ABSTRACT
THE RAMAKRISHNA MISSION A t h i r d movement differing remarkably in its inspiration from the Arya Samaj was started by Ramakrishna Paramhansa in Bengal. Ramakrishna, a simple village priest, had neither the learning nor the ability of Dayanand. Yet the entire middle class, Western-educated, Bengali community made him their national hero. Men like Keshav Chandra Sen, the Brahma leader, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, the novelist, and Girish Chandra Ghosh, the dramatist, recognized his greatness and regarded him as a saint. It is strange that Ramakrishna, whose early upbringing had been amongst people untouched by English ideas, should stand out as the inspirer of a whole generation. One main reason was that these highly educated men put forward this simple village mystic and genius as the symbol of their revolt against English cultural superiority. They felt instinctively that they had been in danger of going too far and losing their own souls.
