CHAPTER II.
GOD-VISION OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA.
It is between 7 and 8 o'clock the following morning; Monday, 15th March. The Master has rallied a little. Softly he talks with the disciples. He is seated, reclining on pillows. At times he expresses his thoughts by means of signs.
Narendra, Rakhal, M., Latoo, Sasi, Gopal (senior)—are seated before Him.
The disciples sit mute; their heart knows no peace. They call back to their mind the state of the Master on the previous night, and look grave.
God Manifesteth Himself as Man and Nature
Master (to M.): Do you Know what I see! I see Him as All. Man and other creatures,—they appear as veritable figures skin-bound,—with the Lord within,—shaking the head or moving the hands and feet!
I had once a like perception:—One substance, I felt, had taken the forms of the Cosmos with all living creatures; like a house of wax, with gardens, roads, men, cows, and the rest, all made of wax and nothing but wax!
I see, I realize, that all the three come of one Substance,—the victim to be sacrificed, the block for sacrifice, and he who cuts down the victim for sacrifice.
[Does the Master say that He offers himself as a sacrifice for the sake of mankind and that it is the Lord that manifests Himself as the victim for sacrifice?]
Saying this the Master cries out in a feeble voice, "Ah me! Ah me! What a Vision!"
The state of God-consciousness once more! The Master has soared high above the sense-world! The state of ecstasy is not good for Him,—so think the disciples. But they know not what to do.
He comes back again to the ordinary state of consciousness. He says, "Now I am free from suffering of any kind. I am as well as ever."
The disciples see that he has passed into a state which is beyond joy and grief, happiness and misery.
Latoo hangs down his head which rests on the palm of his hand, as he watches the Master with a sorrowful heart.
The Master lifts up his eyes and looks on the disciples. His heart overflows with the unspeakable love that he bears towards his darlings—a love that the world cannot give!—a love that passes all human understanding.
Rakhal and Narendra! How He fondles them! He strokes their faces and caresses them as if they were children five years old!
A short while after, he says to M. in a sad tone,—"Were it given to this body to stay on in this world for a few days more, the souls of many people would have been waked up!"
With these words he remains silent for a time. He continues, saying,—
"But it hath been ordained otherwise!"
The disciples wait for His next words. The Master says again,—"Yes, such is not the will of the Lord; here is one in whom there is no guile, one that knows not letters; and people may take advantage. He may give away God's best gifts to those that are not worthy and know not the value of devotional exercises, in this age of sensuality and mammon-worship."
Does the Master mean that the Son of God, the Divine Incarnation, is the Embodiment of God's Love for Mankind, and that the world cannot be kept going if all human beings who are expected to work for the perpetuity of the species come to realise God through His Son, and thus bring a cessation to it?
Rakhal (affectionately): Do speak to the Lord, Sir so that thy body may remain in this world for some time more.
Sri Râmakrishna: Lord's will be done!
Narendra: Thy will has become one with the Will of the Lord!
The Master holds his peace as if thinking within himself.
Sri Râmakrishna (to Narendra, Rakhal and others): Well, nothing comes of my speaking to the Lord about it. His Will shall be done.
I now see that I and my Divine Mother have become one once for all. Râdhâ said to Krishna 'O Beloved, abide thou within my heart and appear not any longer in thy human form.' But she soon yearned to see Krishna in human form. Her heart struggled and panted after the Beloved. But the Lord's Will must be done, and Krishna did not appear in human form for a long time.
Rakhal (aside to the disciples): Master speaks of Chaitanya.
M. (to himself): One with His Divine Mother! One with the Undifferentiated! Now it is so hard for him to continue as a separate personality! The Son merged into the Mother! Is this the meaning of the Master's words?