CHAPTER IV.
MASTER AND DISCIPLE.
A Revelation in the Flesh: Scene-Panchabati.
A disciple is walking alone along the pucca embankment of the Temple on the side of the Holy Mother Ganges. He is watching Balaram and others getting into a boat to take them back home to Calcutta. It is a day in mid-summer; the Sacred Water is broken into waves. The day is drawing to its close. It is past five. The sky is cloudy and the clouds present a most charming sight, especially in the north. The disciple has before him in the foreground of the picture the Panchabati backed by a line of tall willow trees, with the silver stream flowing past on their right. In the background are the beautiful dark-blue clouds and also the dark stream underneath.
The disciple is looking on this charming scene. Suddenly his attention is arrested by the Master coming on from the south in the direction of the Panchabati, and those well-known Jhau trees.
As the Master smiled like a child five-years old and came up, the charming picture appeared to be more than complete! There is the Universe on the one hand and the One Soul that on the other hand reflects that Universe and sees it as it actually is. Yes, the disciple feels that in that Presence he is as near the solution of the Problem of Life as can be. It is this Presence which makes everything—the images of Gods and Goddesses—men, women, children—trees, flowers, leaves—every inch of ground in that Temple instinct with spirituality and full of the Joy of the Lord. Yes, true enough he feels that it is the God-man before him that has thrown an irresistible charm over everything in that wonderful place—over every object, divine or human, animate or inanimate—seen by the outer or by the inner eye—from the dust under His Hallowed Feet to those Sacred Images worshipped in the Temple or perceived by looking within that other Temple, the Body of Man, that veritable 'Revelation in the Flesh.' He feels like one spell-bound in that Presence!
Said the Lord to the disciple: "Do you expect a shower? Well, get the umbrella for me, will you?"
He runs to the Master's room and presently comes back with the umbrella. They have come to the foot of the Panchabati.
Master (to the disciple): Let me entrust you with this commission; you are to tell B. that when Rakhal leaves this place he must come and stay here for a day or two. Otherwise my mind shall be very unhappy. What sort of a boy do you find B. to be?
Disciple: He is remarkably mild and gentle.
Master: Is he guileless1 or not?
Disciple: To all appearance not perfectly guileless. But I think this may be explained. A person of a mild disposition keeps his thoughts and feelings to himself. He is never demonstrative.
By this time the Lord has come back to His own quarters.
Before Hazra.
A Doctor2 is present. This gentleman makes an excellent preparation of Haritalabhasma (calx of the sulphate of arsenic). Upon seeing him the Lord says, "His medicine suits me wonderfully. The man is a right man." Thereupon Hazra says "Quite so, Sir; but samsar (the world) is forced upon him. He cannot help it."
Nabai and cloth coloured with ochre
Hazra commented rather severely on the ochre-coloured cloth worn by old Naba Chaitanya. A man3 of the world to wear a gerua! How shocking! The Master says, "I really don't know what to say! There is, however, one consolation for me. I look upon all human beings,—in fact, all creatures—as incarnations of the Deity. I see God evolved into all things, God manifest in everything—in Man and Nature. I see God Himself has taken these multifarious forms that appear before our eyes in this universe!
1 Sarala.
2 Kabirâj.
3 Grihastha.
Narendra.
Hazra: Narendra is once more involved in a law suit.
Master: Yes, but he believes not in the Goddess1 of the Universe (Personal God with Forms).
Hazra: Precisely; he says, if I believe in Sakti I should be setting a bad example to those that would follow me.
Master: Well, what do you think is the extent of the good that he derives from here (i.e., from himself).
Hazra: You love him.
Master (to M.): Did you not meet him any of these days? Will you just see him at his house? O! do bring him here along with you in a carriage, will you?
Then turning to Hazra the Master says, 'What do you think of Bhabanath and his attachment to me? Is this not a case again of tendencies2 acquired in one's previous incarnations?'
Talking of H. and Latu and referring to their habit of incessant meditation,3 the Master says to Hazra, "What are all these? No end of meditation! What do you say?"
Hazra: Quite so. Had they been engaged in your service, that would have been a different matter altogether.
Master (pleading): Well, possibly, their period of discipline being over, somebody else will take their place and serve.
