The Ramakrishna Mission is an association founded by Sri Ramakrishna's chief disciple and religious leader, Swami Vivekananda on May 1, 1897. The Mission carries on missionary and philanthropic work in conjunction with householders (Grihastha) disciples.

Management

The Ramakrishna Mission acquired a legal status when it was registered in 1909 under Act XXI of 1860. Its management is vested in a Governing Body. Though the Mission with its branches is a distinct legal entity it is closely related to the Ramakrishna Math. The Trustees of the Math are simultaneously the members of the Governing Body. The administrative work of the Mission is mostly in the hands of the monks of Math. The Mission has its own separate funds, for which it keeps detailed accounts, audited annually by chartered accountants. The Math and the Mission both have their Headquarters at Belur Math.

The Motto

The Mission

Math and Mission

The distinction between Math and Mission is ordinarily blurred to the common people who loosely associate Math with the Mission and vice versa.

• Note: The appropriation of the name of Sri Ramakrishna or Swami Vivekananda by any institution does not necessarily imply that it is an affiliated branch centre of either Ramakrishna Math or Ramakrishna Mission.

Emblem of Ramakrishna Math and Mission

Designed and explained by Swami Vivekananda given in his own words:

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 Paramatman (Supreme Self). Therefore, the idea of the picture is that by the union of Karma, Jnana, Bhakti and Yoga, the vision of Paramatman is obtained.

Presidents of the Ramakrishna Mission

The following

1. Swami Brahmananda (1901–1922)
2. Swami Shivananda (1922–1934)
3. Swami Akhandananda (1934–1937)
4. Swami Vijnanananda (1937–1938)
5. Swami Shuddhananda (1938–1939)
6. Swami Virajananda (1939–1952)
7. Swami Shankarananda (1952–1959)
8. Swami Vishuddhananda (1959–1960)
9. Swami Madhavananda (1960–1965)
10. Swami Vireshwarananda (1966–1985)
11. Swami Gambhirananda (1985–1988)
12. Swami Bhuteshananda (1988–1998)
13. Swami Ranganathananda (1998–2005)
14. Swami Gahanananda (2005–Present President of the Order)

Prominent Monks

Apart from Direct disciples of Shri Ramakrishna, some of the other great monks of the order are

1. Swami Ashokananda
2. Swami Yatishwarananda
3. Swami Prabhavananda
4. Swami Nikhilananda
5. Swami Ghanananda
6. Swami Siddheshwarananda
7. Swami Tapasyananda
8. Swami Nityaswarupananda
9. Swami Shambhavananda
10. Swami Purushottamananda

Major Publications

• Periodicals
  • - English monthly in 108th Year of publication
  • - English monthly in 90th Year
  • Vivekaprabha - Kannada monthly in 5th Year
  • - Tamil monthly in 83rd Year
  • - Telugu monthly in 60th Year
  • Vivek Jyoti - Hindi Monthly in 41st Year
  • Udbodhan - Bengali Monthly in 105th Year
  • Prabuddha Keralam - Malayalam Monthly in 88th Year
  • Sri Ramakrishna Jyot - Gujarati Monthly
  • Jivan Vikas - Marathi Monthly in 47th Year