Two kinds of samādhi

Saturday, April 17, 1886

It was the night of the full moon. For some time Narendra had been going to Dakshineswar daily. He spent a great deal of time in the panchavati in meditation and contemplation. This day he returned from Dakshineswar in the evening. Tārak and Kāli were with him.

It was 8pm. Moonlight and the south wind added to the charm of the garden house. Many of the devotees were meditating in the room downstairs.

Referring to them, Narendra said to M., “They are shedding their Upādhis one by one.” A few minutes later M. came into Sri Ramakrishna’s room and sat down on the floor. The Master asked him to wash his towel and the spittoon. M. washed them in the reservoir.

Master’s anxiety about M.’s wife

Next morning Sri Ramakrishna sent for M. After taking his bath in the Ganges and saluting the Master, he had gone to the roof. Sri Ramakrishna asked M. to bring his grief-stricken wife to the garden house, where she could have her meal. The Master said to M., by a sign: “Ask her to come. Let her stay here a couple of days.

She may bring the baby.”

M: “Yes, sir. It would be fine if she developed intense love of God.”

Sri Ramakrishna again answered by signs: “Oh, grief pushes out devotion. And, he was such a big boy!“Krishnakishore had two sons. They were of the same age as Bhavanāth, and each had two university degrees. They both died. And Krishnakishore, Jnāni that he was, could not at first control himself. How lucky I am that I have none!

“Arjuna was a great Jnāni; and Krishna was his constant companion. Nevertheless, he was completely overwhelmed with grief at the death of his son Abhimanyu. “Why doesn’t Kishori come?” A DEVOTEE: “He comes to the Ganges every day for his bath.” MASTER: “But why doesn’t he come here?” DEVOTEE: “I shall ask him to come, sir.”

MASTER: “Why doesn’t Harish come?”

Two young girls aged nine and ten, who belonged to M.’s family, sang several songs about the Divine Mother for the Master. They had sung for him when he had visited M.’s house at Syampukur. The Master was very much pleased with their songs. After they had finished, they were sent for by the devotees to sing for them downstairs.

MASTER (to M.): “Don’t teach the girls any more songs. It is different if they sing spontaneously. But they will lose their modesty by singing before anyone and everyone. It is very necessary for women to be modest.”

Flowers and sandal-paste were placed before the Master in a flower-basket. He sat on his bed and worshipped himself with these offerings. Sometimes he placed flowers and sandal-paste on his head, sometimes on his throat, sometimes on his heart, and sometimes on his navel.

Manomohan of Konnagar came in and took a seat after saluting the Master. Sri Ramakrishna was still busy with the worship of his inner Self. He put a garland of flowers on his own neck. After a while he seemed to be pleased with Manomohan and gave him some flowers. M., too, received a flower. It was about nine o’clock in the morning. The Master and M: were talking. Śaśi was also in the room.

MASTER (to M.): “What were Narendra and Śaśi talking about? What did they discuss?” M. (to Śaśi): “What were you talking about?”

ŚAŚI: “Was it Niranjan that told you about it?”

MASTER: “What were you discussing? I heard ‘God’, ‘Being’, ‘Non-being’, and so forth.“ŚAŚI (smiling): “Shall I call Narendra?”

MASTER: “Yes.”

Narendra came in and took a seat.

MASTER (to M.): “Ask him something. (To Narendra) Tell us what you were talking about.”

NARENDRA: “I have indigestion. What’s there to tell you about?”

MASTER: “You will get over your indigestion.”

M. (smiling): ‘Tell us about the experience of Buddha.”

NARENDRA: “Have I become a Buddha, that you want me to talk about him?”

M: “What does Buddha say about the existence of God?”

NARENDRA: “How can you say that God exists? It is you who have created this universe.

Don’t you know what Berkeley says about it?”

M: “Yes, I do. According to him,

The world exists as long as the sense-organs perceive it.”

MASTER: " ‘Nangta used to say, The world exists in mind alone and disappears in mind alone.’ But as long as ‘I-consciousness’ exists, one should assume the servant-and-master relationship with God.”

NARENDRA (to M:): “How can you prove by reasoning that God exists? But if you depend on faith, then you must accept the relationship of servant and Master. And if you accept that-and you can’t help it-then you must also say that God is kind.

“You think only of the suffering in the world-why do you forget that God has also given you so much happiness? How kind He is to us! He has granted us three very great things: human birth, the yearning to know God, and the companionship of a great soul.” All were silent.

MASTER (to Narendra): “I feel very clearly that there is Someone within me. Dr. Rajendralal arrived and took a seat. He had been treating the Master with homeopathic medicine. When the talk about medicine was over, Sri Ramakrishna pointed out Manomohan to the doctor.

RAJENDRA: “He is a distant relative of mine.“Narendra went downstairs. He was singing to himself: Lord, Thou hast lifted all my sorrow with the vision of Thy face, And the magic of Thy beauty has bewitched my mind; Beholding Thee, the seven worlds forget their never- ending woe;

What shall I say, then, of myself, a poor and lowly soul? . . . Narendra had a little indigestion. He said to M.: “If one follows the path of bhakti, then the mind comes down a little to the body. Otherwise, who am I? Neither man nor God. I have neither pleasure nor pain.”

It was about nine o’clock in the evening. Surendra and a few other devotees entered Sri Ramakrishna’s room and offered him garlands of flowers. Baburam, Lātu, and M. were also in the room. Sri Ramakrishna put Surendra’s garland on his own neck. All sat quietly. Suddenly the Master made a sign to Surendra to come near him. When the disciple came near the bed, Sri Ramakrishna took the garland from his neck and put it around

Surendra’s. Surendra saluted the Master. Sri Ramakrishna asked him, by a sign, to rub his feet. Surendra gave them a gentle massage. Several devotees were sitting on the bank of the reservoir in the garden, singing to the accompaniment of drum and cymbals. Sri Ramakrishna sent them word through Lātu to sing the name of Hari. M., Baburam, and several others were still sitting in the Master’s room. They heard the devotees singing:

There dances my Gora, chanting Hari’s name! . . . When the Master heard the song he made a sign to Baburam and M. to join them. He also asked them to dance. A few minutes later Sri Ramakrishna sent another devotee to the singers to ask them to sing the following improvised lines: “Ah, my Gora even knows how to dance!” “How can I describe my Gora’s moods?” “My Gora dances with both his hands upraised.” The music was over. Surendra was almost in an ecstatic mood. He sang:

Crazy is my Father, crazy is my Mother, And I, their son, am crazy too! Syama is my Mother’s name.

My Father strikes His cheeks and makes a hollowsound: Ba-ba-bom! Ba-ba-bom! And my Mother, drunk and reeling, Falls across my Father’s body! Syama’s streaming tresses hang in vast disorder;

Bees are swarming numberless About Her crimson Lotus Feet. Listen, as She dances, how Her anklets ring!