The Ramakrishna Math and
the Ramakrishna Mission
The Ramakrishna Math and
the Ramakrishna Mission
The Order that came into being after Sri Ramakrishna's passing away to keep alive his ideal has now 130 branches in and outside India, with its Headquarters at Belur Math. The Math and the Mission are closely related, for the Governing Body of the Mission is made up of the Trustees of the Math and the administrative work of the Mission is mostly in the hands of the monks of the Math. Though the origin of both the Math and the Mission can be traced back to the days of Baranagore monastery, the Math was registered as a trust only in 1901, and the Mission, a registered society, in 1909, twelve years after it had been started by Swami Vivekananda on 1st May 1897. People, however, loosely use the name `Ramakrishna Mission' to mean both the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.
To stress the point : though both the Math and the Mission take up charitable and philanthropic activities, the former lays emphasis on spiritual development of the people and the latter gives priority to welfare work. The motto the twin organizations follow is the same, the one that Swami Vivekananda put before them, Atmano mokshartham jagaddhitya ca - doing good to the world with a spirit of worship and thus paving paths for one's own salvation.
The following paragraphs will show in brief how the Math and the Mission carry out this ideal of Swami Vivekananda into practice.
The Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission have been from their very inception doing relief services in times of natural calamities like flood, famine, drought, etc. Public support is the principal resource on which relief work depends. In 1990-91, the Mission spent Rs.5.89 million on relief and rehabilitation measures and distributed relief articles worth Rs.1.42 million.
As part of their programme of service to the sick and the ailing, the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission run indoor hospitals, out-patients' dispensaries, mobile health units, etc. In 1990-91, they conducted altogether (1) 14 hospitals with 1,929 beds which serve 58,712 indoor patients and 2,073,471 out-patients; (2) 84 out-patients' dispensaries which treated 2,447,444 cases and (3) 22 mobile dispensaries providing medical facilities for 660,782 patients. The Mission has also a T.B. Sanatorium at Ranchi in Bihar State and a T.B. Clinic at Delhi.
A nation is advanced in proportion as education and intelligence are spread among the masses, said Swami Vivekananda and he urged `Education, education, education alone' as the panacea of the problems of India. The Math and the Mission, therefore, with their limited resources, try to educate people so that they may play their roles in the making of a better India. Among the educational centers they run at present, there are five Degree Colleges, five Teachers' Training Colleges, eleven Higher Secondary Schools, thirty four Secondary Schools and one hundred and thirty seven schools of different denominations, seven Junior Technical Industrial Schools, two Institutes of Agriculture, two Schools of Languages, one Sanskrit College, two Sanskrit Schools, four Polytechnics, one Computer Center and four hundred and seventy one non-formal education units. Besides, they have ninety seven Students' homes, Hostels and Orphanages and also a Blind Boys' Academy. The total number of students who had education in these institutions during the year 1990-91 was 110,212, of which 82,409 were boys and 27,803 girls.
`All nations have achieved greatness by paying proper respect to women, and a country can't progress by neglecting its womenfolk, just as a bird can't fly without one of its wings', said Swami Vivekananda. Some of the centers have units working exclusively for women. To name a few of them : (1) Maternity sections at the hospitals in Calcutta, Trivandrum and Vrindaban, (2) the Dormiciliary and Maternity Clinics at Jalpaiguri and Khetri, (3) the Invalid Womens' Home at Varanasi, (4) the Sarada Vidyalaya at Madras, (5) three Girls' High Schools at Jamshedpur, (6) the Sarada Mandir at Sarisha and (7) four Training Schools for nurses at Trivandrum, Vrindaban, Itanagar and Calcutta. The Ramakrishna Sarada Math and Sarada Mission are exclusively womens' organizations, having the same ideals but completely separate from the Ramakrishna math and the Ramakrishna Mission.