1 Sakti.
2 Samskâra.
3 Dhyâna.
What do you think of me? Do you not see that sometimes I have single-minded devotion1 to, say, the Goddess of the Universe, and sometimes not? Then I go in for all sorts of Gods and Goddesses and adore them with an equal degree of devotion! Sometimes again I meditate upon God2 the Absolute. I am sometimes a chaste wife and sometimes not! Is this not curious? Other people3 are actuated by a special feeling of their own. For instance, the ruling feeling with one person is the love of Krishna, of another is the love of Rama, of a third the communion with God the Absolute, and so on.
Hazra held his peace.
* * * *
It was evening. After the usual prayers4 and other religious exercises that are enjoined on the pious Hindu there was yet another meeting between the Master and the disciple above referred to.
Contradiction or Harmony?
The following dialogue then took place. The subject was the apparently-contradictory systems of religious faith amongst the Hindus.
Disciple:—Lord, is this a contradiction, some amongst the Hindus holding that Sri Krishna is identical with the Mother of the Universe5 and others holding that Sri Krishna is God the Absolute1 and Râdhâ is the Goddess who rules the Universe, the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer?
1 Nishthâ.
2 Akhanda-Satchidânanda.
3 The Lord meant Hazra himself, who then prided on his 'Nishthâ.'
4 Nitya Karma.
5 Kâli or Chit Sakti.
Master: The former view is that of certain scriptures.2 Be it so, but there need be no contradiction; God is Infinite. Infinite are the Forms in which He manifests Himself! Infinite also is the number of ways leading to Him!
Disciple: Oh, I see! The end in view is how to get on to the roof of the house. The means may be different. It may be, Lord, as you often say, a single rope, a bamboo, a wooden ladder or a pucca staircase!
Master: Quite so. That you see this at once is due to the special grace of God. Without His grace doubt3 is never cleared up. The fact is, our attitude with respect to God should be like that of Hanuman who said to Ramachandra, 'Lord, I care not for the phases4 of the moon or for the appearance of stellar constellations on particular days.5 What alone I am concerned with is how to meditate upon Rama.'
The One Thing Needful—Bhakti.
Suppose you go into a garden to eat mangoes. Is it necessary for you first, to count the number of trees in the garden, which may be many thousands, or the number of branches of those trees, which may be tens of thousands, or lastly, the number of leaves, which may be hundreds of thousand?. Certainly not. You should at once, on the contrary, proceed to eat. In the same way it is useless, to enter into all sorts of discussions and controversies regarding God which only cause a waste of time and energy. Instead of throwing away one's time, in this way, one's present and most important duty—the duty that is nearest to one—is to love God—to cultivate Bhakti or devotion.
1 Âtman.
2 Devi Purâna.
3 Samsaya.
4 Tithis.
5 Nakshatras.
Work in the World.
Disciple: I should greatly desire that my work in the world should become a little less than now. The pressure of work stands in the way of one's giving one's mind to God, does it not, Sir?
Master: Oh yes, no doubt, that is so; but a wise man1 may work unattached and then work would not do any harm to him.
Disciple: But, Sir, that depends upon a tremendous power of will derived from the realisation of God, i.e., called forth by God-vision. First, the Realisation of God; then, work without attachment. Is it not so, Lord?
Master: I must say you are right. But the probability is that you must have desired for these things in previous incarnations. Your duty now is to pray without ceasing for Bhakti or Love of God so that the bondage of work shall gradually fall off.
Disciple (heaving a sigh): It seems to me this is like locking the stable door after the horse has run away!
1 Jnâni.
Master: Do you ever feel the joy of the Lord?
* * * *
The Joy of the Lord. 'Take no Thought for the Morrow.'
Master: Try to follow the precept,1 that one should avail oneself of things that come naturally in one's way without having to put forth any effort for the attainment of those things. Take no thought for things of that kind, 'saving against the rainy day,' etc., etc.
What thinkest thou of Me?
Master: Are people drawn towards me by the attractive nature of what I say? What do they think of me? What do you feel when you look on me?
