Nature of Brahman — Glories of Kali — Mere study of scriptures is futile — Reading, hearing, and seeing — The nature of jnanis and vijnanis — Both Nitya and Lila easily accessible to the vijnani — All-embracing realization of the vijnani — Three states of God-Consciousness — Samadhi described — The vijnani is fearless and joyous — Parable of the weaver woman — The two kinds of ego — God listens to our prayer — Different classes of perfect souls — Description of the nityasiddha — Different stages of divine love — Different paths to suit different tastes — Image of Kali — Master's advice to householders — Balaram's father — Dogmatism in religion — Master's harmony of religious — Childlike nature of a paramahamsa — Other traits of a paramahamsa — Master and Keshab — Three kinds of bhakti — Faith in God's name.
Monday, June 30, 1884
SRI RAMAKRISHNA was in his room, sitting on a mat spread on
the floor.
Pundit Shashadhar and a few devotees were with him on the mat,
and the rest sat on the bare floor. Surendra, Baburam, M., Harish,
Latu, Hazra, and others were present. It was about four o'clock in the
afternoon.
Sri Ramakrishna had met Pundit Shashadhar six days before in Calcutta,
and now the pundit had come to Dakshineswar to visit the Master. Bhudar
Chattopadhyaya and his elder brother, the pundit's hosts, were with him.
The pundit was a follower of the path of jnana. The Master was
explaining
this path to him. He said: "Nitya and Lila are the two aspects of one
and the same Reality. He who is the Indivisible Satchidananda has
assumed
different forms for the sake of His Lila." As he described the nature
of the
Ultimate Reality the Master every now and then became unconscious in
samadhi. While he talked he was intoxicated with spiritual fervour. He
said
to the pundit: "My dear sir. Brahman is immutable and immovable, like
Mount Sumeru. But He who is 'immovable' can also 'move'."
The Master was in ecstasy. He began to sing in his melodious voice:
Who is there that can understand what Mother Kali is?
Even the six darsanas are powerless to reveal Her. . . .
He went on:
Is Mother merely a simple woman, born as others are born?
Only by chanting Her holy name
Does Siva survive the deadly poison.1
She it is who creates the worlds. She who preserves and destroys,
With a mere wink of Her wondrous eyes;
She holds the universe in Her womb.
Seeking a shelter at Her feet, the gods themselves feel safe;
And Mahadeva, God of Gods,
Lies prostrate underneath Her feet.
Again he sang:
Is Mother only Siva's wife? To Her must needs bow down
The all-destroying King of Death!
Naked She roams about the world, slaying Her demon foes,
Or stands erect on Siva's breast.
Her feet upon Her Husband's form! What a strange wife She makes!
My Mother's play, declares Prasad, shatters all rules and laws:
Strive hard for purity, O mind,
And understand my Mother's ways.
And again:
I drink no ordinary wine, but Wine of Everlasting Bliss,
As I repeat my Mother Kali's name;
It so intoxicates my mind that people take me to be drunk! . . .
And again:
Can everyone have the vision of Syama? Is Kali's treasure for everyone?
Oh, what a pity my foolish mind will not see what is true!
Even with all His penances, rarely does Siva Himself behold
The mind-bewitching sight of Mother Syama's crimson feet.
To him who meditates on Her the riches of heaven are poor indeed;
If Syama casts Her glance on him, he swims in Eternal Bliss.
The prince of yogis, the king of the gods, meditate on Her feet in vain;
Yet worthless Kamalakanta yearns for the Mother's blessed feet!
The Master's ecstatic mood gradually relaxed. He stopped
singing and
sat in silence. After a while he got up and sat on the small couch.
Pundit Shashadhar was charmed with his singing. Very humbly he said
to Sri Ramakrishna, "Are you going to sing any more?"
A little later the Master sang again:
High in the heaven of the Mother's feet, my mind was soaring like a
kite,
When came a blast of sin's rough wind that drove it swiftly toward the
earth. . . .
Then he sang:
Once for all, this time, I have thoroughly understood;
From One2
who knows it well, I have learnt the secret of bhava.
A man has come to me from a country where there is no night,
And now I cannot distinguish day from night any longer;
Rituals and devotions have all grown profitless for me.
My sleep is broken; how can I slumber any more?
For now I am wide awake in the sleeplessness of yoga.
O Divine Mother, made one with Thee in yoga-sleep3
at last,
My slumber I have lulled asleep for evermore.
I bow my head, says Prasad, before desire and liberation;
Knowing the secret that Kali is one with the highest Brahman,
I have discarded, once for all, both righteousness and sin.
Sri Ramakrishna continued:
I have surrendered my soul at the fearless feet of the Mother;
Am I afraid of Death any more?
Unto the tuft of hair on my head
Is tied the almighty mantra, Mother Kali's name.
My body I have sold in the market-place of the world
And with it have bought Sri Durga's name.
As Sri Ramakrishna sang the line, "And with it have bought Sri Durga's name", the tears flowed from Pundit Shashadhar s eyes. The Master went on with the song:
Deep within my heart I have planted the name of Kali,
The Wish-fulfilling Tree of heaven;
When Yama, King of Death, appears,
To him I shall open my heart and show it growing these.
I have cast out from me my six unflagging foes;
(The six passions.)
Ready am I to sail life's sea,
Crying, "To Durga, victory!"
Again he sang:
Dwell, O mind, within yourself;
Enter no other's home.
If you but seek there, you will find
All you are searching for. . . .
And again:
Though I4
am never loath to grant salvation,
I hesitate indeed to grant pure love.
Whoever wins pure love surpasses all;
He is adored by men;
He triumphs over the three worlds. . . .
The pundit had studied the Vedas and the other scriptures. He
loved to
discuss philosophy. The Master, seated on the couch, cast his benign
look
on the pundit and gave him counsel through parables.
MASTER (to the pundit): "There are
many scriptures like the Vedas. But
one cannot realize God without austerity and spiritual discipline. 'God
cannot be found in the six systems, the Vedas, or the Tantra.'
"But one should learn the contents of the scriptures and then act
according
to their injunctions. A man lost a letter. He couldn't remember where
he
had left it. He began to search for it with a lamp. After two or three
people
had searched, the letter was at last found. The message in the letter
was:
'Please send us five seers of sandesh and a piece of wearing-cloth.'
The man
read it and then threw the letter away. There was no further need of
it;
now all he had to do was to buy the five seers of sandesh and the piece
of cloth.
"Better than reading is hearing, and better than hearing is seeing. One
understands the scriptures better by hearing them from the lips of the
guru
or of a holy man. Then one doesn't have to think about their
non-essential
part. Hanuman said: 'Brother, I don't know much about the phase of the
moon or the position of the stars. I just contemplate Rama.'
"But seeing is far better than hearing. Then all doubts disappear. It
is
true that many things are recorded in the scriptures; but all these are
useless
without the direct realization of God, without devotion to His Lotus
Feet,
without purity of heart. The almanac forecasts the rainfall of the
year. But
not a drop of water will you get by squeezing the almanac. No, not even
one drop.
"How long should one reason about the texts of the scriptures? So long
as one does not have direct realization of God. How long does the bee
buzz
about? As long as it is not sitting on a flower. No sooner does it
light on a
flower and begin to sip honey than it keeps quiet.
