##10 (Vivekananda) Guru Ramakrishna (Ii) Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

Ramakrishna saw other religions,
As different spiritual paths,
But they all spoke of one God,
By various names of the Lord.

At one stage, he did consider,
His wife also as a Divine Mother,
That was an extreme step to treat
Any woman as goddess incarnate.

He found a Universal Religion,
With an acceptable doctrine,
That he gave it as a total solution
For any religious confrontation.

Those who took him mad,
Later on, they worshiped
This man as a great saint,
Not as an ordinary priest.

He invited more youngsters
For all humanitarian services
And devotional ones as well.
Many responded to his call.

One such young man was
Narendra, the gracious,
Who went there to meet
And surrender at his feet.

At first, Narendra sang,
Before the Saint a song,
That was a binding force
Between those two hearts.

The Saint embraced him
And remarked at him,
“I know you’ll come
To meet me this time.”

“Have you ever seen God?
Once, like this Narendra asked.
The saint smilingly replied,
“Yes, I’ve seen God.”

Narendra fainted at once,
When the Saint, in trance,
Just stroked his chest
A divine vision to create.

Narendra had a glimpse
Of his life, both previous
As well as present one,
As a strange inner vision.

Thereafter, they came closer
In contacts with each other
And became inseparable
As Master and disciple.