CHAPTER XXVII.

THE COSSIPORE GARDEN, MARCH,—1886

It is eight at night on Thursday, the 11th of March, 1886. The Master is lying on his bed in his room in the Cossipore Garden. Narendra, Sashi, M., Budo Gopal and Sarat are in attendance. Sarat is standing beside his bed, fanning him.

The Master speaks about his illness. He says, "If some of you go to Bholanath, he can give you an oil with directions how to apply it."

Budo Gopal: We shall fetch it to-morrow morning.

M.: Some one can go and get it to-day.

Sashi: I can.

Sri Ramakrishna: (pointing to Sarat) He may go.

After a while Sarat leaves for the Dakshineswar Temple to get the oil from Sj. Bholanath Mukherjee, who is employed there.

The Master is still lying down. The disciples are waiting in silence. All on a sudden he sits up and addresses himself to Narendra.

Sri Ramakrishna: Brahman is 'alepa^*'. The three Gunas inhere in Him, but He Himself is unaffected by them, just as air contains both fair and foul odours, but is itself unaffected by them.

^* 'Alepa,' an epithet applied to Brahman, meaning untainted.

Jnana.

"Sankaracharya was going along a street in Benares, when a 'Chandala' passing with a load of flesh, happened to touch him. He exclaimed, 'What, thou touchest me!' The Chandala replied, 'Neither have you touched me, nor have I touched you. The Atman is above all contamination, and you are that Pure Atman!'

"Of Brahman and Maya, the Jnani rejects the latter. Maya is like unto a veil. Just see how I put this kerchief between you and the lamp; you no longer see the light of the lamp!"

The Master holds the kerchief between himself and the disciples and says, "Now you see my face no more: as has been sung by Ramprasad, 'Raise the curtain and behold—!'

Bhakti.

"The Bhakta, however, does not ignore Maya. He worships Mahamaya. He surrenders himself to Her and prays, 'O Mother, stand aside from my path; only then can I hope to realise Brahman.'

"The Jnani denies all the three states, waking, dream and deep sleep. The Bhakta accepts them all;—so long as the ego exists, everything else also exists. So long as his ego remains, the Bhakta sees that it is He who has become everything,—Maya, Jiva, Jagat and the Twenty-four Principles^*."

^* The Twenty-four Principles, according to the Sankhya philosophy, are Prakriti, Mahat, Ahamkara, the five Tanmatras, the five Karmendriyas (organs of action), the five Jnanendriyas (organs of perception), Manas, and the five Mahabhutas.

The disciples are silently listening.

Sri Ramakrishna: 'Maya-vada' is dry.—Repeat what I said.

Narendra: 'Dry.'

The Master strokes the face and hands of Narendra and observes, "These are all signs of a Bhakta. The Jnani has quite different signs,—his features are dry.

Vijnana.

"The Jnani retains the Vidya-maya, that is to say, devotion, kindness, dispassion, etc., even after the attainment of Knowledge. It has two ends; first, the teaching of mankind, and secondly, the enjoyment of Divine Bliss. If the Jnani remains immerged in the silence of Samadhi, he cannot teach men. Hence it is that Sankaracharya retained the ego of Knowledge.

"And he lives as a devotee in the company of devotees, enjoying and drinking deep the Bliss of God.

"No fault attaches to this 'ego of Knowledge' or 'the ego of the devotee.' It is the 'wicked I' that is harmful. When a man realises God, his nature becomes like a child's; and the 'ego of a child' is quite harmless, even as the reflection of a face on a mirror cannot hurt any one!

"A burnt rope is a rope only in appearance; it is scattered at a slight puff. The Fire of Knowledge has burnt the ego, therefore it can no more injure any one; it is 'ego' in name only!

"To realise the Absolute and then to live on the Relative plane,—like crossing the river and coming back again,—is for the spiritual education of men and for enjoyment—for play!"

The Master is speaking in a very low tone. He pauses a little, and then resumes:

"The body is so ill,—but the mind is free from Avidya-maya! Let me tell you, my mind thinks not in the least of Ramlal, home or wife. Instead, I am anxious for a Kayastha boy, Purna!—I am not in the least anxious for them!

"She it is who has allowed me to retain my Vidya-maya for the good of men and devotees. But to retain the Vidya-maya means reincarnation. The Avataras keep it, and so long as even the slightest desire remains, one has to be born again and again. When all desires are eradicated, one attains Mukti. But the Bhaktas never aspire to it.

"If any one dies in Benares, he attains Liberation and has not to be born again.

"The goal of the Jnanis is Liberation."

Narendra: The other day we went to the house of Mahim Chakravarty.

Sri Ramakrishna: (smilingly) Yes.

Narendra: I never before met such a dry philosopher as he!

Sri Ramakrishna: (smiling) What was the matter?

Narendra: He requested us to sing. Gangadhar sang: 'When she revived on hearing the name of Shyama, she looked about; and her eyes fell on a 'Tamala' tree which stood near by.' On hearing the song, he said, 'Why all these songs? I do not like 'love' and all that. Besides we are living with wife and children: why all these songs here?'

Sri Ramakrishna: (to M.) Do you see his fear?