Editing Ramakrishna (section)

=== Keshab Chandra Sen and the "New Dispensation" ===
[[File:Ramakrishna trance 1879.jpg|thumb|upright|Ramakrishna in [[bhava samadhi]] after singing about [[Kali]]. His nephew Hriday, supporting him started uttering [[Om]] in his ear, bringing him back to normal consciousness. With Brahmo Samaj devotees at the house of Keshab Chandra Sen, 21 September 1879.]]
In 1875, Ramakrishna met the influential [[Brahmo Samaj]] leader [[Keshab Chandra Sen]].<ref name="rr_shep">{{harvnb|Rolland|1929|pp=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.463366/page/n118 110]–130}}</ref>
<ref>
{{Cite book
  | last = Farquhar
  | first = John Nicol
  | title = Modern Religious Movements in India
  | url = https://archive.org/details/modernreligiousm0000farq
  | url-access = limited
  | publisher = Macmillan Co.
  | year = 1915
  | page = [https://archive.org/details/modernreligiousm0000farq/page/194 194]
  | quote = About 1875, Keshab Chandra Sen made his acquaintance and became very interested in him (Ramakrishna).
}}
</ref> Keshab had accepted Christianity, and had separated from the [[Adi Brahmo Samaj]]. Formerly, Keshab had rejected idolatry, but under the influence of Ramakrishna he accepted Hindu polytheism and established the "New Dispensation" (''Nava Vidhan'') religious movement, based on Ramakrishna's principles—"Worship of God as Mother", "All religions as true" and "Assimilation of Hindu polytheism into Brahmoism".<ref>
{{Cite book
  | author = Y. Masih
  | title = A Comparative Study of Religions
  | pages = 198–199
  | publisher = Motilal Banarsidass
  | year = 2000
}}
</ref> Keshab also publicised Ramakrishna's teachings in the journals of ''New Dispensation'' over a period of several years,<ref name="jm_pb">{{Cite journal
  | last = Mukherjee
  | first = Dr. Jayasree
  | title = Sri Ramakrishna's Impact on Contemporary Indian Society
  | journal = Prabuddha Bharata
  | date = May 2004
  | url = http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/prabuddha_bharata/sri_ramakrishna%27s_impact_on_contemporary_indian_society_may04.php
  | access-date = 4 September 2008
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080924025928/http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/prabuddha_bharata/sri_ramakrishna's_impact_on_contemporary_indian_society_may04.php
  | archive-date = 24 September 2008
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref> which was instrumental in bringing Ramakrishna to the attention of a wider audience, especially the [[Bhadralok]] (English-educated classes of Bengal) and the Europeans residing in India.<ref name="mm_56-57">{{Cite book
  | last = Müller
  | first = Max
  | title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
  | year = 1898
  | pages = 56–57
  | chapter = Râmak''ri''sh''n''a's Life
  | chapter-url = http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls14.htm
  | access-date = 31 August 2008
  | archive-date = 25 July 2008
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080725114727/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls14.htm
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Debarry|first=William Theodore|author2=Ainslie Thomas Embree |others=[[Stephen N. Hay]]|title=Sources of Indian Tradition: From the Beginning to 1800|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1988|page=63|isbn=978-0-231-06415-6|author2-link=Ainslie Thomas Embree}}</ref>

Following Keshab, other Brahmos such as Vijaykrishna Goswami started to admire Ramakrishna, propagate his ideals and reorient their socio-religious outlook. Many prominent people of Kolkata—[[Pratap Chandra Mazumdar]], [[Sivanath Shastri]] and Trailokyanath Sanyal—began visiting him during this time (1871–1885). Mazumdar wrote the first English biography of Ramakrishna, entitled ''The Hindu Saint'' in the ''Theistic Quarterly Review'' (1879), which played a vital role in introducing Ramakrishna to Westerners like the German [[indologist]] [[Max Müller]].<ref name="jm_pb"/> Newspapers reported that Ramakrishna was spreading "Love" and "Devotion" among the educated classes of [[Kolkata]] and that he had succeeded in reforming the character of some youths whose morals had been corrupt.<ref name="jm_pb"/>

Ramakrishna also had interactions with [[Debendranath Tagore]], the father of [[Rabindranath Tagore]], and [[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar]], a renowned social worker. He had also met [[Dayananda Saraswati|Swami Dayananda]].<ref name="rr_shep"/> Ramakrishna is considered one of the main contributors to the [[Bengali Renaissance]].