CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE COSSIPORE GARDEN,—APRIL, 1886

It is past five in the evening of Friday, the 9th of April, 1886. Narendra, Kali, Niranjan and M. are talking downstairs in the Cossipore Garden house.

Niranjan: (to M.) Is it true that Vidyasagar is opening a new school? Why not secure an employment for Narendra there?

Narendra: I have had enough of service under Vidyasagar.

Narendra has only lately returned from Bodh Gaya. There he visited the image of Buddha and plunged into deep meditation before Him. And he also visited the Bo-tree, which has grown out of the one under which Lord Buddha attained Nirvana.

Kali says, "One day, at Gaya, Narendra sang many songs at Umesh Babu's to the accompaniment of mridanga."

It is now a little late in the night. Sri Ramakrishna is sitting on his bed and Mani is fanning him. Latu comes in.

Sri Ramakrishna: (to Mani) Bring a piece of chadar^* and a pair of slippers.

Mani: Yes, sir.

Sri Ramakrishna: (to Latu) A chadar costs ten annas, and slippers,—what is the total cost?

Latu: One rupee ten annas.

The Master hints to Mani to note the price.

^* Cloth used as an upper garment.

Narendra comes in and sits down, and also Sashi, Rakhal and other disciples. The Master asks Narendra to stroke his feet. He then asks him by signs if he has taken his meal.

The Master on Buddha.

Sri Ramakrishna: (smilingly to M.) He went there^*.

M.: (to Narendra) What are the doctrines of Buddha?

Narendra: He could not express what he realised by his Tapasya. And hence people call him an atheist.

Sri Ramakrishna: (by signs) Why atheist? He was no atheist—he could not make known his realisations. Do you know what 'Buddha' means?—To become one with 'Bodha,' Supreme Intelligence, through deep meditation—to become Pure Intelligence Itself.

Narendra: Yes, sir. There are three classes of them,—Buddha, Arhat, and Bodhisattva.

Sri Ramakrishna: This is also His play!—A new 'Lila'! Why should he be an atheist? The state of Self-realisation is something between Asti and Nasti,—'being' and 'non-being.'

Self-realisation.

Narendra: (to M.) It is a state in which contradictions meet. The same hydrogen and oxygen, which produce cold water, also make the oxy-hydrogen blow-pipe.

"In that state, work and renunciation of work, that is to say, selfless work becomes possible. The worldly ones, who are engrossed in sense-objects, say, 'Everything exists.' But the Maya-vadins say, 'Nasti,—nothing exists.' The state of Buddhahood is beyond both 'being' and 'non-being.'"

^* To Bodh Gaya.

Sri Ramakrishna: These, 'being' and 'non-being,' are modifications of Prakriti. The Reality transcends them both.

The disciples are sitting in silence. The Master asks Narendra presently, "What was his creed?"

Narendra: Buddha never said anything about the existence or non-existence of God. His principal theme was Compassion. A hawk was about to devour its prey. Buddha gave it his own flesh to save the life of the suffering creature.

"What an intense dispassion! A Prince,—yet he renounced everything! Those who possess nothing, who have no riches or fortune, what do they renounce?

"When he returned home, after the realisation of Nirvana, he besought his wife and son and many princes of the royal household to take to the life of renunciation. What Vairagya! But contrast with this the conduct of Vyasadeva,—he forbade his son Sukadeva to give up the world, saying 'My son, practise religion as a householder!'

"He never cared for Shakti^* or Bhakti. He sought only Nirvana!

^* Shakti=power.

"Ah, what tremendous dispassion! He sat under the tree in Tapasya and said, 'Let my body die and decay, if here I do not attain Nirvana!' Such a firm resolve!

"This body, indeed, is the great enemy! There is no hope till this is quelled!"

Sashi: Then how do you say that meat-eating is conducive to Sattwa Guna? Don't you say that one should take meat?

Narendra: If I eat meat, I can also live on simple rice—mere rice; even without salt!

After some time, the Master asks Narendra by signs whether Buddha has a tuft of hair on his head.

Narendra: No, sir, his head is covered as it were with a cluster of rudraksha beads.

Sri Ramakrishna: And his eyes?

Narendra: They are as in the Samadhi state.

The Master relapses into silence. The disciples are all looking at him intently. A smile suddenly illumines the face of the Master as he begins to talk to Narendra. Mani is fanning him.

Sri Ramakrishna: Well, here you have got everything—what do you say?—even pulse and tamarind!

Narendra: After experiencing all the states of spirituality, you are now living on a lower plane.

Mani: (aside) After realising all spiritual ideals, he is living as a Bhakta.

Sri Ramakrishna: Some one seems to have held me to a lower plane!

The Master takes the fan from Mani's hand and says, "Just as I see this fan directly before me, in exactly the same way have I seen God! And I have seen—": he makes a sign by placing his hand on his heart and says, "Tell me what I said."

Narendra: I understand.

Sri Ramakrishna: Tell me.

Narendra: I could not hear you clearly.

The Master again makes a sign to indicate that he has realised that He and the Self within him are identical.

Narendra: Yes, yes, Soham—'I am He!'

Sri Ramakrishna: Only a 'line' intervenes,—for the enjoyment of bliss.

Narendra: (to M.) The Great Ones remain in the world, even after achieving their own Liberation, retaining the ego, suffering the weals and woes of the body, that they may grant salvation to mankind.

"It is like the coolie work which we have to perform under compulsion; but the Great Ones do it of their own will."

There is complete silence again. The Master says, after sometime, "The roof is quite within view, but it is very difficult to reach it."

Narendra: Yes, sir.

Sri Ramakrishna: But if some one has already reached it, he can throw down a rope and draw another up to the roof.

"A Sadhu from Hrishikesh said to me, 'How wonderful! I find all the five kinds of Samadhi manifest in you!'

Five kinds of Samadhi.

"Sometimes 'like a monkey';—just as a monkey jumps up from branch to branch, even so the 'Great Energy' (Maha Vayu) jumps up (from the lower to the higher plane) in the body, and the mind is plunged into Samadhi.

"Sometimes 'like a fish';—just as a fish moves about in water in great joy, even so the 'Great Energy' moves upwards in the body, and the mind goes into Samadhi.

"Sometimes 'like a bird';—the 'Great Energy' moves about in the body like bird flying from branch to branch.

"Sometimes 'like an ant';—the 'Great Energy' creeps slowly up like an ant, till it reaches the Sahasrara, and the mind is then lost in Samadhi.

"Sometimes 'like a reptile';—that is to say, the course of the 'Great Energy' is zig-zag like a snake's; when it reaches the Sahasrara, the mind is plunged into Samadhi."

Rakhal: Let us stop here. There has been enough of talk already,—it will aggravate his illness.