Ramakrishna Paramhansa, a landmark Bengal Renaissance-era saint, was famous for his mysticism, trances, and spiritual teachings.
However, recent research by historian Arun Shourie shows how Ramakrishna’s ecstasy-filled trance episodes called “Samadhi” had neurological underpinnings.
It is claimed that the saint suffered from sleep apnea, insomnia, and epileptic seizures.
Shourie even tallies his assumptions with accounts from 19th-century Bengal that reported that the saint displayed signs of unconsciousness, restricted breathing, total paralysis, and frenzied behavior—all the irrefutable symptoms of chronic sleeplessness.