"But you must remember, another thing. One may talk even after the
realization of God. But then one talks only of God and of Divine Bliss.
It is
like a drunkard's crying, 'Victory to the Divine Mother!' He can hardly
say
anything else on account of his drunkenness. You can notice, too, that
a bee
makes an indistinct humming sound after having sipped the honey from a
flower.
"The jnani reasons about the world through the process of 'Neti, neti',
'Not this, not this'. Reasoning in this way, he at last comes to a
state of Bliss,
and that is Brahman. What is the nature of a jnani? He behaves
according
to scriptural injunctions.
"Once I was taken to Chanak and saw some sadhus there. Several of
them were sewing. (All laugh.) At the sight of us
they threw aside their
sewing. They sat straight, crossing their legs, and conversed with us. (All
laugh.)
"But jnanis will not talk about spiritual things without being asked.
They
will inquire, at first, about such things as your health and your
family.
"But the nature of the vijnani is different. He is unconcerned about
anything.
Perhaps he carries his wearing-cloth loose under his arm, like a child;
or perhaps the cloth has dropped from his body altogether.
"The man who knows that God exists is called a jnani. A jnani is like
one who knows beyond a doubt that a log of wood contains fire. But a
vijnani is he who lights the log, cooks over the fire, and is nourished
by the
food. The eight fetters have fallen from the vijnani. He may keep
merely
the appearance of lust, anger, and the rest."
PUNDIT: "'The knots of his heart are cut asunder; all his doubts are
destroyed.'"
MASTER: "Yes. Once a ship sailed into the
ocean. Suddenly its iron joints, nails, and screws fell out. The ship
was
passing a magnetic hill, and so all its iron was loosened.
"I used to go to Krishnakishore's house. Once, when I was there, he
said
to me, 'Why do you chew betel-leaf?' I said: 'It is my sweet pleasure.
I shall
chew betel-leaf, look at my face in the mirror, and dance naked among a
thousand girls.' (Because the Master was a
Vijnani) Krishnakishore's wife scolded him and said: 'What have
you said to Ramakrishna? You don't know how to talk to people.'
"In this state, passions like lust and anger are burnt up, though
nothing
happens to the physical body. It looks just like any other body; but
the
inside is all hollow and pure."
A DEVOTEE: "Does the body remain even after the realization of God?"
MASTER: "The body survives with some so that
they may work out their
prarabdha karma or work for the welfare of others. By bathing in the
Ganges
a man gets rid of his sin and attains liberation. But if he happens to
be blind,
he doesn't get rid of his blindness. Of course, he escapes future
births,
which would otherwise be necessary for reaping the results of his past
sinful
karma. His present body remains alive as long as its momentum5
is not exhausted; but future births are no longer possible. The wheel
moves as
long as the impulse that has set it in motion lasts. Then it comes to a
stop.
In the case of such a person, passions like lust and anger are burnt
up. Only
the body remains alive to perform a few actions."
PUNDIT: "That is called samskara."
MASTER: "The vijnani always sees God. That
is why he is so indifferent about the world. He sees God even with his
eyes
open. Sometimes he comes down to the Lila from the Nitya, and sometimes
he goes up to the Nitya from
the Lila."
PUNDIT: "I don't understand that."
MASTER: "The jnani reasons about the world
through the process of
'Neti, neti', and at last reaches the Eternal and Indivisible
Satchidananda.
He reasons in this manner: 'Brahman is not the living beings; It is
neither the
universe nor the twenty-four cosmic principles.' As a result of such
reasoning
he attains the Absolute. Then he realizes that it is the Absolute that
has
become all this — the universe, its living beings, and the twenty-four
cosmic
principles.
"Milk sets into curd, and the curd is churned into butter. After
extracting
the butter one realizes that butter is not essentially different from
buttermilk
and buttermilk not essentially different from butter. The bark of a
tree
goes with the pith and the pith goes with the bark."
PUNDIT (smiling, to Bhudar): "Did
you understand that? It is very difficult."
MASTER: "If there is butter, there must be
buttermilk also. If you think
of butter, you must also think of buttermilk along with it; for there
cannot
be any butter without buttermilk. Just so, if you accept the Nitya, you
must
also accept the Lila. It is the process of negation and affirmation.
You realize
the Nitya by negating the Lila. Then you affirm the Lila, seeing in it
the
manifestation of the Nitya. One attains this state after realizing
Reality in
both aspects: Personal and Impersonal. The Personal is the embodiment
of
Chit, Consciousness; and the Impersonal is the Indivisible
Satchidananda.
"Brahman alone has become everything. Therefore to the vijnani this
world is a 'mansion of mirth'. But to the jnani it is a 'framework of
illusion',
Ramprasad described the world as a 'framework of illusion'. Another man
said to him by way of retort:
This very world is a mansion of mirth;
Here I can eat, here drink and make merry.
O physician,6
you are a fool!
You see only the surface of things.
Janaka's might was unsurpassed;
What did he lack of the world or the Spirit?
Holding to one as well as the other,
He drank his milk from a brimming cup!
"The vijnani enjoys the Bliss of God in a richer way. Some
have heard of
milk, some have seen it, and some have drunk it. The vijnani has drunk
milk, enjoyed it, and been nourished by it."
The Master remained silent a few moments and then asked Pundit
Shashadhar to have a smoke. The pundit went to the southeast verandah
to
smoke. Soon he came back to the room and sat on the floor with the
devotees.
Seated on the small couch, the Master continued the conversation.
MASTER (to the pundit): "Let me tell
you something. There are three
kinds of ananda, joy: the joy of worldly enjoyment, the joy of worship,
and
the Joy of Brahman. The joy of worldly enjoyment is the joy of 'woman
and
gold', which people always enjoy. The joy of worship one enjoys while
chanting the name and glories of God. And the Joy of Brahman is the joy
of God-vision. After experiencing the joy of God-vision the rishis of
olden
times went beyond all rules and conventions.
"Chaitanyadeva used to experience three spiritual states: the inmost,
the
semi-conscious, and the conscious. In the inmost state he would see God
and
go into samadhi. He would be in the state of jada samadhi. In the
semiconscious
state he would be partially conscious of the outer world. In the
conscious state he could sing the name and glories of God."
HAZRA (to the pundit): "So your
doubts are now solved."
MASTER (to the pundit): "What is
samadhi? It is the complete merging
of the mind in God-Consciousness. The jnani experiences jada samadhi,
in
which no trace of 'I' is left. The samadhi attained through the path of
bhakti
is called 'chetana samadhi'. In this samadhi there remains the
consciousness
of 'I' — the 'I' of the servant-and-Master relationship, of the
lover-and-Beloved
relationship, of the enjoyer-and-Food relationship. God is the Master;
the
devotee is the servant. God is the Beloved; the devotee is the lover.
God is the
Food, and the devotee is the enjoyer. 'I don't want to be sugar. I want
to
eat it.'"
PUNDIT: "What will happen if God dissolves
all of the 'I', if He changes the enjoyer himself into sugar?"
MASTER (smiling): "Come, come! Tell
me what is in your mind. But don't the scriptures mention Narada,
Sanaka,
Sanatana, Sananda, and Sanatkumara?"
PUNDIT: "Yes, sir. They do."
MASTER: "Though they were jnanis, yet they
kept the 'I' of the bhakta. Haven't you read the Bhagavata?"