Disciple: Here I find in One and the same Person the highest divine knowledge,2 the intensest love3 of God, the highest renunciation4 and with it a marvellous simplicity.5 This simplicity is what keeps people back. The multitude turn away from such a simple and, what seems to them, such an ordinary man. But it is precisely this which causes a select few to be drawn towards you! To them the wonder is that it is possible for a person to keep up simplicity in spite of spiritual perceptions of a magnitude that rises above all human comprehension! Men-of-war have passed through the river and still it looks no better than a small creek or rivulet.
The Master on Himself—A Hint.
Master: (smiling) There is a Vaishnab sect among the Hindus, hailing from Ghosh Parah. They say you cannot get to be Sahaj (the Pre-eminently-Simple, namely, God) unless you have yourself become Sahaj.
1 Jadrichchâ-lâva.
2 Jnâna.
3 Prema.
4 Vairâgya.
5 Sahajâvasthâ.
Master; Have I any egotism?1
Disciple: Yes, a little; and that little has been as you say kept with a view: first, to the preservation of the body; second, the culture of Bhakti, or devotion to God; third, the desire to mix in the company of devotees2; fourth, the desire to give instruction to others. At the same time, it must be said that you have kept all these after a good deal of Prayer. My idea, Sir, is that the natural state of your soul is capable of being described only by the word Samadhi. Hence I say that the egotism that you have is the result of Prayer.
Master: Yes; but it is not I that have kept it—this self;3 it is my Divine Mother!
Disciple: The other day, you were talking to Pandit Sasadhar about Nârad and his self. You said, 'One has to go to the Celestial Tree4 which grants all desires, and then to pray; the boons that one will receive depends upon the kind of the prayer that one makes, God is the Celestial Tree.
Master: Yes. But it lies with my Divine Mother to grant the prayer.
* * * *
The Master teaches, 'The world is Horrible'
Master: B. says, 'The world, Oh, how terrible!'
Disciple: Oh that is, I am afraid, all hearsay. He has no personal experience, boy as he is.
1 Abhimân.
2 Bhaktas.
3 Aham.
4 Kalpa Taru.
Master: Yes, yes, that is so.
Teacheth Saralata (guilelessness) and points out the evils of marriage.
Master: How free from guile is N.! πDisciple: His very appearance is prepossessing. How attractive are his eyes!
Master: Not only the eyes, but taken all in all. At the proposal of his marriage he said to his people, Why are you going to get me drowned? For, once married, it shall be all over with me!
Later on the following conversation was held between Master and Disciple. Rakhal was present.
Master (laughing): People say it is exceedingly delightful to enjoy the company of one's wife after the day's hard work is over (Laughter).
Disciple: No doubt that is so in the case of those who look upon the wife as the greatest source of happiness. (Aside to R.) I am going through a cross-examination and the Master's questions are leading questions.
Master (laughing): Mothers generally say, 'If I can but procure for my child the 'Foot of a Tree,' the shelter where he is to take rest in the desert of this world, then my task is done.' That 'Foot of the tree' is said to be the wife! (Laughter).
Disciple: There are parents and parents,—mothers and mothers. Surely parents that are mukta (liberated from the bondage of the world) would not think of giving their sons away in marriage. If they do so, they must be mukta (liberated) indeed!
The Master only laughed. Here the rest of the company left the room.
Master: What do you think takes place at the time of my Avesha (God-consciouness)?
Avesha is that blessed and serene mood in which one is blessed with the vision of the Divinity.
Disciple: Your spirit, Lord, is then in the sixth Bhumi (plane) mentioned in the Vedas. Then you come down to the 5th plane when you begin to talk.
Master: I am only an humble instrument in His hands. It is He who is doing all these things. I do not know anything.
Disciple: This wonderful Self-effacement! Hence it is, Lord, that all people are drawn to Thee!
Daya (Kindness to All).
Disciple: You said that Mâyâ is attachment to one's own relatives and friends, but Dayâ is love extending to all mankind—even to all God's creatures. I am afraid I do not see this clearly enough. Is it not the fact that Dayâ is a pravritti (i.e., a feeling which makes a man cling to the world)?
Master: Why, Dayâ is not a bad feeling. It is elevating and leads one Godward.
