Depth of Sri Ramakrishna's experiences

“In Sri Ramakrishna one finds all the attitudes and ideals of religion. That is why people of all sects and creeds enjoy peace and blessedness in his presence. Who can fathom his feeling and tell us the depth of his inner experience?”

DOCTOR: " ‘All things to all men.’ I don’t approve of it although St. Paul says it."

M: “Who can understand the state of his mind? We have heard from him that unless one is engaged in the yarn trade, one cannot tell the difference between number forty and number forty-one yarn. Only a painter can appreciate another painter. The mind of a saint is very deep. One cannot understand all the aspects of Christ unless one is Christlike. Perhaps the deep realization of the Master is what Christ meant when He said: ‘Be ye perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect.’”

DOCTOR: “What arrangements have you made about having him nursed?”

M: “At present one of the older devotees is assigned every day to look after him. It may be Girish Babu or Ram Babu or Balarām or Suresh Babu or Navagopal or Kāli Babu. It is that way.”

It was about one o’clock in the afternoon when the doctor and M. entered the Master’s room on the second floor. Sri Ramakrishna sat there, smiling as usual, completely forgetful of the fatal illness, which was eating his life away. Among the many devotees in the room were Girish, the younger Naren, and Sarat. Sometimes they were motionless, like the snake before its charmer, and sometimes they displayed great joy, like the bridal party with the bridegroom. The doctor and M. bowed low before the Master and sat onthe floor. At the sight of the doctor, the

Master said, laughing, “Today I have been feeling very well.”

Then the Master went on with his soul-enthralling conversation.

Futility of mere scholarship

MASTER: “What will mere scholarship accomplish without discrimination and renunciation? I go into a strange mood while thinking of the Lotus Feet of God. The cloth on my body drops to the ground and I feel something creeping up from my feet to the top of my head. In that state I regard all as mere straw. If I see a pundit without discrimination and love of God, I regard him as a bit of straw.

“One day Dr.Rāmnārāyan had been arguing with me, when suddenly I went into that mood. I said to him: ‘What are you saying? What can you understand of God by reasoning? How little you can understand of His creation! Shame! You have the pettifogging mind of a weaver!’ Seeing the state of my mind he began to weep and gently stroked my feet.”

DOCTOR: “Ramnarayan did that because he is a Hindu. Besides, he is a believer in flowers and sandal-paste. He is an orthodox Hindu.”

M. (to himself): “Dr. Sarkar says that he has nothing to do with gong and conch-shells!”

Master on Bankim

MASTER: “Bankim is one of your pundits. I met him once. I asked him, ‘What is the duty of man?’ And he had the impudence to say, ‘Eating, sleeping, and sex gratification.’ These words created in me a feeling of great aversion. I said: ‘What are you saying? You are very mean. What you think day and night and what you do all the time come out through your lips. If a man eats radish, he belches radish.’ Then we talked about God a great deal. There was also much devotional music in the room, and I danced.

Then Bankim said to me, ‘Sir, please come to our house once.’ ‘That depends on the will of God’, I replied. ‘There also’, he said, ‘you will find devotees of God.’ I laughed and said: ‘What kind of devotees are they? Are they like those who said, “Gopal! Gopal!”? ’ "

DOCTOR: “What is the story of ‘Gopal! Gopal!’? "

MASTER (with a smile): “There was a goldsmith who kept a jewellery shop. He looked like a great devotee, a true Vaishnava, with beads around his neck, rosary in his hand, and the holy marks on his forehead. Naturally people trusted him and came to his shop on business. They thought that, being such a pious man, he would never cheat them. Whenever a party of customers entered the shop, they would hear one of his craftsmen say, ‘Kesava! Kesava!’ Another would say, after a while, ‘Gopal! Gopal!’ Then a third would mutter, ‘Hari! Hari!’ Finally someone would say, ‘Hara! Hara!’ Now these are, as you know, different names of God. Hearing so much chanting of God’s names, the customers naturally thought that this goldsmith must be a very superior person.

But can you guess the goldsmith’s true intention? The man who said ‘Kesava! Kesava!’ meant to ask, who are these?-‘who are these customers?’ The man who said ‘Gopal! Gopal!‘conveyed the idea that the customers were merely a herd of cows. That was the estimate he formed of them after the exchange of a few words. The man who said ‘Hari! Hari!’ asked, ‘Since they are no better than a herd of cows, then may we rob them?’ He who said ‘Hara! Hara!’ gave his assent, meaning by these words, ‘Do rob by all means, since they are mere cows!’

(All laugh.)

“Once I went to a certain place with Mathur Babu. Many pundits came forward to argue with me. And you all know that I am a fool. (All laugh.) The pundits saw that strange mood of mine. When the conversation was over, they said to me: ‘Sir, after hearing your words, all that we have studied before, our knowledge and scholarship, has proved to be mere spittle. Now we realize that a man does not lack wisdom if he has the grace of God. The fool becomes wise and the mute eloquent.’ Therefore I say that a man does not become a scholar by the mere study of books.

Divine Knowledge is inexhaustible

“Yes, how true it is! How can a man who has the grace of God lack knowledge? Look at me. I am a fool. I do not know anything. Then who is it that utters these words? The reservoir of the Knowledge of God is inexhaustible. There are grain-dealers at Kamarpukur. When selling paddy, one man weighs the grain on the scales and another man pushes it to him from a heap. It is the duty of the second man to keep a constant supply of grain on the scales by pushing it from the big heap. It is the same with my words. No sooner are they about to run short than the Divine Mother sends a new supply from Her Inexhaustible storehouse of Knowledge.

Master’s unique experience

“During my boyhood God manifested Himself in me. I was then eleven years old. One day, while I was walking across a paddy field, I saw something. Later on I came to know from people that I had been unconscious, and my body totally motionless. Since that day I have been an altogether different man. I began to see another person within me. When I used to conduct the worship in the temple, my hand, instead of going toward the Deity, would very often come toward my head, and I would put flowers there. A young man who was then staying with me did not dare approach me. He would say: ‘I see a light on your face. I am afraid to come very near you.’ “You know I am a fool. I know nothing. Then who is it that says all these things? I say to the Divine Mother: ‘O Mother, I am the machine and Thou art the Operator.

I am the house and Thou art the Indweller. I am the chariot and Thou art the Charioteer. I do as Thou makest me do; I speak as Thou makest me speak; I move as Thou makest me move. It is not I! It is not I! It is all Thou! It is all Thou!’ Hers is the glory; we are only Her instruments. Once Radha, to prove her chastity, carried on her head a pitcher filled with water. The pitcher had a thousand holes, but not a drop of water spilled. People began to praise her, saying, ‘Such a chaste woman the world will never see again!’ Then Radha said to them: Why do you praise me? Say: Glory unto Krishna! Hail Krishna! I am only His handmaid.’“Once in that strange mood of mine I placed my foot on Vijay’s chest. You know how greatly I respect him-and I placed my foot on his body! What do you say to that?”

DOCTOR: “But now you should be careful.”