Chapter
22
ADVICE TO AN ACTOR
Saturday, May 24, 1884
SRI RAMAKRISHNA
was sitting on the small couch in his room. Rākhāl , M., and, several other devotees
were present. A special worship of Kāli had been performed in the temple the
previous night. In connection with the worship a theatrical performance of the
Vidyasundar had been staged in the Natmandir. The MASTER had watched a part of it that
morning. The actors came to his room to pay him their respects. The MASTER,
in a happy mood, became engaged in conversation with a fair complexioned young
man who had taken the part of Vidyā and played his part very well.
MASTER (to the actor): "Your acting was
very good. If a person excels in singing, music, dancing, or any other art, he
can also quickly realize God provided he strives sincerely.
"Just as you practise much in order to sing, dance, and
play on instruments, so one should practise the art of fixing the mind on God.
One should practise regularly such disciplines as worship, japa, and
meditation.
"Are you married? Any children?"
ACTOR: "Yes, sir. I had a girl who died. Another child has
been born."
MASTER: "Ah! A death and a birth, and
all so quickly! You are so young! There is a saying: 'My husband died just
after our marriage. There are so many nights for me to weep!' You are no doubt
realizing the nature of worldly happiness. The world is like a hog plum. The
hog plum has only pit and skin, and after eating it you suffer from colic.
"You are an actor in the theatre. That's fine. But it
is a very painful profession. You are young now; so you have a full, round
face. Afterwards there will be hollows in your cheeks. Almost all actors become
like that; they get hollow cheeks and big bellies. (Laughter.)
"Why did I stay to watch your performance? I found the
rhythm, the music, and the melody all correct. Then the Divine Mother showed me
that it was God alone who acted in the performance in the roles of the
players."
ACTOR: "Sir, what is the difference between lust and
desire?"
MASTER: "Lust is like the root of the
tree, and desires are branches and twigs.
Passions should be directed to God
"One
cannot completely get rid of the six passions: lust, anger, greed, and the
like. Therefore one should direct them to God. If you must have desire and
greed, then you should desire love of God and be greedy to attain Him. If you
must be conceited and egotistic, then feel conceited and egotistic thinking
that you are the servant of God, the child of God.
"A man cannot see God unless he gives his whole mind to
Him. The mind is wasted on 'woman and gold'. Take your own case. You have
children and are occupied with the theatre. The mind cannot be united with God
on account of these different activities.
"As long as there is bhoga, there will be less of yoga.
Furthermore, bhoga begets suffering. It is said in the Bhagavata that the
Avadhuta chose a kite as one of his twenty-four gurus. The kite had a fish in
its beak; so it was surrounded by a thousand crows. Whichever way it flew with
the fish, the crows pursued it crying, 'Caw! Caw!' When all of a sudden the
fish dropped from its beak, the crows flew after the fish, leaving the kite
alone.
"The 'fish' is the object of enjoyment. The 'crows' are
worries and anxiety. Worries and anxiety are inevitable with enjoyment. No
sooner does one give up enjoyment than one finds peace.
Money is the source of trouble
"What
is more, money itself becomes a source of trouble. Brothers may live happily,
but they get into trouble when the property is divided. Dogs lick one another's
bodies; they are perfectly friendly. But when the house- holder throws them a
little food, they get into a scrap.
"Come here now and then. (Pointing to M. and the
others) They come here on Sundays and other holidays."
ACTOR: "We have holidays for three months, during the rainy
and harvest seasons. It is our good fortune to be able to visit you. On our way
to Dakshineswar we heard of two persons-yourself and Jnanarnava."
MASTER: "Be on friendly terms with
your brothers. It looks well. You must have noticed in your theatrical
performance that if four singers sing each in a different way, the play is
spoiled."
Actor: "Yes, sir. Many birds are trapped in a net; if
they all fly together and drag the net in one direction, then many of them may
be saved. But that doesn't happen if they try to fly in different directions.
"One also sees in a theatrical performance a person
keeping a pitcher of water on his head and at the same time dancing
about."
Do your duties and remember God
MASTER: "Live in the world but keep
the pitcher steady on your head; that is to say, keep the mind firmly on God.
"I once said to the sepoys from the barracks: 'Do your
duty in the world but remember that the "pestle of death" will some
time smash your hand. Be alert about it.'
"In Kamarpukur I have seen the women of carpenter
families making flattened rice with a husking-machine. One woman kicks the end
of the wooden beam, and another woman, while nursing her baby, turns the paddy
in the mortar dug in the earth. The second woman is always alert lest the
pestle of the machine should fall on her hand. With the other hand she fries
the soaked paddy in a pan. Besides, she is talking with customers; she says:
'You owe us so much money. Please pay it before you go.' Likewise, do your
different duties in the world, fixing your mind on God. But practice is
necessary, and one should also be alert. Only in this way can one safeguard
both―God and the world."
MASTER: "Proof? God can be seen. By
practising spiritual discipline one sees God, through His grace. The rishis
directly realized the Self. One cannot know the truth about God through
science. Science gives us information only about things perceived by the
senses, as for instance: this material mixed with that material gives such and
such a result, and that material mixed with this material gives such and such a
result.
"For this reason a man cannot comprehend spiritual
things with his ordinary intelligence. To understand them he must live in the
company of holy persons. You learn to feel the pulse by living with a
physician."
