The Ramakrishna Order is a monastic organization of Vedanta , founded on the teachings of the great 19th
century sage called Sri Ramakrishna. It was started by his direct disciples in 1886. Its headquarters, called
the Belur Math,
is in India.
Our center is dedicated to those teachings, and is headed by a monk of the Ramakrishna Order (Swami Prapannananda).
The emblem shown here is a photo of a leaded glass version that graces our library. If you know
the name of the artist who created it, please let us know. Its provenance has been lost.
The Ramakrishna Order is a monastic organization of Vedanta , founded on the teachings of the great 19th century sage called Sri Ramakrishna. It was started by his direct disciples in 1886. Its headquarters, called the Belur Math, is in India.
Our center is dedicated to those teachings, and is headed by a monk of the Ramakrishna Order (Swami Prapannananda).
The emblem shown here is a photo of a leaded glass version that graces our library. If you know the name of the artist who created it, please let us know. Its provenance has been lost.
"An event of historical interest during Vivekananda's stay
in New York was the story of how, in an informal sitting at a breakfast table he sketched on the back of an
envelope, a design of an emblem that was to become the official symbol of the Ramakrishna Order. Writing of
this event in later years, Sister Devamata---then Laura Glenn---describes:
"...The design which has become the symbol of the Ramakrishna Mission everywhere
[she wrote in her Memories] came into being in the same casual way as did the "Song of the Sannyasin."
It took shape in 1900 during Swami Vivekananda's later visit to America. At that time the Vedanta Society
of New York was definitely established and occupied a modest house in Fifty-eighth Street . Mrs. Crane, the
housekeeper, told me that the Swami was sitting at the breakfast table one morning when the printer arrived.
He said he was making a circular for the Society and wished to have an emblem to go on it, could the Swami
suggest something? Swamiji took the envelope from a letter he had just received, tore it open and on the clean
inner surface drew the waves, the swan, the lotus, and the sun circled by a serpent—the four Yogas wrapped
about by eternity, it seemed. He threw the bit of paper with the design on it across the table and said, "
Draw it to scale." Henry van Haagen, the printer, was an able draftsman as well as printer. He converted
the rough sketch into a finished drawing."
—(Marie Louise Burke, Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries, Vol 6, p. 307)
Later, on his return to India, Swamiji explained the significance of the design to the artist
Ranadaprasad Das Gupta:
"The wavy waters in the picture are symbolic of Karma, the lotus, of Bhakti; and the rising-sun, of Jnana;
the encircling serpent is indicative of Yoga and the awakened Kundalini Shakti, while the swan in the picture
stands for the Paramatma (Supreme Self). Therefore, the idea of the picture is that by the union of Karma,
Jnana, Bhakti, and Yoga, the vision of the Paramatman is obtained." (Ibid., p. 308).
The Vedanta Society of Southern California adds:
"The goal of the Ramakrishna Order is written in Sanskrit on the emblem:
May the Supreme Spirit illumine us."
"An event of historical interest during Vivekananda's stay in New York was the story of how, in an informal sitting at a breakfast table he sketched on the back of an envelope, a design of an emblem that was to become the official symbol of the Ramakrishna Order. Writing of this event in later years, Sister Devamata---then Laura Glenn---describes:
"...The design which has become the symbol of the Ramakrishna Mission everywhere [she wrote in her Memories] came into being in the same casual way as did the "Song of the Sannyasin." It took shape in 1900 during Swami Vivekananda's later visit to America. At that time the Vedanta Society of New York was definitely established and occupied a modest house in Fifty-eighth Street . Mrs. Crane, the housekeeper, told me that the Swami was sitting at the breakfast table one morning when the printer arrived. He said he was making a circular for the Society and wished to have an emblem to go on it, could the Swami suggest something? Swamiji took the envelope from a letter he had just received, tore it open and on the clean inner surface drew the waves, the swan, the lotus, and the sun circled by a serpent—the four Yogas wrapped about by eternity, it seemed. He threw the bit of paper with the design on it across the table and said, " Draw it to scale." Henry van Haagen, the printer, was an able draftsman as well as printer. He converted the rough sketch into a finished drawing."
—(Marie Louise Burke, Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries, Vol 6, p. 307)
Later, on his return to India, Swamiji explained the significance of the design to the artist Ranadaprasad Das Gupta:
"The wavy waters in the picture are symbolic of Karma, the lotus, of Bhakti; and the rising-sun, of Jnana; the encircling serpent is indicative of Yoga and the awakened Kundalini Shakti, while the swan in the picture stands for the Paramatma (Supreme Self). Therefore, the idea of the picture is that by the union of Karma, Jnana, Bhakti, and Yoga, the vision of the Paramatman is obtained." (Ibid., p. 308).
The Vedanta Society of Southern California adds: "The goal of the Ramakrishna Order is written in Sanskrit on the emblem: May the Supreme Spirit illumine us."
For more information, click here
to reach the Belur Math emblem page.
