Trailanga Swami and Bhāskarānanda

Sunday, April 8, 1883

It was Sunday morning. The Master, looking like a boy, was seated in his room, and near him was another boy, his beloved disciple Rakhal. M. entered and saluted the Master. Ramlal also was in the room, and Kishori, Manilal Mallick, and several other devotees gathered by and by.

Manilal Mallick, a business man, had recently been to Benares, where he owned a bungalow.

Trailang a Swami and Bhāskarānanda

MASTER: “So you have been to Benares. Did you see any holy men there?”

MANILAL: “Yes, sir.

I paid my respects to Trailanga Swami, Bhaskarananda, and others

MASTER: “Tell us something about them.”

MANILAL: “Trailanga Swami is living in the same temple where he lived before-on the Manikarnika Ghat; near the Benimadhav Minaret. People say he was formerly in a more exalted spiritual state. He could perform many miracles. Now he has lost much of that power.”

MASTER: “That is the criticism of worldly people.”

MANILAL: “Trailanga Swami keeps a strict vow of silence. Unlike him, Bhaskarananda is friendly with all.”

MASTER: “Did you have any conversation with Bhaskarananda?”

MANILAL: “Yes, sir. We had a long talk. Among other things we discussed the problem of good and evil. He said to me: ‘Don’t follow the path of evil. Give up sinful thoughts. That is how God wants us to act. Perform only those duties that are virtuous.’ "

The seer of God transcends good and evil

MASTER: “Yes, that is also a path, meant for worldly-minded people. But those whose spiritual consciousness has been awakened, who have realized that God alone is real and all else illusory, cherish a different ideal. They are aware that God alone is the Doer and others are His instruments.

“Those whose spiritual consciousness has been awakened never make a false step. They do not have to reason in order to shun evil. They are so full of love of God that whatever action they undertake is a good action. They are fully conscious that they are not the doers of their actions, but mere servants of God. They always feel: ‘I am the machine and He is the Operator. I do as He does through me. I speak as He speaks through me. I move as He moves me.’

“Fully awakened souls are beyond virtue and vice. They realize that it is God who does everything.

Seeing God in everything

“There was a monastery in a certain place. The monks residing there went out daily to beg their food. One day a monk, while out for his alms, saw a landlord beating a man mercilessly. The compassionate monk stepped in and asked the landlord to stop. But the landlord was filled with anger and turned his wrath against the innocent monk. He beat the monk till he fell unconscious on the ground. Someone reported the matter to the monastery. The monks ran to the spot and found their brother lying there. Four or five of them carried him back and laid him on a bed. He was still unconscious.

The other monks sat around him sad at heart; some were fanning him. Finally someone suggested that he should be given a little milk to drink. When it was poured into his mouth he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and looked around. One of the monks said, ‘Let us see whether he is fully conscious and can recognize us.’ Shouting into his ear, he said, ‘Revered sir, who is giving you milk?’ ‘Brother,’ replied the holy man in a low voice, ‘He who beat me is now giving me milk.’

“But one does not attain such a state of mind without the realization of God.”

MANILAL: “Sir, what you have just said applies to a man of a very lofty spiritual state. I talked on such topics in a general way with Bhaskarananda.”

MASTER: “Does he live in a house?”

MANILAL: “Yes, sir. He lives with a devotee.”

MASTER: “How old is he now?”

MANILAL: “About fifty-five.”

MASTER: “Did you talk about anything else?”

MANILAL: “I asked him how to cultivate bhakti. He said: ‘Chant the name of God. Repeat the name of Rāma.’ "

MASTER: “That is very good.”

The worship was over in the temples and the bells rang for the food offerings in the shrines. As it was a summer noon the sun was very hot. The flood-tide began in the Ganges and a breeze came up from the south. Sri Ramakrishna was resting in his room after his meal.

The people of Basirhat, Rakhal ’s birth-place, had been suffering from a severe drought during the summer months.

MASTER (to Manilal): “Rakhal says that the people in his native village have been suffering seriously from a scarcity of water. Why don’t you build a reservoir there? That will do the people good. (Smiling) You have so much money; what will you do with all your wealth? But they say that telis are very calculating.”

(All laugh.)

Manilal was truly a calculating man, though he suffered no lack of money. In later years he set up an endowment of twenty-five thousand rupees for the maintenance of poor students.

Manilal made no answer to these words of the Master about his caste characteristics.

Later on, in the course of the conversation, he remarked casually: “Sir, you referred to a reservoir. You might as well have confined yourself to that suggestion. Why allude to the ‘oil-man caste’ and all that?”

Some of the devotees smiled to themselves. The Master laughed.

Presently a few elderly members of the Brahmo Samaj arrived. The room was full of devotees. Sri Ramakrishna was sitting on his bed, facing the north. He kept smiling, and talked to the Brahmo devotees in a joyous mood.