THE MASTER'S BIRTHDAY

Sunday, February 22, 1885

SRI RAMAKRISHNA was sitting on the northeast verandah outside his room at Dakshineswar.

It was about eight o’clock in the morning. Many devotees, including Narendra, Rākhāl, Girish, Baburam, and Surendra, were present. They were celebrating the Master’s birthday, which had fallen on the previous Monday. M. arrived and saluted him. The Master signed to him to take a seat near him.

Narottam was singing kirtan. Sri Ramakrishna was in partial ecstasy. The subject was Krishna’s meeting with His cowherd friends in the meadow. Krishna had not yet arrived.

The cowherd boys were restless for Him. One of them said that Mother Yaśoda was preventing Krishna from coming. Balāi [Balaram’s pet name] said in a determined voice that he would bring Krishna with the sound of his horn. Balāi’s love for Krishna knew no bounds. The music went on. The cowherd boys and girls heard Krishna’s flute and were filled with spiritual emotion.

Master’s love for Narendra

Suddenly Sri Ramakrishna’s eyes fell on Narendra, who was sitting very near him. He stood up and went into samādhi; he stood there touching Narendra’s knee with his foot. Regaining consciousness he took his seat again. Narendra left the room. The music went on.

Sri Ramakrishna whispered to Baburam: “There is Kshir [sweet milk preparation] in the room. Give Narendra some.”

Did the Master see Narendra as the embodiment of God?

After the kirtan Sri Ramakrishna returned to his room. Tenderly he began to feed Narendra with sweets. It was Girish’s belief that God Himself had been born in the person of Sri Ramakrishna.

GIRISH (to the Master): “Your ways are like Krishna’s. He too pretended many things to His mother Yaśoda.”

MASTER: “True. It was because Krishna was an Incarnation of God. When God is born as a man He acts that way. You see, Krishna easily lifted the hill of Govardhan with His hand, but He made Nanda believe that He found it very hard to carry a footstool.”

GIRISH: “Yes, sir, I have understood you now.”

Sri Ramakrishna was sitting on the small couch. It was about eleven o’clock. Ram and the other devotees wanted to dress him in a new cloth. The Master said, “No, no.”

Pointing to an English-educated man, he said “What will he say about it?” At the earnest request of the devotees he said “Well, since you insist, I shall have to agree.” The devotees were arranging the Master’s meal in the room. He asked Narendra to sing.

