Ramakrishna and DStv: Difference between pages

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{{Infobox Company
{{Totally-disputed|date=September 2008}}{{otheruses}}
| company_name = DStv
{{Infobox Person |
| company_logo = [[Image:DStv.PNG|150px]]
name = Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa|
| company_type = [[Public]]
image = Ramakrishna.jpg|thumb|
| company_slogan = so much more
caption = Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa|
| foundation = [[1995 in television|1995]]
dead = dead |
| location = [[Ferndale, Gauteng|Ferndale]], [[Randburg]],<br> {{flag|South Africa}}
birth_date = {{birth date|1836|2|18|mf=y}}|
| industry = [[Telecommunication]]
birth_place = [[Kamarpukur]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]|
| products = [[Direct broadcast satellite]]
death_date = {{death date and age|1886|8|16|1836|2|18|df=y}}|
| homepage = [http://www.dstv.com/ www.DStv.com]
death_place = Garden House in [[Cossipore]].
| footnotes =
}}
{{Hindu philosophy}}
'''Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa''' ([[Bangla]]: রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস ''Ramkṛiṣṇo Pôromôhongśo'') ([[February 18]], [[1836]] - [[August 16]], [[1886]]), born '''Gadadhar Chattopadhyay''' ([[Bangla]]: গদাধর চট্টোপাধ্যায় ''Gôdadhor Chôţţopaddhae''), was born in a small [[Bengali]] village and became a influential [[Hindu]] religious leader.<ref name="ninian">Smart, Ninian ''The World’s Religions'' (1998) p.409, Cambridge</ref> His religious school of thought led to the formation of the [[Ramakrishna Mission]], by his prominent disciple [[Swami Vivekananda]].<ref name="clarke">
{{cite book
| last = Clarke
| first = Peter Bernard
| title = New Religions in Global Perspective
| publisher = Routledge
| date = 2006
| pages = p.209
| quote = The first Hindu to teach in the West and founder of the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897, Swami Vivekananda,[...] is also credited with raising Hinduism to the status of a world religion.
}}
}}
</ref><ref name="brodd">
{{cite book
| author = Jeffrey Brodd
| coauthors = Gregory Sobolewski
| title = World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery
| publisher = Saint Mary's Press
| date = 2003
| location =
| pages = p.275
| quote = In 1897 Swami Vivekananda returned to India, where he founded the Ramakrishna Mission, and influential Hindu organization devoted to education, social welfare, and publication of religious texts.
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| last = Smith
| first = Bardwell L.
| title = Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions
| publisher = Brill Archive
| date = 1976
| pages = p.93
}}
</ref> Ramakrishna and [[Swami Vivekananda]] became an influential figure in the [[Bengali Renaissance]]<ref name="AAR">
{{cite book
| last = Miller
| first = Timothy
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = America's Alternative Religions
| publisher = SUNY Press
| date = 1995
| pages = pp.174-175
| quote = …Bengalis played a leading role in the wider Hindu renaissance, producing what can be termed the Bengali "Neo-Vedantic renaissance"
| isbn = 9780791423974}}
</ref> and the [[Spiritual]] [[Renaissance]].<ref name="DIS">{{cite book
| last = Pelinka
| first = Anton
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Renée Schell
| title = Democracy Indian Style
| publisher = Transaction Publishers
| date = 2003
| pages = pp.40-41
| quote = The Bengali Renaissance had numerous facets including the spiritual (Hindu) renaissance, represented by the names of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, the combination of spiritual, intellectual, and political aspects…
| isbn = 9780765801869}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| last = Bhattacharyya
| first = Haridas
| title = The Cultural Heritage of India
| chapter = Part IV : Sri Ramakrishna and Spiritual Renaissance
| publisher = Ramakrishna Mission, Institute of Culture
| date = 1978
| location = University of Michigan
| pages = p.650
}}
</ref> He practiced [[Vaishnava]] and [[Shaktism|Śakti]] ''[[bhakti]]'', [[Vedanta]], [[Tantra]], and other spiritual disciplines and realized that all paths lead to the same ultimate goal.<ref>{{Cite book | title=The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna | author=Swami Nikhilananda | publisher=Sri Ramakrishna Math | location=Chennai | pages=p. 129 | quote=I had to practise each religion for a time — Hinduism, Islām, Christianity. Furthermore, I followed the paths of the Śāktas, Vaishnavas, and Vedāntists. I realized that there is only one God toward whom all are travelling; but the paths are different.}}</ref> He was considered an [[avatar]] or incarnation of God by many of his disciples, and is considered as such by many of his devotees today.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Carl T.|title=Vedanta for the West|publisher=Indiana University Press|date=1994|pages=p.78|isbn=9780253330987}}</ref>


'''Digital Satellite Television''' (also known as ''DStv'') is [[MultiChoice]]'s multi-channel digital satellite TV service in [[Africa]], launched in [[1995]]. In [[South Africa]] and neighbouring countries, it broadcasts on [[ku-Band|K<sub>u</sub> band]], which only requires a small satellite dish, while several other countries in the rest of Africa receive broadcasts via both [[ku-Band|K<sub>u</sub> band]] and [[C-Band]] which requires a larger 1.2m dish. Subscribers in South Africa also receive the [[South African Broadcasting Corporation]]'s three terrestrial channels, [[SABC 1]], [[SABC 2|2]] and [[SABC 3|3]] and the privately owned free-to-air terrestrial channel [[e.tv]]. These are not available to subscribers elsewhere, for rights reasons, although they receive the [[SABC Africa]] channel. (As of August 1, 2008, SABC Africa will cease to broadcast from the DStv platform, due to poor performance.)
==Biography==
===Birth and childhood===
[[Image:Kamarpukur Ramakrishna Hut.jpg| thumb | right|The small house at [[Kamarpukur]] where Ramakrishna lived (centre). The family shrine is on the left, birthplace temple on the right ]]
Ramakrishna was born in 1836, in the village of [[Kamarpukur]], in the [[Hooghly district]] of [[West Bengal]], into a very poor but pious, orthodox [[brahmin]] family. His parents were Khudiram Chattopâdhyâya, and Chandramani Devî. Various supernatural incidents are recounted in connection with Ramakrishna’s birth. It is said that Ramakrishna was named Gadadhar in response to a dream Khudiram had in [[Gaya, India|Gaya]] before Ramakrishna’s birth, in which Lord Gadadhara, the form of [[Vishnu]] worshipped at Gaya, appeared to him and told him he would be born as his son. Chandramani Devi is said to have had a vision of light entering her womb before Ramakrishna was born. Ramakrishna was born as the fourth and last child to his parents.<ref name="SI_birth">
{{cite book
| authorlink = Christopher Isherwood
| title = Ramakrishna and His Disciples
| chapter = The Birth of Ramakrishna
| pages = p.13
}}</ref>


Other countries are also able to receive their terrestrial channels, including [[TV Uganda]] and [[TV Mozambique]]. In each case for rights reasons these terrestrial channels are not available to subscribers outside the 'home' countries.
Gadadhar, as Ramakrishna was known in his early days, was an extremely popular figure in his village. He had a natural gift for the fine arts like drawing and clay modelling. However, he disliked attending school, and rejected his schooling saying that he was not interested in mere "Bread Winning Education". He became increasingly less interested in formal attendance. Though Gadadhar shunned the traditional school system, he showed great desire and ability to learn.<ref>
{{cite book
|title = Transformation of Ramakrishna
|pages = p.70
|quote = …The point to be made is that we are not dealing with an uneducated or ignorant ecstatic. Rather, because of his intelligence, his interest, his own study and his subsequent contact with Hindus of all schools of thought, we should realize that we are dealing with a well versed Hindu thinker who, because of the ecstatic nature of his religious experience, refused to be bound in and restricted by what he viewed as dry, rationalistic requirements of systematic discourse.
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal
| last = Bhawuk
| first = Dharm P.S.
| title = Culture’s influence on creativity: the case of Indian spirituality
| journal = International Journal of Intercultural Relations
| volume = 27
| issue = 1
| pages = pp. 1-22
| publisher = Elsevier
| date = February 2003
| quote = "…scholars have called him "the illiterate genius""
}}</ref> He easily mastered the songs, tales and dramas which were based on the religious scriptures.<ref name="isherwood-74-28">{{cite book | first=Christopher | last=Isherwood | year=1974 | title=Ramakrishna and His Disciples | pages=p. 28 | publisher=Advaita Ashrama}}</ref> At a very early age he was well versed in the ''[[Puranas|Purāṇas]]'', the ''[[Ramayana|Rāmāyaṇa]]'', the ''[[Mahabharatha|Mahābhārata]]'', and ''[[Bhagavata Purana|Śrīmad Bhāgavatam]]'', by hearing them from wandering [[monk]]s and the ''[[Kathak]]s'' — a class of men in ancient [[India]] who preached and sang the ''[[Puranas|Purāṇas]]'' for the uneducated masses.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Muller
| first = Max
| title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
| date = 1898
| pages = pp.33
| chapter = Râmak''ri''sh''n''a's Life
| chapterurl= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls14.htm
}}
</ref> He learned to read and write in [[Bengali]].<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Saradananda
| first = Swami
| title = The Great Master
| pages = p.59
}}
</ref> He was able to follow [[Sanskrit]] even though he could not speak the language.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Nikhilananda
| first = Swami
| title = The Gospel of Ramakrishna
| date = 1942
| chapter = Chapter 20 — RULES FOR HOUSEHOLDERS AND MONKS
| chapterurl= http://www.belurmath.org/gospel/chapter20.htm
| quote = "During my boyhood I could understand what the Sadhus read at the Lahas' house at Kamarpukur, although I would miss a little here and there. If a pundit speaks to me in Sanskrit I can follow him, but I cannot speak it myself.… The realization of God is enough for me. What does it matter if I don't know Sanskrit?"
}}
</ref> He would visit with wandering monks who stopped in Kamarpukur on their way to [[Puri (city)|Puri]]. He would serve them and listen to their religious debates with rapt attention. Gadadhar loved nature and spent much time in fields and fruit orchards outside the village with his friends.


DStv has numerous products and services, in 2005 introduced its own Personal Video Recorder (PVR). On 24 July 2008 they introduced the High Definition Personal Video Recorder (HD PVR) which allows the subscriber to record DStv's content. This functionality is similar to that found on set-top [[Digital Video Recorder]] units in other countries, such as Britain's Sky+ PVR. However, neither of these systems allow viewers to download or archive the recorded content.
At the age of six or seven, Gadadhar had an intense experience of spiritual ecstasy. He was walking along the paddy fields and suddenly looked up to find a flock of white [[Crane (bird)|cranes]] flying with dark thunder-clouds as a background. To him, that was a beautiful sight, he was so absorbed that he lost consciousness of everything outward. He later said that in that state he had experienced an indescribable joy.<ref name="isherwood-74-28"/><ref>{{cite book | author=Swami Nikhilananda | title=The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna | publisher=Ramakrishna Math, Chennai | pages=p. 4}}</ref> Gadadhar had experiences of similar nature a few other times in his childhood.


DStv also has separate 'bouquets' of channels in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[German language|German]], [[Indian languages]], [[DStv Compact]], [[DStv Select 1]] and [[DStv Select 2]].
Gadadhar's father died in 1843. This event had a profound effect on the boy and is considered as one of the determinative points in Ramakrishna's religious life.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Neevel
| first = Walter G
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Bardwell L. Smith
| title = Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions
| chapter = The Transformation of Ramakrishna
| publisher = Brill Archive
| date = 1976
| location =
| pages = 68
}}
</ref> This loss drew him closer to his mother, and he spent his time in household activities, including the daily worship of the household deities. He also became more involved in contemplative activities such as reading the sacred [[Indian epic poetry|epic]]s.


==Channels==
At the age of nine, Gadadhar was to be invested with the [[Upanayanam|sacred thread]].
DStv has expanded its offering from 13 to 88 video channels and 40 to 78 audio channels. In August 2008 [[Multichoice]] introduce its first [[HDTV]] channel [[M-Net]] HD on channel 170.
However, contrary to tradition and despite firm opposition from his family, to keep up his promise , Gadhadhar took his first alms — which marks the formal recognition of the boy as [[brahmi]], from a [[Shudra|low-caste]] woman belonging to [[blacksmith]] community.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Vrajaprana
| first = Pravrajika
| title = Living Wisdom
| pages = p.246
| publisher = Vedanta Press
| year = 1994
}}
</ref>


===General Entertainment & Movies===
When Ramakrishna was into his teens, the family's financial position worsened. Ramkumar ran a Sanskrit school in [[Calcutta]] and also served as a [[purohit]] priest in some families. Ramakrishna moved to Calcutta in the year 1852 and started assisting his elder brother in the priestly work.<ref>
{{cite book
| authorlink = Christopher Isherwood
| title = Ramakrishna and His Disciples
| chapter = The Boyhood of Ramakrishna
| pages = p.37
}}</ref>


'''100''' - DStv Guide<br>
=== Priest at Dakshineswar Kali Temple ===
'''101''' - [[M-Net]]<br>
[[Image:Kolkatatemple.jpg|thumb|right|Dakshineswar Kāli Temple, where Ramakrishna spent a major portion of his adult life.]]
'''102''' - [[M-Net Africa]]<br>
In 1855 Ramkumar was appointed as the priest of [[Dakshineswar Kali Temple]], built by [[Rani Rashmoni]]—a rich woman of [[Calcutta]] who belonged to the [[untouchable]] ''[[kaivarta]]'' community<ref>Amiya P. Sen, "Sri Ramakrishna, the ''Kathamrita'' and the Calcutta middle Classes: an old problematic revisited" ''Postcolonial Studies'', 9: 2 p 176</ref> Ramakrishna moved in with his brother only after some persuasion, since the temple was constructed by a low caste woman. Ramakrishna, along with his nephew Hriday, became assistants to Ramkumar, with Ramakrishna given the task of decorating the deity. When Ramkumar passed away in 1856, Ramakrishna took his place as the priest of the Kāli temple. He was allotted a room in the northwestern corner of the temple courtyard, where he spent the rest of his life.<ref>{{Cite book | title=Ramakrishna and his Disciples | pages=pp. 55–57 | first=Christopher | last=Isherwood | publisher=Advaita Ashrama | year=1974}}</ref> The name Ramakrishna is said to have been given him by Mathur Babu, the son-in-law of [[Rani Rasmani]].<ref>Life of Sri Ramakrishna, Advaita Ashrama, Ninth Impression, December 1971, p. 44</ref>
'''103''' - [[M-Net Movies 1]]<br>
'''104''' - [[M-Net Movies 2]]<br>
'''105''' - [[M-Net Stars]]<br>
'''106''' - [[M-Net Action]]<br>
'''108''' - [[Hallmark Channel]]<br>
'''109''' - [[TCM]]<br>
'''110''' - [[M-Net#M-Net_Series|M-Net Series]]<br>
'''111''' - [[KykNET]]<br>
'''112''' - [[Magic World]]<br>
'''113''' - [[Sony Entertainment Television (South Africa)|Sony Entertainment Television]]<br>
'''114''' - [[Africa Magic]]<br>
'''115''' - [[Africa Magic +]]<br>
'''120''' - [[BBC Entertainment]]<br>
'''123''' - [[Go (TV channel)|GO]]<br>
'''124''' - [[E! Entertainment]]<br>
'''125''' - [[Zone Reality]]<br>
'''126''' - [[Animax]]<br>
'''131''' - [[SABC 1]]<br>
'''132''' - [[SABC 2]]<br>
'''133''' - [[SABC 3]]<br>
'''134''' - [[e.tv]]<br>
'''145''' - [[Games Channel]]<br>
'''150''' - [[Soweto TV]]<br>


===HD===
[[Image:Dakshineswar Bhavatarini Kali.jpg|thumb|left|Bhavatārini Kāli, the deity that Ramakrishna worshipped.]]
After Ramkumar's demise Ramakrishna became more contemplative. He began to look upon the image of the goddess [[Kali|Kāli]] as his mother and the mother of the universe. He became seized by a desire to have a [[Vision (spirituality)|vision]] of [[Kali|Kāli]]—a direct realization of her reality—and believed the stone image to be living and breathing and taking food out of his hand. At times he would weep bitterly and cry out loudly while worshiping, and would not be comforted, because he could not see his mother Kali as perfectly as he wished. At night, he would go into a nearby jungle and spend the entire night meditating on God, without any consciousness of even his clothes falling off.<ref>
{{cite book
| authorlink = Mahendranath Gupta
| title = Kathamrita
| chapter = Chapter I
| chapterurl = http://www.kathamrita.org/kathamrita2/k2sec01.htm
| volume = 2
| quote = When I [Ramakrishna] was in that state, everything blew away from me as if by the cyclone of Aswin. No indication of my previous life remained! I lost external awareness! Even my dhoti fell off, so how could I care for the sacred thread? I said to him, ‘If you once experience that madness for the Lord, you will understand.’}}
</ref> People became divided in their opinions—some held Ramakrishna to be mad, and some took him to be a great lover of God.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Muller
| first = Max
| title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
| date = 1898
| pages = pp.37
| chapter = Râmakrishna's Life
| chapterurl= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls14.htm
}}
</ref>


'''170''' - [[M-Net HD]]<br>
One day, he was so impatient to see Mother Kāli that he decided to end his life. Seizing a sword hanging on the wall, he was about to strike himself with it, when he is reported to have seen light issuing from the deity in waves. Ramakrishna describes his first [[Vision (spirituality)|vision]] of Kali as follows:
{{Quote|I had a marvelous vision of the Mother, and fell down unconscious.…It was as if houses, doors, temples and everything else vanished altogether; as if there was nothing anywhere! And what I saw was an infinite shoreless sea of light; a sea that was consciousness. However far and in whatever direction I looked, I saw shining waves, one after another, coming towards me. They were raging and storming upon me with great speed. Very soon they were upon me; they made me sink down into unknown depths. I panted and struggled and lost consciousness.<ref>{{Cite book | title=Ramakrishna and his Disciples | pages=pp. 65 | first=Christopher | last=Isherwood | authorlink = Christopher Isherwood | year=1965}}</ref> }}
{{Quote|… What was happening in the outside world I did not know; but within me there was a steady flow of undiluted bliss, altogether new, and I felt the presence of the Divine Mother.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Nikhilananda
| first = Swami
| title = The Gospel of Ramakrishna
| date = 1942
| chapter = Chapter 1 — Introduction
| chapterurl= http://www.belurmath.org/gospel/introduction.htm
}}
</ref>}}


