Bhairavi Brahmani (fl. 1861–1873) was a Bengali Hindu ascetic, guru and Yogeshwari. She instructed the Hindu mystic Ramakrishna and initiated him into Vaishnava Tantra.
Life
Brahmani was born into a Brahmin family in the Jessore district of Bengal, now in Bangladesh.[1] Her date of birth is unknown. Brahmani became an itinerant ascetic and guru. She carried with her the Raghuvir Shila (a stone idol representing lord Rama and all Vaishnava deities)[2] and was well versed in the texts of the Gaudiya Vaishnavism religious movement and Tantrika literature.[1][2]
In 1861, Brahmani arrived at the Hindu mystic Ramakrishna's temple by boat, when he was plucking flowers in the garden.[3][4] She wore ochre robes and was about forty years old.[4] As soon as she met him, she burst into tears of joy.[3][4] She declared that she had come after being divinely ordained to teach him.[5] They developed a mother-son relationship[1] and he surrendered his ego to her.[6] She became his first formal guru and initiated him into Vaishnava Tantra.[7] Under her guidance, Ramakrishna went through sixty-four major tantric sadhanas one by one, which were completed in 1863. For all the sixty-four sadhana, he took only three days each to complete.[8]
She taught Ramakrishna the kumari-puja, a form of ritual in which the Virgin Goddess is worshipped symbolically in the form of a young girl. When others thought he was experiencing madness, she told him he was experiencing a phenomenon that accompanies mahabhāva, the supreme attitude of loving devotion towards the divine and an extraordinary state of religious ecstasy.[4][8] She felt he was so accomplished that she had him declared an avatāra (an incarnation of a god on Earth).[6]
Brahmani lived at Ariadaha, near to the Dakshineswar Kali Temple.[1] She stayed with Ramakrishna the longest of all his teachers, for about twelve years.[9] Her movements after leaving Ramakrishna and her date and place of death are unknown.[1]
Representation in popular culture
- In 2021, Aditi Chatterjee portrayed Brahmani in the TV series Karunamoyee Rani Rashmoni.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Bhairavi Brahmani: The Teacher of Sri Ramakrishna. Historified(2024-08-27). Retrieved 2026-02-25.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Three Essays on Sri Ramakrishna and His Times{{#if:Sen|, Sen}. Indian Institute of Advanced Study(2001). ISBN 978-81-85952-87-1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ramakrishna Paramhansa{{#if:Kishore|, Kishore}. Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd.(2005). ISBN 978-81-288-0824-1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Life of Ramakrishna | 6. Bhairavī Brāhmaṇī and a Vaishnava Saint. Devi Stotras & Saints(2020-11-06). Retrieved 2026-02-25.
- ↑ The Vedanta Kesari{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Sri Ramakrishna Math.(2003)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Guru Tradition: India's Spiritual Heritage{{#if:Robibo|, Robibo}. Bloomsbury Publishing USA(2024-09-12). ISBN 979-8-216-26349-4
- ↑ Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play{{#if:Saradananda|, Saradananda}. Vedanta Society of St. Louis(2003). ISBN 978-0-916356-81-1
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions{{#if:Neevel|, Neevel}. Brill Archive(1976). ISBN 978-90-04-04495-1
- ↑ Sri Ramakrishna The Great Master{{#if:Saradananda|, Saradananda}. Sri Ramakrishna Math(2021-11-16)