Ramakrishna and Vivekananda with Special Reference

to their Ideas of Truth

Shoun Hino

1-0 Introduction

Vivekananda is a direct disciple of Ramakrishna and their relationship has been compared to

that between Jesus Christ and Paul. Ramakrishna was a religious 白gure appearing a millennium

after Sankara, who founded the school of Advaita Vedanta in the eighth century. Vivekananda

was cultivated and enlightened by Ramakrishna and gave a series of lectures at the World ’S

Parliament of Religions, Chicago in 1893, where as an advocate of Hinduism he insisted that

‘religion is one'. These lectures were greatly welcomed and as a result the profundity and

refinement of Hinduism were recognized. After returning to India he established the Rama

krishna Mission Association near Dakshineshvar Temple, where the goddess Kan, whom Rama

krishna called Mother, was worshipped and which was the base of Ramakrishna ’s religious

activities. There he engaged himself in his religious practices and activities whose fundamental

idea was ‘to serve the poor'.

This paper composes: ( Historical perspective of the Vedanta fro凶ankaradown to Ramakrishna,

( Ramakrishna’s religious 叫eriences， ③ His ‘Truth is one’, as und倒ood through his experiences

of other religions, ( Vivekananda’s ‘religion is one’( universal religion).

2・O Historical perspective of the Vedanta from Sankara down to Ramakrishna

The words of the Advaita Vedanta of Sankara, ‘the limitless Brahman is the only reality' are

the mystical philosophy, and have become the core idea of Indian spirituality. In the later history

of religion in India, both Bhaktism and Tantrism influenced the Advaitic idea and thus the

Vedanta philosophy developed diversely. 1

The limitless Brahman referred to here is the absolute or hidden god. This god is also called

the nirgw;a Brahman or pαra Brahman ( corresponding to the sagw:za Brahman or apαra Brahman

I Cf. S.

(276) 19

人間文化 第30号

which are the expressions for the personal transcendent or confronting god). 2 This god is also

called Jsvarαin later Advaita books like the Vedantasara. In the school of Kashmir Siva which

was influenced by Advaita, the personal god Siva created the world and the same Siva is a sav10r.

But the school identi白es the supreme Siva (paramasiva) with the Brahman.

Bhaktism and Tantrism hold that the personal God is both the creator of the world and the

savior. Many personal gods such as Vi早Q.U, NarayaQ.a, Kr~IJ.a and Siva are enumerated in the

religious world of the Hindus. In this context the creation of the world and the salvation of people

with the support of the personal God is emphasized but as a matter of fact the Brahman, i.e. the

hidden god, is always taken for granted. Then, at the time of Hindu Renaissance in 19th century,

Ramakrishna and Vivekananda appeared. Ramakrishna in particular is said to have established

the religious system which assimilates Advaita, Bhaktism and Tantrism. For Ramakrishna, KalT

is the confronting god and the Brahman is the hidden god.

3・O Ramakrishna ’s religious experiences

These religious experiences are chronologically enumerated below. Taking recourse to (1)~(5)

we will be able to understand that Ramakrishna was purely a Vedantin who established the

Advaita doctrine assimilating Bhaktism and Tantrism. And (6)~( 7) lead us his assertion of the

hannony of all the religions.

(1) Three religious experiences while an infant.

(2) First unio mystica with KalT at age 20.

(3) Tantric practice with the tantrist Yogeshvari at age 25~ 26.

(4) Unio mystica with Kr~IJ.a at age 27.

(5) Practice with the Advaitin Tota Puri at age 28.

(6) Practice with the sufi Govinda Ray at age 30.

(7) An experience of Jesus Christ at age 38.

2 Insofar as religions which have an idea of God are concerned, the God we worship or the God

manifested before us is personal ( called the ‘personal transcendent’）創1d of the natur芯 ofa savior. This God

is also called the ‘con企onting god'. Behind or deeper beyond this God there exists ultimate reality, which

is impersonal and can only be called ‘absolute'. This is also called the ‘hidden god’. I show in tabular form

below the hidden god, the con仕onting gods and others.

