N. Sil (1993)
Vivekananda’s Ramakrishna: The author N. Sil contends that Swami Vivekananda (Narendranath Dutta) deliberately crafted the revered image of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa to align with his own Hindu missionary goals, rejecting authentic biographies in favor of a more influential persona. Another work offers a comprehensive psychoanalysis of Ramakrsna’s divine reputation, revealing a less appealing but authentic portrait of a spiritually masterful yet capricious figure. Additionally, a critical assessment challenges the existing larger-than-life portrayal of Vivekananda, providing a fresh perspective on his legacy and impact on the Christian West. These works aim to separate historical figures from hagiographic depictions and offer insightful debates on mystic phenomena.
Vivekananda’s Ramakrishna: an Untold Story of Mythmaking and Propaganda
N. Sil argues that the familiar Vedantin and messiah image of Rฤmakrsna Paramahamsa was created deliberately by his great disciple Vivekananda. His global Hindu evangelical mission called for the master’s respectable image. Hence, he rejected the sincere rendering of the Paramahamsa’s biographies by others and, in place of the rustic, ecstatic but authentic Gadadhar, fabricated the awesome figure of a modern messiah-the Vedantin Paramahamsa. This paper documents the history of this purposive distortion.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa: A Psychological Profile (1991)
Only a handful have attempted to analyze his divine reputation in the entire corpus of Ramakrishna research, carried out mostly by his disciples, devotees, and admirers. Yet none has examined the Ramakrishna phenomenon fully. This is the first comprehensive psychoanalysis of Ramakrsna’s sexuality in general and his androgyny in particular, as well as a critical examination of his sermons and samadhis. Instead of the popular Paramahamsa, there now emerges the less attractive but more authentic profile of an utterly selfish, capricious but highly intelligent spiritual master who elicited awed submission from everybody by his unpredictable and frenzied behaviour.
The author asserts that Ramakrsna’s spiritual odyssey is better explained as his desperate but successful effort to deal with his emotional and sexual crisis, rather than as the universally acknowledged outcome of a divine teleology. Attempting to distinguish the historical Ramakrsna from the godhead of hagiography, this study offers a challenging debate on the mystic phenomenon.
Swami Vivekananda: A Reassessment (1997)
All the existing biographies of Swami Vivekananda (Narendra Nath) affirm the larger-than-life stature of a princely, handsome, erudite, and eloquent young man who conquered the Christian West spiritually. This work is the first critical analysis of the Vivekananda myth.ย