Nature of the Divine Incarnation

In the same state he said, addressing the devotees: “That which is Brahman is verily Śakti. I address That, again, as the Mother. I call It Brahman when It is inactive, and Śakti when It creates, preserves, and destroys. It is like water, sometimes still and sometimes covered with waves. The Incarnation of God is a part of the lila of Śakti. The purpose of the Divine Incarnation is to teach man ecstatic love for God. The Incarnation is like the udder of the cow, the only place milk is to be got. God incarnates Himself as man.

There is a great accumulation of divinity in an Incarnation, like the accumulation of fish in a deep hollow in a lake.”

Some of the devotees wondered, “Is Sri Ramakrishna an Incarnation of God, like

Krishna, Chaitanya, and Christ?”

Sunday, September 9, 1883

Sri Ramakrishna had finished his midday meal and was sitting on the small couch. Rakhal , M., and Ratan were sitting on the floor. Ratan was the steward of Jadu Mallick’s garden house and was devoted to the Master. Now and then Ram Chatterji and Hazra passed in or out of the room. It was about two o’clock.

Ratan told the Master that a yatra performance by Nilkantha had been arranged in Jadu Mallick’s house in Calcutta.

RATAN (to the Master): “You must go. The date has been set.”

MASTER: “That’s good, I want to go. Nilkantha sings with great devotion.”

A DEVOTEE: “That is true, sir.”

MASTER: “Tears flow from his eyes as he sings. (To Ratan) I am thinking of spending the night in Calcutta when I go to see the yatra.”

RATAN: “That will be fine.”

Ram Chatterji and the other devotees asked Ratan about a theft in Jadu Mallick’s house.

RATAN: “Yes, the golden sandals of the Deity were stolen from the shrine room in Jadu Babu’s house. It has created an uproar. They are going to try to discover the thief by means of a ‘charmed plate’. Everybody will sit in one room, and the plate will move in the direction of the man who stole the sandals.”

MASTER (with a smile): “How does the plate move? By itself?”

RATAN: “No. A man presses it to the ground.”

A DEVOTEE: “It is a kind of sleight of hand. It is a clever trick.”

MASTER: “The real cleverness is the cleverness by which one realizes God. That trick is the best of all tricks.”

As the conversation went on, several Bengali gentlemen entered the room and, after saluting the Master, sat down. One of them was already known to Sri Ramakrishna. These gentlemen followed the cult of Tantra. The Master knew that one of them indulged in immoral acts in the name of religion. The Tantra rituals, under certain conditions, allow the mixing of men and women devotees. But Sri Ramakrishna regarded all women, even prostitutes, as manifestations of the Divine Mother. He addressed them all as “Mother”.

MASTER (with a smile): “Where is Achalananda? My ideal is different from that of Achalananda and his disciples. As for myself, I look on all women as my mother.” The visiting gentlemen sat silent. Master’s attitude toward women

MASTER: “Every woman is a mother to me. Achalananda used to stay here now and then. He would drink a great deal of consecrated wine. Hearing about my attitude toward women, he stubbornly justified his own views. He insisted again and again: ‘Why should you not recognize the attitude of a “hero” toward women? Won’t you admit the injunctions of Śiva? Śiva Himself is the author of the Tantra, which prescribes various disciplines, including the “heroic”.’ I said to him: ‘But, my dear sir, I don’t know. I don’t like these ideas. To me every woman is a mother.’

“Achalananda did not support his own children. He said to me, ‘God will support them.’ I said nothing. But this is the way I felt about it: ‘Who will support your children? I hope your renunciation of wife and children is not a way of earning money. People will think you are a holy man because you have renounced everything: so they will give you money. In that way you will earn plenty of money.’

“Spiritual practice with a view to winning a lawsuit and earning money, or to helping others win in court and acquire property, shows a very mean understanding. Good use of money

“Money enables a man to get food and drink, build a house, worship the Deity, serve devotees and holy men, and help the poor when he happens to meet them. These are the good uses of money. Money is not meant for luxuries or creature comforts or for buying a position in society.