===Lifestyle===
After the vision, Ramakrishna surrendered himself more and more to Kali. Childlike, he obeyed what he called the will of the Mother in everything, no matter how trivial or philosophical. People thought he was insane, but he never cared for what the world might think of him. Although Rani Rasmani and her son-in-law Mathur Babu had faith in Ramakrishna and left him free do whatever he liked, they thought that Ramakrishna was suffering from the effects of unduly prolonged continence. So Mathur arranged for prostitutes to visit Ramakrishna, but their attempts to seduce Ramakrishna only failed. He took the prostitutes to be forms of Divine Mother herself.<ref>''Ramakrishna Kathamrita'', vol. 1, [http://kathamrita.org/kathamrita/k1sec17.htm section 17]. "I used to cry uttering, ‘Mother, Mother’ in such a way that people would stand to watch me. At this state of mine someone brought a prostitute and made her sit in my room to tempt me and to cure me of my madness. She was a pretty woman with attractive eyes. I ran out of the room uttering, ‘Mother, Mother.’ And shouting for Haladhari, I said, ‘Brother, come and see who has entered in my room.’ I told about it to Haladhari and all others. In this state I used to weep uttering, ‘Mother, Mother’ and say to Her crying, ‘Mother, save me. Mother, purify me so that my mind may not go from the right to the wrong.’"</ref><ref>{{Cite book | title=Ramakrishna and his Disciples | pages=p. 66–70 | first=Christopher | last=Isherwood | publisher=Advaita Ashrama | year=1974}}</ref>


'''180''' - [[BBC Lifestyle]]<br>
===Marriage===
'''181''' - [[Travel Channel (UK)|Travel Channel]]<br>
Rumors spread to [[Kamarpukur]] that Ramakrishna had gone mad as a result of his over-taxing spiritual exercises at [[Dakshineswar]]. Ramakrishna's mother and his elder brother Rameswar decided to get Ramakrishna married, thinking that marriage would be a good steadying influence upon him—by forcing him to accept responsibility and to keep his attention on normal affairs rather than being obsessed with his spiritual practices and visions.<ref>
'''182''' - [[The Home Channel]]<br>
{{cite book
'''183''' - [[Style Network]]<br>
| last = Rolland
'''184''' - [[Fashion TV]]<br>
| first = Romain
'''198''' - Events<br> (Currently [[Big Brother Africa 3]])
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
'''199''' - Events<br>
| date = 1929
| pages =
| chapter =
}}
</ref> Far from objecting to the marriage, Ramakrishna mentioned [[Jayrambati]], three miles to the north-west of [[Kamarpukur]], as being the village where the bride could be found, at the house of one Ramchandra Mukherjee. The five-year-old bride, [[Sarada Devi|Sarada]], was found and the marriage was duly solemnised in 1859.<ref name=dowager>Sil, ''Divine Dowager'', p. 42</ref> Ramakrishna was 23 at this point, but the age difference was typical for 19th century rural [[Bengal]]. Ramakrishna left [[Sarada]] in [[December]] 1860 and did not return until May 1867.<ref name=dowager>Sil, ''Divine Dowager'', p. 42</ref>


===Sport===
===Religious Practices and Teachers===
After his marriage Ramakrishna returned to Calcutta and took upon himself the charges of the temple again, but instead of toning down, his spiritual fervour and devotion only increased.
To get rid of the thought that he belonged to a higher [[Brahmana|brahmanical]] caste, he would eat food cooked by the lowest classes and serve the ''Pariahs''—servants and cleaners who belonged to the lowest caste,<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Yale
| first = John
| title = What Religion Is
| publisher = Kessinger Publishing
| date = 2006
| pages = p.219
| isbn = 9781425488802
}}
</ref> describing this as follows:
{{Quote|'Sometimes I used to go to the closet of the servants and sweepers and clean it with my own hands, and prayed, "Mother! destroy in me all idea that I am great, and that I am a Brahman, and that they are low and pariahs, for who are they but Thou in so many forms?"'<ref name="My_Master"/><ref name="mm_life_42"/>}}
Similarly, he would take [[gold]] and [[silver]] coins, and mixing them with rubbish, repeat "money is rubbish, money is rubbish". He later said that "I lost all perception of difference between the two in my mind, and threw them both into the Ganges. No wonder people took me for mad."<ref name="mm_life_42">
{{cite book
| last = Muller
| first = Max
| title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
| date = 1898
| pages = pp.42
| chapter = Râmak''ri''sh''n''a's Life
| chapterurl= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls14.htm
}}
</ref>


'''200''' - [[Supersport (TV channel)|SuperSport]] Update<br>
He was unable to attend to any external duties, he suffered from sleeplessness, and burning sensations throughout his body. [[Physician]]s were consulted, and one of them told, "It seems to me that the patient's condition is due to some kind of spiritual excitement—medicine won't cure him."<ref>{{Cite book | title=Ramakrishna and his Disciples | pages=p. 84 | first=Christopher | last=Isherwood | publisher=Advaita Ashrama | year=1974}}</ref><ref>
'''201''' - SuperSport 1<br>
{{cite book
'''202''' - SuperSport 2<br>
| last = Muller
'''203''' - SuperSport 3<br>
| first = Max
'''204''' - SuperSport 4<br>
| title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
'''205''' - SuperSport 5<br>
| date = 1898
'''206''' - SuperSport 6<br>
| pages = pp.39
'''207''' - SuperSport 7<br>
| chapter = Râmak''ri''sh''n''a's Life
'''208''' - SuperSport Maximo<br>
| chapterurl= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls14.htm
'''209''' - SuperSport Select<br>
}}
'''230''' - [[ESPN]]<br>
</ref>
'''231''' - [[ESPN Classic]]<br>
'''232''' - [[TellyTrack]]<br>
'''247''' - SuperSport Action<br>


===Documentary===
====Bhairavi Brahmani and Tantra====
:''See also [[Ramakrishna#Ramakrishna.27s_Tantra_Sadhana|Views on Ramakrishna's Tantra Sadhana]]''
In 1861, Bhairavi Brahmani, an orange robed female ascetic appeared at Dakshineshwar. Her real name was [[Yogeshwari]] and she was in her late thirties.<ref>Isherwood, p. 89</ref> Other details about her life before her arrival in Dakshineswar is unknown.<ref>Isherwood, p. 89–90</ref> She was well versed in scriptures and was adept in [[Tantra|Tantric]] and Vaishnava methods of worship.<ref>''The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna'', [http://belurmath.org/gospel/introduction.htm Introduction]</ref><ref name="mm_rlife">
{{cite book
| last = Muller
| first = Max
| title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
| date = 1898
| pages = pp.43-44
| chapter = Râmak''ri''sh''n''a's Life
| chapterurl= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls14.htm
}}
</ref>


'''250''' - [[Discovery Channel]]<br>
Ramakrishna described the Bhairavi about his spiritual experiences and his seemingly abnormal physical conditions. The Bhairavi assured him that he was not mad but was experiencing phenomena that accompany ''mahabhava''—the supreme attitude of loving devotion towards the divine<ref name="neevel-74"/> and quoting from the ''bhakti shastras'', indicated that [[Radha]] and [[Chaitanya]] had similar experiences.<ref>
'''251''' - [[BBC Knowledge (Worldwide)|BBC Knowledge]]<br>
{{cite book
'''254''' - [[The History Channel]]<br>
| last = Jestice
'''255''' - [[Crime & Investigation Network]]<br>
| first = Phyllis G.
'''260''' - [[National Geographic Channel]]<br>
| title = Holy People of the World: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia
'''261''' - [[Nat Geo Wild]] <br>
| publisher = ABC-CLIO
'''264''' - [[Animal Planet]]<br>
| date = 2004
| location =
| pages = p.723
}}
</ref> The ''Bhairavi'' also recommended the cure for Ramakrishna's physical ailments.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Muller
| first = Max
| title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
| date = 1898
| pages = pp.43
| chapter = Râmak''ri''sh''n''a's Life
| chapterurl= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls14.htm
| quote = 'About this time,' Ramakrishna said, 'I felt such a burning sensation all over my body; I used to stand in the waters of the Ganges, with my body immersed up to the shoulders and a wet towel over my head all through the day, for it was insufferable. Then a Brahman lady came and cured me of it in three days. She smeared my body with sandal-wood paste and put garlands on my neck, and the pain vanished in three days.'
}}
</ref>


===Children===
The Bhairavi initiated Ramakrishna into the [[tantra|tantric]] practices, which expose the sense and spirit to all the disturbances of the flesh and imaginations, so that these may be transcended.<ref>Romain Rolland, p. 22–37</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| author = Jean Varenne
| coauthors = Derek Coltman
| title = Yoga and the Hindu Tradition
| publisher = University of Chicago Press
| date = 1977
| pages = p.151
| quote = we know that certain Tantric practices, condemned as shockingly immoral, are aimed solely at enabling the adept to make use of the energy required for their realization in order to destroy desire within himself root and branch
}}
</ref> Under her guidance, he went through a full course of sixty four major [[tantra|tantric]] sadhanas.<ref name="neevel-74">Neevel, p. 74-75</ref> He began with [[mantra]] rituals such as [[japa]] and purascarana and many other rituals designed to purify the mind and establish self-control. The tantric sadhanas generally include a set of heteredox practices called ''[[vamachara]]'' (left-hand path), which utilize as a means of liberation, activities like eating of parched grain, fish and meat along with drinking of wine and sexual intercourse.<ref name="neevel-74" /> According Ramakrishna and his biographers, Ramakrishna did not directly participate in the last two of those activities, that all he needed was a suggestion of them to produce the desired result.<ref name="neevel-74" /> Though Ramakrishna acknowledged the left-hand tantric path as another means of spiritual enlightenment, he did not recommend it to anybody.<ref>Isherwood, p. 76, "I tell you, this is also one of the paths -- though it's a dirty one. There are several doors leading into a house -- the main door, the back door, and the door by which the sweeper enters to clean out dirt. So, this too, is a door. No matter which door people use, they get inside the house, all right. Does that mean you should act like them, or mix with them?"</ref> Later, when [[Vivekananda|Narendra]] asked him about the left-hand path, he would say, "It is not a good path. It is very difficult and often brings about the downfall of the aspirant."<ref>''Ramakrishna Kathamrita'', vol. 2, [http://www.kathamrita.org/kathamrita2/k2sec01.htm section 1].</ref>


'''300''' - K-All Day<br>
The Bhairavi also taught Ramakrishna the ''[[kumari]]-[[puja]]'', a form of ritual in which the Virgin Goddess is worshiped symbolically in the form of a young girl.<ref name=dowager>Sil, ''Divine Dowager'', p. 42</ref> Under the tutelage of the Bhairavi, Ramakrishna also became an adept at [[Kundalini Yoga]].<ref name="neevel-74" /> Ramakrishna completed his tantric sadhana in 1863.<ref>Isherwood, p. 101</ref>
'''301''' - [[Cartoon Network Europe|Cartoon Network]]<br>
'''302''' - [[Boomerang Europe|Boomerang]]<br>
'''303''' - [[Disney Channel]]<br>
'''304''' - [[Jetix]] (coming soon)<br>
'''305''' - [[Nickelodeon (TV channel)|Nickelodeon]]<br>
'''306''' - [[CBeebies]]<br>
'''319''' - [[Mindset Learn]]<br>


===Music===
Ramakrishna took the attitude of a son towards the Bhairavi.<ref name="rr_bb">
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.22-37
| chapter = The Two Guides of Knowledge
}}
</ref> The Bhairavi on the other hand looked upon Ramakrishna as an ''[[avatar]]a'', or [[incarnation]] of the divine, and was the first person to openly declare that Ramakrishna was an ''avatara''.<ref name="rr_bb"/> But Ramakrishna was indifferent and unconcerned about people calling him an incarnation.<ref>Isherwood, p. 96</ref>


'''320''' - Channel O<br>
The Bhairavi, with the [[yoga|yogic]] techniques<ref>
'''321''' - [[MTV Europe]]<br>
{{cite book
'''322''' - [[MTV Base#MTV Base (in Africa)|MTV Base]]<br>
| last = Richards
'''323''' - [[VH1 Europe|VH1]]<br>
| first = Glyn
'''324''' - [[MK (channel)|MK]]<br>
| title = A Source-book of modern Hinduism
'''325''' - [[TRACE TV]]<br>
| publisher = Routledge
'''331''' - [[One Gospel]]<br>
| date = 1985
| quote= [Ramakrishna] received instructions in yogic techniques which enabled him to control his spiritual energy.
| pages = p.63
}}
</ref> and the [[tantra]]<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Jackson
| first = Carl T.
| title = Vedanta for the West: The Ramakrishna Movement in the United States
| date = 1994
| pages = p.18
| quote = A woman referred to as the "Bhairavi Brahmani" now introduced Ramakrishna to Tantrism, a significant influence on his early development.
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
|title = Transformation of Ramakrishna
|pages = p.70
|quote = Ramakrishna's practice of tantra played a important role in Ramakrishna's transformation from the uncontrollable and self-destructive madman of the early years into the saintly and relatively self-controlled—if eccentric and ecstatic—teacher of the later years.
}}
</ref> played an important part in the initial [[spiritual]] development of Ramakrishna.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Sen
| first = Siba Pada
| title = Social and Religious Reform Movements in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
| publisher = Institute of Historical Studies
| date = 1979
| location = Calcutta
| pages = p.49
| quote = The Bhairavi was with him and took an active part in shaping his religious views which were marked by simplicity and toleration and rejection of all external formalities in regard to spiritual development
}}
</ref>


====Vaishnava Bhakti====
===Religion===
The [[Vaishnava]] [[Bhakti]] traditions speak of five different ''bhāva''s—different attitudes that a devotee can take up in order to express his love for the God. They are: ''śānta '', the serene attitude; ''dāsya'', the attitude of a servant; ''sakhya'', the attitude of a friend; ''vātsalya'', the attitude of a mother toward her child; and ''madhura'', the attitude of a woman toward her lover.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Nikhilananda
| first = Swami
| authorlink = Swami Nikhilananda
| title = The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
| chapter = ADVICE TO HOUSEHOLDERS
| chapterurl = http://belurmath.org/gospel/chapter04.htm
| date = 1942
| location =
| pages = p.115
}}
</ref> Ramakrishna is known to have practised some of these ''bhavas''<ref name="neevel-bhavas_72-83">
{{cite book
| last = Neevel
| first = Walter G
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Bardwell L. Smith
| title = Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions
| chapter = The Transformation of Ramakrishna
| date = 1976
| pages = p.72-83
}}
</ref>


'''341''' - [[Trinity Broadcasting Network|TBN]]<br>
At some point in the period between his vision of Kali and his marriage, Ramakrishna practiced ''dāsya bhāva''—the attitude of a servant towards his master. He started worshiping [[Rama]] in the attitude of [[Hanuman]], the monkey-god, who is considered to be the ideal devotee and servant of Rama. In doing so, Ramakrishna completely identified himself with Hanuman, he ate and walked like a monkey, spent much of his time in trees and his eyes got a restless look like the eyes of a monkey. According to Ramakrishna and his biographers, there was even a small growth in the lower part of his spine resembling the tail of a monkey.<ref name="isherwood-dasya">Isherwood, p. 70–73</ref> As a climax to his ''dāsya'' experiment, Ramakrishna had a [[vision (spirituality)|vision]] of [[Sita]], the consort of Rama, merging into his body.<ref name="neevel-bhavas_72-83"/><ref name="isherwood-dasya"/>
'''343''' - Rhema<br>
'''346''' - [[Iqraa TV]]<br>
'''350''' - Inspiration TV<br>


===Consumer Channels===
In 1864, Ramakrishna practiced ''vātsalya bhāva'', the attitude of a mother towards God. During this period, he worshipped a metal image of Ramlālā ([[Rama]] as a child) in the attitude of a mother. As he was doing so, his character became filled with motherly tenderness, and he began to regard himself as a woman. His speech and gestures changed to that of a woman. According to Ramakrishna and his biographers, he could actually feel the presence of child Rama as a living God in the metal image.<ref>Isherwood, p. 197–198.</ref><ref name="gospel_intro">
{{cite book
| last = Nikhilananda
| first = Swami
| title = The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
| date =
| pages =
| chapter = Introduction
| chapterurl= http://www.belurmath.org/gospel/introduction.htm
}}
</ref>


'''391''' - Shopping Channel 1<br>
Ramakrishna later engaged in the practice of ''madhura bhāva''— the attitude of [[Gopi]]s and [[Radha]] towards their lover, [[Krishna]].<ref name="neevel-bhavas_72-83"/> Ramakrishna, in order to realise this love, dressed himself in women's attire for several days and regarded himself as one of the Gopis of Vrindavan. At the end of this sadhana, he attained ''savikalpa samadhi''—vision and union with [[Krishna]]. Ramakrishna said,
'''392''' - Shopping Channel 2<br>
{{Quote|"I spent many days as the handmaid of God. I dressed myself in women's clothes, put on ornaments, and covered the upper part of my body with a scarf, just like a woman...Otherwise, how could I have kept my wife with me for eight months? Both of us behaved as if we were the handmaids of the Divine Mother. I cannot speak of myself as a man."<ref name="roy">Parama Roy, ''Indian Traffic: Identities in Question in Colonial and Post-Colonial India'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998</ref>}}
'''393''' - Shopping Channel 3<br>
'''394''' - Shopping Channel 4<br>


At some point, Ramakrishna visited [[Nadia district|Nadia]], the home of [[Chaitanya]] and [[Nityananda]], the 15th-century founders of Bengali [[Gaudiya Vaishnava]] ''[[bhakti]]''. He had an intense vision of two young boys merging into his body.<ref name="roy"/>


===News & Commerce===
Earlier, after his vision of Kali, he is said to have cultivated the ''Santa bhava'' — the passive "peaceful" attitude — towards Kali.<ref name="neevel-bhavas_72-83"/>


'''400''' - [[BBC World News]]<br>
====Totapuri and Vedanta====
'''401''' - [[CNN International]]<br>
[[Image:Panchavati Ramakrishna.jpg| thumb| right|The [[Panchavati]] and the hut where Ramakrishna performed his [[advaita|advaitic]] [[sadhana]]. The mud hut has been replaced by a brick one.]]
'''402''' - [[Sky News]]<br>
In 1864, Ramakrishna was initiated into ''[[sanyassa]]'' by a [[vedanta|vedantic]] [[ascetic]], a wandering [[monk]] named [[Totapuri]]. Ramakrishna described Totapuri as "a teacher of masculine strength, a sterner mien, a gnarled physique, and a virile voice".<ref>
'''403''' - [[eNews Channel]]<br>
{{cite book
'''404''' - [[EuroNews]]<br>
| last = Nikhilananda
'''405''' - [[Russia Today]]<br>
| first = Swami
'''406''' - [[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera International]]<br>
| title = The Gospel of Ramakrishna
'''407''' - [[SABC]] Africa<br>
| date = 1942
'''408''' - Parliament Channel<br>
| chapter = Chapter 1 — Introduction
'''410''' - [[CNBC Africa]]<br>
| chapterurl= http://www.belurmath.org/gospel/introduction.htm
'''411''' - [[Bloomberg Television|Bloomberg]]<br>
}}
'''412''' - Summit TV (Ignition Channel on Weekends)<br>
</ref> He addressed Totapuri as ''Nangta'' or ''Langta'' ("Naked One"), because as a wandering [[monk]] of the Naga sect<ref>
'''415''' - Weather Channel<br>
{{cite book
| authorlink = Christopher Isherwood
| title = Ramakrishna and His Disciples
| chapter = Tota Puri
| pages = p.116
}}</ref> he did not wear any clothing. Totapuri looked at the world as [[Maya (illusion)|illusory]] and the worship of Gods and Godesses as fantasies of the deluded mind. Instead, he believed in formless [[Brahman]].<ref name="EUH-263">
{{cite book
| last = Harding
| first = Elizabeth U.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar
| publisher = Motilal Banarsidass
| date = 1998
| pages = p.263
| isbn = }}
</ref>


