Sri Ramakrishna The Great Master is the most comprehensive, authentic and critical estimate of the life, Sadhana and teachings of Bhagvan Sri Ramakrishna. Swami Saradananda provides a detailed account of the daily life of Sri Ramakrishna and purpose of his advent. An attempt is made herein to present the reader the mental picture formed through hearing from various people a number of unrelated incidents from the Master's life at that time.
This book tells the story of a man who was not the builder of a local cult and a local sect. The religion he preached had a universal appeal.
His literacy was slight, collegiate or university education zilch. He did not relish the aristocracy of birth like Devendra Nath Tagore, nor did he have to his acclaim the massive erudition or fluency of Keshub Chandra Sen.
He was not a political leader in the vein of Surendra Nath Banerjee, nor did he have the literary gift of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.
Yet he could fascinate them all by his delightful disposition and words.
What were the idiosyncratic elements in his religion that cast an enchanted invocation over the cultural elites of the time?
The following:
** The dominant missive of Ramakrishna was the search of the twin ideals of 'liberation of self and service of humanity. The religion Ramakrishna preached was not for practice in seclusion but for cultivation in the midst of suffering humanity.
** The Master’s religion sprang spontaneously from his soul, from the depths of his religious experiences. He was a man of complete realization. Whatever he preached was practised in his own life. His presence was inspiring, his utterance infectious. It was his personal realization, the utter simplicity of his life, and the spontaneity of his inspired messages that made an irresistible appeal to the heart of Young Bengal of the time.
**The paramount reason for the gigantic charm of Ramakrishna's memorandum is not to be hunted simply in the catholicity and universality of his gospel and the easiness of its phrasing, but also principally in the deficits or restrictions of other thinkers of that age.
This book, a fabulous translation of ‘Sri Sri Ramakrishna Lila-prasanga’ holds a place, exceptional of its kind in hagiography. The life-story of a celestial persona adored by millions as an Incarnation of God has never been written in this wise by any one of his apostles. Yet the reader will notice how the author has made the book so dependable and stimulating by giving it a contemporary touch and using the methodical scheme throughout.
The book is not just a biography of the latest ‘Manifestation’ of the modern age; it syndicates a biography with an articulate study of the various cults of religion, mysticism and philosophy obtaining in India and elsewhere from the prehistoric times down to the modern era. The Subject-matter, the life of Sri Ramakrishna, is out-and-out an encyclopaedia of religion and philosophy.
An unbelievably extensive account of the birth, spiritual practices, teaching, and death of a spiritual master who realized the depths of every religious tradition that he encountered. The relevance and impact of this life will take centuries to begin to unfold.
When Swami Vivekananda was asked if he would write a book on his Master, he replied that the book Saradananda writes will have no parallel and will include all that needs to be known about Master. This book is phenomenal and will be of great interest to every spiritual seeker. Its ability to delve into the life of a phenomenal being such as Sri Ramakrishna, and explore unique facets of the spiritual realms through His life, deserve a special compliment and gratitude towards its author. To say that this book was divinely inspired and created would not be an understatement.