Paragraph 35

In plain words

The Master loves Keshab dearly. When Keshab was practising spiritual disciplines with his disciples in the garden at Belgharia, that is, in 1875, soon after the Maghotsava, the Master went to the garden one day and met him. With him went his nephew Hridayram. In that garden at Belgharia he told him, "You are the one whose tail has dropped off": that is, you can give up everything and live outside the world, and you can also live in the world; just as a tadpole, when its tail drops off, can live in the water and on land as well. Afterwards, at Dakshineswar, at Kamalkutir, at the Brahmo Samaj and elsewhere, the Master taught him many times in the course of conversation: "God can be reached by many paths, through many religions. One can practise in solitude from time to time, gain devotion, and so live in the world. Janaka and others lived in the world after attaining the knowledge of Brahman. One must call on Him with longing; then He shows Himself. What you do, the worship of the formless, is very good. With the knowledge of Brahman you will feel it rightly: God true and everything else passing, Brahman true and the world false. The eternal Hindu dharma accepts both, the One with form and the formless, and worships God in many attitudes: santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhura. Among the shehnai players, one just holds the drone on one note, though his pipe has seven holes; another, whose pipe also has seven holes, plays many ragas and raginis.