ACTOR: "Yes, sir. Now I understand."
MASTER: "You must practise tapasya.
Only then can you attain the goal. It will avail you nothing even if you learn
the texts of the scriptures by heart. You cannot become intoxicated by merely
saying 'siddhi' over and over. You must swallow some.
"One cannot explain the vision of God to others. One cannot
explain conjugal happiness to a child five years old."
ACTOR: "How does One realize the Ātman?"
Just then Rākhāl was about to take his meal in the MASTER's
room. He hesitated at the sight of so many people. During those days the MASTER
looked on Rākhāl as Gopala and on himself as Mother Yaśoda.
MASTER (to Rākhāl ): "Why don't you
eat? Let the people stand aside if you wish it. (To a devotee) Keep some ice
for Rākhāl . (To Rākhāl ) Do you intend to go to Vanhooghly? Don't go in this
sun."
Rākhāl sat down to his meal. SRI
RAMAKRISHNA again spoke to the actor.
MASTER: "Why didn't all of you take
your meal from the kitchen of the Kāli temple? That would have been nice."
ACTOR: "All of us don't have the same opinion about food; so
our food is cooked separately. All don't like to eat in the guest-house."
While Rākhāl was taking his meal, the MASTER
and the devotees sat on the porch and continued their conversation.
Means of Self-realization
MASTER (to the actor): "You asked me
about Self-realization. Longing is the means of realizing Ātman. A man must
strive to attain God with all his body, with all his mind, and with all his
speech. Because of an excess of bile one gets jaundice. Then one sees
everything as yellow; one perceives no colour but yellow. Among you actors,
those who take only the roles of women acquire the nature of a woman; by
thinking of woman your ways and thoughts become womanly. Just so, by thinking
day and night of God one acquires the nature of God.
"The mind is like white linen just returned from the
laundry. It takes on the colour you dip it in."
ACTOR: "But it must first be sent to the laundry."
MASTER: "Yes. First is the
purification of the mind. Afterwards, if you direct the mind to the
contemplation of God, it will be coloured by God-
Consciousness. Again, if you direct the mind to worldly
duties, such as the acting of a play, it will be coloured by worldliness."
SRI RAMAKRISHNA had rested on his bed only a few minutes when Hari,
Narayan, Narendra Bannerji, and other devotees arrived from Calcutta and
saluted him. Narendra Bannerji was the son of the professor of Sanskrit at the
Presidency College of Calcutta. Because of friction with other members of the
family, he had rented a separate house where he lived with his wife and children.
Narendra was a very simple and guileless man. He practised spiritual discipline
and, at the time of meditation, heard various sounds-the sound of a gong, and
so on. He had travelled in different parts of India and he visited the MASTER
now and then.
Narayan was a school boy sixteen or seventeen years old. He
often visited the MASTER, who was very fond of him.
Hari lived with his brothers at their Baghbazar house. He
had studied up to the matriculation class in the General Assembly Institution.
Then he had given up his studies and devoted his time at home to the
contemplation of God, the reading of the scriptures, and the practice of yoga.
He also visited the MASTER now and then.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA often sent for Hari when he went to Balarām's house in Baghbazar.
MASTER (to the devotees): "I have
heard a great deal about Buddha. He is one of the ten Incarnations of God.2
Brahman is immovable, immutable, inactive, and of the nature of Consciousness.
When a man merges his buddhi, his intelligence, in Bodha, Consciousness, then
he attains the Knowledge of Brahman; he becomes buddha, enlightened.
"Nangta used to say that the mind merges in the buddhi,
and the buddhi in Bodha, Consciousness.
"The aspirant does not attain the Knowledge of Brahman
as long as he is conscious of his ego. The ego comes under one's control after
one has obtained the Knowledge of Brahman and seen God. Otherwise the ego
cannot be controlled. It is difficult to catch one's own shadow. But when the
sun is overhead, the shadow is within a few inches of the body."
A DEVOTEE: "What is the vision of God like?"
MASTER : "Haven't you seen a
theatrical performance? The people are engaged in conversation, when suddenly
the curtain goes up. Then the entire mind of the audience is directed to the play.
The people don't look at other things any longer. Samādhi is to go within
oneself like that. When the curtain is rung down, people look around again.
Just so, when the, curtain of māyā falls, the mind becomes externalized.
(To Narendra Bannerji) "You have travelled a great
deal. Tell us some thing about the sādhus."
Narendra told the story of two yogis in Bhutan who used to
drink daily a pound of the bitter juice of neem-leaves. He had also visited the
hermitage of a holy man on the bank of the Narmada. At the sight of the Bengali
Babu dressed in European clothes, the sādhu had remarked, "He has a knife
hidden under his clothes, next to his belly."
Keeping the pictures of holy persons
MASTER: "One should keep pictures of
holy men in one's room. That constantly quickens divine ideas."
BANNERJI:
"I have your picture in my room; also the picture of a sādhu living in the
mountains, blowing on a piece of lighted charcoal, in a bowl of hemp."
MASTER: "It is true that one's
spiritual feelings are awakened by looking at the picture of a sādhu. It is
like being reminded of the custard-apple by looking at an imitation one, or
like stimulating the desire for enjoyment by looking at a young woman.
Therefore I tell you that you should constantly live in the company of holy
men.