“People practise various Tantrik disciplines to acquire supernatural powers. How mean such people are! Krishna said to Arjuna, ‘Friend, by acquiring one of the eight siddhis you may add a little to your power, but you will not be able to realize Me.’ One cannot get rid of maya as long as one exercises supernatural powers. And maya begets egotism.

“Body and wealth are impermanent. Why go to so much trouble for their sakes? Just think of the plight of the hathayogis. Their attention is fixed on one ideal only- longevity. They do not aim at the realization of God at all. They practise such exercises as washing out the intestines, drinking milk through a tube, and the like, with that one aim in view.

“There was once a goldsmith whose tongue suddenly turned up and stuck to his palate. He looked like a man in samādhi. He became completely inert and remained so a long time. People came to worship him. After several years, his tongue suddenly returned to its natural position, and he became conscious of things as before. So he went back to his work as a goldsmith.

(All laugh.)

“These are physical things and have nothing to do with God. There was a man who knew eighty-two postures and talked big about yoga-samādhi. But inwardly he was drawn to ‘woman and gold’. Once he found a bank-note worth several thousand rupees. He could not resist the temptation, and swallowed it, thinking he would get it out somehow later on. The note was got out of him all right, but he was sent to jail for three years. In my guilelessness I used to think that the man had made great spiritual progress. Really, I say it upon my word!

Master’s renunciation of money

“Mahendra Pal of Sinthi once gave Ramlal five rupees. Ramlal told me about it after he had gone. I asked him what the gift was for, and Ramlal said that it was meant for me. I thought it might enable me to payoff some of my debt for milk. That night I went to bed and, if you will believe me, I suddenly woke up with a pain. I felt as if a cat were scratching inside my chest. I at once went to Ramlal and asked him: ‘For whom did Mahendra give this money? Was it for your aunt?‘7 ‘No,’ said Ramlal, ‘it is meant for you.’ I said to him, ‘Go and return the money at once, or I shall have no peace of mind.’

Ramlal returned the money early in the morning and I felt relieved.

“Once a rich man came here and said to me: ‘Sir, you must do something so that I may win my lawsuit. I have heard of your reputation and so I have come here.’ ‘My dear sir,’ I said to him, ‘you have made a mistake. I am not the person you are looking for; Achalananda is your man.’

“A true devotee of God does not care for such things as wealth or health. He thinks:

‘Why should I practise spiritual austerities for creature comforts, money, or name and fame? These are all impermanent. They last only a day or two.’ " The visiting gentlemen took leave of the Master after saluting him. When they had departed, Sri Ramakrishna smiled and said to M., “You can never make a thief listen to religion.

(All laugh.)

“Well, what do you think of Narendra?”

M: “He is splendid.”

MASTER: “Yes. His intelligence is as great as his learning. Besides, he is gifted in music, both as a singer and player. Then too, he has control over his passions. He says he will never marry.”

M: “You once said that one who constantly talks of his sin really becomes a sinner; he cannot extricate himself from sin. But if a man has firm faith that he is the son of God, then he makes rapid strides in spiritual life.”

MASTER: “Yes, faith. What tremendous faith Krishnakishore had! He used to say: ‘I have spoken the name of God once. That is enough. How can I remain a sinner? I have become pure and stainless.’ One day Haladhāri said: ‘Even Ajamila had to perform austerities to gratify God. Can one receive the grace of God without austerities? What will one gain by speaking the name of Narayana only once?’ At these remarks Krishnakishore’s anger knew no bounds. The next time he came to this garden to pick flowers he wouldn’t even look at Haladhāri.

“Haladhāri’s father was a great devotee. At bathing-time he would stand waist-deep in the water and meditate on God, uttering the sacred mantra; then the tears would flow from his eyes.