CHAPTER III.
THE MASTER WITH HIS DISCIPLES.
It is afternoon. The disciples and other devotees are walking about in the Temple Garden. The Master converses with M. He talks of the younger disciples.
Master: Everybody except Paltu says, I am getting on well with my meditation1. How is it that Paltu cannot do so and fix his mind on God?
1 Dhyâna.
M: He has so many things to read for the examination. That probably stands in the way of concentration.
The Shadows of the World and Narendra.
Master: What do you think of Narendra? Is it not the fact that there is no guile in him?
M: Yes, that is so, Sir.
Master: But he has received of late several blows from the world.
M: Yes, the death of his father has left his family almost helpless.
Master: He has to think a good deal about his family. Thus, the light within him is a little hidden under the shadows of the world. This state of things, however, will not last long.
The Master now and then steps into the corridor where Narendra is talking with a Vedantist. He watches Narendra talking.
The disciples have come back into the chamber. The Master asks Mahimacharan to recite a Sanskrit prayer from the Sacred Books.
Mahima quotes* from Mahanirvana Tantra saying—
"In the lotus of my heart do I worship God the Absolute whom Hari (God, the Preserver), Hara (God, the Destroyer) and Bidhi (God, the Creator) all desire to know, and upon Whom the Yogis always meditate with a view to Realisation.
* Hridayakamalamadhye, Nirvisesam, Niriham, etc., 3rd Ullâsa.
He removes all fear of birth and death: He is Absolute Existence and Intelligence;
He contains within Himself the Seed of the Multitudinous Worlds."
The Master's Message of Hope to the Householder.
The Master is deeply touched as these and other holy texts are being chanted by Mahima, who then proceeds to recite a prayer to Siva composed by the great Sankaracharya. In it the Lord1 of the World is asked to save the devotee from being drowned in the sea of the world. The world is also represented in this prayer as a place of misery—a deep dense wilderness in which one loses the way and cannot find the way out.
Now Mahimacharan is a man of the world and a householder.
Sri Râmakrishna (to Mahima): Why do you say that the world is a well in which men are drowned, or that it is a deep dense forest in which one must lose one's way? Why do you say it is a place of misery and nothing more? These epithets are all very good from the standpoint of a beginner. Surely they are all quite out of place on the lips of him who clings to the Lord in weal and in woe. Away with all fear—when it is the Lord that guides your feet! Then cry out with joy like another devotee, also a householder;—
1 Siva.
"Verily is this world a Mansion of joy.
Let me pass my days eating, drinking and rejoicing.
Janaka the royal sage, how great was his power? Was there anything in which he was found wanting—spiritual or temporal?
Ah! no, he did give his mind to God and at the same time drink out of his cup of milk!"
Whom to fear? The Lord is thy Friend; hold Him fast and He will lead thee by the hand. Never mind that it is 'a deep dense forest overgrown with weeds and thorns'! Put on a pair of shoes and the thorns will not prick your feet or cause them to bleed. Away with fear. In this play of 'hide and seek' touch the Holy Person of the Grand Dame, our Divine Mother, Who leadeth the play unattached. Once you touch Her Person you are spared the necessity of taking any further part in this exciting play. Yes, you shall have no longer to run about excited and to be in bondage like the 'thief' of the play.
Janaka, the royal sage, you know, wielded a couple of swords. One was the sword of True Knowledge, the other the sword of Work. He who is expert in handling the swords has nothing to fear.
* * * * *
The Master remains sitting on the lounge. M. is seated on the floor close to him.
Master (aside to M.): What he has said has drawn my mind, as it were, away,—from lighter matters.
(The Master here speaks of the first prayer chanted by Mahimacharan addressed to God the Absolute.)
Now they are singing forth the Name of the Lord and dancing with joy. The Master joins the disciples. He is filled with deep devotional feelings and sings and dances with the devotees.
The singing over, the Master says to the disciples, The chanting of the Lord's Name with love is the One thing Needful; all the rest is of little value! Bhakti is the reality; all else is unreal!
* * * *
Truth and Revelation.
They are seated on the floor talking. Narendra and Ram (Datta) are engaged in hotly discussing a point. Ram has come to see the Master after his recovery from a recent illness.
The Master watches them talking and raising their voice in the course of the discussion.
Master (aside to M.): I, for my part, do not like such discussions. (Aloud to Ram): Stop, you are not perfectly restored to health!—Very well, go on softly, and do not get excited.
(Aside to M.): All this is not at all to my liking. I used to cry to my Divine Mother, saying, O, Mother, one man says, 'It is thus, It is thus,' another man says, 'It is something else.' Reveal unto me, Good Mother, what the truth is!