PUNDIT: "I have read only part of it, not the whole."
MASTER: "Pray to God. He is full of compassion. Will He not listen to
the words of His devotee? He is the Kalpataru. You will get whatever
you
desire from Him."
PUNDIT: "I haven't thought deeply about
these things before. But now I understand."
MASTER: "God keeps a little of 'I' in His
devotee even after giving him
the Knowledge of Brahman. That 'I' is the 'I of the devotee', the 'I of
the
jnani'. Through that 'I' the devotee enjoys the infinite play of God.
"The pestle7
was almost worn out with rubbing. Only a little was left.
That fell into the underbrush and brought about the destruction of the
lunar race, the race of the Yadus. The vijnani retains the 'I of the
devotee',
the 'I of the jnani', in order to taste the Bliss of God and teach
people.
"The rishis of old had timid natures. They were easily frightened. Do
you
know their attitude? It was this: 'Let me somehow get my own salvation;
who cares for others?' A hollow piece of drift-wood somehow manages to
float; but it sinks if even a bird sits on it. But Narada and sages of
his kind
are like a huge log that not only can float across to the other shore
but can
carry many animals and other creatures as well. A steamship itself
crosses
the ocean and also carries people across.
"Teachers like Narada belong to the class of the vijnani. They were
much
more courageous than the other rishis. They are like an expert
satrancha-player. You must have noticed how he shouts, as he throws the
dice: "What
do I want? Six? No, five! Here is five!' And every time he throws the
dice
he gets the number he wants. He is such a clever player! And while
playing
he even twirls his moustaches.
"A mere jnani trembles with fear. He is like an amateur
satrancha-player;
He is anxious to move his pieces somehow to the safety zone, where they
won't be overtaken by his opponent. But a vijnani isn't afraid of
anything.
He has realized both aspects of God: Personal and Impersonal. He has
talked
with God. He has enjoyed the Bliss of God.
"It is a joy to merge the mind in the Indivisible Brahman through
contemplation. And it is also a joy to keep the mind on the Lila, the
Relative,
without dissolving it in the Absolute.
"A mere jnani is a monotonous person. He always analyses, saying: 'It
is
not this, not this. The world is like a dream.' But I have 'raised both
my
hands'. Therefore I accept everything.
"Listen to a story. Once a woman went to see her weaver friend. The
weaver, who had been spinning different kinds of silk thread, was very
happy to see her friend and said to her: 'Friend, I can't tell you how
happy
I am to see you. Let me get you some refreshments.' She left the room.
The
woman looked at the threads of different colours and was tempted. She
hid
a bundle of thread under one arm. The weaver returned presently with
the
refreshments and began to feed her guest with great enthusiasm. But,
looking
at the thread, she realized that her friend had taken a bundle. Hitting
upon
a plan to get it back, she said: 'Friend, it is so long since I have
seen you.
This is a day of great joy for me. I feel very much like asking you to
dance
with me.' The friend said, 'Sister, I am feeling very happy too.' So
the two
friends began to dance together. When the weaver saw that her friend
danced
without raising her hands, she said: 'Friend, let us dance with both
hands
raised. This is a day of great joy.' But the guest pressed one arm to
her side
and danced raising only the other. The weaver said: 'How is this,
friend?
Why should you dance, with only one hand raised? Dance with me raising
both hands. Look at me. See how I dance with both hands raised.' But
the
guest still pressed one arm to her side. She danced with the other hand
raised and said with a smile, 'This is all I know of dancing.'"
The Master continued: "I don't press my arm to my side. Both my hands
are free. I am not afraid of anything. I accept both the Nitya and the
Lila,
both the Absolute and the Relative.
"I said to Keshab Sen that he would not be able to realize God without
renouncing the ego. He said, 'Sir, in that case I should not be able to
keep
my organization together.' Thereupon I said to him: 'I am asking you to
give up the "unripe ego", the "wicked ego". But there is no harm in the
"ripe ego", the "child ego", the "servant ego", the "ego of Knowledge".'
"The worldly man's ego, the 'ignorant ego', the 'unripe ego', is like a
thick
stick. It divides, as it were, the water of the Ocean of Satchidananda.
But
the 'servant ego', the 'child ego', the 'ego of Knowledge', is like a
line on the
water. One clearly sees that there is only one expanse of water. The
dividing
line makes it appear that the water has two parts, but one clearly sees
that
in reality there is only one expanse of water.
"Sankaracharya kept the 'ego of Knowledge' in order to teach people.
God
keeps in many people the 'ego of a jnani' or the 'ego of a bhakta' even
after
they have attained Brahmajnana. Hanuman, after realizing God in both
His
Personal and His Impersonal aspect, cherished toward God the attitude
of a
servant, a devotee. He said to Rama: 'O Rama, sometimes I think that
You
are the whole and I am a part of You. Sometimes I think that You are
the Master and I am Your servant. And sometimes, Rama, when I
contemplate the Absolute, I see that I am You and You are I.'
"Yasoda became grief-stricken at being separated from Krishna, and
called
on Radha. Radha saw Yasoda's suffering and revealed herself to her as
the
divine Sakti, which was her real nature. She said to Yasoda: 'Krishna
is
Chidatma, Absolute Consciousness, and I am Chitsakti, the Primal Power.
Ask a boon of Me.' Yasoda said: 'I don't want Brahmajnana. Please grant
me only this; that I may see the form of Gopala in my meditation; that
I
may always have the company of Krishna's devotees; that I may always
serve
the devotees of God; that I may always chant God's name and glories.'
"Once the gopis felt a great desire to see the forms of the Lord. So
Krishna asked them to dive into the water of the Jamuna. No sooner did
they dive into the water than they all arrived at Vaikuntha. There they
saw
the form of the Lord endowed with His six celestial splendours. But
they did
not like it. They said to Krishna: 'We want to see Gopala and serve
Him.
Please grant us that boon alone. We don't want anything else.'
"Before His departure for Mathura, Krishna wanted to give the Knowledge
of Brahman to the gopis. He said to them: 'I dwell both inside and
outside all beings. Why should you see only one form of Mine?' The
gopis
cried in chorus: 'O Krishna, do You want to go away from us? Is that
why
You are instructing us in Brahmajnana?'
"Do you know the attitude of the gopis? It is this: 'We are Radha's and
Radha is ours.'"8
A DEVOTEE: "Does this 'I' of the devotee never disappear altogether?"
MASTER: "Yes, it disappears at times. Then
one attains the Knowledge of
Brahman and goes into samadhi. I too lose it, but not for all the time.
in the
musical scale there are seven notes: sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, and ni.
But one
cannot keep one's voice on 'ni' a long time. One must bring it down
again
to the lower notes. I pray to the Divine Mother, 'O Mother, do not give
me Brahmajnana.' Formerly believers in God with form used to visit me a
great deal. Then the modern Brahma jnanis9
began to arrive. During that
period I used to remain unconscious in samadhi most of the time.
Whenever
I regained consciousness, I would say to the Divine Mother, 'O Mother,
please
don't give me Brahmajnana.'"
PUNDIT: "Does God listen to our prayers?"