The Math and Mission pay special attention to the youth, to their moral upliftment in particular. Besides a good number of schools and colleges they run, the monks always try to keep in touch with the youth. Through study circles, seminars and youth forums, the youth are made acquainted with the message of Swami Vivekananda.
In extending medical services, distress, relief and education, the Math and the Mission pay special attention to the needs of those who are weak both from material and cultural points of view. The Order tries to alleviate the conditions of the poor, the backward and the tribal people in different parts of India. The aim is to restore their lost individuality and to expose them to the world at large.
The Math and the Mission do these in three ways : (a) by bringing such backward people from rural ares and exposing them to mainstream of Indian Culture; (b) by sending out dedicated workers to rural areas where they impart secular knowledge so as to raise them gradually to a status of equality with the rest of the people of India; (c) the medical and educational institutions run by the Math and the Mission cater to the poor and backward people and extend relief operations in times of need. All these are done in no spirit of pity, but in a spirit of worship of God.
Both the Math and the Mission lay emphasis on the dissemination of the spiritual and cultural ideas of India. They do this through regular classes, meetings, public celebrations, publication of books, etc. More than ten centers publish books in English and Indian languages. The Math and the Mission have to date about 500 titles and 12 journals.
PBX Phones :
Telegraphic address:
Advaita Ashrama
P.O Mayavati 262 524
Via Lohaghat
Dt Pithoragarh.
Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture
Gol Park
Calcutta 700 029.
Phone :
Ramakrishna Ashrama
Bull Temple Road,
Bangalore 560019.
Phone : (0812) 60 2681
Sri Ramakrishna Math
16 Ramakrishna Math Road,
Mylapore P.O. Box No.635
Madras 600 004.
Phone : (044) 71 231
Publications Division : (044) 71 959
Vedanta Society of Berkeley
2455 Bowditch Street,
Berkeley, CA 94704.
Phone : (510) 848 8862
Ramakrishna Society of Southern California
1946 Vedanta Place,
Hollywood, CA 90068.
Phone : (213) 465 7114
Sarada Convent
927 Ladera Lane,
Santa Barbara, CA 91308.
Phone : (805) 969 2903
Ramakrishna Monastery
P.O.Box 408,
Trabuco Canyon, CA 92678.
Phone : (714) 858 0342
Vedanta Society
1440 Upas Street,
San Diego, CA 92103.
Phone : (619) 291 9377
309 Monterey Road,
South Pasadena, CA 91030.
Phone : (213) 254 1546
Vedanta Society of Sacramento
1337 Mission Avenue,
Carmichael,
Sacramento, CA 95608.
Phone : (916) 489 5137
Vedanta Society of Northern California
2323 Vallejo Street,
San Francisco, CA 94213.
Phone : (415) 922 2323
FAX : (415) 922 1476
2963 Webster Street,
San Francisco, CA 94123.
Phone : (346) 1265
Vivekananda Vedanta Society
5423 South Hyde,
Park Boulevard,
Chicago, IL 60615.
Phone : (312) 363 0027
Ramakrishna Vedanta Society
58 Deerfield Street,
Boston, MA 02215.
Phone : (617) 536 5320
Vivekananda Monastery and Retreat
Rt. 2, 122nd Avenue,
Fenniville,
Ganges Township, MI 49408.
Phone : (616) 543 4545
Vedanta Society of St.Louis
205 South Skinker Boulevard,
St. Louis, MO 63105.
Phone : (314) 721 5118
Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center
17 East 94th Street,
New York, NY 10128.
Cable : RAMAVIVEK, New York.
Phone : (212) 289 1710, 534 9445
Vedanta Society
34 West 71st Street,
New York, NY 10023.
Phone : (212) 877 9197
Vedanta Society
1157 S.E. 55th Avenue,
Portland, OR 97215.
Phone : (503) 235 3919
Vedanta Society
224, Angell Street,
Providence, RI 02906.
Phone : (401) 421 3960
Vedanta Society of West Washington
2716 Broadway East,
Seattle, WA 98102.
Phone : (206) 323 1228
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