Use of scriptures

“Do you know the use of the scriptures? A man once wrote a letter to a relative, asking him to send five seers of sweetmeats and a piece of cloth.

The relative received the letter, read it, and remembered about the sweetmeats and the cloth. Then, he threw the letter away. Of what further use was it?”

VIJAY: “I see that the sweetmeat has been sent.”

God’s Incarnation as man

MASTER: “God incarnates Himself on earth in a human body. He is, no doubt, present everywhere and in all beings, but man’s longing is not satisfied unless he sees God in a human form. Man’s need is not satisfied without the Divine Incarnation. Do you know what it is like? By touching any part of a cow you undoubtedly touch the cow herself. Even by touching her horns you touch the cow. But the milk comes through the cow’s udder.”

MAHIMA: “If a man wants milk he must put his mouth to the udder. What will he get by sucking the horns?”

(All laugh.)

VIJAY: “But a calf at first licks other parts of the cow.”

MASTER (smiling): “True. But seeing the calf doing so, someone perhaps puts its mouth to the udder.”

(All laugh.)

The conversation was thus going on, when Dr. Sarkar came into the room and took a seat.

He said to the Master: “I woke up at three this morning, greatly worried that you might catch cold. Oh, I thought many other things about you.”

MASTER: “I have been coughing and my throat is sore. In the small hours of the morning my mouth was filled with water. My whole body is aching.”

DOCTOR: “Yes, I heard all about it this morning.”

Mahimacharan told of his trip to various parts of the country and said that in Ceylon no man laughed. Dr. Sarkar said, “It may be so; but I shall have to inquire about it.” (All laugh.)The conversation turned to the duties of life.

The duty of a physician

MASTER (to the doctor): “Many think that the duty of a physician is a very noble one.

The physician is undoubtedly a noble man if he treats his patients free, out of compassion and moved by their suffering. Then his work may be called very uplifting. But a physician becomes cruel and callous if he carries on his profession for money. It is very mean to do such things as examine urine and stool in order to earn money, like a business man carrying on his trade.”

DOCTOR: “You are right. It is undoubtedly wrong for a physician to perform his duties in that spirit. But I don’t like to brag before you.”

MASTER: “But the medical profession is certainly very noble if the physician devotes himself to the welfare of others in an unselfish spirit.

Cultivating holy company

“Whatever may be a householder’s profession, It is necessary for him to live in the company of holy men now and then. If a man loves God, he will himself seek the company of holy men. I give the illustration of the hemp-smoker. One hemp-smoker loves the company of another hemp-smoker. At the sight of a person who does not smoke, he goes away with downcast eyes or hides himself in a comer; but his joy is unbounded if he meets a hemp addict. Perhaps they embrace each other. (All laugh.) Again, a vulture loves the company of another vulture.”

DOCTOR: “It has also been noticed that a vulture runs away for fear of a crow. In my opinion one should serve all creatures, not men alone. Often I feed the sparrows with flour. I throw small pellets of flour to them and they come in swarms. They love to eat them.”

MASTER: Bravo! That’s grand. Holy men should feed other creatures. They feed ants with sugar.”

DOCTOR: “Will there be no singing today?”

MASTER (to Narendra): “Why don’t you sing a little?”

Narendra sings

Narendra sang to the accompaniment of the Tānpura and other instruments: Sweet is Thy name, O Refuge of the humble! It falls like sweetest nectar on our ears And comforts us, Beloved of our souls! The priceless treasure of Thy name alone Is the abode of Immortality,

And he who chants Thy name becomes immortal. Falling upon our ears, Thy holy nameInstantly slays the anguish of our hearts, Thou Soul of our souls, and fills our hearts with bliss!

