Did Ramakrishna ever meet Dayanand Saraswati?

Question

I read somewhere(maybe Ramakrishna Kathamrta) that Ramakrishna had a meeting with Dayanand Saraswati(founder of Arya Samaj). Is it true? If so what topics were discussed between then and what conclusions were drawn?

Answer 1

In Sw. Saradanandaji's biography of Thakurji, [Vol. II,p.635; 5th revised ed. 1979]:

Once Swami Dayananda Sarasvati, the founder of the Arya Samaj, came to Bengal on a tour and lived for some time in a gentleman's garden in the village called Sinthi in Baranagar, situated in the north of Calcutta. Although he was very well-known for his scholarship, he had not then begun to preach his own doctrine, nor had he founded his organisation.

On hearing of him, one day the Master went there to pay him a visit. In the course of a conversation on Dayananda, the Master said to us on one occasion,

" I went to see him in the garden of Sinthi.; I found that he had acquired a little power; his chest was always red. He was in the state of Vaikhari, speaking on scriptural subjects night and day; by the application of grammar, he was twisting the meaning of many words. He had in his mind the egoism , 'I will do something, I will preach a doctrine.' "

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Sri Dayananda Saraswati's observation on Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa:

Mahimacharan and other devotees are sitting and drinking the nectar of Sri Ramakrishna’s words, which are like variously-coloured jewels. The devotees pick up as many as they can, but their laps are already full, so heavy that they cannot be lifted. Their capacity is limited; they can contain no more.

Sri Ramakrishna is solving all the problems that have arisen in the human heart since the creation of the world. Padmalochan, Narayan Shastri, Gauri Pundit, Dayananda Saraswati, and other scholars of the scriptures sit in silent awe.

When Dayananda saw Sri Ramakrishna in the state of samadhi, he lamented, “We have studied so much of the Vedas and the Vedanta, but in this great man we see its manifestation. He proves that the learned only drink buttermilk when they churn the scriptures. Only such great men as he eat the butter.”