==Free to Air (FTA) Channels==
Totapuri first guided Ramakrishna through the rites of ''sannyasa''—renunciation of all ties to the world. Then he instructed him in the teaching of ''advaita''—that "Brahman alone is real, and the world is [[Maya (illusion)|illusory]]; I have no separate existence; I am that [[Brahman]] alone."<ref> ''The Great Master'', p. 255.</ref> Under the guidance of Totapuri, Ramakrishna experienced ''[[Nirvikalpa Samadhi]]'' which is considered to be the highest state in spiritual realisation:
There are several free-to-air channels available on DSTV simply by adding settings onto the decoder. More details can be found at the rites blog[http://rory.sharp.fm/rites/2006/01/freetoair_tv_channels_on_pas71.html]
{{Quote|I [Ramakrishna] said to Totapuri in despair: "It's no good. I will never be able to lift my spirit to the unconditioned state and find myself face to face with the Atman." He [Totapuri] replied severely: "What do you mean you can't? You must!" Looking about him, he found a shard of glass. He took it and stuck the point between my eyes saying: "Concentrate your mind on that point." [...] The last barrier vanished and my spirit immediately precipitated itself beyond the plane of the conditioned. I lost myself in samadhi.<ref name="rolland">Roland, Romain ''The Life of Ramakrishna'' (1984), Advaita Ashram</ref>}}


===Sentech Vivid===
[[Totapuri]] stayed with Ramakrishna for nearly eleven months and instructed him further in the teachings of ''[[advaita]]''. After the departure of Totapuri, Ramakrishna reportedly remained for six months in a state of absolute contemplation.<ref>"For six months in a stretch, I [Ramakrishna] remained in that state from which ordinary men can never return; generally the body falls off, after three weeks, like a mere leaf. I was not conscious of day or night. Flies would enter my mouth and nostrils as they do a dead's body, but I did not feel them. My hair became matted with dust." Swami Nikhilananda, ''Ramakrishna, Prophet of New India'', New York, Harper and Brothers, 1942, p. 28.</ref> Ramakrishna said that this period of ''nirvikalpa samadhi'' came to an end when he received a command from the Mother [[Kali]], "Remain in Bhavamukha; for the enlightenment of the people, remain in Bhavamukha", referring to a state of existence intermediate between ''[[samadhi]]'' and normal consciousness.<ref>{{cite book | last = Isherwood | first = Christopher | title = Ramakrishna and his Disciples | chapter = Tota Puri | pages = p.123}}</ref>
* SEN1-6, including Mindset Network channel 1 (education) and 2 (health), Jet TV.
* PTV1-6 (some [[Nagravision]]-encrypted).
* SABC1/2/3, e.tv (all [[Nagravision]]-encrypted).
* LCN, [[The Hope Channel]], Ps91, ITV, DTBC, God Channel, TCT, DayStar (free-to-air, religious).
* Guide (interactive channel, probably won't work).
* There are also some audio channels available (some free-to-air, some encrypted).


====Islam and Christianity====
===Botswana TV===
* BTV (free-to-air, general entertainment channel). There are multiple audio tracks on BTV, which sound like radio stations.
In 1866, [[Govinda Roy]], a Hindu guru who practiced [[Sufism]], initiated Ramakrishna into [[Islam]]. Ramakrishna said<ref>{{cite book | last = Isherwood | first = Christopher | title = Ramakrishna and his Disciples | pages = p.124}}</ref>:
{{Quote|I devoutly repeated the name of [[Allah]], wore a cloth like the [[Arab]] [[Moslems]], said their prayer five time daily, and felt disinclined even to see images of the Hindu gods and goddesses, much less worship them&mdash;for the Hindu way of thinking had disappeared altogether from my mind.}}
After few days of practice he had a [[vision (spirituality)|vision]] of a "radiant personage with grave countenance and white beard resembling the [[Prophet]] and merging with his body".
<ref name="rr_rtm">
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.49-62
| chapter = The Return to Man
}}
</ref>


===Fashion TV===
Seven years later, at the end of 1873 he started the practise of [[Christianity]], when his devotee Shambu Charan Mallik read the [[Bible]] to him. For several days he was filled with [[Christian]] thoughts and no longer thought of going to the [[Kali]] temple. One day when he was sitting in the room he saw on the wall a picture of [[Madonna and Child|Madonna and Child Jesus]]. He felt that the figures became alive and had a [[vision (spirituality)|vision]] in which [[Jesus]] came and merged with him.<ref>{{cite journal
* [[Fashion TV]] (free-to-air).
| author = Ramakrishna Mission Singapore
| title = Lay Disciples of Ramakrishna
| journal = Nirvana
| volume =
| issue =
| pages =
| publisher = Ramakrishna Mission, Singapore
| url = http://www.ramakrishna.org.sg/Nirvana_Apr%202007.htm
|date=April 2007}}
</ref><ref name="roy">Parama Roy, ''Indian Traffic: Identities in Question in Colonial and Post-Colonial India'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998</ref>
In his own room amongst his Divine pictures was one of [[Christ]], and he burnt incense before it morning and evening. There was also a picture showing [[Jesus Christ]] saving [[St.Peter]] from drowning in the water.


===ManaSat===
Referring to his experimentation with other religions Ramakrishna said<ref name="rr_rtm"/>:
* ManaSat 1 (religious, free-to-air, Portuguese, 2 audio tracks).
{{Quote|"I have practised all religions—Hinduism, Islam, Christianity—and I have also followed the paths of the different Hindu sects. I have found that it is the same God toward whom all are directing their steps, though along different paths. You must try all beliefs and traverse all the different ways once. Wherever I look, I see men quarrelling in the name of religion—Hindus, Mohammedans, Brahmos, Vaishnavas, and the rest. But they never reflect that He who is called Krishna is also called Siva, and bears the name of the Primal Energy, Jesus, and Allah as well—the same Rama with a thousand names…"}}
* ManaSat 2 (religious, sometimes encrypted, Portuguese, 2 audio tracks).


=== Sarada Devi ===
===Novacom===
* [Novacom] (test card).
[[Image:Holy mother sarada.jpg|thumb|right|140px|[[Sarada Devi]]]]
* [[Daystar Television Network|DayStar]], LoveWorld, [[The God Channel]] (religious, free-to-air).
When the child bride, [[Sarada Devi]] attained the age of seventeen or eighteen, as the customs dictated, she had to join her husband, Ramakrishna. She had heard rumours that her husband had become mad, and was in deep grief. Then again she heard that he had become a great religious man.<ref>
* [RTNC] (free-to-air).
{{cite book
* [APNA] (free-to-air).
| last = Muller
* [BEStv] (free-to-air).
| first = Max
* [[Extreme Sports Channel|Extreme Sports]] (free-to-air).
| title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
| date = 1898
| pages = pp.52-53
| chapter = Râmak''ri''sh''n''a's Life
| chapterurl= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls14.htm
}}
</ref>

As a priest he performed the ritual ceremonies, the ''Shodashi Puja''—the adoration of womanhood and considered her as the Divine Mother. [[Sarada Devi]] was made to sit in the seat of [[Kali]], and worshipped her with flowers and incense. His view of woman as Mother was not limited to his companion [[Sarada Devi]]. He recognised the mother even in the most degraded prostitutes.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = p.59
| chapter = The Return to Man
}}
</ref> The marriage was never consummated because he regarded Sarada as the Divine Mother in person.<ref>Isherwood, ''Ramakrishna and His Disciples'', pp. 144-146.</ref>

With respect to Ramakrishna's treatment of her, [[Sarada Devi]] said that, "I was married to a husband who never addressed me as 'tui.'(''you'') Ah! How he treated me! Not even once did he tell me a harsh word or wound my feelings."<ref>
{{cite book
| author = Sri Ramakrishna Math
| title = The Gospel of The Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi
| date = 1984
| pages = p.xx
| chapter = Her Devotee-Children
}}
</ref>

[[Sarada Devi]] is considered as his first disciple. Ramakrishna referred to his wife as the [[Holy Mother]], and it was by this name that she was known to his disciples. After Ramakrishna's death in 1886, Sarada Devi continued to play an important role in the nascent religious movement.<ref name="leo_sch"/>

=== Influence on Keshub Chunder Sen and Bhadralok ===
{{See also|Keshub Chunder Sen}}
[[Image:Ramakrishna trance 1879.jpg|thumb|Ramakrishna in [[samadhi]] at the house of [[Keshab Chandra Sen]]. He is seen supported by his nephew Hriday and surrounded by devotees.]]

In 1875, Ramakrishna met the influential former [[Brahmo Samaj]] leader [[Keshab Chandra Sen]].<ref name="rr_shep">
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.110-130
| chapter = Ramakrishna and the Great Shepherds of India
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| last = Farquhar
| first = John Nicol
| title = Modern Religious Movements in India
| publsher = Macmillan Co.
| date = 1915
| page = p. 194
| quote = About 1875, Keshab Chandra Sen made his acquaintance and became very interested in him (Ramakrishna).
}}
</ref> Sen had seperated from the [[Brahmo Samaj]], and formed his own organisation. Sen had accepted [[Christianity]].<ref name="rr_shep"/> Attracted by Ramakrishna's teachings, Keshab Sen publicized them over a period of several years in his journal ''The New Dispensation''.<ref name="jm_pb">
{{cite journal
| last = Mukherjee
| first = Dr. Jayasree
| title = Sri Ramakrishna’s Impact on Contemporary Indian Society
| journal = Prabuddha Bharatha
| date = May 2004
| url = http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/prabuddha_bharata/sri_ramakrishna%27s_impact_on_contemporary_indian_society_may04.php
| accessdate = 2008-09-04}}
</ref> Sen was instrumental in bringing Ramakrishna to the attention of a wider audience, especially the [[Bhadralok]] (English-educated classes of Bengal) and the [[Europeans]] residing in India.<ref name ="mm_56-57">
{{cite book
| last = Muller
| first = Max
| title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
| date = 1898
| pages = pp.56-57
| chapter = Râmak''ri''sh''n''a's Life
| chapterurl= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls14.htm
}}
</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Debarry|first=William Theodore|coauthors=Ainslie Thomas Embree|others=Stephen N. Hay|title=Sources of Indian Tradition: From the Beginning to 1800|publisher=Columbia University Press|date=1988|pages=p. 63|isbn=9780231064156}}</ref>

Following Keshab, other former Brahmos such as [[Vijaykrishna Goswami]] started to admire Ramakrishna, propagate his ideals and reorient their socio-religious outlook. Many prominent people of Calcutta—[[Pratap Chandra Mazumdar]], [[Shivanath Shastri]] and [[Trailokyanath Sanyal]]—began visiting him during this time (1871-1885). Mozoomdar wrote the first English biography of Ramakrishna, entitled ''The Hindu Saint'' in the ''Theistic Quarterly Review'' (1879), which played a vital role in introducing Ramakrishna to Westerners like the [[Germany|German]] [[indologist]] [[Max Muller]].<ref name="jm_pb"/> Some former Brahmos proclaimed Ramakrishna's message to the [[Bhadralok|educated public of Bengal]] through their speeches and writings, published in several newspapers and journals. Newspapers reported that Ramakrishna was spreading "Love" and "Devotion" among the educated classes of Calcutta and that he had succeeded in reforming the character of some youths whose morals had been corrupt.<ref name="jm_pb"/>

Ramakrishna also had interactions with [[Debendranath Tagore]], the father of [[Rabindranath Tagore]], and [[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar]], a renowned social worker. He also met [[Swami Dayananda]].

Not all Brahmos were uncritical admirers of Ramakrishna. Some disapproved of his [[ascetic]] [[renunciation]]. They measured him according to their own deals of the householder's life. Some could not understand his [[Samadhi]] and considered it to be a nervous malady.<ref name="rr_shep"/> Upadhyay Brahma­bandhab was originally a critic of Ramakrishna and refused to recognize him as an ''[[avatara]]''.<ref>
{{cite journal
| last = Mukherjee
| first = Dr. Jayasree
| title = Sri Ramakrishna’s Impact on Contemporary Indian Society
| journal = Prabuddha Bharatha
| date = May 2004
| url = http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/prabuddha_bharata/sri_ramakrishna%27s_impact_on_contemporary_indian_society_may04.php
| quote = Another contemporary scholar described Ramakrishna as "an illiterate priest, crude, raw, unmodern and the commonest of the common. … He respected women, in the only way open to Indians, by calling them ‘mother’, and avoiding them.… He would allow non-Brahmins to be initiated. … Yet, and this is the tragedy of the situation, with all the help of the dynamic personality of Swami Vivekananda, Paramahamsa Deb’s influence has not succeeded in shaking our social foundations. A number of people have been inspired, no doubt, but the masses have not trembled in their sleep."
| accessdate = 2008-09-22}}
</ref>

Ramakrishna's influence was not confined to the elite educated class of Calcutta. During his lifetime (1836-86) his ideas and influence spread beyond the intelligentsia to other sections of Bengali society, including the [[Baul]]s and the [[Kartabhaja]]s, and beyond [[Bengal]] itself. During his lifetime, however, there was little of an active [[Ramakrishna Mission|movement]].<ref name="jm_pb"/> Ramakrishna played an important role in the [[Bengali Renaissance]] as the link between the Brahmo Samaj and the emergence of the Hindu Revival Movement.<ref name="AAR"/><ref name="DIS"/>

Among the [[Europe]]ans he influenced was Principal Dr. [[W.W. Hastie]] of the [[Scottish Church College, Calcutta]].<ref>
{{cite news
| last = Joseph
| first = Jaiboy
| title = Master visionary
| language = English
| publisher = The Hindu
| date = 002-06-23
| url = http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2002/06/23/stories/2002062300310400.htm
| accessdate = 2008-10-09
}}
</ref> In the course of explaining the word ''[[trance]]'' in a poem by Wordsworth, Hastie told his students that if they wanted to know the real meaning of it, they should go to Ramakrishna of [[Dakshineswar]]. This prompted some of his students, including Narendranath Dutta (later [[Swami Vivekananda]]), to visit Ramakrishna.<ref name="jm_pb">
{{cite journal
| last = Mukherjee
| first = Dr. Jayasree
| title = Sri Ramakrishna’s Impact on Contemporary Indian Society
| journal = Prabuddha Bharatha
| date = May 2004
| url = http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/prabuddha_bharata/sri_ramakrishna%27s_impact_on_contemporary_indian_society_may04.php
| accessdate = 2008-09-04}}
</ref>

=== Devotees and Disciples ===
{{Main article|Disciples of Ramakrishna|Swami Vivekananda}}
[[Image:Ramakrishna Monastic Disciples 1899.jpg| thumb | right | Few Monastic Disciples ( L to R ): Trigunatitananda, Shivananda, Vivekananda, Turiyananda, Brahmananda. Below Sadananda.]]
[[Image:Mahendranathgupta.jpg| thumb | right | [[Mahendranath Gupta]], a householder devotee and the recorder of ''[[Sri-Sri-Ramakrisna-kathamrta]]'']]
Most of his prominent disciples came between 1879-1885. Many were highly educated, atheists and a few of them came to meet him out of curiosity. However, they were deeply influenced by Ramakrishna's teachings and a few became his ardent disciples. Devotees like Surendranath Mitra, a confirmed libertine, first approached Ramakrishna with an intent to "twist his ears" (a gesture of insult), only to end up as an inveterate follower.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chetanananda |first=swami |title=They Lived with God |pages= p.110}}</ref> Ramakrishna had an extraordinary style of preaching and instructing, convincing even the most skeptical visitors.<ref name="leo_sch">
{{Cite journal
| author = Leo Schneiderman
| date = Spring, 1969
| title = Ramakrishna: Personality and Social Factors in the Growth of a Religious Movement
| journal = Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
| volume = 8
| pages = 60-71
| publisher = Blackwell Publishing
| location = London
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1385254
| year = 1969
}}
</ref>

His chief disciples consisted of:<ref name="gospel_intro"/>
* ''Grihastas'' or ''The householders''—[[Mahendranath Gupta]], Girish Chandra Ghosh, Akshay Kumar Sen and others.
* ''Monastic disciples'' who renounced their family and became the earliest monks of the Ramakrishna order—Narendranath Dutta ([[Swami Vivekananda]]), Rakhal Chandra Ghosh ([[Swami Brahmananda]]), Kaliprasad Chandra ([[Swami Abhedananda]]), Taraknath Ghoshal ([[Swami Shivananda]]), Sashibhushan Chakravarty ([[Swami Ramakrishnananda]]), Saratchandra Chakravarty ([[Swami Saradananda]]) to mention a few.
* A small group of women disciples including ''[[Gauri Ma]]'' and ''Yogin Ma''. A few of them were initiated into ''sanyasa'' through ''mantra deeksha''. Among the women, Ramakrishna emphasized service to other women rather than tapasya.<ref>"No, no. You must stay in this city and work here. You have done enough ''tapasya''. Now use this life for the service of women."
{{cite book
| last = Chetanananda
| first = Swami
| title = They Lived with God
| date = 1989
| pages = pp.163
| publisher = Vedanta Society of St. Louis
| place = St. Louis
}}
</ref>

As his name spread, an ever shifting crowd of all classes and castes visited Ramakrishna—"Maharajas and beggars, journalists and pandits, artists and devotees, Brahmos, Christians, and Mohammedans, men of faith, men of action and business, old men, women and children".<ref name="rr_tcod">
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.131-142
| chapter = The Call of disciples
}}
</ref> Ramakrishna incessantly conversed with them,<ref name ="mm_56-57"/> mostly about [[religious]] matters with his visitors, along with some ''[[Sankirtana]]'' and ''[[bhajan]]s''. Ramakrishna used very simple [[rustic]] language, parables, apologues and [[humor]], in a style which kept visitors enthralled.<ref name="rr_master_children">
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.143-168
| chapter = The Master and his Children
}}
</ref>

Even though he had a band of dedicated renunciates, he never asked householders to renounce their family life.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.143-168
| chapter = The Master and his Children
| quote = "What will you gain by renouncing the world? Family life is like a fort. It is easier to fight the enemy from within the fort than from without. You will be in a position to renounce the world when you can bestow three-fourths of your mind on God, but not before." , "What is the necessity of giving up the world altogether? It is enough to give up the attachment to it."
}}
</ref> In preparation for [[monastic]] life, Ramakrishna ordered his monastic disciples to beg their food from door to door without distinction of caste. He gave them the saffron robe, the sign of the [[Sanyasin]], and initiated them with ''Mantra Deeksha''.<ref name="rr_master_children">
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.143-168
| chapter = The Master and his Children
}}
</ref>

=== The Last Days ===
[[Image:Disciples at Ramakrishna's funeral.jpg| thumb | right | The Disciples and Devotees at Ramakrishna's funeral]]
In the beginning of 1885 he suffered from ''the clergyman's throat'', which gradually developed into [[throat cancer]]. Ramakrishna was relocated to [[Calcutta]] ( [[Shyampukur]] ), and the best physicians of that time, like Dr.[[Mahendralal Sarkar]] were engaged. But the illness showed signs of aggravation and he was moved to a large garden house at [[Cossipore]] on [[December]] 11, 1885.