MASTER: "God is the Kalpataru, the Wish-fulfilling
Tree. You will certainly get whatever you ask of Him. But you must pray
standing near the
Kalpataru. Only then will your prayer be fulfilled. But you must
remember
another thing. God knows our inner feeling. A man gets the fulfilment
of
the desire he cherishes while practising sadhana. As one thinks, so one
receives. A magician was showing his tricks before a king. Now and then
he exclaimed: 'Come confusion! Come delusion! O King, give me money!
Give me clothes!' Suddenly his tongue turned upward and clove to the
roof
of his mouth. He experienced kumbhaka. He could utter neither word nor
sound, and became motionless. People thought he was dead. They built a
vault of bricks and buried him there in that posture. After a thousand
years
someone dug into the vault. Inside it people found a man seated in
samadhi.
They took him for a holy man and worshipped him. When they shook him
his tongue was loosened and regained its normal position. The magician
became conscious of the outer world and cried, as he had a thousand
years
before: "Come confusion! Come delusion! O King, give me money! Give
me clothes!'
"I used to weep, praying to the Divine Mother, 'O Mother, destroy with
Thy thunderbolt my inclination to reason.'"
PUNDIT: "Then you too had an inclination to reason?"
MASTER: "Yes, once."
PUNDIT: "Then please assure us that we
shall get rid of that inclination too. How did you get rid of yours?"
MASTER: "Oh, somehow or other."
Sri Ramakrishna was silent awhile. Then he went on with his
conversation.
MASTER: "God is the Kalpataru. One should pray standing near It. Then
one will get whatever one desires.
"How many things God has created! Infinite is His universe. But what
need have I to know about His infinite splendours? If I must know
these,
let me first realize Him. Then God Himself will tell me all about them.
What need have I to know how many houses and how many government
securities Jadu Mallick possesses? All that I need is somehow to
converse
with Jadu Mallick. I may succeed in seeing him by jumping over a ditch
or
through a petition or after being pushed about by his gate-keeper. Once
I
get a chance to talk to him, then he himself will tell me all about his
possessions if I ask him. If one becomes acquainted with the master,
then one
is respected by his officers too. (All laugh.)
"There are some who do not care to know the splendours of God. What
do I care about knowing how many gallons of wine there are in the
tavern?
One bottle is enough for me. Why should I desire the knowledge of God's
splendours? I am intoxicated with the little wine I have swallowed.
"Both bhaktiyoga and jnanayoga are paths by which you can realize God.
Whatever path you may follow, you will certainly realize Him. The path
of
bhakti is an easy one. The path of knowledge and discrimination is very
difficult. Why should one reason so much to know which path is the
best?
I talked about this with Vijay for many days. Once I told him about a
man
who used to pray, 'O God, reveal to me who and what You are.'
"The path of knowledge and discrimination is difficult indeed. Parvati,
the Divine Mother, revealed Her various forms, to Her father and said,
'Father,' if you want Brahmajnana, then live in the company of holy
men.'
"Brahman cannot be described in words. It is said in the Rama
Gita that
Brahman has only been indirectly hinted at by the scriptures. When one
speaks about the 'cowherd village on the Ganges', one indirectly states
that
the village is situated on the bank of the Ganges.
"Why shouldn't a man be able to realize the formless Brahman? But it is
extremely difficult. He cannot if he has even the slightest trace of
worldliness.
He can be directly aware of Brahman in his inmost consciousness only
when he renounces all sense-objects — form, taste, smell, touch, and
sound —
and only when his mind completely stops functioning. And then, too, he
knows only this much of Brahman — that It exists."
Quoting from an Upanishad, the pundit said, "It is to be experienced
only
as Existence."
MASTER: "In order to realize God a devotee should make use of a
particular attitude — the attitude of a 'hero' or a friend or a
handmaid or a
child."
MANI MALLICK: "Only
then can one feel attached to God."
MASTER: "For many days I cherished the feeling that I was a companion
of the Divine Mother. I used to say: 'I am the handmaid of Brahmamayi,
the Blissful Mother. O companions of the Divine Mother, make me the
Mother's handmaid! I shall go about proudly, saying, "I am Brahmamayi's
handmaid!"'
"Some souls realize God without practising any spiritual discipline.
They
are called nityasiddha, eternally perfect. Those
who have realized God through
austerity, japa, and the like, are called sadhanasiddha, perfect
through
spiritual discipline. Again, there are those called
kripasiddha, perfect through
divine grace. These last may be compared to a room
kept dark a thousand
years, which becomes light the moment a lamp is brought in.
"There is also a class of devotees, the hathatsiddha, that is to say,
those
who have suddenly attained God-vision. Their case
is like that of a poor boy
who has suddenly found favour with a rich man. The rich man marries his
daughter to the boy and along with her gives him land, house, carriage,
servants, and so forth.
"There is still another class of devotees, the svapnasiddha, who have
had
the vision of God in a dream."
SURENDRA (smiling): "Let us go to
sleep then. We shall wake and find ourselves babus, aristocrats."
MASTER (tenderly): "You are already a babu. When the
letter 'a' is
joined to the letter 'ka', 'ka' becomes 'ka'. It is futile to add
another 'a'. If
you add it, you will still have the same 'ka'. (All laugh.)
"The nityasiddha is in a class apart. He is like arani wood.10
A little rubbing produces fire. You can get fire from it even without
rubbing. The
nityasiddha realizes God by practising slight spiritual discipline and
sometimes
without practising any at all. But he does practise spiritual
discipline
after realizing God. He is like the gourd or pumpkin vine — first
fruit, then
flower."
The pundit smiled at this illustration.
MASTER: "There is the instance of Prahlada. He was a nityasiddha. While
writing the letter 'ka' he shed a stream of tears."11
The Master was pleased with the pundit's humility. He praised him to
the devotees.
MASTER: "He has such a nice nature. You find no
difficulty in driving a
nail into a mud wall. But its point breaks if you try to drive it
against a
stone; and still it will not pierce it. There are people whose
spiritual
consciousness is not at all awakened even though they hear about God a
thousand times. They are like a crocodile, on whose hide you cannot
make any
impression with a sword."
PUNDIT: "But one can hurt a crocodile by
throwing a spear into its belly." (All laugh.)
MASTER (smiling): "What good is
there in reading a whole lot of scriptures?
What good is there in the study of philosophy? What is the use of
talking big? In order to learn archery one should first aim at a banana
tree,
then at a reed, then at a wick, and last at a flying bird. At the
beginning one
should concentrate on God with form.
"Then there are devotees who are beyond the three gunas. They are
eternally devoted to God, like Narada. These devotees behold Krishna as
Chinmaya, all Spirit, His Abode as Chinmaya, His devotee as Chinmaya.
To
them God is eternal. His Abode is eternal, His devotee is eternal.
"Those who reason and speculate following the process of 'Neti, neti'
do
not accept the Incarnation of God. Hazra says well that Divine
Incarnation
is only for the bhakta, and not for the jnani, because the jnani is
quite
contented with his ideal, 'I am He'."
Sri Ramakrishna and the devotees remained silent awhile. The pundit
resumed the conversation.
PUNDIT: "Sir, how does one get rid of callousness?
Laughter makes me
think of muscles and nerves. Grief makes me think of the nervous
system."
MASTER (smiling): "That is why Narayan
Shastri used to say. The harmful effect of the study of the scriptures
is that it encourages reasoning
and arguing.'"
PUNDIT: "Is there no way for us then?"