' [impersor叫戸inciple] I absolute I Brahman [ hidden god

旬ersonal God] I personal transcendent I Hindu gods I confro凶昭 godC王 S.Hino，‘Inquiry into the Brahman -To Establish the Impersonal Principle, the Brahman' Bali-Prajna

International Journal of Indology and Cul，仰陀. Bali Sanskrit Institute & University ofMehendradatta, vol. 2,

pp.36-46, Jul. 2013.

20 (275)

Ramakrishna and Vivekananda with Special Reference to their Ideas of Truth （日里［r)

3・1 (1) Three religious experiences while an infant

At the age of 6 or・ 7, with a sudden change of sky he lost his external consciousness in ecstasy

for the first time. At the age of 8, in the town where the goddess Visalak~i was worshipped, while

walking singing to the shrine he suddenly became stiff and benumbed. Streams of tears 臼owed

incessantly from his eyes. It was said that the ecstatic influence of the goddess came upon him.

He was worshipped as the goddess. At the age of 10 when he was about to perform the role of

Siva on the stage, he suddenly stood there motionless. Incessant streams of tears were flowing

down his cheeks. He did not speak or even move, and he had no external consciousness at all. It

was said that the ecstatic influence of Siva came upon him. He had experiences of unconscious

ness or trances at ease early dates and also those of obsession with gods such as Visalak~i and

Siva. We note his religious sensibility. 3

3・2 (2) First unio mysticαwith KalI at age 20

At the age of 20, after struggling for a vision of KalI, he attained mystical union with her for

the first time. [Great Master: 140-141] describes the moment thus :“ Greatly afflicted with the

thought that I might never have Mother ’s vision. I was in great agony. I thought that there was

no use in living such a life. My eyes suddenly fell upon the sword that was there in the Mother ’s

temple. I made up my mind to put an end to my life with it that veηmoment. Like one mad, I

ran and caught hold of it, when suddenly I had the wonderful vision of the Mother, and fell down

unconsciousness. I did not know what happened then in the external world -how that day and

the next slipped away. But, in my heart of hearts, there was flowing a cunent of intense bliss,

never experienced before, and I had the immediate knowledge of the Light that is Mother. ” This

was his first ever experience of encountering the con合onting god, KalI. He had struggled a lot for

it. He meditated at his usual place under the Amalaki tree as well as in front of the image of the

Mother goddess KalI. He meditated without a sacred thread to cast away his consciousness of beｭ

ing a brahmm)a. He did toilet cleaning to deny his pride of caste. He threw a few coins and clods

of earth into the Ganges, repeating ‘rupee-earth, earth rupee ’ to eliminate material desire. Finally

he was successful by means of such practice without a teacher.

3・3 (3) Tantric practice with the tantrist, Yogeshvari at age 25~ 26

At the age of 25 to 26 between 1860 and 1863, he had disciplinary practice with Yogeshvari.

He did not need more than three days to succeed in any of disciplines, and he completed sixtyｭ

four disciplines in three years. It is signi白cant to note that he received the vision of KalI through

3 [ Great Master: 101-107]

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人間文化第30号

Hindu Tantric ways of practice. Meanwhile he became possessed of eight miraculous powers and

was regarded by his teacher Yogeshvari as an ‘incarnation ’ so much was his religious stage elｭ

evated.

3-4 (4) Unio mystica with KnJ.J.a at age 27

At the age of 27 he experienced unity with Kr号l)a in the course of practicing Vai号l)ava’ s bhakti

disciplines. He practiced madhura bhανα ‘bhakti between lovers'. 4 The practitioner dedicates

Radha ’s devotion to k開ia and, as Radha becomes one, so the practitioner becomes one with

~・早l)a . For this purpose Ramakrishna first identified with Radha. He dressed in a woman ’s

costumes and ornaments and behaved like a woman. [Great Master: 236-238] describes his

identi白cation with Radha, her devotion to ~-$1).a and her vision of Kr$l)a:“.…. the Master now

applied himself thoroughly to gaining her favor. Lost in remembr百1ce and reflection of her form,

the very embodiment of love, he incessantly offered at her lotus feet the ardent emotion of his

heart. Consequently, he was very soon blessed with the vision of the holy form of Radha, devoid

of the slightest tinge of lust. He now saw that this form also disappeared into his own body like

the forms of other deities when he had had their visions . 一一 He experienced the grace of

Radharani [=Radha] and was finally blessed with the holy vision of Krishna [=Kf$l)a], the

embodiment of pure Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. This form of vision also united with his holy

person, like all the other forms seen before.