Narendra sang: In dense darkness, O Mother, Thy formless beauty sparkles; Therefore the yogis meditate in a dark mountain cave. In the lap of boundless dark, on Mahanirvana’s waves upborne, Peace flows serene and inexhaustible. Taking the form of the Void, in the robe of darkness wrapped, Who art Thou, Mother, seated alone in the shrine of samādhi? From the Lotus of Thy fear-scattering Feet flash Thy love’s lightnings; Thy Spirit-Face shines forth with laughter terrible and loud! Master’s samādhi As Narendra sang the line, “Who art Thou, Mother, seated alone in the shrine of samādhi?”, Sri Ramakrishna went into deep samādhi and lost all outer consciousness. After a long time, when he was regaining partial consciousness, the devotees seated him on the carpet and placed a plate of food before him. Still overcome with divine emotion, he began to eat the rice with both hands. He said to Bhavanāth, “Feed me.” Because of his ecstatic mood he could not use his own right hand. Bhavanāth began to feed him Sri Ramakrishna could eat very little. Rām said to him, “Nityagopāl will eat from your plate.” MASTER: “Why from my plate? Why?” RAM: “Why not?” Nityagopal was also in an ecstatic mood. The Master put a morsel or two into his mouth with his own hand. Some devotees from Konnagar arrived by boat. They entered Sri Ramakrishna’s room singing kirtan; afterwards they went out to take some refreshments. Narottam was in the room. The Master said to him and the other devotees: “The music of the Konnagar devotees was dull. Music should be so lively as to make everyone dance. One should sing a song like this: See how all Nadia is shaking Under the waves of Gaurānga’s love! And along with it these lines: Behold, the two brothers have come, who weep while chanting Hari’s name, 757The brothers who, in return for blows, offer to sinners Hari’s love. . . . And these too: Gaur and Nitai, ye blessed brothers! I have heard how kind you are, And therefore I have come to you. The devotees were taking the prasad. It was a sumptuous feast. Sri Ramakrishna said to M.: “Haven’t you invited the Mukherjis? Ask Surendra to feed the musicians.” Bepin Sarkar arrived. The devotees introduced him to the Master. Sri Ramakrishna sat up and said to the devotees, “Give him a seat and some betel-leaf.” He said to Bepin humbly: “I am sorry not to be able to talk to you. There is a great crowd today.” Pointing to Girindra, Sri Ramakrishna said to Baburam, “Give him a carpet.” Nityagopal was sitting on the floor. The Master asked a devotee to give him a carpet too. Physician Mahendra of Sinthi arrived. The Master, smiling, asked Rākhāl by a sign to have the physician examine his pulse. Turning to Ramlal, the Master said, “Be friendly with Girish Ghosh; then you will get a free ticket to the theatre.” Narendra had been talking a long time with Hazra on the porch. Since his father’s death Narendra had been having financial worries. He entered the room and took a seat. Hazra’s eccentricities MASTER (to Narendra): “Were you with Hazra? Both of you are in the same boat. You know the saying about the two friends: ‘You are away from your country and he is away from his beloved.’ Hazra, too, needs fifteen hundred rupees. (Laughter.) “Hazra says: ‘Narendra has acquired one hundred per cent sattva, though still there is in him a pink glow of rajas. But I have one hundred and twenty-five per cent pure sattva.’ (All laugh.) “I say to Hazra, ‘You indulge in reasoning only: that is why you are so dry.’ He retorts, ‘No, I am dry because I drink the nectar of the sun.’ “Speaking of pure bhakti, I say to Hazra, ‘A real devotee does not pray to God for money or riches.’ Hazra replies: ‘When the flood of divine grace descends, the rivers overflow; and further, the pools and canals are filled. By the grace of God one gets not only pure devotion but also the six supernatural powers, and money too.’ " Narendra and many other devotees were seated on the floor. Girish entered the room and joined them. MASTER (to Girish): “I look on Narendra as Ātman. I obey him.” 758GIRISH: “Is there anyone you don’t obey?” MASTER (smiling): “He has a manly nature and I have the nature of a woman. He is a noble soul and belongs to the realm of the Indivisible Brahman.” Girish went out to have a smoke. NARENDRA (to the Master): “I had a talk with Girish Ghosh. He is indeed a great man. We talked about you.” MASTER: “What did you say about me?” NARENDRA: “That you are illiterate and we are scholars. Oh, we talked in that vein!” (Laughter.) MANI MALLICK (to the Master): “You have become a pundit without reading a book.” Goal of scriptural study MASTER (to Narendra and the others): “Let me tell you this: really and truly I don’t feel sorry in the least that I haven’t read the Vedānta or the other scriptures. I know that the essence of the Vedānta is that Brahman alone is real and the world illusory. And what is the essence of the Gitā? It is what you get by repeating