CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
M. meets Narendra (Vivekananda.)
M. is putting up at his sister's house in Barahanagar, which is about a mile distant from the Temple. Since he saw Sri Râmakrishna M. has never ceased to think of him. It seems as if he has always before his eyes the smiling face of the Master—that he is always listening to his words, sweet as nectar. How could this poor Brahmin, M. thinks to himself, have gone into these deep problems of life and soul! and his teachings, how clear they are! M.'s feelings are worked up to a high pitch of excitement; and he thinks day and night of taking the earliest opportunity to see him a second time. The following Sunday between three and four in the afternoon he comes again to the Temple in the company of Nepal Babu of Barahanagar.
The Master is in the same room as before seated on the lounge. The room is filled with devotees. It is Sunday and they are free. M. does not as yet know any of them. After saluting him with folded hands M. takes his seat on one side. The Master smilingly talks on with the devotees who are present.
Vivekananda: How to deal with bad men.
M. observes that the Master's words are specially addressed to a young man called Narendra (Vivekananda) who is now only nineteen years old. He is a college student and a member of the Sadharan Brâhmo Samaj. His words are full of spirit. His eyes are large and dark. They beam with intelligence and tell of the great soul within. He has the looks of one who loves the Lord.
M. sees that the subject of talk is the conduct of worldly men—of such as throw ridicule upon those who seek after God. The question is, how to deal with such people.
The Master (smiling, to Narendra):—What do you say, Narendra? Worldly men say all manner of things against the godly. When the elephant wends its way along the public road there are indeed, a lot of curs and other animals running after, barking and clamouring. But it turns a deaf ear to all their noise and goes its way. Suppose, my boy, people do speak ill of you behind your back. What will you think of them?
Narendra:—I shall look upon them as street dogs barking behind me.
Master (laughing):—No, my child, you must never go quite so far as that (laughter). Know that God makes His abode in all things—animate and inanimate. Hence everything should be the object of our worship, be it man or beast, bird, plant or mineral.
In our dealings with men all that we can do is to take heed that we mix with the good and avoid the company of bad people. True that God is even in the tiger; but surely it does not follow that one should fall on its neck and hug the brute to one's bosom. (laughter).
Some one may say, but why should I run away from the tiger seeing that after all it is God in one orm? To this the answer is, that those who wish you to run away from the tiger are also God manifested in other forms. Why should we pay no regard to their words?
In a certain forest there lived a holy man who had a number of disciples. One day he taught them saying, 'God is in all things; knowing this we should bend our heads in adoration before every object in the world.' It chanced that a disciple of his went out to gather firewood for the sacrificial fire. Suddenly he heard a shout, 'Get out of the way! get out of the way! here comes an elephant rushing madly about! At this everyone ran away except this disciple. He reasoned within himself, 'The elephant is God in one form; why then should I fly away?' So he stood where he was, saluted the elephant as the Lord, and began to chant His praises. The driver of the elephant continued to shout 'Run away! Run away!, but this disciple would not stir a single step. At last the elephant seized him with his trunk and cast him to one side. The poor boy stunned, scratched and torn, lay bleeding on the ground.
His Master heard of this and came with his other disciples to the spot. They carried him home and applied restoratives. When he came to himself they asked him, 'Well, why did you not quit the spot when you heard the man shouting that the mad elephant was coming?' The boy answered, 'Our master once told us that it is God who reveals Himself in man and in every other living creature. I looked on the Elephant-God and thus did not care to quit the spot.' His guru said, 'My son, it is indeed true that it was the Elephant-God that was coming, but the Driver-God, did he not warn you to get out of the way? It is true that God manifests Himself forth in everything. But if He is manifest in the elephant, is He not equally, or more manifest in the driver? Tell me, then, why you paid no heed to his warning voice.'
In the Sacred Books it is written, Water is the same as God Himself. But some water is fit to be used for Divine service, some is only for washing up plates or soiled linen, or for washing the face and the hands after meals. This water may not be used for drinking or for the service of the altar. In the same way there are good men and bad men, lovers of God and those who do not love Him. In the hearts of them all, indeed, God abides. But one cannot have dealings with bad men and those who love not God. Our relations with such cannot be very close. With some indeed a nodding acquaintance is all that is possible. With many others even that is out of the question. It is meet to live apart from such people.
Vivekananda: Doctrine of Non-Resistance.
Narendra: Should we hold our peace, if evil men come to offend us or actually do so? Master: A man living in society especially as a citizen and householder, should make a show of the spirit of resisting evil for the sake of self-defence. At the same time care should be taken to avoid paying back evil for evil.