“... all the signs of Mahabhava, 5 which is the ultimate state of madhura bhaνα， were

manifested in him after his realization of the above『mentioned vision ....” 6 and “Tota Puri, the

Paramahmp.sa, came two or three months after the Master had had that vison and got engaged in

the discipline of the non dual spiritual mood well known in the Vedanta. ” 7 This shows that

through the successful completion of devotional practice Ramakrishna stood at the climax of the

stage of the purification of mind and was also at savikal1フakα samiidhi. The object of meditation

at saνikalpaka sαmiidhi is the Brahman with attributes. So far we may understand that by the aid

of Tantric as well as Hindu bhakti disciplines he comfortably enjoyed saνikalpaka samiidhi,

encountering his confronting god KalI. Moreover, taking into account that he would soon receive

4 This is one of the Vai号l).ava’s bhakti disciplines. The others are pα方cabhava, siintα， diisya, sαkhya,

vatsαlya. One can choose any of them depending upon one’s stage

5 Mahabhava and Prema are the highest stages of devotional practice. The two go hand in hand and marks

forgetfulness of the world, and forgetfulness of self, including one’s own body. This brings the devotee face

to face with god, and he thus attains the goal oflife. Cf. [Sayings I: 237 238]

6 [Great Master: 237]

7 [Great Master: 238]

22 (273)

Ramakrishna and Vivekananda with Special Reference to their Ideas of Truth （ 日野）

nzrvikalpaka samadhi, he was in the climactic phase of savikal1フαka samadhi.

3-5 (5) Practice with the Advaitin, Tota Puri at age 28

At the age of 28, only three or four months after the bhakti discipline described above, he

came across Tota Puri and attained nirνikalpαka samadhi on the 白rst day of disciplinary practice

with this teacher. The disciple thus attained the same heightened phase that Tota Puri had only

attained after 40 years of disciplinary life. [Great Master: 251] says : “With a firm determination I

sat for meditation again, and as soon as the holy form of the Divine Mother appeared now before

the mind as previously, I looked upon knowledge as a sword and cut the form mentally in two

with that sword of knowledge. There remained then no function in the mind, which t1百1scended

quickly the realm of names and forms, making me merge in Samadhi [ =samadhi ].” And further

[Great Master: 252] says :“ He understood that the disciple is completely dead to the external

world and that his mind, merged in Brahman, was calm and motionless like an unflickering lamp

in a windless place .... Tota [Puri] cried out “ Is it divine Maya? Is it in truth Samadhi [=samadhi]?

Is it the Nirvikalpaka Samadhi [ =nirvikalpakα samadhi] , the ultimate result attained through the

path of knowledge spoken of in the Vedanta [=Vedanta]?”

3-6 Ramakrishna ’s nirvika/paka samiidhi and Bhavamukha

Under the guidance of Tota Puri, he had attained nirνikal1フaka samadhi. He realized the reality

of the Brahman, the hidden god. And moreover he realized that Kalf is not only the confronting

god but the hidden god, that is, Kalf is both sαgu'IJ,a Brahman and nirgu'IJ,a Brahman. At the plane

of nirvikalpαka samadhi, being filled with extraordinary knowledge and bliss ,“ the I-con

sciousness completely vanished and he had for some time the direct vision of the divine Mother

[=KalI=Brahman], the cause of the universe. Not satisfied with that three-day vision he tried to

have it eternally.川 As a result ,“ sometimes , by the complete merging of I-consciousness

externally the symptoms of death appeared on the body, and internally the unobstructed vision of

the Mother continued .” 9 It lasted for half a year, during which time he was fed for “ there was in

his mind not the slightest desire to let the body last for any time .” JO

He received the command from KalI, to ‘remain in Bhavamukha'. [Great Master: 256, 385,

387] This was the command that he should not stay in nirvikalpaka samadhi but do good to

people, living in constant and 白ll , direct knowledge of the fact that he was none other than that

