The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is Mahendranath Gupta's verbatim diary of his five years (1882–1886) at Dakshineswar with Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, originally published in Bengali in five volumes (1897–1932) under the pen name "M." and translated into English by Swami Nikhilananda in 1942. The text records Ramakrishna's conversations with disciples, devotees and inquirers, including Vivekananda, Keshab Chandra Sen and the wider Brahmo Samaj circle — the closest ancient-mode hagiography produced in modern times, with chapters precisely dated and the master's ecstatic states and parables recorded as they occurred.
Treated by the Ramakrishna Order and the wider Vedanta movement as the indispensable primary source for Ramakrishna's life and teaching — Vivekananda's mission west presupposes it; Romain Rolland's 1929 biography presupposes it. Aldous Huxley wrote a foreword to the Nikhilananda edition praising it as "the most detailed picture of an Indian saint" in English. Critical scholarship — Jeffrey Kripal's Kali's Child (1995) — opened a contested second layer of interpretation around the source's psychosexual dimensions, which the order disputed forcefully and which is still litigated in academic religious studies.
First lines
It was on a Sunday in spring, a few days after Sri Ramakrishna's birthday, that M. met him the first time.
Reception
Treated by the Ramakrishna Order and the wider Vedanta movement as the indispensable primary source for Ramakrishna's life and teaching — Vivekananda's mission west presupposes it; Romain Rolland's 1929 biography presupposes it. Aldous Huxley wrote a foreword to the Nikhilananda edition praising it as "the most detailed picture of an Indian saint" in English. Critical scholarship — Jeffrey Kripal's Kali's Child (1995) — opened a contested second layer of interpretation around the source's psychosexual dimensions, which the order disputed forcefully and which is still litigated in academic religious studies.
Frequently asked
Who actually wrote the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna?
Mahendranath Gupta — a Bengali schoolmaster and devotee who recorded his conversations with Ramakrishna in Bengali under the pen name "M." between 1882 and 1886. The five-volume Bengali original, Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, was published 1897–1932. Swami Nikhilananda of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center translated the full text into English in 1942.
Why is this book so central to modern Vedanta?
It is the primary source for Ramakrishna's teaching — verbatim conversations, precisely dated, including the master's exchanges with Vivekananda, Keshab Chandra Sen and the wider Brahmo Samaj circle. The entire Ramakrishna Order and the global Vedanta Society network treat it as foundational; Vivekananda's 1893 Chicago mission and the subsequent Western Vedanta movement presuppose it.
What is the Kali's Child controversy?
Jeffrey Kripal's 1995 book Kali's Child argued that the Kathamrita contains evidence of psychosexual dynamics in Ramakrishna's mysticism, and that Nikhilananda's English translation softened or omitted relevant passages. The Ramakrishna Order disputed Kripal's readings forcefully; the dispute continues to be litigated within academic religious studies and is now a standard reference point in the book's reception history.