If you first fortify yourself with the true knowledge of the Universal Self, and then live in the midst of wealth and worldliness, surely they will in no way affect you.

Ramakrishna was born in a poor Brahmin Vaishnava family in rural Bengal. By the time his bride joined him Ramakrishna had already embraced the monastic life of a sannyasi; as a result the marriage was never consummated.

He became a priest of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple dedicated to the goddess Kali which had the influence of the main strands of Bengali bhakti tradition. Ramakrishna was born in a poor Brahmin Vaishnava family in rural Bengal. Though he quit conventional education he attracted the attention of the middle class upper middle class and numerous Bengali intellectuals.