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人間文化 第 30号

limitless Brahman. 11 He could be a ffvαn mukta ‘liberated in life', i.e. one of those who were once

in worldly bondage, but who have now attained perfection by means of Sadhana and are living

the rest of their lives in some loving relation with the divine Lord.12 Or, he could be a Jivakoti,

one of those who ‘after attaining the non dual state of consciousness, never come down from that

state even for the pu中ose of doing good to humanity' .13 While enjoying nirvikalpaka samadhz

he did not stand in need of a body, nor was he at all was desirous to continue in life. But “he now

came to know that he had to live in the body thence forward in accordance with the will and the

purpose of the supportive Divine, and that he had been so commanded because his body could

not continue to live, were he to remain eternally identified with Brahman. ” 14 Ramakrishna was

eventually to live his life the whole of his life in Bhavamukha. [Great Master: 256, 321, 385,

387]

Taking recourse to Vedanta ’s idea of ‘four states of sleep ’15 we shall examine Bhavamukha.

We find in Upani早ad and Vedanta the analysis of human consciousness as an examination of

states of sleep. They are the waking state 0・agrat), the dreaming state (svapna), the deep sleep

state (susi，ψtα） and the fourth ( caturtha/turfyα）. Waking, dreaming and deep sleep are the usual

things daily repeated. The waking state is the mode of daily experience. It constitutes the object

and the subject. The subject makes the sensory organs （白ve action organs and five perception or

gans), the three inner organs (manas， αhmJ1kara, buddhi) work and contacts objects, whatever

things are in the outer world, or the whole which is expressed by words. In the dreaming state

also the su防ect works. In dreams the sensory organs does not work but the inner organs remain

active. Impressions (vasana) of what were grasped in the waking state remain. But in the deep

sleep state, neither the sensory organs nor the inner organs work, the subject vanishes and no obｭ

ject exists. “The Atman does not see any other. It is Prajfia. ”- so is said in the Upani号ad. The

Atman has attained the state of knowledge itself in the course of deepening one ’s consciousness.

These three states are what are grasped by words and are not real. Vaisvanara (Atman in the

waking state), Taijasa (Atman in the dreaming state) and Prajfia (Atman in the deep sleep state)

are what are qualified by the limiting adjuncts (upadhis). The Atman which is not qualified by

the limiting adjuncts and not expressed by words is the fourth. This is the true reality, the limit

less Brahman. This fourth is the only reality and the superficial modes of deep sleep, dreaming,

II C王［Great Master: 387]

12 [Great Master: 352]

13 [Great Master: 353]

14 [Great Master: 256]

15 Cf. S.Hino, op.cit., p.43

24 (271)

Ramakrishna and Vivekananda with Special Reference to their Ideas of Truth （ 日 里子）

and waking are existential spheres but not real.

Among the four the waking and dreaming states were the phases of Ramakrishna ’s daily

activity as an advocate. The deep sleep state, i.e. Pr可白a, was the plane of savikalpa samadhi

where he encountered the con白・onting god, the attributed Brahman, Kan, Kr~l)a. The fourth

λtman was the plane of nirvikalpaka samadhi where he became the Brahman. This was very

close to fivan mukti as his period of half a year demonstrated. Bhavamukha is placed between

the confronting god and the hidden god. More precisely, it is far higher phase than the conｭ

fronting god and a little before mukti. To be in Bhavamukha is to be liberated and at the same

time one who has come down to the world of duality to do good to people, i.e. to enlighten

people.16 Ramakr匂hna was expected to be a missionary as a Ka.II devotee. Therefore he was

present in worldly dealings as a teacher as well as an incarnation (the con仕onting god) and time

and again he was on the nirvikalpaka plane as one of the liberated.

