22
SRI RAMAKRISHNA’S MEETING WITH KESHAB IN THE NAVAVIDHAN BRAHMO SAMAJ
1.
Morton School, M.’s room on the fourth level. It is 4 p.m. M. talks of a special mission to Antevasi.
M. (to Antevasi) — Today they are going to discuss Sri Ramakrishna’s meeting with Keshab in the Navavidhan Brahmo Samaj. They hold a discussion on this very subject every year at this time. We have an invitation for it. You may please go there. There Acharya Pramatha Babu who is the nephew of Keshab Babu, Nandu Babu and others will discuss about Thakur. They have had Thakur’s love - great men they are. Please go there on my behalf and take part in that discussion.
"Please read (to them) Thakur’s life from the Kathamrita, it is in the beginning of Volume I. And read the first and second chapters of the Second Khanda of Volume I - Thakur with Keshab in the boat. And lastly read the first, second and the fifth chapters of the tenth Khanda of Volume II. You will get a living picture of the meeting of Thakur with Keshab in brief.
"This will bring out all the things he (Pramatha Babu) has about Thakur in his memory. He has had Thakur’s love. He would never forget it. It is intertwined with his mind. Probe it a little and a spring of love will gush forth from it.
"Pramatha Babu is great. He hasn’t married. He is a saintly person. A scion of such a great family! His family members are Vaishnavas. Isn’t it?
"Read it please to me."
Antevasi reads out to M. the life (of Thakur) from Volume I, and the first and second chapters from the second Khanda.
M. — Just by reading this nectar-like character sketch, the Brahmo devotees will remember that Thakur had infinite moods. Otherwise whatever nuance of his image is there in their mind will persist. Human mind has only a limited power of acceptance. One talks only of whatever little one has understood with its help. When this continues for a time, staunchness enters into every cult. However, when you hear Thakur’s life from here, you will remember his words. It will come to your mind that he was a man of all cults. Brahmo devotees went to him, also the Hindus of the Sanatan Dharma and Arya Samaj. The Muslims and the Christians also went to him. He did not belong to any particular sect. If we must label him we may say that he belongs to the non-sectarian sect. He was the teacher of the harmony of all religions.
"If you read it with this background, Thakur’s contact with Brahmo devotees, particularly with Keshab Sen will come out dazzlingly alive. In its absence otherwise it will lose some of its lusture. Nobody retains a mere sermon in his mind. How that village boy came to occupy the seat of a world teacher will come alive."
Antevasi is now reading the first and the second chapters of the second Khanda of Volume I. At the end of first chapter M. speaks.
M. (to Antevasi) — This will make people understand the level where the minds of two men of two different natures meet. Thakur accepted God-with-form besides being a believer in God-without-form. He believed in image worship. Keshab didn’t accept it. Keshab was an English educated man. He travelled to foreign lands. He lived with his wife, son and the family. Thakur was a sannyasi absorbed in samadhi day and night. Thakur was a priest and Keshab a famous preacher.
"The idea that he was going to talk with Keshab on God was enough to put him in samadhi. Thakur stood on the boat, on the water of the Ganga, immersed in samadhi. Oh, what a divine sight! While he was sitting on a chair in a cabin in the boat he was in samadhi. On seeing this they who only lecture can realize what is dharma. How much love of God one must have before one can attain this state! One forgets the world, even one’s body which is so dear. The effect of just this sight is far greater than that of a hundred thousand lectures.
"The men of the Brahmo Samaj would know that religion is based on experience - it is not just talking and hearing or reading books. Instead it is to become God by contemplating on God. Brahman Ved Brahmaiv bhavati - the knower of Brahman becomes Brahman Himself. One reads this in the Upanishad. Today they see all this with their own eyes - what the darshan of Brahman is."
The second chapter also having been read, now the tenth Khanda of Volume II is being read. Thakur goes to the Kamal Kutir (Keshab’s residence) to see him. The latter is ailing and is very unwell. Thakur sits down on a wooden cot in the verandah of his drawing room. He is impatient to see Keshab! Sitting on that cot he goes into samadhi.
