Ramprasad – The Mystic Who Called Kali “Mother”

 Ramprasad was one of the great devotees of Kali and became famous among those who worshipped the Great Shakti. He lived long before the Kali Temple at Dakshineswar was built, yet Harding writes that his influence could be felt there. Sri Ramakrishna repeatedly sat before the image of Kali in the inner shrine and sang Ramprasad’s songs. 

Ramprasad was born around 1723 in Halisahar, a village on the banks of the Ganges, into an old Vaidya family with a tantric background. His father, Ramram Sen, was an Ayurvedic physician and Sanskrit scholar. Ramprasad was an able student who learned Sanskrit grammar, literature and Bengali poetry, and later learned Persian and Urdu. From his youth, however, he showed a strong spiritual inclination and expressed it through poetry. 

After Ramprasad received the Kali mantra from the family guru, Madhavacharya, something in him was deeply awakened. Harding describes his growing longing for Kali as an intense inner attraction to the Divine Mother. Although he loved his wife Sarvani, his longing for the Divine increasingly dominated his life, and he became less interested in ordinary responsibilities.

The death of his guru was followed by the death of his father, leaving Ramprasad responsible for his family. He eventually found work in Calcutta as an accountant. He performed his duties carefully, but his thoughts repeatedly turned toward Kali. During these moments he began writing passionate songs for the Divine Mother on the blank pages at the back of his account book. 

Ramprasad later received instruction in tantric sadhana from Krishnananda Agamavagisha, a renowned tantric yogi and devotee of Kali. His employer, Durga Charan Mitra, discovered the songs in the account book and, instead of dismissing Ramprasad, recognized something in them and allowed him to return home and devote his time to worshipping the Divine Mother while continuing to receive his salary. 

Ramprasad then devoted himself to sadhana, meditation, prayer and the composition of songs to Kali. He sometimes stood neck-deep in the Ganges while absorbed in thoughts of the Divine Mother, singing one passionate song after another. His voice carried across the river, and people and animals would stop to listen. 

His devotion also brought him into deeper tantric practice. Near his home was a Panchavati grove where five sacred trees grew together: banyan, bel, amalaki, ashoka and peepul. Harding describes this kind of grove as an ideal place for tantric sadhana. Ramprasad spent hours there, absorbed in meditation on the panchamundi asana, a seat made from five skulls. 

Ramprasad’s relationship with Kali was expressed through longing. Harding describes his songs as a record of his anguish over the desire to see the Divine Mother. His continuous dialogue with Kali became one of the characteristic features of his devotion. He addressed her as Mother and spoke to her with the intimacy of a child calling for his mother.

At one point Ramprasad experienced a vision of Kali in a garden near his home, probably in the Panchavati. People noticed a change in him afterward. Harding writes that his body seemed to shine and that he possessed a captivating beauty which attracted crowds. 

Another experience followed when Ramprasad encountered a young woman who asked him to sing a devotional song to the Divine Mother. Later, when he could no longer find her, he understood the encounter as another manifestation of the Mother. Harding also recounts that when Ramprasad decided to travel to Varanasi, he received a vision of Annapurna at Triveni. The voice told him that Varanasi was not the only place where the Mother lived, because she pervaded the entire universe. 

As Ramprasad’s love for Kali deepened, his songs became increasingly mystical. Harding describes how he eventually experienced the Divine Mother both with form and without form, within and outside himself. Even after realizing Brahman and becoming united with the eternal Oneness, however, Ramprasad did not completely abandon ritual worship. He preferred to retain a sense of separation so that he could continue to worship the Mother and offer his love at her lotus feet. 

Ramprasad remained devoted to Kali throughout his later years. His wife Sarvani eventually died, and their son Ramdulal and daughter-in-law Bhagavati cared for him. Although his body had grown weak, his mind remained active and his worship of the Divine Mother continued with intensity. 

Kali Puja was especially important to him. On the night of Diwali, Ramprasad would remain awake throughout the night worshipping Kali. His ecstatic devotion and singing became so well known that people from the surrounding area came to watch him perform the worship.

At the end of his life, Ramprasad continued to sing the name of Kali. After the image of Kali from the night’s worship was carried toward the Ganges for immersion, Ramprasad slowly entered the river until the water reached his neck, still singing his songs. When the image was immersed in the Ganges, Ramprasad breathed his last. Harding writes that he was about eighty years old. 

Ramprasad’s songs remained closely associated with the worship of Kali. Harding writes that wherever the name of the Divine Mother is sung, Ramprasad is present through his songs, and that his spirit lives wherever a devotee of Kali sings them. 

Source & Note

This article is based on Elizabeth U. Harding’s Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar (Nicolas-Hays, 1993). The material has been edited and adapted for this publication.