4-0 His ‘Truth is one ’ understood through his experiences of other religions

Ramakr-ishna referred to the Brahman in the course of a meeting thus :“ Well, it seems to me

that both the formless Deity and God with form are real· ・・．” 17 and “Yes, both are true. God with

form is as real as God without fonn ｷ ｷ ·.” 18 This conveys his idea of two kinds of the Brahman,

i.e. God with form and God without form ( or, formless God). This exactly corresponds to sα炉開

‘attributed, with attributes' Brahman and nirgu(lα ‘attributeless, without attributes' Brahman in

accordance with the Advaita Vedanta. The formless Brahman is the nirgu(la Brahman or the

Brahman as the hidden god, and he maintained that in all religions this Brahman exists as the

ultimate reality. The only reality is this Brahman. The sagu(lαBrahman is manifested as Kan

and other gods. From such a point of view he proceeded to explain the varied religions such as

those of Allah, Jesus and others, and led us to understand that Mohammad, Jesus and so on are

the attributed Brahman, the con合onting god, existing as incarnations and that they merge in the

attributeless Brahman, the hidden god.

16 [Nara: 128] says that it is the state of consciousness which is at the point of nirvi却炉αka samiidhi and the

phenomenal world, and which enables one to be in contact with both. [Great Master: 386] says that it is the

universal I-ness [=KalI] Brahman existing between the aspects of sagw:ia and nirgw:ia. [Shogai: 391] says

that consciousness is at the point of the absolute Brahman and the world of duality where one can meditate

on the attribute less Brahman and at the same time, regarding the dual world as the only manifestation of the

sole god, one can be in touch with activities there.

17 [Gospel: 217]

18 [Gospel: 217]

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人間文化第30号

4-1 (6) Practice with the sufi, Govinda Ray at age 30

He experienced Islam while practicing with the sufi, Govinda Ray at the age of 30. [Great

Master: 260] describes “At the time of practicing Islam, the Master [=Ramakrishna] at first had

the vision of an effulgent, impressive personage with a long beard; afterwards he had the

knowledge of the all-pervading Brahman with attributes, and then merged finally in the Br叶1man

without attributes, the Absolute .,,‘ An effulgent, impressive personage with a long-beard' in this

passage refers to a prophet Mohammad.19 He understands that Mohammad was the Brahman with

attributes, the confronting god, and that Mohammad himself merged into the Brahman without

attributes, the hidden god.

Further in the same context this is mentioned :“ From the event mentioned above, it becomes

clear how sympathetic the Master ’s mind became to other religious communities after he had

attained perfection in the Vedantic discipline. It also becomes clear how, by having faith in the

Vedantic knowledge alone, the Hindus and Mohammedans of India may become sympathetic

towards one another and develop a brotherly feeling . .…-.”20 Knowing that the personal Gods of

other religions eventually merge in the Brahman, he was becoming assured that ‘Truth is one ’

4-2 (7) An experience of Jesus Christ at age 38

[Great Master: 295-296] says:

that of the child Jesus in his mother噌， s lap. …one day in that parlor and was looking intently at

that picture and thinking of the extraordinary life of Jesus, when he felt that the picture came to

life, and effulgent rays of light, coming out of from the bodies of the mother and Child, entered

into his hemi and changed radically all the ideas of his mind !”“… the Master saw, while walking

under the Panchavati, that a marvelous god man of very fair complexion was coming towards

him, looking steadfastly at him. As soon as he saw that person, he knew that he was a foreigner.

He saw that his long eyes had produced a wonder白l beauty in his face, the tip of his nose, though

a little fl.at, did not at all impair that beauty. The Master was charmed to see the extraordinary

divine expression of that handsome face, and wondered who he was. Very soon the person

approached him and from the bottom of the Master ’s pure heart came out with a ringing sound,

the words ,‘ Jesus! Jesus the Christ... one with the Father ’…” Jesus, the god-man, then embraced

19 Romain Roland says “…white beard appeared to him (thus he had probably visualized the Prophet).’

(The Life of Rama/a・ishna . Advaita Ashrama, 1994, p. 76) C王［Tanaka II: 118] and [Nara: 130]. Mohammad

is often referred to as an Islamic prophet, as in the case of the Judaic prophet Jesus, [Great Master: 17; 540-

541; 674] and regarded as a religious hero and unselfish teacher though having many wives. [Great Master:

415] Vivekananda describes his humane character in his lecture,‘ Mohammad'. [CW ① ： 481旺］

20 [Great Master: 260]

26 (269)

Ramakrishna and Vivekananda with Special Reference to their Ideas of Truth （日野）

the Master and disappeared into his body and the Master entered into ecstasy, lost normal

consciousness and remained identified for some time with the Omnipresent Brahman with

attributes. Having attained the vision of Jesus thus, the Master became free from the slightest

doubt about Christ ’s having been an incarnation of God. ” Thus Ramakrishna maintained that the

prophet Jesus is the Brahman with attributes, the incarnation.

