claim that she remained chaste while
being held captive. Despite this defini-
tive proof, Rama later insists on a
second test, in which Sita, in protest, is
swallowed up by the earth. Thus, the
picture of Rama conveyed by the epic
is of a figure righteous by the standards
of his time but on occasion rigid
and inflexible.
In later versions of the Ramayana,
particularly the Ramcharitmanasby
the poet-saint Tulsidas (1532–1623?),
this picture subtly shifts, possibly in an
attempt to soften or remove these trou-
bling incidents. Certain changes in
Tulsidas’s text also highlight the central-
ity of devotion (bhakti) over all other
religious attitudes. Tulsidas’s Rama is
more explicitly portrayed as God incar-
nate, a figure who is aware of his divine
status and whose actions are undertaken
for the benefit of his devotees. This
Rama is still concerned with social val-
ues, particularly the kshatriya obligation
to uphold and protect religious duty
(dharma). Yet this ethic is in tension
with—and sometimes in opposition
to—the importance of bhakti, which is
portrayed as the ultimate religious goal.
These subtle shifts in the later text point
to an occasional conflict between two
differing ideals—dharma and bhakti—
both of which are affirmed as essential.
For further information on Rama, see
the texts of the Ramayana(the Valmiki
Ramayana, Kamba Ramayana, and
Ramcharitmanas) or translations from
the Sanskrit puranas, such as Cornelia
Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen (eds.
and trans.), Classical Hindu Mythology,
1978; secondary sources include V.
Raghavan (ed.), The Ramayana
Tradition in Asia, 1980; Edmour J.
Babineau, Love of God and Social Duty
in the Ramcharitmanas, 1979; and Frank
Whaling, The Rise in the Religious
Significance of Rama, 1980.
Ramakrishna
(1836–86) Bengali mystic and saint who
was one of the most remarkable figures
in the nineteenth-century revival of
Hinduism. Ramakrishna was the son of
a village priest and received little formal
education during his life. He retained
much of his rustic simplicity and spent
his adult life as a temple priest at the
Kalitemple at Dakshineshwar, outside
the city of Calcutta. From his childhood
Ramakrishna had been devoted to the
GoddessKali, and characterized him-
self as being “intoxicated with God.”
He sought and found the divine, first
through Kali but later through a variety
of other religious paths, including the
abstract monism of the speculative
Upanishads, devotion to the god
Vishnu, Christianity, and Islam. Out of
these experiences came his conviction
that the inner experience in all reli-
gious traditions was the same and led to
the same divine presence. Although
Ramakrishna did not publicize himself,
he became known in Calcutta’s religious
circles through his association with
Keshub Chander Sen, the leader of the
reformist Brahmo Samaj. This associa-
tion brought him disciples who would
spread his teachings, particularly
Narendranath Datta, better known as
Swami Vivekananda. For a devotee’s
perspective on Ramakrishna, see
Christopher Isherwood, Ramakrishna
and His Disciples, 1965; for a modern
psychological reading, see Jeffrey Kripal,
Kali’s Child, 1995.Ramakrishna Mission
Hindu religious organization founded
in 1897 by Swami Vivekanandato prop-
agate the religious message of Vive-
kananda’s teacher, Ramakrishna. Since
its inception, the Ramakrishna Mission
has been equally dedicated to spiritual
uplifting and to social service, based on
Vivekananda’s realization that India
needed material development as much
as it needed religious instruction. The
mission has sought to fulfill part of this
charge by publishing inexpensive edi-
tions of religious texts, including but not
restricted to the teachings of Rama-
krishna and Vivekananda, and by spon-
soring social service in the fields ofRamakrishna