(To Bannerji) "You
know very well the suffering of the world. You suffer whenever you accept
enjoyment. As long as the kite kept the fish in its beak, it was tormented by
the flock of crows.
"One finds peace of mind in the company of holy men.
The alligator remains under water a long time. But every now and then it rises
to the surface and breathes with a deep wheezing noise. Then it gives a sigh of
relief."
ACTOR: "Revered sir, what you have just said about enjoyment
is very true. One ultimately courts disaster if one prays to God for enjoyment.
Various desires come to the mind and by no means all of them are good. God is
the Kalpataru, the Wish-fulfilling Tree. A man gets whatever he asks of God.
Suppose it comes to his mind: 'God is the Kalpataru. Well, let me see if a
tiger will appear before me.' Because he thinks of the tiger, it really appears
and devours him."
MASTER: "Yes, you must remember that
the tiger comes. What more shall I tell you? Keep your mind on God. Don't
forget Him. God will certainly reveal Himself to you if you pray to Him with
sincerity. Another thing. Sing the name of God at the end of each performance.
Then the actors, the singers, and the audience will go home with the thought of
God in their minds."
The actors saluted the MASTER and took their leave.
Two ladies, devotees of SRI
RAMAKRISHNA, entered the room and saluted the MASTER. They had been fasting in
preparation for this visit. They were sisters-in-law, the wives of two
brothers, and were twenty-two or twenty-three years old. They were mothers of
children. Both of them had their faces covered with veils.
MASTER (to the ladies): "Worship
Śiva. This worship is described in a book called the Nityakarma. Learn the
rituals from it. In order to perform the worship of God you will be preoccupied
for a longtime with such religious duties as plucking flowers, making
sandal-paste, polishing the utensils of worship, and arranging offerings. As
you perform these duties your mind will naturally be directed to God. You will
get rid of meanness, anger, jealousy, and so forth. When you two sisters
talk to each other, always talk about spiritual matters.
"The thing is somehow to unite the mind with God. You
must not forget Him, not even once. Your thought of Him should be like the flow
of oil, without any interruption. If you worship with love even a brick or
stone as God, then through His grace you can see Him.
"Remember what I have just said to you. One should
perform such worship as the Śiva Puja. Once the mind has become mature, one
doesn't have to continue formal worship for long. The mind then always remains
united with God; meditation and contemplation become a constant habit of
mind."
ELDER SISTER-IN-LAW: "Will you please give us some
instruction?"
MASTER (affectionately): "I don't
give initiation. If a guru gives initiation he must assume responsibility for
the disciple's sin and suffering. The Divine Mother has placed me in the state
of a child. Perform the Śiva Puja as I told you. Come here now and then. We
shall see what happens later on through the will of God. I asked you to
chant the name of Hari at home. Are you doing that?"
ELDER SISTER-IN-LAW: "Yes."
MASTER: "Why have you fasted? You
should take your meal before you come here. Women are but so many forms
of my Divine Mother. I cannot bear to see them suffer; You are all images
of the Mother of the Universe. Come here after you have eaten, and you will
feel happy."
Saying this, SRI RAMAKRISHNA
asked. Ramlal to give the ladies some food. They were given fruit, sweets,
drinks, and other offerings from the temple.
The MASTER said: "You have eaten something. Now
my mind is at peace. I cannot bear to see women fast."
It was about five o'clock in the afternoon. SRI RAMAKRISHNA was sitting on the steps of the Śiva
temples. Adhar, Dr. Nitai, M., and several
other devotees were with him.
MASTER (to the devotees): "I want to
tell you something. A change has been coming over my nature."
The MASTER came down a step and sat near the devotees.
It seemed that he intended to communicate some of his deeper experiences to
them.
God in human forms
MASTER: "You are devotees. I have no
hesitation in telling you this. Nowadays I don't see the Spirit-form of God. He
is revealed to me in human form. It is my nature to see the form of God, to
touch and embrace Him. God is saying to me, 'You have assumed a body; therefore
enjoy God through His human forms.'
"God no doubt dwells in all, but He manifests Himself
more through man than through other beings. Is man an insignificant thing? He
can think of God, he can think of the Infinite, while other living beings
cannot. God exists in other living beings-animals, plants, nay, in all beings-,
but He manifests Himself more through man than through these others. Fire
exists in all beings, in all things; but its presence is felt more in wood.
Rāma said to Lakshmana: 'Look at the elephant, brother. He is such a big
animal, but he cannot think of God.'
Divine Incarnation
"But
in the Incarnation there is a greater manifestation of God than in other men.
Rāma said to Lakshmana, 'Brother, if you see in a man ecstatic love of God, if
he laughs, weeps, and dances in divine ecstasy, then know for certain that I
dwell in him."
The MASTER remained silent. After a few minutes he
resumed the conversation.
MASTER and Keshab
MASTER: "Keshab Sen used to come here
frequently. As a result he changed a great deal. Of late he became quite a
remarkable man. Many a time he came here with his party; but he also wanted to
come alone. In the earlier years of his life Keshab didn't have much
opportunity to live in the company of holy men.
"I visited him at his house in Colootola Street. Hriday
was with me. We were shown into the room where Keshab was working. He was
writing something. After a long while he put aside his pen, got off his chair,
and sat on the floor with us. But he didn't salute us or show us respect in any
other way.
