CHAPTER II.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA AND THE EUROPEAN IDEA OF WORK.
Protap Chandra Majumdar, a member of the Brahmo Samaj, comes and salutes Sri Râmakrishna. He returned his salutation with his accustomed modesty, bowing down very low.
Protap says, Sir, I had recently been to Darjeeling.
Sri Râmakrishna: But you do not appear to be much the better for the change. What's the matter with you?
1 Âhuti.
2 Brahman.
Protap: The same complaint to which he (Keshab Chandra Sen) succumbed.
There is then a talk on Keshab's life. Protap takes part in the conversation. "Keshab was in his youth marked by non-attachment1 to the world. He was seldom found merry or cheerful, While a student at the Hindu College, he formed a close friendship with S. Thus it was that he came across S's revered father, Devendranath Tagore." "Keshab assiduously practised," continued Protap, "both communion by meditation and devotion. He was subject even to fits of unconsciousness due to excessive devotion, but he always succeeded in keeping them in check. The great end of his life was to bring religion within the reach of the householder."
Desire for Fame.
The conversation next turns on a certain Mahratta lady. Protap says that she had been to England and that she had embraced Christianity. He asks the Master whether he has ever heard of the lady. The Master replies, "No; but from what I hear from you I should think that she must be a woman who wants to make a name for herself!"
Egotism.
Turning to the company, he says, "Egotism of this kind is to be condemned. Those that seek fame are under a delusion. They forget that everything is ordered by the Great Disposer of all things—the Supreme Being— and that all the credit is due to the Lord and to nobody else. It is the wise that say always, 'It is Thou, It is Thou, O Lord! but the ignorant and the self-deluded say, "It is I, It is I."
1 Vairâgya.
Parable of the Calf and its Fortunes, or the Self.
The calf says, 'Hamma or Aham (I).' Now look at the troubles caused by its self which says 'I,' 'I.' In the first place, the calf, sometimes, is taken into the fields where it is yoked to the plough. It is there made to work on from morning to evening alike in the sun and in the rain. Its troubles are not yet over. It is very often killed by the butcher. Its flesh is eaten as meat. Its skin is tanned into hides. It is made into shoes. The sufferings of the calf in this state know no bounds. But that is not all. Drums are made with the skin, which is thus mercilessly beaten sometimes with the hand and sometimes with the drumstick. It is only when out of its entrails are made strings for the bows used for carding cotton that the troubles of the poor creature are over. And that is because it no longer says, 'hamma' (i), 'hamma' (1), but 'Tuhum! Tuhum,! (It is Thou, O Lord, It is Thou!).
The perfect liberation1 of the soul is within the reach of him alone who, being convinced that God is the Disposer of all things, has learnt the lesson of complete self-abnegation and absolute forgetfulness of 'I,' 'Me,' 'Mine.'
1 Mukti.
The self after God-vision.
The truly wise man is he who has seen the Lord. He becomes like a child. The child, no doubt, seems to have an individuality, a separateness, of its own. But that individuality is a mere appearance, not a reality. The self of the child is nothing like the self of the grown-up man.
He has seen the Lord and he is now a changed being.
The steel sword has no sooner come in contact with the touchstone than it is turned into gold. It continues no doubt to have the appearance of a sword, but it does no harm to anybody. Our ego or self, if purified by the realisation of God—if made pure by seeing God—cannot harm anybody.
The self of the child is again like the face reflected in the mirror. The face in the mirror looks exactly like the real face; only it does nobody any harm.
Signs of God-vision.
The signs of one who has seen God are these:—His conduct is like that of a child. He sometimes looks like an unclean spirit. He does not care for his body. He seems to make no distinction between purity and impurity; for he sees God in and through everything. Such a person looks like a mad man, now laughing, now weeping, and the next moment talking to himself; now dressed like a gentleman and again taking his only bit of cloth under his arm and thus going naked like a child. Lastly, he looks like one who is brought to the state of an insentient being—the condition of an inert, lifeless, material body.1
England and America.
Master (to Protap Majumdar): You went to England and America. Tell me of your experiences.
Protap. Sir, the national characteristics of the English people may be summed up by one word, namely, the worship of what you call kânchan (gold). I must say, however, there are a few honourable exceptions. As a general rule, Rajas or worldly activity is the one thing everywhere. Much the same thing is observable in America.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA ON WORK2 WITHOUT ATTACHMENT.
The Master thereupon says, 'The attachment to work which you say is the chief characteristic of the English and the American people marks all human communities.
But remember it is a mark of the earliest stage of life. Work for the sake of one's own worldly good—riches, honour, fame—is degrading. Worldly activity3 will only bring on increasing ignorance4. It will make you forgetful of God and attached to 'Woman and Gold.'5 Therefore the attachment to work that is observable in England and America—an attachment leading to spiritual degradation—is to be condemned.
1 Jadavat.
2 Karmayoga.
3 Rajas.
4 Tamas.
5 Kâmini and Kânchan.
You cannot get rid of work, because Nature1 will lead you on to it. That being so, let all work be done as it ought to be. If work is done unattached it will lead to God. Work so done is a means to the end, and God is the End.