MASTER: "Yes, there is the path of discrimination. In a song occurs the
line: 'Ask her son Discrimination about the Truth.'
"The way lies through discrimination, renunciation, and passionate
yearning
for God. Unless a man practises discrimination, he cannot utter the
right
words. One time, after expounding religion at great length, Pundit
Samadhyayi said, 'God is dry.' He reminded me of the man who once said,
'My
uncle's cow-shed is full of horses.' Now, does anyone keep horses in a
cowshed? (With a smile) You have become like a
chanabara12
fried in butter. Now it will be good for you, and for others as well,
if you are soaked in
syrup a few days. Just a few days."
PUNDIT (smiling): "The sweetmeat is over-fried. It
has become charred."
MASTER (with a laugh): "No! No! It is
brown as a cockroach. Just the right colour."
HAZRA: "The sweetmeat is well cooked. It has become spongy. Now it
will soak up the syrup nicely."
MASTER: "You see, there is no need to read
too much of the scriptures. If
you read too much you will be inclined to reason and argue. Nangta used
to
teach me thus: What you get by repeating the word 'Gita' ten times is
the
essence of the book. In other words, if you repeat 'Gita' ten times it
is
reversed into 'tagi', which indicates renunciation.
"Yes, the way to realize God is through discrimination, renunciation,
and
yearning for Him. What kind of yearning? One should yearn for God as
the cow, with yearning heart, runs after its calf."
PUNDIT: "The same thing is said in the
Vedas: 'O God, we call on Thee as the cow lows for the calf.'"
MASTER: "Add your tears to your yearning.
And if you can renounce
everything through discrimination and dispassion, then you will be able
to
see God. That yearning brings about God-intoxication, whether you
follow
the path of knowledge or the path of devotion. The sage Durvasa was mad
with the Knowledge of God.
"There is a great deal of difference between the knowledge of a
house-holder
and that of an all-renouncing sannyasi. The householder's knowledge
is like the light of a lamp, which illumines only the inside of a room.
He
cannot see anything, with the help of such knowledge, except his own
body
and his immediate family. But the knowledge of the all-renouncing monk
is like the light of the sun. Through that light he can see both inside
and
outside the room. Chaitanyadeva's knowledge had the brilliance of the
sun
— the sun of Knowledge. Further, he radiated the soothing light of the
moon of Devotion. He was endowed with both — the Knowledge of Brahman
and ecstatic love of God.
(To the pundit) "One can attain spiritual
consciousness through both
affirmation and negation. There is the positive path of love and
devotion,
and there is the negative path of knowledge and discrimination. You are
preaching the path of knowledge. But that creates a very difficult
situation:
there the guru and the disciple do not see each other. Sukadeva went to
Janaka for instruction about the Knowledge of Brahman. Janaka said to
him:
'You must pay me the guru's fee beforehand. When you attain the
Knowledge
of Brahman you won't pay me the fee, because the knower of Brahman
sees no difference between the guru and the disciple.'
"Both negation and affirmation are ways to realize one and the same
goal.
Infinite are the opinions and infinite are the ways. But you must
remember
one thing. The injunction is that the path of devotion described by
Narada
is best suited to the Kaliyuga. According to this path, first comes
bhakti; then,
bhava, when bhakti is mature. Higher than bhava are mahabhava and
prema. An ordinary mortal does not attain mahabhava and prema. He who
has achieved these has realized the goal, that is to say, has attained
God."
PUNDIT: "In expounding religion one has to use a great many words."
MASTER: "While preaching, eliminate the
'head and tail', that is to say, emphasize only the essentials."
The pundit and Mani Mallick became engaged in conversation. Mani
was a member of the Brahmo Samaj. The pundit argued vehemently about
the good and bad sides of the Samaj. Sri Ramakrishna was seated on the
small couch and looked on, smiling. Presently he remarked: "This is the
tamasic aspect of sattva, the attitude of a hero. This is necessary.
One should
not hold one's tongue at the sight of injustice and untruth. Suppose a
bad
woman wants to drag you from the path of righteousness. You must then
assume the heroic attitude and say: 'What? You witch! You dare injure
my
spiritual life? I shall cut your body in two right now.'"
With a smile Sri Ramakrishna said to the pundit: "Mani Mallick has
been following the tenets of the Brahmo Samaj a long time. You can't
convert him to your views. Is it an easy thing to destroy old
tendencies? Once
there lived a very pious Hindu who always worshipped the Divine Mother
and chanted Her name. When the Mussalmans conquered the country, they
forced him to embrace Islam. They said to him: 'You are now a
Mussalman.
Say "Allah". From now on you must repeat only the name of Allah.'
With great difficulty he repeated the word 'Allah', but every now and
then
blurted out 'Jagadamba'.13
At that the Mussalmans were about to beat him.
Thereupon he said to them: 'I beseech you! Please do not kill me. I
have
been trying my utmost to repeat the name of Allah, but our Jagadamba
has
filled me up to the throat. She pushes out your Allah.' (All
laugh.)
(To the pundit) "Please don't say anything to Mani
Mallick. You must
know that there are different tastes. There are also different powers
of
digestion. God has made different religions and creeds to suit
different
aspirants. By no means all are fit for the Knowledge of Brahman.
Therefore
the worship of God with form has been provided.
"The mother brings home a fish for her children. She curries part of
the
fish, part she fries, and with another part she makes pilau. By no
means all
can digest the pilau. So she makes fish soup for those who have weak
stomachs. Further, some want pickled or fried fish. There are different
temperaments. There are differences in the capacity to comprehend."
All sat in silence. Sri Ramakrishna said to the pundit, "Go and visit
the
temples and take a stroll in the garden." It was about half past five
in the
afternoon. The pundit left the room with his friends and several of the
devotees.
After a while the Master went with M. toward the bathing-ghat on the
Ganges. He said to M., "Baburam now says, 'What shall I gain by
study?'"
On the bank of the river he met the pundit and said to him, "Aren't you
going to the Kali temple?" The pundit said: "Yes, sir. Let us go
together."
With a smiling face Sri Ramakrishna proceeded to the temple through
the courtyard. He said to the pundit, "Listen to a song."
He sang;
Is Kali, my Mother, really black?
The Naked One, of blackest hue,
Lights the Lotus of the Heart. . . .
As he was going through the courtyard, he quoted to the pundit from a song:
Lighting the lamp of Knowledge in the chamber of your heart,
Behold the face of the Mother, Brahman's Embodiment.
Why should I go to Ganga or Gaya, to Kasi,
Kanchi, or Prabhas,
So long as I can breathe my last with Kali's name upon my lips?
What need of rituals has a man, what need of devotions any more,
If he repeats the Mother's name at the three holy hours? . . .
Intoxicated with ecstatic love, the Master said: "How long
should one
perform devotions? So long as one's mind does not merge in God while
repeating Om."
PUNDIT: "Then let me eat the refreshments. I shall perform the
devotions later on."
MASTER: "No, I don't want to obstruct the current of your life. It is
not
good to renounce anything before the proper time arrives. When the
fruit
ripens, the flower drops off of itself. One shouldn't forcibly tear off
the green
branch of a coconut tree. That injures the tree."
Surendra was about to leave. He invited his friends into his carriage.
