Book Review

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Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, translated by Swami

Chetanananda from the original five-volume work written in Bengali

by Swami Saradananda. Published by the Vedanta Society of St. Louis,

2003.

" Sri Ramakrishna was one of the greatest of India's

spiritual

adepts of recent times. …By assimilating the … practices of

different faiths into his own personal practice, he presented a

powerful example of respect for other traditions, even while

maintaining a deep fidelity to his own. His … life remains a

guide

and inspiration to millions on their spiritual path. "

So writes His Holiness the Dalai Lama, exiled leader of Tibetan

Buddhists. The Dalai Lama is well-known in the United States;

Ramakrishna is not. This biography, a faithful translation from the

Indian Bengali, will serve as history's correction to all who

take a

devout and detailed pilgrimage through its pages.

The Hindu priest Ramakrishna (1836-1886) was, by many of his

contemporaries as well as those who knew him only distantly in time

and place, regarded as a living incarnation of God. At the least, he

graces the company of saints. His message was one of

liberation -- from superstition, fear, and religious intolerance --

and of unity -- a unity of all creation as an expression of the holy.

In his brief 50 years of life, he attracted and inspired a

generation of young Indians, led by Swami Vivekananda who went on

with the other 15 original disciples to form the Ramakrishna Order

and to spread its teachings through India, Europe, and the United

States.

The life of Ramakrishna was first recorded by Swami Saradananda

(1865-1927), and is now translated into English by Swami

Chetanananda, minister of the Vedanta Society of St. Louis.

Swami Saradananda cared for Ramakrishna during his final

illness and later became a monk in the new religious order. He was

admirably situated to know the principals, to converse with them,

and to record their reminiscences. He spoke with many who had known

Ramakrishna from his humble birth in the little village of

Kamarpukur, through his service in the Temple at Dakshineswar on the

Ganges River, until his death of cancer near Calcutta in 1886.

Seven years in preparation, this translation of Ramakrishna's

life story takes its place as the authentic, factual, descriptive,

interpretive, and comprehensive biography of a spiritual giant. The

book includes a biography of Swami Saradananda, a detailed listing

of chapter contents, a chronology of Ramakrishna's life, a

glossary,

and an index. Over 100 illustrations, many in full color, bring to

life the characters and locations of the book.

While Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play will undoubtedly

serve as the scholarly resource on Ramakrishna for generations to

come, it is a highly readable and engrossing story, well within the

understanding of the average reader. Its 1,000-plus pages should

not discourage anyone who seeks spiritual nourishment of the highest

order.