Festival at Pānihāti

Monday, June 18, 1883

SRI RAMAKRISHNA had been invited to the great religious festival at Pānihāti, near Calcutta. This “Festival of the Flattened Rice” was inaugurated by Raghunath Das, a disciple of Sri Chaitanya.

Raghunath used to run away from home, secretly practise his devotions, and enjoy the bliss of spiritual ecstasy.

One day Nityananda said to him: “Thief!

You run away from home and enjoy the love of God all alone. You hide it from us. I shall punish you today. You must arrange a religious festival and entertain the devotees with flattened rice.” Since then the festival has been annually celebrated at Pānihāti by the Vaishnavas.

Thousands of the followers of Sri Chaitanya participate in it.

Its chief feature is the singing of the names and glories of God, and the dancing of the devotees in religious fervour. The centre of the festivity is the temple of Radha-Krishna, built on the bank of the Ganges.

The Master had been invited to the festival by Mani Sen, who was the custodian of the temple.

Ram, M., Rākhāl , Bhavanath, and a few other disciples went with the Master in a carriage. On his way to Pānihāti Sri Ramakrishna was in a light mood and joked with the youngsters. But as soon as the carriage reached the place of the festival, the Master, to the utter amazement of’ the devotees, shot into the crowd. He joined the kirtan party of Navadvip Goswami, Mani Sen’s guru, and danced, totally forgetting the world. Every now and then he stood still in samādhi, carefully supported by Navadvip Goswami for fear he might fall to the ground. Thousands of devotees were gathered together for the festival. Wherever one looked there was a forest of human heads. The crowd seemed to become infected by the Master’s divine fervour and swayed to and fro, chanting the name of God, until the very air seemed to reverberate with it. Drums, cymbals, and other instruments produced melodious sounds. The atmosphere became intense with spiritual fervour. The devotees felt that Gaurānga himself was being manifested in the person of Sri Ramakrishna. Flowers were showered from all sides on his feet and head. The shouting of the name of Hari was heard even at a distance, like the rumbling of the ocean. Sri Ramakrishna entered by turn into all the moods of ecstasy. In deep samādhi he stood still, his face radiating a divine glow. In the state of partial consciousness he danced, sometimes gently and sometimes with the vigour of a lion. Again, regaining consciousness of the world, he sang, himself leading the chorus: Behold, the two brothers have come, who weep while chanting Hari’s name, The brothers who dance in ecstasy and make the world dance in His name! Behold them, weeping themselves, and making the whole world 279weep as well, The brothers who, in return for blows, offer to sinners Hari’s love. Behold them, drunk with Hari’s love, who make the world drunk as well! Behold, the two brothers have come, who once were Kanai and Balai of Braja, They who would steal the butter out of the pots of the gopi maids. Behold, the two have come, who shatter all the rules of caste, Embracing everyone as brother, even the outcaste shunned by men; Who lose themselves in Hari’s name, making the whole world mad; Who are none other than Hari Himself, and chant His hallowed name! Behold them,who saved from their sinful ways the ruffians Jagai and Madhai, They who cannot distinguish between a friend and an enemy! Behold the two brothers, Gaur and Nitai, who come again to save mankind.

Again the Master sang:

See how all Nadia is shaking Under the waves of Gaurānga’s love! . . . The crowd, with the Master in the centre, surged toward the temple of Radha-Krishna. Only a small number could enter. The rest stood outside the portal and jostled with one another to have a look at Sri Ramakrishna. In a mood of intoxication he began to dance in the courtyard of the shrine. Every now and then his body stood transfixed in deep samādhi. Hundreds of people around him shouted the name of God, and thousands outside caught the strain and raised the cry with full-throated voices. The echo travelled over the Ganges, striking a note in the hearts of people in the boats on the holy river, and they too chanted the name of God. When the kirtan was over, Mani Sen took Sri Ramakrishna and Navadvip Goswami into a room and served them with refreshments. Afterwards Ram, M., and the other devotees were also served with the prasad.

In the afternoon, the Master was sitting in Mani Sen’s drawing-room with the devotees. Navadvip was also near him. Mani offered the carriage hire to Sri Ramakrishna. Pointing to Ram and the others, the Master said: “Why should they accept it from you? They earn money.” He became engaged in conversation with Navadvip.