To work without any attachment is to work without the expectation of any reward or fear of any punishment in this world or the next.
Difficulty of the Problem in this Age
Work without attachment, however, is exceedingly difficult, especially in this age.2 The fact is, one must have True Knowledge3 or love4 of God. It is possible for the ideal man alone to live a life of work without attachment. Others get easily attached more or less to things of the world and they know it not.
Hence it is our duty as 'imperfect' men to find out, if possible, the shortest path that leads to God—the end of our life. Let us do the duty that is nearest us. Let us bring down our work to a minimum by earnest prayer and self-surrender.
Problem Solved for this Age.
Thus on account of the difficulty of work without attachment in this age, communion5 by prayer, devotion and love—by the practice of Narada's Bhakti Yoga—has been enjoined as better adapted to this age than the communion by work or communion by the path of knowledge or philosophy.
1 Prakriti.
2 Kali-yuga.
3 Jnâna.
4 Bhakti.
5 Yoga.
Communion1 by love (of God)will enable us to see God with much less difficulty than by any other kind of communion.
Effect of Devotion2 upon work.3
No one, however, can avoid work. Every mental operation is "work." The consciousness that 'I feel' or 'I think' involves 'work.' What is meant by the 'Path of Devotion2' in its relation to work is that work is simplified by devotion, or love (of God).
In the first place, this love2 of God reduces the quantity of one's work by fixing one's mind upon one's own Ideal that is, God. Secondly, it helps one to work unattached. One cannot love the Lord and at the same time love riches or pleasure or fame or power. He who has once tasted the drink prepared with the ola sugarcandy does not care for that made with molasses.
Work is not the End of Life.
No greater mistake can be committed than to look upon work as the be-all and end-all of human life. Work is the first chapter of human life. God is the conclusion.
On one occasion, Sambhu, a householder, said to me, "I should deem myself fortunate if I could build hospitals and dispensaries, make roads where there are none, sink wells for the good of the people in seasons of drought, set up schools and colleges." Thereupon I said to him, "It is all very well that you should do all these works but can you do them unattached? If you can it will lead to God. Otherwise not. But to work unattached is exceedingly difficult. In any case, take care and do not confound the means with the end. Work is a means, if done unattached, but the end of life is to see God. Let me repeat that the means should not be confounded with the end—that the first stage on a road should not be taken for the goal."
1 Yoga.
2 Bhakti.
3 Karma.
"No, do not regard work as the be-all and end-all—the ideal of human existence. Pray for Bhakti (devotion to God). Suppose you are fortunate enough to see God. Then what would you pray for? Would you pray for dispensaries and hospitals, tanks and wells, roads and serais? No, no, these are realities to us so long as we do not see God. But once placed face to face with the Vision Divine, we see them as they are—transitory things no better than dreams; and then we would pray for more Light—more Knowledge in the highest sense—more Divine Love—the love which lifts us up from man to God, a love which makes us realise that we are really sons of the Supreme Being,—of Whom all that can be said is that He exists, that He is Knowledge itself in the highest sense, and that He is the eternal Fountain of Love and Bliss."
"Therefore, never lose sight of this Goal of Life that I have pointed out to you. Never lose sight of the Ideal." In this connection I will tell you a parable:—
The Wood-cutter and the Brahmacharin; or "Go on ahead."
A man was cutting wood in a forest, when he was accosted by a Brahmacharin. (A Brahmacharin is a holy man practising control over the flesh and preparing for the next stage of life—that of the householder or of the ascetic.) The holy man said, "Go on ahead." The wood-cutter came back home with his load of wood, wondering why the sage had bade him go ahead. Thus passed away some days. One day he was put in mind of the holy man's words and he made up his mind that day to go farther on with a view to cut wood. What was his surprise to find that portion of the forest full of sandal trees! Of course, he brought cartloads of sandalwood to market and soon grew enormously rich. In this way again some days passed, when he was once more reminded of the injunction laid upon him by the holy man, "Go on ahead" So again did he form the resolution of going into the forest and of making a further advance. What was his surprise to find a silver mine close to the bed of a river! This he had never looked for even in his dreams. He worked at the mines and brought away tons of silver with which he made a splendid bargain. It is needless to say that after this he turned out to be one of the millionaires of the day. But once more after the lapse of some years did the holy man's words come back to his mind. He thought within himself, "The holy man did not bid me stop at the silver mine but he told me to go on ahead." This time he went across the river and came upon a gold mine and finally on a diamond mine! Needless to add, that he grew as rich as the God of Wealth.1
So go ahead, my children, and never lose sight of your Ideal! Go onward and never stop until you have reached the Goal. Reaching a particular stage, do not run away with the idea that ye have come to your journey's end.
Work is only the first stage of the journey. Bear in mind that doing acts unattached is exceedingly difficult; that therefore the path2 of love is better suited to this age, and that work, even if unattached, is not the end of your life but only a means to the end.
So march on and never halt till you have come up to the great Ideal of your life—the seeing of God.