Sri Ramakrishna, Patanjali & Jihad

In "Sri Ramakrishna, The Great Master", the spiritual biography of Sri Ramakrishna, it is mentioned that one Govinda Ray, was attracted by Islam & was initiated in it. He came to Dakshineswar & met Sri Ramakrishna, who thought "This also is a path to the realisation of God & the sportive Mother (Kali) has been blessing many people through this path also. I must see through it." So Sri Ramakrishna got initiated into Islam, chanted "Allah", wore Islamic clothing, did namaz regularly & was disinclined even to see Hindu Devas, not to speak of worshipping them. He had a vision of an effulgent, bearded person.(Mohammad?) Afterwards Sri Ramakrishna felt he had merged finally in the attributeless Brahman, the Absolute. (Allah?) He did not even enter the Kali Temple during this period.

One Hindu spiritual discipline is defined by Patanjali's "Yoga Sutras." At the outset itself, it states "Yoga Chitta Vritti Nirodhaha", i.e., control of the mind. This complete Yoga is quite different from the commonly practiced one of physical & breathing exercises. These may improve health but may not be spiritually productive.

Coming back to Islam, the word "Jihad" is not present in Qur'an. It is however mentioned in the "Hadith", contemporary accounts of the life & sayings of Mohammad. After returning from a battle defending his faith, he is supposed to have said "We are returning from the lesser jihad to continue the greater jihad, the more difficult & more important battle against our own ego, selfishness, greed & evil."

This may be similar to the "Chitta Vritti Nirodaha" of Patanjali & also explain Sri Ramakrishna's desire to practice Islam's greater jihad.