Master and book-learning

Saturday, December 27, 1884

It was the Christmas season. Taking advantage of the holiday, many devotees came to the temple garden to visit the Master, some of them arriving in the morning. Among these were Kedār, Ram, Nityagopal, Tārak, Surendra, M., Sarada Prasanna, and a number of young devotees. This was Sarada Prasanna’s first visit.

MASTER (to M.): “Where is Bankim? Haven’t you brought him with you?”

Bankim was a school boy whom Sri Ramakrishna had met in Bagh bazar. Noticing him even from a distance, the Master had said that he was a fine boy.

After a while Sri Ramakrishna went to the Panchavati with the devotees. They surrounded him, some sitting and some standing. He was seated on the cement platform around the tree, facing the southwest. He asked M. with a smile, “Have you brought the book?”

M: “Yes, sir.”

MASTER: “Read a little to me.”

The devotees were eager to know the name of the book. It was called Devi Choudhurani. The Master had heard that the book dealt with motiveless action. He had also heard of the great renown of its author, Bankim Chandra Chatterji, whom he had met some days before, and he wanted to gauge the author’s mind from the book.

M. said: “A young girl-the heroine-fell into the hands of a robber named Bhavani Pathak.

Her name had been Prafulla, but the robber changed it to ‘Devi Choudhurani’. At heart

Bhavani was a good man. He made Prafulla go through many spiritual disciplines; he also taught her how to perform selfless action. He robbed wicked people and with that money fed the poor and helpless. He said to Prafulla, ‘I chastise the wicked and protect the virtuous.’”

MASTER: “But that is a king’s duty.”

M: “In one place the author writes of bhakti. Bhavani Pathak sent a girl named Nishi to keep Prafulla company. Nishi was full of piety and looked on Krishna as her husband. Prafulla was already married; she had lost her father and lived with her mother.

The neighbours had created a scandal about her character and avoided her, and so her father-in-law had not allowed her to live with his son. Later her husband had married again; but Prafulla was extremely devoted to her husband. (To Sri Ramakrishna) “Now, sir, you can follow the story.”

M. read:

NISHI: “I am a daughter of Bhavani Pathak. He is my father. He has also, in a way, given me in marriage.”

PRAFULLA: “What do you mean?”

NISHI: “I have surrendered my all to Krishna.”

PRAFULLA: “How is that?”

NISHI: “My beauty, youth, and soul.”

PRAFULLA: “Then He is your husband.”

NISHI: “Yes, because he alone is my husband who completely possesses me.”

PRAFULLA (with a sigh): “I do not know. You talk that way because you do not know what a husband is. If you had a real husband, you could never have liked Sri Krishna.

The foolish Brajeswar-Prafulla’s husband-was unaware that his wife loved him so much.

NISHI: “All can love Sri Krishna, because He has infinite beauty, infinite youth, and infinite splendour.”

This young lady was a disciple of Bhavani and well-versed in logic. But Prafulla was illiterate; she could not answer Nishi’s arguments.

But the writers of the Hindu social laws knew the reply. God is infinite, no doubt; but one cannot keep the infinite in the small cage of the heart. One can do so only with the finite. Therefore the infinite Creator of the universe is worshipped by the Hindu in the cage of his heart as Sri Krishna, the finite Personal God. The husband of a woman has a still more definite form.

Therefore if the wife cherishes pure conjugal love, the husband becomes the first step toward God. Hence the husband is the only Deity to the Hindu woman. Other societies are inferior to Hindu society in this respect.

Prafulla was an ignorant girl; she could not understand Nishi’s arguments. She said, “Friend, I do not understand all these arguments; but you haven’t yet told me your name.”

NISHI: “Bhavani Pathak has given me the name of Nishi, Night. I am the sister of Diva, Day. One day I shall introduce my sister to you. Let me continue what I was saying. God alone is the real Husband; and to a woman the husband is her only God.

Sri Krishna is the God of all. Why should we cherish two Deities, two Gods? If you divide to little bhakti of this small heart, how little there will be!”

PRAFULLA: “Don’t be silly. Is there any limit to a woman’s bhakti?”

NISHI: “There is no end to a woman’s love. But bhakti is one thing, and love another”

Summarizing part of the book, M. said that Bhavani initiated Prafulla into spiritual life.

He continued reading:

During the first year Bhavani did not allow any man to enter Prafulla’s house nor did he allow her to speak to any man outside the house. During the second year the rule about speaking was withdrawn, but no man was allowed inside her house. In the third year

Prafulla shaved her head. Now Bhavani allowed his select disciples to see her. The shaven-headed disciple would converse with them on scriptural topics, keeping her eyes cast on the ground.

M. then read that Prafulla began the study of the scriptures; that she finished grammar and read Raghuvamsa, Kumara Sambhava, Sakuntala, and Naishadha; and that she studied a little of the Samkhya, Vedānta, and Nyaya philosophies.

Master and book-learning

MASTER: “Do you know what that means? People like the author of this book believe that knowledge is impossible without the study of books. They think that first comes the knowledge of books and then comes the knowledge of God. In order to know God one must read books! But if I want to know Jadu Mallick, must I first know the number of his houses and the amount of money he has in government securities? Do I really need all this information? Rather I should somehow enter his house, be it by flattering his gate- keepers or by disregarding their rough treatment, and talk to Jadu Mallick himself. Then, if I want to know about his wealth or possessions, I shall only have to ask him about them.

