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In plain words

Sri Ramakrishna, smiling: Why not? Live like the pankal fish: it lives in mud, yet no mud clings to it. And live like the unchaste woman: she does all the work of the household, but her mind stays with her lover. Keep your mind fixed on God and do all the work of the world. But it is very hard. I told the Brahmos: the patient with typhoid is in the very room where the pickles, the tamarind and the water jar are kept! How is he to get well? The mere thought of pickles and tamarind makes the mouth water. For a man, woman is like the pickles and tamarind. And the thirst for worldly things is always there: that is the water jar. There is no end to this thirst. The typhoid patient says, "I'll drink a whole jar of water!" It is very hard. There are all sorts of troubles in the world. Go this way, and I'll throw a spade at you; go that way, and I'll throw a broom; go this way, and I'll throw a shoe. And without solitude one cannot think of God. If you are melting gold to make an ornament and someone calls you five times while you're melting it, how can the gold be melted? If you're cleaning rice you have to sit alone to do it. Every now and then you have to lift the rice in your hand and look to see how clean it is. If someone calls you five times while you're cleaning it, how can you clean it properly?