7
THE AVATARA DOESN’T HAVE JIVA’S NATURE
Morton School. M.’s room on the fourth level. M. is resting in his bed, his head to the east. It is eight in morning. The Younger Amulya, the Stout Sudhir, Jagabandhu, the Younger Jiten and others are seated on a bench towards the south in the middle of the room. There is a wooden partition in the room. M. had been lying sick in bed for quite some days. He was on the third level to facilitate nursing. Some members of his family live on the third level. M. has come to the upper level this morning. He is feeling somewhat better. Even so he remains in bed most of the time. Says he to the bhaktas, ‘Let this partition be removed. We will have much more space then. The bhaktas can sit more comfortably.’ The bhaktas lift the partition and put it aside.
Saturday today. So the devotees who visit on Saturdays have been coming in since 2 p.m. Gradually the bhaktas who visit daily are also assembling. Lalit of Bhatapara, his companion Bholanath (Bhavarani), Basant, Sushil, a student and some others have come. They all come and sit in M.’s room. The bhaktas frequenting daily, namely Yatin, Shanti, Amrit, the Younger Jiten, Shukalal, Manoranjan, the Younger Nalini, Vinay and Jagabandhu have already been sitting in M.’s room. It is 5.30 p.m. now.
After sometime M. climbs down to third level. He returns after half an hour having had a wash. This time he comes and sits on the chair facing north on the roof. The bhaktas are seated on three sides around M. He inquires after them all. One of them tells him that the Elder Sudhir has gone mad. He is an old student of the Morton School.
M. (to all present) — Who is not mad? Everybody is mad with desire, anger, greed, vanity and envy. Say anything to one ever so little, one becomes angry.
"Suppose someone has a salary of rupees fifteen a month. He says to himself, ‘Well, Shyam is drawing twenty-seven rupees a month and I am just below him. Aha, only Shyam were to die, I would step into his job.’ Doesn’t everybody think like this? (To Bholanath) What do you say?
"Moha? In fact nothing is mine, all belongs to God. Even then the man keeps on thinking that the house is his, the son is his and with this he dies.
"All men as if remain drowned in envy and pride, day and night. Yet one calls the other mad."
It’s 6.30 now. A strong wind is blowing outside. M. rises, and going to the staircase room, says he, ‘An old man is always prone to sickness, that is to say, his limbs can no longer work. They are all worn out.’
The staircase room. M. is seated on a chair near the stairs facing north. To his right and in front of him the bhaktas are seated on benches. M. is showering the nectar of the Word.
M. (to the bhaktas) — Khoka Maharaj (Swami Subodhananda) came today. He told us that a spring had gushed out from a well in the Bhubaneswar Math and that he was going to Bhubaneswar to see it. He had been to the East Bengal. He told us that there the women devotees also assemble at places to hear about Thakur. They read about Him and discuss. He saw such assemblies of women both in Dhaka and Mymansingh. The ladies had invited him. He asked them: ‘You don’t allow men in your assembly. Why have you done so in my case?’ The devotee ladies said, ‘Please don’t talk of yourself. You are a son of Thakur. You are so near to us.’
"But Thakur said, ‘Coyness is the ornament of women.’ Once coyness is gone, what remains of their femininity?
"Is it possible for everybody to conquer desire? Only a Lakshman can overcome it - he who lived for fourteen years on roots and fruits, he who had overcome sleep. What a hard tapasya he underwent! It is only then that he was able to overcome desire.
"How very difficult it is! He had no other thought but that of Rama. What a great yogi he was! It is only possible for such a person of overcome desire.
"Thakur used to pray, ‘Ma, make me like Sita.’ Rama asked Hanuman how did he find Sita in Lanka. Hanuman replied, ‘I saw only her body lying there and Yama, the God of death paying visits but returning without her.’ You see, her mind and soul were tied to Ram, in a constant remembrance of him.
"Yama’s coming but returning without her means that he doesn’t take away the gross body - he only carries away the subtle body. The mind, intellect, chitta (consciousness) and ego are portions of the subtle body. All these had been tied to Ram. What could Yama carry away then? So he came again and again, hoping to find her sometimes without the thought of Ram. Aha! what a state she was in! It is only in such a state that one can overcome desire.