Regarding the Buddha of Buddhism ,“ The Master regarded Buddha as what the Hindus in

general believe him to be; that is, he always offered his loving worship and reverence to Buddha

as an incarnation of God· ・・・・・”21 or “ It is certain that Buddha was an incarnation of God. ” 22

Thus Ramakrishna had no doubt that Buddha is the Brahman with attributes.23

Jesus and Buddha, but not Mohammad, are not incarnations originating in myths or legends

for Ramakrishna. Gods in the name of ‘incarnations ’ are not existential beings in mythology but

living as human beings. This is because “ His divinity as love may be manifest in flesh, and be

among us as God Incarnate. Love streams to us from God Incarnate. ” 24 And Ramakrishna

enumerated historic figures as such; Buddha, Caitanya, Sankara, Ramanuja, Jesus and

Ramakrishna himself.25

4-3 Ramakrishna ’s 'Truth is one ’

Regarding the relationship of the absolute Brahman to the personal God or the incarnation, he

explains at [Gospel: 423 ]:“ I see people who talk about religion constantly quarrelling with one

another, Hindus Mussalmans, Brahmos, Saktas, Vaishnavas [=Vai号D-ava], Saivas, all qua汀el with

one another. They haven ’t the intelligence to understand that he who is called Krishna [=Kr$D-a]

is also Siva and the Primal Sakti, and that it is He, aoain who is called Jesus and Allah.26 ‘There 。，

is only one Rama and he has a thousand names. ’ Truth is one; only It is called by different

21 [Great Master: 296]

竹 ［Great Master: 297]

23 Regarding Mahavira and Titihankara in Jainism, or the Guru Nanak and the ten Gums in Sikhism, Ra

makrishna paid them great love and homage but never said that they were incarnations. [Great Master: 297]

24 [Sayings I: 217]

25 C王［Great Master: 75; 100; 331; 395; 411; 667; 674] [Sayings I: 215 216]

26 The word ‘λllah' is herεused in keeping with the original Bengali text which says ‘剖l孟， . (Sr l

Srzr

h!ted by ‘Allah' .

[Nara: 45, 49] understands that this does refer to Mohammad, not Allah. If it meant Allah, Allah would

be the personal God. It might be the case: Ramakrishna’s teacher, Govinda Ray was a sufi. And a sufi in the

tradition of lbn al-Arab I holds that the personal god, Allah, is the first manifestation of the ultimate reality,

Existence (wuiiid). But this would be the least likely possibilit)人

(268) 27

人間文化 第30号

names. All people are seeking the same Trnth; the variance is due to climate, temperament, and

name. A lake has many ghats. From one ghat the Hindus take water in jars and call it ‘jal' . From

another ghat the Mussalmans take water in leather bags and call it ‘pani'. From a third the

Christians take the same thing and call it ‘water' ..…” Another explanation can be found in

[Sayings I: 215-216], viz. “On the tree of Sachchidananda [ =sαt-cit-anandα］ (Absolute

Existence-Knowledge-Bliss) there hang innumerable bunches of Ramas, Krishnas, Buddhas,

Christs, etc. Out of these, one or two now and then come down into this world and produce

mighty changes and revolutions. ”

Many incarnations, the Brahman with attributes or the personal Gods are all merging in the

sole Absolute, the Brahman without attributes. When Ramakrishna says ‘Truth is one’, Truth is

nothing but the Brahman. Here there arises a difficulty. According to Ramakrishna, the hidden

god is the Brahman and the confronting gods the attributed Brahman, the Hindu gods (Rama,

Kr~Q.a, KalI and other , Hindu incarnations, and Buddha, Mohammad, and Jesus (from other

religions). But we know that Islam holds Allah and Judaism Jehovah as Truth, i.e. the hidden

god.

