Kali's Child

"Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna", was a 1995 psychoanalytic study of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna written by religion scholar Jeffrey J. Kripal. [ [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/13682.ctl Kripal, Jeffrey J.: Kali's Child ] ] Kripal, Jeffrey J., "Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna", (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995, 1998)] The book caused intense controversy among both Western and Indian audiences which still persists unresolved.cite journal
last = Urban
first = Hugh B
title = Reviewed work(s): Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna by Jeffrey J. Kripal
journal = The Journal of Religion
volume = 78
issue = 2
pages = pp. 318-320
publisher = The University of Chicago Press
date = Apr., 1998
url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1205982] cite journal
last = Roland
first = Alan
title = Ramakrishna: Mystical, Erotic, or Both?
journal = Journal of Religion and Health
volume = 37
issue = 1
pages = pp. 31-36
publisher = Springer Netherlands
date = March, 1998
DOI = 10.1023/A:1022956932676
url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/hu55hq066jh60241/?p=9568dbec04cb4ae387947dfe3d2c33a3&pi=1
quote = "... Kali's Child still swirls around in controversy"] [ J. S. Hawley, "The Damage of Separation: Krishna’s Loves and Kali’s Child", 2004] The book came into limelight and created controversy in India after a scathing review written by religious scholar Narasingha Sil was published in "The Statesman".

"Kali's Child" is Kripal's Ph.D. dissertation on Ramakrishna under Wendy Doniger at the University of Chicago, which was subsequently published as a book. Kripal adopted a Freudian approach to uncover the connections between Tantric and psychoanalytic hermeneutical traditions. The book theorises upon an alleged homoerotic strain in Ramakrishna's life, practice, and teachings. "Kali's Child"'s primary thesis is that a great deal of Ramakrishna's mystical experiences were generated by the lingering results of childhood traumas, and sublimated homoerotic and pedophiliac passions. Kripal argues that "Ramakrishna’s mystical experiences...were in actual fact profoundly, provocatively, scandalously erotic." [Jeffrey J. Kripal, "Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna", p. 2]

Methodology

Kripal examines a series of remarks made by Ramakrishna to some of his intimate disciples regarding his mystical experiences and visions, which Kripal, following Ramakrishna, calls "secret talks". The "secret talks" identified by Kripal are taken as evidence of Ramakrishna's unresolved homosexual desires, misogynistic attitudes, and general obsession with the erotic.Kripal also mentions that he did not set out looking for a "homoerotic saint" but that as his research proceeded, he became increasingly aware of the "role of homosexuality" in the saint's life and teachings, especially as that became evident in the "secret sayings". ["Kali's Child", Preface] Kripal also maintains that Ramakrishna's attitudes and orientations were well known to some of his contemporaries (though not to Ramakrishna himself) and were hidden and suppressed, initially by his own disciples and later by members of the Ramakrishna Order. Kripal suggests a systematic whitewashing of details and a general cover-up carried out by the biographers and translators of Ramakrishna.cite journal
last = Atmajnanananda
first = Swami
title = Scandals, cover-ups, and other imagined occurrences in the life of Ramakrishna: An examination of Jeffrey Kripal's Kali's child
journal = International Journal of Hindu Studies
volume = 1
issue = 2
pages = pp.401-420
publisher = Springer
location = Netherlands
date = August, 1997
url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/k1g8l97203k25047/
doi = 10.1007/s11407-997-0007-8]

In the preface, Kripal mentions that he was fascinated and interested in the relation between "human sexuality and mystical experience". ["Kali's Child", Preface, p.xiv] He also mentions that "Kali's Child" was influenced by Wendy Doniger:

Reception

"Kali's Child" won the American Academy of Religion's History of Religions Prize for the Best First Book of 1995. [ [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/13682.ctl Kripal, Jeffrey J.: Kali's Child ] ] Controversy erupted in India when "The Statesman" published a review of the book in its Calcutta edition in January 1997. The review was written by historian Narasingha Sil, who had previously written "Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. A Psychological Profile". Sil book was a psychoanalytic study of Ramakrishna, which suggested that Ramakrishna's mystical experiences were pathological and originated from alleged childhood sexual trauma. Hugh Urban described Sil's "Statesman" review of "Kali's Child" thus: "Narasingha Sil...decried Kripal as a shoddy scholar with a perverse imagination who has thoughtlessly 'ransacked' another culture and produced a work which is, in short, 'plain shit'" [cite journal | last = Urban | first = Hugh | title = Kālī's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna | journal = The Journal of Religion | volume = Vol. 78, No. 2 | pages = pp. 318–320 | date = Apr., 1998 | url= http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4189%28199804%2978%3A2%3C318%3AKCTMAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G | accessdate=2008-03-18 | month = Apr | year = 1998 | issue = 2 | doi = 10.1086/490220 ] Sil's review provoked a flurry of angry letters to the editor. "The Asian Age" also published a negative review by Sil in the same year. Kripal soon found himself and the book embroiled in a long-running dispute. Censoring the book was even debated (unsuccessfully) in the Parliament of India. Kripal maintains, however, that less than 100 copies have been sold in India, and that few of its opponents have actually read the book.Fact|date=August 2008

