This study examines the nexus between sexuality and religiosity in the career of nineteenth-century Calcutta's famous Bengali saint Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-86). Dr. Sil's pioneering psychological study (""Ramakrishna Paramahamsa: A Psychological Profile"", 1991) of this personality was followed by another book on Ramakrishna, published in 1998, which strongly argued against the saint's widely publicized homosexual orientation in the Anglo-American academe. The present book argues that he was not a homo spiritualis, in the strict sense of the term but a homo religious par excellence, and that, far from being a Shakta/Tantrika devotee of the Goddess Kali, he was essentially a bhakta (devotee) in the Vaishnava tradition - his cultural and family inheritance. His idea of the divine and his life and teachings as a mystic and saint provide ample justification to consider him essentially a Vaishnava whose spiritual battle cry was to demand to have a mystical dalliance with God. Narasingha P. Sil is Professor of History at Western Oregon University.

Book Information
ISBN 9781575911335
Author Narasingha Sil
Format Hardback
Page Count 275
Imprint Susquehanna University Press
Publisher Associated University Presses