Swami Vivekananda's Legacy of Service (A Study of Ramakrishna Math and Mission)
Book Specification
| Item Code: | IDF418 |
| Author: | Gwilym Beckerlegge |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press, New Delhi |
| Language: | English |
| Edition: | 2006 |
| ISBN: | 0195673883 |
| Pages: | 306 (Illustration: Plates: 8, Figures: 8) |
| Cover: | Hardcover |
| Other Details | 8.6" X 5.5" |
Book Description
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA'S LEGACY OF SERVICE
A STUDY OF THE RAMAKRISHNA MATH AND MISSION
Was the concept of 'social service' rooted in Hindu traditions or did it originate from India's encounter with the West? Did the Ramakrishna Math and Mission's commitment to seva, later known as sadhana of service, owe more to Vivekananda than to Ramakrishna himself? This book offers a distinctive analysis of the Ramakrishna movement's legacy of service by focusing on the continuities and discontinuities in the movement.
It argues that the movement's commitment to seva was shaped by complex and varied influences. The author examines the impact of individuals such as Vivekananda and other followers of Ramakrishna, and the interaction between Indian and western ideals. He also investigates the dramatic changes taking place in the delivery of organized philanthropy in societies disrupted by industrialization and colonization during the nineteenth century.
Gwilym Beckerlegge emphasizes the ways in which social, economic, and political factors beyond the movement's direct control, conspired to make ever-increasing demands on the Ramakrishna Math and Mission. For the kind of issues it raises, this book will be important for students and scholars of modern Indian history, sociology, philosophy, and religion, particularly Hinduism.
People interested in the growth of voluntary organizations and emergence of modern social service will also find this work useful.
About the Author:
Gwilym Beckerlegge is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies, Department of Religious Studies, The open University, United Kingdom.
| List of Plates | x | |
| List of Figures | xi | |
| List of Abbreviations | xii | |
| Acknowledgement | xiii | |
| INTRODUCTION: A Precious Acquisition in the World's Storehouse of Religious Sadhanas | 1 | |
| PART ONE: SEVA IN THE RAMAKRISHNA MATH AND MISSION: ITS DEVELOPMENT AND APPEAL | ||
| 1. | The Birth Of The Ramakrishna Math and Mission |
17 |
| 2. | SERVICE TO HUMANITY: | 27 |
| Early Expression of Service to Humanity | 27 | |
| Service to Humanity in the Mature Ramakrishna Math and Mission | 32 | |
| Service to Humanity: The Problem of Terminology | 53 | |
| Seva and the Appeal of the Ramakrishna Tradition | 58 | |
| 3. | UNDERSTANDINGS OF SEVA AND CONTINUITY WITHIN THE RAMAKRISHNA MATH AND MISSION | 67 |
| A Life but Recently Passed | 67 | |
| Straying from the Path? An Early Controversy about the Practice of Seva | 68 | |
| More Recent Perspectives on the Practice of Seva | 72 | |
| PART TWO: RAMAKRISHNA AS THE INNOVATOR OF THE SADHNA OF SERVICE TO HUMANITY | ||
| 4. | RAMAKRISHNA AS THE INSTIGATOR OF A SADHANA OF SERVICE TO HUMANITY: HIS ACTIONS | 81 |
| The Search for Precedents | 81 | |
| Frequently Cited Examples of Ramakrishna's Performance of Act of Service | 85 | |
| 5. | RAMAKRISHNA'S TEACHING ON SERVICE AND PHILANTHROPY: HIS JUDGEMENT ON THE NATURE OF HUMAN BEINGS | 94 |
| Sayings of Ramakrishna Used to Justify Service to Humanity | 94 | |
| Ramakrishna's Criticism of Philanthropic Activity | 98 | |
| The Sattvika Ideal of Humanitarian Activity | 105 | |
| The Search for a 'Life-Affirming' Worldview in Ramakrishna's Teachings | 113 | |
| 6. | RAMAKRISHNA AND SEVA: SOME CONCLUSIONS | 121 |
| PART THREE: VIVEKANANDA AND 'ORGANIZED SEVA' | ||
| 7. | SETTING A 'FRAME' AROUND VIVEKANANDA'S ORGANIZATION OF SEVA | 129 |
| 8. | VIVEKANANDA'S EARLY EXPOSURE TO IDEAS OF SERVICE | 135 |
| Vivekananda's Education in India | 136 | |
| Vivekananda and Brahmo Philanthropy | 138 | |
| Family Difficulties and Personal Doubt | 150 | |
| 9. | THE BEGINNINGS OF AN IDEA IN INDIA: FROM THE QUEST FOR SELF-PERFECTION TO SEVA | 156 |
| Corresponding with Pramadadas Mitra | 156 | |
| An Ambivalent Encounter with Pavhari Baba | 161 | |
| Health and Ties to Family and Gurubhais | 163 | |
| 10. | SWAMI VIVEKANAND IN ACTION: A NEW RESPONSE TO THE PRESSING SOCIAL PROBLEM OF MODERN FAMINE | 170 |
| From Famine to ' Modern Famine' in Nineteenth-Century India | 170 | |
| Vivekananda and Famine-Relief | 172 | |
| The Different Responses of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda to Famine | 177 | |
| 11. | SWAMI VIVEKANANDA IN THE UNITED STATES AND SWAMI AKHANDANANDA IN INDIA | 181 |
| Thinking about the Problem in the United States | 181 | |
| The Inception of Akhandananda's Vow of Service at Jamnagar | 189 | |
| The evolution of Akhandananda's Vow of Service at Khetri | 192 | |
| Difference between the Attitudes of Vivekananda and Akhandananda to Service | 197 | |
| 12. | SEVA AND A PLANNED PROGRAMME OF PRACTICAL VEDANTA | 201 |
| Service as Worship | 201 | |
| Practical Vedanta and Service to Humanity | 206 | |
| Karmayoga and Service to Humanity | 228 | |
| A Project in the Background or a Project Transformed? | 236 | |
| Two Projects-'Service as Worship' and Practical Vedanta | 246 | |
| 13. | CONCLUSION | 252 |
| Appendix | 261 | |
| Bibliography | 263 | |
| Index | 284 | |
