Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Indian mystic and philosopher (b. 1836)
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa; Bengali: রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, romanized: Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; pronounced [ramɔkriʂno pɔromoɦɔŋʃo] (listen), 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886), born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya, was an Indian Hindu mystic and religious leader, who lived in 19th-century Bengal. Ramakrishna approached his religious life through the path of devotion to the Goddess Kali, and by observance of various elements from Tantra, Vaishnav Bhakti, and Advaita Vedanta, as well as dalliances with Christianity and Islam. After earnest practice of various religious traditions, he held that the world's religions represented "so many paths to reach one and the same goal". His followers came to regard him as an avatara, or divine incarnation, as did some of the prominent Hindu scholars of his day.
Ramakrishna, who experienced spiritual ecstasies from a young age, started his spiritual journey as a priest at the Dakshineshwar Kali Temple. Soon his mystical temperament gained him a widespread acknowledgement amongst the general public as a Guru, attracting to him various religious teachers, social leaders, Bengali elites, and common people alike; he eventually taught his disciples, who later formed the monastic Ramakrishna Order. After his death, his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda popularized his ideas, and founded the Ramakrishna Math, which provides spiritual training for monastics and householder devotees, and the Ramakrishna Mission, to provide charity, social work and education.