‘Swami’ Ramakrishna? West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee takes to X after PM Narendra Modi tribute

KOLKATA: CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday urged PM Narendra Modi “not to discover new prefixes and suffixes for the great Bengal Renaissance figures who shaped modern India” hours after the latter remembered “Swami Ramakrishna” on his birth anniversary.

“Yet again, our PM aggressively displays his cultural insensitivity towards the great figures of Bengal. Today is the janmatithi (birth anniversary) of Yugavatara, Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Deva. Our PM added an unprecedented and improper prefix to the great saint’s name!” Banerjee posted on X.




The Bengal CM’s post followed PM Modi’s post, where he paid “humble tributes to Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa on his birth anniversary”. “The way he established spirituality and meditation as a vital life force will continue to benefit humanity in every era. His noble thoughts and messages will forever remain a source of inspiration,” Modi said in a Hindi post on X.

Banerjee, in her post, explained “Swami” was a prefix used to refer to monks of the order (Ramakrishna Mission) founded by Swami Vivekananda (Ramakrishna’s foremost disciple): “Sri Ramakrishna was widely revered as Thakur (literally, God). His ascetic disciples constituted the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission after their Master’s demise and those monks were called ‘Swami’. The Master, the Acharya himself, continued to be referred to as Thakur. The prefix Swami was meant for his disciples in the Ramakrishna order... the holy trinity of the order remains (Thakur, Ma, Swamiji: Thakur is Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Deva, Ma is Ma Sarada and Swamiji is Swami Vivekananda).”

Banerjee added how Ramakrishna’s “ideal of harmony among all religions serve as our guiding light”: “The eternal teaching of ‘Jato mat, Tato path (As many faiths, so many paths)’ is our core mantra. Serving humanity is the true service to God. I have followed this message throughout my life and, in the days to come, carrying the blessings of this radiant soul on my head, I shall continue to stand by the people and serve until my last breath.”

BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya responded to Banerjee’s post, saying: “We are also shocked at your ignorance! The use of the prefix swami is not a reference to the title used by monks of the RKM Order, who dedicate their lives to spreading the message and teachings of the greatest swami of all time. There is a larger metaphorical and metaphysical concept of spirituality known as ‘Advaita Vedanta’ — the non-dualism of the individual and God — which is practised and propagated by the RKM. It forms the core of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s experiential, mystical, and universalist vision.” Malviya clarified that, “ in this context”, “swami” referred to the “Great Master”.

Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, however, chose a different route to explain the PM’s choice of the word “swami”. “It is a personal choice how a person refers to someone venerable. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. The Ramakrishna Mission has taught ‘Ramdhanu’ to PM Modi. The CM is trying to interpret this in her own way.”

Bhattacharya also alluded to how Modi, in his youth, came to RKM to become a monk: “He is well-versed in the ways of the mission and his devotion to Ramakrishna Dev is unquestionable. His bond with RKM is lifelong. His connection with the philosophy of the mission is deeper than we can imagine.”

The Trinamool has repeatedly harped on the BJP’s “lack of knowledge of Bengal’s culture”, seizing PM Modi’s “Bankim da” reference to Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay in Parliament a few weeks ago. But Banerjee went beyond the controversy on Thursday and referred to the multiple steps taken by the Bengal government to develop the Dakshineswar Mandir into an international-standard religious and tourist destination. “Earlier, during my tenure as railway minister, I had the Dakshineswar railway station renovated and decorated in the style of the temple. Significant development work has also been carried out at the holy birthplaces: Kamarpukur (birthplace of Ramakrishna) and Jayrambati (birthplace of Sarada Devi),” she said, referring to the establishment of the Jayrambati-Kamarpukur Development Board and the Rs 10 crore it had been provided.

Rs 80 core had been spent on improving the infrastructure of the pilgrimage sites, road connectivity was upgraded at a cost of about Rs 25 crore and tourism infrastructure was developed with Rs 5.9 crore, she said. “We are also constructing a five-storey guest house and a prasad distribution centre at the RKM’s request, Banerjee added.