Sri Ramakrishna on Himself, continued..

The Kathamrita is one of the most richly celebratory of texts, derived from  Thakur’s infinite capacity for deriving joy, from all that he saw unfold around him, which only served to  constantly reinforce his deep and ecstatic understanding of an overwhelming and overflowing Cosmic Entity.  Sri Ramakrishna on Himself, succeeds in creating in the reader that “ananda” or joy that made Sri Ramakrishna, in the words of Sri Sarada Devi, “Anandaswarup” or  “ Joy personified”.   As the writer of the Preface of this book claims, it was truly a “herculean” and “strenuous” task to bring to the reader in the scope of 243 pages, the quintessence, the “subliminal Self” of Sri Ramakrishna. As the author also claims, this ‘Herculean” task was accomplished through patient sifting and constant revisiting of both the If I may hazard to add, the reason perhaps is his artistic method, also borne out in his natural proclivity for song, Kathamrita and the Lilaprasanga, to provide a kind of autobiography of Sri Sri Thakur, through his own sayings