Hard rules for a Sannyāsi
Table of Contents
Like teacher, like disciple. Even if a sannyāsi renounces ‘woman and gold’ mentally, but lives with them outwardly, he cannot be a teacher of men. People will say that he enjoys ‘molasses’ secretly.
“Once Mahendra Kaviraj of Sinthi gave 5 rupees to Ramlal. I didn’t know about it.
When Ramlal told me about the money, I asked him, ‘For whom was the money given?’
He said it was for me. At first I thought that I should use it to pay what I owed for my milk,
But will you believe me? I had slept only a little while when I suddenly woke up writhing with pain, as if a cat were scratching my chest. I went to Ramlal and asked him again, ‘Was the money given for your aunt?’
‘No’, Ramlal answered. Thereupon I said to him, ‘Go at once and return the money.’ Ramlal gave it back the next day.
Do you know how it looks for a sannyāsi to accept money or to be attached to an object of temptation? It is as if a brahmin widow who had practised continence and lived on simple boiled rice and vegetables and milk for many years, were suddenly to accept an untouchable as her paramour.
(All look stunned.)
There was a low-caste woman named Bhagi Teli in our part of the country. She had many disciples and devotees. Finding that she, a sudra, was being saluted by people, the landlord became jealous and engaged a wicked man to tempt her. He succeeded in corrupting her and all her spiritual practice came to nothing. A fallen sannyāsi is like that.
You are leading householders’ lives. It is necessary for you to live in the company of holy men. First of all, the company of holy men; then sraddha, faith in God.
“How can people have reverence and faith in God if the holy men do not sing His name and glories? People respect a man if they know that in his family there have been royal ministers for three generations.
(To M.) “Even if one has attained Knowledge, one must still constantly practise God-Consciousness. Nangta used to say: ‘What is the use of polishing the outside of a metal pot one day only?
If you don’t polish it regularly it will get tarnished again.’ I shall have to go to your house some time. If I know your house I can meet other devotees there. Please go to see Ishan some time.
(To Manilal) “Keshab Sen’s mother came here the other day. The young boys of her family sang the name of Hari. She went around them clapping her hands. I noticed she was not very much stricken with grief over Keshab’s death. She observed the fast of ekadasi here and counted her beads.
I was pleased to see her devotion to God.
Ramkamal Sen, Keshab Babu’s grandfather, was a devotee of God. He used to sit in a tulsi-grove and repeat God’s holy name. Pyarimohan, Keshab’s father, was also a Vaishnava devotee.
The son could not have been so devoted to God if the father had not been like that. Look at Vijay. His father would become unconscious of the world in divine ecstasy while reading the Bhagavata. Vijay can hardly control his emotion: while uttering Hari’s name, he sometimes stands up from his seat. The forms of God that Vijay sees nowadays are all real.
Speaking about the different aspects of God, formless and with form, Vijay said that God sometimes appears with attributes and sometimes without attributes.
He gave the example of the chameleon, which sometimes turns red, sometimes blue, sometimes green, and sometimes remains colourless.
Praise of guilelessness and purity “Vijay is really guileless. One cannot realize God without being guileless and liberal- minded.
Yesterday Vijay was at Adhar Sen’s house. He behaved as if it were his own place and those who lived there his own people. One cannot be guileless and liberal-minded unless one is free from worldliness.
Then the Master sang:
You will attain that priceless Treasure when your mind is free from stain. . . .
You cannot make a pot without first carefully preparing the clay. The pot will crack if the clay contains particles of sand or stone. That is why the potter first prepares the clay by removing the sand and stones.
If a mirror is covered with dirt, it won’t reflect one’s face. A man cannot realize his true Self unless his heart is pure. You will find guilelessness wherever God incarnates Himself as man. Nandaghosh, Daśaratha, Vasudeva -all of them were guileless.
“The Vedānta says that a man does not even desire to know God unless he has a pure mind. One cannot be guileless and liberal-minded without much tapasya or unless it is one’s last birth.”
Sri Ramakrishna was worrying, like a child, because he thought his legs were slightly swollen. Mahendra Kaviraj of Sinthi entered the room and. saluted the Master.
(to the devotees): Yesterday I said to Naran, ‘Just press your leg and see if there is any dimple.’ He pressed it and there was one. Then I gave a sigh of relief. (To Mukherji) Will you please press your leg? Is there any dimple?"
Yes, sir
Why should you worry about it, sir? Please take your bath in the river. Why should you take medicine?
No, sir. You have strong blood. Your case is different. The Divine Mother has placed me in the state of a child. One day I was bitten by something in the jungle. I had heard people say that, in case of snakebite, the poison would come out if the snake bit again.
So I put my hand in a hole and waited. A man passing by said to me: ‘What are you doing? You will get rid of the poison only if the snake bites again in the same place. You will not be cured if the snake bites another part of your body.’
I was told that the autumn dew was good. One day, while coming from Calcutta, I stuck my head out of the carriage and exposed it to the damp air.
(All laugh.)
(To Mahendra of Sinthi) “That pundit from Sinthi is very good. He holds a title for this scholarship. He respects me. I said to him, ‘You have read a great deal; but give up the vanity that you are a scholar.’ That made him very happy. I discussed Vedānta with him.