Balaram Bose
| Balaram Bose | |
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Balaram Bose, an important householder disciple of Sri Ramakrishna
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| Born | December , 1842 |
| Died | April 13, 1890 (aged 47) Calcutta, Bengal, British India |
| Occupation | Foremost householder disciple of Sri Ramakrishna |
| Language | Bengali |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Ethnicity | Bengali |
| Period | 19th century |
| Literary movement | Bengal Renaissance, Ramkrishna |
| Children | Ramakrishna Bose (son) |
Balaram Bose (December 1842 – 13 April 1890) was one of the prominent householder disciples of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He was the son of Radhamohan Bose. He is often referred in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna often visited his house and participated in kirtana and other devotional functions. Sri Maa Sarada Devi and some other devotees of the master including Swami Adbhutananda lived in the house of Balaram Bose after the master's death. He was a great philanthropist and donated regularly to government and civilian organizations.
Bose was born in a very prominent Vaishnavite family. His father was Radhamohan Bose. His grandfather Guruprasad Bose established a Radha Shyam temple in his house and because of that, the section of the area became known as Shyam Bazar in Calcutta. His residence in north Kolkata, where Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission on 1 May 1897, is presently known as the Balaram Mandir. The place has been sanctified by the numerous visits of Sri Ramakrishna, his disciples, and Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. Bose's extended family of his uncles had estates in several parts of India esp. in the Balasore region of Orissa. His cousins Nimaicharan and Hariballav Bose were the custodians of the ancestral property and they provided him with an allowance. Balaram was intensely spiritual since his early days and he spent considerable time in his younger days in Puri. Fearing that he would become an ascetic his cousins and father made him come back to Calcutta and put him up in a house in Baghbazar area. Balaram was married to Krishnabhavini Devi who was likewise spiritual minded and they had two daughters and a son.
Bose met Sri Ramakrishna for the first time in 1881 and apparently had asked him if God exists."Certainly he does", came the response. Sri Ramakrishna regarded Balaram Bose as one of the principal suppliers of the mother, implying that Balaram provided bulk of the food, clothing and other items for serving the devotees and the God. In The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna it is recorded that Sri Ramakrishna saw Balaram in a vision,as part of a huge procession of the followers of Sri Gauranga or Sri Chaitanya in a sankirtan or song and dance in praise of the divinity along with lord Sri Chaitanya himself.
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