During his last days, he was looked after by this disciples and [[sarada devi]]. Ramakrishna was advised by the doctors to keep the strictest silence; but the advice was to no effect and Ramakrishna incessantly conversed with the visitors<ref name ="mm_56-57"/>.

Before his death, it is reported that Ramakrishna said to [[Swami Vivekananda|Naren]],<ref name="rr_river">
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.201-214
| chapter = The River Re-Enters the Sea
}}
</ref> "Today I have given you my all and am now only a poor fakir, possessing nothing. By this power you will do immense good in the world and not until it is accomplished will you return to the absolute."

It is reported that when [[Swami Vivekananda|Naren]], doubted Ramakrishna's claim of ''[[avatara]]''<ref name="life_sw_vol1">
{{cite book
| title = The Life of Swami Vivekananda : By His Eastern and Western Disciples
| publisher = Advaita Ashrama
| date = July 2006
| volume = I
| location = Mayavati
| chapter = Cossipore and the Master
| pages = p.183
| quote = …Naren thought, "The Master has said many a time that he is an Incarnation of God. If he ''now'' says in the midst of the throes of death, in this terrible moment of human anguish and physical pain, 'I am God Incarnate', then I will believe."
}}
</ref>, Ramakrishna said, "He who was [[Rama]], He who was [[Krishna]], He himself is now Ramakrishna in this body"

His condition worsened gradually and he expired on early morning hours of [[August]] 16, 1886 at the [[Cossipore]] garden house. According to his disciples, this was ''[[Mahasamadhi]]''.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.201-214
| chapter = The River Re-Enters the Sea
| quote =The final moments before his death were described by Sashi ([[Swami Ramakrishananda]]) as follows,"On that last night Ramakrishna was talking with us to the very last... He was sitting up against five or six pillows, which were supported by my body, and at the same time I was fanning him...Narendra took his feet and began to rub them and Ramakrishna was talking to him, telling him what he must do. "Take care of these boys", he repeated again and again... Then he asked to lie down. Suddenly at one o'clock he fell towards one side, there was a low sound in his throat... Narendra quickly laid his feet on the quilt and ran downstairs as if he could not bear it. A [[Mahendralal Sarkar|doctor]] who was feeling his pulse saw that it had stopped... We all believed that it was only Samadhi. Suddenly, at two minutes past one, a thrill passed through the Master's body, making the hair stand on end... The Master entered into Samadhi. It was Mahasamadhi, for never more did he return to the mortal plane..."
}}
</ref>

After the death of their master, the monastic disciples formed a fellowship at a half-ruined house at [[Barangore]] near [[Ganga]], with the financial assistance of the household disciples. This became the first Math or [[monastery]] of the disciples, headed by [[Narendranath Dutta]], as indicated by Ramakrishna. The [[Ramakrishna Mission]] was in its nascent stage at this point of time.<ref name="leo_sch"/>

== Teachings ==
===God-realisation===
[[Image:Ramakrishna at studio.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Ramakrishna (1881, Calcutta)]]
Key concepts in Ramakrishna’s teachings included the [[oneness]] of [[existence]] and the unity and truth of all religions.<ref>{{cite book|last=Flood|first=Gavin|title=An Introduction to Hinduism|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1996|pages=pp. 256-257|isbn=9780521438780}}</ref>

Ramakrishna emphasised that God-realisation is the supreme goal of all living beings.<ref>''Kathamrita'', 1/10/6</ref> Ramakrishna’s mystical experiences through different religions led him to teach that various religions are different means to reach absolute knowledge and bliss—and that the different religions cannot express the totality of absolute truth, but can express aspects of it.<ref>Flood, p. 257.</ref>

===''Kama-Kanchana''===
Ramakrishna taught that that the primal bondage in human life is ''Kama-Kanchana'' (lust and gold). When speaking to men, Ramakrishna warned them against ''kamini-kanchan'', or "women and gold".<ref>Jackson, pp. 20-21.</ref> When speaking to women, he warned them against ''purusha-kanchana'', or "man and gold." Gauri-Ma, one of Ramakrishna's prominent women disciples, said that:
{{Quote|[Ramakrishna] has uttered this note of warning, against gold and sensuality, against a life of enjoyment, but surely not against women. Just as he advised the ascetic-minded men to guard themselves against women's charms, so also did he caution pious women against men's company. The Master's whole life abounds with proofs to show that he had not the slightest contempt or aversion for women; rather he had intense sympathy and profound regard for them.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Chetanananda
| first = Swami
| title = They Lived with God
| date = 1989
| pages = pp.146-147
| publisher = Vedanta Society of St. Louis
| place = St. Louis
}}
</ref>}}

===''Avidyamaya'' and ''vidyamaya''===
{{seealso|Avidyamaya and vidyamaya|mayatita}}
Devotees believe that Ramakrishna’s realisation of ''nirvikalpa samadhi'' also led him to an understanding of the two sides of ''[[Maya (illusion)|maya]]'', or illusion, to which he referred as ''[[Avidyamaya and vidyamaya]]''. He explained that ''avidyamaya'' represents dark forces of creation (e.g. sensual desire, evil passions, [[greed]], [[lust]] and [[cruelty]]), which keep people on lower planes of consciousness. These forces are responsible for human entrapment in [[karma|the cycle of birth and death]], and they must be fought and vanquished. ''Vidyamaya'', on the other hand, represents higher forces of creation (e.g. spiritual virtues, enlightening qualities, [[kindness]], [[purity]], [[love]], and [[devotion]]), which elevate human beings to the higher planes of consciousness.<ref>Neevel, p. 82.</ref>

===Harmony of religions===
[[Image:Vedanta Provident Society Logo.jpg|thumb|right|The logo of Vedanta Provident Society.<br /> एकं सद्विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति — ''"Truth is one; sages call It by various names."'']]
Ramakrishna recognised differences among religions but realised that in spite of these differences, all religions lead to the same ultimate goal, and hence they are all valid and true.<ref name="cohen">{{cite journal
| last = Cohen
| first = Martin
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Spiritual Improvisations: Ramakrishna, Aurobindo, and the Freedom of Tradition
| journal = Religion and the Arts
| volume = 12
| issue = 1-3
| pages = pp. 277-293(17)
| publisher = BRILL
| location =
| date = 2008
| url =
| doi = 10.1163/156852908X271079
}}</ref> Regarding this, the distinguished [[United Kingdom|British]] [[historian]] [[Arnold J. Toynbee]] has written: “… [[Mahatma Gandhi]]’s principle of non-violence and Sri Ramakrishna’s testimony to the harmony of religions: here we have the attitude and the spirit that can make it possible for the human race to grow together into a single family–and in the [[Atomic Age]], this is the only alternative to destroying ourselves.” <ref>[http://www.belurmath.org/sriramakrishna.htm#Contributions Contributions of Sri Ramakrishna to World Culture]</ref><ref>[[Walter Russell|Lao Russell]] ''God Will Work With You But Not For You'', pp. 3-12, University of Science and Philosophy, 1981 ISBN-10: 1879605201; 1st ed. 1955</ref>

Dharm P.S. Bhawuk in his journal, ''Culture’s influence on creativity: the case of Indian spirituality'' wrote:
{{Quote|In view of this definition of creativity, Ramakrishna, indeed, demonstrated creative genius in bridging all religions by
practicing each of them. He may very well be the first, if not the only, person to practice the major religions of the world to come to the conclusion that they lead to the same God. His contribution to humanity is particularly significant for the world
after the bombing of the twin towers of the [[World Trade Center]] on [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001]]. Clearly, [[Islam]] is not to be blamed for the incident of [[September 11 attacks|September 11]], and no religion should be blamed for any act of terrorism, because we know from the life of Ramakrishna that all religions lead to the same God.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last = Bhawuk
| first = Dharm P.S.
| title = Culture’s influence on creativity: the case of Indian spirituality
| journal = International Journal of Intercultural Relations
| volume = 27
| issue = 1
| pages = pp. 1-22
| publisher = Elsevier
|date=February 2003}}</ref>}}

===Other teachings===
Ramakrishna’s proclamation of ''jatra jiv tatra Shiv'' (wherever there is a living being, there is [[Shiva]]) stemmed from his Advaitic perception of Reality. This would lead him teach his disciples, "''Jive daya noy, Shiv gyane jiv seba''" (not kindness to living beings, but serving the living being as Shiva Himself). This view differs considerably from what Ramakrishna’s followers call the "sentimental [[pantheism]]" of, for example, [[Francis of Assisi]].{{Fact|date=September 2008}}

Ramakrishna, though not formally trained as a [[philosopher]], had an intuitive grasp of complex philosophical concepts.<ref name="lh">Hixon, Lex, ''Great Swan: Meetings with Ramakrishna'', (New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1992, 2002), p. xvi</ref> According to him ''brahmanda'', the visible universe and many other universes, are mere bubbles emerging out of ''[[Brahman]]'', the supreme ocean of intelligence <ref> ''Gospel of Ramakrishna'', vol. 4''</ref>.

Like [[Adi Sankara]] had done more than a thousand years earlier, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa revitalised Hinduism which had been fraught with excessive [[ritualism]] and [[superstition]] in the Nineteenth century and helped it become better-equipped to respond to challenges from [[Islam]], [[Christianity]] and the dawn of the modern era<ref name="br">Das, Prafulla Kumar, "Samasamayik Banglar adhymatmik jibongothone Sri Ramakrishner probhab", in ''Biswachetanay Ramakrishna'', (Kolkata: Udbodhon Karyaloy, 1987,1997- 6th rep.), pp.299-311</ref>. However, unlike [[Adi Sankara]], Ramakrishna developed ideas about the post-''samadhi'' descent of consciousness into the phenomenal world, which he went on to term "''[[vignana]]''". While he asserted the supreme validity of [[Advaita Vedanta]], he also stated that "I accept both the ''Nitya'' and the ''[[Lila|Leela]]'', both the Absolute and the Relative."<ref>{{cite book|last=Long|first=Jeffrey D.|title=A Vision for Hinduism: Beyond Hindu Nationalism|publisher=I.B.Tauris|date=2007|pages=p. 126|isbn=9781845112738}}</ref>

==Parables==
[[Parable]]s formed a very important part of Ramakrishna's teachings.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Smart
| first = Ninian
| title = The World's Religions: old traditions and modern transformations
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| pages = p.410
| quote = Ramakrishna was a teacher with some popular appeal, speaking in vivid images and stories and parables.
}}</ref> Like [[Christ]], Ramakrishna conveyed his [[spiritual]] and [[moral]] messages through [[tale]]s and [[parable]]s.<ref>
{{cite book
| title = Studies on Sri Ramakrishna
| pages = p.109
| publisher = Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture (Original from the University of Michigan)
| year = 1988
}}
</ref>

===The Parable of the Greatest Devotee===
{{Cquote|
Once upon a time conceit entered into the heart of [[Narada]] and he thought there was no greater devotee than himself. Reading his heart, the Lord said, "Narada, go to such and such a place, a great devotee of mine is living there. Cultivate his acquaintance; for he is truly devoted to me." [[Narada]] went there and found an farmer who rose early in the morning, pronounced the name of [[Hari]] (God) only once, and taking his [[plough]], went out and tilled the ground all day long. At night,. he went to bed after pronouncing the name of [[Hari]] once more. [[Narada]] said to himself "How can this rustic be a lover of God? I see him busily engaged in worldly duties and he has no signs of a pious man about him." Then [[Narada]] went back to the Lord, and spoke what he thought of his new acquaintance. There upon the Lord said, "Narada,take this cup of oil and go round this city and come back with it. But take care that you do not spill even a single drop of it." [[Narada]] did as he was told, and on his return the Lord asked him, "Well, [[Narada]], how many times did you remember me in the course of your walk round the city?" "Not once, my Lord," said Narada, "and how could I, when I had to watch this cup brimming over with oil?" The Lord then said, "This one cup of oil did so divert your attention that even you did forget me altogether. But look at that rustic, who, though carrying the heavy burden of a family, still remembers me twice every day."
}}

===The Parable of the Pandit who could not swim===
{{Cquote|
Once several men were crossing the [[Ganges]] in a boat. One of them, a [[pandit]], was making a great display of his erudition, saying that he has studied various books—the [[Vedas]], the [[Vedanta]], the six systems of [[philosophy]]. He asked a fellow passenger, 'Do you know the [[Vedanta]]?' 'No, revered sir.' 'The [[Samkhya]] and the Patanjala?' 'No, revered sir.' 'Have you read no [[philosophy]] whatsoever?' 'No, revered sir.' The [[pandit]] was talking in this vain way and the passenger sitting in silence, when a great storm arose and the boat was about to sink. The passenger said to the [[pandit]], 'Sir, can you swim?' 'No', replied the pundit. The passenger said, 'I don't know the [[Samkhya]] or the [[Patanjala]], but I can swim.'<ref>{{cite book | authorlink=Swami Nikhilananda | title = The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna | chapter = The Master and his Injured Arm | chapterurl = http://www.belurmath.org/gospel/chapter19.htm}}</ref>
}}

== Ramakrishna’s impact ==
[[Image:Ramakrishna Marble Statue.jpg|thumb|right|The marble statue of Ramakrishna at [[Belur Math]]]]
Born as he was during a social upheaval in [[Bengal]] in particular and India in general, Ramakrishna and his movement played a leading role in the modern revival of Hinduism in India, and on modern Indian history.<ref>Jackson, p. 16.</ref>

===On Hinduism===
His career was an important part of the [[Bengal Renaissance|renaissance]] that [[Bengal]], and later India, experienced in the 19th century. [[Hinduism]] faced a huge intellectual challenge in the 19th century, from Westerners and Indians alike. The [[Hindu]] practice of ''[[murti]]'' came under intense pressure specially in [[Bengal]], then the center of [[British India]], and was declared intellectually unsustainable by some intellectuals. Response to this was varied, ranging from the [[Young Bengal]] movement that denounced Hinduism and embraced [[Christianity]] or [[atheism]], to the [[Brahmo Samaj|Brahmo]] movement that retained primacy of Hinduism but gave up idol worship, and to the staunch Hindu nationalism of [[Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay]]. Ramakrishna’s influence was crucial in this period for a Hindu revival of a more traditional kind, and can be compared to that of [[Chaitanya]]'s contribution centuries earlier, when Hinduism in Bengal was under similar pressure from the growing power of [[Islam]].<ref name="jm">Mukherjee, Jayasree, "Sri Ramakrishna’s Impact on Contemporary Indian Society". ''[[Prabuddha Bharata]]'', May 2004 [http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/prabuddha_bharata/sri_ramakrishna%27s_impact_on_contemporary_indian_society_may04.php Online article]</ref>

Among his contributions is a strong affirmation of the presence of the divine in an [[Murti|idol]].<ref name="lp">Swami Saradananda,''Sri Sri Ramakrishna Leelaproshongo'', (Kolkata:Udbodhon Karyaloy, 1955), Part I, pp.113-125</ref><ref name="mg">Gupta, Mahendranath, ''Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita'', (Kolkata: Kathamrita Bhavan, 1901, 1949 17th edition), Part I, pp. 20-21</ref> To the many that revered him, this reinforced centuries-old traditions that were in the spotlight at the time. Ramakrishna also advocated an inclusive version of the religion, declaring ''Joto mot toto path'' (meaning ''As many faiths, so many paths''). He was given a name that is from the [[Vaishnavite]] tradition ([[Rama]] and [[Krishna]] are both incarnations of [[Vishnu]]), but was a devotee of [[Kali]], the [[Durga|mother goddess]], and known to have followed various other religious paths including [[Tantrism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]].<ref>Flood, p. 257.</ref>

===On Indian Nationalism===
Ramakrishna’s impact on the growing [[Indian nationalism]] was, if more indirect, nevertheless quite notable. A large number of intellectuals of that age had regular communication with him and respected him, though not all of them necessarily agreed with him on religious matters. Numerous members of the [[Brahmo Samaj]] respected him. Though some of them embraced his form of Hinduism, the fact that many others didn't shows that they detected in him a possibility for a strong national identity in the face of a colonial adversary that was intellectually undermining the Indian civilisation. As Amaury de Riencourt states,"The greatest leaders of the early twentieth century, whatever their walk of life -- [[Rabindranath Tagore]], the prince of poets; [[Aurobindo Ghosh]], the greatest mystic-philosopher; [[Mahatma Gandhi]], who eventually shook the [[British Raj|Anglo-Indian Empire]] to destruction -- all acknowledged their over-riding debt to both the Swan and the Eagle, to Ramakrishna who stirred the heart of India, and to [[Vivekananda]] who awakened its soul."<ref name="ar">de Riencourt, Amaury, ''The Soul of India'', (London: Jonathan Cape, 1961), p.250</ref> This is particularly evident in Ramakrishna’s development of the Mother-symbolism and its eventual role in defining the incipient Indian nationalism. <ref name="mj">Jolly, Margaret,"Motherlands? Some Notes on Women and Nationalism in India and Africa".''The Australian Journal of Anthropology'',Volume: 5. Issue: 1-2,1994</ref>

===Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission===
{{seealso|Apostles of Ramakrishna|Belur Math}}

[[Vivekananda]], Ramakrishna’s most illustrious disciple, is considered by some to be one of his most important legacies. Vivekananda spread the message of Ramakrishna across the world. He also helped introduce Hinduism to the west. He founded two organisations based on the teachings of Ramakrishna. One was [[Ramakrishna Mission]], which is designed to spread the word of Ramakrishna. Vivekananda also designed its emblem. [[Ramakrishna Math]] was created as a monastic order based on Ramakrishna’s teachings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rkmhq.org/home.htm|title=Official website of Ramakrishna Math|accessdate=2008-09-02}}</ref>

The temples of Ramakrishna are called the ''Universal Temples''.<ref>
{{cite web
| last = Bhuteshanandaji
| first = Swami
| title = Why are Sri Ramakrishna Temples called "Universal Temples"?
| url = http://www.rkmathnagpur.org/new_temple/universal_temple.htm
| accessdate = 2008-17-08}}
</ref>
The first ''Universal temple'' was built at [[Belur Math|Belur]], which is the headquatress of the [[Ramakrishna Mission]].
Daily [[arathi]], [[pooja]] and [[Bhajan|devotional singing]] are conducted everyday. The arathi song — ''Khandana Bhava Bandha'' written by [[Swami Vivekananda]] and rendered in the classic Dhrupad Music style.{{Fact|date=September 2008}}

Apart from celebrating the Hindu festivals, other festivals like [[Christmas]], [[Buddha Purnima]] are celebrated.{{Fact|date=September 2008}}

==Works related to Ramakrishna==
[[Image:Ramakrishna Frank Dworak.jpg|thumb|right|120px|Painting by ''Franz Dvorak'']]
===Philip Glass===
In 2006, composer [[Philip Glass]] wrote ''The Passion of Ramakrishna'' — a choral work as a "tribute to Ramakrishna". It premiered on [[September]] 16, 2006 at the [[Orange County Performing Arts Center]] in [[Costa Mesa, California]], performed by [[Orange County, California|Orange County]]’s Pacific Symphony Orchestra conducted by Carl St. Clair with the Pacific Chorale directed by John Alexander.<ref>[http://www.philipglass.com/html/compositions/passion-of-ramakrishna.html Philipglass.com]</ref>