Antevasi — ‘All these (chair and couch) were necessary earlier. What use are they now?’ - why did Thakur say so?
M. — Since Keshab was not to live long so Thakur said, ‘What use they are now.’ And he added, ‘The body and the atman are different from each other like betel-nut and its skin.’ The body of keshab was going to die but atman is imperishable it will exist. Only after God-realization does one realize this.
"How wonderful! In a room full of people, he said in their presence, ‘I say the Mother has come in a Banarasi Sari.’ People are doubtful, so he proclaimed the Mother in this manner. Actually the Mother and he are one. Does he only talk of God? No, he brings Him before their eyes, and forcibly makes them see Him. He makes them see as much as it is humanly possible. It is Kaliyuga - the age of science. People are generally sceptical. Don’t they say, ‘If there is God show Him to us.’ That’s why bringing the Mother of the Universe there he talks to Her before them. This did not happen only once - it was always thus."
The fifth chapter is being read. From the inner apartment Keshab enters the drawing room with great difficulty holding the wall. His body is just a skeleton. He offers a long pranam to Thakur by lying on the ground. Thakur is still in the state of bhava. In that very state he talks.
Antevasi — What did it mean when Thakur said to Keshab, ‘An elephant has entered your kunde ghar (a thatched cottage)’?
M. — That the divine bhava had entered into Keshab. During those days he often talked with the Mother of the Universe in an emotional state, he used to cry, he used to laugh. This body of flesh and blood, and the nervous system cannot bear such forceful bhava. As a result the body was breaking down. Kunde ghar means body and the elephant means the divine bhava. The bodies of worldly persons are capable to have worldly pleasures, they are not fit for divine realization. Divine bhava and bhakti, when they enter into the body, bring basic changes in it. A new nervous system comes up, a new mind and intellect are born. The bhakta has a total rebirth. The previous body looks the same as before but in reality it is not so. As the contemplation of God purifies the mind and consciousness, in the same way it also purifies the body.
Antevasi — What is the significance of: ‘Once your name is registered in the hospital you cannot leave it?’ What is roger baki?
M. — Hospital, that is refuge in God. Roger baki, that is worldly feverishness, the desire for sensory pleasures of woman and gold. As long as the latter subsists, the body lasts. When the body perishes, soul leaves one’s body. It has to take up another body. Unless one has attained God-realization, one is not liberated from it. Fruits of action have to be reaped. And this fruit has to be borne till one gets a birth to have the God-realization.
"Or hospital signifies the jiva-bhava, the feeling of being a creature. So long as it lives the body is needed. The birth of the body, its preservation and its dissolution, all these three are troublesome. Till one’s consciousness is purified one cannot have His darshan; till then one has to face grief in the world. When the nature of the jiva is destroyed, divine nature takes birth. Then there is no grief - it’s happiness and joy always. The very attempt to destroy this nature of being jiva is to get registered in the hospital."
M. — Oh, what a love for Keshab Babu! Like an ordinary mortal he vowed to offer coconut and sugar to the Mother to relieve Keshab Babu. All human behavior. How he concealed himself! Why did he do so? Otherwise how could he his lila be enacted? To enjoy with the bhaktas, that’s why Thakur came as an avatara. This time it was complete pure sattva. Otherwise couldn’t He, who brings about birth, preservation and dissolution at His will, cure Keshab Babu just by willing it? But this he wouldn’t do. A man takes upon himself the sorrows and grief, worries and disease of ten others and suffers for them, but amidst all this he always utters ‘Mother, Mother’ and goes into samadhi! This is the ideal.
2.
Antevasi is unwilling. He says to himself: ‘The teachers of the Navavidhan Samaj are elders, very knowledgeable. What shall I speak of in their presence? I am young, and they are old in wisdom.’ Then he suddenly remembers the great saying of Thakur - faith in the words of the guru is needed - you must believe like a child.’ Soon he discovers that his mind’s weakness is gone, and a serene and fearless mood prevails upon him. A blissful self-confidence has returned. And he enters the Navavidhan Samaj Mandir.
