October 1882.
SECTION III
SRI RAMAKRISHNA AT THE TEMPLE OF DAKSHINESWAR WITH NARENDRA (VIVEKANANDA), RAKHAL, M., AND OTHER DISCIPLES
October 1882.
CHAPTER I
STORY OF THE MASTER'S LIFE AS TOLD BY HIMSELF
Sri Râmakrishna is filled with joy to-day; for Narendra has come to the Temple to see him. Narendra has bathed here and has taken his morning meal1 of the offerings accepted by the Gods.
It is Monday, the 16th of October 1882; the fourth lunar day of the light fortnight of Asvin. The Durga Pujah will be celebrated on Thursday next.
Rakhal has been staying with the Master for some time. Ramlall and Hazra are also here. Two Brahmo boys are with Narendra. M. is also here.
After the morning meal, which has been taken between eleven and twelve o'clock, Sri Râmakrishna asks Narendra and the other disciples, specially Narendra, to rest a while. A bed is prepared for the purpose on the floor of the room. A quilt with a mat underneath and a white sheet spread out over it and some pillows and bolsters make up the simple bed. The Master squats on the bed by the side of Narendra and talks with him and the other disciples like a child. His eyes are fixed on Narendra and his face was radiant with smiles. He will place some Ideals of Life and Character before the disciples—specially before Narendra—and teach them How to live.
1 Prasâd.
Master (to Narendra and others): When this change (caused by God-Vision) came over me, I longed to hear the Word of God. I always looked about for places where the Sacred Books1 were being read or recited—the books specially containing an account of the life and teachings of the various Incarnations of God—Sri Krishna, Râma, etc. I used to go to Krishna Kishore to hear him read the Life of Rama2.
Krishna Kishore and his Faith.
What a stupendous faith had Krishna Kishore! Once he had been to Brindaban on pilgrimage. There in the course of his walk one day, he chanced to feel thirsty. Seeing a person standing near a well, he asked him to draw a little water for him. The man said that he came of a very low caste so that he was not a fit person to draw the water for a Brahmin. Krishna Kishore said, 'Will you pronounce the name of God3 and thus make yourself pure'? The man did so and then drew up the water for him; and he, a Brahman, drank of the water! How great was the power of his Faith!
A holy man once came to the river side and lived for some time at the Ariada Ghat. We thought of paying him a visit. I said to Haladhari at the Temple one day, 'Krishna Kishore and myself are going to see the holy man; are you going too'? Haladhari replied 'What is the use of one's going to see a being with a material body which is no better than a cage made of clay'?
1 Bhâgavata, Mahâbhârata, etc.
2 Adhyâtma Râmâyana,
3 Siva
Now Haladhari was a pandit and used always to read the 'Song of the Lord'1 and the Vedânta Philosophy which says, God alone is real and everything else is unreal. All these words were reported by me to Krishna Kishore. He was highly offended and said, 'What! And all this has been said by Haladhari! Is it possible that he looks upon the body of a holy man as a cage made of clay—a holy man whose only thought is God and who has given up the world and its pleasures and excitements for the sake of the Lord? Does he not know that the body of one who loves the Lord is made up of Spirit—not of matter as in the case of ordinary men?' When he came next time to the Temple in the morning to gather flowers for Divine worship, he turned away his face to avoid Haladhari, so much had he been offended at his words.
State of Sri Ramakrishna after God-vision.
Once he asked me 'Why have You cast off the holy thread'? When this change came over me for the first time everything was blown away as if by the great cyclone of Aswin.2 The old land-marks were swept away. There was no outward consciousness; who was to take care of either the holy thread or even of the piece of cloth that I used to put on?
1 Gitâ.
2 Cyclone of 1864.
Lost in intense God-consciousness, I was nude the greater part of the day. When, therefore, Krishna Kishore took me to task for having parted with the holy thread, I only observed, 'You shall see it all clearly if you are once seized with madness for the Lord!'
It all came about as I had feared. He, too, turned out 'mad' for the Lord. He used to shut himself up in a room in which he sat still and only repeated, 'Om! Om'!1
His people thought that he had actually gone mad. They called in a physician2. Dr. Ram of Natagore came to see him.
The True Self.
Krishna Kishore said to the physician, 'Let me, good sir, be healed of my disease—and not of the Om which by the grace of the Lord I have learnt to value in these days.' (Laughter.)