"He used to come here now and then. One day in a
spiritual mood I said to him: 'One should not sit before a sādhu with one leg
over the other. That increases one's rajas.' As soon as he and his friends
would arrive, I would salute them before they bowed to me. Thus they gradually
learnt to salute a holy man, touching the ground with their foreheads.
"I
said to Keshab: 'Chant the name of Hari. In the Kaliyuga one should sing the
name and glories of God.' After that they began to sing the name of God with
drums and cymbals.
"Do
you know how my faith in the name of Hari was all the more strengthened? Holy
men, as you know, frequently visit the temple garden. Once a sādhu from Multan
arrived. He was waiting for a party going to Gangasagar. (Pointing to M.) The
sādhu was of his age. It was he who said to me, 'The way to realize God in the Kaliyuga
is the path of bhakti as prescribed by Nārada.'
"One day Keshab came here with his followers. They
stayed till ten at night. We were all seated in the Panchavati. Pratap and
several others said they would like to spend the night here. Keshab said: 'No,
I must go. I have some work to do.' I laughed and said: 'Can't you sleep
without the smell of your fish-basket?
Once a fishwife was a guest in the house of a gardener who
raised flowers. She came there with her empty basket, after selling fish in the
market, and was asked to sleep in a room where flowers were kept. But, because
of the fragrance of the flowers, she couldn't get to sleep for a long time. Her
hostess saw her condition and said, "Hello! Why are you tossing from side
to side so restlessly?" The fishwife said: "I don't know, friend.
Perhaps the smell of the flowers has been disturbing my sleep. Can you give me
my fish-basket? Perhaps that will put me to sleep."
The basket was brought to her. She sprinkled water on it and
set it near her nose. Then she fell sound asleep and snored all night.'
"At this story the followers of Keshab burst into loud
laughter.
God, the scripture, and the devotee are identical
"Keshab conducted the prayer that evening at the
bathing-ghat on the river. After the worship I said to him: 'It is God who
manifests Himself, in one aspect, as the scriptures; therefore one should
worship the sacred books, such as the Vedas, the Puranas, and the Tantras. In
another aspect He has become the devotee. The heart of the devotee is God's
drawing-room. One can easily find one's MASTER in the drawing-room. Therefore, by
worshipping His devotee, one worships God Himself.'
"Keshab and his followers listened to my words with
great attention. It was a full-moon night. The sky was flooded with light. We
were seated in the open court at the top of the stairs leading to the river. I
said, 'Now let us all chant, "Bhagavata-Bhakta-Bhagavan." ' All
chanted in unison, 'Bhagavata-Bhakta-Bhagavan.' Next I said to them, 'Say,
"Brahman is verily Śakti; Śakti is verily Brahman." ' Again they
chanted in unison. 'Brahman is verily Śakti; Śakti is verily Brahman.' I said
to them: 'He whom you address as Brahma is none other than She whom I call
Mother. Mother is a very sweet name.'
"Then I said to them, 'Say,
"Guru-Krishna-Vaishnava."' At this Keshab said: 'We must not go so
far, sir. If we do that, then all will take us for orthodox Vaishnavas.'
Brahman and Śakti
"I
used to tell Keshab now and then: 'He whom you address as Brahma is none other
than She whom I call Śakti, the Primal Energy. It is called Brahman in the
Vedas when it transcends speech and thought and is without attributes and
action. I call it Śakti, Ādyāśakti, and so forth, when I find it
creating, preserving, and destroying the universe.'
Difficulties of householder's life
"I
said to Keshab: 'It is extremely difficult to realize God while leading a
worldly life. How can a typhoid patient be cured if he is kept in a room where
tamarind, pickle, and jars of water are kept? Therefore one should go into
solitude now and then to practise spiritual discipline. When the trunk of a
tree becomes thick and strong, an elephant can be tied to it; but a young
sapling is eaten by cattle.' That is why Keshab would say in his lectures,
'Live in the world after being strengthened in spiritual life.'
(To the devotees) "You see, Keshab was a great scholar.
He lectured in English. Many people honoured him. Queen Victoria herself talked
to him. But when Keshab came here he would be bare-bodied and bring some fruit,
as one should when visiting a holy man. He was totally free from egotism.
(To Adhar) "You are a scholar and a deputy magistrate,
but with all that you are hen-pecked. Go forward. Beyond the forest of
sandal-wood there are many more valuable things: silver-mines, gold-mines,
diamonds, and other gems. The wood-cutter was chopping wood in the forest; the
brahmachāri said to him, 'Go forward.' "
SRI RAMAKRISHNA came down from the steps of the Śiva temples and went
to his own room through the courtyard. The devotees were
with him. Just then Ram Chatterji came and said that the Holy Mother's
attendant had had an attack of cholera.
RAM (to the MASTER): "I told you about it at ten o'clock
this morning, but you didn't pay any attention to me."
MASTER: "What could I do?"
RAM: "Yes, what could you do! But there were Rākhāl ,
Ramlal, and others. Even they didn't pay any attention."
M: "Kishori has gone to Alambazar to get medicine."
MASTER: "Alone? Where will he get
medicine?"
M: "Yes, alone. He will get it at Alambazar."
MASTER (to M.):
"Tell the nurse what to do if the illness takes a turn for the worse or if
the patient feels better."