In a field certain cow-boys kept watch over their cattle. In that same field was a terrible and venomous serpent. One day there came a holy man that way. The boys ran up to him and said, 'Your Holiness, please go not that way. A tremendous snake is over there.' 'My children,' said the holy man, 'I thank you, but I am not afraid of your snake. I know holy texts1 that will keep me from harm of all kinds.' So saying he wended his way in that direction. The boys did not go with him,—they were so much afraid of the snake. At the sight of the holy man the snake came swiftly towards him with its hood raised. He muttered a spell, and it fell at his feet as helpless as an earthworm.
1 Mantras.
'Well,' said the holy man, 'Why do you go about doing evil to others. Let me give you a Holy Name (of God). Repeat this always and you will learn to love God; you will see Him in the end; the desire to do evil to others will at the same time leave you.' The snake had the Holy Name whispered into his ear. He bowed down before his preceptor and said 'O Lord, what more must I do in order to get salvation?' 'Repeat the Holy Name' said the teacher, 'and do harm to no living thing. I shall come again and see how you fare.' So saying he went away.
Some days passed. The cow-boys noticed that the snake would not bite. They pelted it with stones. But it only looked as meek and inoffensive as an earthworm. One of the boys took it one day by the tail and, whirling it round, dashed it several times against the ground. The snake vomited blood, was stunned and left for dead.
Late at night it came to life again. Softly and slowly it moved and dragged itself into its hole. Its body was broken. In the course of a few days, it was reduced to a skeleton, and it was many many days before it could even come out of its hole to look for food. For fear of the boys it would come out only by night. Ever since its initiation by the Brahmin it had ceased to do harm to any creature of God. It tried to live as well as it could on leaves of plants and things of that kind.
The holy man1 soon came back. He looked about, seeking the snake; but in vain. At last the boys said that it was no more. It was hard for the Brahmin to believe this, for he knew that the Name of the Lord which it repeated carried such spiritual power that death was out of the question before the problem of life had been solved, that is to say, before it had seen God. So he made a search and called it repeatedly by its name. The snake came out of its hole and bowed down before its preceptor.2 They talked to each other thus:—
Holy man: Hallo, how are you doing?
Snake: O Lord, I thank you; by the grace of God I am quite well.
Holy man: How is it then that you are brought down to mere skin and bone? What is the matter?
Snake: Lord, in obedience to your bidding I strive to do no harm to any living creature. I feed upon leaves and things of that kind. Thus it may be that I am thinner than before.
Holy man: Well, I am afraid it is not the food alone that has brought you to this pass! There must be something else to do with it. Just think it over.
Snake: Ah, now I see it all! The cow-herds dealt with me rather severely one day. They held me by the tail and dashed me against the ground with great force—several times. They, poor fellows, had no idea what a great change had come over me! How should they know that I was not going to bite anyone or do them the least harm?
1 Mahâtmâ.
2 Guru.
Holy man: Why, nonsense! nonsense! you must be an idiot not to know how to save yourself from being handled in such a fashion by your enemies. What I forbade you was to bite any of God's creatures. Why did you not hiss at those who wanted to kill you so as to put them in fear of you.
Sri Râmakrishna then went on saying, So raise the hood and hiss, but don't bite. There is no harm in hissing at bad men, your enemies. Keep them off by showing that you are ready to give tit for tat—that you know how to resist evil. Only one must take care not to pour one's venom into the blood of one's enemy. Resist not evil by doing evil in return. All that you may do is to make a show of resistance with a view to self-defence.
The Problem of Evil; are all men equal?
A Disciple: Sir, why are there bad men in God's world? Why is there Evil in this world?
Master: In God's Creation diversity is the universal rule. There must be evil as well as good. Again, there are various kinds of objects—animals, plants, minerals. Amongst animals again, there are some which are gentle and inoffensive and others which, like the tiger, are ferocious and live upon other animals. Some trees bring forth good fruit, sweet as nectar; while others bring forth poisonous fruits which cause death. Likewise there are good men and bad men, holy men and those who are sinful. Some, again, are just and devout and others are attached to the world.
Men may be divided into four classes:—1. Worldly men1 (those who are bound in the fetters of the world); 2. The Seekers2 after Liberation; 3. The Liberated3 and 4. The Ever Free4.
The EVER-FREE:—Narad, the Holy Sage and others. These abide in the world for the sake of others,—in order to teach the Truth to others.
The WORLDLY are they who are attached to the little things of this world—money, honors, titles, sense pleasures, and power. They forget God, and never give a thought to Him.
The SEEKERS AFTER LIBERATION do their best to avoid the world, made up as it is of 'Woman and Gold.' But it is given to only a few amongst them to find what they seek, namely, Liberation.
The LIBERATED are those who are not attached to either 'Woman' or to 'Gold.' Holy men are examples of these. In their minds there is not a trace of attachment to the things of this world. They meditate always on the Hallowed Feet of the Lord.
Suppose a net is cast into a tank. Some of the fish are much too clever for the fisherman and take care never to be caught. But these may be counted on one's fingers, and to them may be likened the Ever-Free.
