Interpreting Ramakrishna

Interpreting Ramakrishna: Kali's Child is a scholarly rebuttal to the controversial book Kali's Child by Jeffrey Kripal, which asserted that Sri Ramakrishna's mystical experiences were fueled by homoerotic desires that the saint neither accepted nor understood. The problem is that Kripal barely read and understood Bengali, the language of the source material. Furthermore, he was too eager to prove conclusions that the literature did not support.

Included in Interpreting Ramakrishna is a lengthy analysis of scholarship on Sri Ramakrishna over the past century.

"Interpreting Ramakrishna is a substantial and conscientious work of scholarly and religious reflection, the best resource we have for understanding Sri Ramakrishna today." Harvard professor Francis X. Clooney

"Interpreting Ramakrishna "is balanced, scrupulously fair, and generous to all sides in the debate." Professor Gerald James Larson (UC Santa Barbara)

"Interpreting Ramakrishna "is a patient and elaborate illustration of the possible This is a welcome contribution to Ramakrishna that treads the uncommon middle ground between the extremes of the uncritical insider and the unexamined assumptions of the scholar."
Professor Anantanand Rambachan, Religion Dept. chair, St. Olaf College