The Samaj Mandir has been decorated externally and internally for the festival. Inside it is full of people. They are all educated, peaceful bhaktas. The women are sitting upstairs behind a bamboo curtain. The atmosphere is sweetly serene and deep. The interior has been illuminated with electric lights. In the middle of the temple a thin carpet has been spread over two wooden cots. Acharya Pramatha Babu, Nanda Babu and others are seated there. They are the nephews of Sri Keshab Chandra. The bhaktas are seated on benches to the north, south and the west. Antevasi forgets to take notice of such a big assembly. He only sees Sri Ramakrishna sitting in his heart with a joyful face. In a natural and simple manner he offers his salutations to the acharyas, and says, ‘I have been sent by Sri M. to take part in today’s discussion in this assembly and to read some of the portions of the Kathamrita.’
The teachers happily invited Antevasi to come and sit with them. All the devotees in the temple are very curious to see what this young man is going to do. Facing the pulpit, Antevasi begins to read the short character-sketch of Sri Ramakrishna in a slow, clear and sweet but loud voice, in the manner of lecture, as instructed by M. He notices that everybody is listening happily to Thakur’s life.
Then the first and the second chapters of the second Khanda of Volume I of the Kathamrita are read, followed by the first, second and fifth chapters of the tenth Khanda of Volume II. In the course of the reading the acharyas are sometimes grave, sometimes in a happy mood - they gently shake their heads, emit sounds from their throats indicating their happiness.
Antevasi reads the nectarlike character sketch:
Keshab and other Brahmo bhaktas frequently used to visit Sri Ramakrishna. At times Sri Ramakrishna also went to meet the Brahmo bhaktas. He had seen the Brahmo Mandir of Keshab many a time at the prayer time. He would go to Keshab’s Kamal Kutir frequently and enjoy himself in the company of Brahmo devotees. Keshab too would go to see Sri Ramakrishna in the Dakshineswar Temple, sometimes alone, at other times with his devotees.
The Brahmo devotees and the acharyas exclaim ‘Aha! Aha!’ in one voice as a mark of their joy.
The reading of the first part goes on - it is about Keshab’s spiritual genius:
Keshab has won over the mind and soul of many a Bengali young men like M., by his saintly character, faith and devotion for God and unequalled mastery over oratory. Knowing him to be a very dear person, many young men have given him their sincere faith, devotion and love.
There is again a gentle sound of joy from the Brahmo bhaktas.
Now Antevasi reads about Sri Ramakrishna’s boat trip with Keshab on the Ganga:
Thakur goes in samadhi again and again on the boat as well as in the cabin. Everybody witnesses this samadhi with great curiosity. Keshab is somewhat worried.
Some of Brahmo bhaktas shake their heads with joy at the memory of the past.
Vijaykrishna Goswami came with Sri Ramakrishna. Seeing him there presence Keshab feels embarrassed. Reason? Because of his difference of opinion with Keshab Babu, Vijay had left the Navavidhan Brahmo Samaj and joined the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.
Thakur is seated on a chair in the cabin. Even now he is full of ecstasy. Says he in an indistinct voice, ‘Why have you brought me here, Mother? Can I take them out of the meshes of worldly narrowness?’
The faces of the Brahmo bhaktas show signs of indifference and self analysis.
Now the first, second and fifth chapters of the tenth Khanda of Volume II are taken up - 28th November 1883 - some months before the death of Keshab:
Keshab is seriously ill. Sri Ramakrishna has come from Dakshineswar to see him. M. has been walking on the foot-path of the Kamal Kutir from two to five p.m.waiting for Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna arrives at five o’clock. The disciples of Keshab make him sit on a wooden cot in the verandah in front of the drawing room on the first floor.
Keshab is inside in the ladies quarters. Sri Ramakrishna is very keen to see Keshab. He says that he may himself go inside to see him. Keshab’s intimate disciple Prasanna tries to change his mind saying, ‘He also talks to the Mother of the Universe these days. Sometimes he smiles, sometimes cries, while listening to the Mother.’ Hearing this, Thakur goes into samadhi. It is winter, the verandah is cold. So Thakur is taken inside the drawing room when his samadhi is over. He is there seated on a couch, still immersed in bhava. He says under its intoxication, ‘What need is there of the couch, chair and such other items?’ The body will not last, this is what Thakur seems to be hinting at.