Looking in on another occasion I found him musing. I asked what was the matter. He replied, 'The tax-collector was here. He held out the threat that he would dispose of my brass bowls and water-pots in case I failed to meet his demands! This has made me so anxious'. Upon this I smiled and said, 'Never mind, let him do his worst and sell off your goods and chattels. Let him bind your body and take it to the Judge if need be; what matters it to thee? Surely, You are not the body; so he cannot bind You—Your True self; for are You not Kha1 my dear sir, as You often say?' (Narendra and others laugh.)
1 the Vedic symbol for God the Absolute.
2 Kavirâj.
Like Formless Space.
Yes, he used to say that his True Self, that is, God the Absolute was like the Formless Space round about us. Oh, he was an ardent reader of the Râmâyanam2 in which Râma is always addressed as an Incarnation of God, the Absolute. I often amused myself saying 'You are Kha; your True Self is not the body but the Universal Soul.' That day I assured him saying, 'no tax shall be able to draw you away. Let them seize your gross body which you are not—according to your own showing' (Laughter).
No Respector of Persons.
In my state of madness for the Lord I used always to speak my own mind as to men and things. I regarded not the position of men. I was not in the least afraid of rich people or men of position.
One day Jatindra came into the adjoining garden belonging to Jadu Mallik. I asked Jatindra, 'What is the whole duty of man?' I asked again, 'Is it not our first duty to fix our mind on God?' Jatindra said, 'We are men of the world. Is liberation ever within the reach of worldly men? Witness Raja Yudhishtira who, pure as he was, had to bear the sight of the infernal regions for having once spoken what was not the truth. This gave great offence to me. And I cried out saying sharply 'What a curious man you are! You remember well the fact that Yudhishtira had to bear the sight of those regions! But, pray, what do you think of his love of Truth, his love of God, his forgiving temper, his perception of the Real, his non-attachment to things of the world?' I was going to run on like this when Hridoy stopped my mouth. Jatindra soon after left, saying that he had some pressing business to attend to.
1 Akâsa.
2 Adhyâtma.
On another occasion I went in company with the Captain1 to Raja Sourindra's house. Upon first meeting him I said, 'Look here, sir, I shall be unable to call you 'Raja' or such-like thing, for that would be speaking what was not true' (Raja in Sanskrit means the ruler of a kingdom). He conversed with me for some time, during which we were frequently interrupted by visitors, amongst whom were some Europeans. I noticed that he was like other worldly people troubled with many things. He sent word to Jatindra, (his eldest brother), informing him of our visit. A message came from the latter, which said that he had a trouble in the throat and could not come.
One day I observed an elderly Brahmin repeating the Name of the Lord at the Barahnagore Ghat on the bank of the holy river Ganges. I observed that he was thinking of something else and gave him two slaps on his back to draw his attention back to the Lord! (Laughter).
Once Rashmony (the foundress of the temple here) came to visit the Temple. She came inside the Temple of the Mother when I was worshipping as priest. She asked me to chant the Holy Name. I sang, but observed that she was thinking of something else and sorting the flowers for worship. I gave her a couple of slaps. This made her sit quiet with hands folded in adoration. (Laughter.)
1 Biswanath of Nepal.
I repeated my sad story to my cousin1, saying, How queer and offensive are my ways getting to be! Is there no help for this?' Well, I prayed to my Divine Mother with a yearning heart and at last I was able through Her grace to shake off this habit.
Sri Râmakrishna at Benares: the value of Pilgrimage.
In that state of my soul, words not relating to God jarred upon my ears. I used to sit by myself and cry whenever I heard people talking about worldly matters. Once, Mathur Babu took me with him to various places of pilgrimage in the north. While at Benares we put up for a few days at the house of Rajah Babu. One day I was in the drawing-room with Mathur Babu who was conversing with Rajah Babu and his people. They were talking purely of worldly matters: 'So much money has been lost or gained by the transaction,' and words like these. I cried bitterly by myself, saying to the Divine mother, 'Where hast Thou brought me, O Mother? Verily, I was by far better off at the Temple at Dakshineswar than in this place of pilgrimage! They have come indeed to visit the holy shrines, but behold, O Mother, they talk only of Woman and Gold! The Temple was a far better place for me, because there I had not to hear such talks?'
1 Haladhâri.
The Master presses Narendra to take a little rest. And he himself lies down on the smaller bedstead to rest a while.