The book received reviews in major academic journals of religion. Malcolm McLean, a scholar of Bengali literature who has translated the "Sri-Sri-Ramakrishna-Kathamrta" and the poetry of Ramprasad, wrote in the "Journal of the American Oriental Society", "This analysis will be controversial particularly among the followers of Ramakrishna, who have sought over the years to deny, or at least to downplay, the Tantric elements. But Kripal's treatment of it is very thorough, his case is very well documented, and I find his argument convincing. [Malcolm McLean "Journal of the American Oriental Society", Vol. 117, No. 3. (Jul. - Sep., 1997), pp. 571-572. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0279%28199707%2F09%29117%3A3%3C571%3AKCTMAE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T] In the "Journal of Religion", Hugh Urban wrote, "Kripal's book penetrates the layers of pious obfuscation and reverential distortion surrounding Ramakrishna, to recover the original Bengali texts...which had been mistranslated and censored by later disciples. [Hugh B. Urban The "Journal of Religion", Vol. 78, No. 2. (Apr., 1998), pp. 318-320. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4189%28199804%2978%3A2%3C318%3AKCTMAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G] In the journal "History of Religions", John Hawley wrote that "Kripal offers ample proof that Ramakrishna...had a very significantly homosexual side. [John Stratton Hawley, "History of Religions", Vol. 37, No. 4. (May, 1998), pp. 401-404. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0018-2710%28199805%2937%3A4%3C401%3AKCTMAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9] In the "Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies", William Radice wrote that " [Ramakrishna's] homosexual leanings and his horror of women as lovers should not be the issue: there was plenty of evidence before the exposure of the "guhya katha" ["secret talk"] . [William Radice "Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies", University of London, Vol. 61, No. 1. (1998), pp. 160-161. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0041-977X%281998%2961%3A1%3C160%3AKCTMAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-U]

In Autumn 1997 edition of the "Journal of the American Academy of Religion", Gerald James Larson wrote::Moreover, from the time (1942) of the publication of Swami Nikhilananda's English translation and version of Mahendra Nath Gupta's Bengali "Sri-Ramakrsnakathnmrta" entitled "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna", the eccentric sexual fantasies and practices of Ramakrishna have been well-known, including transvestitism, transsexuality (longings to become a girl widow), oral and anal sexual fantasies (both heterosexual and homosexual), castration fantasies of one kind or another, and what psychoanalysis generally refers to as the "polymorphous sexuality" characteristic of the earliest stages of human development. None of this has been much of a 'secret.' [cite journal | last = Larson | first = Gerald James | title = Polymorphic Sexuality, Homoeroticism, and the Study of Religion | journal = Journal of the American Academy of Religion | volume = 65/3 | pages = 661–662 | date = Autumn 1997]

Huston Smith wrote in the "Harvard Divinity School Bulletin" that, "I doubt that any other book — not even those of early, polemical, poorly informed, and bigoted missionaries — has offended Hindu sensibilities so grossly. And understandably, despite Kripal's protestations to the contrary in "Secret Talk: The Politics of Scholarship in Hindu Tantrism", Kali's Child is colonialism updated."cite journal | last = Smith | first =Huston | title = Letters to the Editor | journal = Harvard Divinity Bulletin | volume = 30/1 | pages = Letters | date = Spring 2001] ["Invading the Sacred", p.36]

Gerald Larson wrote "the treatment overall lacks balance and proper contextualization and in the end falls into the trap of monocausal reductionism.".Larson questions the ethics of Jeffery Kripal for not getting his final draft reviewed outside the context of his teachers and colleagues University of Chicago and for hiding the manuscript from other scholars in same area and especially from the Ramakrishna Mission.cite journal
last = Larson
first = Gerald James
title = Review: Polymorphic Sexuality, Homoeroticism, and the Study of Religion
journal = Journal of the American Academy of Religion
volume = 65
issue = 3
pages = pp. 655-665
publisher = Oxford University Press
date = Autumn, 1997
url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1465656] Gerald Larson said that the problem of reductionism was due to the attitudes or perspectives that exists in the American Academy of Religion regarding the relation between modern secular intellectual communities, and believing communities Kripal would later respond to Larson's charges at length.