The Mother of the Universe is present there before Thakur. He sees that the Mother is wearing a Banarasi sari. The Mother is going to lift Keshab into Her arms within a few days. Is it to convey this message that he has come? Thakur says, ‘Mother, don’t be so restless. Sit down.’
"M., Rakhal, Latu and some others are there with the Master. Besides, there are Brahmo devotees all around. Under the intoxication of mahabhava, Thakur says, ‘The body and the Soul are different. The Body is born, so it would go. But the Soul is immortal. The Soul and the body are like the nut within the skin of a betel nut. The body is separate, so is the soul.’ It looks as if this too is a hint at the impending demise of Keshab.
3.
Keshab comes out from the ladies room holding on to the wall. His body is just a skeleton. He sits down on the floor. Leaving the couch Sri Ramakrishna comes and sits beside him. Keshab has a glimpse of Sri Ramakrishna and offers him his pranam by lying prostrate for a long time. Still in the state of bhava, Thakur talks indistinctly to the Mother of the Universe.
During the reading hearing all this, the Brahmos sometimes show signs of happiness, also sometimes sign of sorrow on their faces at the thought of an impending catastrophe.
Sri Ramakrishna says to Keshab, ‘I know the cause of your physical illness. The feeling of divine craving for God has entered your mind. It disturbs the entire nervous system. This is the reason for your illness.’ He adds, ‘An elephant has entered into your kunde ghar (thatched cottage).’ (Smiling) ‘When you have your name registered in the Lord’s hospital, that is when you have taken refuge in Him, till you are cured, that is till you have seen Him and till you, a human being become one with the Lord Himself, this body survives. And, when one is in the body there is illness. The result of this disease is surely going to be good. It is the same as when the gardener digs the earth round the rose plant to its roots, so as to get good flowers. You are going to enjoy the bliss of Brahman after this.’
And Thakur says to Keshab, ‘I was very worried on hearing that you were ill. You see, I got so worried to hear of your indisposition. When you fell ill earlier, I used to get up at night and cry. I used to implore the Mother, ‘Mother cure Keshab.’ I would say, if anything happened to him to whom would I talk of God in Calcutta? I had taken a vow of making an offering of a coconut and sugar to Mother Siddheshwari when you would get well. However this time, I haven’t felt that much - I have been worried a little for two or three days.’
What a concern, what a love Thakur has for Keshab, Seeing this the Brahmo devotees are wonderstruck.
Keshab’s mother has sent Umanath to Thakur to seek his blessings for Keshab. Thakur says, ‘I am not to bless him. It is the Mother of the Universe who will do so. People have the ego to say, you will recover, but it is not possible for me. It is the Mother who will do all this. Ask Her.’
"The Lord laughs twice: once when some land is partitioned between two brothers - when they say, ‘This is mine, and that is yours’. But It is God who is the Lord of the land. Again The Lord laughs when the doctor says, ‘I shall remove your illness.’ The Lord laughs and says, ‘I have given the body. It is My will whether to keep the body or not.’ But the doctor intervenes as the lord and says, ‘I will cure.’ He doesn’t know if God kills, who can save?’ "
Hearing this the Brahmo devotees got worried. Fear entered their minds.
This discussion continued for an hour and a half. In the meanwhile enter Dr. Kartik, Vinay, the Younger Amulya, Durgapad Mitra, Shukalal, Manoranjan, Shanti, Balai, the Younger Nalini, Sushil, Sukhendu, Amrit and others as desired by M. They come in and listen to the reading of the Kathamrita.
The reading is over. Silence reigns inside and outside the temple. Everybody listens in a serene mood to the narration of a naturally deep love between Sri Ramakrishna and Keshab. Now the commentary starts.
Antevasi (to Acharya Pramathanath) — You are all blessed indeed. How often have you seen Sri Ramakrishna and received his love! We believe that his was a pure love, his grace unfailing. By the blessings of Brahmananda Keshab Chandra you were able to gain Sri Ramakrishna’s grace.
