At Ram's House
Table of Contents
Saturday, May 23, 1885
SRI RAMAKRISHNA was sitting in the drawing-room on the ground floor of Ram’s house.
He was surrounded by devotees and was conversing with them. Mahima sat in front of him, M. to his left. Paltu, Bhavanāth, Nityagopal, Haramohan, and a few others sat around him. It was about five o’clock in the afternoon. The Master inquired after several devotees.
MASTER (to M.): “Hasn’t the younger Naren arrived yet?”
Presently the younger Naren entered the room.
MASTER: “What about him?”
M: “Who, sir?”
Kishori. Isn’t Girish Ghosh coming? What about Narendra?" A few minutes later Narendra arrived and saluted Sri Ramakrishna.
MASTER (to the devotees): “It would be fine if Kedār were here. He agrees with Girish. (To Mahima, smiling) He says the same thing.”
Ram had arranged the kirtan. With folded hands the musician said to Sri Ramakrishna, “Sir, I can begin if you give the order.”
The Master drank some water and chewed spices from a small bag. He asked M. to close the bag.
The musician started the kirtan. As Sri Ramakrishna heard the sound of the drum he went into an ecstatic mood. While listening to the prelude of the kirtan he plunged into deep samādhi. He placed his legs on the lap of Nityagopal, who was sitting near him. The devotee, too, was in an ecstatic mood. He was weeping. The other devotees looked on intently.
Nitya and Lila
Regaining partial consciousness, Sri Ramakrishna said: “From the Nitya to the Lila and from the Lila to the Nitya. (To Nityagopal) What is your ideal?”
NITYAGOPAL: “Both are good.”
Sri Ramakrishna closed his eyes and said: “Is it only this? Does God exist only when the eyes are closed, and cease to exist when the eyes are opened? The Lila belongs to Him to whom the Nitya belongs, and the Nitya belongs to Him to whom the Lila belongs.
(To Mahima) My dear sir, let me tell you-”
MAHIMA: “Revered sir, both are according to the will of God.”
MASTER: “Some people climb the seven floors of a building and cannot get down; but some climb up and then, at will, visit the lower floors.
“Uddhava said to the gopis: ‘He whom you address as your Krishna dwells in all beings.
It is He alone who has become the universe and its living beings.’
“Therefore I say, does a man meditate on God only when his eyes are closed? Doesn’t he see anything of God when his eyes are open?”
MAHIMA: “I have a question to ask, sir. A lover of God needs Nirvāna some time or other, doesn’t he?”
The seed of bhakti cannot be destroyed
MASTER: “It can’t be said that bhaktas need Nirvāna. According to some schools there is an eternal Krishna and there are also His eternal devotees. Krishna is Spirit embodied, and His Abode also is Spirit embodied. Krishna is eternal and the devotees also are eternal.
Krishna and the devotees are like the moon and the stars-always near each other. You yourself repeat: ‘what need is there of penance if God is seen within and without?’ Further, I have told you that the devotee who is born with an element of Vishnu cannot altogether get rid of bhakti.
Once I fell into the clutches of a Jnāni, who made me listen to Vedānta for eleven months. But he couldn’t altogether destroy the seed of bhakti in me. No matter where my mind wandered, it would come back to the Divine Mother. Whenever I sang of Her, Nangta would weep and say, ‘Ah! What is this?’ You see, he was such a great Jnāni and still he wept.
(To the younger Naren and the others) Remember the popular saying that if a man drinks the juice of the Ālekh creeper, a plant grows inside his stomach. Once the seed of bhakti is sown, the effect is inevitable: it will gradually grow into a tree with flowers and fruits.
“You may reason and argue a thousand times, but if you have the seed of bhakti within you, you will surely come back to Hari.”
The devotees listened silently to the Master. Sri Ramakrishna asked Mahima, laughing,
“What is the thing you enjoy most?”
MAHIMA (smiling): “Nothing, sir. I like mangoes.”
MASTER (smiling): “All by yourself? Or do you want to share them with others?”
MAHIMA (smiling) : “I am not so anxious to give others a share. I may as well eat them all by myself.”
Reality includes both Absolute and universe
MASTER: “But do you know my attitude? I accept both, the Nitya and the Lila. Doesn’t God exist if one looks around with eyes open? After realizing Him, one knows that He is both the Absolute and the universe. It is He who is the Indivisible Satchidananda. Again, it is He who has become the universe and its living beings. Futility of mere scholarship
“One needs sādhanā . Mere study of the scriptures will not do. I noticed that though Vidyāsāgar had no doubt read a great deal, he had not realized what was inside him; he was satisfied with helping boys get their education, but had not tasted the Bliss of God. What will mere study accomplish? How little one assimilates! The almanac may forecast twenty measures of rain; but you don’t get a drop by squeezing its pages.”
MAHIMA: “We have so many duties in the world. Where is the time for sādhanā ?”
MASTER: “Why should you say such a thing? It is you who describe the world as illusory, like a dream.
“Rāma and Lakshmana wanted to go to Ceylon. But the ocean was before them. Lakshmana was angry. Taking his bow and arrow, he said: ‘I shall kill Varuna. This ocean prevents our going to Ceylon.’ Rāma explained the matter to him, saying: ‘Lakshmana, all that you are seeing is unreal, like a dream. The ocean is unreal. Your anger is also unreal. It is equally unreal to think of destroying one unreal thing by means of another.’” Mahimacharan kept quiet. He had many duties in the world. He had lately started a school to help others.
MASTER (to Mahima): “Sambhu once said to me: ‘I have some money. It is my desire to spend it for good works-for schools and dispensaries, roads, and so forth.’ I said to him: ’ It will be good if you can do these works in a selfless spirit. But it is extremely difficult to perform unselfish action. Desire for fruit comes from nobody knows where. Let me ask you something. Suppose God appears before you; will you pray to Him; then, for such things as schools and dispensaries and hospitals?’ "
A DEVOTEE: “Sir, what is the way for worldly people?”