About Hazra

NARENDRA (to the Master): “Hazra has now become a good man.”

MASTER: “You don’t know. There are people who repeat Rāma’s name with their tongues but hide stones under their arms to throw at others.”

NARENDRA: “I don’t agree with you, sir. I asked him about the things people complain of. He denied them.”

MASTER: “He is steadfast in his devotions. He practises japa a little. But he also behaves in a queer way. He doesn’t pay the coachman his fare.”

NARENDRA: “That isn’t true, sir. He said he had paid it.”

MASTER: “Where did he get the money?”

NARENDRA: “From Ramlal or someone else.”

MASTER: “Did you ask him all these things in detail? Once I prayed to the Divine Mother,

‘O Mother, if Hazra is a hypocrite then please remove him from here.’ Later on I told him of my prayer. After a few days he came to me and said, ‘You see, I am still here.’ (The Master and the others laugh.) But soon afterwards he left.

“Hazra’s mother begged me through Ramlal to ask Hazra to come home. She was almost blind with weeping. I tried in various ways to persuade him to visit her. I said: ‘Your mother is old. Go and see her once.’ I couldn’t make him go. Afterwards the poor mother died weeping for him.”

NARENDRA: “This time he will go home.”

MASTER: “Yes, yes! He will go home! He is a rogue. He is a rascal. You don’t understand him. You are a fool. Gopal said that Hazra stayed at Sinthi a few days. People used to supply him with butter, rice, and other food. He had the impudence to tell them he couldn’t swallow such coarse rice and bad butter. Ishan of Bhatpara accompanied him there. He ordered Ishan to carry water for him. That made the other brahmins very angry.”

NARENDRA: “I asked him about that too. He said that Ishan Babu had himself come forward with the water. Besides, many brahmins of Bhatpara showed him respect.”

MASTER (smiling): “That was the result of his japa and austerity. You see, physical traits to a great extent influence character. Short stature and a body with dents here and there are not good traits. People with such traits take a long time to acquire spiritual knowledge.”

BHAVANĀTH: “Let us stop talking about these things.”

MASTER: “Don’t misunderstand me. (To Narendra) You say you understand people; that is why I am telling you all this. Do you know how I look on people like Hazra? I know that just as God takes the form of holy men, so He also takes the form of cheats and rogues. (To Mahimacharan) What do you say? All are God.”

MAHIMA: “Yes, sir. All are God.”

GIRISH (to the Master): “Sir, what is ekangi prema?”

MASTER: “It means one-sided love. For instance, the water does not seek the duck, but the duck loves water. There are other kinds of love: sadharani, samanjasa, and samartha.

In the first, which is ordinary love, the lover seeks his own happiness; he doesn’t care whether the other person is happy or not. That was Chandravali’s attitude toward Krishna. In the second, which is a compromise, both seek each other’s happiness. This is a noble kind of love.

But the third is the highest of all. Such a lover says to his beloved, ‘Be happy yourself, whatever may happen to me.’

Radha had this highest love. She was happy in Krishna’s happiness. The gopis, too, had attained this exalted state.

“Do you know who the gopis were? Ramachandra was wandering in the forest where 60,000 rishis dwelt. They were very eager to see Him. He cast a tender glance at them. According to a certain Purana, they were born later on as the gopis of Vrindāvan.”

A DEVOTEE: “Sir, who may be called an antaranga?”

MASTER: “Let me give an illustration. A natmandir has pillars inside and outside. An antaranga is like the inside pillars. Those who always live near the guru are the antarangas.

(To Mahimacharan) “The Jnāni wants neither a form of God nor His Incarnation. While wandering in the forest, Ramachandra saw a number of rishis. They welcomed Him to their Āśrama with great love and said to Him: ‘O Rāma, today our life is blessed because we have seen You. But we know You as the son of Daśaratha. Bharadvaja and other sages call You a Divine Incarnation; but that is not our view. We meditate on the Indivisible Satchidananda.’ Rāma was pleased with them and smiled.

