Many good sayings are to be found in holy books, but merely reading them will not make one religious.

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.