The Holy Trinity

Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ma Sarada Devi & Swami Vivekananda form a most unusual Holy Trinity in religion. They broke all conventions in gender, guru-shishya relationship. Sri Ramakrishna worshipped his consort as an embodiment of the Divine Mother.

Here it might be noted that in an instance only recorded in Bengali in a devotee's memoirs, he, while prostrating before the Holy Mother, wondered how this old woman can be regarded as the Divine Mother. He suddenly noticed a change & looked up at Her. He was awe-struck to see a divinely beautiful gorgeously dressed & bejewelled young woman as is pictured as the Devi in front of him. He promptly lost consciousness & was surprised on regaining it to see the same old woman tending him & saying "My son, what happened to you?".


When Swamiji was touring northern India, another religious man got jealous & cursed him. Swamiji underwent great suffering & had to leave that place. He came back & complained to the Holy Mother that Sri Ramakrishna (then having left his body) could not help him. She surprisingly agreed with him, proving even evil person's curses may harm holy people.

Even Sister Nivedita, in her extreme devotion to Swamiji, told the Holy Mother that Swamiji was even greater than Sri Ramakrishna! She took it with a smile!

An Advaita Ashrama was set up in the north by Swamiji for the exclusive meditation on the formless God. On a later visit, he noticed a photo of Sri Ramakrishna being worshipped there. He jokingly said "Oh, the old man has come here also!" & ordered it removed! This, from the man, who in his famous hymn "Khandana Bhava Bhanjana" had a line calling Sri Ramakrishna as the greatest incarnation of God (avatara varishtaya)!

Swamiji also once mimicked Sri Ramakrishna's frequent divine trances, by staggering about to the great amusement of his fellow monks! This, in the Hindu tradition where the guru is held in the highest veneration!

These instances show that the Holy Trinity broke all traditions to revitalise Hinduism, to bring it to the world platform & most importantly preach that all religions are equally valid, which idea was unheard of until then.