===Franz Dvorak===
[[Franz Dvorak]] (1862–1927), a painter from [[Prague]], inspired by the teachings of [[Ramakrishna]] made several paintings of [[Ramakrishna]] and [[Sarada Devi]].{{Fact|date=September 2008}}

==Views on Ramakrishna==
{{Quotefarm|date=September 2008}}
=== Biography and Stages of Life ===
Since the 1976 publication of Walter Neeval's essay "The Transformation of Ramakrishna", scholars have thought of Ramakrishna's image as going through three discrete transformations. The first transformation, which occurred during Ramakrishna's life, was from a local village madman into a divine [[avatar]]. The next transformation, occurring after his death and conducted by his most famous disciple [[Swami Vivekananda]], was from a mystical [[ecstatic]] into the founder of a [[universalism|universalistic]] [[religious movement]]. The third transformation, this one also engineered by Vivekananda, was from a [[quietism|quietistic]] mystic into a [[social reformer]]. <ref>Neeval 1976; Openshaw 1995; Openshaw 1998</ref>

===Legacy===
It could be argued that Ramakrishna’s vision of Hinduism and its popularisation in the West, by converts like [[Christopher Isherwood]] and admirers like [[Aldous Huxley]] and [[Romain Rolland]], have largely coloured Western notions of what Hinduism is. {{Fact|date=September 2008}}

Many great thinkers of the world have acknowledged Ramakrishna's contribution to humanity. [[Max Müller]], who was inspired by Ramakrishna, said:<ref>[http://www.vedanta-newyork.org/articles/on_sri_ramakrishna.htm#muller Vedanta Society of New York]</ref>
{{blockquote|Sri Ramakrishna was a living illustration of the truth that Vedanta, when properly realised, can become a practical rule of life... the Vedanta philosophy is the very marrow running through all the bones of Ramakrishna’s doctrine.}}
[[Leo Tolstoy]] saw similarities between his and Ramakrishna's thoughts. He described him as a "remarkable sage".<ref>World Thinkers on Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, pp.15-16</ref> [[Romain Rolland]] considered Ramakrishna to be the "consummation of two thousand years of the spiritual life of three hundred million people." He said<ref>The Life of Ramakrishna, Advaita Ashrama</ref>:
{{blockquote|Allowing for differences of country and of time, Ramakrishna is the younger brother of [[Christ]].}}
[[Mohandas Gandhi]] wrote:<ref>Life of Sri Ramakrishna, Advaita Ashrama, Foreword</ref>
{{blockquote|Ramakrishna's life enables us to see God face to face. He was a living embodiment of godliness.}}
[[Sri Aurobindo]] considered Ramakrishna to be an incarnation, or [[avatar]], of God on par with [[Gautama Buddha]].<ref>World Thinkers on Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, p.16</ref> He wrote:
{{blockquote|When scepticism had reached its height, the time had come for spirituality to assert itself and establish the reality of the world as a manifestation of the spirit, the secret of the confusion created by the senses, the magnificent possibilities of man and the ineffable beatitude of God. This is the work whose consummation Sri Ramakrishna came to begin and all the development of the previous two thousand years and more since Buddha appeared has been a preparation for the harmonisation of spiritual teaching and experience by the Avatar of Dakshineshwar.}}
Christopher Isherwood also considered Ramakrishna to be an incarnation of God. <ref>Ramakrishna and His Disciples, Advaita Ashrama, p.2</ref>

[[Jawaharlal Nehru]] described Ramakrishna as "one of the great ''[[rishis]]'' of India, who had come to draw our attention to the higher things of life and of the spirit."<ref>World Thinkers on Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, p.28</ref> [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] was also influenced by Ramakrishna. He said:<ref>World Thinkers on Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, p.29</ref>
{{blockquote|The effectiveness of Ramakrishna's appeal lay in the fact that he had practised what he preached and that... he had reached the acme of spiritual progress.}}

Philosopher Arindam Chakrabarti called Ramakrishna "The practically illiterate, faith-bound, emotional, otherworldly [[esoteric]] Ramakrishna who prayed to the Goddess: "May my rationalizing [[intellect]] be struck by thunder!" And yet in his {{quotation|...views about the nature of [[ultimate reality]], the relation between the self and the body, ways of knowing truth, moral and social duties of human beings and metatheoretical explanations of why mystics disagree...Ramakrishna was no less a philosopher than [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] or [[Socrates]].}} Chakrabarti then contrasts Ramakrishna's talkativeness with Buddha's reticence, and makes seven comparisons between Ramakrishna and Socrates. He then analyzes a song that Ramakrishna was fond of ("The Dark Mother Flying Kites") and pulls out six philosophical elements: a [[nondualist]]ic [[metaphysics]], a spiritualistic ethic, the doctrine of ''[[karma]]'', a playful goddess, the possibility of ''[[moksha]]'', and the theory of [[psychological causation]]. <ref>Arindam Chakrabarti, "The Dark Mother Flying Kites: Sri Ramakrishna's Metaphysic of Morals" ''Sophia'', 33 (3), 1994</ref>

=== Ramakrishna's Language ===
Ramakrishna used [[rustic]] [[colloquial]] [[bengali]] in his conversations. Ramakrishna had an extraordinary style of preaching and instructing, conveying to even the most skeptical visitors to the temple.<ref name="leo_sch">
{{Cite journal
| author = Leo Schneiderman
| date = Spring, 1969
| title = Ramakrishna: Personality and Social Factors in the Growth of a Religious Movement
| journal = Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
| volume = 8
| pages = 60-71
| publisher = Blackwell Publishing
| location = London
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1385254
| year = 1969
}}
</ref> [[Christopher Isherwood]] writes,<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Isherwood
| first = Christopher
| authorlink = Christopher Isherwood
| title = Vedanta for the Western World: A Symposium on Vedanta
| publisher = Vedanta Press
| date = 1945
| pages = p.267
| isbn = 9780874810004 }}
</ref> — {{Quote|Ramakrishna had a gift for words, as his parables and his conversation show; nor was he at a loss when assailed by intellectual philosophers. Another side of Ramakrishna which seems to me important is that he had a sense of fun, and that he was joyous.}}

Scholars like [[Max Muller]], A.W. Stratton, opine that few [[religious]] practices and sayings of Ramakrishna which are natural to a [[Hindu]], may sound strange, offensive<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Muller
| first = Max
| title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
| date = 1898
| chapter = Preface
| chapterurl= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls01.htm
| quote = I am quite aware that some of his sayings may sound strange to our ears, nay even offensive.
}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite journal
| author = A. W. Stratton
| date = Oct., 1899
| title = Reviewed work(s): Râmakrishna: His Life and Sayings by F. Max Müller
| journal = The American Journal of Theology
| volume = 3
| issue = 4
| pages = pp. 761-762
| publisher = The University of Chicago Press
| location = American
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/3153037
| year = 1899
| quote = Some of the sayings may at first sound strange, but these are natural to a Hindu.
}}
</ref> and abominal
<ref name="mm_lang">
{{cite book
| last = Muller
| first = Max
| title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
| date = 1898
| pages = pp.62-63
| chapter = Râmakrishna's Language
| chapterurl= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls17.htm
}}</ref> to the [[western]] mind. [[Max Muller]] gives an example,
{{Quote|
Unless we remember that harem means originally no more than a sacred and guarded place, the following saying will certainly jar on our ears:

'The Knowledge of God may be likened to a man, while the Love of God is like a woman. Knowledge has entry only up to the outer rooms of God, but no one can enter into the inner mysteries of God save a lover, for a woman has access even into the harem of the Almighty' (172).}}

Further [[Max Muller]] writes on Ramakrishna's language and [[translation]],<ref name="mm_lang"/>

{{Quote|His speech at times was abominably filthy. For all that, he was, as you say, a real [[Mahatma|Mahâtman]], and I would not withdraw a single word I wrote in his praise.…As to his filthy language, we must be prepared for much plain speaking among [[Oriental]] races. In a country where certain classes of men are allowed to walk about in public places stark naked, language too is not likely to veil what with us requires to be veiled.… There is, however, a great difference between what is filthy and what is meant to he filthy. I doubt whether the charge of intentional filthiness or obscenity, which has been brought against writers like [[Emile Zola|Zola]], could be brought, or has ever been brought, against Râmakrishna.
…But a certain directness of speech which would be most offensive in England is evidently not regarded in that light in India, and every scholar knows that many of their classical poems, nay, even their Sacred Writings, contain passages which simply do not admit of translation into English.
…It should not be forgotten that in [[Homer]], in [[Shakespeare]], nay, even in the [[Bible]], there are passages against which our modern taste revolts, yet we object to [[Bowdlerize]]d editions, because the indecencies are never of an intentional character, and would seem to have been so, if they were now removed by us.}}

In the book ''Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual Experience and Expression'', Peter Heehs wrote<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Heehs
| first = Peter
| authorlink =
| title = Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual Experience and Expression
| publisher = C. Hurst & Co. Publishers
| date = 2002
| pages = p.
}}
</ref> —
{{Quote|
In 1944 an English [[translation]] was published under the title ''[[The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna]]''. The first full-scale [[Bengali]] biography of Ramakrishna was [[Swami Saradananda]]'s ''Sri Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga'', which was translated into English as ''Sri Ramakrishna: The Great Master''. Both books include accounts by Ramakrishna himself of his experiences. Critics have claimed that these two books do not reveal all that Ramakrishna said, veiling in particular the tantric foundations of his ''Sadhana''. Other have noted that the translations turn his vigorous and occasionally coarse Bengali into English of near-Victorian propriety. To be sure, the existing texts do not give all that Ramakrishna said, and the rendering into do not convey as much as the Bengali originals. Nevertheless, the accounts of M and Saradananda remain documents of considerable value, which have allowed Ramakrishna to speak to a worldwide audience in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries with something of immediacy with which he spoke to his disciples at the end of the nineteenth.
}}

===Medical viewpoints on Ramakrishna's ''Samadhi''===
Ramakrishna entered ''[[samadhi]]'' ([[ecstacy]]) several times a day, over a period of many years till his death.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Isherwood
| first = Christopher
| authorlink = Christopher Isherwood
| title = Ramakrishna and his Disciples
| chapter = The Vision of Kali
| date = 1964
| pages = p.63-64
}}
</ref> When this came on him, he became unconscious. He would sit in a fixed position for a short time, or for hours, and would then slowly return to consciousness. When he was in this condition, the best doctors could find not trace of [[pulse]] or of [[heart beat]]. It is also said that he already had the power of introducing ''[[samadhi]]'' in others.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Farquhar
| first = J. N.
| title = Modern Religious Movements in India
| publisher = Kessinger Publishing
| date = 2003
| pages = p.189
}}
</ref>

Dr.[[Mahendralal Sarkar]] , a renowned [[physician]] of [[Calcutta]], who treated Ramakrishna during his final days is one of the first hand witnesses who examined Ramakrishna during his ''[[samadhi]]''. Dr. Sarkar was a [[rationalist]], who did not share the religious views of Ramakrishna, nor did he see him as an ''[[avatara]]''<ref name="Dr.Sarkar">
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.204-205
| chapter = The River Re-Enters the Sea
| quote = "To say that the Infinite came down to earth in the form of a man is the ruin of all religions."
}}
</ref> He was present during several ecstasies of Ramakrishna and studied them from a medical point of view. The doctor observed that the [[stethoscope|stethoscopic]] [[medical examination|examination]] of the [[heart]] and the condition of the eyes during ''[[samadhi]]'' showed all the symptoms of [[death]].<ref name="Dr.Sarkar"/> Even on the occasion of Ramakrishna's death, it was perceived as the normal ''[[samadhi]]''.
Ramakrishna had experienced ''[[samadhi]]'' daily for many years. In the process, his whole physical organism had been transformed; it was extraordinarily sensitive and delicate.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Isherwood
| first = Christopher
| authorlink = Christopher Isherwood
| title = Vedanta for the Western World: A Symposium on Vedanta
| publisher = Vedanta Press
| date = 1945
| pages = p.20
}}
</ref>

According to Professor Somnath Bhattacharyya, a [[psychoanalyst]] and [[psychologist]], Ramakrishna's ''[[samadhi]]'' states were accompanied by very profound inward withdrawal of consciousness, and remarkable physiological changes, consistent with the highest stages of [[meditation|meditative]] absorption as documented in Hindu [[Tantra]], [[Yoga]] and [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] literature.<ref name="som_bhat">{{cite web | last =Bhattacharyya | first =Professor Somnath | title =Kali's Child: Psychological And Hermeneutical Problems | publisher =Infinity Foundation | url =http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_bhatt_kali_frameset.htm | accessdate =2008-08-23 }}</ref>

===Religious Practices and Experiences===
==== The Oceanic feeling ====
Ramakrishna's experiences of ''[[Samadhi]]''<ref>{{Quote|… all of a sudden, the buildings with their various parts, the temple and all, vanished from my sight, leaving no trace whatsoever; and in their stead I found a limitless infinite, effulgent ocean of consciousness or spirit, and, as far as the eye could reach…}}</ref> were termed as ''Oceanic feeling'' by [[Romain Rolland]]. Scholars note that the same term was adapted by [[Freud]] in his book ''[[Civilization and its Discontents]]''.<ref>{{cite book | author = Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson | title = The oceanic feeling: The Origins of Religious Sentiment in Ancient India | chapter = The oceanic feeling : Origin of the term | pages = p.33 | year = 1980 | publisher = Springer}}</ref>

Scholars have noted similarities between Ramakrishna's oceanic feeling and other religious personalities:
* [[St. Paul]], after a similar experience, was struck blind.<ref name="sarma">
{{Cite journal
| author = D. S. Sarma
| date = March 1927
| title = The Experience of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
| journal = The Journal of Religion
| volume = 7
| issue = 2
| pages = pp. 186-203
| publisher = The University of Chicago Press
| location = America
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1195240
| year = 1927
}}
</ref>
* [[Henry Suso|Suso]], a German mystic of the fourteenth century, suffered at the time of his awakening so greatly in body that it seemed to him that none even in dying could suffer so much in so short a time.<ref name="sarma"/>
* [[Richard Rolle]] of [[Hampole]] has recorded that his heart burned with a sensible fire, "truly not imaginingly." <ref name="sarma"/>
* [[Teresa of Ávila|St.Theresa of Avila]].<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = p.16
| chapter = Kali the Mother
}}
</ref>

====Swami Vivekananda====
One of first disciples to look at Ramakrishna's ecstasy and experiences as [[pathological]] and [[hallucinations]] and to question [[Kali]] as the "mother of universe" as Ramakrishna preached, was his most ardent and prominent disciple—[[Swami Vivekananda]]. When he first approached Ramakrishna, he was an [[iconoclast]], the hater of superstitions and idols,and was against the worship of [[Kali]].<ref name="rr_naren">
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.169-193
| chapter = Naren the Beloved Disciple
}}
</ref> During the initial days, [[Vivekananda]] regarded Ramakrishna's experiences as "creations of sick brain, mere hallucinations"<ref name="rr_naren"/> and did not accept him as an ''avatara''.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.169-193
| chapter = Naren the Beloved Disciple
| quote = Even if millions of men called you God, if I had not proved it for myself, I would never do so.
}}
</ref> Vivekananda regarded the ''[[Advaita Vedanta|Advaitist Vedantism]]'' of identity with absolute as blasphemy and madness.<ref name="rr_naren"/> After a period of revolt, Ramakrishna was accepted as a ''guru''.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Vivekananda
| first = Swami
| authorlink = Swami Vivekananda
| title = [[s:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda| Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda]]
| page = 263
| volume = Vol.8
| chapter = [[s:http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_8/Sayings_and_Utterances |Sayings and Utterances]]
| quote = "How I used to hate Kali!" he[vivekananda] said, referring to his own days of doubts in accepting the Kali ideal, "And all Her ways! That was the ground of my six years' fight — that I would not accept Her. But I had to accept Her at last! Ramakrishna Paramahamsa dedicated me to Her, and now I believe that She guides me in everything I do, and does with me what She will. . . . Yet I fought so long!
}}
</ref>

Referring to the practice of ''Madhura Bhava'', by his [[guru]], years later in [[1896]] in one of his speeches ''My Master'', Vivekananda said,<ref name="My_Master"/>
{{Quote|One of the Sâdhanâs was to root out the sex idea. Soul has no sex, it is neither male nor female. It is only in the body that sex exists, and the man who desires to reach the spirit cannot at the same time hold to sex distinctions. Having been born in a masculine body, this man wanted to bring the feminine idea into everything. He began to think that he was a woman, he dressed like a woman, spoke like a woman, gave up the occupations of men, and lived in the household among the women of a good family, until, after years of this discipline, his mind became changed, and he entirely forgot the idea of sex; thus the whole view of life became changed to him.}}

Referring to the teaching of ''Kama-Kanchana'', [[Vivekananda]] said,<ref name="My_Master"/>
{{Quote|Man is a soul, and soul is sexless, neither man nor woman. The idea of sex and the idea of money were the two things, he thought, that prevented him from seeing the Mother. This whole universe is the manifestation of the Mother, and She lives in every woman's body. "Every woman represents the Mother; how can I think of woman in mere sex relation?" That was the idea: Every woman was his Mother, he must bring himself to the state when he would see nothing but Mother in every woman. And he carried it out in his life.}}

====Romain Rolland====
In his book ''The Life of Ramakrishna'' (1929), [[Romain Rolland]], argues that Ramakrishna's experiences were not [[pathological]]. Rolland also argues the inapplicability of [[psychoanalysis]] on Ramakrishna, [[Swami Vivekananda]] and other mystics.<ref name="rr_master_children">
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.143-168
| chapter = The Master and his Children
| quote = Let the learned men of Europe, who are preoccupied by the problems of mystic psycho-analysis, put themselves in touch with these living witnesses while there is yet time. I myself, I repeat, have little curiosity about such phenomena, whose subjective reality is not in doubt, and I believe it my duty to describe them; for they are hedged about by all possible guarantees of good faith and analytical intelligence. I am more interested in the fact of great religious intuition in that which ''continues to be'' rather than in that which ''has been'', in that which is or which can be always in all beings rather than in that which is privilege of a few.
}}
</ref> Rolland had [[Romain_Rolland#Rolland_and_Freud | correspondence]] with [[Freud]]. In his letter of [[December 5]], [[1927]], Rolland indicated that he was researching a book on the Hindu saints Ramakrishna and [[Vivekananda]]. The references to [[Freud]] and [[psychoanalysis]] in these books are considered as direct response to ''[[Civilization and Its Discontents]]''.<ref>Fisher, ''"Sigmund Freud and Romain Rolland: The Terrestrial Animal and His Great Oceanic Friend"'', p. 29,</ref><ref>Werman, ''"Sigmund Freud and Romain Rolland"'', p. 236</ref>

