Signs of a real devotee

Sunday, September 14, 1884

Sri Ramakrishna was sitting in his room with Narendra, Bhavanath, the Mukherji brothers, and other devotees. Rakhal was staying with Balarām at Vrindāvan and was laid up with an attack of fever. Narendra was preparing himself for his coming law examination.

About eleven o’clock Jnan Babu arrived. He was a government official and had received four university degrees.

MASTER (at the sight of Jnan Babu): “Well! Well! This sudden awakening of ‘knowledge’!”

JNAN (smiling): “You must admit, sir, that one sees the awakening of knowledge as a result of very good fortune.”

MASTER (smiling): “You are Jnan. Then why should you have ajnan, ignorance? Oh, I understand. Where there is knowledge there is also ignorance. The sage Vasishtha was endowed with great knowledge and still he wept at the death of his sons. Therefore I ask you to go beyond both knowledge and ignorance. The thorn of ignorance has pierced the sole of a man’s foot. He needs the thorn of knowledge to take it out. Afterwards he throws away both thorns. The Jnāni says, ‘This world is a “framework of illusion”.’

But he who is beyond both knowledge and ignorance describes it as a ‘mansion of mirth’. He sees that it is God Himself who has become the universe, all living beings, and the 24 cosmic principles.

Living in the world after realization of God

“A man can live in the world after attaining God. Then he can lead the life of detachment. In the country I have seen the women of the carpenter families making flattened rice with a husking-machine. With one hand one of them turns the paddy in the hole and with the other she holds a nursing child. At the same time she talks with the buyer. She says to him: ‘You owe me two ānnās . Pay it before you go.’ But seventy-five per cent of the woman’s mind is on her hand lest it should be crushed by the pestle of the husking machine.

“A man should do his worldly duties with only twenty-five percent of his mind, devoting the rest to God.”

Referring to Pundit Shashadhar, the Master said to the devotees, “I found him monotonous―engaged in the dry discussion of philosophy.

“He alone who, after reaching the Nitya, the Absolute, can dwell in the Lila, the Relative, and again climb from the Lila to the Nitya, has ripe knowledge and devotion. Sages like Nārada cherished love of God after attaining the Knowledge of Brahman. This is called vijnāna.

“Mere dry knowledge is like an ordinary rocket: it bursts into a few sparks and then dies out. But the Knowledge of sages like Nārada and Sukadeva is like a good rocket: for a while it showers balls of different colours, and then it stops; again it throws out new balls, and again it stops; and thus it goes on. Those sages had prema for God. Prema is the rope by which one can reach Satchidananda.”

The Master finished his midday meal and rested a few minutes. Bhavanath, M., the Mukherji brothers, Hazra, and several other devotees sat down under the bakul-tree and began to converse. The Master stopped there awhile on his way to the pine-grove.

HAZRA (to the younger Gopal): “Please prepare a smoke for him [meaning the Master].”

MASTER (smiling): “Why don’t you admit that you want it?” (All laugh.)

MUKHERJI (to Hazra): “You must have learnt much wisdom from him [meaning the Master].”

MASTER (smiling): “No, he has been wise like this from his boyhood.”

(All laugh.)

Presently Sri Ramakrishna returned from the pine-grove. The devotees noticed that he was in an ecstatic mood and was reeling like a drunkard. After reaching his room he regained the normal state.

Many devotees gathered in the room. Among them was a new-comer, a sadhaka from Konnagar, who looked over fifty years of age and seemed to have great vanity of scholarship.

The Master stood in the middle of the room and suddenly said to M., “He came here―Naran.”

Narendra was engaged in a discussion with Hazra and a few others on the verandah. They could be heard from the room.

MASTER (referring to Narendra): “The chatterbox! But he is now much worried about his family.”

M.: “Yes, sir, it is true.”

MASTER: “Once he said that he would look upon adversity as his good fortune. Isn’t that so?”

M: “He has great strength of mind.”

A DEVOTEE: “Does he lack strength in anything?”

Pointing to the sadhaka from Konnagar, a devotee said to the Master: “Sir, he has come to visit you. He has some questions to ask.”

The sadhaka was seated erect, his chin up.

SADHAKA: “Sir, what is the way?”

MASTER: “Faith in the guru’s words. One attains God by following the guru’s instructions step by step. It is like reaching an object by following the trail of a thread.”

SADHAKA: “Is it possible to see God?”