"But Mahamaya doesn’t let you recognize an avatara. Only twelve rishis, Bharadwaj and others were able to recognize Ram as an avatara. The others couldn’t. How could they do so unless He let them? How amazing! They were all rishis who had attained the Essence, even they couldn’t. They said, ‘Ram is such a man of knowledge (Jnana)! Such a great man of propriety he is! How devoted he is to his father and mother!’ But the rishis, though already liberated in life, could not recognize the avatara. What a riddle!"
M. (to the devotees) — Thakur became one with anybody he met. Once he went to Kamarpukur. All the women of the locality came and surrounded him as usual. Thakur said, ‘It was as if I was ‘diluted’ into them.’ Isn’t that so? (Everybody laughs).
"During his last illness he said: ‘The Mother will no longer let me live. I have the nature of a child. I blurt out everything. That is why Mother will not let me live.’
"If everybody were to get awakened how would this world of bondage - household go on? So he said: ‘Mother is taking me away.’ And he added: ‘If I were to live a little longer, the consciousness of many others would get awakened’."
A particular Bhakta — He was himself the power of Brahman and the child of the Mother, the devotee Sri Ramakrishna of the Mother. Both of these together. I do not understand how it is possible.
M. — The same power of Brahman has taken the form of the jiva (living being) and the world. Besides He inheres all and controls from within. Bahu syam prajayey -I will become many, this too the Veda contains. Besides the Veda also says: ‘Having created the living beings and the universe, I inhere them all’ - tat srishtva tat eva anu pravishat. If that is possible why do you think it is not possible that both the bhakta and the avatara live in the same body?
"There is something else also in the Veda - dwa suparna - the fable of two birds. Two birds have perched themselves on the same one tree (body). One of the two eats both the sour and the sweet fruit, in other words, indulges in both pleasure and pain. The other bird just keeps looking on, but does not eat any fruit. It remains indifferent.
"Anything is possible by his maya-shakti.
"The bhava of being a bhakta in an avatara though looks like a jiva’s but is not really a jiva’s. Reason, a jiva is under the jurisdiction of the fruit of his actions, whereas the avatara isn’t. He is not born as a result of his actions of the past. He assumes the form of a human-being because of the desperate prayers of the devotees. He remains in the human body as long as the momentum of the force of their prayers lasts. Soon after it he dissolves himself in his Self. Before passing away Thakur said: ‘I no longer see two - I see less than that. I see Mother in all - Mother or God - Brahman Shakti.’
"He shows as though he is a jiva, but in fact the avatara doesn’t have jiva’s nature in him. The avatara is always aware of that he is God in the garb of a human being? The ordinary jiva doesn’t know that he is God. The avatara, i.e. God, acts as a human-being of his own will. Otherwise the play doesn’t get enacted, you see.
"Christ also played the part of the father and son and sometimes he talked of unity when he said, ‘I and my Father are one.’
"Lord Krishna has said the same in the Gita: ‘To think of oneself as a jiva, as a human being, is an illusion. Only God as Father is true, the reality. He who does not know this disregards Me. He is a man of no-knowledge. What does the Gita say?"
A particular Bhakta — Avjananti mam moodhah manushim tanum ashritam, param bhavam ajanantah mum bhutamaheshwaram.
(The deluded disregard Me as one clad in human form, not knowing My higher nature as the Great Lord of beings. Gita, 9:11)
M. — When one has caught this, one is liberated. But if He doesn’t let one catch it, one can not do so. By the grace of Thakur, the bhaktas could catch him. He said to a bhakta (M.): ‘There is a vast expanse of a field with a high wall on it. There is a big hole in that wall. One can see quite far in the field through that hole.’ And then he asked: ‘Tell me what is that hole?’ The bhakta replied, ‘You yourself are that hole’. He was at once very happy. Why? Because the bhakta was able to catch him. He was no longer worried, like the parents seeing that their son is able to stand on his own. It was the same in this case. Why was he so satisfied? Because those men would now propagate him as God. This will lead to the welfare of humanity, it will gain peace. He knew who he was ‘Verily, You alone know Yourself, O Purushottama’ - swayam eva atamana atamanam vettha tvam purushottama (Gita, 10:15). The intimate disciples recognised him by his grace. That is how the men of the world come to know him - to start with through the intimate disciples, later on through the disciples of the disciples, thus the tradition continues. Later, however, this intimacy dilutes gradually, giving place to pollution. Then he assumes another body - a new incarnation. The world goes an eternally and so does the onset of the avatara. Infinite are the worlds, infinite the avataras."