1 Baddha.
2 Mumukshu.
3 Mukta.
4 Nitya Mukta
But most of the fish are caught in the net. Of these some try their best again to make their escape. Such are the Seekers after Liberation, and of these a couple or so only are able to leap out of the net into the water. We often see such; they leap out with a splash, the fisherman as well as others shouting, 'Look! Look! there is a big fish getting away!'
But most of the fish are not able to get out at all. And what is more, they do not want to get out! They would rather rush into the mud at the bottom of the tank, head foremost, entangled in the net as they are, and there lie still; thinking all the while, We are quite safe and secure, and we need fear no more. The poor things know not that in a short while the fisherman will draw the net to land full of them. To these last may be compared the 'Worldly'. They feel secure in their muddy homes; but alas, they are entangled in the meshes of the world, soon to be deprived of the Water of Life and hauled up to the land to be killed!
The bondage of the world is bondage made up of the fetters of 'Woman and Gold.' Worldly men are bound hand and foot. They think they will find peace and rest and security in the mud at the bottom of the tank, that is to say, in 'Woman and Gold.' They know not that these cause the death of the Soul. When one of these 'Worldly' men is on his death-bed, his wife says to him, You are departing from this world, but what property do you leave to me? The wife speaks not one word about the Lord. The dying man himself is so much attached to the world that the light of a lamp burning in the sick-room troubles him and he cries out, 'Who is there? See that not more than one wick is burnt and that no more oil is wasted than is absolutely needed.'
The worldly man does not think of God. If he has time and nothing to do, he will either talk empty twaddle or do things that are of no use to anybody. Upon being asked, he says 'To sit still I am not able. Hence am I planting a hedge.' Time hangs heavy on his hands. So he must play at cards or at dice! (Deep silence in the room.)
The Power of Faith.
A disciple: But a man of the world, Sir,—how may he be saved? Is there no help for him?
Sri Râmakrishna: Certainly. Let him seek the company of holy men: Let him from time to time go away from his family into retirement, in order to meditate upon the Lord: Let him practise Discrimination: Let him pray earnestly to the Divine Mother, saying, O Mother, grant unto me Love and Faith. Once you get Faith, your work is done. Verily, Verily, there is nothing higher than Faith.
(To Kedar). You must have heard of the power of Faith. Râmachandra was God Incarnate; you know how he had to build a bridge across the sea (between India and Ceylon1). But Hanuman, the great lover of the Lord, had infinite faith in the power of His Name. He repeated that Name and behold, he found himself at once on the other side! Here, you see, to show the power of Faith, the Lord Himself had to build a bridge while the devotee who had faith in His Name needed no bridge to carry him across. (The Master and his disciples all laugh).
1 Lankâ.
The Sinner and the power of God's Name.
Another devotee wrote the name of Râma on a leaf and handed it to a man who wanted to cross the sea, saying, 'Fear not, my friend; have Faith and walk across the deep. But mind you do not show any want of Faith; for then you will be drowned'. The man had tied up the leaf within the folds of his cloth. He went his way, walking on the sea. As he went, he was seized with a desire to look at the writing. He brought out the leaf and read the name of Râma (God) written large upon it. At this, he thought to himself, 'Only the name of Râma! Is that all?' And on the instant with loss of faith, down he went under the water!
Let one only have Faith in the Lord, and, depend upon it, he will reach salvation;—no matter if he has committed the vilest of sins—the murder of Brahmins, of woman,and the rest! Let him only say 'Lord, I shall not do this again', and take His Hallowed Name.
And the Master sang—
Let me but die, O Mother, with Thy Holy Name on my lips.
Then shall I see whether or not Thou givest me Liberation at the end.
With Thy Name on my lips I care not if I have killed holy men1 or woman or the child in its mother's womb!
I care not if I have been guilty of drinking wine! My sins do not trouble me, even for one moment!
Taking Thy Name indeed I may aspire to the very throne of Him2 whom Thou hast appointed to be the Creator of the Universe.
Narendra and the signs of the Ever-perfect.
The Master now turned to Narendra who was seated before him. You all see this boy, so gentle and unassuming. Of course even a naughty boy is gentle in the presence of his father. But he is quite another when he runs about and plays at the Chandni. A boy like this belongs to the class of the EVER-PERFECT. (By the Chandni the Master meant the long porch of the Temple next to the landing-ghat).
These are never bound by the fetters of this world. When they get a little older in years, they feel an awakening within the heart and walk Godward at once. They come down into the world as teachers of mankind. They love not the things of this world,—their minds never go after 'Woman and Gold.'
