Vivekananda's Ramakrsna: An Untold Story of Mythmaking and Propaganda

Sil, Narasingha P.

doi:10.2307/3270397

Cited by 4 publications

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“…There is obviously something that occurred between the initial encounter between the two men and Vivek~nanda's later opinion about the saint who becomes his spiritual mentor. According to Narasingha Sil's (1993, 1997a interpretation of this conundrum, Vivek~nanda decided to project a new image of his Master after he became a celebrity in America.…”

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confidence: 99%

Vivekānanda and Rāmakṛṣṇa face to face: An essay on the alterity of a saint

Olson

1998

Hindu Studies

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It is well known that R~mak.r.s.na, a nineteenth-century Bengali saint (1836-86), was enamored of his disciple Narendranath Datta (later Svfimi Vivek~nanda, 1863-1902, organizer of the international Vedanta movement, from the first that the saint of Dakshineshwar heard the young man sing devotional songs. R~rnak.r.s.na became upset when Vivek~nanda did not visit him for a period of time, and the Master would ask about his student's whereabouts and welfare. During this early period, Vivekfinanda was uncomfortable with the attention given to him by the saint, but he kept returning to visit the Master. Vivek~nanda told his brother-disciple and R~xnak.r.s.na's biographer Svfimi S~rad~nanda that after he had finished singing one evening the Master took him to a veranda covered by mat screens. After entering the veranda and closing the door, the two men were isolated and hidden from the view of others. Expecting some kind of private instruction, Vivek~nanda was surprised when Ramak.r.s.na took hold of his hand, began to cry profusely tears of joy, and told him how he had been waiting for the young man for such a long time. R~aakrs.n. a, continuing to weep and rave, stood before Vivek~nanda with folded hands in a respectful attitude, and he told the latter that he was an incarnation of the ancient r.si Nara, an aspect of Narayan. a (Vi.sn. u) himself, who had descended to earth in order to remove the misery and suffering of humankind. Vivek~nanda's response to the behavior and message of R~'nak.rs.n. a was utter perplexity, and he related that he thought that the Master was completely insane. This strange encounter for Vivek~nanda concluded with R~mak.r.s.na feeding him sweets, and the former promising to return alone to the madman soon (S~rad~nanda 1978-79, 2: 825). A month passed after this embarrassing incident for Narendra, and then he returned once more to visit R~mak.r.sn. a at Dakshineshwar on December 27 and 28, 1881. While sitting on R~mak.r.sn. a's small bed to which he had been asked to rest, the Master

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Section: / Carlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vivekānanda and Rāmakṛṣṇa face to face: An essay on the alterity of a saint

Olson

1998

Hindu Studies

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“…37-41) and Sen (2001, p. 127)) • the nature and extent of Ramakrishna's involvement in and endorsement of seva (Beckerlegge 2006, pp. 81-126; • the nature of Ramakrishna's appeal for those around him (Chatterjee 1992;Sarkar 1992 and1993;Sen 1993;2006).…”

Section: Ramakrishna In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of etic studies have tackled the problems presented by the emic accounts we have of Vivekananda's life and teaching 7 and how these have evolved within the Ramakrishna Math and Mission into a smooth and consistent narrative (for example, Sil (1993), Chattopadhyaya (1999) and Sen (2000)). One example of how close attention to the available sources can raise fresh questions is provided by Rajagopal Chattopadhyaya (1999, p. 100) in his 'corrective biography' of Vivekananda.…”

Section: Swami Vivekananda a Less Than Faithful Interpreter Of Ramakrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) 150 Years on: Critical Studies of an Influential Hindu Guru

Beckerlegge

2013

Religion Compass

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Swami Vivekananda has been recognised as one of the most influential but arguably controversial Hindu gurus of the last two centuries. In this year of the 150th anniversary of Vivekananda's birth, this article will examine the concerns and approaches that have come increasingly to characterise etic scholarship concerning Vivekananda's life and legacy. Referring as a starting point to an earlier historiographical review completed in the early 1990s, the article then explores how scholarly studies have revisited the question of the nature of Vivekananda's influence on Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) and have come to give greater prominence to his role in the globalisation of yoga.

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“…For some scholars, the break in continuity with earlier tradition is located in the relationship between Ramakrishna, a 'traditional' figure, and the 'Neo-Hindu' Vivekananda, together with the 'Neo-Hindu' Ramakrishna Math and Mission which Vivekananda created (see, for example, Sarkar, 1985;Beckerlegge, 1990;Sil, 1993). Possibly as a consequence of this scholarly preoccupation with the historical relationship between Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, little attention 320 G. Beckerlegge has been given to the varied ways in which the relationships between Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and the broader Hindu tradition are understood by contemporary devotees, and by other Hindus who acknowledge the importance of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Iconographic representations of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda

Beckerlegge

1996

Journal of Contemporary Religion

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Through the use of popular statuary, devotional pictures and calendars available in the markets and temple stalls of Calcutta, I compare the ways in which the legacy of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda has been preserved in popular symbolism with the 'photo-iconographic' tradition which has been fostered within the Ramakrishna Math and Mission. I argue that links between Ramakrishna and the Kali tradition remain strong in the popular imagination, as expressed through popular art in Calcutta, and that Swami Vivekananda often appears as a more peripheral figure in settings which include the goddess Kali. In this respect, I argue that such popular depictions of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda are more in accord with the conclusions reached by critical scholars who have distanced Vivekananda from Ramakrishna's passionate involvement in the Kali cult, than with depictions of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda within the Ramakrishna Math and Mission which stress the novelty of Ramakrishna, and the continuity between his teaching and that of Vivekananda.

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Vivekananda's Ramakrsna: An Untold Story of Mythmaking and Propaganda

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Vivekānanda and Rāmakṛṣṇa face to face: An essay on the alterity of a saint

Vivekānanda and Rāmakṛṣṇa face to face: An essay on the alterity of a saint

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) 150 Years on: Critical Studies of an Influential Hindu Guru

Iconographic representations of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda

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