Disciple: But is it not a fact that it belongs to the pravritti-marga (i.e., the other way, which leads away from God)?
* * * *
The Disciple's Second Appeal?
Disciple (humbly): Sir, now I have a great desire to turn my exclusive attention to these things, and to this end should very much like that my work in the world should diminish.
Master: Oh yes, that is quite natural. I dare say the Lord will help thee.
Nirâkâr (Formless) or Sâkâr (with Form)?
Master: Do you believe in Nirâkâr or Sâkâr—God with Form, or God without Form?
Disciple: I go so far as the attributes. God has attributes; so far I see clearly enough. But is it not a fact that it is impossible to think of the 'Formless' without the help of forms? Anyhow we must go through forms or images.
Master (smiling): So you see, I lay stress upon one's meditating on Personal God (God1 with form) as eminently favourable to the culture of Bhakti2.
Disciple: Revered Sir, is Pandit Sasadhar making any progress in this direction (i.e., in the path of Bhakti)?
Master: Yes; but he is drawn more to the path3 of Knowledge by Philosophy. These men belong to a class of their own. They do not see that this way is exceedingly difficult.
1 Sâkâr.
2 Devotion.
3 Jnân-marga.
No one spoke for some time. Was the Master all the while reading the Soul of the disciple humbly sitting at his feet and looking up for strength and guidance into his benignant face, smiling and beaming with the Joy of the Lord?
Renunciation or Tyâga.
Master (encouragingly): It is sufficient if one can give up the world from the mind.
Is not Outward Renunciation Absolutely Necessary?
Disciple: This kind of teaching is, as it seems to me, intended for the weak. For men of the highest class it is renunciation in the strict sense of the word. They must give up the world not only from the mind but also outwardly!
Master: You have heard all about non-attachment1 that I was talking about?
Disciple: Yes; I understand by non-attachment not simply the want of attachment to things of this world. It is Non-attachment plus Something. That something is the Love of God.
Master: You are quite right.
Disciple: Sir, what is God-vision?
What it is to see God.
Master: God-vision cannot be made clearly intelligible to others. The state of things that comes about may, however, be described to a certain extent.
1 Vairâgya,
You have no doubt been to the theatre to witness a dramatic performance. Before the performance has commenced you must have noticed that the people are very busy talking to one another on a variety of subjects—politics, household affairs, official business, &c. But the curtain goes up and behold, mountains, cottages, rivers, men are suddenly presented to view! Instantaneously all noise, all conversation is at an end and each spectator is all attention to the novel scene that is being enacted before him.
Pretty much the same is the state of him who is blessed with God-vision.
The World and Prema.
Disciple: Prema,* as you have said to-day, is the string of love with which to bind the God of Love. With Prema (an intense love of God) one may be sure of seeing God as soon as one calls out to Him.
But the question is whether such Prema is within the reach of a man of the world (grihastha).
The Lord was silent for a while.
* * * * *
Disciple: Haripada knows how to expound1 the Puranas like a professional Hindu pandit. He knows for instance how to describe the life of Prahlada like such a pandit.2
Master: Oh, does he? The other day I noticed that his eyes were unusually worked up. Thereupon I asked him, "Do you give yourself to excessive meditation?" He only held down his head. I said, "Go not so fast; you must avoid extremes."
* Ecstatic love of God.
1 Kathakatâ.
2 Kathaka.
It was about 9 P.M. Now entered Adhar Lal Sen, and a short while after there was a talk on the burning waters of Sitakund near Chandranath Hills in Chittagong. What seemed like tongues of flame were visible, it was said from the surface of the water in the Kunda.
Master (to Adhar): How do you account for this?
Here one of the disciples said to Adhar, 'It is phosphorous in the water, is it not?'
Adhar (to Master): It burns because of the phosphorous in the water.
LOVE FOR THE DISCIPLES.
Master (to Adhar): There is Ram here so kind. Otherwise there would have been nobody to call Harish and others (i. e., the disciples) to dinner. They are so wrapt up in their meditation1.
The Master had thus a good word to say by way of introducing Ramchatterji (the priest) to the fovourable notice of Adhar, who was a Deputy Magistrate. Adhar often helped such men in a substantial way.
1 Dhyâna.