Master praises Narayan

Sunday, September 21, 1884

A large number of devotees were in Sri Ramakrishna’s room, among them Ram, Mahendra Mukherji, M., and Chunilal. Chunilal had just returned from Vrindāvan, where he had gone with Rakhal and Balarām. The two latter were still there. Nityagopal also was staying there. The Master began to talk with Chunilal about Vrindāvan.

MASTER: “How is Rakhal?”

CHUNI: “He is quite well now, sir.”

MASTER: “Isn’t Nityagopal coming back?”

CHUNI: “He was still there when I left.”

MASTER: “Who will bring your family back?”

CHUNI: “Balarām Babu told me he would arrange it with some reliable person. He didn’t mention any name.”

Master praises Narayan

Sri Ramakrishna then spoke to Mahendra Mukherji about Narayan, a school-boy sixteen or seventeen years old, who often visited the Master and was very dear to him.

MASTER: “He is quite guileless, isn’t he?” The very uttering of the word “guileless” filled the Master with great joy.

MAHENDRA: “Yes, sir. Completely guileless.”

MASTER: “His mother came here the other day. I was a little frightened to see that she was a proud woman. That day she found that Captain, you, and many others, too, visited me. Then she must have realized that she and her son were not the only people to come here. (All laugh.) There was some sugar candy in the room and she remarked that it was good. That made her feel there was no scarcity of food here. I happened to tell Baburam, in front of her, to keep some sweets for himself and Naran. Ganu’s mother said that Naran always bothered his mother for the boat hire to come here. His mother said to me, ‘Please ask Naran to consent to marry.’ I replied, ‘All that depends on one’s fate.’ Why should I interfere? (All laugh.) Naran is indifferent to his studies. His mother said, ‘Please ask him to pay a little more attention.’ So I said to Naran, ‘Attend to your studies.’ Then his mother said, ‘Please tell him seriously.’ (All laugh.)

(To Chunilal) “Why doesn’t Gopal come here?”

CHUNILAL: “He has been suffering from dysentery.”

MASTER: “Is he taking any medicine?”

Sri Ramakrishna was planning to go to a performance of the Chaitanyalila at the Star Theatre. Mahendra Mukherji was to take him to Calcutta in his carriage. They were talking about choosing good seats. Some suggested that one could see the performance well from the one-rupee gallery. Ram said, “Oh, no! I shall engage a box for him.” The Master laughed. Some of the devotees said that public women took part in the play. They took the parts of Nimai, Nitai, and others.

MASTER (to the devotees): “I shall look upon them as the Blissful Mother Herself. What if one of them acts the part of Chaitanya? An imitation custard-apple reminds one of the real fruit. Once, while going along a road, a devotee of Krishna noticed some babla- trees. Instantly his mind was thrown into ecstasy. He remembered that the wood of babla-trees was used for the handles of the spades that the garden of the temple of Syamasundar was dug with. The trees instantly reminded him of Krishna. I was once taken to the Maidan in Calcutta to see a balloon go up. There I noticed a young English boy leaning against a tree, with his body bent in three places. It at once brought before me the vision of Krishna and I went into samādhi.

“Once Chaitanyadeva was passing through a village. Someone told him that the body of the drum used in the kirtan was made from the earth of that village, and at once he went into ecstasy.

“Radha could not control herself at the sight of a cloud or the blue throat of a peacock. It would at once awaken in her mind the thought of Krishna, and she would go into ecstasy.”

The Master was silent a few moments and then resumed the conversation.

MASTER: “Radha had attained mahabhava. There was no desire behind the ecstatic love of the gopis. A true lover does not seek anything from God. He prays only for pure love. He doesn’t want any powers or miracles.

Occult powers

“It is very troublesome to possess occult powers. Nangta taught me this by a story. A man who had acquired occult powers was sitting on the seashore when a storm arose. It caused him great discomfort; so he said, ‘Let the storm stop.’ His words could not remain unfulfilled. At that moment a ship was going full sail before the wind. When the storm ceased abruptly the ship capsized and sank. The passengers perished and the sin of causing their death fell to the man. And because of that sin he lost his occult powers and went to hell.

“Once upon a time a sādhu acquired great occult powers. He was vain about them. But he was a good man and had some austerities to his credit. One day the Lord, disguised as a holy man, came to him and said, ‘Revered sir, I have heard that you have great occult powers.’

The sādhu received the Lord cordially and offered him a seat. Just then an elephant passed by. The Lord, in the disguise of the holy man, said to the sādhu, ‘Revered sir, can you kill this elephant if you like?’ The sādhu said, ‘Yes, it is possible.’

So saying, he took a pinch of dust, muttered some mantras over it, and threw it at the elephant. The beast struggled awhile in pain and then dropped dead. The Lord said: ‘What power you have! You have killed the elephant!’ The sādhu laughed. Again the Lord spoke: ‘Now can you revive the elephant?’ ‘That too is possible’, replied the sādhu. He threw another pinch of charmed dust at the beast. The elephant writhed about a litle and came back to life. Then the Lord said: ‘Wonderful is your power. But may I ask you one thing? You have killed the elephant and you have revived it. But what has that done for you? Do you feel uplifted by it? Has it enabled you to realize God?’ Saying this the Lord vanished.

“Subtle are the ways of dharma. One cannot realize God if one has even the least trace of desire. A thread cannot pass through the eye of a needle if it has the smallest fibre sticking out.

“Krishna said to Arjuna, ‘Friend, if you want to realize Me, you will not succeed if you have even one of the eight occult powers.’ This is the truth. Occult power is sure to beget pride, and pride makes one forget God.

“Once a cross-eyed rich man came here. He said to me: ‘You are a paramahamsa. That is good. You must perform a swastyayana ceremony for me.’ What a small-minded person he was! He called me a paramahamsa and yet wanted me to perform that ceremony. To secure welfare by means of the swastyayana is to exercise occult power. “An egotistic person cannot realize God. Do you know what egotism is like? It is like a high mound, where rain-water cannot collect: the water runs off. Water collects in low land. There seeds sprout and grow into trees. Then the trees bear fruit.

“Therefore I say to Hazra, ‘Never think that you alone have true understanding and that others are fools.’ One must love all. No one is a stranger. It is Hari alone who dwells in all beings. Nothing exists without Him.

“The Lord said to Prahlada, ‘Ask a boon of Me.’ ‘I have seen You’, replied Prahlada. ‘That is enough. I don’t need anything else.’ But the Lord insisted. Thereupon Prahlada said, ‘If You must give me a boon, let it be that those who have tortured me may not have to suffer punishment.’ The meaning of those words is that it was God who tortured Prahlada in the form of his persecutors, and, if they suffered punishment, it would really be God who suffered.