Two incidents from the life of Sri Ramakrishna which demonstrate his Vedantic realization that God is present in the souls of all living beings, including in the souls of animals.
– Shri Ramakrishna
Sri Ramakrishna’s Love for Animals – Incident 1
Two cats used to roam about in the compound of the Dakshineshwar temple. No one was taking proper care of them. Though Sri Ramakrishna was always absorbed in God-Consciousness his compassionate heart noticed the pitiable condition of those helpless stray cats. He could not bear their wretched condition.
After a good deal of hesitation, the Master humbly asked a lady devotee whether she could relieve his anxiety by taking care of the two cats and give them food and water at her house.
Although Sri Ramakrishna’s word was a command to any devotee, we must take note of the humble manner in which Sri Ramakrishna made his request. Of course, the lady devotee was overjoyed at the Master’s proposal and immediately responded to his appeal.
She did it with such a loving heart that Sri Ramakrishna also extracted from her the promise to take care of the cats herself and not send them to anyone else. This faithful lady devotee was none other than the blessed wife of Navagopal Ghosh, in whose house Swami Vivekananda spontaneously composed the soliloquy: “Om! Obeisance to you, Ramakrishna, who established Dharma (on earth), who is the personification of all Dharmas, and who is the best of Avatars.”
Sri Ramakrishna’s Love for Animals – Incident 2
Sri Ramakrishna would often go to the homes of devotees in a horse carriage. Sometimes, the horses were undernourished and he was painfully aware of their weary burden whenever they had to pull a heavy load of passengers. If the coachman whipped the horses to spur them on, Sri Ramakrishna felt as if he himself was being whipped with every lash. For this reason, the Master usually requested to be driven in a carriage sent by his devotee Beni Pal, who always provided a carriage with strong, healthy horses whenever Sri Ramakrishna needed this service from him.
To summarize, so high was Sri Ramakrishna’s state of spiritual realization that he felt his Atman, his soul, unified with the souls of mute animals. Hence when they suffered, he too felt immense pain and discomfort.
“In every man and in every animal, however weak or wicked, great or small, resides the same omnipresent, omniscient soul. The difference is not in the soul, but in the manifestation. Between me and the smallest animal, the difference is only in manifestation, but as a principle he is the same as I am, he is my brother, he has the same soul as I have. This is the greatest principle that India has preached.”
– Swami Vivekananda
The above post has been excerpted from an article Shri Ramakrishna and the Common Person by Swami Tathagatananda of the Vedanta Society of New York. © Vedanta Society of New York; reprinted by permission.