The deductions of "Kali's Child" and psychoanalytical credentials of Kripal were questioned by several scholars, including Jean Openshaw, Gerald Larson, Hugh B. Urban, Narasingha Sil, Swami Tyagananda, Swami Atmajnanananda, Somnath Bhattacharya, Huston Smith, Alan Roland, Pravrajika Vrajaprana, William Radice.

Critics including Krishnan Ramaswamy, Antonio de Nicolas, Aditi Banerjee, S.N.Balagangadhara, have argued that instead of winning a prize, this research should have been reviewed as a possible violation of academic due process and ethical norms, especially after it was challenged on grounds of extensive mistranslations and its arbitrary and questionable usages of Freudian methodology. ["Invading the Sacred", p.29]

Criticism and arguments on shortcomings of "Kali's Child"

Critics and scholars [Dr.Jean Openshaw, Gerald Larson, Hugh B. Urban, Narasingha Sil, Swami Tyagananda, Swami Atmajnanananda, Somnath Bhattacharya, Huston Smith, Alan Rolland, Pravrajika Vrajaprana] have argued the presence of several critical errors in "Kali's Child".

In 2000, Swami Tyagananda, minister of the Ramakrishna-Vedanta Society in Boston, wrote a 173-page tract, entitled "Kali's Child Revisited or Didn't Anyone Check the Documentation?"cite journal
last = Tyagananda
first = Swami
coauthors = Pravrajika Vrajaprana
title = Kali's Child Revisited or Didn't Anyone Check the Documentation?
journal = Evam: Forum on Indian Representations
volume = 1
issue = 1-2
date = 2002
url = http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_tyaga_kali1_frameset.htm] , and argues the presence of serious errors ["Invading the Sacred", p.29] in "Kali's Child". Copies of "Kali's Child Revisited" were distributed at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion [cite journal
last = Sharma
first = Arvind
title = Hindus and Scholars
journal = RELIGION IN THE NEWS
volume = 7
issue = 1
publisher = trincoll.edu
date = Spring 2004
url = http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/csrpl/RINVol7No1/Hindus%20and%20Scholars.htm
accessdate = 2008-07-17] and subsequently published in the journal "Evam".cite web
title = EVAM - FORUM ON INDIAN REPRESENTATIONS ~ Issue 1
url = http://www.swaveda.com/journal.php?jid=2&j=Evam
accessdate = 2008-08-20]

Numerous experts in psychology have raised serious issues about Kripal's understanding and application of psychological theory. Kripal's credentials to use psychoanalysis were questioned by psychoanalyst Alan Roland (author of books and articles on applying psychoanalysis to eastern cultures, [Roland, Alan (1998) "In Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a Cross-cultural Psychology". Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691024588.] [Roland, A. (1991). "Sexuality, the Indian Extended Family, and Hindu Culture". J. Amer. Acad. Psychoanal., 19:595-605.] [Roland, A. (1980). "Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Personality Development in India. Int. R. Psycho-Anal.", 7:73-87.] and board member of the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis [cite web|url=http://www.npap.org/about/leadership.html|title=Leadership (Board of Directors)|publisher=National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis|accessdate=2008-08-27] ) in "The Uses (and Misuses) Of Psychoanalysis in South Asian Studies: Mysticism and Child Development".cite book
last = Roland
first = Alan
title = Invading the Sacred
chapter = The Uses (and Misuses) Of Psychoanalysis in South Asian Studies: Mysticism and Child Development
publisher = Rupa & Co.,
date = 2007
pages = pp.407-428
url = http://invadingthesacred.com/] Somnath Bhattacharyya (emeritus professor and former head of the Psychology Department at Calcutta University) also called into question Kripal's credentials to practice psychoanalysis on Ramakrishna, in his work "Kali's Child: Psychological And Hermeneutical Problems".cite web
last = Bhattacharyya
first = Somnath
authorlink = Somnath Bhattacharyya
title = Kali's Child: Psychological And Hermeneutical Problems
publisher = Infinity Foundation
url = http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_bhatt_kali_frameset.htm]

The reviews in major academic journals argued that several problems existed in "Kali's Child".