Different states of bhakti

MASTER: “Bhakti matured becomes bhava. Next is mahabhava, then prema, and last of all is the attainment of God. Gaurānga experienced the states of mahabhava and prema. When prema is awakened, a devotee completely forgets the world; he also forgets his body, which is so dear to a man. Gaurānga experienced prema. He jumped into the ocean, thinking it to be the Jamuna. The ordinary jiva does not experience mahabhava or prema. He goes only as far as bhava. But Gaurānga experienced all three states. Isn’t that so?” NAVADVIP: “Yes, sir, that is true. The inmost state, the semi-conscious state, and the conscious state.” MASTER: “In the inmost state he would remain in samādhi, unconscious of the outer world. In the semi-conscious state he could only dance. In the conscious state he chanted the name of God.” Navadvip introduced his son to the Master. scriptures. He saluted Sri Ramakrishna. The young man was a student of the NAVADVIP: “He studies the scriptures at home. Previously one hardly saw a copy of the Vedas in this country. Max Muller has translated them; so people can now read these books.” Essence of the scriptures MASTER: “Too much study of the scriptures does more harm than good. The important thing is to know the essence of the scriptures. After that, what is the need of books? One should learn the essence and then dive deep in order to realize God.

The Ideal of the Gitā

The Divine Mother has revealed to me the essence of the Vedānta. It is that Brahman alone is real and the world illusory. The essence of the Gitā is what you get by repeating the word ten times. The word becomes reversed. It is then ’tagi’, which refers to renunciation. The essence of the Gitā is: ‘O man, renounce everything and practise spiritual discipline for the realization of God.’ "

NAVADVIP: “But how can we persuade our minds to renounce?”

MASTER: “You are a goswami. It is your duty to officiate as priest in the temple. You cannot renounce the world; otherwise, who would look after the temple and its services? You have to renounce mentally.

“It is God Himself who has kept you in the world to set an example to men. You may resolve in your mind a thousand times to renounce the world, but you will not succeed. God has given you such a nature that you must perform your worldly duties. “Krishna said to Arjuna: ‘What do you mean, you will not fight? By your mere will you cannot desist from fighting. Your very nature will make you fight.’ "

At the mere mention of Krishna and Arjuna the Master went into samādhi. In the twinkling of an eye his body became motionless and his eyeballs transfixed, while his breathing could scarcely be noticed. At this sudden transformation Navadvip and his son and the other devotees looked at the Master in mute wonder.

Regaining partial consciousness, he said to Navadvip: “Yoga and bhoga. You goswamis have both. Now your only duty is to call on God and pray to Him sincerely: ‘O God, I don’t want the glories of Thy world-bewitching maya. I want Thee alone!’ God dwells in all beings, undoubtedly.

That being the case, who may be called His devotee? He who dwells in God, he who has merged his mind and life and innermost soul in God.”

The Master returned to the sense plane. Referring to his samādhi, he said to Navadvip: “Some say that this state of mine is a disease. I say to them, ‘How can one become unconscious by thinking of Him whose Consciousness has made the whole world conscious?’ " Mani Sen said good-bye to the invited brahmins and Vaishnavas with suitable gifts of money. He offered five rupees to Sri Ramakrishna. The latter said that he could not possibly accept any money. But Mani insisted. The Master then asked him in the name of his guru not to press him. Mani requested him again to accept the offering. Sri Ramakrishna asked M., in a distressed voice, whether he should take the money. The disciple made a vehement protest and said, “No, sir. By no means.” Friends of Mani Sen gave the money to Rākhāl , requesting him to buy some mangoes and sweets for the Master. Sri Ramakrishna said to M.: “I have definitely said to Mani that I would not accept the money. I feel free now. But Rākhāl has accepted it. His is now the responsibility.” Sri Ramakrishna, accompanied by the devotees, took a carriage to return to Dakshineswar. They were going to pass the temple garden of Mati Seal on the way. For a long time the Master had been asking M. to take him to the reservoir in the garden in order that he might teach him how to meditate on the formless God. There were tame fish in the reservoir. Nobody harmed them. Visitors threw puffed rice and other bits of food into the water, and the big fish came in swarms to eat the food. Fearlessly the fish swam in the water and sported there joyously. Coming to the reservoir, the Master said to M.: “Look at the fish. Meditating on the formless God is like swimming joyfully like these fish, in the Ocean of Bliss and Consciousness.”