There is mention made in the Vedas of a bird called 'Homa.' It lives high above the clouds away from the din and bustle of this world. There it brings forth an egg which begins to drop as soon as it is brought forth. For days together it goes on falling; and is hatched during the fall. Such is the height, that the young bird which comes out of the egg goes on falling while it is getting its eyes and wings!
1 Brâhmins.
2 Brahmâ.
Then it comes to know that it is being carried down with a tremendous force, and that the mere touch of the earth will bring on death. Afraid of being thus dashed against the ground it suddenly shoots upwards in quest of its Mother who lives so high up above the clouds.
The Parent-bird is the Divine Mother who abides above with the Infinite—high up above and beyond the world of the senses. Those of her children who are nearest to Her are these pure young souls to whom life continues to be a mystery until their eyes are opened and they can fly upon their wings. When their eyes are opened they see clearly the death that is before them—if they only touch the world and the things that are of the world,—money, honors, sense pleasures and the rest! The moment their eyes open, they change the course of their life and turn Godward, knowing that the Divine Mother is the one Reality in Whom they live and breathe and have their being, and to Whom they must always look up for Light and Life.
At this point Narendra left the room.
Kedar, Prankrishna, M. and many others were still in the chamber with the Master. The Master still talks of Narendra and smiles as he talks.
Master (to the disciples): You see, Narendra excels in everything, be it singing, playing on instruments, or reading and writing. The other day he had a discussion with Kedar. But Kedar's words were chopped off by him as it were as soon as they were spoken. (The Master and the others present laugh.)
(To M.) Is there any book in English on the art of reasoning?
M.: Yes Sir, it is called logic.
Master: Well, give me some idea of this book.
It is a sore trial for M. But he plucks up courage and says:—
'One part of logic deals with reasoning from general propositions to particulars. Thus:—
All men are mortal, Pundits are men, ∴ Pundits are mortal.
Another division deals with reasoning from particulars to general propositions. Thus:—
This crow is black, That crow is black, That other crow is black; and so on. Hence all crows are black.
The reasoning by simple Enumeration like this is open to fallacy however, for it may be that in some unknown land there may be found white crows.'
* * * *
Sri Râmakrishna did not appear to pay much attention to these words. It seemed as if they fell flat upon his ear. Thus the conversation on the subject came to an end.
The Master in Samadhi.
The meeting broke up. The disciples were walking about the garden. M. walked by himself at the 'Cluster of five trees1.'
It is about five in the afternoon. Coming back to the verandah, north of the Master's chamber, M. comes upon a strange sight. The Master is standing still. Narendra is singing a hymn. He and three or four other disciples are standing with the Master in their midst.
M. is charmed with the song. Never in his life has he heard a sweeter voice. Looking at the Master M. marvels and becomes speechless. The Master stands motionless. His eyes are fixed. It is hard to say whether he is breathing or not.
This state of divine ecstasy, says a disciple in low tones, is called Samadhi. M. has never seen or heard of anything like this. He thinks to himself, 'Is it possible that the thought of God can make a man forget the world? How great must be his Faith and Love for God who is thrown into such a state!'
The song that was being sung ran as follows:—
1. Meditate thou upon the Lord, O my mind! He is the essence of spirit, He is free from all impurity! Without equal is His glory, beautiful is His shape; how much is He beloved in the hearts of His devotees!
2. Behold. His Beauty is enhanced by fresh manifestations of Love! It throws into the shade a million moons! Verily, the lightning flashes out of His Glorious Beauty! The Blessed Vision causes the hair to stand on end.
1 Panchavati.
The Master is deeply touched when this line of the hymn is chanted. The hair of his body does actually stand on end. His eyes are bedewed with tears of joy. The smile on his lips shows the ecstatic delight that he feels at the sight of the Blessed Vision. Yes, he must be enjoying a vision of unequalled Beauty which puts into the shade the refulgence of a million moons! Is this God-vision? If so, what must be the intensity of Faith and Devotion, of discipline and austerity which has brought such a vision within reach of mortal man?
The song went on—
3. Worship His Holy Feet on the lotus of thine heart! Gaze thou upon the matchless beauty of that Beloved Form, now that the mind enjoys peace and the eyes are filled with Divine Love.
That bewitching smile once more! Behold, his body becomes motionless again! His eyes are half closed and fixed, as it were, on vacancy. It seems as though he beholds some strange vision—of things that are beyond the sense-world—and is thus filled with Ecstasy!
The song draws to a close. Narendra sings the last lines—
Inspired with Love Divine be thou immersed, O my mind, in the sweetness of Him who is the Fountain of Absolute Intelligence and Bliss!
* * * * *
M. wends his way back home with this unique picture in his mind of Samadhi and the ecstasy of Divine Love. The sweet music which he carried in his heart bubbles up, as it were, from time to time as he goes along:—
'Be incessantly merged, O my mind, in the sweetness of His Love and Bliss! Yes, be thou drunken with the joy of the Lord!'