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Further reading

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{{Use Indian English|date=July 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox book
| name = The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
| title_orig =
| translator = [[Swami Nikhilananda]]
| image = The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption = ''The Gospel of Ramakrishna'', 1942 edition.
| author = [[Mahendranath Gupta]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = India
| language = English
| series =
| subject =
| genre = [[Spirituality]]
| publisher = [[Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center]]
| pub_date = 1942
| english_pub_date =
| media_type =
| pages = 1062
| isbn = 978-0-911206-01-2
| oclc= 19930528
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
'''''The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna''''' is an English translation of the Bengali religious text ''[[Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita]]'' by [[Swami Nikhilananda]]. The text records conversations of [[Ramakrishna]] with his disciples, devotees and visitors, recorded by [[Mahendranath Gupta]], who wrote the book under the pseudonym of "M."<ref name="gospel_preface">
{{Cite book
| last = Nikhilananda
| first = Swami
| author-link = Swami Nikhilananda
| title = The Gospel of Ramakrishna
| chapter = Preface
| chapter-url = http://www.belurmath.org/gospel/preface.htm
| publisher = Sri Ramakrishna Math
| year = 1942
| location = Chennai
| url = http://www.belurmath.org/gospel/
}}
</ref> The first edition was published in 1942.

Swami Nikhilananda worked with [[Margaret Woodrow Wilson]], daughter of US president [[Woodrow Wilson]]. Margaret helped the swami to refine his literary style into "flowing American English". The mystic hymns were rendered into free verse by the American poet John Moffitt. Wilson and American mythology scholar [[Joseph Campbell]] helped edit the manuscript.<ref name="gospel_preface"/> [[Aldous Huxley]] wrote in his [[foreword]], "...'M' produced a book unique, so far as my knowledge goes, in the literature of hagiography. Never have the casual and unstudied utterances of a great religious teacher been set down with so minute detail. <ref>[[Gospel of Ramakrishna]] page v</ref><ref name="GS1">{{Cite book| author = Lex Hixon | title = Great Swan | chapter = Introduction | page = xiii}}</ref>

Nikhilananda wrote that he had written an accurate translation<ref>
{{Cite book
| last = Neevel
| first = Walter G
|author2=Bardwell L. Smith
| title = Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions
| chapter = The Transformation of Ramakrishna
| publisher = Brill Archive
| year = 1976
| pages = 61
| isbn = 90-04-04495-7}}
</ref> of the ''Kathamrita'', "omitting only a few pages of no particular interest to English-speaking readers"<ref name="gospel_preface"/> and stating that "often literary grace has been sacrificed for the sake of literal translation."<ref name="gospel_preface"/>

==Reception==
[[Aldous Huxley]] likened it to [[James Boswell]]'s ''[[Life of Samuel Johnson]]''.<ref>''The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna'', preface</ref> The book was voted as one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by the 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
|access-date = 2008-08-21
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080827233208/http://www.faithalivebooks.com/collections/harper_100_best.html
|archive-date = 27 August 2008
|df = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite book
| last = Zaleski
| first = Philip
| title = The Best Spiritual Writing 2000
| publisher = [[HarperCollins]]
| year = 2000
| location = San Francisco
| url = https://archive.org/details/bestspiritualwri00phil_5
| isbn = 978-0-06-251670-1
| url-access = registration
}}</ref> Scholars [[Lex Hixon]], [[Swami Tyagananda]], Somnath Bhattacharyya argue that the translations considered the cross-cultural factors and western decorum.