Prof. Izutsu states that there are modes of existential spheres.27 Descending vertically from the

superficial existential mode which can be seen in actual dealings, there are modes of existential

spheres at deeper and darker points. Correspondingly there are modes of consciousness on the

part of the human beings who recognize them. Modes of reality in the object and modes of

consciousness in the subject stand in respective c01respondence. The world of things expanding

in our presence is the phenomenon of the shallow and superficial existential sphere. There仕om

downward vertically there exist successive modes of spheres, and at the deepest the existence of

the absolute real zero point ofreality (the zero degree) can only be called ‘Existence'. It literally

means ‘the st剖e of being hidden and unseen'. This ‘Existence ’ is identified with the absolute and

limitless Brahman. Take a triangle for instance, at whose apex at the deepest level Truth or the

Brahman, is placed and at whose base above is the world of daily dealings. The places of the

Brahman with attributes, or the personal Gods including Mohammad or Jesus, are lines 企om the

base to the apex. They merge in the apex, the Brahman. But in fact, where the line of

Mohanmmad meets the apex of the triangle there exists Allah, and where that of Jesus meets the

apex there exists Jehovah. The apex of the triangle is not one. The hidden god is not one but

many. It is not the case that the confronting god is becoming merged with the hidden god, but

that both are far apart from each other. Or, both are absolutely differentiated from each other.

The prophet Mohammad can never be Allah nor the prophet Jesus Jehovah. The apex is not

27 C王 T. Izutsu, Islamtetsug.αku no Genzou. Iwanami-shinsho, 1980.

28 (267)

Ramakrishna and Vivekananda with Special Reference to their Ideas of Truth （日 里子）

singular but plural; like the mountain range where there exist various peaks. When Ramakrishna

says 'Truth is one', intending to mean the Brahman, Truth is actually plur叫．

Ramakrishna knew Allah as well as Jehovah but he did not regard them as the absolute gods of

the respective religions to be identified with the Brahman in the Hindu religion. We should

understand that Ramakrishna emphasized that both prophets, Mohammad and Jesus, are

incarnations who proceeded on the path to personal Gods戸 For the purpose of ge仕ing over this

difficulty, we have to await Vivekananda and depend on his idea of universal religion.

5-0 Vivekananda ’s ‘religion is one ’( universal religion)

When Vivekananda refers to religions he has Islam, Judaism, and Christianity in mind. Reliｭ

gions should be tolerant and therefore, insofar as the absolute exists in respective religions, the

absolute is unique and comparison and merit-demerit discussion is meaningless. We should rathｭ

er discover the common features in religions, or the respective absolute being. In this regard

Vivekananda remarks as follows :“ Various are our faces; I see no two alike, yet we are all human

beings ....… .among all these faces I know that there is an abstract humanity which is common to

all. …... It is through this generalized entity that I see you as a man or a woman. So it [ =generalｭ

ized entity] is with this universal religion, which runs through all the various religions of the

world in the form of God; it [ =generalized entity] must and does exist through eternity . ‘I am the

thread that runs through all these pearls,'29 and each pearl is a religion or even a sect thereof.

Such are the different pearls, and the Lord is the thread that runs through all of them ...”［CW ② ・

381) Here we come to know that the term ‘generalized entity' is used a substitute term for the

28 [Sayings II: 9] says “ …the Sat chit ananda .. .is invoked by some as God, by some as Allah, by some

as Jehovah, by some as Hari, and by others as Brahman.” As this book was first published in 1903, this

quotation is possibly based on a Chicago lee印re [CW ( : 19] "May He who is the Brahman of the Hindus,

the Ahura-Mazda of the Zoroastrians, the Buddha of the Buddhists, the Jehovah of the Jews, the Father

in Heaven of the Christians .. .'’ This book [Sayings II] is not what the author Swami Abhedananda, one of

16 direct disciples, heard, but what he collected from various sources. Therefore it may be of secondary

importance as Ramakrishna’S words. [Sayings II: 5] There are a few references to Jehovah but only in

connection with temples worshiping Jehovah. [Great Master: 402; 420]

29 This simile is originally from G万a 7.7, and is used at [Great Master: 540] for Ramakrishna and [CW

( : 18] by Vivekananda: 'This world is chained by me, as gems are tied by a string’[ Gztii 7. 7], wherein

“gems” means all the religions, and “string” means the Lord whose incarnation is ~·$1;.a, i.e. Vi$1).U.‘They

[=incarnations] see the previous religious doctrines as s位ung together “ like a string of gems” and the next

required gem to it in the light of their experiences of spirituality and quietly pass out.' [Great Master:

540], wherein “gems” means incarnations and their own faiths (religions, sects), and “string” means the

Brahman. In this citation, pearls are religions and the thread is the Lord, the generalized entity, which the

universal religion calls the hidden god.