M. (to the bhaktas) — Tapasya is needed. It doesn’t come about by hearing alone - one understands the essence only by meditating in a solitary place. One succeeds as soon as one has caught the false ego. Conviction in the guru’s word then ensues. ‘Faith in the word of the guru is the only way’, so said Thakur. Faith brings some eighty-five to ninety percent of success. His grace brings the rest also gradually. Tapasya is needed but it is not possible in the company of many. One cannot understand, what is the ‘ripe I’ and what is the ‘unripe I’. That’s why the tapasya and the company of sadhus is needed.
M. (to a particular young man) — Yesterday a sadhu arrived here. He practises tapasya. A very peaceful soul he is. His name Shantananda corresponds so well with his disposition. A great tapasvi, the ancient type. He said that Bhubaneswar was a very suitable spot for sadhan and bhajan.
"He had practised tapasya for a long time in a garden in Kashi. It’s only now that he has come away from there. He witnessed the Rath festival in Puri and also the Return of the Rath. Thereafter, he proceeded to Kamakhya. He has been on pilgrimage to all the four centres - Rameshwaram, Dwarika, Kedar-Badri and Puri. He will return to Kashi and stay on there, they say. He has gone about and visited some holy places. Now he will again settle down and think of the Lord. Aha! where can one find a place like Kashi?"
M. (to all) — A sadhu came this morning from the Mayavati Ashrama, Prabhu Maharaj (Swami Vireshwrananda) by name. He told us that a life of Sri Ramakrishna was being written and that its foreword will be written by Gandhiji Maharaj*.
"A long time ago, an old advocate of Gandhiji’s province wanted to translate the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna into Gujarati. He came and met me. I gave him permission along with some suggestions. He said that he would dedicate this book to Gandhiji Maharaj. Gandhiji was then working in South Africa."
The Bhakta from Khulana — Somebody said, ‘The Rowlatt Act nay the Indian Struggle for independence, came here through Paramahansa Deva and Swami Vivekananda.’
M. — Perhaps he did not mention Paramahansa Deva. Oh, did Paramahansa Deva ever discriminate between a friend and a foe? No, he did not see any difference between one’s own and a stranger or between the Hindu, Muslim and Christian, between the worshipers of Shiva or Shakti or Ganapati. He was the same with every visitor whatever his inclination. Is there anybody like him? Has anybody seen the like of him at any time?
It is evening now. A lantern has been brought in. Giving up all other activities M. begins to meditate in the company of bhaktas. He is seated on a chair facing north. Behind him is the railing of the staircase. After sometime Lalit of Bhatapara begins to recite the Rama Stotra at M.’s behest.
After this Lalit sings the kirtan of Rama-nama in a sweet, slow pace. At the end of the kirtan, M. resumes the conversation.
M. (to Lalit) — It is said that Thakur used to do the same. While reciting Rama-Rama he would stop breathing. He was then carrying on sadhana in the Panchavati.
It is half past eight in the evening. The bhaktas take leave to depart. M. goes down to the third floor for his meals.
Jagabandhu, Shanti and Yatin are sitting in the staircase room. The Younger Nalini joins them after a while. Antevasi reads the Kathamrita as he lies down on the bench: ‘M’.s stay with the Guru - 10th and 11th day’. The devotees listen to the reading. In the meanwhile Balai and Amrit come in one after the other.
After a while musical notes from the throat of the Elder Jiten are heard on the third floor. After some time on hearing the music from M.’s throat also all come to the third floor. Now M. sits on a bench in the verandah in front of the steps and starts a spiritual conversation. One can hear the petter of the rain outside?
