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Pre-monastic
name : Baburam Ghosh
Date of Birth : 10 December 1861
Place of Birth : Antpur, a village 30 miles from Kolkata.
Baburam first heard about Sri Ramakrishna from the great devotee
Balaram Bose to whom his elder sister was married. While studying at
the Metropolitan Institution, Rakhal (later known as Swami
Brahmananda) was his classmate. One day Rakhal took Baburam to
Dakshineswar. Sri Ramakrishna recognized Baburam to be an
extraordinarily pure soul (“pure to the marrow of his bones”), an
ishvarakoti. Soon Baburam lost interest in his studies and came to
live with Sri Ramakrishna as his attendant. During the Master’s last
illness at Cossipore, Baburam was one among those who nursed him
round the clock. After the Master’s passing, when the new Monastic
brotherhood was formed at Baranagar, Baburam joined it. He underwent
sannyasa ordination and assumed the name Premananda. Except for
short pilgrimages, he spent his
days mainly at the monastery when it was in Baranagar and also when
it was shifted to Alambazar. When Belur Math was established, Swami
Premananda took charge of worship in the shrine. Later he became the
Manager of the Math. The pure unconditional love that he radiated
exerted tremendous influence on those who came into contact with
him, and hundreds of devotees flocked to see him. He had a motherly
interest in feeding people, but he also inspired them with his
spiritual exhortations which flowed out from the depths of his
heart. Towards the end of his life he went on a tour of East Bengal.
There his radiant personality and inspired talks created great
enthusiasm, particularly among the youth. On his return,
he fell seriously ill, and passed away at Balaram Babu’s house on 30
July 1918.
For further reading : Swami
Premananda-Teachings and Reminiscences by Swami Prabhavananda
God lived with Them by Swami Chetanananda
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