Ramakrishna Charitam V Vol III Book X Chp 6 Shlokas 1 - 6
श्रीसद्गुरुरुवाच
ब्रह्मनिष्ठो ब्राह्मणः स्यान्न कुलेनैव केवलम् |
ब्राह्मणोपि स चण्डालो दुराचारसमन्वितः ||
विष्णुभक्तो वैष्णवः स्यादूर्ध्वपुन्द्रेण केवलम् |
वैष्णवं भक्तिरहितं जानीयात्प्राकृतं नरम् ||
तथा परमहंसत्वमात्मज्ञानेन केवलम् |
न तु काषायवस्त्रेण दण्डेन करकेण वा ||
देहं प्रानान्मनक्ष्चापि विस्मृत्यात्मनि निक्ष्चलम् |
सोहंभावेन तिष्ठन्तं तं हंस परमं विदुः ||
आचरन् प्राकृते लोके जडोन्मत्तपिशाचवत् |
सदा परमहंसस्तु क्रीडति ब्रह्मविद्यया ||
एवं परमहंसस्य लक्षणं श्रीगदाधरे |
विलोक्य पण्डिताः प्राहुः तं हंस परमं गुरुम् ||
Shri Sadguru said
One who possesses Brahma Ghana alone becomes a brahmana. By birth alone, no one becomes a brahmana. One who is a brahmana by birth is an untouchable if he does not have a good conduct. A true devotee of Vishnu is worth being called a vaishnava. Simply by wearing a tilak of Truman, no one becomes a vaishnava. A vaishnava is considered just an ordinary man in the absence of Vishnu Bhakti. Self realization alone can lead to the stage of utter selflessness, and make a man a paramahamsa, one with God. Saffron dress, a staff and a saintly vessel called Kamandalu alone cannot make one a paramahamsa. A paramahamsa is one who renounces the consciousness of the body, mind and life and revels in the consciousness of the existence of the soul or aatma alone. The paramahamsa apparently seem to be a dull-headed one or lunatic or even a phantom moving about the earth. But at all times, he revels in Brahma Vidhya. Identifying all these attributes of a paramahamsa in the person of Shri Ramakrishna, scholars recognized him to be a paramahamsa.
