Superphysics
Divine Mother's Sport
6 minutes • 1258 words
Table of contents
Then the Master sang the following song in his melodious voice:
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 maya’s string. Their frames are human skeletons, their sails of the 3 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.
The Divine Mother is always playful and sportive. This universe is Her play. She is self-willed and must always have Her own way. She is full of bliss. She gives freedom to 1 out of 100,000."
But, sir, if She likes, She can give freedom to all. Why, then, has She kept us bound to the world?
That is Her will. She wants to continue playing with Her created beings. In a game of hide-and-seek the running about soon stops if in the beginning all the players touch the ‘granny’. If all touch her, then how can the game go on? That displeases her.
Her pleasure is in continuing the game. Therefore the poet said:
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!
Reassurance to householders
It is as if the Divine Mother said to the human mind in confidence, with a sign from Her eye, ‘Go and enjoy the world.’ How can one blame the mind?
The mind can disentangle itself from worldliness if, through Her grace, She makes it turn toward Herself. Only then does it become devoted to the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother."
Whereupon Sri Ramakrishna, taking upon himself, as it were, the agonies of all householders, sang a song complaining to the Divine Mother: 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.
Many and many a time I vow to call on Thee, Yet when the time for prayer comes round, I have forgotten. Now I see it is all Thy trick.
As Thou hast never given, so Thou receivest naught; Am I to blame for this, O Mother? Hadst Thou but given, Surely then Thou hadst received; Out of Thine own gifts I should have given to Thee. Glory and shame, bitter and sweet, are Thine alone; This world is nothing but Thy play. Then why, O Blissful One, dost Thou cause a rift in it? Says Ramprasad: Thou hast bestowed on me this mind, And with a knowing wink of Thine eye Bidden it, at the same time, to go and enjoy the world.
And so I wander here forlorn through Thy creation, Blasted, as it were, by someone’s evil glance, Taking the bitter for the sweet, Taking the unreal for the Real. The Master continued: “Men are deluded through Her maya and have become attached to the world.
Says Ramprasad: Thou hast bestowed on me this mind, and with a knowing wink of Thine eye Bidden it, at the same time, to go and enjoy the world.”
BRAHMO DEVOTEE: “Sir, can’t we realize God without complete renunciation?”
(with a laugh): “Of course you can! Why should you renounce everything? You are all right as you are, following the middle path-like molasses partly solid and partly liquid. Do you know the game of nax? Having scored the maximum number of points, I am out of the game. I can’t enjoy it. But you are very clever. Some of you have scored ten points, some six, and some five. You have scored just the right number; so you are not out of the game like me. The game can go on. Why, that’s fine! (All laugh.) “I tell you the truth: there is nothing wrong in your being in the world. But you must direct your mind toward God; otherwise you will not succeed.
Do your duty with one hand and with the other hold to God. After the duty is over, you will hold to God with both hands.
Bondage and liberation are of the mind
It is all a question of the mind. Bondage and liberation are of the mind alone. The mind will take the colour you dye it with. It is like white clothes just returned from the laundry. If you dip them in red dye, they will be red. If you dip them in blue or green, they will be blue or green. They will take only the colour you dip them in, whatever it may be.
Haven’t you noticed that, if you read a little English, you at once begin to utter English words: Foot fut it mit? Then you put on boots and whistle a tune, and so on. It all goes together. Or, if a scholar studies Sanskrit, he will at once rattle off Sanskrit verses.
If you are in bad company, then you will talk and think like your companions.
On the other hand, when you are in the company of devotees, you will think and talk only of God.
The mind is everything. A man has his wife on one side and his daughter on the other.
He shows his affection to them in different ways. But his mind is one and the same.
Bondage is of the mind, and freedom is also of the mind. A man is free if he constantly thinks: ‘I am a free soul. How can I be bound, whether I live in the world or in the forest?
I am a child of God, the King of Kings. Who can bind me?’ If bitten by a snake, a man may get rid of its venom by saying emphatically, ‘There is no poison in me.’ In the same way, by repeating with grit and determination, ‘I am not bound, I am free’, one really becomes so-one really becomes free.
Once someone gave me a book of the Christians. I asked him to read it to me. It talked about nothing but sin. (To Keshab) Sin is the only thing one hears of at your Brahmo Samaj, too. The wretch who constantly says, ‘I am bound, I am bound’ only succeeds in being bound. He who says day and night, ‘I am a sinner, I am a sinner’ verily becomes a sinner.
Redeeming power of faith
One should have such burning faith in God that one can say: ‘What? I have repeated the name of God, and can sin still cling to me? How can I be a sinner any more? How can I be in bondage any more?’
If a man repeats the name of God, his body, mind, and everything become pure. Why should one talk only about sin and hell, and such things? Say but once, ‘O Lord, I have undoubtedly done wicked things, but I won’t repeat them.’ And have faith in His name."
Sri Ramakrishna became intoxicated with divine love and sang:
If only I can pass away repeating Durga’s name, How canst Thou then, O Blessed One, Withhold from me deliverance, Wretched though I may be? . . .
