Three kinds of bhakti

Pundit

“By what kind of bhakti does one realize God?”

Ramakrishna

“Three kinds of bhakti are found, according to the nature of the man: sattvic bhakti, rajasic bhakti, and tamasic bhakti.

“Sattvic bhakti is known to God alone. It makes no outward display. A man with such devotion loves privacy. Perhaps he meditates inside the mosquito net, where nobody sees him. When this kind of devotion is awakened, one hasn’t long to wait for the vision of God. The appearance of the dawn in the east shows that the sun will rise before long.

“A man with rajasic bhakti feels like making a display of his devotion before others. He worships the Deity with ‘sixteen ingredients’, enters the temple wearing a silk cloth, and puts around his neck a string of rudrāksha beads interspersed here and there with beads of gold and ruby.

“A man with tamasic bhakti shows the courage and boisterousness of a highway robber. A highway robber goes on his expedition openly, shouting, ‘Kill! Plunder!’ He isn’t afraid even of eight police inspectors. The devotee with tamasic bhakti also shouts like a madman: ‘Hara! Hara! Vyom! Vyom! Victory to Kāli!’ He has great strength of mind and burning faith.

“A Sakta has such faith. He says: ‘What? I have uttered once the name of Kāli and of Durga! I have uttered once the name of Rāma! Can there be any sin in me?’

“The Vaishnavas have a very humble and lowly attitude. (Looking at Balarām’s father) They tell their rosary and whine and whimper: ‘O Krishna, be gracious to us! We are wretched! We are sinners!’

“A man should have such fiery faith as to be able to say, ‘I have uttered the name of God; how can I be a sinner?’ Imagine a man repeating the name of Hari day and night and at the same time saying that he is a sinner!”

So saying, Sri Ramakrishna became overwhelmed with divine ecstasy and sang:

If only I can pass away repeating Durga’s name, How canst Thou then, O Blessed One, Withhold from me deliverance, Wretched though I may be? I may have stolen a drink of wine, or killed a child unborn, Or slain a woman or a cow, Or even caused a brahmin’s death; But, though it all be true, Nothing of this can make me feel the least uneasiness; For through the power of Thy sweet name My wretched soul may still aspire Even to Brahmanhood.

He sang again:

Behold my Mother playing with Śiva, lost in an ecstasy of joy! Drunk with a draught of celestial wine, She reels, and yet She does not fall. Erect She stands on Śiva’s bosom, and the earth trembles under Her tread; She and Her Lord are mad with frenzy, casting aside all fear and shame!

Pundit Shashadhar was weeping. Vaishnavcharan, the musician, sang:

O tongue, always repeat the name of Mother Durga! Who but your Mother Durga will save you in distress? Thou art the heavens and the earth, and Thou the nether world; From Thee have the twelve Gopalas and Hari and Śiva sprung. The ten Embodiments of Divine Śakti art Thou, And Thou the ten Avatars: this time, save me Thou must! The moving and the unmoving, the gross and the subtle, art Thou; Creation and preservation art Thou, and the last dissolution. Thou art the Primal Root of this manifold universe; The Mother of the three worlds, their only Saviour, art Thou; Thou art the Śakti of all, and Thou Thine own Śakti, too.

As the Master listened to the last few lines, he went into an ecstatic mood. The Master himself sang:

O Mother, for Yaśoda Thou wouldst dance, when she called Thee her precious “Blue Jewel”; Where hast Thou hidden that lovely form, O terrible Syama? Dance that way once for me, O Mother! Throw down Thy sword and take the flute; Cast off Thy garland of heads, and wear Thy wild-flower garland. If without Śiva Thou canst not dance, then let Balarama be Thy Śiva. Dance, O Syama, as Thou didst dance when Thou wert Krishna! Mother, play on Thy flute again, once so full of delight for the gopis; Play again on Thy magic flute, which called the cattle in from the pasture, Stopping the Jamuna’s murmuring flow and turning it backward. Hot in the sky the sun would burn, when Yaśoda, restless for her Krishna, Fondly would call: “Here, my Gopala! Cream and butter — eat them, my Darling!” And she would comb His long black hair and carefully braid it. Bending Thy supple body, Mother, both at the neck, the waist, and the knee, Thou didst dance with Thy friend Sridāmā, while Thy two anklets played the music. Hearing their captivating sound, the gopis would rush there.

Again Pundit Shashadhar shed tears of love.

Sri Ramakrishna came down to consciousness of the world. Pointing to Shashadhar, he said to M., “Why don’t you prod him?” He wanted M. or some other devotee to ask Shashadhar a question.

Ramdayal

(to Shashadhar): “The scriptures speak of Brahman’s form as a projection of mind. Who is it that projects?”

Shashadhar

“It is Brahman Itself that does so. It is no projection of a man’s mind.”

Pratap

“Why does Brahman project the form?”

Ramakrishna

“You ask why? Brahman doesn’t act in consultation with others. It is Brahman’s pleasure. Brahman is self-willed.

Why should we try to know the reason for Brahman’s acting this way or that? You have come to the orchard to eat mangoes.

Eat the mangoes. What is the good of calculating how many trees there are in the orchard, how many thousands of branches, and how many millions of leaves? One cannot realize Truth by futile arguments and reasoning.”

Pratap

“Shouldn’t we reason any more then?”