In the 2007 book "Invading the Sacred", Ramaswamy and de Nicolas argued that the American Academy of Religion does not have a well-informed understanding of Hinduism. [cite book | last =Ramaswamy | first =Krishnan | coauthors =Antonio de Nicolas | title =Invading the Sacred | publisher =Rupa & Co. | date =2007 | location =Delhi, India p. 23] Ramaswamy and de Nicolas argue that translation errors continued into "Kali's Child"s second edition.

The scholars argue that the conclusions of "Kali's Child" were arrived through:
* a lack of understanding of Bengali language and culture. ["Invading the Sacred", p.30]
* faulty, prejudicial translations and false documentation,
* willful distortion and manipulation of sources, circular Arguments, suppressing the facts, ["Invading the Sacred", p.35]
* misuse of Tantra,
* misuses of psychoanalysis and hermeneutics, and
* false accusations related to claims of the Ramakrishna Mission's hiding of sources.

Arguments on lack of understanding of Bengali language and culture

Narasingha Sil has been Kripal's occasional collaborator and colleague. Kripal thanks him in the Preface to first edition. With respect to Kripal's scholarship and Kripal's Bengali proficiency, Sil wroteCitation
last=Sil
first=Narasingha P.
author-link = Narasingha Sil
chapter=Letter to Swami Atmajnanananda, dated February 25 1997
publication-date = Spring 2001
publisher=Harvard Divinity Bulletin ] :

Further Jean Openshaw wrote: Citation
last = Openshaw
first = Jean
title = The mystic and the rustic
url = http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=161271&sectioncode=40]

Hugh B. Urban argues that Kripal was inattentive to Bengal's historical context:Quote|The most problematic aspect of Kripal's work is its lack of attention to social and historical context. …Moreover, Kripal fails to place Ramakrishna and his disciples within the political context of late nineteenth-century Bengal. Rather strikingly, for example, he completely ignores Partha Chatterjee's important study of Ramakrishna and his relation to the middle-class society of colonial Calcutta

Further, Swami Tyagananda argues that Kripal's knowledge of Bengali at the time of his dissertation:

Arguments on distortion of Sources, Mistranslations

Addressing Kripal's arguments on Swami Nikhilananda's translation, Narasingha Sil wrote:cite journal | last = Sil | first = Narasingha | authorlink = Narasingha Sil | title = Is Ramakrishna a Vedantin, a Tantrika or a Vaishnava? An examination | journal = Asian Studies Review | volume = Volume 21, Issue 2 & 3 | pages = 212-224 |date=November 1997] Quote|"… [Kripal's] method of supporting his thesis is not only wrong but reprehensible in that it involves willful distortion and manipulation of sources. . . . Kripal has faulted Swami Nikhilananda for his 'concealment' and doctoring of the crude expressions of KM [Kathamrita] , but he has unhesitatingly committed similar crime [s] of omission and commission to suit his thesis."

Jean Openshaw wrote:

Hugh B. Urban argued that Kriapl introduces sensationalism and wrote:

Swami Tyagananda argues that Kripal misquotes Christopher Isherwood, who in fact said that he could not find any signs of homosexuality in Ramakrishna: [Quote|"I couldn't honestly claim him [Ramakrishna] as a homosexual, even a sublimated one, much as I would have liked to be able to do so."|cite book
last = Isherwood
first = Christopher
title = My Guru and His Disciple
page = p.249
year = 1980 ]

Swami Tyagananda argues that Kripal changes the meaning of Sarkar's work to its opposite: ["Kali's Child Revisited", Note 73]

Further, Larson argues that there is a lack of evidence:

In his review of "Kali's Child", William Radice argues that Kripal's style can be deceptive:cite journal
last = Radice
first = William
authorlink = William Radice
title = Reviewed work(s): Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna by Jeffrey J. Kripal
journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
volume = 61
issue = 1
pages = pp. 160-161
publisher = University of London
date = 1998
url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/3107328]

Pravrajika Vrajaprana argues that Kripal builds his case by quoting unreliable sources. Pravrajika Vrajaprana wrote — "Kripal describes a particularly bizarre method Ramakrishna supposedly used to control lust, but his endnote admits that he "doubts seriously" the incident ever occurred. Inexplicably, the incident is referred to again, twenty pages later, to seal his conclusion — despite his own admission that the information is probably inaccurate."Cite Journal
last = Vrajaprana
first = Pravrajika
title = Review of Kali's child, by Jeffrey Kripal
journal = Hindu-Christian studies bulletin
volume = 10
pages = 59-60
Year = 1997] Further Pravrajika Vrajaprana argues that Kripal's hypotheses are based upon innuendo, prejudicial translation, and cultural misjudgments. Swami Tyagananda, Somnath Bhattacharya argue that Kripal cites from non-existing references.