“Ah, what a state of mind I passed through! My mind would lose itself in the Indivisible Absolute. How many days I spent that way! I renounced bhakti and bhakta, devotion and devotee. I became inert. I could not feel the form of my own head. I was about to die. I thought of keeping Ramlal’s aunt near me.

“I ordered the removal of all pictures and portraits from my room. When I regained outer consciousness, when the mind climbed down to the ordinary level, I felt as if I were being suffocated like a drowning person. At last I said to myself, ‘If I can’t bear people, then how shall I live?’ Then my mind was again directed to bhakti and bhakta.

‘What has happened to me?’ I kept asking people. Bholanath said to me, ‘This state of mind has been described in the Mahabharata.’ How can a man live, on coming down from the plane of samādhi? Surely he requires devotion to God and the company of devotees. Otherwise, how will he keep his mind occupied?”

MAHIMACHARAN (to the Master): “Sir, can a man return from the plane of samādhi to the plane of the ordinary world?”

MASTER (in a low voice, to Mahima): “I shall tell you privately. You are the only one fit to hear it.

Difference between a jiva and an Incarnation

Koar Singh also asked me that question. You see, there is a vast difference between the jiva and Isvara. Through worship and austerity, a jiva can at the utmost attain samādhi; but he cannot come down from that state. On the other hand, an Incarnation of God can come down from samādhi. A jiva is like an officer of the king; he can go as far as the outer court of the seven-storey palace. But the king’s son has access to all the 7 floors; he can also go outside. Everybody says that no one can return from the plane of samādhi.

In that case, how do you account for sages like Sankara and Ramanuja? They retained the ’ego of Knowledge’.” 845MAHIMA: “That is true, indeed. Otherwise, how could they write books?”

MASTER: “Again, there are the instances of sages like Prahlada, Nārada, and Hanuman.

They too retained bhakti after attaining samādhi.”

MAHIMA: “That is true, sir.”

Divine knowledge destroys egotism

MASTER: “Some people indulge in philosophical speculation and think much of themselves. Perhaps they have studied a little Vedānta. But a man cannot be egotistic if he has true knowledge. In other words, in samādhi man becomes one with God and gets rid of his egotism. True knowledge is impossible without samādhi. In samādhi man becomes one with God. Then he can have no egotism.

“Do you know what it is like? Just at noon the sun is directly overhead. If you look around, then, you do not see your shadow. Likewise, you will not find the ‘shadow’ of ego after attaining Knowledge, samādhi.

The ego after God-vision

“But if you see in anyone a trace of ‘I-consciousness’ after the attainment of true Knowledge, then know that it is either the ’ego of Knowledge’ or the ’ego of Devotion’ or the ‘servant ego’. It is not the ’ego of ignorance’.

Again, jnāna and bhakti are twin paths. Whichever you follow, it is God that you will ultimately reach. The Jnāni looks on God in one way and the bhakta looks on Him in another way. The God of the Jnāni is full of brilliance, and the God of the bhakta full of sweetness.”

Bhavanāth was seated near the Master, listening to these words.

BHAVANĀTH (to the Master): “Sir, I have a question to ask. I don’t quite understand the Chandi. It is written there that the Divine Mother kill all beings. What does that mean?”

MASTER: “This is all Her lila, Her sportive pleasure. That question used to bother me too. Later I found out that all is māyā. Both creation and destruction are God’s māyā.”

Girish conducted Sri Ramakrishna and the devotees to the roof, where the meal was served. There was a bright moon in the sky. The devotees took their seats. The Master occupied a seat in front of them. All were in a joyous mood.

Sri Ramakrishna was beside himself with joy at the sight of Narendra. The beloved disciple sat in the front row. Every now and then the Master asked how he was ‘getting along. He had hardly finished half his meal when he came to Narendra with some watermelon sherbet and curd from his own plate. Tenderly he said to the disciple, “Please eat this.” Then he went back to his own place.