M. (to the Elder Jiten) — Oh! What a disposition Thakur had! Totally pure and sinless, staintless like wearing pure transparent spectacles. He would fully become one with whomsoever he met. Everybody would think that he belonged to him. The women of Mathur Babu’s house thought he was their own. He used to live in the women’s quarters in this state of mind. He was practising madhur-bhava, the disposition of a lover - that of the milk-maids of Braj, that of Srimati Radha Rani. The Brahmo devotees used to think that the Paramahansa belonged to them. On the other hand, the orthodox Sanatanis, the Marwari bhaktas also thought the same of him. Whether it was a worshipper of Shiva or Shakti or a Christian or a Muslim, whosoever came thought that he was his. Mishir Sahib was a Christian. He saw Thakur as Christ.
A short silence.
M. (to Antevasi) — What were you all doing upstairs? Please tell me
Antevasi — I was reading the Kathamrita to them: Mani’s stay with the Guru, 10th and 11th day; 23rd and 24th December 1883.
After the midday meal Thakur is resting on the smaller cot. M. is lying on the floor. Thakur says to Mani, ‘Brahman has Himself become the jiva (the living being) and the jagat (universe).’
Referring to a certain place some one said that nobody sings the name of God there. But Thakur immediately perceived that it was Brahman alone who had become all living beings. He saw in the field of Bardhaman that Brahman was there in the form of ants, all filled with consciousness everywhere. He had become different kinds of flowers, leaves, all - numberless bubbles (of consciousness), some big some small. He alone is the being in every form.
Soon after this he went into samadhi saying, ‘I have become, I have come.’
M. — This means that He is Brahman and He is also jiva-jagat. And, He alone comes down in a human form as the avatara. This is the living and awakened proclamation that He is the avatara. Even then do people believe?
Antevasi — When he came out of samadhi he began talking with the Mother of the universe sitting on that very cot. ‘Ma, you are my mother, I your son. The child wants mother. How can he live without her?’ He said to Mani, ‘You and I are of the same essence my own, like father and the son.’
"It is difficult to recognise the avatara while he is acting as a human being - impossible. He conducts himself just like a man. He is subject to hunger, thirst, disease, grief and fear, just like any man."
M. — O! How beautiful the scenes: so and so is present, such and such is the place and this is the time. Such scenes are not available even to the yogis - they are fit for the yogis, all these scenes.
"And what clear pronouncements! Blessed indeed are they who have heard this all from his lips. They are no ordinary persons. They have been brought by him for his work.
"The person to whom he said, ‘I have become, I have come,’ was given one sixteenth fraction of Shakti one day by praying to the Mother for it. In fact he wanted more of it to be given to him but the Mother said: ‘Only a fraction will suffice.’ Besides, is it anything small, a fraction of God’s power. It is with this power that he has been making the bhaktas proclaim the lila of the avatara. Without God’s power his word cannot be propagated. People don’t listen."
Antevasi — He called out for Mani for reading the Shiv Samhita. It deals with yoga.
M. — Yes, but it was not read. Instead he himself began to talk.
Amrit — Formerly you used to narrate ‘a scene’ daily. That scene of the Bouls is very beautiful. The avatara came with his companions like a troupe of bouls and went away, none recognized him.
M. — Nice indeed! You have reminded me of such a beautiful topic. Nobody could recognize him. How could they? They came, sang and left. Only a few, one can count on one’s fingers, accompanied him as his intimate companions.
"Had all been able to recognize him, nothing worldly would have been possible. That is why the avatara is not recognizable. He (Thakur) enabled only a few to recognize him. It is through them that so many have been able to recognize him and will do so in future."
Half past nine in the evening. It is raining outside, and inside is raining the nectar of his word! M. is not keeping fit, yet he is never tired of showering the nectar of his word. Fearing lest it should inconvenience him, the bhaktas wanted to rise. But M. would not let them do so - intent on showering incessantly the Kathamrita! Like the rain, the showers of the Kathamrita continued intermittently for a long time. Says M., ‘It would have been very nice, had the Doctor arrived now.’
The bhaktas feel that Dr. Kartik Bakshi is blessed indeed, for he has found a place in the hearts of the inner circle of devotees of the avatara. Otherwise, why should this Maharishi (saint) be thinking of him at the time of serving a feast like a mother. Blessed indeed he is!
Morton School, Calcutta
Saturday, 26 July 1924.
10th day of Shravana, 1331 B.Y.
10th day of the lunar month, 27/56 palas.