MASTER: “He is unknowable by the mind engrossed in worldliness. One cannot attain God if one has even a trace of attachment to ‘woman and gold’. But He is knowable by the pure mind and the pure intelligence―the mind and intelligence that have not the slightest trace of attachment. Pure Mind, Pure Intelligence, Pure Ātman are one and the same thing.”

SADHAKA: “But the scriptures say, ‘From Him words and mind return baffled.’ He is unknowable by mind and words.”

MASTER: “Oh, stop! One cannot understand the meaning of the scriptures without practising spiritual discipline. What will you gain by merely uttering the word ‘siddhi’?

The pundits glibly quote the scriptures; but what will that accomplish? A man does not become intoxicated even by rubbing siddhi on his body; he must swallow it. What is the use of merely repeating, ‘There is butter in the milk’?

Turn the milk into curd and churn it. Only then will you get butter.”

SADHAKA: “You talk about churning butter. But you too are quoting the scriptures.”

MASTER: “What will one gain by merely quoting or hearing the scriptures? One must assimilate them. The almanac makes a forecast of the rainfall for the year, but you won’t get a drop by squeezing its pages.”

SADHAKA: “You talk about churning butter. Have you done it yourself?”

MASTER: “You don’t have to bother about what I have or haven’t done. Besides, it is very difficult to explain these things to others.

Suppose someone asks you, ‘What does ghee taste like?’ Your answer will be, ‘Ghee tastes like ghee.’

“To understand these things one needs to live with holy men, just as to understand the pulse of bile, of phlegm, and so on, one needs to live with a physician.”

SADHAKA: “There are some people who are irritated by others’ company.”

MASTER: “That happens only after the attainment of Knowledge, after the realization of God. Shouldn’t a beginner live in the company of holy men?”

The sadhaka sat in silence a few moments. Then he said with some irritation: “Please tell me whether you have realized God either directly or intuitively. You may answer me if you are able, or you may keep silent if you wish.” The Master said with a smile: “What shall I say? One can only give a hint.”

SADHAKA: “Then tell us that much.”

Narendra was going to sing. He said, “No one has brought a pakhoaj.”

THE YOUNGER GOPAL: “Mahimacharan has one.”

MASTER (interrupting): “No, we don’t want anything of his here.”

A devotee from Konnagar sang a song. Every now and then Sri Ramakrishna glanced at the sadhaka. The singer and Narendra became engaged in a furious discussion about musical technique. The sadhaka said to the singer, “What is the use of such discussions?”

Referring to another man who had joined in the discussion, Sri Ramakrishna said to the sadhaka, “Why didn’t you scold him, too?” It could be seen that the sadhaka was not on friendly terms with his companions from Konnagar.

Narendra sang:

O Lord, must all my days pass by so utterly in vain? Down the path of hope I gaze with longing, day and night. . . . The sadhaka closed his eyes in meditation as he listened to the song. It was four o’clock in the afternoon. The rays of the setting sun fell on his body. Sri Ramakrishna quickly opened an umbrella and placed it near the door so that the sun might not disturb the sadhaka.

Narendra sang again:

How shall I call on Thee, O Lord, with such a stained and worldly mind?

Can a straw remain unharmed, cast in a pit of Raming coals? Thou, all goodness, art the fire, and I, all sin, am but a straw: How shall I ever worship Thee? The glory of Thy name, they say, redeems those even past redeeming;

Yet, when I chant Thy sacred name, alas! my poor heart quakes with fright. I spend my life a slave to sin; how can I find a refuge, then, O Lord, within Thy holy way? In Thine abounding kindliness, rescue Thou this sinful wretch; Drag me off by the hair of my head and give me shelter at Thy feet.

Again he sang:

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 name Instantly slays the anguish of our hearts, Thou Soul of our souls, and fills our hearts with bliss! As Narendra sang the line, “And he who chants Thy name becomes immortal”, the Master went into samādhi. At first his fingers, especially the thumbs, began to tremble. The devotees from Kannagar had never seen the Master in samādhi. Seeing him silent, they were about to leave the room. Bhavanath said to them: “Why are you going away? This is his samādhi.” The devotees resumed their places.

Narendra sang:

I have laboured day and night To make Thy seat within my heart; Wilt Thou not be kind to me, O Lord of the World, and enter there? Sri Ramakrishna, still in the ecstatic mood, came dawn from his couch to the floor and sat by Narendra. The beloved disciple sang again:

In Wisdom’s firmament the moon of Love is rising full, And Love’s flood-tide, in surging waves, is flowing everywhere. O Lord, how full of bliss Thou art! Victory unto Thee! . . . As Narendra sang the last line, Sri Ramakrishna stood up, still absorbed in samādhi.