Cosmic Love and Human Apathy

The truth is rarely simple. The common consensus is that Swami Vivekananda, as Sri Ramakrishna’s chosen disciple, spread his master’s message across the world. The fact, though, is that after Ramakrishna’s death in 1886, Vivekananda not only shifted the devotional emphasis of the new monastic order from Kali to Shiva, he also embraced a world far removed from Ramakrishna’s – a world that was rational, scientific, masculine, orthodox and nationalistic. The essays in this volume examine Vivekananda’s formulation of Hinduism as religion: the most definitive restatement of Hinduism in modern history. Erudite yet accessible, consistently probing and sceptical of hoary traditions, controversial and thought-provoking, Cosmic Love and Human Apathy is an invaluable addition to the existing scholarship on one of India’s greatest religious and social icons. Swami Vivekananda’s Restatement of Religion ‘A book of substance and importance written in an engaging, straightforward style, illuminated by flashes of wit and, of course, by the author’s deep knowledge of the cultural background and historical record. [It] will become the classic statement about Vivekananda in this generation’ – David Shulman