CHAPTER XVI.

THE DAKSHINESWAR TEMPLE,—MARCH, 1884

The Master is sitting on the smaller cot in his well-known chamber, listening to Sj. Trailokya Sannyal of the Brahmo Samaj sing of the Lord. The Master has not yet recovered from the effects of the accident; his hand is still supported by a splint.

It is Sunday, the 2nd of March, 1884. Narendra, Surendra Mitra, and M., and many other devotees are squatting on the floor, enjoying the music.

Narendra has lately lost his father, who was an attorney of the Calcutta High Court. This unfortunate loss has involved the family in such extreme financial difficulties that they have sometimes to face even starvation. Narendra is passing his days in great worry and anxiety. . . . . .

Trailokya is singing to the Mother: "O Mother, take me into Thy loving embrace! Hide me in Thy bosom and protect me under Thy affectionate skirt!"

As the Master hears this, he breaks into ecstatic tears, and cries out, "Ah! what sentiments!'

And again Trailokya sings: "O Lord! Thou art the custodian of my honour! Who cares what man may say of me? Do Thou ever remain pleased with me!"

Tears of love rain copiously from the Master's eyes. He comes down from the cot to the floor and sings:

"Honour or disgrace, sweet or bitter,—it is all Thine, O Mother, Ruler of all feelings, abiding in them, why dost Thou hinder, when I enjoy sweet ecstasy?"

Says the Master to Trailokya, "Ah! how beautiful are your songs! They are indeed real and genuine. He alone can fetch sea-water who has gone to the sea!"

Trailokya resumes singing:

"O Lord, it is Thou who dancest, Thou who singest! It is Thou who dost clap Thy hands! Man is but a passive witness!"

The singing over, the Master says,—

The Absolute identical with the phenomenal world.

"God is the lord, and He again is the servant,—to have such an idea is a sign of Perfect Knowledge. First, by a process of negation one comes to feel that God alone is true and all else false. But he finds eventually that God Himself has become the Maya, the individuals, the world and everything. It is the process of Involution followed by the process of Evolution. This doctrine is enunciated by the Puranas. A Bilwa^* fruit, for instance, is made up of kernel, seeds and shell; when you want the kernel, you remove the seeds and the shell; but if you seek to determine its total weight you cannot leave them out of count. In the same way when a man seeks to realise God, he first eliminates the Jiva-Jagat, the individuals and the world; but when he has realised Him he finds that He Himself has become this Jiva-Jagat. It is of the same one substance that the kernel as well as the seeds and the shell are made, just as the butter is of the butter-milk, and the butter-milk is of the butter. But then, some may argue, how can the Sachchidananda become so 'hard'!—for this earth does feel very hard to the touch. The reply is that blood and semen are only thin liquids, but even out of them comes such a large animal of a man. Indeed, everything may come out of Him! . . . . . . First, reach the Lord, the Undivided Existence-Knowledge-Bliss and then come down back to the phenomenal world and perceive it as His manifestation.

^* Aegle Marmelos or wood-apple.

"It is He who has become all this. The world is not a separate entity from Him. When Rama studied the Vedas with his Guru, he was filled with intense Vairagyam, and declared that since the world was like a dream, he had better renounce the world. This greatly alarmed Dasaratha, so he sent his Guru Vasistha to pacify him. Vasistha said to Rama, 'Why do you want to renounce the world? Prove to me that the world is outside God. If you can convince me that the world is derived from other sources than God, you are free to give it up.' Rama remained silent; he could find no answer to the argument.

"All principles finally merge in the principle of Akasha. It is from this principle of Akasha that at the next creation the principle of Mahat derives its existence; from this, again, the principle of Ego is derived; and thus and thus, till the whole world is evolved.

Yogi vs. Bhakta.

"It is Involution succeeded by Evolution. The Bhakta accepts all; he accepts both the Jiva-Jagat and the Akhanda^* Sachchidananda.

"The path of the Yogi, however, is quite different. When he reaches the Paramatman, he does not return; he becomes one with It.

"He who sees God in one limited aspect is a Khanda^† Jnani; he thinks God cannot exist in other aspects.

"There are three classes of Bhaktas. The lowest Bhakta says, 'God is up there;' that is, he points to the sky. The mediocre Bhakta affirms that He abides in every heart as the Antaryamin^‡. But the highest Bhakta says, 'It is He who has become all this. Whatever objects I see are but so many forms of the same Lord.' Formerly Narendra used to ridicule me, saying, 'It is He who has become all this!—then a pot is God, a cup is God! [Laughter.]

"If you but see Him, all your doubts will vanish. It is one thing to learn from hearsay, quite another thing to see. You cannot have perfect faith by merely hearing of Him, but if you see Him face to face, nothing remains to perfect your faith.

^* 'Undivided.'

^† 'Partial or divided.'

‡ The Supreme Spirit in His aspect as the Regulator and Controller of the individual souls.

God-vision and the cessation of Karma.

"With God-realisation, all Karma drops off. It was thus that my ceremonial worship came to an end. I used to perform worship in the Kali temple. One day, it was suddenly revealed that everything was Chinmaya—Pure Spirit! The Puja utensils, altar, door-case,—all were Spirit! Men, beasts, birds, everything was Chinmaya! And mad-like I would rain flowers all around! Whatever I saw I worshipped!

"One day, in course of Siva-worship, I was putting the Bajra on the Siva-lingam, when the revelation came that the universe itself is Siva. That day ended my worship of Siva by making His images.

"I was plucking flowers, when suddenly it was revealed that the flower plants themselves were so many nosegays!"

Trailokya: Ah! How beautiful is God's creation!

Art vs. Realisation,

Sri Ramakrishna: No, no,—it flashed clearly before me! I did not reason it out. I saw that each plant was a nosegay adorning the universal form of God! That was my last flower-gathering.

