Bhairavi Brahmani

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 also told him that he was experiencing a phenomenon that accompanies mahabhāva, the supreme attitude of loving devotion towards the divine and extraordinary state of religious ecstasy.[4][8] She felt that 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]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Bhairavi Brahmani: The Teacher of Sri Ramakrishna". Historified. 27 August 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b Sen, Amiya P. (2001). Three Essays on Sri Ramakrishna and His Times. Indian Institute of Advanced Study. p. 101. ISBN 978-81-85952-87-1.
  3. ^ a b Kishore, B. R. (2005). Ramakrishna Paramhansa. Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd. p. 28. ISBN 978-81-288-0824-1.
  4. ^ a b c d "Life of Ramakrishna | 6. Bhairavī Brāhmaṇī and a Vaishnava Saint". Devi Stotras & Saints. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  5. ^ The Vedanta Kesari. Vol. 90. Sri Ramakrishna Math. 2003. p. 17.
  6. ^ a b Robibo, Aviva (12 September 2024). The Guru Tradition: India's Spiritual Heritage. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 192. ISBN 979-8-216-26349-4.
  7. ^ Saradananda, Swami (2003). Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play. Vedanta Society of St. Louis. p. 522. ISBN 978-0-916356-81-1.
  8. ^ a b Neevel, Walter G. (1976). "The Transformation of Ramakrishna". In Smith, Bardwell L. (ed.). Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions. Vol. 3. Brill Archive. pp. 74–77. ISBN 978-90-04-04495-1.
  9. ^ Saradananda, Swami; Jagadananda, Swami (16 November 2021). Sri Ramakrishna The Great Master. Sri Ramakrishna Math.
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