==== Leo Schneiderman ====
[[Leo Schneiderman]], in this work ''Ramakrishna: Personality and Social Factors in the Growth of a Religious Movement'' (1969) says the following on Ramakrishna's [[samadhi]]:<ref name="leo_sch" />
{{Quote|Ramakrishna's "bizarre" behavior must be judged within its proper cultural context. Because Ramakrishna was a Brahmin priest who combined the performance of traditional religious functions with demonstrations of divine possession, especially in ''[[samadhi]]'', he could appeal to a wide clientele. He was both an exemplar of Redfield's "great tradition" of Hinduism, and of village shamanism, sublimated to a very high plane. Thus, Ramakrishna's trances and other dramatic manifestations, including, perhaps, even his psychotic behavior, were not truly aberrations from the standpoint of the non-Sanskritic popular culture.}}

==== Walter G Neevel ====
[[Walter G. Neevel]] in his essay — ''"Transformation of Ramakrishna"'' (1976) which studies Ramakrishna's [[ecstasy]] writes:<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Neevel
| first = Walter G
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Bardwell L. Smith
| title = Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions
| chapter = The Transformation of Ramakrishna
| publisher = Brill Archive
| date = 1976
| location =
| pages = 20
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| isbn = }}
</ref>
{{Quote|…It is clear that his ability to enter into trances so easily derived largely from his esthetic and emotional sensitivity — his capacity to so appreciate and identify with beauty and harmony in what he saw and did that he would become totally overcome by ecstasy.}}

====Narasingha Sil====
In 1991, historian [[Narasingha Sil]] wrote ''Ramakrishna Paramahamsa: A Psychological Profile'', an account of Ramakrishna that argues that Ramakrishna's mystical experiences were pathological and originated from alleged childhood sexual trauma.<ref name="ns">Sil, Narasingha, ''Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. A Psychological Profile'', (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1991), p.16</ref> [[Narasingha Sil]] links Ramakrishna's teaching of ''Kamini-Kanchana'' to traditional rural Bengali [[misogyny]].<ref name=dowager52>Sil, ''Divine Dowager'', p. 52</ref> Sil also says that Ramakrishna made his wife into a deity in order to avoid thinking of her as sexual.<ref name=dowager552>Sil, ''Divine Dowager'', p. 55</ref>

Other scholars, most notably psychologist [[Sudhir Kakar]], argued that Sil's study to be simplistic and misleading.<ref name="sk">Kakar, Sudhir, ''The Analyst and the Mystic'', (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991), p.34</ref> Sil's theory has also been argued as reductive by William B. Parsons, who has called for an increased empathetic dialogue between the classical/adaptive/transformative schools and the mystical traditions for an enhanced understanding of Ramakrishna's life and experiences.<ref name="wp">Parsons, William B., ''The Enigma of the Oceanic Feeling: Revisioning the Psychoanalytic Theory of Mysticism'', (New York, Oxford University Press, 1999), pp.125-139</ref>

Scholars - [[William Radice]], Dr.{{Jean Openshaw]] argue that Sil's works are unreliable, and terms them as ''virulently antagonistic "psycho-biography" of the saint''.<ref name="openshaw_sil">
{{cite paper
| author = Dr.Jeanne Openshaw
| authorlink = http://www.div.ed.ac.uk/jeanneopensh
| title = Crucifying a Saint
| publisher = Times Higher Education
| date = 11 December 1998
| url = http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=161020&sectioncode=40
| format = html
| accessdate = 2008-08-21
}}
</ref>

[[William Radice]] in his review of [[Narasingha Sil]]'s books argues:<ref name="radice_sil">
{{Cite journal
| last = Radice
| first = William
| authorlink = William Radice
| date = 1995
| title = Reviewed work(s): Ramakrishna Paramahamsa: A Psychological Profile by Narasingha P. Sil
| journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
| volume = 58
| issue = 3
| pages = 589-590
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| location = London
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/620150
| year = 1995
}}
</ref>
{{Quote|…What makes one ultimately distrustful of his book, entertaining though it is, is his willingness to manipulate his sources with a merry abandon worthy of Ramakrishna himself. … Sil knows perfectly well that Vivekananda often made provocative, throw-away remarks that were at odds with the main lines of his thought. … If Sil can misuse Vivekananda's writings to support his hypothesis, can we trust him to use the Kathamrta fairly?}}
{{Quote|…Another weakness of the book is that his ridicule of Ramakrishna's ' ecstasies ' his view that his frequent states of samadhi were pathological rather than spiritual is not supported by any clear view of what would be a genuine state of mystical ecstasy…}}
{{Quote|…In the end, therefore, his book has to be rejected in favour of more cautious, less mocking psychological assessment}}

[[Dr.Jean Openshaw]], further notes that:<ref name="openshaw_sil"/>
{{Quote|…issues such as the saint's teachings, his status (either as "godman" or divine "incarnation") and his marital situation seem to be raised only to discredit the saint, often through a heady mix of tendentious argument, speculation and innuendo.}}

{{Quote|…Apart from the compulsions of contemporary academic life, this sleight of hand should perhaps be seen in the light of the furore caused in India by another psychoanalytically based book, Jeffrey Kripal's Kali's Child (1995), with which Sil's own work is dangerously easy to identify. At any rate, Sil's understandable attempts to distance himself from Kripal's portrayal of Ramakrishna as a homosexual are vitiated by his own emphasis on the saint's "homoerotic" tendencies, albeit related by him to repressed heterosexuality, which in turn is attributed, on no evidence whatever, to sexual seduction or abuse in childhood.}}

{{Quote|…Sil's account oscillates between a mad Ramakrishna and a bad one. One is left wondering how defects so gross escaped so many sophisticated first-hand witnesses.}}

====Dr.Jeanne Openshaw====
Dr.[[Jeanne Openshaw]], a senior lecturer in Religious Studies, and who specializes in the area of [[Bengali]] [[Vaishnavism]] and [[Culture]], argues that the behavior or religious practices of Ramakrishna are not necessarily abnormal<ref name="openshaw">
{{cite paper
| author = Dr Jeanne Openshaw
| authorlink = http://www.div.ed.ac.uk/jeanneopensh
| title = The mystic and the rustic
| publisher =
| date = 15 December 1995
| url = http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=161271&sectioncode=40
| format = html
| accessdate = 2008-08-23
}}
</ref>. Openshaw argues that from the context of devotional [[Bengali]] ''[[Vaishnavism]]'', where [[femininity]] represents the highest attainable condition, the cultivation of femininity by men in various ways is not necessarily abnormal, nor can it necessarily be taken as a sign of homosexuality. Openshaw writes that in rural Bengal, male [[celibacy]], and conservation of semen are considered important. Openshaw argues that Ramakrishna's attempt to see all women as mothers rather than as sexual partners, cannot be termed as homoerotic tendencies.<ref name="openshaw"/>

====Sudhir Kakar====
In 1991, [[Sudhir Kakar]] wrote ''"The Analyst and the Mystic"'' <ref>In The Indian
Psyche, 125-188. 1996 New Delhi: Viking by Penguin. Reprint of 1991 book.</ref> Gerald James Larson wrote, "Indeed, Sudhir Kakar...indicates that there would be little doubt that from a [[Psychoanalysis|psychoanalytic]] point of view Ramakrishna could be diagnosed as a secondary [[transsexual]]."<ref>{{cite journal
| author = Gerald James Larson
| date = Autumn 1997
| title = Polymorphic Sexuality, Homoeroticism, and the Study of Religion
| journal = Journal of the American Academy of Religion
| volume = 65
| issue = 3
| pages = 655–665
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = London
| url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-7189%28199723%2965%3A3%3C655%3APSHATS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M
| month = Nov
| year = 1997
}}</ref>
Kakar sought a meta-psychological non-pathological explanation that connects Ramakrishna's mystical realization with creativity. Kakar also argues that culturally relative concepts of eroticism and gender have contributed to the Western difficulty in comprehending Ramakrishna.<ref name="sk">Kakar, Sudhir, ''The Analyst and the Mystic'', (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991), p.34</ref>In 2003, Sudhir Kakar wrote a novel, ''Ecstasy'', in which an aspiring ''[[sadhu]]'' in 20th century India endures sexual molestation as a child, and has a feminine appearance and ambiguous sexuality. According to the author, the characters were modelled on Ramakrishna and Vivekananda.<ref>
{{cite web
| title = The Rediff Interview/Psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar
| url = http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/apr/19inter.htm
| accessdate = 18 August 2008
}}</ref>

====Somnath Bhattacharyya====
Somnath Bhattacharyya, in his work ''Kali's Child: Psychological And Hermeneutical Problems'' further elaborates on the views related to [[transvestite]] and [[transsexuality]] traits of Ramakrishna.<ref name="som_bhat">{{cite web | last =Bhattacharyya | first =Professor Somnath | title =Kali's Child: Psychological And Hermeneutical Problems | publisher =Infinity Foundation | url =http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_bhatt_kali_frameset.htm | accessdate =2008-08-23 }}</ref> Bhattacharrya argues that dressing up in a feminine attire as a part of a legitimate and culturally accepted sadhana for a short period of time does not amount to [[transvestism]], since Ramakrishna also dressed like a ''[[Shakta]]'' and a ''[[Vaishnava]]'' during his Shakti and Vaishnava sadhana days and like a Muslim during his Islam sadhana, which were male attires. Bhattacharrya argues that Ramakrishna's dressing habits were inline with this religious practice. Bhattacharrya also argues that Ramakrishna cannot be termed as a secondary [[transsexual]].<ref name="SB_trans">
{{cite web
| last =Bhattacharyya
| first =Professor Somnath
| title =Kali's Child: Psychological And Hermeneutical Problems
| publisher =Infinity Foundation
| url =http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_bhatt_kali_frameset.htm
| quote = The American Psychiatric Association (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV) defines trans-sexuality as a strong and persistent cross-gender identification, and not merely a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of being the other sex. It is a disorder always involving distress to the person, with a feeling of estrangement from the body and a felt need to alter the appearance of the body. If Ramakrishna sometimes talked about his feminity he was also clear about what he meant by it – "Formerly I too used to see many visions, but now in my ecstatic state I don't see so many. I am gradually getting over my feminine nature; I feel nowadays more like a man. Therefore I control my emotions; I don't manifest it outwardly so much. …"(GSR 798; KA 4.214)
| accessdate =2008-09-24
}}</ref>

====Jeff Kripal====
{{Main article|Kali's Child}}
In 1995, [[postmodernist]]<ref>[http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kalischi/secret.html "Secret Talk: Sexual Identity and the Politics of Scholarship in the Study of Hindu Tantrism"] (no date):
"I thus write, certainly not as a South Asian commenting on my own culture or even as an anthropologist with extensive ethnographic experience commenting on someone else’s (I claim neither theoretical voice), but as an American historian of religions trying to make sense of American religious pluralism and the profound effects it has had and continues to have on our contemporary understandings of religion, mysticism, and Western Hinduism, not to mention my own postmodern plural self."</ref> author [[Jeffrey Kripal]] wrote ''[[Kali's Child|Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna]]'', which he called a [[psychoanalytic]] study of Ramakrishna.<ref>[http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/13682.ctl Kripal, Jeffrey J.: Kali's Child<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref name="jf">Kripal, Jeffrey J., ''Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna'', (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995, 1998)</ref> William Parsons described ''Kali's Child'' as a book "which performs a classic Freudian interpretation by seeing symptoms of repressed homoeroticism in the visions and acts of Ramakrishna, but then, in exemplifying the interdisciplinary approach of this dialogue, legitimates Ramakrishna’s religious visions by situating psychoanalytic discourse in a wider Tantric worldview."<ref>WILLIAM B. PARSONS, "PSYCHOLOGY" in ''Gale's Encyclopedia of Religion'', 2005</ref>

The book caused intense controversy among both Western and Indian audiences which still persists unresolved.<ref name="urban">
{{cite journal
| last = Urban
| first = Hugh B
| title = Reviewed work(s): Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna by Jeffrey J. Kripal
| journal = The Journal of Religion
| volume = 78
| issue = 2
| pages = pp. 318-320
| publisher = The University of Chicago Press
| date = Apr., 1998
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1205982
}}
</ref><ref name="alan">
{{cite journal
| last = Roland
| first = Alan
| title = Ramakrishna: Mystical, Erotic, or Both?
| journal = Journal of Religion and Health
| volume = 37
| issue = 1
| pages = pp. 31-36
| publisher = Springer Netherlands
| date = March, 1998
| DOI = 10.1023/A:1022956932676
| url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/hu55hq066jh60241/?p=9568dbec04cb4ae387947dfe3d2c33a3&pi=1
| quote = "... Kali's Child still swirls around in controversy"
}}
</ref><ref> J. S. Hawley, ''The Damage of Separation: Krishna’s Loves and Kali’s Child'', 2004</ref> The book came into limelight and created controversy in India after a scathing review written by religious scholar [[Narasingha Sil]] was published in ''[[The Statesman]]''. The review also produced a great deal of angry correspondence.<ref>{{cite journal | quotes = no
| author = Brian A. Hatcher | date = August 1999 | title = Kali's problem child: Another look at Jeffrey Kripal's study of Ramakrishna | journal = International Journal of Hindu Studies
| volume = 3 | issue = 2 | pages = 165–82 | publisher = World Heritage Press Inc
| url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/lt711m70323r2w60/ | quote = Most of the people in the room were familiar with the book, since not long before there had been a scathing review of the book and a welter of angry correspondence in the pages of Calcutta's major English daily, the Statesman. Judging from those reviews, one would have thought ''Kali's child'' had to be right up there with Lady Chatterly's lover. | doi = 10.1007/s11407-999-0002-3}}</ref><ref>Sil went even further when "in one Calcutta newspaper, The Statesman, Narasingha Sil recently decried Kripal as a shoddy scholar with a perverse imagination who has thoughtlessly "ransacked" another culture and produced a work which is, in short, "plain shit" (January 31, 1997)..." {{cite journal | last = Urban | first = Hugh | title = Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna | journal = The Journal of Religion | volume = Vol. 78, No. 2 | pages = pp. 318–320 | date = Apr., 1998 | url= http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4189%28199804%2978%3A2%3C318%3AKCTMAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G| accessdate=2008-03-18 | month = Apr | year = 1998 | issue = 2 | doi = 10.1086/490220 }}</ref> <!--However, in 1998, Sil suggested that ''Kali's Child'' was the best scholarly work on Ramakrishna.<ref>{{cite web | last =Bhattacharyya | first =Somnath | title =Kali's Child: Psychological And Hermeneutical Problems | publisher =Infinity Foundation | url =http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_bhatt_kali_frameset.htm | accessdate =2008-03-15}}</ref>-->

In 1998, the second edition of ''[[Kali's Child]]'' was brought out, in which [[Jeffery Kripal]] claimed that he had corrected the translation errors. Further, In 1999, Brian Hatcher argued that although some scholars had their misgivings, the overall verdict of religion scholars and of experts on South Asian culture regarding ''Kali's Child'' has been approving, and at times highly laudatory.<ref>{{cite journal | quotes = no | author = Brian A. Hatcher | date = August 1999 | title = Kali's problem child: Another look at Jeffrey Kripal's study of Ramakrishna | journal = International Journal of Hindu Studies | volume = 3 | issue = 2 | pages = 165–82 | publisher = World Heritage Press Inc
| url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/lt711m70323r2w60/ | quote = As a glance at the reviews will show, ''Kali's child'' has been praised by scholars of religion (see Haberman 1997; Parsons 1997) and by experts on South Asian culture more generally (see Radice 1998; Vaidyanathan 1997). Granted, some of these reviewers have their misgivings--and later in this essay I will raise one of my own---but their overall verdict has been an approving, and at times highly laudatory, one. | doi = 10.1007/s11407-999-0002-3}}</ref>

However, the deductions of ''[[Kali's Child]]'' and psychoanalytical credentials of Kripal were questioned by several scholars, including [[Jean Openshaw]]<ref name="mystic_rustic">
{{Citation
| last = Openshaw
| first = Jean
| title = The mystic and the rustic
| url = http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=161271&sectioncode=40
}}
</ref>, [[Gerald Larson]]<ref name="larson">
{{cite journal
| last = Larson
| first = Gerald James
| title = Review: Polymorphic Sexuality, Homoeroticism, and the Study of Religion
| journal = Journal of the American Academy of Religion
| volume = 65
| issue = 3
| pages = pp. 655-665
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| date = Autumn, 1997
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1465656
}}
</ref>, [[Hugh B. Urban]]<ref name="urban"/>, [[Narasingha Sil]]<ref name="sil_ITS">
{{cite web
| last = Sil
| first = Narasingha P.
| title = The Kripal Conundrum - A Critique
| url = http://invadingthesacred.com/content/view/64/52/
}}</ref>, [[Swami Tyagananda]]<ref name="KCR">
{{cite journal
| last = Tyagananda
| first = Swami
| coauthors = Pravrajika Vrajaprana
| title = Kali's Child Revisited or Didn't Anyone Check the Documentation?
| journal = Evam: Forum on Indian Representations
| volume = 1
| issue = 1-2
| date = 2002
| url = http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_tyaga_kali1_frameset.htm
}}
</ref>, [[Swami Atmajnanananda]]<ref name="atma">
{{cite journal
| last = Atmajnanananda
| first = Swami
| title = Scandals, cover-ups, and other imagined occurrences in the life of Ramakrishna: An examination of Jeffrey Kripal's Kali's child
| journal = International Journal of Hindu Studies
| volume = 1
| issue = 2
| pages = pp.401-420
| publisher = Springer
| location = Netherlands
| date = August, 1997
| url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/k1g8l97203k25047/
| doi = 10.1007/s11407-997-0007-8
}}
</ref>, [[Somnath Bhattacharya]]<ref name="som_bhat">
{{cite web
| last = Bhattacharyya
| first = Somnath
| authorlink = Somnath Bhattacharyya
| title = Kali's Child: Psychological And Hermeneutical Problems
| publisher = [[Infinity Foundation]]
| url = http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_bhatt_kali_frameset.htm
}}</ref>, [[Huston Smith]]<ref name="hsmith">{{cite journal | last = Smith | first =Huston | title = Letters to the Editor | journal = Harvard Divinity Bulletin | volume = 30/1 | pages = Letters | date = Spring 2001}}</ref>, [[Alan Roland]]<ref name="alan_roland"/><ref name="alan"/>, Pravrajika Vrajaprana<ref name="prav_vraj">
{{Cite Journal
| last = Vrajaprana
| first = Pravrajika
| title = Review of Kali's child, by Jeffrey Kripal
| journal = Hindu-Christian studies bulletin
| volume = 10
| pages = 59-60
| Year = 1997
}}
</ref>, [[William Radice]]<ref name="radice">
{{cite journal
| last = Radice
| first = William
| authorlink = William Radice
| title = Reviewed work(s): Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna by Jeffrey J. Kripal
| journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
| volume = 61
| issue = 1
| pages = pp. 160-161
| publisher = University of London
| date = 1998
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/3107328
}}
</ref>, [[Rajiv Malhotra]].

