Four stages of life

There are 4 Stages of Life:

1. brahmacharya
2. garhasthya
3. Vanaprastha
4. sannyas.

During the first three stages a man has to perform his worldly duties.

The sannyasi carries only his staff, water-pot, and begging-bowl. He too may perform certain nityakarma, but his mind is not attached to it; he is not conscious of doing such work.

Some sannyasis perform nityakarma to set an example to the world. If a householder or a man belonging to the other stages of life performs action without attachment, then he is united with God through such action.

“In the case of a paramahamsa, like Sukadeva, all karmas-all puja, japa, tarpan, sandhya, and so forth-drop away. In this state a man communes with God through the mind alone. Sometimes he may be pleased to perform outward activities for the welfare of mankind. But his recollection and contemplation of God remain uninterrupted.”

It was about eight o’clock in the evening.

Sri Ramakrishna asked Mahimacharan to recite a few hymns from the scriptures. Mahima read the first verse of the Uttara Gitā, describing the nature of the Supreme Brahman:

He, Brahman, is one, partless, stainless, and beyond the ether;

Without beginning or end, unknowable by mind or intelligence.

Finally he came to the seventh verse of the third chapter, which reads:

The twice-born worships the Deity in fire, The munis contemplate Him in the heart, Men of limited wisdom see Him in the image, And the yogis who have attained samesightedness Behold Him everywhere.

No sooner did the Master hear the words “the yogis who have attained samesightedness” than he stood up and went into samādhi, his arm supported by the splint and bandage. Speechless, the devotees looked at this yogi who had himself attained the state of samesightedness.

After a long time the Master regained consciousness of the outer world and took his seat. He asked Mahima to recite verses describing the love of God. The latter recited from the Nārada Pancharatra:

What need is there of penance if God is worshipped with love?

What is the use of penance if God is not worshipped with love?

What need is there of penance if God is seen within and without?

What is the use of penance if God is not seen within and without?

O Brahman! O my child! Cease from practising further penances.

Hasten to Sankara, the Ocean of Heavenly Wisdom;

Obtain from Him the love of God, the pure love praised by devotees, Which snaps in twain the shackles that bind you to the world.

MASTER: “Ah! On hearing these verses the Master was about to go again into an ecstatic mood, but he restrained himself with effort.

Mahima read from the Yati–Panchaka:

I am She, the Divine Mother, in whom the illusion of the universe of animate and inanimate things is seen, as in magic, and in whom the universe shines, being the play of Her mind. I am She, the Embodiment of Consciousness, who is the Self of the universe, the only Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. When the Master heard the line, “I am She, the Embodiment of Consciousness”, he said with a smile, “Whatever is in the microcosm is also in the macrocosm.” Next Mahima read the Six Stanzas of Nirvāna :

Om. I am neither mind, intelligence, ego, nor chitta, Neither ears nor tongue nor the senses of smell and sight; Nor am I ether, earth, fire, water, or air: I am Pure Knowledge and Bliss: I am Śiva! I am Śiva! I am neither the prana, nor the five vital breaths, Neither the seven elements of the body nor its five sheaths, Nor hands nor feet nor tongue, nor the organs of sex and voiding:

I am Pure Knowledge and Bliss: I am Śiva! I am Śiva!

Neither loathing nor liking have I, neither greed nor delusion;

No sense have I of ego or pride, neither dharma nor moksha; Neither desire of the mind nor object for its desiring: I am Pure Knowledge and Bliss: I am Śiva! I am Śiva! Neither right nor wrong doing am I, neither pleasure nor pain, Nor the mantra, the sacred place, the Vedas, the sacrifice; Neither the act of eating, the eater, nor the food: I am Pure Knowledge and Bliss: I am Śiva! I am Śiva! Death or fear I have none, nor any distinction of caste; Neither father nor mother nor even a birth have I; Neither friend nor comrade, neither disciple nor guru: I am Pure Knowledge and Bliss: I am Śiva! I am Śiva! 411I have no form or fancy; the All-pervading am I; Eyerywhere I exist, yet I am beyond the senses; Neither salvation am I, nor anything that may be known: I am Pure Knowledge and Bliss: I am Śiva! I am Śiva!

Each time Mahima repeated: “I am Śiva! I am Śiva!”, the Master rejoined with a smile:

“Not I! Not I! Thou art Knowledge Absolute.”

Mahima read a few more verses and also a description of the six psychic centres of the body. He said that in Benares he had witnessed the death of a yogi in the state of yoga.

MAHIMA: “There are fine passages in the Rāma Gitā.”

MASTER: “You are speaking of the Rāma Gitā. Then you must be a staunch Vedantist.

How many books of that kind the sādhus used to read here!”

Mahima recited the description of Om:

It is like the unceasing flow of oil; like the long peal of a bell.

About the characteristics of samādhi he read: “The man established in samādhi sees the upper region filled with Ātman, the nether region filled with Ātman, the middle region filled with Ātman. He sees all filled with Ātman.”

Adhar and Mahima saluted the Master and departed.

At noon the following day, after his midday meal, Sri Ramakrishna was sitting on the small couch, when Ram, Surendra, and a few other devotees arrived from Calcutta.

They were worried about the Master’s injured arm. The arm was bandaged. M. was present.

MASTER (to the devotees): “The Mother has put me in such a state of mind that I cannot hide anything from anyone. Mine is the condition of a child. Rākhāl doesn’t understand it.

He covers my injured arm, wrapping my body with a cloth lest others should see my injury and criticize me. He took Dr. Madhu aside and reported my illness. But I shouted and said: ‘Hello! Where are you, Madhusudan? Come and see. My arm is broken!’

“I used to sleep in the same room with Mathur and his wife. They took care of me as if I were their own child. I was then passing through a state of divine madness. Mathur would ask me, ‘Father, do you hear our conversation?’ ‘Yes’, I would reply.

Once Mathur’s wife became suspicious of his movements and said to him, ‘If you go anywhere, he must accompany you.’ One day Mathur went to a certain place and asked me to wait downstairs. He returned after half an hour and said to me: ‘Come, father, let us go now. The carriage is waiting.’ When Mathur’s wife asked me about it, I reported the thing correctly. I said to her: ‘We went to a certain house. He told me to stay downstairs and himself went upstairs. He came down after half an hour and we left the place.’

Of course she understood the thing in her own way.

“A partner of Mathur’s estate used to take fruits and vegetables stealthily from the temple garden. When the other partners asked me about it, I told them the exact truth.”