Tales and Parable of Sri Ramakrishna in Verse

About the Book The Parable is a communication medium for conveying the eternal truths and values of religion and philosophy in a lucid and easily comprehensible manner. A parable differs from a simple tale insofar as the tale has only one purpose to entertain, while the parable has a deeper or hidden meaning which is its core it not only entertains but also instructs. For the majority of human- kind, the significance of a parable is exhausted in this superficial meaning-good to hear, interesting to read. Only the discriminating few, the earnest enquirers of wisdom actually grasp the true import or underlying moral of each parable and apply it to their life.

The parables of Sri Ramakrishna are very relevant to our turbulent times. They reveal that religion does not consist in adhering to a set of narrow dogmas. True religion involves realising and understanding our real nature and the illusoriness of the external world. It consists in realising how one ought to relate to the external environment and curb ones desires. Only such a broad-based world view can lead to a harmony of religions. In this book endeavour has been made to string together some of Sri Ramakrishna's parables in verse.

Shiv Dhawan is a Ph. D. in Gandhian philosophy. He has had a brilliant academic career securing the presti- gious Indian Philosophical Congress gold medal both for his graduation and his Master's degree.

Preface Shiv Dhawan is a Ph. D. in Gandhian philosophy. He has had a brilliant academic career securing the presti- gious Indian Philosophical Congress gold medal both for his graduation and his Master's degree.

He has been writing for the last twenty years. His first short story was published in 1975 in the Sunday magazine of the Statesman and won the first prize for the best short story. He has been twice awarded the Viswanath Memorial Prize for the best humorous short story published in the Patriot.

In the last two decades, he has published numerous stories and poems in dailies like the Statesman, the Patriot, the Hindustan Times and the Evening News. His repertoire spans philosophical research papers, film and cultural reviews, socio-political analysis, satire and stories for children. The latter have been published by the Children's Book Trust in an anthology More Short Stories for Children, which has also been translated into Hindi. He has published another book of poems, Men, Mammals and Morals, based on the Panchatantra.

Ten years ago, he began converting the tales and parables of Sri Ramakrishna into verse.

**Contents and Sample Pages**