The Life of Ramakrishna

by Romain Rolland

The life and teachings of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna, as written by a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in the early 1900s. Used in many colleges as an introduction to the saint.

Beautiful translation and story from the French edition.

Genres: Biography, Religion, Philosophy, Hinduism, Nonfiction, Spirituality

244 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Varied works of French writer Romain Rolland include Jean Christophe (1904-1912), a series of satirical novels; he won the Nobel Prize of 1915 for literature.

The committee awarded him "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production and to the sympathy and love of truth with which he has described different types of human beings."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romain_...

Reviews

[James Hartley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to read something by Romain Rolland, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915, after reading about him in Stefan Zweig´s autobiography, The World of Yesterday. Rolland was a famous pacifist - Zweig called him "the moral consciousness of Europe" - and when I saw he´d written about Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a famous Indian mystic, I thought I´d give this book a try.
Ramakrishna was born into a poor family in Bengal in 1836. He was six years old when he had his first mystical experience, walking along paddy fields and seeing a flock of white cranes against the black, thunderclouds. He became a priest and it was while serving in a temple by the Ganges devoted to the goddess Kali that he began to draw attention to himself, experiencing ecstacies and performing religious rites. Over the course of time he worshipped many different Hindu gods and goddesses, as well as studying and experiencing Islam and Christianity.
He once said: "It has been revealed to me that there exists an Ocean of Consciousness without limit. From It come all things of the relative plane, and in It they merge again. These waves arising from the Great Ocean merge again in the Great Ocean. I have clearly perceived all these things."
This idea of a "great ocean" links to Rolland´s own ideas about religious feelings in humans - in a letter to Freud he would write: "But I would have liked to see you doing an analysis of spontaneous religious sentiment or, more exactly, of religious feeling, which is (...) the simple and direct fact of the feeling of the ‘eternal’ (which can very well not be eternal, but simply without perceptible limits, and like oceanic, as it were)."
This book itself is interesting although, to my mind, it suffers from an overly respectful approach from Romain. Although he repeatedly mentions how he knows Western readers must be suffering with his descriptions of the life and teachings of Ramakrishna, finally this very approach is to the detriment of the book. It´s a hagiography in the end, and you can´t help looking up some other opinions online in order to balance out all the worshipping (and, there are plenty, and some are very interesting).

[Jack B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant biography of the 19th century saint Ramakrishna, given by the great French writer Romain Rolland (of Jean-Christophe fame). Only a biographer of some spiritual realization could do justice to the towering figure of Ramakrishna, and Rolland rises to the occasion. The poetry and beauty of metaphor here are unmatched. As for Ramakrishna himself, there has never been one like this, nor will there be one again: unique! Set in the interesting times of British India`s height of power in Calcutta. Also many fascinating details of Ramakrishna`s great disciple, Swami Vivekananda (who took the 1893 Chicago World`s Fair by storm).

[Czarny Pies · Rating 4 out of 5]

"La vie de Râmakrishna" est un livre que j'ai du lire à cause d'un cours sur l'Empire Britannique que j'avais suivi à l'université et les livres que j'ai lu sur l'Inde pendant les cinquante ans après qui m'ont présenté un portrait des classes intellectuelles de l'Indre préoccupé par l'effort de mettre fin au régime colonial. Aux yeux de Rolland le grand débat en Inde de 1828 19129 a été sur la reforme de la religion et de la société hindoue.
Râmakrishna ( (1836 - 1886) a été un mystique hindou et dévot de Kâlî la « Mère divine » qui a un énorme impact chez lui au dix-neuvième siècle. Pendant la première moitié du 20e vingtième, son mouvement ("La Mission Râmakrishna) a fait un percé important aux pays anglo-saxons ce qui est passé inaperçu chez les historiens de l'Empire Britannique que je lisais.
Râmakrishna a "passé plus que la moitié de sa vie en extase" (p.33) dans un état presque nu. Il a écrit peu mais il était doué d'un grand charisme. Il a rencontré la plupart des grands intellectuels hindous de son époque et selon Rolland il a eu une influence énorme sur que Keshub Chunder Sen (fondateur Brahmosamaj de l'Inde) qui véhiculait une espèce du Christianisme unitarien et aussi sur son adversaire , Dayananda Saraswati (fondateur du Arya Samaj qui attaquaient le Christianisme et appelait les Indiens à retourner à leurs racines hindoues). Autrement dit le Swami Râmakrishna était au coeur de débat avec une position que Rolland définit mal.
Quand Rolland écrit sur la vie de Râmakrishna son style est hagiographique et son ton est absurde: "Avec les différences des pays et des temps, Râmakrishna est un frère plus jeune de notre Christ." (p. 19) Par contre, Rolland écrit bien quand il parle du débat théologique et sociale chez les Hindous auquel participait Râmakrishna.
Le tout a commencé avec Mohun Roy et Dwarkanath Tagore qui ont fondé en 1828 le Brahmosamaj - un mouvement et aussi (selon Rolland) une église théiste fortement influencé par l'Unitarisme protestant. À leurs propres yeux Roy et Tagore combattaient plutôt le polythéisme dans l'hindouisme et prêchait un retour à l'Absolu Védantique. Tous les interlocuteurs majeures qui ont suivi ont été dans le camp théiste.
En 1866 Le Brahmosamaj se scindée, Devendranath Tagore (le fils de Dwarkanath) devient le chef de d'Adi Brahmo (le premier Brahmo; c'est-à-dire fidèle à l'hindouisme védique du Brahmosamaj) tandis que Keshub Chunder Sen fonde Brahmosamaj de l'Inde) qui véhicule une espèce du Christianisme unitarien. En 1875, Dayananda Saraswati fonde Arya Samaj qui attaque le Christianisme et appele les Indiens à retourner à leurs racines hindoues.
Râmakrishna qui est proche en même temps de Keshub et de Dayananda prône l'Absolu Védantique et fait une culte à Kâlî la « Mère divine » comme la médiatrice entre l'homme et l'Absolu; c'est-à-dire un monisme absolu.
Dayananda est le seul qui s'intéresse à la question nationale ou à l'Independence de l'Inde. Mohun Roy et les frères Tagore sont pour le théisme sans être des progressistes sur le plan social. Dayananda et Keshub Sen sont très progressistes. Ils sont contre la Sati où la femme doit s'immoler sur le bûcher funéraire de son mari et ils veulent accorder aux veuves le droit de se remarier. En plus, Kashub Sen et Dayananda veulent supprimer le système de caste en Inde.
Rolland est certainement trop élogieux de Râmakrishna, mais dans son livre il donne un portait extrêmement intéressant de l'Inde dans un grand débat théologique et sociale. Rolland montre clairement que la lutte contre le régime coloniale était juste une question parmi bien d'autres auxquelles s'intéressaient les classes intellectuelles et politiques de l'Inde pendant les 150 ans qui ont précédé l'Indépendance du pays.