Acharya Pramathanath — I can never forget Sri Ramakrishna’s affection. How many memorable moments, how many incidents are coming to my mind! Whenever I went to him he would offer sandesh to us to eat with his own hands. I was quite young then, so I was afraid to go into his presence. He would gauge the feelings, the thoughts, of visitors like one sees the things lying inside a glass almirah, and he would talk of them as innocently as a child. So I was afraid to go to him in the presence of others lest he should talk to others about me later on - that would be so embarrassing! I tried to visit him when he was alone but he could always detect the fear and embarrassment in my mind. I suppose that because of it he never talked of me to others. However, whenever I went alone to him how he showered his affection on me, how many things he would say for my benefit! Once he said, ‘The curd is so sweet when it is made in a new earthen pot. You people are like new earthen pots. You have not married. But perhaps you will not go in for it. You are fresh pots. If you call the Lord, He will listen to you. Pray to the Mother and weep secretly in a solitary corner saying, ‘Mother reveal Thyself!’
"Another day he said, ‘You are young. This is the right time to call upon Him. Devote you young years in His service.’
"Yet another day he said, ‘You have seen a hog-plum, the fruit used for making pickles, haven’t you? Woman and gold are like this fruit. What is there in the hog-plum? Just stone and rind! When you eat it, it gives you bilious colic.’
"He was indeed very witty. One day Brahmananda (Keshab) was to go to Dakshineswar. He arrived there late. As soon as the Paramahansa (Sri Ramakrishna) saw him, he said, ‘There comes the bridegroom! We are dressed and making sounds.’ Women dress themselves in new saris at weddings - these saris make such a sound.
"What a love he bore to Brahmananda! Can we ever understand it?
"All these things about him are gushing forth from within like a flood. How many can I narrate? Oh! can anybody else give such a love?"
Nanda Babu — One day he said to me, ‘The world is also His. Live in it. No harm there. It is like fighting from inside a fort. But you must hold Him with one hand and hold the world with the other. At the right time you will hold Him with both hands.
"One day he said, ‘Cut the jack-fruit after smearing your hand with oil.’ And he asked me to repeat what he had said. I replied, ‘By smearing the hand with oil the gum of the jack-fruit will not stick.’ He was happy and said, ‘Yes, exactly in this way you will not be bound by affection when you live in the world after attaining devotion.’
"One day he asked, ‘Tell me, how the maid lives in a rich family.’ I said, ‘If she is a good maid she sees the house as her own. She does every work.’ He said happily, ‘Oh yes, one should live in the world just like her. One must attend to all chores but keeping the mind on God, just as the maid’s mind remains turned towards her home where she has her children.’
The closed gate of the hearts of the Brahmo devotees opened up and the reminiscences of Sri Ramakrishna began to gush out like a spring. Some others also wanted to say something but the time was over.
Pramatha Babu (to Antevasi) — You people are also blessed. You have directed your mind towards God at this age. And you love the Paramahansa without ever seeing him. As for us, though we have eaten sandesh from his hands we have not been able to love him so much. You people are more blessed than we. You have had M.’s love, that’s why you are so much attracted to him.
The discussion is over. It is already past 7 p.m., almost half past seven. The prayer session will start now. M. arrived at 7 o’clock. Unnoticed by others he is sitting near the western door. He puts on a Nickle spectacle a number of time and sees the inside of the temple, the dramatic scene between the Brahmo devotees and of Antevasi. His eyes smiling and happy denote that he is enjoying the success of Antevasi as the manager of this drama.
The roof of the Morton School; 8.30 in the evening. M. returns from the Navavidhan Brahmo Samaj Mandir alongwith the bhaktas. At M.’s behest, Antevasi again reads the meeting of Sri Ramakrishna and Keshab. At the end of the reading, M. says, ‘Sometime in future all these lilas will be enacted like a stage play. But I have seen this divine lila with my own eyes in this mortal world.’
M. is suffering from backache. Antevasi massages it with Belledonna as he did in the morning.
Calcutta,
Sunday, the 17th August 1924.
1st Bhadra 1331 (B.Y.),
The third day of the dark fortnight, 44 Dandas/51 Palas.