[[Swami Tyagananda]]'s ''Kali's Child Revisited or Didn't Anyone Check the Documentation?'' argues the presence of serious errors<ref>''Invading the Sacred'', p.29</ref> in ''Kali's Child''. Copies of ''Kali's Child Revisited'' were distributed at the annual meeting of the [[American Academy of Religion]]<ref>
{{cite journal
| last = Sharma
| first = Arvind
| title = Hindus and Scholars
| journal = RELIGION IN THE NEWS
| volume = 7
| issue = 1
| publisher = trincoll.edu
| date = Spring 2004
| url = http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/csrpl/RINVol7No1/Hindus%20and%20Scholars.htm
| accessdate = 2008-07-17}}
</ref> and subsequently published in the journal ''Evam''.
<ref name="evam">
{{cite web
| title = EVAM - FORUM ON INDIAN REPRESENTATIONS ~ Issue 1
| url = http://www.swaveda.com/journal.php?jid=2&j=Evam
| accessdate = 2008-08-20
}}
</ref>

Kripal's translations, his conclusions, and his authority to apply psychoanalysis to Ramakrishna were questioned by several scholars, including Alan Roland, [[Huston Smith]], and Somnath Bhattacharya.<ref>
Smith derided Kripal's work as "colonialism updated".{{cite journal | last = Smith | first =Huston | title = Letters to the Editor | journal = Harvard Divinity Bulletin | volume = 30/1 | pages = Letters | date = Spring 2001}}</ref><ref name="alan_roland">"Freud never had access to non-Western patients, so he never established the validity of his theories in other cultures. This is a point emphasized by Alan Roland, who has researched and published extensively to show that Freudian approaches are not applicable to study Asian cultures." Ramaswamy and De Nicholas, p. 39.</ref><ref>Somnath Bhattacharyya is emeritus professor and former head of the Psychology Department at Calcutta University(Ramaswamy and DeNicholas, p. 152), and a practicing psychotherapist(Ramaswamy and DeNicholas, p. 152) who is fluent in Bengali(Ramaswamy and DeNicholas, p. 152) and familiar with the primary source material used by Kripal(Ramaswamy and DeNicholas, p. 152). In addition to pointing out that Kripal is not qualified in psychoanalysis, he says the textual errors in Kali’s Child are “particularly grave”, and “large scale distortions of source material in an ill attempted effort at establishing a thesis, is certainly not academically acceptable.” Ramaswamy and DeNicholas, p. 162.</ref>

Kripal responded to the criticisms in journal articles and postings on his website, but stopped participating in the discussion in late 2002.<ref>[http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kalischi/textuality.html Kali's Child]</ref>

====J.S. Hawley====
[[John Stratton Hawley]], Professor of Religion at [[Barnard College]], in his paper ''The Damage of Separation: Krishna’s Loves and Kali’s Child''<ref name="js_hawley">
{{cite journal
| last = Hawley
| first = John Stratton
| title = The Damage of Separation: Krishna’s Loves and Kali’s Child
| journal = Journal of the American Academy of Religion
| volume = 72
| issue = 2
| pages = pp.369-393
| date = June 2004
| url = http://jaar.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/72/2/369?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=ramakrishna&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
| doi = 10.1093/jaarel/lfh034
| accessdate = 2008 Aug 18}}
</ref> examines the following:
* Is it right to think of the [[religious]] and [[erotic]] realms as overlapping, particularly when a [[homosexual]] dimension is involved.
* Second, if [[Hindus]] and [[Hinduism]] are the subject, should non-Hindus refrain from speaking?

In this study, J.S.Hawley, revisits the [[Kali's Child]] debate highlighting one of its central terms — the ''vyakulata'' feeling of Ramakrishna. J.S.Hawley argues that neither the [[gopi]]s’ torment nor Ramakrishna’s must be allowed to devolve to a bodily level.<ref name="js_hawley"/> Hawley further argues that communities of people who respond to different sexual orientations should not indiscriminately impose their thoughts on religious communities.<ref name="js_hawley_quote">
{{cite journal
| last = Hawley
| first = John Stratton
| title = The Damage of Separation: Krishna’s Loves and Kali’s Child
| journal = Journal of the American Academy of Religion
| volume = 72
| issue = 2
| pages = pp.369-393
| date = June 2004
| url = http://jaar.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/72/2/369?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=ramakrishna&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
| doi = 10.1093/jaarel/lfh034
| quote = neither the gopis’ torment nor Ramakrishna’s must be allowed to devolve to a bodily level that could be indiscriminately shared—either between religious communities, or between the erstwhile colonizers and their erstwhile colonial victims, or between communities of people who respond to different sexual orientations. Eros is too dangerous.}}
</ref>

====Alan Roland====
Attempts by modern authors to [[psychoanalysis|psychoanalyze]] Ramakrishna are questioned by practicing [[psychoanalyst]] Alan Roland, who has written extensively about applying Western [[psychoanalysis]] to Eastern cultures,<ref>Roland, Alan. (1996) ''Cultural Pluralism and Psychoanalysis: The Asian and North American Experience''. Routledge. ISBN 0415914787.</ref><ref>Roland, Alan (1998) ''In Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a Cross-cultural Psychology''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691024588.</ref><ref>Roland, A. (1991). ''Sexuality, the Indian Extended Family, and Hindu Culture''. J. Amer. Acad. Psychoanal., 19:595-605.</ref><ref>Roland, A. (1980). ''Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Personality Development in India. Int. R. Psycho-Anal.'', 7:73-87.</ref> and charges that psychoanalysis has been misapplied to Ramakrishna.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Roland | first = Alan | title = Ramakrishna: Mystical, Erotic, or Both? | journal = Journal of Religion and Health | volume = 37 | pages = 31–36 |date=October 2004 | doi = 10.1023/A:1022956932676}}</ref><ref>Roland, Alan. (2007) ''The Uses (and Misuses) Of Psychoanalysis in South Asian Studies: Mysticism and Child Development''. Invading the Sacred: An Analysis of Hinduism Studies in America. Delhi, India: Rupa & Co. ISBN 978-8129111821</ref> Roland decries the facile decoding of Hindu symbols, such as Kali’s sword and Krishna’s flute, into Western sexual metaphors&mdash;thereby reducing Ramakrishna’s spiritual aspiration to the basest psychopathology.<ref name="roland_p.33">Roland, ''Ramakrishna: Mystical, Erotic, or Both?'', p. 33.</ref> The conflation of Ramakrishna’s spiritual ecstasy, or [[samadhi]], with unconscious dissociated states due to repressed homoerotic feelings is not based on common psychoanalytic definitions of these two different motivations, according to Roland.<ref name="roland_p.33"/> He also writes that it is highly questionable whether Ramakrishna’s spiritual aspirations and experiences involve regression&mdash;responding to modern attempts to reduce Ramakrishna’s spiritual states to a subconscious response to an imagined childhood trauma.<ref>Roland, ''The Uses (and Misuses) Of Psychoanalysis in South Asian Studies: Mysticism and Child Development'', published in ''Invading the Sacred: An Analysis of Hinduism Studies in America''. Delhi, India: Rupa & Co. ISBN 978-8129111821, p. 414.</ref>

====Kelley Ann Raab====
While most of the studies have been conducted from either a primarily [[psychoanalytic]] perspective or from the perspective of a devotee, [[Kelley Ann Raab]]'s work — ''Is There Anything Transcendent about Transcendence? A Philosophical and Psychological Study of Sri Ramakrishna'', focuses upon Ramakrishna from both a [[philosophical]] perspective and a [[psychoanalytic]] perspective.<ref name="Raab">
{{Cite journal
| author = [[Kelley Ann Raab]]
| date = Summer, 1995
| title = Is There Anything Transcendent about Transcendence? A Philosophical and Psychological Study of Sri Ramakrishna
| journal = Journal of the American Academy of Religion
| volume = 63
| issue = 2
| pages = 321-341
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = London
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1465404
| year = 1995
}}
</ref> The study argues that neither a purely psychological explanation nor a solely philosophical account of his visions is adequate to understand his madness or his godliness, but that together [[psychology]] and [[philosophy]] can deepen our understanding of Ramakrishna and find a common meeting ground. Raab argues that,<ref name="Raab"/>
* By philosophical analysis of Ramakrishna's devotional mysticism and [[tantra|tantric]] underpinnings, his visions and behavior were in keeping with his culture and tradition.
* By [[psychoanalysis|psychological analysis]] of Ramakrishna's behavior, he broke through dualistic thought patterns defining gender, humanity, and God by dressing as and imitating a woman.

===Ramakrishna's Tantra ''Sadhana''===
Several scholars have expressed different views on Ramakrishna's [[tantra|tantric]] sadhana, which consisted of heterodox practices but not limited to the [[Vamachara]] — "left hand path", which involves drinking wine, eating rotten flesh, [[sexual intercourse]] and [[Kularnava]],
[[Mahanirvana]] and [[Kamalakala Vilasa]] which are termed as "right-handed path" involving [[celibate]] [[vegetarian]] lifestyle<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Mahatyagi
| first = Raman Das
| title = Yatan Yoga: A Natural Guide to Health and Harmony
| publisher = YATAN Ayurvedics
| date = 2008
| pages = p.19
}}
</ref>, [[japa]], breath control, concentration, [[meditation]].<ref name="E.U.Harding"/> Depending on an aspirant's disposition, Tantra prescribes a particular method for [[spiritual]] practice. In general, the Tantras classify people into three major groups ''pasu'' (animal), ''vira'' (hero), ''divya'' (godlike).<ref name="E.U.Harding"/> According to Saradananda, Ramakrishna was in the ''vira'' stage during the practice of [[vamachara]].<ref>''The Great Master'', "Tantra Sadhana"</ref> [[Elizabeth U. Harding]] writes that the Tantra practices are aimed at rousing the ''[[Kundalini]]'' and peircing the six ''[[chakra]]s''. Elizabeth argues that [[Tantra]] is one of the paths for God-realization and cannot be branded as sensualism.<ref name="E.U.Harding">
{cite book
| last = Harding
| first = Elizabeth U.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar
| publisher = Motilal Banarsidass
| date = 1998
| pages = p.74-75
| isbn = 9788120814509
| quote = Through the steadfast spiritual practice, the godlike aspirant rouses the Kundalini and makes her pierce the six centers of mystic consciousness.[…]It is sheer nonsense and gross perversion to truth to brand it as gross egoistic hedonism or unrestrained sensualism. Rama Prasada, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Bama Ksepa, and other Sakta saints attained God-realization
}}
</ref>

[[Christopher Isherwood]] writes that the object of the [[tantra|tantrik]] disciplines is "to see, behind all phenomena, the presence of God and to overcome the obstacles to this insight — attraction and aversion".<ref name="CI_101-2">''Ramakrishna and his Disciples'', p.101-102</ref> Further Isherwood argues that words which normally carry sensual associations suggested higher meanings to Ramakrishna in his exalted state. For example, the word ''[[yoni]]'', which normally means the female sex-organ, would mean for him the divine source of creation. According to Isherwood, for Ramakrishna the most unconditionally obscene words were scared to him as the vocabulary of the [[scriptures]] during the [[tantra]] ''sadhana''.<ref name="CI_101-2"/> Religious scholars note that the word ''[[linga]]'' represented ''[[purusha]]'', and ''[[yoni]]'' represented ''[[prakruti]]''.<ref>
{{cite book
| author = Jean Varenne
| coauthors = Derek Coltman
| title = Yoga and the Hindu Tradition
| publisher = University of Chicago Press
| date = 1977
| pages = p.151
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| author = Pi. Si Muralimadhavan
| title = Facets of Indian Culture
| date = 2000
| pages = p.66
| quote = Remember that in tantra ''yoni'' does not mean generative organ of a woman. It means ''karana'' or cave-the womb of the universe.
</ref>

Neevel argues that, Ramakrishna's followers tend to be apologetic about his taking up tantric practices because of the eroticism that has discredited tantric schools in general and those of Bengal in particular. Neevel argues that the infulence of tantra on this spiritual development is underestimated.<ref>
{{cite book
| author = Neevel
| title = Transformation of Sri Ramakrishna
| pages = p.75-76
| quote = Their anxiety about misunderstanding leads them, in my opinion, to underestimate and obscure the importance of tantric influences on his spiritual development.
}}</ref>. Ramchandra Datta one of the early biographers of Ramakrishna is reported to have said, "We have heard many tales of the Brahmani but we hesitate to divulge them to the public."<ref name=dowager>Sil, ''Divine Dowager'', p. 42</ref>

In ''[[Kali's Child]]'', [[Jeffery Kripal]] argues that "Ramakrishna's world, then, was a Tantric world"<ref>''Kali's Child'', p.27</ref>. Kripal further argues that Ramakrishna's Tantric practices were "omnipresent, defining virtually every point along Ramakrishna's spiritual development."<ref>''Kali's Child'', p.71</ref> However, other scholars — [[Swami Tyagananda]]<ref>'''Kali's Child Revisited'', Note.16, Note.51</ref>, [[Somnath Bhatacharyya]]<ref name="som_bhat"/>, Hugh B. Urban<ref name="urban">
{{cite journal
| last = Urban
| first = Hugh B
| title = Reviewed work(s): Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna by Jeffrey J. Kripal
| journal = The Journal of Religion
| volume = 78
| issue = 2
| pages = pp. 318-320
| publisher = The University of Chicago Press
| date = Apr., 1998
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1205982
| quote = Kripal lapses all too often into a very popular misconception of Tantra as something "scandalous, seedy, sexy, and dangerous" (p. 32), which is defined primarily by the equation of eroticism and mysticism.
}}
</ref>, [[Narasingha Sil]]<ref>
{{Cite journal
| author = [[Narasingha Sil]]
| date = November, 1997
| title = Is Ramakrishna a Vedantin, a Tantrika or a Vaishnava? — An Examination
| journal = Asian Studies Review
| volume = 21
| issue = 2
| pages = pp. 220
| publisher = The University of Chicago
| location = American
| year = 1997
| quote = In order to fit the square peg of a Tantrika Ramakrishna into the round hole of a homosexual Paramahamsa, Kripal manufactures evidence by distorting the meaning of sources.
}}
</ref>, [[William Radice]]<ref name="radice">
{{cite journal
| last = Radice
| first = William
| authorlink = William Radice
| title = Reviewed work(s): Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna by Jeffrey J. Kripal
| journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
| volume = 61
| issue = 1
| pages = pp. 160-161
| publisher = University of London
| date = 1998
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/3107328
}}
</ref> argue that Kripal's conclusions are incorrect.

==Notes on Biographical sources==
Ramakrishna never wrote down the details of his own life. Sources for his life and teachings come from the writings of his disciples and live witnesses. Ramakrishna's recorded sayings mainly come from the last four years of his life.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Neevel
| first = Walter G
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Bardwell L. Smith
| title = Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions
| chapter = The Transformation of Ramakrishna
| publisher = Brill Archive
| date = 1976
| location =
| pages = 61
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| isbn = 9004044957}}
</ref>

* The book ''[[Kathamrita|Sri Sri Rāmakrishna Kathāmrita]]'' by [[Mahendranath Gupta]] under the pseudonym ''M.,'' belongs to this class of evidence. [[Mahendranath Gupta]] recorded his daily interactions with Ramakrishna in his dairy which were subsequently published as ''[[Sri-Sri-Ramakrishna-Kathamrta]]'' in 5 Volumes in [[bengali]]. The information in these volumes is available with "stenographic precision".<ref name="rr_biblio">
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.232-237
| chapter = Bibliography
}}
</ref>
* ''Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsadever Jivan-vrittanta'' (1890) by [[Ram Chandra Dutta]],<ref name="amiya_176">Amiya P. Sen, "Sri Ramakrishna, the ''Kathamrita'' and the Calcutta middle Classes: an old problematic revisited" ''Postcolonial Studies'', 9: 2 p 176</ref> is one of the earliest published biography of Ramakrishna. Religious scholar, [[Narasingha Sil]]<ref name="sil_rr">{{cite book
| last = Sil
| first = Narasingha P
| authorlink = Narasingha Sil
| coauthors =
| title = Ramakrishna Revisited
| publisher = University Press of America
| date = May 28, 1998
| location = America
| pages = 368
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| isbn = 978-0761810520}}</ref> and [[Jeffery Kripal]]<ref>{{cite book
| last = Kripal
| first = Jeffery
| authorlink = Jeffery Kripal
| coauthors =
| title = Kali's Child
| publisher = University Of Chicago Press
| date = October 1, 1998
| location =
| pages = 420
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| isbn = 978-0226453774}}</ref> argue that Datta's ''Jivanvrttanta'' is the most scandalous biography of Ramakrishna, "containing the lurid details of his ''[[sadhana]]'' as well as his quite suggestive encounters with his patron Mathur." They cite a letter written by [[Swami Vivekananda]] in 1884 asking to "Avoid all irregular indecent expressions about sex etc...because other nations think it the height of indecency to mention such things, and his life in English is going to be read by the whole world"<ref name="epi_32">[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_5/Epistles_-_First_Series/XXII_Alasinga The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda ~ Volume 5 ~ Epistle XXIII]</ref> and calling [[Ramchandra Dutta]]'s translation a "bosh and rot"<ref name="epi_32"/>. They also argue that [[Ramchandra Dutta]] faced a possible law suit from [[Swami Vivekananda]]. However, Swami Atmajnanananda and Pravrajika Vrajaprana argue that as of 1995, this book has been published in nine Bengali editions<ref name="atma">
{{cite journal
| last = Atmajnanananda
| first = Swami
| title = Scandals, cover-ups, and other imagined occurrences in the life of Ramakrishnaa: An examination of Jeffrey Kripal's Kali's child
| journal = International Journal of Hindu Studies
| volume = 1
| issue = 2
| pages = pp.401-420
| publisher = Springer
| location = Netherlands
| date = August, 1997
| url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/k1g8l97203k25047/
| doi = 10.1007/s11407-997-0007-8
}}
</ref><ref name="prav_vraj">
{{Cite Journal
| last = Vrajaprana
| first = Pravrajika
| title = Review of Kali's child, by Jeffrey Kripal
| journal = Hindu-Christian studies bulletin
| volume = 10
| pages = 59-60
| Year = 1997
}}
</ref>. Kripal later withdrew these arguments.<ref>
{{Cite web
| title = Pale Plausibilities: A Preface for the Second Edition
| author = Jeffrey Kripal,
| url = http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kalischi/pale.html
| quote= "I have also, I believe, overplayed the degree to which the tradition has suppressed Datta's Jivanavrttanta. Indeed, to my wonder (and embarrassment), the [[Ramakrishna Order]] reprinted Datta's text the very same summer ''Kali's Child'' appeared, rendering my original claims of a conscious concealment untenable with respect to the present}}
</ref>
*In 1887, [[Akshay Kumar Sen]] wrote Ramakrishna's life in verse — ''Sri Sri Ramakrishna Punthi'' in [[Bengali]]. [[Akshay Kumar Sen]] later wrote ''Padye Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Dever Upadesh'' and ''Sri Sri Ramakrishna Mahima''.