Narendra sang again:

O Mother, make me mad with Thy love! What need have I of knowledge or reason? Make me drunk with Thy love’s Wine; O Thou who stealest Thy bhaktas’ hearts, Drown me deep in the Sea of Thy love! Here in this world, this madhouse of Thine, Some laugh, some weep, some dance for joy: Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Gaurānga, All are drunk with the Wine of Thy love O Mother, when shall I be blessed By joining their blissful company? A strange transformation came over the devotees. They all became mad, as it were, with divine ecstasy. The pundit stood up, forgetting the pride of his scholarship, and cried: O Mother, make me mad with Thy love! What need have I of knowledge or reason?

Vijay was the first on his feet, carried away by divine intoxication. Then Sri Ramakrishna stood up, forgetting all about his painful and fatal illness. The doctor, who had been sitting in front of him, also stood up. Both patient and physician forgot themselves in the spell created by Narendra’s music. The younger Naren and Lātu went into deep samādhi. The atmosphere of the room became electric. Everyone felt the presence of God.

Dr. Sarkar, eminent scientist that he was stood breathless, watching this strange scene. He noticed that the devotees who had gone into samādhi were utterly unconscious of the outer world. All were motionless and transfixed. After a while, as they came down a little to the plane of the relative world, some laughed and some wept. An outsider, entering the room, would have thought that a number of drunkards were assembled there. A little later Sri Ramakrishna resumed his conversation, the devotees taking their seats. It was about eight o’clock in the evening.

MASTER: “You have just noticed the effect of divine ecstasy. What does your ‘science’ say about that? Do you think it is a mere hoax?”

Doctor suppresses his emotion

DOCTOR (to the Master): “I must say that this is all natural, when so many people have experienced it. It cannot be a hoax.

(To Narendra) When you sang the lines:O Mother, make me mad with Thy love! What need have I of knowledge or reason?

I could hardly control myself. I was about to jump to my feet. With great difficulty I suppressed my emotion. I said to myself, ‘No, I must not display my feelings.’ "

MASTER (with a smile, to the doctor): “You are unshakable and motionless, like Mount Sumeru. You are a very deep soul. Nobody could perceive the deep emotion of Rupa and Sanatana. If an elephant enters a small pool, there is a splashing of water on all sides. But this does not happen when it plunges into a big lake; hardly anyone notices it.

Radha once said to her companion: ‘Friend, you are weeping so much at our separation from Sri Krishna. But look at me. How stony my heart is! There is not a tear in my eyes.’ Brinde, her friend, replied: ‘yes, your eyes are dry. But there is a deep meaning in it. A fire of grief is constantly raging in your heart because of your separation from Krishna. No sooner do the tears gather in your eyes than they are dried up in the heat of that fire.’

DOCTOR: “Nobody can beat you in talk!”

(Laughter.)

The conversation turned to other things. Sri Ramakrishna described to the doctor his ecstasies at Dakshineswar. He also told him how to control anger, lust, and the other passions.

DOCTOR: “I have heard the story that you were once lying on the ground unconscious in samādhi when a wicked man kicked you with his boots”

MASTER: “You must have heard it from M. The man was Chandra Haldar, a priest of the Kāli temple at KaliGhat; he often came to Mathur Babu’s house. One day I was lying on the ground in an ecstatic mood. The room was dark. Chandra Haldar thought I was feigning that state in order to win Mathur’s favour. He entered the room and kicked me several times with his boots. It left black marks on my body. Everybody wanted to tell Mathur Babu about it, but I forbade them.”

DOCTOR: “This is also due to the will of God. Thus you have taught people how to control anger and practise forgiveness.”

In the mean time Vijay had become engaged in conversation with the other devotees.

VIJAY: “I feel as if someone were always moving with me. He shows me what is happening even at a distance.”

NARENDRA: “Like a guardian angel”

VIJAY: “I have seen him [meaning the Master] in Dāccā. I even touched his body.”

MASTER (with a smile): “It must have been someone else.“NARENDRA: “I too have seen him many a time. (To Vijay) How can I say I do not believe your words?”