"I see men also in the same way. He Himself appears to be undulating with the human body, just like a pillow floating on the waves, moving on in a zig-zag course, but alternately rising and falling with the waves!

"The body is verily for 'two days.' He alone is real, the body is evanescent. Many days ago, when I was suffering from chronic diarrhœa, Hride advised me to pray to the Mother for cure. But I felt ashamed to speak of my disease to the Mother. So I said, 'O Mother, I saw the bones of a man in the Society^* pieced together with wire into a skeleton. Likewise, O Mother, make my body a little stronger that I may sing Thy name and praise!'

"Why this desire to live? When Ravana fell, Rama and Lakshmana entered the city of Lanka. But on going to Ravana's palace, they found his mother Nikasha running away. This very much astonished Lakshmana. He exclaimed, 'Rama, she has lost all her people, yet she is so much attached to life!' Rama called her near him and said, 'Fear not. Why were you flying away?' 'Rama,' she replied, 'being afraid was not why I fled. Because I have lived long, therefore have I enjoyed so much of your Leela; if I live longer, I can see still more. Hence I desire to live.'

"Verily the ways of God are inscrutable!

^* Asiatic Society of Calcutta.

"The body cannot live in the state of desirelessness.

"(Smilingly) I had a few desires. I said to the Mother, 'Grant me the society of those who have renounced Kamini-Kanchana!' And I said, 'I desire to enjoy the company of Thy Jnanis and Bhaktas. So give me a little strength to walk and visit different places!' She has, however, refused me power to go about."

Trailokya: Are your desires fulfilled?

Sri Ramakrishna: (smiling) A bit remains yet unfulfilled. The body is verily for 'two days'! When my hand was broken, I complained to the Mother, 'Mother, I suffer terribly!' At once She sent me a vision of a carriage and an engineer; a few screws had got loose from the carriage, but it was moving just as the engineer drove it,—it had no power of its own.

"Why then do I take care of the body? Because I want to enjoy God!—I want to sing His name and praise, and to live with His Jnanis and Bhaktas."

II.

Narendra is sitting in front of the Master.

Says Sri Ramakrishna: "The joys and sorrows of the body are inevitable. Just see Narendra,—his father has passed away, and his people are in extreme straits, and he has no means to alleviate their wants. God sometimes keeps us in happiness, sometimes in misery."

Trailokya: God will have compassion on him.

Sri Ramakrishna: (smiling) Say, when? In the Annapurna Temple at Benares, nobody goes without having something to eat; but some have to wait till nightfall!

"Hride one day sought a little money of Shambhu Mallik. Now Shambhu Mallik held English opinions; he said, 'Why should I give to you? You can work and are earning. Of course, if a man is very poor or blind or lame, that is a different thing,—any charity in that case won't be amiss.' At that Hride said, 'Sir, don't you say that. I do not want your money. May God grant that I do not become blind or lame or poor! Neither need you give, nor need I receive.'"

The Master is aggrieved at the succour of God being still withheld from Narendra. He casts affectionate glances at him from time to time.

Narendra: I am now studying atheistic doctrines.

Sri Ramakrishna: There are two aspects, Asti and Nasti,—Being and Non-being. Why not take the Being aspect?

Surendra: God is just,—He must look after His devotees.

Sri Ramakrishna: Thus goes the law:—Those who bestowed large charities in a former life are born rich in this. But then, this world is His Maya, and the process of Maya is beset with many irregularities,—none can comprehend it.

The ways of God are inscrutable.

"Verily the ways of God are inscrutable! While Bhishmadeva lay on his bed of arrows, the Pandavas came to visit him with Sri Krishna. After a short time, they found to their astonishment that he was weeping. They exclaimed, 'O Krishna, it is very strange! He is one of the eight Vasus and is unrivalled in his wisdom. Even he is overcome by Maya and is crying in his dying hour!' Krishna said, 'That is not why he weeps,—you just ask him.' So they inquired of Bhishma why he was crying. He replied, 'O Krishna, I cannot understand in the least the ways of God! I weep because I see that even the Pandavas, who are ever attended by Narayana Himself, have no end to their sufferings. When I think of this, I find that His ways baffle all comprehension!'

"It was revealed to me that the Paramatman, whom the Vedas declare to be the Shuddha Atman, the Pure Self, alone is steady and immovable, even as the Mt. Sumeru. He alone is unaffected and transcends joy and sorrow. But the workings of His Maya are very irregular,—you cannot say, 'this' will necessarily come out of 'that', or 'this' will necessarily be succeeded by 'that'."

Surendra: (laughingly) If it is true that charities of one birth give wealth in the next, then we should bestow charities.

Sri Ramakrishna: Those who can afford should do them. (To Trailokya) Jaygopal Sen is rich; he should be charitable. He is certainly to be condemned for not being so. Some there are who, though rich, are miserly. There is no knowing who will enjoy their wealth!

"Jaygopal came here the other day. He drove over here in a carriage the lamps of which were broken; the horse seemed to be procured from a charnel house; the coachman was perhaps just discharged from the Medical College Hospital, and the two pomegranates he brought to this place were rotten!" [Laughter.]

Surendra: He belongs to the Brahmo Samaj. It is said that Keshab Babu's following is now much reduced. Bijoy Goswami, Sivanath and other Babus have organised the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.

Sri Ramakrishna: (smilingly) Govinda Adhikari^*, it is said, never entertained any qualified men in his party, lest they might ask for a share in the profits. [Laughter.]

"The other day I saw a follower of Keshab. They acted a drama at Keshab Sen's, and he danced on the stage with a child in his arms. I am told he also lectures. He had better lecture to himself!"

^* The chief of a well-known opera party of Calcutta.