CHAPTER I.
1883.
SECTION VI.
1883.
A day with Sri Ramakrishna at the Temple at Dakshineswar.
CHAPTER I.
The 19th of August 1883 is a Sunday, and the first day after the full moon. So the devotees have leisure to come and see their beloved Master at Dakshineswar, at the Temple of the Mother1 of the Universe, the Consort of the Spirit of Eternity. Everyone has free access. He talks with everybody who comes. His visitors are from all classes of people—Sannyasins, Paramahamsas; Hindus, Christians and Brahmos; Saktas, Vaishnavas and Saivas; men as well as women. Glory be unto Râni Râshmoni, whose goodness has erected this noble Temple where people are coming to see and worship this God-Man.
It is noon. The Master is seated upon the smaller bedstead in his room. He has taken a little rest after breakfast. Here M. comes and salutes him, falling at his hallowed feet. He bids him sit down and kindly enquires about the welfare of himself and family. A short while and the Master begins to talk with him upon the Vedanta.
Sri Râmakrishna (to M.): Well, the Ashtavakra Samhita deals with the knowledge of Self. The knowers of Self declare, "I am He," that is, "I am that Highest Self." This is the view of all the Sannyasins belonging to the Vedantic school. But it is not good that a man of the world should hold such a view. Such a man does everything, and how at the same time can he be that Highest Self, God the Absolute, Who is beyond all action?
1 Kâli.
The Vedantists hold that the Self has no attachment to anything. Pleasure, pain, virtue, vice, &c., can never affect the Self in any way, but they do affect men who think that their soul is the same as the body.
Smoke can blacken only the wall but not the space through which it curls up.
There was a certain devotee, named Krishna Kishore, who used to say that he was a mere void1, or empty space. He meant to say that he was the same as the Highest Self or God the Absolute, Who is sometimes likened to empty Space2 because nothing can be predicated of Him. A true devotee, he had some right to say so. As for others it does not lie in their mouth to give out such an idea.
But it is good for everyone to cherish the idea that he is free. 'I am free, I am free'; if a man constantly says this, he is sure to be free. On the other hand, he who always thinks that he is in bondage brings bondage, indeed, on himself in the end.
The weak-minded man who always says, 'I am a sinner, I am a sinner,' is sure to have a fall. A man should rather say, 'I repeat the holy Name of God, how can there be any sin in me or the bondage of the world?'
1 Kha.
2 Âkâsa.
Then turning towards M. he says, 'To-day my mind is not at ease. I hear from Hridaya* that he has been ailing much. Is this anxiety due to attachment1 or to the feeling of charity2?
M. did not know what to say in reply. M. remained silent.
Love to one's own1 and love to all or Charity.2
Sri Râmakrishna: Do you know what is Mâyâ? Love towards one's own father, mother, brother, sister, wife, children, nephew, niece, &c., is called Mâyâ; and charity means loving all beings. Now, what is this, my anxiety, due to? Attachment or charity?
But Hridaya did a great deal for me.
He served me much. He never hesitated to do all sorts of menial services for me. But he proved a scourge in the end; so much so that unable to stand such treatment, once I went to the rampart3 to die by throwing myself into the Ganges flowing below. But let that go; my mind will be set at rest if now he gets some money.
1 Mâyâ.
2 Dayâ.
3 Postâ.
* Hridaya Mukerjee was an old servant of Sri Râmakrishna and served him upwards of twenty years at theTemple of Dakshineswar, i.e., till 1881. He was a remote nephew of his. His birthplace was the village of Siore in the district of Hugli. This village is five miles away from Kamarpukur, the birthplace of the Master. He breathed his last towards the end of April 1899 in his own native village. Hridaya is the pet abbreviation of his name used by the Master.
Now whom am I to ask for money? Who cares to make an appeal to the Babus for this purpose?
At two or three o'clock in the afternoon, two of his disciples, Adhar and Balaram, came in. They prostrated themselves before him and took their seats. They asked how he was doing. The Master replied, "Well, my body is all right; but not the mind." He did not mention anything about Hridaya's illness.