M: "Yes, sir."
The ladies mentioned before saluted the MASTER and were about to take their
leave. SRI RAMAKRISHNA again said to them:
"Perform the Śiva Puja according to my instruction. And have something to
eat before you come here. Otherwise I shall feel unhappy. Come another
day."
SRI RAMAKRISHNA sat down on the porch west of his room. Narendra Bannerji,
Hari, M., and others sat by his side. The MASTER
knew about Narendra's family difficulties.
MASTER: "You see, all these
sufferings are 'because of a piece of loin cloth'. A man takes a wife and
begets children; therefore he must secure a job. The sādhu is worried about his
loin-cloth, and the householder about his wife. Further, the householder may
not live on good terms with his relatives; so he must live separately with his
wife. (With a laugh) Chaitanya once said to Nityananda: 'Listen to me, brother.
A man entangled in worldliness can never be free.' "
M. (to himself): "Perhaps the MASTER is referring to the world of
avidyā. It is the world of avidyā that entangles a householder."
M. was still living in a separate house with
his wife, on account of a misunderstanding with the other members of his
family.
MASTER (to Bannerji, pointing to M.): "He also lives in a separate house. You
two will get along very well. Once two men happened to meet. One said to the
other, 'Who are you?' 'Oh, I am away from my country', was the other's reply.
The second man then asked the first, 'And who are you, pray?' 'Oh, I am away
from my beloved', was the answer. Both were in the same plight; so they got
along very well. (All laugh.)
"But one need not have any fear if one takes refuge in
God. God protects His devotee."
HARI: "Well, why does it take many people such a long time
to realize Him?"
MASTER: "The truth is that a man
doesn't feel restless for God unless he is finished with his enjoyments and
duties. The physician says, referring to the patient: 'Let a few days pass
first. Then a little medicine will do him good.'
"Nārada said to Rāma: 'Rāma, You are passing Your time
in Ayhodhya. How will Ravana be killed? You have taken this human body for that
purpose alone.' Rāma replied: 'Nārada, let the right time come. Let Ravana's
past actions begin to bear fruit. Then everything will be made ready for his
death.' "
HARI: "Why is there so much suffering in the world?"
MASTER: "This world is the līlā of
God. It is like a game. In this game there are joy and sorrow, virtue and vice,
knowledge and ignorance, good and evil. The game cannot continue if sin and
suffering are altogether eliminated from the creation.
"In the game of hide-and-seek one must touch the
'granny' in order to be free. But the 'granny' is never pleased if she is
touched at the very outset. It is God's wish that the play should continue for
some time. Then-
Out of a hundred thousand kites, at best but one or two
break free;
And Thou dost laugh and clap Thy hands, O Mother, watching them!
And Thou dost laugh and clap Thy hands, O Mother, watching them!
In other words, after the practice of hard spiritual
discipline, one or two have the vision of God, through His grace, and are
liberated. Then the Divine Mother claps Her hands in joy and exclaims, 'Bravo!
There they go!' "
HARI: "But this play of God is our death."
MASTER (smiling): "Please tell me who
you are. God alone has become all this-māyā, the universe, living beings, and
the twenty-four cosmic principles. 'As the snake I bite, and as the charmer I
cure.' It is God Himself who has become both vidyā and avidyā. He remains
deluded by the māyā of avidyā, ignorance. Again, with the help of the guru, He
is cured by the māyā of vidyā, Knowledge.
"Ignorance, Knowledge, and Perfect Wisdom. The Jnāni
sees that God alone exists and is the Doer, that He creates, preserves, and
destroys. The vijnāni sees that it is God who has become all this.
"After attaining mahabhava and prema one realizes that
nothing exists but God. Bhakti pales before bhava. Bhāva ripens into mahabhava
and prema.
(To Bannerji) "Do
you still hear that gong-like sound at the time of meditation?"
BANNERJI : "Yes, sir. Every day. Besides, I have visions of God's
form. Do such things stop after the mind has once experienced them?"
MASTER: "True. Once the wood catches
fire, it cannot be put out. (To the devotees) He knows many things about
faith."
BANNERJI : "I have too much faith."
MASTER: "Bring the women of your
family with those of Balarām's."
BANNERJI: "Who is Balarām?"
MASTER: "Don't you know Balarām? He
lives at Bosepara."
SRI RAMAKRISHNA loved guileless people. Narendra Bannerji was absolutely
guileless. The MASTER
loved Niranjan because he, too, was without guile.
MASTER (to M.):
"Why do I ask you to see Niranjan? It is to find out if he is truly
guileless."
Sunday, May 25, 1884
SRI RAMAKRISHNA
was sitting on the cement platform that encircled the trunk of the old
banyan-tree in the Panchavati. Vijay, Surendra, Bhavanath, Rākhāl , and other
devotees were present, a few of them sitting with the MASTER on the platform, the rest on
the ground below. The devotees had thought of celebrating the MASTER's
birthday, which had had to be put off because of his illness. Since SRI RAMAKRISHNA now felt much better, the devotees
wanted to have the celebration that day. A woman musician, a famous singer of
kirtan, was going to entertain them with devotional songs.
