Master and pupil

This chapter analyses the religious life and identity of Vivekananda’s guru and major influence, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. The chapter analyses recent scholarship concerning Ramakrishna’s religious and sexual identity, and explores his interaction with non-Hindu religious practices. A particular focus is upon Vivekananda’s interpretation of Ramakrishna, and the chapter argues that Vivekananda reinterprets Ramakrishna, removing elements of practice with which Vivekananda was uncomfortable, and remoulding Ramakrishna from a bhakti saint to a prophet of Advaita philosophy.