Manomohan Mittra (1851–1903) is one of the household disciples of

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Ramakrishna Paramahansa ( bn, রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; , 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886),——— — also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya,, was an In ...

Early life

Manomohan was born in September 1851 at

Konnagar Konnagar is a town and a municipality of Hooghly district in the state of West Bengal in India. Konnagar has a railway station that connect with Howrah. It is under Uttarpara police station in Serampore subdivision. It is a part of the area co ...

Hooghly district Hooghly district () is one of the districts of the Indian state of West Bengal. It can alternatively be spelt ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli''. The district is named after the Hooghly River. The headquarters of the district are at Hooghly-Chinsura (''C ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. His father Bhuban Mohan Mittra was a physician, and well versed in History, science, and English literature. He was greatly influenced by his parents. At that time Indian society was under the influence of Western culture. In spite of his western education, he was against Western hedonism and was a defender of traditional Hindu culture. Manomohan's mother Shyama Sundari, was very pious, and observed the Hindu rituals and festivals with devotion.

Meeting with Sri Ramakrishna

On a Saturday night of 1879, he had a dream in which the whole world had been flooded with water. He was the lone survivor. When he was worried about his family, he heard a voice saying that ''No one is alive in this world. All are dead. Only they have survived from this deluge who have realized God. You will meet them very soon and live with them.'' He woke up at 4:00 AM and laid there perplexed for some time. When he regained his consciousness, he realized that it was a dream. Later that morning he went to see his cousin Ram Chandra Datta and told him about the dream. Manomohan had read about the spiritual life of Sri Ramakrishna in the magazines like Indian Mirror, Sulabh Samachar, and other newspapers. So he suggested that they visit him in

Dakshineswar Dakshineswar is a locality in the North 24 Parganas under the jurisdiction of Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority and is very close to Kolkata. This place is historically famous for Dakshineswar Kali Temple, locally known as Maa Bhabata ...

. Ram immediately agreed. It was this dream that brought Manomohan to Sri Ramakrishna. On Sunday, 13 November 1879, the day after that strange dream, he, Ram Chandra Datta, and their friend Gopal Chandra Mitra left for Dakshineswar by boat to visit Sri Ramakrishna. Since Manomohan was an ardent devotee of

Keshub Chandra Sen Keshub Chandra Sen ( bn, কেশবচন্দ্র সেন; also spelled Keshab Chunder Sen; 19 November 1838 – 8 January 1884) was a Hindu philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within ...

and the

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( bn, ব্রহ্ম সমাজ, Brahmô Sômaj, ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement of the Hindu religion that appeared during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of th ...

, he was averse to image worship. Sri Ramakrishna understood Manomohan's attitude and told him: ''As an imitation custard apple reminds one of the real fruit, so the divine images enkindle the presence of God. He is all powerful. It is possible for him to manifest in anything.'' Manomohan, Ram and Gopal had a long conversation with Sri Ramakrishna, and they returned to Calcutta that evening with full of peace and joy.

Family

Manomohan's sister is married to Rakhal Chandra Ghosh (

Swami Brahmananda Swami ( ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to a male or female ascetic who has chosen the path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas. It is used eith ...

), another disciple of Ramakrishna.

References

{{reflist Bengali people Ramakrishna 1851 births 1903 deaths