It was one o'clock in the afternoon. M. had been looking for SRI RAMAKRISHNA
in the MASTER's
room. When he did not find him there, he went to the Panchavati and eagerly
asked the devotees, "Where is he?" He was standing right in front of
the MASTER
but in his excitement did not notice him. The devotees laughed loudly. A moment
later M. saw SRI RAMAKRISHNA and felt very much
embarrassed. He prostrated himself before the MASTER, who sat there facing the
south and smiling happily. Kedār and Vijay were sitting at his left. These two
devotees had had a misunderstanding recently when Kedār had cut off his
connexion with the Brahmo Samaj.
MASTER (to M.,
with a smile): "You see how I have united them?" The MASTER
had brought a mādhavi creeper from Vrindāvan in the year 1868 and had planted
it in the Panchavati. The creeper had grown big and strong. Some children were
jumping and swinging from it. The MASTER observed them and laughed. He said:
"They are like young monkeys. They will not give up swinging even though
they sometimes fall to the ground." Noticing that Surendra was standing
before him, the MASTER
said to him affectionately: "Come up and sit with us on the platform. Then
you can dangle your feet comfortably." Surendra went up and took his seat.
Bhavanath had his coat on. Surendra said to him, "Are you going to
England?"
MASTER (smiling): "God is our
England. Now and then I used to leave off my clothes and joyfully roam about
naked. Once Sambhu said to me: 'It is very comfortable to walk about naked.
That is why you do it. Once I did it myself.' "
SURENDRA: "On returning from the office, as I put away my coat
and trousers, I say to the Divine Mother, 'O Mother, how tightly You have bound
me to the world!' "
MASTER: "There are eight fetters with
which man is bound: shame; hatred, fear, pride of caste, hesitation, the desire
to conceal, and so forth."
SRI RAMAKRISHNA
sang:
Mother, this is the grief that sorely grieves my
heart,
That even with Thee for Mother, and though I am wide awake,
There should be robbery in my house. . . .
That even with Thee for Mother, and though I am wide awake,
There should be robbery in my house. . . .
He
continued:
In the world's busy market-place, O Syama, Thou
art flying kites;
High up they soar on the wind of hope, held fast by māyā's string.
Their frames are human skeletons, their sails of the three gunas made;
But all their curious workmanship is merely for ornament.
Upon the kite-strings Thou hast rubbed the manja-paste of worldliness,
So as to make each straining strand all the more sharp and strong.
Out of a hundred thousand kites, at best but one or two break free;
And Thou dost laugh and clap Thy hands, O Mother, watching them!
On favouring winds, says Ramprasad, the kites set loose will speedily
Be borne away to the Infinite, across the sea of the world.
High up they soar on the wind of hope, held fast by māyā's string.
Their frames are human skeletons, their sails of the three gunas made;
But all their curious workmanship is merely for ornament.
Upon the kite-strings Thou hast rubbed the manja-paste of worldliness,
So as to make each straining strand all the more sharp and strong.
Out of a hundred thousand kites, at best but one or two break free;
And Thou dost laugh and clap Thy hands, O Mother, watching them!
On favouring winds, says Ramprasad, the kites set loose will speedily
Be borne away to the Infinite, across the sea of the world.
MASTER: "'Māyā's string' means wife
and children.
Upon the kite-strings Thou hast rubbed the manja-paste of
worldliness.
'Worldliness' means 'woman and gold'.
The three gunas
"The
three gunas―sattva, rajas, and tamas―have men under their control. They are
like three brothers: As long as sattva exists, it calls on rajas for help; and
rajas can get help from tamas. The three gunas are so many robbers. Tamas kills
and rajas binds. Sattva no doubt releases man from his bondage, but it cannot
take him to God."
VIJAY (smiling): "It is because sattva, too, is a
robber."
MASTER (smiling): "True. Sattva
cannot take man to God, but it shows him the way."
BHAVANATH: "These are wonderful words indeed."
MASTER: "Yes, This is a lofty
thought."
Listening to these words of the MASTER, the devotees felt very
happy.
The bondage of "woman and gold"
MASTER: " 'Woman and gold' is the
cause of bondage. 'Woman and gold' alone constitutes samsara, the world. It is
'woman and gold' that keeps one from seeing God. (Holding the towel in front of
his face) Do you see my face any more? Of course not. The towel hides it. No
sooner is the covering of 'woman and gold' removed than one attains Chidananca,
Consciousness and Bliss.
Corrupting influence of lust
"Let
me tell you something. He who has renounced the pleasure of a wife has verily
renounced the pleasure of the world. God is very near to such a person."
The devotees listened to these words in silence.
MASTER (to Kedār, Vijay, and the other
devotees): "He who has renounced the pleasure of a wife has verily
renounced the pleasure of the world. It is 'woman and gold' that hides God. You
people have such imposing moustaches, and yet you too are involved in 'woman
and gold'. Tell me if it isn't true. Search your heart and answer me."
VIJAY: "Yes, it is true."
Kedār remained silent.
MASTER: "I see that all are under the
control of woman. One day I went to Captain's house. From there I was to go to
Ram's house. So I said to Captain, 'Please give me my carriage hire.' He asked
his wife about it. She too held back and said: 'What's the matter? What's the
matter?' At last Captain said, 'Ram will take care of it.' You see, the Gitā,
the Bhagavata, and the Vedānta all bow before a woman! (All laugh.)