Scholars argue the presence of several critical mistranslations in "Kali's Child." and argue that Kripal fails to consider the different shades of meaning for a word depending on the context:
* Kripal has taken "body" (ga- or an+ga) and "lap" (kol) to mean "genitals" and "a normally defiled sexual space".In Indian culture and Bengali culture in particular, the lap has an extremely positive and warm maternal association. And the word "lap" even appears in the Bangladesh's national anthem to indicate maternal affection, safety and trust. ["Invading the Sacred', p.32]
* Krishna's traditional depiction in Hindu iconography, the "tribhanga" — bent in three places (i.e., bent at the knee, waist and elbow, with flute in hand) which is sacred to Hindus, has been translated by Kripal as "cocked hips"."Invading the Sacred', p.33]
* "vyakulata" or "vyaakula" ( which means "anxiety" from the context [ [http://bhagavata.org/downloads/SanskritDictionary.html Meanining of vyaakula] ] ) has been translated as "erotic torment".. In the study,"The Damage of Separation: Krishna’s Loves and Kali’s Child", J.S.Hawley, revisits the Kali's Child debate highlighting one of its central terms — the "vyakulata" feeling of ramakrishna. J.S.Hawley concludes thatcite journal
last = Hawley
first = John Stratton
title = The Damage of Separation: Krishna’s Loves and Kali’s Child
journal = Journal of the American Academy of Religion
volume = 72
issue = 2
pages = pp.369-393
date = June 2004
url = http://jaar.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/72/2/369?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=ramakrishna&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
doi = 10.1093/jaarel/lfh034
accessdate = 2008-07-20] , "…neither the gopis’ torment nor Ramakrishna’s must be allowed to devolve to a bodily level that could be indiscriminately shared, …Eros is too dangerous."
*" uddipana" ( meaning "enkindling" or "lighting up." [ [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/romadict.pl?query=uddipana&table=biswas-bengali Meaning of Uddipana] ] ) has been translated as as "homoerotic excitement","Invading the Sacred", p.34] and subsequently interpreting "looking at pictures of sadhus" as "getting erotically aroused by looking at picture of holy men".

*Critical age related errors such as, depicting a devotee "kedar" who was a "fifty year" old accountant as "boy", depicting a "thirty-four or thirty-five year" aged person as "boy of fifteen" and disciples in their "forties" are described as "the boy disciples." ["Kali's Child Revisited", Note.62] . Further, the child eroticism has been built on these mistranslations.

*Translating "Vrindavan-lila" — The play in Vrindavan as "Krishna's sexual exploits with the milkmaids."
*Translating "Kamalaksha" meaning "lotus eyes", which is used to describe vishnu, rama, krishna as "effeminate vishnava" and subsequently associating it with sexuality.
* "hrt-padma",( "lotus of the heart" ) is translated as "vagina". ["kali's child revisited", Note.110]
*Translating "heart" as "breast". ["Kali's Child Revisited", Note.51] ["Kali's Child Revisited", Note.70]

*Adding phrases such as "his near naked body", "instead of lusting after woman." which did not exist in the original bengali sources.

*Representing Ramakrishna's teachers , "Bhairavi Brahmini", "Totapuri" and the temple manager "Mathur babu" as his "sexual predators", without proof.

