The after-life

According to the Gitā you will become in the next life what you think of in the hour of death.

King Bharata was very much grieved over his pet deer; he died repeating the word ‘deer’; therefore he was reborn as a deer.

That is why day and night a man should practise worship, japa, meditation, and other spiritual exercises.

Only then, by virtue of practice, will he be able to think of God in the hour of death. If one dies thus, thinking of God, one will acquire God’s nature.

“Keshab Sen, too, asked me about the after-life. I said to him also, ‘What need have you of all these calculations?’ Then I said: ‘As long as a man does not realize God, he will return to the world. The potter puts his clay jars and lids out in the sun to bake.

If cattle trample them underfoot, he throws, away the baked ones. But he collects the soft ones, mixes them, with more clay, puts them on the wheel, and makes new vessels from them.’ "

The master of the house had not yet shown any sign of serving Sri Ramakrishna with refreshments. Sri Ramakrishna himself said to Nanda: “You see, you should offer me something to eat. That is why the other day I said to Jadu’s mother: ‘Look here. Give me something to eat.’ Otherwise it brings harm to the householder.”

Nanda Bose ordered some sweets. Sri Ramakrishna began to eat them. Nanda and the others were watching the Master and his actions. After eating the sweets, Sri Ramakrishna wanted to wash his hands. The plate on which the sweets were served had been placed on the sheet covering the carpet; so the Master could not wash his hands in the plate. A servant brought a brass bowl for him to use. But Sri Ramakrishna would not 907use it, since only rajasic people used such things. He asked the servant to take it away. The master of the house said to him, “Please wash your hands.”

Absent-mindedly Sri Ramakrishna said: “What? Shall I wash my hands?”

The Master walked to the south verandah. He asked M. to pour water into his hands. M. poured water from a jug. The Master dried his hands with his cloth and returned to the room; Then he was offered betel-leaf on a tray. But the other guests had already taken some from the same tray; the Master did not accept any.

NANDA (to the Master): “May I say something?”

MASTER (smiling): “What?”

NANDA: “Why didn’t you eat any betel-leaf? Everything else you did was proper; this alone seems to be otherwise.”

MASTER: “Before I eat anything I offer it to God. It is a notion of mine.”

NANDA :“But the betel-leaf would have gone to God all the same.”

MASTER: “There is the path of Jnāna, and there is also the path of bhakti. According to the Jnāni everything can be eaten by applying the Knowledge of Brahman; but the follower of bhakti keeps a little distinction.”

NANDA: “But I still maintain that you did not act rightly.”

MASTER (smiling): “It is just a notion of mine. What you say is also right. That too is supported by the scriptures.”

Sri Ramakrishna was warning Nanda of flatterers.

MASTER: “Beware of flatterers. They are after their own selfish purpose.(To Prasanna’s father) Do you live in this house?”

PRASANNA’S FATHER: “No, sir, I am a neighbour. Won’t you have a smoke?”

MASTER (very humbly): “No, please enjoy yourself. I don’t feel like smoking now.”

Nanda’s house was like a palace. Sri Ramakrishna said to him: “Jadu hasn’t such a big house. I told him so the other day.”

NANDA :“He has built a new house at Jorashanko.”

Sri Ramakrishna was encouraging Nanda.

MASTER (to Nanda): “Though you are a householder, still you have kept your mind on God. Is that a small thing? The man who has renounced the world will pray to Him as a matter of course.

Is there any credit in that? But blessed indeed is he who, while leading a householder’s life, prays to God. He is like a man who finds an object after removing a stone weighing twenty maunds.

Nārada and Hanuman

“One should pray to God, establishing with Him an appropriate relationship. Hanuman’s love for God was mixed with knowledge; but Nārada’s love for God was pure and unadulterated.

“Rāma asked Hanuman, ‘Hanuman, what attitude do you cherish toward Me when you worship Me?’ Hanuman answered: ‘Sometimes I see that You are the whole and I am a part; sometimes I see that You are the Master and I am Your servant. But Rāma, when I have the Knowledge of Reality, then I find that You are I and I am You.’

“Rāma said to Nārada, ‘Ask a favour of Me.’ Nārada said, ‘O Rāma, grant me the boon that I may have genuine love for Thy Lotus Feet and that I may not come under the spell of Thy world-bewitching māyā!’”

Sri Ramakrishna was about to take his leave.

MASTER (to Nanda): “According to the Gitā a man who is honoured and respected by many people possesses a special power of God. You have divine power.”

NANDA: “All men have the same power.”

Different degrees of divine manifestation

MASTER (sharply): “You all say the same thing. Can all men ever possess power to the same degree? God no doubt dwells in all beings as the all-pervading Spirit, but the manifestations of His Power are different in different beings.

“Vidyāsāgar, too, said the same thing. He said, ‘Has God given some more power and some less?’ Thereupon I said to him: ‘If there are not different manifestations of His Power, then why have we come to see you? Have you grown two horns on your head?’” Sri Ramakrishna rose. The devotees followed him. Pasupati accompanied them to the door.

Visit to the Brahmani’s house

The Master arrived at the house of the brahmin lady who was grief-stricken on account of her daughter’s death. It was an old brick house. Entering the house, the Master passed the cowshed on his left. He and the devotees went to the roof, where they took seats.

People were standing there in rows. Others were seated. They were all eager to get a glimpse of Sri Ramakrishna.

The brahmani had a sister; both of them were widows. Their brothers also lived in the house with their families. The brahmani had been busy all day making arrangements to receive Sri Ramakrishna. While the Master was at Nanda Bose’s house she had been extremely restless, going out of the house every few minutes to see if he was coming.

He had promised to come to her place from Nanda’s. Because of his delay she had thought perhaps he would not come at all.

Sri Ramakrishna was seated on a carpet. M., Narayan, Jogin, Devendra, and others were seated on a mat. A few minutes later the Younger Naren and some other devotees arrived.

The brahmani’s sister came to the Master and saluted him. She said, “Sister has just gone to Nanda Bose’s house to inquire the reason for your delay in coming here. She will return presently.”

A sound was heard downstairs and she exclaimed, “There she comes!” She went down. But it was not the brahmani.

Sri Ramakrishna sat there smiling, surrounded by devotees.

M. (to Devendra): “What a grand sight! All these people-young and old, men and women-standing in lines, eager to have a glimpse of him and hear his words.”

DEVENDRA (to the Master): “M. says that this place is better than Nanda’s. The devotion of these people is amazing.”

Sri Ramakrishna laughed.

The brahmani’s sister exclaimed, “Here comes sister!”