"A man leaves his money, his property, and everything
in the hands of his wife. But he says with affected simplicity, 'I have such a
nature that I cannot keep even two rupees with me.'
"A man went to an office in search of a job. There were
many vacancies, but the manager did not grant his request. A friend said to the
applicant, 'Appeal to Golapi, and you will get the job.' Golapi was the
manager's mistress.
"Men do not realize how far they are dragged down by
women. Once I went to the Fort in a carriage, feeling all the while that I was
going along a level road. At last I found that I had gone four storeys down. It
was a sloping road.
"A man possessed by a ghost does not know he is under
the ghost's control. He thinks he is quite normal."
VIJAY (smiling): "But he can be cured by an exorcist if he
finds one."
In answer to Vijay SRI RAMAKRISHNA
only said, "That depends on the will of God." Then he went on with
his talk about women.
MASTER: "Everyone I talk to says,
'Yes, sir, my wife is good.' Nobody says that his wife is bad. (All laugh.)
Those who constantly live with 'woman and gold' are so infatuated with it that
they don't see things properly. Chess-players oftentimes cannot see the right
move for their pieces on the board. But those who watch the game from a
distance can understand the moves more accurately.
"Woman is the embodiment of māyā. In the course of his
hymn to Rāma, Nārada said: 'O Rāma, all men are parts of Thee. All women are
parts of Sita, the personification of Thy māyā. Please deign to grant that I
may have pure love for Thy Lotus Feet and that I may not be deluded by Thy
world bewitching māyā. I do not want any other favour than that.' "
Surendra's younger brother and his nephews were present. The
brother worked in an office and one of the nephews was studying law.
MASTER (to Surendra's relatives): "My
advice to you is not to become attached to the world. You see, Rākhāl now
understands what is knowledge and what is ignorance. He can discriminate
between the Real and the unreal. So I say to him: 'Go home. You may come here
once in a while and spend a day or two with me.'
"Have a friendly relationship with one another. That
will be for your good and make you all happy. In a theatre the performance goes
well only if the musicians sing with one voice. And that also gladdens the
hearts of the audience.
"Do your worldly duties with a part of your mind and
direct most of it to God. A sādhu should think of God with three quarters of
his mind and with one quarter should do his other duties. He should be very
alert about spiritual things. The snake is very sensitive in its tail. Its
whole body reacts when it is hurt there. Similarly, the whole life of a sādhu
is affected when his spirituality is touched."
SRI RAMAKRISHNA was going to the pine-grove and asked Gopal of Sinthi to
take his umbrella to his room. Arrangements had been made in the Panchavati for
the kirtan. When the Mister had returned and taken his seat again among the
devotees, the musician began her song. Suddenly there came a rain-storm. The MASTER
went back to his room with the devotees, the musician accompanying them to
continue her songs there.
MASTER (to Gopal): "Have you brought
the umbrella?"
GOPAL: "No, sir. I forgot all about it while listening to the
music."
The umbrella had been left in the Panchavati and Gopal
hurried to fetch it.
MASTER: "I am generally careless, but
not to that extent. Rākhāl also is very careless. Referring to the date
of an invitation, he says 'the eleventh' instead of 'the thirteenth'. And
Gopal-he belongs in a herd of cows!"
The musician sang a song about the monastic life of
Chaitanya. Now and then she improvised lines: "He will not look upon a
woman; for that is against the sannyasi's duty." "Eager to take away
men's sorrows, he will not look upon a woman." "For the Lord's birth
as Sri Chaitanya otherwise would be in vain."
The MASTER stood up, as he heard about Chaitanya's
renunciation, and went into samādhi. The devotees put garlands of flowers
around his neck. Bhavanath and Rākhāl supported his body lest he should
fall on the ground. Vijay, Kedār, Ram, M., Lātu, and the other devotees stood
around him in a circle, recalling one of the scenes of Chaitanya's kirtan.
The MASTER gradually came down to the sense plane. He
was talking to Krishna, now and then uttering the word "Krishna". He
could not say it very distinctly because of the intensity of his spiritual
emotion. He said: "Krishna! Krishna! Krishna! Krishna Satchidananda!
Nowadays I do not see Your form. Now I see You both inside me and outside. I
see that it is You who have become the universe, all living beings, the
twenty-four cosmic principles, and everything else. You alone have become mind,
intelligence, everything. It is said in the 'Hymn of Salutation to the Guru': 'I
bow down to the Guru by whose grace I have realized Him who pervades the
indivisible universe of the animate and the inanimate.'
"You alone are the Indivisible. Again, it is You who
pervade the universe of the animate and the inanimate. You are verily the
manifold universe; again, You alone are its basis. O Krishna! You are my life.
O Krishna! You are my mind. O Krishna! You are my intelligence. O Krishna! You
are my soul. O Govinda! You are my life-breath. You are my life itself."
Vijay was also in an ecstatic mood. The MASTER asked him, "My dear sir,
have you too become unconscious?" "No, sir", said Vijay humbly.
The music went on. The musician was singing about the
blinding love of God. As she improvised the lines:
O Beloved of my soul! Within the chamber of my
heart
I would have kept You day and night!
I would have kept You day and night!
The MASTER again went into samādhi. His injured arm
rested on Bhavanath's shoulder.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA partly regained outer consciousness. The musician
improvised:
Why should one who, for Thy sake, has given up
everything
Endure so much of suffering?