Then it will be a very easy matter for me.

First God and then the world

First comes Rāma, then His riches, that is, the universe, This is why Valmiki repeated the mantra, ‘mara’. ‘Ma’ means God, and ‘ra’ the world, that is to say, His riches.” The devotees listened to the Master’s words with rapt attention. M. continued with the story of Prafulla:

Prafulla finished her studies and then practised spiritual austerity for many days. Then one day Bhavani visited her; he wanted to instruct her about selfless work. He quoted to her from the Gitā: “Therefore do thou always perform obligatory actions without attachment; by performing action without attachment one attains to the highest.”

He told her the three characteristics of disinterested action: first, control of the sense-organs; second, absence of egotism; and third, surrendering the fruit of action to Sri Krishna. He further told her that no dharma is possible for the egotistic person.

Quoting from the Gitā, he said: “The Gunās of Prakriti perform all action. With the understanding deluded by egotism, man thinks, I am the doer.”

Bhavani next spoke to her about surrendering the fruit of action to Sri Krishna. Again he quoted from the Gitā : “Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou givest away, whatever austerity thou practisest, O son of Kunti, do that as an offering unto Me.”

MASTER: “This is fine. These are the words of the Gitā; one cannot refute them. But something else must be noted. The author speaks about surrendering the fruit of action to Sri Krishna, but not about cultivating bhakti for Him.”

M: “No, that is not especially mentioned here.

“Next Prafulla and Bhavani talked about the use of money. Prafulla said that she offered all her wealth to Krishna.” M. read from the book again.

PRAFULLA: “Like my actions, I offer all my wealth to Sri Krishna.”

BHAVANI: “All?”

PRAFULLA: “Yes, all.”

BHAVANI: “In that case you won’t he able to perform action in a detached spirit. If you have to work to earn your food, you will be attached to that work. Hence there are two alternatives before you: either you will have to get your food by begging, or you will have to live on your money. Even a beggar becomes attached to the alms he receives; therefore you must use your own money to maintain your body.”

M. (to the Master, smiling): “That is the nature of the calculating mind.”

MASTER: “Yes, that is the nature of the calculating mind; that is the way the worldly man thinks. But he who seeks God plunges headlong; he doesn’t calculate about how much or how little he needs for the protection of his body.”

M: “Next Bhavani asked Prafulla, ‘How will you offer all this money to Sri Krishna?’

Prafulla said: ‘Why, Sri Krishna dwells in all beings. I shall distribute the money among them.’ Bhavani answered, ‘Good! Good!’

“Quoting from the Gitā , Bhavani said: ‘He who sees Me in all things and all things in Me, never becomes separated from Me, nor do I become separated from him. That yogi who, established in unity, worships Me dwelling in all beings, abides in Me, whatever his mode of life. O Arjuna, that yogi is regarded as the highest who judges the pleasure and pain of all beings by the same standard that he applies to himself.”

MASTER: “These are the characteristics of the highest bhakta.”

M. again read from the book:

A man must work hard if he wants to help all beings with charity. Hence it is necessary for him to make a little display of clothes, of pomp and luxury. Therefore Bhavani said, “A little shop-keeping is necessary.”

MASTER (sharply): “‘A little shopkeeping is necessary!’ One speaks as one thinks. If a man thinks of worldly things day and night, and deals with people hypocritically, then his words are coloured by his thoughts. If one eats radish, one belches radish. Instead of talking about ‘shopkeeping’, he should rather have said, ‘A man should act as if he were the doer, knowing very well that he is really not the doer.’

The other day a man was singing here. The song contained words like ‘profit’ and ’loss’. I stopped him. If one contemplates a particular subject day and night, one cannot talk of anything else.”

The reading continued. The author was describing the realization of God. Prafulla had become Devi Choudhurani. It was the month of Vaiśākh. Devi was seated on the roof of her house-boat talking with Diva and another woman companion. The moon was up. The boat had cast anchor in the Ganges. The conversation turned to the question of whether one could see God. Devi said, “As the aroma of a flower is directly perceived by the nose, so God is directly perceived by the mind.”

At this point the Master interrupted and said: “Yes, God is directly perceived by the mind, but not by this ordinary mind. It is the pure mind that perceives God, and at that time this ordinary mind does not function. A mind that has the slightest trace of attachment to the world cannot be called pure. When all the impurities of the mind are removed, you may call that mind Pure Mind or Pure Ātman.”

M: “The author says a little later that God cannot easily be perceived by the mind.

He says that one needs a telescope to have that direct vision. Yoga is the telescope.

Yoga, as it is described in the Gitā, is of three kinds: jnāna, bhakti, and karma. One is able to see God through this telescope of yoga.”

MASTER: “That is very good. These are the words of the Gitā.”

M: “At last Devi Choudhurani met her husband. She showed him great devotion and said to him: ‘You are my God. I wanted to learn the worship of another God but I did not succeed. You have taken the place of all gods.’ "

MASTER (smiling): “‘I did not succeed.’ This is the dharma of a woman totally devoted to her husband. This also is a path.” The reading was over. The Master was smiling. The devotees looked at him, eagerly waiting to hear what he would say.

MASTER (to the devotees, smiling): “This is not so bad; it is called the dharma of chastity, the single-minded devotion of a wife to her husband. If God can be worshipped through an image, why shouldn’t it be possible to worship Him through a living person?

It is God Himself who sports in the world as men.