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hidden gods. It includes Allah or Jehovah which are the hidden god of each religion.

This ‘generalized entity' is expressed in many ways beginning with ‘Unit Abstraction'. They

are: Unit Abstraction, Omnipresent Being, Abstracted Presence, Abstract Personality called God,

Moral Law, Abstract essence underlying every existence [ so far from CW ( : 61]; Ideal Unity,

Impersonal Being [ so far from CW ( : 62]; the I凶nite [CW (: 66]; Personal Idea of God, Imｭ

personal, Ideal Man [ so far 合om CW (: 68]; Absolute, One without a Second [so far from CW

(: 69]; the life of his life, the soul of his soul [CW (: 394]; the real unity of being [CW ②

396]; great universal truth [CW (: 366f.]; idea of unity [CW (: 372]. We find here the terms

Absolute, Impersonal etc. which were used for the hidden god as shown in the table in Note 2 of

this paper. They are not the hidden god of each religion but terms running through all the rehｭ

gions.

5・1 A concluding remark

When Ramakrishna says ‘Truth is one ’[ Gospel: 423], his Truth signi自es nothing but the Brahｭ

man. Though he is sympathetic to other religions, his idea of Truth causes a difficulty. That is, the

Brahman cannot be the Truth oflslam or Judaism. His disciple Vivekananda is tolerant enough to

accept the Truth of other religions. He discovered an inclusive idea which runs through a number

of Truths, i.e. the Brahman, Allah, Jehovah etc. That teロn is ‘generalized entity', and is a substi

tute term for the hidden god. Therefore his universal religion cannot be considered as a specific

system ofreligion. It is religion as the idea inclusive of each and every religion.

Thus he declares 'We accept all religions as true ’ [CW ( : 3] in the initial lecture at the

World’S Parliament of Religions, Chicago, on 11th September, 1893.

references and abbreviations

Great Master = Swami Jagadananda, Sri Ramakrishna The Great Master. 4th30 ed. Ramakrishna

Math, 1970

Gospel = Swami Nikhilananda, The Gospel of S，・iRαmakrishna. New York: Ramakrishna Vive

kananda Center, 2007

Sayings I = Sayings of Ramakrishna. 9th ed. Ramakrishna Math, 1960 ( author u叫rnown)31

Sayings II = Swami Abhedananda, S，αyings of Ramakrishna. Cosmo Classics, 2010 (originally

30 In the fifth ed. there was quite a revision. This fourth ed. is a downloaded PDF vers10n.

31 Many disciples, maybe 16 direct disciples, collected what each of them heard and compiled in collaboraｭ

tion.

30 (265)

Ramakrishna and Vivekananda with Special Reference to their Ideas of Truth （日野）

published in 1903)

Shogai = Swami Saradananda, Ramakurishuna no Shogai, Jo-kan, Nihon Vedanta Kyokai, 1999

(Japanese translation of [Great Master] in two volumes)

Tanaka I = Kangyoku Tanaka, Fumetu no Kotoba ぽotamurito). Chukobunko 1992 (1971, 1st

ed.; partly translated version of [Gospel])

Tanaka II = Ka時yoku Tanaka, Inda no Hikari, Chukobunko 1991 (1980 1st ed.; partly transｭ

lated version of [Great Master])

Nara = Y. Nara, Jinrui no Chitekiisan 53 Ramakrishna. Kodansha 1980

CW32 = The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 8 vols., AdvaitaAshrama, 2012

32 ( = vol.I and( = vol.2

＊本論文は、 2013-2016年度科学研究費補助金・基盤研究（A）「インド的共生思想の総

合的研究－思想構造とその変容を巡って」（課題番号25244003）に基づ、 く研究成果の

一部である 。

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