The
Master, still in an ecstatic mood, said, "Don't take more people than
your
horse can draw." Surendra took leave of Sri Ramakrishna. The pundit
left
the room to perform his worship. M. and Baburam saluted the Master.
They were about to leave for Calcutta. Sri Ramakrishna was still in an
ecstatic mood.
MASTER (to M.): "I cannot utter a word now. Stay a
few minutes."
M. again took his seat and waited for the Master's command. Sri
Ramakrishna
motioned to Baburam to take a seat and asked him to fan him a
little. M. also took part in rendering this personal service to the
Master.
MASTER (to M., tenderly): "Why don't
you come here so frequently now?"
M: "Not for any special reason. I have been rather busy at home."
MASTER: "Yesterday I came to know Baburam's inner nature. That is why
I have been trying so hard to persuade him to live with me. The mother
bird hatches the egg in proper time. Boys like Baburam are pure in
heart.
They have not yet fallen into the clutches of 'woman and gold'. Isn't
that so?"
M: "It is true, sir. They are still stainless."
MASTER: "They are like a new pot. Milk kept in it will not turn sour."
M: "Yes, sir."
MASTER: "I need Baburam here. I pass through
certain spiritual states
when I need someone like him. He says he must not, all at once, live
with
me permanently, for it will create difficulties. His relatives will
make trouble.
I am asking him to come here Saturdays and Sundays."
The pundit entered the room with his friends. He had finished his
devotions
and was ready to eat the refreshments. One of his companions asked
the Master: "Shall we succeed in spiritual life? Please tell us what
our
way is."
MASTER: "You all have the yearning for
liberation. If an aspirant has yearning, that is enough for him to
realize God.
Don't eat any food of the sraddha ceremony.14
Live in the world like an unchaste woman. She performs
forms her household duties with great attention, but her mind dwells
day
and night on her paramour. Perform your duties in the world but keep
your
mind always fixed on God."
The pundit finished eating his refreshments.
MASTER (to the pundit): "You have read
the Gita, no doubt. It says that there is a special power of God in the
man
who is honoured and respected by all."
The pundit quoted the verse from the Gita.
MASTER: "You surely possess divine power."
PUNDIT: "Shall I labour with perseverance
to finish the task that I have accepted?"
Sri Ramakrishna forced himself, as it were, to say, "Yes." He soon
changed
the conversation.
MASTER: "One cannot but admit the manifestation of power. Vidyasagar
once asked me, 'Has God given more power to some than to others?' I
said
to him: 'Certainly. Otherwise, how can one man kill a hundred? If there
is no special manifestation of power, then why is Queen Victoria so
much
honoured and respected? Don't you admit it?' He agreed with me."
The pundit and his friends saluted the Master and were about to take
their leave. Sri Ramakrishna said to the pundit: "Come again. One
hemp-smoker rejoices in the company of another hemp-smoker. They even
embrace
each other. But they hide at the sight of people not of their own kind.
A
cow licks the body of her calf; but she threatens a strange cow with
her
horns." (All laugh.)
The pundit left the room. With a smile the Master said: "He has become
'diluted' even in one day. Did you notice how modest he was? And he
accepted everything I said."
Moonlight flooded the semicircular porch. Sri Ramakrishna was still
seated
there. M. was about to leave.
MASTER (tenderly): "Must you go now?"
M: "Yes, sir. Let me say good-bye."
MASTER: "I have been thinking of visiting the houses
of the devotees. I want to visit yours also. What do you say?"
M: "That will be very fine."
Thursday, July 3, 1884
Come, let me braid your hair,
Lest your husband should scold you
When he beholds you!
The children and the devotees laughed.
MASTER (to the devotees): "The paramahamsa
is like a five-year-old child.
He sees everything filled with Consciousness. At one time I was staying
at
Kamarpukur when Shivaram (A nephew of the Master.)
was four or five years old. One day he was
trying to catch grasshoppers near the pond. The leaves were moving. To
stop their rustling he said to the leaves: 'Hush! Hush! I want to catch
a
grass-hopper.' Another day it was stormy. It rained hard. Shivaram was
with me
inside the house. There were flashes of lightning. He wanted to open
the
door and go out. I scolded him and stopped him, but still he peeped out
now and then. When he saw the lightning he exclaimed, There, uncle!
They are striking matches again!'
"The paramahamsa is like a child. He cannot distinguish between a
stranger and a relative. He isn't particular about worldly
relationships. One
day Shivaram said to me, 'Uncle, are you my father's brother or his
brother-in-law?'
"The paramahamsa is like a child. He doesn't keep any track of his
whereabouts. He sees everything as Brahman. He is indifferent to his
own
movements. Shivaram went to Hriday's house to see the Durga Puja. He
slipped out of the house and wandered away. A passer-by saw the child,
who was then only four years old, and asked, 'Where do you come from?'
He couldn't say much. He only said the word 'hut'. He was speaking of
the
big hut in which the image of the Divine Mother was being worshipped.
The stranger asked him further, 'Whom are you living with?' He only
said
the word 'brother'.
"Sometimes the paramahamsa behaves like a madman. When I experienced
that divine madness I used to worship my own sexual organ as the
Siva-phallus. But I can't do that now. A few days after the dedication
of the
temple at Dakshineswar, a madman came there who was really a sage
endowed with the Knowledge of Brahman. He had a bamboo twig in one
hand and a potted mango-plant in the other, and was wearing torn shoes.
He didn't follow any social conventions. After bathing in the Ganges he
didn't perform any religious rites. He ate something that he carried in
a
corner of his wearing-cloth. Then he entered the Kali temple and
chanted
hymns to the Deity. The temple trembled. Haladhari was then in the
shrine. The madman wasn't allowed to eat at the guest-house, but he
paid
no attention to this slight. He searched for food in the rubbish heap
where
the dogs were eating crumbs from the discarded leaf-plates. Now and
then
he pushed the dogs aside to get his crumbs. The dogs didn't mind
either.
Haladhari followed him and asked: 'Who are you? Are you a purnajnani?'
(A perfect knower of Brahman.)
The madman whispered, 'Sh! Yes, I am a purnajnani.' My heart began to
palpitate as Haladhari told me about it. I clung to Hriday. I said to
the
Divine Mother, 'Mother, shall I too have to pass through such a state?'
We
all went to see the man. He spoke words of great wisdom to us but
behaved
like a madman before others. Haladhari followed him a great way when he
left the garden. After passing the gate he said to Haladhari: 'What
else
shall I say to you? When you no longer make any distinction between the
water of this pool and the water of the Ganges, then you will know that
you
have Perfect Knowledge.' Saying this he walked rapidly away."
Sri Ramakrishna began to talk with M. Other devotees, too, were present.
MASTER (to M.): "How do you feel about Shashadhar?"
M: "He is very nice."
MASTER: "He is very intelligent, isn't he?"
M: "Yes, sir. He is very erudite."
MASTER: "According to the Gita there is a power of
God in one who is
respected and honoured by many. But Shashadhar has still a few things
to do.
What will he accomplish with mere scholarship? He needs to practise
some
austerity. It is necessary to practise some spiritual discipline.
"Gauri Pundit practised austerity. When he chanted a hymn to the
Divine Mother, the other pundits would seem no more than earthworms.
