, where he founded an ashrama on land provided by the Andhra Pradesh govern­ment. There he undertook various rural development programmes and stirred the people of the city with his brilliant and profound discourses on Vedanta.

[@mousumichatterjee1527]

Feeling proud to get him as my Diksha Guru.

[@maniksaha2780]

মহারাজ আপনাকে প্রনাম। দারুন সুন্দর। জয় রাঙ্গানাথনান্দাজি মহারাজ

[@santisingha5607]

Bhaktipurna pranam to Sri Sri Swami Ranganathananda Ji Maharaj ji , Proud to get him as my Gurudev , 🙏🌻🕉️🛐🔱

[@sarbanibasu3265]

মহারাজ প্রনাম নেবেন, কি যে ভালো লাগলো আপনার বক্তব্য,তা ভাষায় প্রকাশ করতে পারি না। জয় রঙ্গনাথানন্দজী মহারাজের জয়। প্রনাম।🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@ilaghosh948]

জয় গুরু জয় ঠাকুর মা ও স্বামীজীর শ্রীচরণে ভূলুণ্ঠিত শতকোটি প্রনাম নিবেদন করি।

[@sagarikabiswas3095]

শ্রদ্ধেয় রঙ্গনাথানন্দজীর চরণে প্রণাম জানাই। প্রণাম জানাই ঈশাত্মানন্দজী মহারাজ ও সিদ্ধেশানন্দজী মহারাজ কে।

[@somabasu6971]

Pujoniyo Moharaj Ranganathanandajike Pronam ! Pronam neben Moharaj!

[@suptapurkayastha6660]

জয় ঠাকুর, প্রণাম জানাই রঙ্গনাথা নন্দ জী মহারাজ জীর রাতুল চরণে। প্রণাম নেবেন মহারাজ জী।

[@pradipmaitra8336]

প্রনাম ঠাকুর, প্রনাম মা ও প্রনাম স্বামিজী। প্রনাম জানাই স্বামী রঙ্গনাথানন্দজী মহারাজকে। কর্মবীর ও ত্যাগী রঙ্গনাথানন্দজীর চরিত্রের বিভিন্ন দিক,জীবনের নানা ঘটনা এত আন্তরিকভাবে ভাষনে তুলে ধরেছেন, তার জন্য মহারাজকে অনেক ধন্যবাদ। 🙏🙏🙏

[@siddharthalaha269]

Pujyapad Maharaj Swami Siddheshanandaji ke sasradhya pronam onnar anolose prayaske dhanyabad janai

[@meetalisengupta7886]

Pronam Thakur maa swamiji maharaji

[@rakhidas1926]

দেহ পদে অনুরাগ ঠাকুর 🌺🙏🌺🙏🏻❤️ গুরু শ্রী রঙ্গনাথনন্দ জী কে সশ্রদ্ধ প্রনাম🙏 মহারাজ আমার প্রনাম নেবেন 🙏

[@rumachatterjee5886]

Asadharon. Amar pronam neben

[@ramadebnath8832]

Pujonio SW Ranganathananda Ji Maharajer charone voktipurna pranam janai.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 Pranam janai pujonio Maharaj Sw. Ishatmananda Ji Maharajer charone. 🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@aninditascreationandcooker7121]

প্রণাম মহারাজের চরণে।

[@jayadutta6773]

Pranam neben maharaj 🙏

[@sujatasengupta6247]

🙏🙏 প্রণাম মহারাজ 🙏🙏

[@shashankb7358]

Please add English subtitles

[@susobhanbhattacharjee9610]

Pranam Maharaj!!!🙏🙏🙏

[@krishnabakshi6405]

Pranaam swamiji

[@debasish94350]

Pronam Maharaj 🙏🙏🙏

[@namitasengupta1465]

Pronam thakur maa Swamiji Shree M . Pronam janai pujyapad adhyaksha Maharaj ke.Pronam janai pujyapad swami Ishatmanandaji Maharaj ke.

[@shivsivaram9872]

Pranam to Shri Thakkur ji and to all 🌺🙏🌹

[@rumachatterjee5886]

Amar pronam neben

[@rumachatterjee5886]

🙏🙏🙏

[@shivsivaram9872]

Pranam to Shri Thakkur ji and to all

[@shivsivaram9872]

Pranam to Shri Raganathnada ji🌺🙏🌹

[@ishitamullick91]

pronam maharaj

[@namitasengupta1465]

Sarvoguner adhikary porom pujyapad Gurumaharajer Shree chorone abhumi pronam janai.

[@PradipDas-rs2ut]

Gurudev ji maharaj 🙏🙏🙏

[@tapasidutta2471]

Pronam moharaj

[@dsengupta4074]

PRONAM MAHARAJ 🙏🙏🙏

[@pradipmukherjee5649]

🙏🙏🙏

[@lipikasaha8416]

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@susmitabhattacharya174]

🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@padmarao6083]

🌺🌺🌺🙏🙏🙏🌺🌺🌺

[@bhartimiraramakrishna7301]

जय श्री माँ जय श्री रामकृष्ण 🙏🙏🙏

[@bijoylakjmidutta2427]

Pujaneeyo moharaj ke dekhar soubhagyo aamar hoyni, kinthu aaponader aalochonay moharajer prothi khulo shroddha hochche. Pujaneeyo Moharajer rathul chorane Sastango pronam jaanai. Binamra pronam grohon korun Pujaneeyo moharaj.

[@sonalisarkar759]

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@pranavkaushik8925]

Someone please translate the important points ,incidents 🙏

[@shyamalsarkar1443]

9

[@gopamajumdar9745]

Pronam Maharaj 🙏

[@nehadesai1057]

Maharaj english

[@AmmaRadha]

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