[Ashok Krishna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life of one of the greatest saints of India told in poetic prose by a European thinker. The only reason for not giving it the full rating is the book feels a little sketchy at times and doesn't feel like a proper, complete biography. 4.5 stars!

[L.Y. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Only undertake those actions that fall within the limits of your purified thoughts and dreams. Seek not to flatter yourself with gigantic deeds. Undertake duties as small in size as your self-surrender to God. Then as your selflessness and purity grow - and things of the Soul grow very fast - it will pierce its own way through the material world and benefit others."
"Do not be in a hurry, but progress each at his own pace! You are sure to arrive at your destination, so there is no need to run! But you must not stop!

[Manwinder Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ramakrishna Paramhamsa is a living example of Love & God.
Anybody interested in the mystical paths of love & God should find this read very enriching.

[Swarup Kanti Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives an account of Shri. Ramkrishna's life from a westerner's point of view. The author is sincere to the facts and tries to give the reader a comfort by trying to stay neutral. However, the author digressed too much on Brahmo and other spiritual leaders. Moreover the comparative studies could have been avoided to a good extent. The biggest problem with this work is seldom the author highlighted the ideas of Shri. Rramkrishna about human life, it's goal and the concept of religion. He does mention some of his parables, but never seems to emphasized those.

The tone of the book is more towards resolution of a debate (which does not exist) and the tone of synthesis and assimilation (one of the main feature of the noble person) is overshadowed.

[Surender K.]

I'm a scientist with interest in philosophy. Both the pursuits have a common goal of looking for the truth in its own way. I read the book quite early in life and have re-read it many times, at least in parts, to enjoy the sheer brilliance of the author in depicting life of Ramakrishna. RR has gone beyond words to portrait the mystical life of definitely one of the greatest sage (so I may call) known to mankind. The book takes you into a mesmerizing different world, only to be cherished, perhaps needless to be debated.

Of the so many books those I found to be of high literary/ philosophical values, this one remains almost always on top, with a personal bias, if I may admit.

[Manoj · Rating 4 out of 5]

RR definitely writes well. It's a well researched book too with proper references. However, in his zeal to point out parallels from Christian, many a times flow is broken and the references too seemed out of place to me personally.

[Matthew Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about Jesus Christ's spiritual equal

Outstanding piece of writing! Even worth reading for the literary joy of it. But it is the spiritual joy contain within these pages that really excites the soul.

[Sujit Choudhury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superbly written book about a great man. I didn't know about Ramakrishna, but after reading this book, I think I know a lot. I also now think that Sri Ramakrishna was a great man.

[Nino Chikviladze · Rating 1 out of 5]

:(( დიდად ვერ ვისიამოვნე კითხვით.. არაა ეს ჩემი ჟანრი :)))

[Renu Gangwar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has mostly been about conversations of Ramakrishna dev and his disciples. If I haven't t read this book I wouldn't have known such a great yogi...lot of people think of him as reincarnation of God and he is also worshipped here in india as God.He was remarkable in a way that he never considered himself more than a regular guy who was seeking god. If you love spirituality you must read and know Ramakrishna. All the renowned yogis who existed in india were his disciples. I feel bad that I am too late to know and read about him. He was greatest of all 🙏 Also he was the one because of which we have great personalities like Swami ji (Vivekananda)

[Sri Sarnath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an interesting one to read. It starts with the introduction of many players who were instrumental in Indian renaissance in the 1800's and goes on to explain the characteristics, philosophies of Ramakrishna. The one thing that I was able to understand from this book based on his portrayal, is how the mission he started is still going strong in India.
I wanted to read this book because of the author. "Romain Rolland" who himself is an interesting and an accomplished person was acquainted with many great Indian leaders during that time including Gandhi.

[Pooja Kashyap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romain Rolland has beautifully presented life of the mystic Sri Ramakrishna. The work is primarily set for western readers but am sure the eastern readers too would have equally enjoyed it. Although the life of a mystic is hard to put down in writing since the experience is mostly within yet I feel Rolland has done a terrific job in surfacing the awe inspiring life of the great saint.

[Raghavendra N]

The life of Ramakrishna
by Romain rolland

[Max Nemtsov · Rating 5 out of 5]

читал когда-то в 80-х старый русский перевод, издание лень искать, но книжка оказалась _очень_ полезной и повлияла на многие многие последовавшие увлечения - да и на взгляд на мир тоже