the word ten times. Then it is reversed into, ‘Tagi’, which refers to renunciation. The pupil should hear the essence of the scriptures from the guru; then he should practise austerity and devotions. A man needs the letter he has received from home as long as he has not learnt its contents. After reading it, however, he sets out to get the thing he has been asked to send. Likewise, what need is there of the scriptures if you know their essence? The next thing is the practice of spiritual discipline.” Girish entered the room. MASTER (to Girish): “Hello! What were you saying about me? I eat, drink, and make merry.” GIRISH: “What should we have been saying about you? Are you a holy man?” MASTER: “No, nothing of the sort. Truly I do not feel I am a holy man. GIRISH: “I am not your equal even in joking.” MASTER: “I once went to Jaygopal Sen’s garden house wearing a red bordered cloth. Keshab was there. Looking at the red borders Keshab said: ‘What’s this? Such a flash of colour today! Such a display of red border I said, ‘I have to cast a spell on Keshab; hence this display.’ " Narendra was going to sing again. Sri Ramakrishna asked M. to take down the Tānpura 759from the wall. Narendra was a long time tuning it. The Master and the devotees became impatient. Binode said, “He will tune it today and sing another day.” (Laughter.) Sri Ramakrishna laughed. He said: “I feel like breaking the Tānpura to pieces! What is this? Only ‘Tong-tong’! Then he will practise: ‘Tana-nana -nere-num’!” BHAVANĀTH: “Everybody feels annoyed like this before a musical performance begins.” NARENDRA (still tuning): “If you don’t understand it.” MASTER (smiling): “There! He explains away our complaints!” Narendra began to sing. Sri Ramakrishna was seated on the small couch. Nityagopal and the other devotees were on the floor. Narendra sang: O Mother, Thou my Inner Guide, ever awake within my heart! Day and night Thou holdest me in Thy lap. Why dost Thou show such tenderness to this unworthy child of Thine?.. Then he sang: O my lute of a single string! Sing the blessed Mother’s name, For She is the solace of my soul. . . . And again: In dense darkness, O Mother, Thy formless beauty sparkles; Therefore the yogis meditate in a dark mountain cave. . . . In an ecstatic mood Sri Ramakrishna came down and sat by Narendra’s side. He began to talk, still in ecstasy. MASTER: “Shall I sing? Fie! (To Nityagopal) What do you say? One should listen to singing to awaken the inner spirit. Nothing matters afterwards. “He has kindled the fire. That is nice. Now all is silence. That’s nice too. I am silent; you be silent too. The thing is to dive into the Elixir of Bliss. “Shall I sing? Well, I may. Water is water whether it is still or in waves.” Narendra was seated near the Master. He was constantly worried about his financial difficulties at home. He was now twenty-three years old. Sri Ramakrishna looked at him intently. MASTER (to Narendra, smiling): “Undoubtedly you are ‘Kha’. But you have to worry about ’taxes’; that’s the trouble.” By “taxes” the Master meant Narendra’s financial difficulties at home. 760MASTER: “Krishnakishore used to say that he was ‘Kha’. One day I visited him at his home and found him worried. He wouldn’t talk to me freely. I asked him: ‘What’s the matter? Why are you brooding like this?’ Krishna kishore said: ‘The tax-collector came today. He said my pots and pans would be sold at auction if I didn’t pay my taxes. That’s what I am worrying about.’ I laughed and said: ‘How is that? You are surely ‘Kha’, the Ākāśa. Let the rascals take away your pots and pans. What is that to you?’ Occult powers (To Narendra) “So I am saying that you are ‘Kha’. Why are you so worried? Don’t you know that Sri Krishna said to Arjuna, ‘If you have one of the eight siddhis, you may get a little power, but you will not realize Me.’ By siddhis one may acquire powers, strength, money, and such things, but not God. Go beyond duality “Let me tell you something else. Go beyond knowledge and ignorance. People say that such and such a one is a Jnāni; but in reality it is not so. Vasishtha was a great Jnāni, but even he was stricken with grief on account of the death of his sons. At this Lakshmana said to Rāma: ‘This is amazing, Rāma. Even Vasishtha is so grief-stricken!’ Rāma said: ‘Brother, he who has knowledge has ignorance as well. He who is aware of light is also aware of darkness. He who knows good also knows bad. He who knows happiness also know misery. Brother, go beyond duality, beyond pleasure and pain, beyond knowledge and ignorance.’ (To Narendra) So I am asking you to go beyond both knowledge and ignorance.” Sri Ramakrishna went back to his small couch. The devotees were seated on the floor. Surendra sat by his side. The Master cast an affectionate look on him and began to give him advice. Advice to Surendra MASTER (to Surendra): “Come here every now and then. Nangta used to say that a brass pot must be polished every day; otherwise it gets stained. One should constantly live in the company of holy men. “The renunciation of ‘woman and gold’ is for sannyāsis. It is not for you. Now and then you should go into solitude and call on God with a yearning heart. Your renunciation should be mental. “Unless a devotee is of the heroic type he cannot pay attention to both God and the world. King Janaka lived a householder’s life only after attaining perfection through austerity and prayer. He fenced with two swords, the one of Knowledge and the other of action.” The Master sang: This very world is a mansion of mirth; Here I can eat, here drink and make merry. 761Janaka’s might was unsurpassed; What did he lack of the world or the Spirit? Holding to one as well as the other, He drank his milk from a brimming cup! Duties of householders MASTER: “For you, as Chaitanya said, the disciplines to be practised are kindness to living beings, service to the devotees, and chanting the name of God. (To Surendra) “Why do I say all this to you? You work in a merchant’s office. I say this to you because you have many duties to perform there. “You tell lies at the office. Then why do I eat the food you offer me? Because you give your money in charity; you give away more than you earn. ‘The seed of the melon is bigger than the fruit’, as the saying goes. “I cannot eat anything offered by miserly people. Their wealth is squandered in these ways: first, litigation; second, thieves and robbers; third, physicians; fourth, their wicked children’s extravagance. It is like that. Master praises charity “Your giving money away in charity is very good. Those who have money should give in charity. The miser’s wealth is spirited away, but the money of the charitable person is saved. He spends it for a righteous purpose. At Kamarpukur I have seen the farmers cutting channels to irrigate their fields. Sometimes the water rushes in with such force that the ridges around the fields are washed away and the crops destroyed. For this reason the farmers make holes here and there in the ridges. Since the water escapes through the holes, the ridges are not destroyed by the rush of the water. Furthermore, the escaping water deposits soft clay in the fields, which increases their fertility and gives a richer crop. He who gives away in charity achieves great results. He achieves the four fruits: dharma, artha, kama, and moksha.” The devotees listened with great attention to Sri Ramakrishna’s words. SURENDRA: “I cannot meditate well. I repeat the Divine Mother’s name now and then. Lying in bed, I repeat Her name and fall asleep.” MASTER: “That is enough. You remember Her, don’t you? “There are two kinds of yoga: Mano Yoga and Karma Yoga. To perform, following the guru’s instructions, such pious acts as worship, pilgrimage, and service to living beings is called karmayoga. The duties that Janaka performed are also called karmayoga. The meditation and contemplation of the yogis is called manoyoga.” “Sometimes I say to myself in the Kāli temple, ‘O Mother, the mind is nothing but Yourself.’ Therefore Pure Mind, Pure Buddhi, and Pure Ātman are one and the same thing.” 762It was about dusk. Many of the devotees saluted Sri Ramakrishna and started to go home. The Master went to the west porch. Bhavanāth and M. were with him. MASTER (to Bhavanāth): “Why do you come here so seldom?” BHAVANĀTH (smiling): “Sir, I visit you once in a fortnight. I saw you in the street the other day, so I didn’t come here.” MASTER: “What do you mean? What can you gain by mere seeing? Touch and talk are also necessary.” The evening worship had begun in the temples. It was the eighth day of the bright fortnight of the moon; the temple domes, the courtyard, the gardens, and the trees were shining in the moonlight. The Ganges was flowing north with a murmuring sound. Sri Ramakrishna sat on the small couch in his room absorbed in contemplation of the Divine Mother. The evening worship was over. One or two devotees were still in the temple garden. Narendra had left. Sri Ramakrishna was pacing the verandah northeast of his room. M. stood there looking at him. Suddenly he said to M., “Ah, how sweet Narendra’s music is!” M: “Yes, sir. That song beginning with ‘In dense darkness’ is particularly beautiful.” MASTER: “You are right. That song has a deep meaning. A part of my mind is still drawn to it.” M: “Yes, sir.” MASTER: “Meditation in darkness is prescribed in the Tantra.” Master and Girish Girish Ghosh came and stood by Sri Ramakrishna, who had started to sing: Is Kāli, my Mother, really black? The Naked One, of blackest hue, Lights the Lotus of the Heart. . . . Sri Ramakrishna was filled with divine fervour. Standing with one arm resting on Girish’s body he sang: Why should I go to Ganga or Gaya, to Kasi, Kanchi, or Prabhas, So long as I can breathe my last with Kāli’s name upon my lips? What need of rituals has a man, what need of devotions any more, If he repeats the Mother’s name at the three holy hours? 