"Naravan Shastri was not merely a scholar, either. He practised sadhana
as well. He studied for twenty-five years without a break. Nyaya alone,
he
studied for seven years. Still he would go into ecstasy while repeating
the
name of Siva. The King of Jaipur wanted to make him his court pundit,
but
Narayan refused. He used to spend much time here. He had a great desire
to go to the Vasishtha Asrama to practise tapasya. He often spoke to me
about it, but I forbade him to go there. At that he said: 'Who knows
when
I shall die? When shall I practise sadhana? Any day I may crack.' After
much insistence on his part I let him go. Some say that he is dead,
that he
died while practising austerity. Others say that he is still alive and
that they
saw him off on a railway train.
"Before meeting Keshab, I asked Narayan Shastri to visit him and tell
me
what he thought of him. Narayan reported that Keshab was an adept in
japa. He knew astrology and remarked that Keshab had been born under
a good star. Then I went to visit Keshab in the garden house at
Belgharia.
Hriday was with me. The moment I saw Keshab, I said: 'Of all the people
I see here, he alone has dropped his tail. He can now live on land as
well
as in water, like a frog.'
"Keshab sent three members of the Brahmo Samaj to the temple garden
at Dakshineswar to test me. Prasanna was one of them. They were
commissioned to watch me day and night, and to report to Keshab. They
were
in my room and intended to spend the night there. They constantly
uttered
the word 'Dayamaya'15
and said to me: 'Follow Keshab Babu. That will do
you good.' I said, 'I believe in God with form.' Still they went on
with their
exclamations of 'Dayamaya!' Then a strange mood came over me. I said to
them, 'Get out of here!' I didn't allow them to spend the night in my
room.
So they slept on the verandah. Captain also spent the night in the
temple
garden the first time he visited me.
"Michael16
visited the temple garden when Narayan Shastri was living
with me. Dwarika Babu, Mathur's eldest son, brought him here. The
owners
of the temple garden were about to get into a lawsuit with the English
proprietors of the neighbouring powder magazine; so they wanted
Michael's
advice. I met him in the big room next to the manager's office. Narayan
Shastri was with me. I asked Narayan to talk to him. Michael couldn't
talk
very well in Sanskrit. He made mistakes. Then they talked in the
popular
dialect. Narayan Shastri asked him his reason for giving up the Hindu
religion. Pointing to his stomach, Michael said, 'It was for this.'
Narayan
said, 'What shall I say to a man who gives up his religion for his
belly's
sake?' Thereupon Michael asked me to say something. I said: 'I don't
know
why, but I don't feel like saying anything. Someone seems to be
pressing
my tongue.'"
MANOMOHAN: "Mr. Choudhury will not come.
He said: 'That fellow Shashadhar from Faridpur will be there. I shall
not go.'"
Mr. Choudhury had obtained his Master's degree from Calcutta
University.
He drew a salary of three or four hundred rupees. After the death of
his first wife he had felt intense dispassion for the world, but after
some
time he had married again. He frequently visited the Master at the
temple
garden.
MASTER: "How mean of him! He is vain of his
scholarship. Besides, he
has married a second time. He looks on the world as a mere mud-puddle.
(To the devotees) "This attachment to 'woman and
gold' makes a man
small-minded. When I first saw Haramohan he had many good traits. I
longed to see him. He was then seventeen or eighteen years old. I used
to
send for him every now and then, but he wouldn't come. He is now living
away from the family with his wife. He had been living with his uncle
before. That was very good. He had no worldly troubles. Now he has a
separate home and does the marketing for his wife daily. The other day
he
came to Dakshineswar. I said to him: 'Go away. Leave this place. I
don't
even feel like touching you.'"
Sri Ramakrishna went to the inner apartments to see the Deity. He
offered
some flowers. The ladies of Balaram's family were pleased to see him.
The Master came back to the drawing-room and said: "The worldly-minded
practise devotions, japa, and austerity only by fits and starts. But
those who know nothing else but God repeat His name with every breath.
Some always repeat mentally, 'Om Rama'. Even the followers of the path
of
knowledge repeat, 'Soham', 'I am He'. There are others whose tongues
are
always moving, repeating the name of God. One should remember and
think of God constantly."
Pundit Shashadhar entered the room with one or two friends and saluted
the Master.
MASTER (smiling): "We are like the
bridesmaids waiting near the bed for the arrival of the groom."
The pundit laughed. The room was filled with devotees, among them Dr.
Pratap and Balaram's father. The Master continued his talk.
MASTER (to Shashadhar): "The first
sign of knowledge is a peaceful
nature, and the second is absence of egotism. You have both. There are
other indications of a jnani. He shows intense dispassion in the
presence of a
sadhu, is a lion when at work, for instance, when he lectures, and is
full of
wit before his wife. (All laugh.)
"But the nature of the vijnani is quite different, as was the case with
Chaitanyadeva. He acts like a child or a madman or an inert thing or a
ghoul. While in the mood of a child, he sometimes shows childlike
guilelessness,
sometimes the frivolity of adolescence, and sometimes, while
instructing
others, the strength of a young man."
PUNDIT: "By what kind of bhakti does one realize God?"
MASTER: "Three kinds of bhakti are found, according to the nature of
the
man: sattvic bhakti, rajasic bhakti, and tamasic bhakti.
"Sattvic bhakti is known to God alone. It makes no outward display. A
man with such devotion loves privacy. Perhaps he meditates inside the
mosquito net, where nobody sees him. When this kind of devotion is
awakened,
one hasn't long to wait for the vision of God. The appearance of the
dawn in the east shows that the sun will rise before long.
"A man with rajasic bhakti feels like making a display of his devotion
before others. He worships the Deity with 'sixteen ingredients', (As
prescribed in the books of Hindu ritual.) enters the
temple wearing a silk cloth, and puts around his neck a string of
rudraksha
beads interspersed here and there with beads of gold and ruby.
"A man with tamasic bhakti shows the courage and boisterousness of a
highway robber. A highway robber goes on his expedition openly,
shouting,
'Kill! Plunder!' He isn't afraid even of eight police inspectors. The
devotee
with tamasic bhakti also shouts like a madman: 'Hara! Hara! Vyom! Vyom!17
Victory to Kali!' He has great strength of mind and burning faith.
"A Sakta has such faith. He says: 'What? I have uttered once the name
of Kali and of Durga! I have uttered once the name of Rama! Can there
be
any sin in me?'
"The Vaishnavas have a very humble and lowly attitude. (Looking
at
Balaram's father) They tell their rosary and whine and
whimper: 'O
Krishna, be gracious to us! We are wretched! We are sinners!'
"A man should have such fiery faith as to be able to say, 'I have
uttered
the name of God; how can I be a sinner?' Imagine a man repeating the
name of Hari day and night and at the same time saying that he is a
sinner!"
So saying, Sri Ramakrishna became overwhelmed with divine ecstasy and
sang:
If only I can pass away repeating Durga's name,
How canst Thou then, O Blessed One,
Withhold from me deliverance,
Wretched though I may be?
I may have stolen a drink of wine, or killed a child unborn,
Or slain a woman or a cow,
Or even caused a brahmin's death;
But, though it all be true,
Nothing of this can make me feel the least uneasiness;
For through the power of Thy sweet name
My wretched soul may still aspire
Even to Brahmanhood.
He sang again:
Behold my Mother playing with Siva, lost in an ecstasy of joy!
