who would otherwise have remained without spiritual light.”
The Hindu Renaissance is believed to have started with Sri Ramakrishna, for “his life represents the entire orbit of Hinduism, and not simply a segment of it, such as theism or Vedism.” (D. S. Sarma, Hinduism through the Ages, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan). Romain Roland, eminent French writer and Nobel Laureate, considered Sri Ramakrishna and Swami V ivekananda as “the foremost heroes of the modern renaissance of India.” He regarded Sri Ramakrishna as “the consummation of two thousand years of the spiritual life of three hundred million people.”

Sri Ramakrishna was a combination of Jnani and Bhakta. To him God was both personal and impersonal. He considered a sannyasin’s life of renunciation and a householder’s life of good works equally important. He considered the householders who strive for God-realisation as heroes. He said: “They are heroes indeed who can pray to God in the midst of their worldly activities. They are like men who strive for God-realisation while carrying heavy loads on their heads. Such men are real heroes.”
Sri Ramakrishna was a true Hindu who held that all religions were branches of the same tree. What astonishes one about this unique saint’s personality is that despite

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