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Swami Brahmananda

Swami Brahmananda was born as January 21, 1863, Basirhat, India as Rakhal Chandra Ghosh and died on April 10, 1922, Kolkata, India. He was the first president of the Ramakrishna Math (1901 - 1922) and was succeeded by Swami Shivananda (1854 – 1934). He was a monastic disciple of Sri Ramakrishna (1836 - 1886).

Early Life

Swami Brahmananda, then Rakhal Chandra Ghosh was a schoolmate of Narendranath Dutta (the future Swami Vivekananda) at the Metropolitan Institution at Kolkata.

Discipleship under Sri Ramakrishna

Swami Brahmananda lived with Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar Kali temple to serve him and practice spiritual disciplines. He also served him at Cossipore Garden house where Sri Ramakrishna passed away of throat cancer in 1886.

1886 - 1901

Swami Brahmananda practiced profound austerities and religious practices all over India and attained Samadhi as his permanent possession.

1901 - 1922

Swami Brahmananda became the first president of the Ramakrishna Math in 1901 after Swami Vivekananda registered it as a trust. His disciples who preached Vedanta in the West included Swami Yatiswarananda and Swami Prabhavananda.

One time, he asked to swap carriages with Sri Sarada Devi. Two other monks were with him. The carriage had an accident and he sang a song to Kali while it happened. Later, Sri Sarada Devi remarked that "she was fated to experience the accident but he took that karma from him."

He passed away on April 10, 1922 in Kolkata, India. Many monks were present and had an opportunity to witness how a monk established in Samadhi leaves the body.

Ramakrishna Mission Traditions

He rejected the first rules of Swami Vivekananda for the Ramakrishna Order but approved the current rules.

He introduced the chanting of Ramnam to the Ramakrishna Order tradition. By doing so, he resolved some administrative difficulties.

He and Swami Vivekananda received visions of Durga and instituted Durga Puja at Belur Math.

Meetings with Swami Brahmananda

Josephone Macleod

Sister Nivedita

Sister Christine

Ole Bull

Sevier

Sister Devamata who was present at a Christmas worship reports that Swami Brahmananda had a vision of Christ in a blue cloak.

References:

The Eternal Companion A Guide to Spiritual Life God Lived With Them