Ramakrishna

“I am asking you not to indulge in futile reasoning. But reason, by all means, about the Real and the unreal, about what is permanent and what is transitory. You must reason when you are overcome by lust, anger, or grief.”

Shashadhar

“That is different. It is called reasoning based on discrimination.”

Ramakrishna

“Yes, discrimination between the Real and the unreal.”

All sat in silence. Again the Master spoke, addressing the pundit.

Ramakrishna

“Formerly many great men used to come here.”

Shashadhar

“You mean rich people?”

Ramakrishna

“No. Great scholars.”

In the mean time the small car of Jagannath had been brought to the verandah. Inside the car were the images of Krishna, Balarama, and Subhadra. They were adorned with flowers, garlands, jewelry, and yellow apparel. Balarām was a sattvic worshipper: there was no outward grandeur in his worship. Outsiders did not even know of this Car Festival at his house. The Master and the devotees went to the verandah. Sri Ramakrishna pulled the car by the rope.

Then he began to sing:

See how all Nadia is shaking Under the waves of Gaurānga’s love. . . .

He sang again:

Behold, the two brothers have come, who weep while chanting Hari’s name, The brothers who, in return for blows, offer to sinners Hari’s love. . . .

Sri Ramakrishna danced with the devotees. The musician and his party joined the Master in the music and dancing. Soon the whole verandah was filled with people. The ladies witnessed this scene of joy from an adjoining room. It appeared as if Chaitanya himself were dancing with his devotees, intoxicated with divine love.

It was not yet dusk. Sri Ramakrishna returned to the drawing-room with the devotees.

Ramakrishna

(to Shashadhar): “This is called bhajanananda, the bliss of devotees in the worship of God. Worldly people keep themselves engrossed in the joy of sensuous objects, of ‘woman and gold’. Through worship devotees receive the grace of God, and then His vision. Then they enjoy Brahmananda, the Bliss of Brahman.”

Shashadhar and the devotees listened to these words with rapt attention.

Shashadhar

(humbly): “Sir, please tell us what kind of yearning gives one this blissful state of mind.”

Ramakrishna

“One feels restless for God when one’s soul longs for His vision. The guru said to the disciple: ‘Come with me. I shall show you what kind of longing will enable you to see God.’ Saying this, he took the disciple to a pond and pressed his head under the water. After a few moments he released the disciple and asked, ‘How did you feel?’ The disciple answered: ‘Oh, I felt as if I were dying! I was longing for a breath of air.’”

Shashadhar

“Yes! Yes! That’s it. I understand it now.”

Ramakrishna

“To love God is the essence of the whole thing. Bhakti alone is the essence. Nārada said to Rāma, ‘May I always have pure love for Your Lotus Feet; and may I not be deluded by Your world-bewitching māyā!’ Rāma said to him, ‘Ask for some other boon.’ ‘No,’ said Nārada, ‘I don’t want anything else. May I have love for Your Lotus Feet. This is my only prayer.’”

Pundit Shashadhar was ready to leave. Sri Ramakrishna asked a devotee to bring a carriage for the pundit.

Shashadhar

“Don’t trouble yourself. I shall walk.”

Ramakrishna

(smiling): “Oh, how can that be? ‘You are beyond the reach of even Brahma’s meditation.’”

Shashadhar

“There is no particular need of my going just now. The only thing is that I shall have to perform my sandhya.”

Ramakrishna

“The Divine Mother has taken away my sandhya and other devotions. The purpose of the sandhya is to purify body and mind. I am no longer in that state.”

The Master sang the following lines of a song:

When will you learn to lie, O mind, in the abode of Blessedness, With Cleanliness and Defilement on either side of you? Only when you have found the way To keep these wives contentedly under a single roof, Will you behold the matchless form of Mother Syama.

Pundit Shashadhar saluted the Master and went away.

Ram

“I visited Shashadhar yesterday. You asked me to.”

Ramakrishna

“Did I? I don’t remember. But it is nice that you went.”

Ram

“The editor of a newspaper was abusing you.”

Ramakrishna

“Suppose he was. What does it matter?”

Ram

“Please listen. Then I began to talk to the editor about you. He wanted to hear more and wouldn’t let me go.”

It was dusk. Sri Ramakrishna began to chant the names of the Divine Mother, Krishna, Rāma, and Hari. The devotees sat in silence. The Master chanted the names in such sweet tones that the hearts of the devotees were deeply touched. That day Balarām’s house was like Navadvip when Chaitanya lived there. On the verandah it was like Navadvip, and in the parlour it was like Vrindāvan.

That same night Sri Ramakrishna was to go to Dakshineswar. Balarām took him into the inner apartments and served him with refreshments. The ladies of the family saluted the Master.

The devotees were singing kirtan in the drawing-room, awaiting the Master’s coming. Presently Sri Ramakrishna came and joined the singers.

The kirtan went on:

Behold, my Gora is dancing! With the devotees He dances in Srivas’s courtyard, singing the kirtan. Gora says to all, “Repeat the name of Hari!” He looks at Gadadhar, and from his red eyes Are flowing tears of love over his golden body.

The Master improvised the lines:

Gora is dancing in the kirtan: There he dances, Sachi’s darling! There he dances, my Gaurānga! There he dances, my soul’s beloved!