*Interpreting head as "symbolic phallus." ["Kali's Child", p.51]
*Incorrect translation of the word "raman". The phrase, "Have desire ("kamana") for God. Unite ("raman karo") with Satchidananda." is translated by Kripal as "Have sex with Saccidananda" which is crude and misleading. ["Kali's Child Revisited", Note.42] As scholars note, when a Hindu hears or reads about "ramana" [ [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.5:1:8.apte3new Meanings of Raman] ] with God, there is no idea of sex involved. ["kali's child revisited", Note 42] Religious Scholars also note the presence of the word "ramana" in the Bhagavad Gita [Cite Web
title = Bhagavad Gita 10.9
url = http://vedabase.net/bg/10/9/en
quote = mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā bodhayantaḥ parasparam kathayantaś ca māḿ nityaḿ tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca] and several other scriptures to indicate "Communion with God".
*"milan" (commonly used to mean "meeting.") [ [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/romadict.pl?page=363&table=biswas-bengali&display=utf8 Meanings of Milan] ] is translated as "sexual union". ["Kali's Child Revisited", Note.100]
*"magi" [ [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/romadict.pl?query=magi&searchhws=yes&table=biswas-bengali Meaning of Magi] ] (meaning "women") as "bitches". (However, this was corrected in 2nd Edition)

Arguments on misuse of Tantra

Scholars — Sil, Urban, Radice to mention a few, argue that tantra has been misused to support the thesis.

Narasingha Sil wrote: [Cite journal
author = Narasingha Sil
date = November, 1997
title = Is Ramakrishna a Vedantin, a Tantrika or a Vaishnava? — An Examination
journal = Asian Studies Review
volume = 21
issue = 2
pages = pp. 220
publisher = The University of Chicago
location = American
year = 1997 ]

Hugh B. Urban argues that Kripal has a prejudiced view of Tantra as — "something scandalous, seedy, sexy, and dangerous"Cite journal
author = Hugh B. Urban
date = Apr., 1998
title = Reviewed work(s): Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna by Jeffrey J. Kripal
journal = The Journal of Religion
volume = 78
issue = 2
pages = pp. 318-320
publisher = The University of Chicago
location = American
url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1205982
year = 1998 ] Swami Tyagananda argues that Kripal dismisses the "philosophical expositions" of Tantra as inauthentic, to support his thesis.. "Kali's Child" indicates that "Ramakrishna's world is a "Tantric world" ["Kali's Child", page 27] and overlooks other "sadhanas" , such as "Vaishnava", "Shakti", "Vedanta", Islamic and the Christian.

Further, in the review of "Kali's Child", William Radice wrote:

Arguments on "Guhyakatha" or "Secret Talk"

Scholars — Swami Tyagananda, Dr.Jean Openshaw, Gerald Larson, William Radice argue that Kripal introduces the word "Secret" which did not exist in the original source, the "Kathamrita".
Swami Tyagananda argues that Kripal introduces the word "secret", for phrases which were spoken by Ramakrishna openly to a group of people. ["Kali's Child Revisited", Note.55]

Dr. Jean Openshaw downplays the presence of any "secret talk" — talks related to eroticism and wrote:

Regarding "guhyakatha" (secret talk), Swami Tyagananda wrote: ["Kali's Child Revisited", Note.59] ["Kali's Child Revisited", Note.107] Quote|"Kripal believes that these talks were "secret" because their contents were "too troubling or important to reveal to any but [Ramakrishna's] most intimate disciples" (KC 4).Yet even a casual glance at these talks shows that there was nothing "troubling" aboutthem. Moreover, most of these were given in the presence of a large number of visitors,men and women, with the doors of Ramakrishna's room wide open.…many of the things included in the "secret talk" are also repeated on other occasions "without" the "secret talk" tag.

But the basic problem is the Kripal's misunderstanding of the term "secret talk" ("guhya katha"). The word "secret" ("guhya") occurs with great frequency in Hindu religious texts, including the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads [ [http://vedabase.net/g/guhyam Occurrences of the word "guhya" in Indian Scriptures] . The deeper meaning of a scripture is known as "guhyartha". The word "guhya" is used mostly in the sense of "esoteric," meaning: "something likely to be understood by only those with a special knowledge or interest."

Larson wrote:

William Radice argues that "guhya katha" as a evidence is insufficient:

Arguments on psychoanalysis and hermeneutics

Scholars — Aland Roland, Somnath Bhatacharyya, Gerald Larson argue that neither Kripal nor Wendy Doniger were trained as psychologists and in psychoanalysis. ["Invading the Sacred', p.29] [Cite Web
title = The interpretation of gods
url = http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0412/features/index-print.shtml
quote = ...During a post-talk discussion, an Indian woman took the microphone and quietly read a series of questions that went, as Doniger recalls: "From what psychoanalytic institution do you have your degree?" "None," she replied.] Numerous experts in psychology have argued that serious problems exist in Kripal's understanding and application of psychological theory.Gerald Larson writes:

The book "Invading the Sacred" argues that besides the numerous serious errors in translation that the American Academy of Religion failed to investigate, the presence of at least three methodological problems are argued: ["Invading the Sacred", p.39]
* Scholars in psychology departments do not rely upon Freudian methods to dish out serious allegations against a person. Such applications, by religion scholars who are untrained in psychology need not be accurate.
* Freud himself seems to have questioned the propriety of applying his methods to third parties via native informants or posthumously. The analyst was required to directly engage the subject of inquiry.
* Freud never had access to non-Western patients, so he never established the validity of his theories in other cultures. This is a point emphasized by Alan Roland, who has researched and published extensively to show that Freudian approaches are not applicable to study Asian cultures.

Arguments on hiding of sources

"Kathamrita"

Kripal argues that Ramakrishna Mission is hiding the sources. According to Kripal, the five-volume structure of Mahendranath Gupta's "Kathamrita" was designed to "conceal a secret." Kripal argues that the five-volume, non-chronological structure is unusual. Kripal argues that Mahendranath Gupta "held back" the secret in the first volume, "hinted at" it in the second, "toyed with" it in the third, "revealed it" in the fourth and found that he had hardly any material left for the fifth. ["Kali's Child", page 4]

In the review of "Kali's Child", Colin Robinson wrote [Cite journal
author = Colin Robinson
date = Oct., 1997
title = Review of "Kali's Child"
volume = 18
issue = 3
journal = Ferment
location = Australia
year = 1997 ]

Swami Tyagananda argues that contrary to Kripal's accusations, portions from M's diaries were published in various Bengali journals long before the "Kathamrita" appeared in book form. These portions were published in the following journals: "Anusandhan", "Arati", "Alochana", "Utsah", "Udbodhan", "Rishi", "Janmabhumi", "Tattwamanjari", "Navyabharat", "Punya", "Pradip", "Pravasi", "Prayas", "Bamabodhini", "Sahitya", "Sahitya-samhita", and "Hindu Patrika". There is no textual evidence anywhere to indicate that M began writing his diaries with the prior intention of publishing a book.

Further, Swami Tyagananda wrote that Ramakrishna Mission published the "Kathamrita" in chronological order, after the copyright which rested with Mahendranath Gupta's descendants expired -Quote|What Kripal chooses not to mention in the main body of "Kali's Child" is that at the time he wrote this, the Ramakrishna Order had already published a two-volume edition of the "Kathamrita", arranged chronologically. If the non-chronological device was meant to "conceal" the secret, the chronological edition should have "revealed" it! Apparently, the Ramakrishna Order did not feel any need to hide the "secret."

Swami Tyagananda also wrote that Mahendranath Gupta's dairies are with his descendants, and scholars-including a monk of the Ramakrishna Order have seen those diaries, even photographed them, without undue difficulty.

"The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna"

Kripal argues that although Swami Nikhilananda calls "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna" "a literal translation," he substantially altered Gupta's text, combining the five parallel narratives into a single volume (which is often sold as a two-volume set), as well as deleting some passages which he claimed were "of no particular interest to English-speaking readers." ["Kali's Child", (329-336)]

These arguments of Kripal were addressed by Swami Tyagananda, Somnath Bhattacharyya, Swami Atmajnanananda.

Swami Tyagananda wrotecite web
title = EVAM - FORUM ON INDIAN REPRESENTATIONS ~ Issue 1
url = http://www.swaveda.com/journal.php?jid=2&j=Evam
accessdate = 2008-08-20] —

Somnath Bhattacharya, argues that Swami Nikhilananda's translations are faithful and wrotecite web
last = Bhattacharyya
first = Somnath
authorlink = Somnath Bhattacharyya
title = Kali's Child: Psychological And Hermeneutical Problems
publisher = Infinity Foundation
url = http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_bhatt_kali_frameset.htm] :

Swami Atmajnanananda in his publication in the "International Journal of Hindu Studies"cite journal
last = Atmajnanananda
first = Swami
title = Scandals, cover-ups, and other imagined occurrences in the life of Ramakrishna: An examination of Jeffrey Kripal's Kali's child
journal = International Journal of Hindu Studies
volume = 1
issue = 2
pages = pp.401-420
publisher = Springer
location = Netherlands
date = August, 1997
url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/k1g8l97203k25047/
doi = 10.1007/s11407-997-0007-8] wrote —Quote|There are some other instances which, at first, seem to substantiate Kripal'scover-up theory. In each case, however, it is Nikhilananda's sensitivity to Westerndecorum that seems to have dictated his translation decisions, not fear ofrevealing hidden secrets. Had this been the case, he certainly would have eliminatedfar more of Ramakrishna's remarks than he did. In each case also, we findKripal's translation of the missing portion more misleading than Nikhilananda'somissions.

