Talk:Ramakrishna

This is about a change to the birth name of Ramakrishna. I changed this:

Ramakrishna Paramahansa (Bengali: রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, romanized: Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; pronounced [ramɔkriʂno pɔromoɦɔŋʃo] ^ⓘ, 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886), also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhay...

To this:

Ramakrishna Paramahansa (Bengali: রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, romanized: Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; pronounced [ramɔkriʂno pɔromoɦɔŋʃo] ^ⓘ, 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886), also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Ramakrishna Chattopadhay...

It is quite common for Bengalis to use nicknames - even various nick names for the same people. Research into original documents has brought forward information that was unavailable or overlooked before. Here was the line of thinking about the Ramakrishna birth name:

Most books just quote earlier books about Ramakrishna, that his childhood name was Gadadhar - but without a reference or primary source. A few books claim that the name Ramakrishna was given by Tota Puri during an initiation. Other's claim the name was given by Mathur Babu (the Rani's son-in-law and manager of the temple), again without primary sources.

However, in M's Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, he quotes a deed signed in 1861 by the Rani Rasmani (who owned Dakshineswar, the temple where Ramakrishna lived for over thirty years) that in 1858 "Ramakrishna" was paid a monthly stipend of 5 rupees and 3 pairs of cloth. Tota Puri didn't come to the temple until 1864.^[1]

In Swami Phabhananda's book, More About Ramakrishna,^[2] the first chapter is titled Who Gave the Name Ramakrishna and When?, he points out that the family was devoted to the Hindu deity Rama (the family deity was Sri Raghubir, an epithet of Rama), and the male children of Khudiram and Chandramani were all given names that started with Ram or Rama: Ramkumar, Rameswar, and Ramakrishna.

Also, Ramakrishna confirmed this himself, as recorded in the original "M" diaries, recently translated by Swami Chetanananda from copies of the hand written Bengali originals, "I was a pet child of my father. He used to call me Ramakrishnababu."

Note: Prabhananda was the historian of the Ramakrishna Order and for a long time was head of the Institute of Culture in Calcutta, where visiting scholars can study and access the archives of the Order.^[3] For more than 40 years, Chetanananda has been re-translating key books of the Order's history and writing about Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi and their disciples, referring to the most authoritative sources in the original Bengali, adding to, and correcting, the Order's history.^[4][5]

Ellis408 (talk) 08:17, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Can anyone give any relevant reference about his birth name? Maybe from Kathamrita. I think it was Gadadhar which is commonly accepted.Mikemarssss (talk) 11:14, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

The references are listed below. It seems that the Order is correcting the record, based on research and recent translations. Gadadhar was certainly his boyhood nickname. The male given names seems to back this up - Ramkumar, Rameswar, and Ramakrishna. And when Ramakrishna joined Ramkumar at Dakshineswar, he would have used his proper name, not a boyhood nickname. Thank you Ellis408 (talk) 08:17, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

There are multiple references, which say that his birthname was Gadadhar Chattopadhyay.

1. https://puronokolkata.com/2013/06/22/%E0%A6%B6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%83%E0%A6%B7%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A3-2/

2. https://hinduonline.co/HinduReligion/Saints/RamakrishnaParamahamsa.html

3. https://mydattatreya.com/ramakrishna-paramahamsa/

4. Smart, Ninian (1998, The World's Religions (page 409)

I am a Bengali, and Ramakrishna is a famous person, and I have grown up knowing his birthname was Gadadhar Chattopadhyay, and Ramakrishna was the name he got after becoming a Sannyasi. How about we edit the page to add that he was born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay[REFs]/Ramakrishna Chattopadhyay[Refs] and add references and let the reader decide what is true? Apandada1 (talk) 20:48, 25 July 2025 (UTC)

Earlier books just quoted still earlier books, without a definitive reference to facts. You can see the references about his birth name being Ramakrishna.

All the names of the male sons of Khudiram and Chandramani were all given names that started with Ram or Rama: Ramkumar, Rameswar, and Ramakrishna.

Also, Ramakrishna himself said, "I was a pet child of my father. He used to call me Ramakrishnababu."

Also, there's a mention in the M's Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, where he quotes a deed signed in 1861 by the Rani Rasmani (who owned Dakshineswar, the temple where Ramakrishna lived for over thirty years) that in 1858 "Ramakrishna" was paid a monthly stipend of 5 rupees and 3 pairs of cloth. Tota Puri didn't come to the temple until 1864.

It's settled - Gadadhar was a boyhood nickname, that was mistakenly carried into books as his birth name. The Ramakrishna Order has corrected the record. Ellis408 (talk) 22:15, 25 July 2025 (UTC)

If "Ramakrishna" was his given name, what was his sannyas name?Oliver Puertogallera (talk) 07:20, 22 April 2024 (UTC)

In Hindu tradition, those gurus who are considered an Avatar have the same given name and sannyasa name. Thus Shankara and Ramakrishna who are considered as avatars had no name change, but gurus like Ramanuja (given name: Ilaiyalvar) and Madhvacharya (given name: Vāsudeva) who aren't considered as avatars had their names changed after taking up sannyasa. This is the reason which a Hindu scholar gave for the unchanged names of some gurus after taking up sannyasa. Rim sim (talk) 13:04, 24 July 2024 (UTC)

Moved from User talk:Joshua Jonathan

 – Appropriate page to discuss this, Joshua Jonathan - Let's talk! 17:51, 7 June 2025 (UTC)

Hi Joshua Jonathan, I take your point, but I think there's a better way to describe Ramakrishna's first experience than "...an unusual trance or epileptic seizure." diff Where is it suggested that RK had epilepsy? How about, "...had an unusual change of consciousness" Thanks, Ellis408 (talk) 16:03, 7 June 2025 (UTC) Joshua Jonathan - Let's talk! 17:51, 7 June 2025 (UTC)

@Ellis408: regarding Where is it suggested that RK had epilepsy?, did you actually read the page? Notice also that Chetanananda, Swami (1990). Ramakrishna As We Saw Him. St. Louis: LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. ISBN 978-0-916356-64-4. is a primary source. Joshua Jonathan - Let's talk! 17:53, 7 June 2025 (UTC)

he was against clandestine christians conversions and their inherent capabilities to wipe cicilizations native americans mayans aztecs central americans egyptians and sufi islam didnt exist the whole nation was ifluenced by wahabi movement ~2026-34629 (talk) 18:06, 2 January 2026 (UTC)