The Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission on Friday launched a digital platform offering free access to the lives and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda and related literature in English and major Indian languages.
Reason: The growing prominence of the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda has resulted in the spread of fabricated stories about them. The Math and Mission wanted to offer a platform for devotees to fall back on if there is any doubt on the veracity of a particular story.
The platform — http://publications.rkmm.org — offers a curated collection of materials associated with the trio and the disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, senior monks of the order said.
“The lives and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda continue to inspire countless individuals from different backgrounds. This has resulted in the circulation of fabricated stories,” said Swami Suvirananda, general secretary of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission.
“A fake news story about Swami Vivekananda’s original voice had gained popularity on social media. The lives and teachings of the Holy Trio are often inaccurately quoted. The digital platform aims to address this issue by offering nothing but the truth,” he said.
Senior monks said social media had given a boost to the spread of inaccurate information about Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda.
“Any wrong information about the Holy Trio and the Ramakrishna movement in general spreads so rapidly that by the time Belur Math (the global headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission) gets to know about it, it had reached millions of people,” a monk said.
The platform offers a searchable online collection of books, magazines, souvenirs, inspiring quotes, fact-checking resources, movies and videos, along with questions and answers.
Some of the books available on the platform are Sri Ramakrishna – the Great Master, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda – A Biography, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Swami Vivekananda in Contemporary Indian News and A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism.
“We hope the circulation of inaccurate and false teachings and sayings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swamiji, along with their quotes, will now stop. Anyone can run a check and find out if a particular quote is true or fabricated,” said a senior monk.