Drunk with a draught of celestial wine, She reels, and yet She does not
fall.
Erect She stands on Siva's bosom, and the earth trembles under Her
tread;
She and Her Lord are mad with frenzy, casting aside all fear and shame!
Pundit Shashadhar was weeping. Vaishnavcharan, the musician, sang:
O tongue, always repeat the name of Mother Durga!
Who but your Mother Durga will save you in distress?
Thou art the heavens and the earth, and Thou the nether world;
From Thee have the twelve Gopalas and Hari and Siva sprung.
The ten Embodiments of Divine Sakti art Thou,
And Thou the ten Avatars: this time, save me Thou must!
The moving and the unmoving, the gross and the subtle, art Thou;
Creation and preservation art Thou, and the last dissolution.
Thou art the Primal Root of this manifold universe;
The Mother of the three worlds, their only Saviour, art Thou;
Thou art the Sakti of all, and Thou Thine own Sakti, too.
O Mother, for Yasoda Thou wouldst dance,
when she called Thee her precious "Blue Jewel":18
Where hast Thou hidden that lovely form, O terrible Syama?
Dance that way once for me, O Mother! Throw down Thy sword and take the
flute;
Cast off Thy garland of heads, and wear Thy wild-Hower garland.
If without Siva Thou canst not dance, then let Balarama be Thy Siva.
Dance, O Syama, as Thou didst dance when Thou wast Krishna!
Mother, play on Thy flute again, once so full of delight for the gopis;
Play again on Thy magic flute, which called the cattle in from the
pasture,
Stopping the Jamuna's murmuring flow and turning it backward.
Hot in the sky the sun would burn, when Yasoda, restless for her
Krishna,
Fondly would call: "Here, my Gopala! Cream and butter — eat them, my
Darling!"
And she would comb His long black hair and carefully braid it.
Bending Thy supple body, Mother, both at the neck, the waist, and the
knee,
Thou didst dance with Thy friend Sridama, while Thy two anklets played
the music:
Ta-thaia! Ta-thaia! Ta-ta! Thaia-thaia!
Hearing their captivating sound, the gopis would rush there.
Again Pundit Shashadhar shed tears of love.
Sri Ramakrishna came down to consciousness of the world. Pointing to
Shashadhar, he said to M., "Why don't you prod him?" He wanted M. or
some other devotee to ask Shashadhar a question.
RAMDAYAL (to Shashadhar): "The scriptures
speak of Brahman's form as a projection of mind. Who is it that
projects?"
SHASHADHAR: "It is Brahman Itself that does
so. It is no projection of a man's mind."
PRATAP: "Why does Brahman project the form?"
MASTER: "You ask why? Brahman doesn't act in consultation with
others. It is Brahman's pleasure. Brahman is self-willed. Why should we
try to
know the reason for Brahman's acting this way or that? You have come to
the orchard to eat mangoes. Eat the mangoes. What is the good of
calculating
how many trees there are in the orchard, how many thousands of
branches,
and how many millions of leaves? One cannot realize Truth by futile
arguments
and reasoning."
PRATAP: "Shouldn't we reason any more then?"
MASTER: "I am asking you not to indulge in futile reasoning.
But reason, by all means, about the Real and the unreal, about what is
permanent and
what is transitory. You must reason when you are overcome by lust,
anger,
or grief."
SHASHADHAR: "That is different. It is called reasoning
based on discrimination."
MASTER: "Yes, discrimination between the Real and the unreal."
All sat in silence. Again the Master spoke, addressing the pundit.
MASTER: "Formerly many great men used to come here."
SHASHADHAR: "You mean rich people?"
MASTER: "No. Great scholars."
In the mean time the small car of Jagannath had been brought to the
verandah. Inside the car were the images of Krishna, Balarama, and
Subhadra.
They were adorned with flowers, garlands, jewelry, and yellow apparel.
Balaram was a sattvic worshipper: there was no outward grandeur in his
worship. Outsiders did not even know of this Car Festival at his house.
The
Master and the devotees went to the verandah. Sri Ramakrishna pulled
the
car by the rope. Then he began to sing:
See how all Nadia is shaking
Under the waves of Gauranga's love. . . .
He sang again:
Behold, the two brothers19
have come, who weep while chanting Hari's name,
The brothers who, in return for blows, offer to sinners Hari's love. .
. .
Sri Ramakrishna danced with the devotees. The musician and his
party
joined the Master in the music and dancing. Soon the whole verandah was
filled with people. The ladies witnessed this scene of joy from an
adjoining
room. It appeared as if Chaitanya himself were dancing with his
devotees,
intoxicated with divine love!
It was not yet dusk. Sri Ramakrishna returned to the drawing-room with
the devotees.
MASTER (to Shashadhar): "This is called
bhajanananda, the bliss of
devotees in the worship of God. Worldly people keep themselves
engrossed
in the joy of sensuous objects, of 'woman and gold'. Through worship
devotees receive the grace of God, and then His vision. Then they enjoy
Brahmananda, the Bliss of Brahman."
Shashadhar and the devotees listened to these words with rapt attention.
SHASHADHAR (humbly): "Sir, please tell us
what kind of yearning gives one this blissful state of mind."
MASTER: "One feels restless for God when one's
soul longs for His vision.
The guru said to the disciple: 'Come with me. I shall show you what
kind
of longing will enable you to see God.' Saying this, he took the
disciple to a
pond and pressed his head under the water. After a few moments he
released
the disciple and asked, 'How did you feel?' The disciple answered: 'Oh,
I
felt as if I were dying! I was longing for a breath of air.'"
SHASHADHAR: "Yes! Yes! That's it. I understand it now."
MASTER: "To love God is the essence of the whole thing. Bhakti alone is
the essence. Narada said to Rama, 'May I always have pure love for Your
Lotus Feet; and may I not be deluded by Your world-bewitching maya!'
Rama said to him, 'Ask for some other boon.' 'No,' said Narada, 'I
don't want
anything else. May I have love for Your Lotus Feet. This is my only
prayer.'"
Pundit Shashadhar was ready to leave. Sri Ramakrishna asked a devotee
to bring a carriage for the pundit.
SHASHADHAR: "Don't trouble yourself. I shall walk."
MASTER (smiling): "Oh, how can that be? 'You are
beyond
the reach of even Brahma's meditation.'"
SHASHADHAR: "There is no particular need of my
going just now. The only thing is that I shall have to perform my
sandhya."
MASTER: "The Divine Mother has taken away my sandhya and
other devotions. The purpose of the sandhya is to purify body and mind.
I am no
longer in that state."
The Master sang the following lines of a song:
When will you learn to lie, O mind, in the abode of Blessedness,
With Cleanliness and Defilement on either side of you?
Only when you have found the way
To keep these wives contentedly under a single roof,
Will you behold the matchless form of Mother Syama.
Pundit Shashadhar saluted the Master and went away.
Behold, my Gora is dancing! With the
devotees
He dances in Srivas's courtyard, singing the kirtan.
Gora says to all, "Repeat the name of Hari!"
He looks at Gadadhar, and from his red eyes
Are flowing tears of love over his golden body.
The Master improvised the lines:
Gora is dancing in the kirtan:
There he dances, Sachi's darling!
There he dances, my Gauranga!
There he dances, my soul's beloved!