[[Walter G. Neevel]] in his 1976 essay, ''The Transformation of Ramakrishna'', writes that Nikhilananda's translation are "accurate and reliable efforts...it should be possible to get as close to Sri Ramakrishna's original teachings as is possible without a knowledge of Bengali and to have an adequate degree of certainty about their meaning."<ref>
{{Cite book
| last = Neevel
| first = Walter G
|author2=Bardwell L. Smith
| title = Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions
| chapter = The Transformation of Ramakrishna
| publisher = Brill Archive
| year = 1976
| pages = 53–97
| isbn = 90-04-04495-7}}
</ref>
Philosopher [[Lex Hixon]] writes that the ''Gospel'' is "spiritually authentic" and "powerful rendering of the ''Kathamrita'' into dignified English."<ref name="Hixon-xiv">{{Cite book|last=Hixon|first=Lex |title=Great Swan|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=1997|pages=xiv|chapter=Introduction|isbn=978-0-943914-80-0}}</ref> Hixon writes that an eyewitness to the teachings of Ramakrishna reported that Ramakrishna's "linguistic style was unique, even to those who spoke Bengali" and it was "not literally translatable into English or any other language."<ref name="Hixon_xi">{{Cite book|last=Hixon |first=Lex |title=Great Swan |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1997 |pages=xi |chapter=Introduction |isbn=978-0-943914-80-0}}</ref> Hixon writes that Ramakrishna's "colorful village Bengali, replete with obscure local words and idioms" adds to the difficulty of translation. His "obscure local words" were interspersed with technical Sanskrit terms from "various strands of Hindu yoga and philosophy" and "extensive references" to the "complex realm of sacred history" of the Vedas, Puranas, Tantras.<ref name="Hixon_xi"/>

Scholars [[Narasingha Sil]] and [[Jeffery Kripal]] argue that the book has been [[bowdlerized]]. Sil argues that this "standard translation of the ''Kathamrta'' by Swami Nikhilananda is bowdlerized, with the 'vulgar expressions' in Ramakrishna's earthy, rustic Bengali either removed or smoothed over: so that 'raman' (sexual intercourse) has become "communion" in the ''Gospel''. [[Swami Tyagananda]] explains this as follows: "when a Hindu hears or reads about ''ramana''<ref>[https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.5:1:8.apte3new Meanings of Raman]</ref> with God, there is no idea of sex involved."<ref>''Kali's child revisited'', note 42</ref> [[Jeffrey Kripal]] argues that although [[Swami Nikhilananda]] calls the ''Gospel'' "a literal translation," he substantially altered Gupta's text, combining the five parallel narratives into a single volume, as well as deleting some passages which he claimed were "of no particular interest to English-speaking readers."<ref>''Kali's Child'', (329-336)</ref> [[Views on Ramakrishna#Somnath Bhattacharya|Somnath Bhattacharyya]], [[Swami Atmajnanananda]] and others discussed these concerns. [[Swami Tyagananda]] and [[Vrajaprana]] wrote that while introducing the ''Kathamrita'' to the Western audience of 1942, Nikhilananada considered the Western sensibilities and sought advice of his Western editorial assistants to ensure that there is no cultural ''faux pas'' in the manuscript. They also point out that literal translation is not always possible which may result in an inaccurate meaning.<ref>Book: ''Interpreting Ramakrishna'', Chapter: "Interpretation in Cross-cultural Contexts", Page:227, Publisher: [[Motilal Banarsidass]], 2010.</ref>

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book| last=Tyagananda | title=Kali's Child Revisited or Didn't Anyone Check the Documentation? | url=http://www.gemstone-av.com/KCR3b.pdf | publisher=Swami Tyagananda | year=2000 | place=Boston | access-date=2015-12-27}}
* {{Cite book| last=Tyagananda | last2=Vrajaprana | chapter=''The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna'': The Missing Text | title=Interpreting Ramakrishna: Kali's Child Revisited | url=http://www.interpretingramakrishna.com/MissingText.html | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass | year=2010 | place=Delhi | access-date=2016-03-09}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|Index:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu|''The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna''}}
* [http://www.belurmath.org/gospel/ ''The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna'', translated by Swami Nikhilananda (online)] at [[Belur Math]]
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/gork/index.htm An earlier translation by Swami Abhedananda (online)]
* [http://www.chennaimath.org/the-gospel-of-sri-ramakrishna-complete-audio-series-5385 ''The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna'' Audiobook] at [[Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai]]

{{Ramakrishna|state=expanded}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, The}}
[[Category:Books about spirituality]]
[[Category:Translations into English]]
[[Category:Ramakrishna]]
[[Category:Hindu texts]]
[[Category:Indian non-fiction books]]
[[Category:1942 books]]
[[Category:Works published under a pseudonym]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian books]]

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - Revision history

imported>Riquix: /* Further reading */