[3][4] His bhakti poems, known as Ramprasadi, are still popular in Bengal—they are usually addressed to the Hindu goddess Kali and written in Bengali.

[6] It is said that, Ramprasad was born into a Bengali Baidya Brahmin family, and showed an inclination towards poetry from an early age.

Ramprasad is credited with creating a new compositional form that combined the Bengali folk style of Baul music with classical melodies and kirtan.

[6] Ramprasad was born in Garalgachha, in Hooghly District (at his maternal house), in a Baidya family,[8][9] belonging to Dhanvantari gotra.

Believing that marriage would make Ramprasad more responsible, his parents married him to a girl named Sarvani when he was twenty-two years old.

According to traditional accounts, during initiation when the guru whispered the mantra to him, Ramprasad became consumed by intense longing for the goddess Kali.

Forced finally by poverty, Ramprasad moved to Kolkata and worked as an accountant in the household of Durga Charan Mitra for a monthly salary of thirty rupees.

[12] His fellow employees were appalled to see Ramprasad write poems in his account book, and reported him to their employer.

Instead of dismissing Ramprasad from work, he asked him to return to his village and compose songs to Kali, while continuing to pay his salary.

Traditional accounts tell of several esoteric sadhanas that he performed, including standing neck-deep in the river Ganges, singing songs to Kali.

[13] Ramprasad would regularly practice his sadhana in a panchavati: a grove with five trees—banyan, bael, amalaki, ashoka, and peepul—all regarded as holy in Tantric tradition.

[14] He would reportedly spend hours meditating on a panchamundi asana (an altar inside which are interred five skulls–that of a snake, frog, rabbit, fox, and man).

[17] Krishna Chandra became Ramprasad's benefactor, giving him 100 acres (0.40 km2; 0.16 sq mi) of tax free land.

He was followed by the devotees, who carried the clay image of Kali to be immersed in the Ganges after the night of worship.

Ramprasad was on his way to the river for his daily ritual bath when a beautiful young woman stopped him, asking if she could hear him sing a devotional song to the Divine Mother.

"[27] Sitting down to meditate, he was surrounded by a radiant light and heard a female voice saying, "I am Annapurna (…) I came all the way from Varanasi to hear your songs but, alas, I had to leave disappointed."

Here he reportedly received another vision, saw the same mystical light, and heard the Mother's voice saying, "Stay here and sing for me.

"[27] Ramprasad Sen is regarded as one of the notable figures of the bhakti movement in Bengal during the eighteenth century.

[32][33] Ramprasad was the first Shakta poet to address Kali with such intimate devotion, and to sing of her as a tender loving mother or even as a little girl.

[2] Ramprasad created a new compositional form that combined the Bengali folk style of Baul music with classical melodies and kirtan.

In Shaktigiti, he shares the most intimate relationship with Kali—a child who can both love and quarrel with his mother over the inequities of human birth.

[35] Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a mystic of nineteenth century Bengal, often sang his songs and regarded Ramprasad as his beloved poet.