* ''Sri Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga'' by [[Swami Saradananda]]. The book was begun in 1909 and left partially incomplete at the author's death in 1927.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Neevel
| first = Walter G
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Bardwell L. Smith
| title = Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions
| chapter = The Transformation of Ramakrishna
| publisher = Brill Archive
| date = 1976
| location =
| pages = 62
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| isbn = }}
</ref> [[Swami Saradananda]] is considered an authority both as a [[philosopher]] and as an [[historian]] on Ramakrishna.<ref name="rr_biblio">
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.232-237
| chapter = Bibliography
}}
</ref> The book provides authentic information on Ramakrishna.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Isherwood
| first = Christopher
| authorlink = Christopher Isherwood
| title = Ramakrishna and his Disciples
| chapter = The Birth of Ramakrishna
| date = 1965
| pages = p.2
| quote = Although Saradananda did not begin his work until more than twenty years after Ramakrishna's death, there is no doubt of its authenticity. Many of those who had known Ramakrishna were then still alive, and Saradananda carefully compared his memories with theirs.… A man like Saradananda could not have made it unless it was literally true.
}}
</ref>
*''My Master'', speeches by [[Swami Vivekananda]] in 1896.<ref name="My_Master">
{{cite book
| last = Vivekananda
| first = Swami
| title = [[s:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda| Complete Works]]
| date = 1896
| pages = pp.154-188
| chapter = [[s:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 4/Lectures and Discourses/My Master|My Master]]
}}
</ref> While scholars like [[Narasingha Sil|Sil]] argue that Ramakrishna is a product of Vivekananda's "Mythmaking and Propaganda"<ref name="viv_myth">
{{cite book
| last = Sil
| first = Narasingha P
| authorlink = Narasingha Sil
| title = Ramakrishna Revisited
| chapter = Vivekānanda's Rāmakṛṣṇa: An Untold Story of Mythmaking and Propaganda
| chapterurl = http://www.jstor.org/stable/3270397
}}</ref>, other scholars have expressed the opinion that Vivekananda has presented a accurate picture of Ramakrishna.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Muller
| first = Max
| title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
| date = 1898
| pages = pp.30-31
| chapter = The Dialogic Process
| chapterurl= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls13.htm
| quote = I had made it as clear as possible to Vivekânanda that the accounts hitherto published of his Master, however edifying they might be to his followers, would sound perfectly absurd to European students, ... that descriptions of miracles performed by the Saint, however well authenticated, would produce the very opposite effect of what they were intended for. Vivekânanda himself is a man who knows England and America well, and perfectly understood what I meant. Yet even his unvarnished description of his Master discloses here and there the clear traces of what I call the Dialogic Process, and the irrepressible miraculising tendencies of devoted disciples. And I am really glad that it does so, if only it helps to teach us that no historian can ever pretend to do more than to show us what a man or a fact seemed to be to him or to the authorities whom he has to follow, and not what he or it actually was.
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| last = Neevel
| first = Walter G
| coauthors = Bardwell L. Smith
| title = Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions
| chapter = The Transformation of Ramakrishna
| publisher = Brill Archive
| date = 1976
| pages = 53-97
| quote = …Although Muller claims still to see "the irrepressible miraculising tendencies of devoted disciples", we can assume that Vivekananda, under the admonitions from the leading Indologist of the day, made every effort to make his account as factual and accurate as possible.
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| last = Isherwood
| first = Christopher
| authorlink = Christopher Isherwood
| title = Ramakrishna and his Disciples
| chapter = The Birth of Ramakrishna
| date = 1965
| pages = p.23
| quote = When we meet Vivekananda in the latter part of this story, we shall find him a highly skeptical young man with a western-agnostic education in Calcutta, who refused utterly to believe in the supernormal until he had, so to speak, banged his head against it. And even when Vivekananda's disbelief had been modified by personal experience, even when he had become one of Ramakrishna's most passionate devotees, he still discouraged blind faith in others, still urged everyone to find out the truth for himself. And, over and over again, he asserted that it really did not matter whether you believed that Ramakrishna was a divine incarnation or not. Can we accuse such men of lying?
}}
</ref>
* Biographic works from householder disciples include, Mahendranath Dutta's ''Sri Ramakrishner Anudhyan'', ("Sacred Memories of Sri Ramakrishna")<ref name="amiya_176"/>, Satyacharan Mitra's 1897 ''Sri Sri Ramakrsna Paramahamsadeber Jiboni o Upadesh'' ("The Life and Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa")<ref name="amiya_176"/>, and Sureshchandra Datta's 1886 ''Sriramakrsnadeber Upades'' ("Teachings of SriRamakrishna").

* [[Max Muller|Max Muller's]] book ''Râmakrishna: His Life and Sayings'' (1898) is one of the earliest works by a Western scholar on the life of Ramakrishna and a relatively independent source of biography.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Neevel
| first = Walter G
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Bardwell L. Smith
| title = Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions
| chapter = The Transformation of Ramakrishna
| publisher = Brill Archive
| date = 1976
| location =
| pages = 63
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| isbn = 9004044957}}
</ref>.It is based on first-hand evidence, analysed in "broad and clear critical spirit".<ref name="rr_biblio"/> [[Max Muller]] based this book on the testimonies of [[Swami Vivekananda]] and several independent witnesses, both favorable and unfavorable to Ramakrishna.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Muller
| first = Max
| title = Râmakrishna his Life and Sayings
| date = 1898
| pages = pp.61
| chapter = Mozoomdar's Judgement
| chapterurl= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/rls16.htm
}}</ref> Scholars consider this book to be ''"containing the just criticism needed for a true valuation of Ramakrishna's personality and teaching"''.<ref>
{{Cite journal
| author = [[Maurice Bloomfield]]
| date = Dec., 1899
| title = Reviewed work(s): Ramakrishna, His Life and Sayings by F. Max Müller
| journal = The American Historical Review
| volume = 5
| issue = 2
| pages = pp. 347-349
| publisher = American Historical Association
| location = American
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1834625
| year = 1899
}}
</ref> [[Max Muller]], regarded Ramakrishna as ''The Real Mahatman''.<ref>
{{cite news
| author = [[Max Muller]]
| title = A Real Mahatman
| publisher = The Nineteenth Century
| date = 1896
| language = English
}}
</ref>
* [[Romain Rolland]]'s book : ''Life of Ramakrishna'' (1929) is another biographic work which is based on direct disciples of whom [[Romain Rolland]] writes —"I have received glowing testimony at their hands. I have talked with some among them, who were the companions of this mystic being - of the Man-Gods- and I can vouch for their loyalty. Moreover, these eye-witnesses are not the simple fishermen of the Gospel story; some are great thinkers, learned in European thought and disciplined in its strict school."<ref>{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = pp.xxiii
| chapter = Prelude
}}</ref>, and independent eye-witnesses of Ramakrishna who were alive at his time. He had consulted the [[Christian]] missionaries who had interview Ramakrishna.<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Rolland
| first = Romain
| title = The Life of Ramakrishna
| date = 1929
| pages = p.205
| chapter = The River Re-Enters the Sea
}}
</ref>

*The English translations of ''Kathamrita'' were published by [[Swami Nikhilananda]] in his book [[The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna]]. The book provides authentic information<ref name="carl">
{{Cite journal
| author = Carl E. Purinton
| date = Jan, 1949
| title = Reviewed work(s): Ramakrishna: Prophet of New India. Abridged from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by Swami Nikhilananda
| journal = Journal of Bible and Religion
| volume = 17
| issue = 1
| pages = pp. 67-68
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = London
| url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1456762
| year = 1949
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| last = Neevel
| first = Walter G
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Bardwell L. Smith
| title = Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions
| chapter = The Transformation of Ramakrishna
| publisher = Brill Archive
| date = 1976
| location =
| pages = 61-62
| url =
| doi =
| id = }}
</ref> about Ramakrishna. The book was voted as one of the ''"100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century"'' by the [[United States|American]] [[scholars]] convened by [[HarperCollins]] publishers,<ref>{{Cite Web
| title = 100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century
| url=http://www.faithalivebooks.com/collections/harper_100_best.html
| accessdate=2008-08-21
}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
| last = Zalewiski
| first = Phillip
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = The Best Spiritual Writing 2000
| publisher = [[HarperCollins]]
| date = 2000
| location = San Francisco
| pages =
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| isbn =978-0062516701 }}
</ref> However, scholars argue that the book has been [[bowdlerized]].<ref>Sil, 1993; Hatcher, 1999; Radice, 1995; Kripal 1998</ref>. Kripal argues that although [[Nikhilananda]] calls it a literal translation, he "substantially altered Gupta's text, combining the five parallel narratives", "as well as deleting some passages which he claimed were "of no particular interest to English-speaking readers.".<ref>''Kali's Child'' (1995), p.329-336</ref> However other scholars Sil, [[Swami Tyagananda]]<ref>{{cite paper
| author = Swami Tyagananda
| title= Kali's Child Revisited
| date = 2000
| url = http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_tyaga_kali1_frameset.htm
| quote = What is most important to note is that Nikhilananda was honest when he said that he omitted "only a few pages of no particular interest to the English speaking readers" (Gospel, vii). He did not deny the omissions and it seems to me unfair to question his integrity-as Kripal does-simply because Kripal finds something of "particular interest" which Nikhilananda didn't.
}}</ref>, Somnath Bhattacharrya<ref>
{{cite paper
| author = Somnath Bhattacharrya
| title = Kali's Child: Psychological And Hermeneutical Problems
| date = 2002
| quote = Anybody with an elementary knowledge of Bengali may check for himself that Kripal's charge about Nikhilananda having "ingeniously mistranslated (or omitted) almost every single secret "(KC 333) is simply untrue. As a matter of fact if one cross checks the list of these passages marked guhya-katha, one finds that in an overwhelming majority of instances Nikhilananda's translations are faithful to the letter as well as spirit of the original.
}}</ref>, Swami Atmajnananda<ref name="atma-q"/> argue that Kripal's observations are incorrect. They also argue that Nikhilananda's translations were faithful and took into consideration the western decorum.<ref name="atma-q">
{{cite journal
| last = Atmajnanananda
| first = Swami
| title = Scandals, cover-ups, and other imagined occurrences in the life of Ramakrishna: An examination of Jeffrey Kripal's Kali's child
| journal = International Journal of Hindu Studies
| volume = 1
| issue = 2
| pages = pp.401-420
| publisher = Springer
| location = Netherlands
| date = August, 1997
| url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/k1g8l97203k25047/
| doi = 10.1007/s11407-997-0007-8
| quote = In each case, however, it is Nikhillnanda's sensitivity to Western decorum that seems to have dictated his translation decisions, not fear of revealing hidden secrets. Had this been the case, he certainly would have eliminated far more of Ramakrishna's remarks than he did. In each case also, we find Kripal's translation of the missing portion more misleading than Nikhilananda's omissions.
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite paper
| author = Swami Tyagananda
| title= Kali's Child Revisited
| date = 2000
| url = http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_tyaga_kali1_frameset.htm
| quote = Translating texts across cultural boundaries is not easy: if you translate the "word," you risk being misunderstood; if you translate the "idea," you are charged-as Kripal does-with "bowdlerizing" the text. His allegation that Nikhilananda omitted portions containing "some of the most revealing and significant passages of the entire text" (KC 4) is not only textually unjustified but completely untrue.
}}</ref>

*''Life of Sri Ramakrishna, compiled from various authentic sources'' (1925) by [[Swami Madhavananda]] is also one of the primary sources of Ramakrishna's biography and a reliable source which contains first hand accounts of his disciples, live witnesses.<ref name="rr_biblio"/>

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==

* {{cite web | last =Bhattacharyya | first =Somnath | title =Kali's Child: Psychological And Hermeneutical Problems | publisher =Infinity Foundation | url =http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_bhatt_kali_frameset.htm | accessdate =2008-03-15 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hixon | first=Lex |authorlink=Lex Hixon |title=Great Swan: Meetings With Ramakrishna |publisher=Larson Publications |location=Burdett, N.Y |year= |pages= |isbn=0-943914-80-9 |oclc= |doi=}}
* {{cite book |last=Isherwood | first=Christopher| authorlink=Christopher Isherwood |title=Ramakrishna and His Disciples |publisher=Vedanta Press |location=Hollywood, Calif |date=1980 |pages= |isbn=0-87481-037-X |oclc= |doi=}} (reprint, orig. 1965)
* {{cite book |last=Kripal| first=Jeffery J. | authorlink=Jeffrey J. Kripal |title=[[Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna]]|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location= |year=1995 |pages= |isbn= |oclc= |doi=}}
* {{cite book |last = Muller| first=max| authorlink=Max Muller |title=Ramakrishna: His Life and Sayings |publisher=LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. |location= Great Britain|pages= |isbn=81-7505-060-8 |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/index.htm | year=1898 | oclc= |doi=}}
*{{cite book | last =Nikhilananda | first =Swami | authorlink =Swami Nikhilananda | title =The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna | publisher =Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center | url=http://www.belurmath.org/gospel/ | date =1942 | isbn =0911206019 }}
*{{cite book | last =Rajagopalachari | first =Chakravarti | authorlink =C. Rajagopalachari | title =Sri Ramakrishna Upanishad | publisher =Vedanta Press | date =1973 | asin =B0007J1DQ4 }}
* {{cite book | last =Ramaswamy | first =Krishnan | coauthors =Antonio de Nicolas | title =Invading the Sacred: An Analysis of Hinduism Studies in America | publisher =Rupa & Co | date =2007 | location =Delhi, India | isbn =978-8129111821 }}
*{{cite book | last =Rolland | first =Romain | authorlink =Romain Rolland | title =Life of Ramakrishna | publisher =Vedanta Press | date =1929 | isbn =978-8185301440 }}
*{{cite book | last =Saradananda | first =Swami | authorlink = Swami Saradananda| coauthors =Swami Chetanananda | title =Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play | publisher =Vedanta Society | date =2003 | location =St. Louis | isbn =978-0916356811 }}
*{{cite book | last =Saradananda | first =Swami | authorlink = | coauthors =Swami Jagadananda | title =Sri Ramakrishna The Great Master | publisher =Sri Ramakrishna Math | date =1952 | asin =B000LPWMJQ }}
* {{cite web | last =Tyagananda | first =Swami | authorlink=Swami Tyagananda| title =Kali's Child Revisited or Didn't Anyone Check the Documentation? | work = | publisher =Infinity Foundation | url =http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_tyaga_kali1_frameset.htm | accessdate =2008-03-15 }}

==Further reading==

*{{cite book | last =Ananyananda | first =Swami | title =Ramakrishna: a biography in pictures | publisher =Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta | date =1981 | isbn =978-8185843971 }}
*{{cite book | last =Chetanananda | first =Swami | title =Ramakrishna As We Saw Him | publisher =Vedanta Society of St Louis | date =1990 | location =St. Louis | isbn =978-0916356644 }}
* {{cite book | last= Hourihan | first=Paul | title=Ramakrishna & Christ, the Supermystics: New Interpretations |publisher=Vedantic Shores Press |location= |year= |pages= |isbn=1-931816-00-X |oclc= |doi=}}
* {{cite book | last=Olson | first=Carl | title=The Mysterious Play of Kālī: An Interpretive Study of Rāmakrishna | publisher=American Academy of Religion (Scholars Press) | date=1990 | isbn=1-55540-339-5 }}
* {{cite book |first=Saraswati |last=Satyananda |title=Ramakrishna: The Nectar of Eternal Bliss |publisher=Devi Mandir Publications |location= |year= |pages= |isbn=1-877795-66-6 |oclc= |doi=}}
*{{cite book | last =Torwesten | first =Hans | title =Ramakrishna and Christ, or, The paradox of the incarnation | publisher =The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture | date =1999 | isbn =978-8185843971 }}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.dstv.com/ DStv homepage]
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{{wikiquote}}{{wikisource}}
*[http://www.belurmath.org/gospel/index.htm The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna]
* [http://belurmath.org/gospel/chronology.htm A chronology of the life of Ramakrishna]
*''[http://www.kathamrita.org/ Ramakrishna Kathamrita]'' literally, ''The Nectar of Ramakrishna’s Words''
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rls/index.htm Ramakrishna, His Life and Sayings] by [[Max Müller]]
*[http://www.hinduism.fsnet.co.uk/namoma/life_thakur/life_thakur_my_master.htm My Master]- from [[Vivekananda]]'s 1896 Lectures on Ramakrishna
*[http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info Works of Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda]
*[http://www.rkmhq.org/ Official website of the Headquarters of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission]
*[http://www.sriramakrishna.org/apostles.htm Direct Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna]

{{Bengal Renaissance}}
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180 - BBC Lifestyle
181 - Travel Channel
182 - The Home Channel
183 - Style Network
184 - Fashion TV
198 - Events
(Currently Big Brother Africa 3) 199 - Events

Sport

200 - SuperSport Update
201 - SuperSport 1
202 - SuperSport 2
203 - SuperSport 3
204 - SuperSport 4
205 - SuperSport 5
206 - SuperSport 6
207 - SuperSport 7
208 - SuperSport Maximo
209 - SuperSport Select
230 - ESPN
231 - ESPN Classic
232 - TellyTrack
247 - SuperSport Action

Documentary

250 - Discovery Channel
251 - BBC Knowledge
254 - The History Channel
255 - Crime & Investigation Network
260 - National Geographic Channel
261 - Nat Geo Wild
264 - Animal Planet

Children

300 - K-All Day
301 - Cartoon Network
302 - Boomerang
303 - Disney Channel
304 - Jetix (coming soon)
305 - Nickelodeon
306 - CBeebies
319 - Mindset Learn

Music

320 - Channel O
321 - MTV Europe
322 - MTV Base
323 - VH1
324 - MK
325 - TRACE TV
331 - One Gospel

Religion

341 - TBN
343 - Rhema
346 - Iqraa TV
350 - Inspiration TV

Consumer Channels

391 - Shopping Channel 1
392 - Shopping Channel 2
393 - Shopping Channel 3
394 - Shopping Channel 4


News & Commerce

400 - BBC World News
401 - CNN International
402 - Sky News
403 - eNews Channel
404 - EuroNews
405 - Russia Today
406 - Al Jazeera International
407 - SABC Africa
408 - Parliament Channel
410 - CNBC Africa
411 - Bloomberg
412 - Summit TV (Ignition Channel on Weekends)
415 - Weather Channel

Free to Air (FTA) Channels

There are several free-to-air channels available on DSTV simply by adding settings onto the decoder. More details can be found at the rites blog[1]

Sentech Vivid

  • SEN1-6, including Mindset Network channel 1 (education) and 2 (health), Jet TV.
  • PTV1-6 (some Nagravision-encrypted).
  • SABC1/2/3, e.tv (all Nagravision-encrypted).
  • LCN, The Hope Channel, Ps91, ITV, DTBC, God Channel, TCT, DayStar (free-to-air, religious).
  • Guide (interactive channel, probably won't work).
  • There are also some audio channels available (some free-to-air, some encrypted).

Botswana TV

  • BTV (free-to-air, general entertainment channel). There are multiple audio tracks on BTV, which sound like radio stations.

Fashion TV

ManaSat

  • ManaSat 1 (religious, free-to-air, Portuguese, 2 audio tracks).
  • ManaSat 2 (religious, sometimes encrypted, Portuguese, 2 audio tracks).

Novacom

  • [Novacom] (test card).
  • DayStar, LoveWorld, The God Channel (religious, free-to-air).
  • [RTNC] (free-to-air).
  • [APNA] (free-to-air).
  • [BEStv] (free-to-air).
  • Extreme Sports (free-to-air).

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ramakrishna&oldid=244562214"