763Rituals may pursue him close, but never can they overtake him. . . . Then he sang: Once for all, this time, I have thoroughly understood; From One who knows it well, I have learnt the secret of bhava. A man has come to me from a country where there is no night, And now I cannot distinguish day from night any longer; Rituals and devotions have all grown profitless for me. My sleep is broken; how can I slumber any more? For now I am wide awake in the sleeplessness of yoga. O Divine Mother, made one with Thee in yoga-sleep at last, My slumber I have lulled asleep for evermore. I bow my head, says Prasad, before desire and liberation; Knowing the secret that Kāli is one with the highest Brahman, I have discarded, once for all, both righteousness and sin. As Sri Ramakrishna looked at Girish, his ecstatic fervour became more intense. He sang: I have surrendered my soul at the fearless feet of the Mother; Am I afraid of Death any more? Unto the tuft of hair on my head Is tied the almighty mantra, Mother Kāli’s name. My body I have sold in the market-place of the world And with it have bought Sri Durga’s name. . . Intoxicated with God, Sri Ramakrishna repeated the lines: My body I have sold in the market-place of the world And with it have bought Sri Durga’s name. Looking at Girish and M. he said, “‘Divine fervour fills my body and robs me of consciousness.’ “Here ‘consciousness’ means consciousness of the outer world. One needs the Knowledge of Reality and Brahman. Selfless divine love “Bhakti, love of God, is the only essential thing. One kind of bhakti has a motive behind it. Again, there is a motiveless love, pure devotion, a love of God that seeks no return. Keshab Sen and the members of the Brahmo Samaj didn’t know about motiveless love. In this love there is no desire; it is nothing but pure love of the Lotus Feet of God. “There is another kind of love, known as urjhitabhakti, an ecstatic love of God that overflows, as it were. When it is awakened, the devotee ’laughs and weeps and dances 764and sings’. Chaitanyadeva is an example of this love. Rāma said to Lakshmana, ‘Brother, if anywhere you see the manifestation of urjhita bhakti, know for certain that I am there.’” GIRlSH: “Everything is possible through your grace. What was I before? And see what I am now.” MASTER: “You had latent tendencies; so they are manifesting themselves now. Nothing happens except at the proper time. Take the case of a patient. Nature has almost cured him, when the physician prescribes a herb and asks him to drink its juice. After taking the medicine he is completely cured. Now, is the patient cured by the medicine, or does he get well by himself? Who can tell? “Lakshmana said to Lava and Kusa: ‘You are mere children; you don’t know Rāma’s power. At the touch of His feet, Ahalyā, who had been turned into a stone, got back her human form.’ Lava and Kusa said: ‘Revered sir, we know that. We have heard the story. The stone became Ahalyā because of the power of the holy man’s words. The sage Gautama said to her: “In the Tretayuga, Rāma will pass this hermitage. You will become Hanuman being again at the touch of His feet.”’ Now, who can tell whether the miracle happened in order that the sage’s words should be fulfilled or on account of Rāma’s holiness? “Everything happens by the will of God. If your spiritual consciousness has been awakened at this place, know that I am only an instrument. ‘Uncle Moon is everybody’s uncle.’ All happens by the will of God.” GIRISH (smiling): “Did you say ‘by the will of God’? What I am saying is the very same thing.” (All laugh.) MASTER (to Girish): “By being guileless one can speedily realize God. There are several kinds of people who do not attain divine knowledge. First, a man with a perverse mind; he is not guileless. Second, one who is very fastidious about outer purity. Third, a doubting person.” Sri Ramakrishna spoke highly of Nityagopal’s ecstasy. Three or four devotees stood near Sri Ramakrishna on the verandah and listened to his words about the exalted state of the paramahamsa. The Master said: “A Paramahamsa is always conscious that God alone is real and all else illusory. Only the swan has the power to separate milk from a mixture of milk and water. The swan’s tongue secretes an acid that separates the milk from the mixture. The paramahamsa also possesses such a juice; it is his ecstatic love for God. That separates the Real from the mixture of the Real and the unreal. Through it one becomes aware of God and sees Him.” 765Wednesday, February 25, 1885 Knowledge of Brahman Sri Ramakrishna was at the house of Girish Ghosh in Bosepara Lane, Calcutta. It was about three o’clock when M. arrived and prostrated himself before him. The Master was going to see a play at the Star Theatre. He was talking with the devotees about the Knowledge of Brahman. MASTER: “Man experiences three states of consciousness: waking, dream, and deep sleep. Those who follow the path of knowledge explain away the three states. According to them, Brahman is beyond the three states. It is also beyond the gross, the subtle, and the causal bodies, and beyond the three Gunās -sattva, rajas, and tamas. All these are māyā, like a reflection in a mirror. The reflection is by no means the real substance. Brahman alone is the Substance and all else is illusory. “The knowers of Brahman say, further, that it is the identification of the soul with the body that creates the notion of duality. In that state of identification the reflection appears real. When this identification disappears, a man realizes, ‘I am He; I am Brahman.’ Two paths of Brahmajnana A DEVOTEE: “Then shall we all follow the path of reasoning?” MASTER: “Reasoning is one of the paths; it is the path of the Vedantists. But there is another path, the path of bhakti. If a bhakta, weeps longingly for the Knowledge of Brahman, he receives that as well. These are the two paths: jnāna and bhakti. The ego of the Divine Incarnation “One may attain the Knowledge of Brahman by either path. Some retain bhakti even after realizing Brahman, in order to teach humanity. An Incarnation of God is one of these. “A man cannot easily get rid of the ego and the consciousness that the body is the soul. It becomes possible only when, through the grace of God, he attains samādhi-nirvikalpa samādhi, jada samādhi. “The ego of the Incarnations returns to them when they come down from the plane of samādhi; but then it is the ’ego of Knowledge’ or the ’ego of Devotion’. Through the ’ego of Knowledge’ they teach men. Sankaracharya kept the ’ego of Knowledge’. “Through the ’ego of Devotion’ Chaitanyadeva tasted divine love and enjoyed the company of the devotees. He talked about God and chanted His name. The path of bhakti “Since one cannot easily get rid of the ego, a bhakta does not explain away the states of waking, dream, and deep sleep. He accepts all the states. Further, he accepts the three Gunās -sattva, rajas, and tamas. A bhakta sees that God alone has become the twenty- 766four cosmic principles, the universe, and all living beings. He also sees that God reveals Himself to His devotees in a tangible form, which is the embodiment of Spirit. “The bhakta takes shelter under Vidyā-māyā. He seeks holy company, goes on pilgrimage, and practises discrimination, devotion, and renunciation. He says that, since a man cannot easily get rid of his ego, he should let the rascal remain as the servant of God, the devotee of God. Meaning of liberation “But a bhakta also attains the Knowledge of Oneness; he sees that nothing exists but God. He does not regard the world as a dream, but says that it is God Himself who has become everything. In a wax garden you may see various objects, but everything is made of wax. “But a man realizes this only when his devotion to God has matured. One gets jaundice when too much bile accumulates. Then one sees everything as yellow. From constantly meditating on Krishna, Radhika saw everything as Krishna; moreover, she even felt that she herself had become Krishna. If a piece of lead is kept in a lake of mercury a long time, it turns into mercury. The cockroach becomes motionless by constantly meditating on the kumira worm; it loses the power to move. At last it is transformed into a kumira. Similarly, by constantly meditating on God the bhakta loses his ego; he realizes that God is he and he is God. When the cockroach becomes the kumira everything is achieved. Instantly one obtains liberation. “As long as God retains the ego in a man, he should establish a definite relationship with God, calling on Him as Master, Mother, Friend, or the like. I spent one year as a handmaid-the handmaid of the Divine Mother, the Embodiment of Brahman. I used to dress myself as a woman. I put on a nose-ring. One can conquer lust by assuming the attitude of a woman.

Master warns against lust

“One must worship the Ādyāśakti . She must be propitiated. She alone has assumed all female forms. Therefore I look on all women as mother. The attitude of looking on woman as mother is very pure. The Tantra mentions the Vamachara method also.

But that is not a good method; it causes the aspirant’s downfall. A devotee keeping an object of enjoyment near him has reason to be afraid.

“Looking on woman as mother is like fasting on the Ekadasi day without touching even a drop of water; in this attitude there is not the slightest trace of sensual enjoyment. Another way of observing the Ekadasi allows the taking of fruit and the like. One can also observe the day by eating luchi and curries! But my attitude is not to touch even a drop of water while I observe the fast.

I worshipped the Shorasi as my mother; I looked on all parts of her body as those of my mother. This attitude of regarding God as Mother is the last word in sādhanā . ‘O God, Thou art my Mother and I am Thy child’-this is the last word in spirituality.