Last Visit To Keshab
Table of Contents
Wednesday, November 28, 1883
At 2pm, M. was pacing the foot-path of the Circular Road in front of the Lily Cottage, where Keshab Chandra Sen lived.
He was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Sri Ramakrishna. Keshab’s illness had taken a serious turn, and there was very little chance of his recovery. Since the Master loved Keshab dearly, he was coming from Dakshineswar to pay him a visit.
On the east side of the Circular Road was Victoria College, where the ladies of Keshab’s Brahmo Samaj and their daughters received their education. To the north of the college was a spacious garden house inhabited by an English family.
M noticed that there was a commotion in the house and wondered what was going on. Presently a hearse arrived with the drivers dressed in black, and the members of the household appeared, looking very sad. There had been a death in the family.
“Whither does the soul go, leaving behind this mortal body?” Pondering the age-old question, M. waited, watching the carriages that came from the north.
Master’s visit to Keshab
Around 5pm, a carriage stopped in front of the Lily Cottage and Sri Ramakrishna got out with Lātu and several other devotees, including Rakhal.
He was received by Keshab’s relatives, who led him and the devotees upstairs to the verandah south of the drawing-room. The Master seated himself on a couch.
After a long wait he became impatient to see Keshab. Keshab’s disciples said that he was resting and would be there presently. Sri Ramakrishna became more and more impatient and said to Keshab’s disciples:
Look, what need is there of his coming to me? Why can’t I go in and see him?
(humbly): “Sir, he will come in a few minutes.”
MASTER: “Go away! It is you who are making all this fuss. Let me go in.”
Prasanna began to talk about Keshab in order to divert the Master’s attention.
Keshab is now an altogether different person. Like you, sir, he talks to the Divine Mother. He hears what the Mother says, and laughs and cries.
When he was told that Keshab talked to the Divine Mother and laughed and cried, the Master became ecstatic. Presently he went into samādhi.
It was winter and the Master was wearing a green flannel coat with a shawl thrown over it. He sat straight, with his eyes fixed, deep in ecstasy. A long time passed in this way. There was no indication of his returning to the normal plane of consciousness.
Gradually it became dark. Lamps were lighted in the drawing-room, where the Master was now to go. While he was slowly coming down to the plane of ordinary consciousness, he was taken there, though with great difficulty.
The room was well furnished. At the sight of the furniture, the Master muttered to himself:
These things were necessary before, but of what use are they now?
Then he again lost consciousness of the outer world, and, looking around as if seeing someone, he said:
“Hello, Mother! I see that You too have come. How You are showing off in Your Benares sari! Don’t bother me now, please. Sit down and be quiet.”
The Master was in a state of intense divine intoxication. In the well-lighted room the Brahmo devotees sat around the Master; Lātu, Rakhal, and M. remained near him. He was saying to himself, still filled with divine fervour:
The body and the soul! The body was born and it will die. But for the soul there is no death. It is like the betel-nut.
When the nut is ripe it does not stick to the shell. But when it is green it is difficult to separate it from the shell. After realizing God, one does not identify oneself any more with the body. Then one knows that body and soul are two different things.
Keshab’s serious illness
Keshab entered the room through the east door. Those who remembered the man who had preached in the Town Hall or the Brahmo Samaj temple were shocked to see this skeleton covered with skin. He could hardly stand.
He walked holding to the wall for support. With great difficulty he sat down in front of the couch. In the mean time Sri Ramakrishna had got down from the couch and was sitting on the floor. Keshab bowed low before the Master and remained in that position a long time, touching the Master’s feet with his forehead. Then he sat up. Sri Ramakrishna was still in a state of ecstasy.
He muttered to himself talking to the Divine Mother.
I am here, sir. I am here
He took Sri Ramakrishna’s left hand and stroked it gently. But the Master was in deep samādhi, completely intoxicated with divine love. A stream of words came from his lips as he talked to himself, and the devotees listened to him spellbound.
Brahman manifesting Itself as the universe
As long as a man associates himself with upadhis, so long he sees the manifold, such as Keshab, Prasanna, Amrita, and so on; but on attaining Perfect Knowledge he sees only one Consciousness everywhere. The same Perfect Knowledge, again, makes him realize that the one Consciousness has become the universe and its living beings and the twenty-four cosmic principles. But the manifestations of Divine Power are different in different beings. It is He, undoubtedly, who has become everything; but in some cases there is a greater manifestation than in others.
Vidyasagar once asked me:
‘Can it be true that God has endowed some with greater power and some with less?’
I replied: ‘If that were not so, how is it that one man may be stronger than fifty? If that were not the case, again, how is it that we have all come here to see you?’
The soul through which God sports is endowed with His special power. The landlord may reside in any part of his estate, but he is generally to be found in a particular drawing-room. The devotee is God’s drawing-room. God loves to sport in the heart of His devotee. It is there that His special power is manifest.