"Jivanvrittanta"

Kripal also argues that "Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsadever Jivanvrittanta" by Ramchandra Dutta to be a scandalous, hidden biography of Ramakrishna. Pravrajika Vrajaprana, Swami Atmajnanananda said that the book has been published in nine Bengali editions as of 1995.. However, Kripal wrote dropped his arguments related to "Jivanvrittanta" [cite web
last = Kripal
first = Jeffery
author-link = Jeffery Kripal
title = Correspondence, Corrections and Confirmations
url = http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kalischi/pale.html] :Quote|I have also, I believe, overplayed the degree to which the tradition has suppressed Datta's "Jivanavrttanta". Indeed, to my wonder (and embarrassment), the Ramakrishna Order reprinted Datta's text the very same summer Kali's Child appeared, rendering my original claims of a conscious concealment untenable.

Kripal's responses

After Swami Tyagananda's "Kali's Child Revisited" was published, Kripal responded [cite web
title = Textuality, Sexuality, and the Future of the Past: A Response to Swami Tyagananda
url = http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kalischi/textuality.html
accessdate = 2008-08-25] in his essay "Textuality, Sexuality, and the Future of the Past: A Response to Swami Tyagananda" —

Kripal’s also maintained that the translation errors were not serious enough to damage the book’s central thesis. Kripal turned down suggestions to include a summary of Tyagananda’s rebuttal at the end of his book, in a new edition. Concerning the charge that he does not understand Tantra, he responded that Swami Tyagananda’s version of Tantra is the “right-handed” ascetic path, as expounded by neo-Vedanta, while the Tantra of Ramakrishna's milieu was the “left-handed” path, which integrates the sexual with the spiritual. In the second edition of "Kali's Child", however, Kripal dismisses the "philosophical expositions" of Tantra as inauthentic because they are “designed to rid Tantra of everything that smacked of superstition, magic, or scandal” (28–29). He also noted that because Tyagananda questioned his personal motives for writing the book, the critique amounted to an "ad hominem" attack. Additionally, Kripal pointed out (following modern literary theory) that all interpretations, his own included, are products of the interaction of the reader’s horizon of understanding with that of the author’s. [ru icon [http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kalischi/textuality.html Kali's Child ] ]

By late 2002, Kripal decided to discontinue the discourse: “But there comes a time when it is time to move on. After eight years of almost constant thinking, eight published essays, a second monograph, and literally thousands of paper and virtual letters, that time has arrived for me. Accordingly, I plan no future formal responses and have long since moved on to other intellectual projects and topics.” [ru icon [http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kalischi/index.html Kali's Child ] ] He combined his primary replies on his website, and then moved ahead with other projects.

Kripal believes that gender and spirituality are intricately linked, and that the history of mysticism in all the world's religions is often deeply erotic. He has strongly denied that "Kali's Child" was intended as a slur either against Ramakrishna specifically or Hinduism in general. By comparing the deeply erotic nature of Teresa of Ávila's mysticism with Ramakrishna's, for example, Kripal gave one of many examples of how, phenomenologically, European Roman Catholics were experiencing things quite similar to the raptures of Bengali ecstatics like Ramakrishna. [Ibid., p. 326.] Kripal later devoted the entirety of his second book "Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom" (2001) to an in-depth study of the varied aspects (both homoerotic and heteroerotic) of mystico-eroticism, as found in almost all the world’s major religious systems.

References

External links

* [http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_tyaga_kali1_frameset.htm Swami Tyagananda's essay, "Kali's Child Revisited or Didn't Anyone Check the Documentation?"]
* [http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kalischi/index.html Kripal's consolidated responses to criticism of "Kali's Child"]
* [http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0412/features/index.shtml A perspective on the controversy regarding RISA scholars from the University of Chicago]
* [http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/s_rv/s_rv_bhatt_kali_frameset.htm "Kali’s Child": Psychological and Hermeneutical Problems] by Somnath Bhattacharyya
* [http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=%22kali%27s+child Google Scholar citations]
* [http://books.google.com/books?q=%22kali%27s+child Google Books citations]