Vijay Goswami

There were many devotees, including Narendranath, in the room; Vijaykrishna Goswami arrived and respectfully took the dust of the Master’s feet. Several Brahmo devotees came with him. Vijay had cut off his connection with the Brahmo Samaj and was practising spiritual discipline independently. Sri Ramakrishna was very fond of him on account of his piety and devotion. Though not a disciple of the Master, Vijay held him in very high respect. He had lived in Dāccā a long time. Recently he had visited many sacred places in upper India.

MAHIMA CHAKRAVARTY (to Vijay): “Sir, you have visited many holy places and new countries. Please tell us some of your experiences.”

VIJAY: “What shall I say? I realize that everything is here where we are sitting now. This roaming about is useless. At other places I have seen two, five, ten, or twenty-five per cent of him [meaning the Master], at the most. Here alone I find the full one hundred per cent manifestation of God.”

MAHIMA: “You are right, sir. Again, It is he [the Master] who makes us, roam about or remain in one place.”

MASTER (to Narendra): “See what a change has come over Vijay’s mind. He is an altogether different person. He is like thick milk from which all the water has been boiled off. You see, I can recognize a paramahamsa by his neck and forehead. Yes, I can recognize a paramahamsa.”

MAHIMA (to Vijay): “Sir, you seem to eat less now. Isn’t that so?”

VIJAY: “Perhaps you are right. (To the Master) I heard about your illness and have come to see you. Again, in Dāccā-”

MASTER: “What about Dāccā?“Vijay did not reply and was silent a few moments.

VIJAY; “It is difficult to understand him [meaning the Master] unless he reveals himself. Here alone is the one hundred per cent manifestation of God.”

MASTER: “Kedār said the other day, at other places we don’t get anything to eat, but here we get a stomachful!'”

MAHIMA: “Why a stomachful? It overflows the stomach.” Master in ecstasy

VIJAY (to the Master, with folded hands): “I have now realized who you are. You don’t have to tell me.”

MASTER (in a state of ecstasy): “If so, then so be it!”

Saying, “Yes, I have understood”, Vijay fell prostrate before the Master. He held the Master’s feet on his chest and clung to them. The Master was in deep samādhi, motionless as a picture. The devotees were overwhelmed by this sight. Some burst into tears and some chanted sacred hymns. All eyes were riveted on Sri Ramakrishna. They viewed him in different ways, according to their spiritual unfoldment: some as a great devotee, some as a holy man, and some as God Incarnate.

Mahimacharan sang, with tears in his eyes:

“Behold, behold the embodiment of Love Divine!” Now and then he chanted, as if enjoying a glimpse of Brahman: The Transcendental, beyond the One and the many, Existence-Knowledge- Bliss Absolute.

NavaGopal was weeping. Bhupati sang:

Hallowed be Brahman, the Absolute, the Infinite, the Fathomless!

Higher than the highest, deeper than the deepest depths! Thou art the Light of Truth, the Fount of Love, the Home of Bliss!

This universe with all its manifold and blessed modes Is but the enchanting poem of Thine inexhaustible thought; Its beauty overflows on every side.

O Thou Poet, great and primal, in the rhythm of Thy thought The sun and moon arise and move toward their setting; The stars, shining like bits of gems, are the fair characters In which Thy song is written across the blue expanse of sky;The year, with its six seasons, in tune with the happy earth, Proclaims Thy glory to the end of time. The colours of the flowers reveal Thy sovereign Beauty, The waters in their stillness, Thy deep Serenity; The thunder-clap unveils to us the terror of Thy Law. Deep is Thine Essence, truly; how can a foolish mind perceive it?

Wondering, It meditates on Thee from yuga to yuga’s end Millions upon millions of suns and moons and stars Bow down to Thee, O Lord, in rapturous awe! Beholding Thy creation, men and women weep for joy; The gods and angels worship Thee, O All-pervading Presence! O Thou, the Fount of Goodness, bestow on us Thy Knowledge; Bestow on us devotion, bestow pure love and perfect peace; And grant us shelter at Thy hallowed feet!

Bhupati sang again: Upon the Sea of Blissful Awareness waves of ecstatic love arise: Rapture divine! Play of God’s Bliss! Oh, how enthralling! . . . He sang a third song: Here vanish my fear and my delusion, my piety, rituals, and good works; Here vanish my pride of race and caste! Where am I? Where art Thou, O Hari? Thou hast stolen my life and soul, and now, O Friend, Thou dost desert me: Ah, what a fool I was to come here to the shore of this Sea of Love! Full to the brim with heavenly bliss is filled this little soul of mine; Premdas says: Hearken, one and all! This in truth is the way of God!

After a long time Sri Ramakrishna regained consciousness of the world.

MASTER (to M.): “Something happens to me in that state of intoxication. Now I feel ashamed of myself. In that state I feel as if I were possessed by a ghost. I cease to be my own self. While coming down from that state I cannot count correctly. Trying to count, I say, ‘One, seven, eight’, or some such thing.”

NARENDRA: “It is because everything is one.“MASTER: “No, It is beyond one and two.”

MAHIMA: “Yes, you are right. ‘It is neither one nor two.’”

MASTER: “There reason withers away. God cannot be realized through scholarship. He is beyond the scriptures-the Vedas, Puranas, and Tantras. If I see a man with even one book in his hand, I call him a rajarshi though he is a Jnāni. But the brahmarshi has no outer sign whatsoever.