Endure so much of suffering?
The MASTER bowed to the musician and sat down to
listen to the music. Now and then he became abstracted. When the musician
stopped singing, SRI RAMAKRISHNA began to talk
to the devotees.
Prema
MASTER (to Vijay and the others):
"What is prema? He who feels it, this intense and ecstatic love of God,
not only forgets the world but forgets even the body, which is so dear to all.
Chaitanya experienced it."
The MASTER explained this to the devotees by singing a
song describing the ecstatic state of prema:
Oh, when will dawn the blessed day
When tears of joy will flow from my eyes
As I repeat Lord Hari's name? . . .
When tears of joy will flow from my eyes
As I repeat Lord Hari's name? . . .
The MASTER began to dance, and the devotees joined
him. He caught M. by the arm and dragged him into the circle. Thus dancing, SRI RAMAKRISHNA again went into samādhi. Standing
transfixed, he looked like a picture on canvas.
Kedār repeated the following hymn to bring his mind down
from the plane of samādhi:
We worship the Brahman-Consciousness in the Lotus
of the Heart,
The Undifferentiated, who is adored by Hari, Hara, and Brahma;
Who is attained by yogis in the depths of their meditation;
The Scatterer of the fear of birth and death,
The Essence of Knowledge and Truth, the Primal Seed of the world.
The Undifferentiated, who is adored by Hari, Hara, and Brahma;
Who is attained by yogis in the depths of their meditation;
The Scatterer of the fear of birth and death,
The Essence of Knowledge and Truth, the Primal Seed of the world.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA gradually came back to the plane of normal consciousness.
He took his seat and chanted the names of God: "Om Satchidananda! Govinda!
Govinda! Govinda! Yogamaya! Bhagavata-Bhakta-Bhagavan!"
The MASTER took dust from the place where the kirtan
had been sung and touched it to his forehead.
A little later SRI RAMAKRISHNA
was sitting on the semicircular porch facing the Ganges, the devotees sitting
by his side. Now and then the MASTER would exclaim, "Ah,
Krishnachaitanya!"
MASTER (to Vijay and the others):
"There has been much chanting of the Lord's name in the room. That is why
the atmosphere has become so intense."
BHAVANATH: "Words of renunciation, too."
The MASTER said, "Ah, how thrilling!" Then
he sang about Gaurānga and Nityananda :
Gora bestows the Nectar of prema;
Jar after jar he pours it out,
And still there is no end!
Sweetest Nitai is summoning all;
Beloved Gora bids them come;
Shāntipur is almost drowned,
And Nadia is flooded with prerna!
Jar after jar he pours it out,
And still there is no end!
Sweetest Nitai is summoning all;
Beloved Gora bids them come;
Shāntipur is almost drowned,
And Nadia is flooded with prerna!
Strict rules for sannyasi's life
MASTER (to Vijay and the others):
"The musician sang rightly: 'A sannyasi must not look at a woman.' This is
the sannyasi's dharma. What a lofty ideal!"
VIJAY: "Yes indeed, sir."
MASTER: "Others learn from the
sannyasi's example. That is why such strict rules are prescribed for him. A
sannyasi must not look even at the portrait of a woman. What a strict rule! The
slaughtering of a black goat is prescribed for the worship of the Divine
Mother; but a goat with even a slight wound cannot be offered. A sannyasi must
not only not have intercourse with woman; he must not even talk to her"
VIJAY: "Young Haridas talked with a pious woman. For that
reason Chaitanya banished him from his presence."
MASTER: "A sannyasi associated with
'woman and gold' is like a beautiful damsel with a bad odour. The odour makes
her beauty useless.
"Once a Mārwāri devotee wanted to give me some money.
Mathur wanted to deed me some land. But I couldn't accept either.
"The rules for the life of a sannyasi are very strict
indeed. If a man takes the garb of a sannyasi, he must act exactly like one.
Haven't you noticed in the theatre that the man who takes the part of the king
acts like a king, and the man who takes the part of a minister acts like a
minister?
"But on attaining the state of the paramahamsa one
becomes like a child. A child five years old doesn't know the difference
between a man and a woman. But even a paramahamsa must be careful, so as not to
set a bad example to others."
Referring to Keshab's association with "woman and
gold", which had hindered his work as a spiritual teacher, SRI RAMAKRISHNA said to Vijay, "He-do you
understand?"
VIJAY: "Yes, sir."
MASTER: "He couldn't achieve very
much because he wanted to satisfy both God and the world."
VIJAY: "Chaitanya said to Nityananda: 'Nitai, I shall not be
able to do the people any good unless I renounce the world. All will imitate me
and want to lead the life of a householder. No one will try to direct his whole
mind to the Lotus Feet of God, renouncing "woman and gold."
MASTER: "Yes. Chaitanyadeva
renounced the world to set an example to mankind.
The sannyasi is a world teacher
"The
sannyasi must renounce 'woman and gold' for his own welfare. Even if he is
unattached, and consequently not in danger, still, in order to set an example
to others, he must not keep 'woman and gold' near him. The sannyasi, the man of
renunciation, is a world teacher. It is his example that awakens the spiritual
consciousness of men."
It was nearly dusk. The devotees saluted the MASTER
and took their leave.
--------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment