Section VIII

Visit of Sri Ramakrishna to Sinduriyapatti Brahmo Samaj

Conversation with

Vijaykrishna Goswami and others

Chapter One

In samadhi

The eleventh day of the dark fortnight in the month of Kartik. 26 November, 1883. The Sinduriyapatti Brahmo Samaj holds its sessions in the house of Mani Lal Mullick. It is situated on the Chitpur Road, in the southern corner of the Harrison Road where fruits and dry fruits such as seedless pomegranate, pistachio and apples are sold ­ a little to the north of the shops. The Samaj holds its session in the hall towards the main road on the first floor. Today it is the annual session, so Mani Lal has made arrangements for the occasion.

The worship room is full of joy today. It is decorated outside and inside with green leaves, various flowers and garlands. The bhaktas sitting in the hall are waiting for the worship to begin. There is not enough space for everybody in the room. Quite a number of persons are pacing on the western roof or are sitting on the beautifully made variegated benches placed here and there. At times the master of the house and his near relatives come to greet the invited bhaktas with sweet words. The Brahmo bhaktas have started arriving before the evening. They are inspired today with special zeal. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa Deva is paying his auspicious visit today. He   has great affection for the leaders of the Brahmo Samaj ­ Keshab, Vijay, Shivanath and other bhaktas. That is why he is so beloved of the Brahmo bhaktas. He is intoxicated with the wine of divine love of Hari. His Prema, his burning faith, his childlike conversation with the Lord, his tearful yearning for God, his worship of women as Mother, his avoidance of all worldly talk and his incessant talk on God like the unbroken flow of oil, his harmony with all religions and absence of the least trace of contempt for other religions and his tearful cry for the bhaktas of God ­ all these things have attracted the mind of Brahmo bhaktas. This is the reason why so many people have come from distant places to have his darshan.             

 

Shivanath and speaking  truth

Before the worship Sri Ramakrishna is talking happily with Vijaykrishna Goswami and other Brahmo bhaktas. The assembly room has been lit ­ the worship is to begin soon.

The Paramahansa Deva says, “Why brother, is Shivanath not coming?” A Brahmo bhakta says, “No, he is very busy today. He will not be able to come.” The Paramahansa Deva says ­

“I feel very happy on seeing Shivanath. It seems as if he is drenched in the nectar of devotion. Besides, when many accept one, there is undoubtedly some power of the Lord in him. Even so, Shivanath has a great defect. He does not keep his word. He told me that he would once come there (at Kali Temple in Dakshineswar), but he did not turn up. He did not even send a word. This is not right. They say that the truthful speech indeed is the tapasya in the age of Kali. By sticking to truth one realizes Bhagavan and by not sticking to truth, everything gradually perishes. Keeping this in mind, if I sometimes say that I am going to answer the call of nature and even I have no pressure, I take a wash pot and go to the Jhautala. My fear is that I may not ultimately lose my truthful speech. After this state of mine I took flowers in my hand and said to the Mother ­

Mother! Take Your knowledge and take Your ignorance, only grant me pure love.

O Mother! Take Your cleanliness and take Your defilement, only grant me pure devotion.

O Mother! Take what is good and what is not, only grant me pure devotion.

O Mother! Take Your virtue and take Your sin, only grant me pure devotion, O Mother!

“When I said all this, I could not say, ‘Mother! Take your truth and take your untruth.’ I could give everything to the Mother. But I could not give Her truth.”

The worship starts according to the Brahmo system. The acharya (preacher) is on the platform with a candelabrum in front. After the initial ceremony he chants holy verses from the Vedas on Para Brahman. The Brahmo bhaktas also begin to sing together in the same tune the same ancient words of the Aryan rishis. They chant, ‘Brahman is truth, knowledge and infinite. It radiates as bliss and immortality. It is peace, all good and one without a second; It is pure and untouched by sin.’

The sound of these words impregnated with ‘Om’ resounds in the firmament of the heart of    bhaktas. Most of them have their worldly desires almost quenched, their minds becoming quite steady and meditation oriented. They all sit with eyes closed and contemplate for a while on Brahman with attributes of the Vedas.

The Paramahansa Deva is overwhelmed with emotion ­ his body still, his eyes fixed, speechless, he sits like a picture. The bird of his soul is flying elsewhere in joy; only his inert body remains there in void.

As soon as his samadhi is over, he opens his eyes and looks around. He notices that everybody in the meeting has his eyes closed. Then uttering, “Brahman! Brahman!” he rises all of a sudden. At the end of worship the Brahmo bhaktas sing together with khol (drum) and cymbals. Intoxicated with the joy of prema (ecstatic love), Sri Ramakrishna joins them and begins to dance. Everybody gets charmed and watch that pleasant dance. Vijaykrishna and other bhaktas also begin to dance encircling him. Many persons having watched this wonderful scene and having enjoyed the community singing have forgotten the world for sometime ­ having drunk the wine of Hari’s nectar they forget their worldly pleasures for a while. They begin to feel that the worldly joy is bitter in taste.

After the kirtan all take their seats. They all sit around Thakur to hear what he says.               

Chapter Two

Advice to householders

Sri Ramakrishna addresses the assembled Brahmo bhaktas and says thus, “It is very difficult to lead the family life without attachment. Pratap used to say, ‘Sir, we believe the same way as Raja Janak. Raja Janak lived the family life without attachment, we shall also do the same.’ I said, ‘Can you become Raja Janak just by thinking so? Raja Janak gained jnana after so much of austerities. He returned to his family after undergoing extremely hard austerities standing on his head for years.’ ”

“Even so, does it mean that there is no way for the householders? Certainly there is. The householder should practise religious discipline for some days in a solitary place. By doing so one develops bhakti and gains spiritual knowledge. After this there is nothing wrong if he goes back and leads the family life. However, when a man practises spiritual discipline in a solitary place, he must cut himself completely by all means from the household ­ wife, son, daughter, mother, father, brother, sister, near relatives; none should stay with him. At the time of solitary spiritual practice he should say to himself, ‘I have none as my own. The Lord is all in all for me.’ He should weep persistently and pray to Him for jnana and bhakti.

“If you were to ask how many days one should live away from the family? Even one day of stay in this manner is good but three days are still better. One can live for twelve days, a month, three months, a year, as long as possible. After gaining jnana and bhakti, there is not much danger in living a family life.

“If you rub your hands with oil before cutting the jack-fruit, its milky exudation will not  stick to your hands. When playing the game of ‘thief-thief’ if you touch the grand-dame, there is no danger then. Touch the philosopher’s stone once and become gold; thereafter if this gold remains buried under the earth for a thousand years and then taken out, it shall still be gold.

“This mind is like milk. If you keep this mind in the water of the world, the milk will get mixed with water. One must transform the milk into curds in a lonely corner and take out butter from it. When by practising spiritual discipline in a solitary corner one has taken out the butter of jnana and bhakti from the milk of the mind then that butter can easily be kept in the water of the world. This butter will never get mixed with the water of the world, it will float free from any attachment on its surface.”                                                               

Chapter Three

 Sadhana in solitude of Vijaykrishna Goswami

Vijay Goswami has recently returned from Gaya. There he spent quite a few days in solitude and lived in the company of sadhus. He has now taken to ochre clothes. A very nice state he is in ­ as if his mind is always drawn within. He keeps his head bent down before the Paramahansa Deva as if he is absorbed in contemplation.

Looking at Vijay, Sri Ramakrishna asks him,  “Vijay, have you found a vasa (place to stay)?”

“Listen to this. Two sadhus reached a town during their wanderings. One of them was curiously watching the bazaar, shops and residential quarters of the town when he came across the other one. The latter said, ‘You are going round the city gaping. Where is your luggage?’ The first sadhu replied, ‘I first found a vasa (place of stay) where I have locked my belongings. Then I have come out without any anxiety. Now I am roaming about the city to find out how it looks like.’ That is why I am asking you whether you have found a ‘vasa’. (To M. and others) Look, the fountain within Vijay was lying restrained for so long and now it has opened up.”

 

Vijay and Shivanath  ­ selfless work ­ sannyasi’s renunciation of desire

(To Vijay) “Look here, Shivanath has so many problems. He has to write for the newspaper and many other things he has to do. Worldly work brings restlessness with it. A number of anxieties and worries accumulate in the mind.

“The Srimad Bhagavata talks about the twenty-four gurus of the avadhoot (Rishi Duttatreya), one of whom was a kite. Some fishermen were catching fish at some place when a kite came and swooping over the fish carried one away. However, seeing the fish some ten hundred crows forming themselves into a flight followed the kite crowing behind it and creating so much of nuisance. Whichever side the kite flew with the fish, the crows followed it in groups in that very direction. The kite flew towards the south, the crows also went that side and when it flew northwards, the crows did the same. Now the kite began to fly in the same manner to the east and the west and at last the kite got confused of the rambling motion and the fish fell from it. Then the crows left the kite and flew towards the fish. The kite then sat on the branch of a tree at peace within itself. It said to itself: That fish had created this entire confusion, now that I have no fish I am so much at peace.

“The avadhoot learned this from the kite that so long as the fish of desire is there one has work before him. And because of work there is worry, anxiety and restlessness. As soon as one gives up desires, it brings karma kshaya[1] and he is at peace.

“That is why nishkama karma (selfless work) is good. It does not bring restlessness. But it is very difficult to do selfless work. I may think that I am doing selfless work but somehow selfish motivation creeps in, I do not know from where? If a lot of religious discipline has already been practised then with the power of this sadhana only a few can work selflessly. After God-realization, selfless work comes automatically. Upon God-realization, one almost gives up work. Only a person or two (like Narada) keep on working for the instruction of others.”

Sannyasi will not hoard ­
renunciation of work only after developing prema

“The avadhoot had another guru, the bee. The bee collects honey labouring hard for days together but this honey does not fall to its share. Some other person comes, breaks the honeycomb and takes away the honey. The avadhoot learnt from the bee that one should not hoard. Sadhus will depend a hundred percent on the Lord. They must not accumulate.

“However, this is not for the householders. The householder must rear his family. Therefore, he has to accumulate. The bird and the sadhu don’t accumulate. The bird, however, accumulates when it has a chick ­ it brings food for its chick in its beak.

“Look here Vijay, if you see some baggage or a bundle (of possessions) tied with fifteen knots with a sadhu, don’t trust him. I saw such sadhus under the banyan tree. Two or three of them were sitting there ­ one was separating good grains of dal from the bad ones, the other was repairing his dhoti (a wearing cloth) and they were talking of the feasts given by rich men. They were saying, ‘I say, that babu has spent hundreds of thousands of rupees. He fed the sadhus so well: Puris, jalebis, peras, barfis, malapuas and what not he prepared.’ ” (All laugh.)

Vijay — Yes, I saw such sadhus in Gaya too. In Gaya sadhus swindle. (All laugh.)

Sri Ramakrishna (to Vijay) — On developing ecstatic love for the Lord karmas (activities) fall off automatically. Let those act whom the Lord makes them to work. Your time has come now. Giving up everything you should say: ‘O my mind, may you behold Her, may I behold Her and none else!’

Saying so, Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna sings in his  exquisitely sweet voice and describes the sweetness of God ­

Preserve revered Shyama Mother with great care in your heart.

O my mind, may you behold Her, may I behold Her and none else.

Tricking desires, anger and such other vices, come, O my mind, let me see Her in solitude.

I shall keep my tongue with me so that it can utter, ‘Mother, Mother.’

(Let it call out, ‘Mother, Mother,’ every now and then.)

O my mind, don’t let perversion and such instigations come near.

Let the eyes of your jnana keep a watch and beware.

(Do be careful.)

(To Vijay) “You have taken refuge in Bhagavan. Now eschew the feeling of shame, fear and so on. Give up the idea that if you dance while singing the name of Hari what will people say about you.”        

 

Feeling of shame, contempt and fear

“When you have the feeling of shame, contempt, and fear you cannot succeed. The feeling of shame, contempt, fear, the pride of caste, desire for secrecy and the rest are all bonds. The jiva is liberated only when he is free from them.

“He who is bound is a jiva (embodied soul), he who is free from the bonds is Shiva (divine). Love for Bhagavan is something rare. If you have nishtha (single minded devotion) for the Lord, like a wife has for her husband in the beginning, only then you develop bhakti. Pure selfless bhakti is very difficult to attain. In bhakti, soul and mind lose themselves in the Lord.

“Thereafter comes the state of bhava. In bhava, man becomes speechless. His breathing stops and he goes automatically into kumbhak (suspension of breath) ­ as it happens while firing from the gun. A marksman while firing a bullet becomes speechless and his breathing stops.

“To attain prema is a far cry. Chaitanya Deva attained it. When you have prema for the Lord, you forget the external objects, you forget the world. You forget even your own body which is so dear to you.”

Saying so, Sri Ramakrishna begins to sing again ­

When will such a day come?

When streams of tears shall flow down my eyes uttering Hari, Hari (when will such a day come?)

When I am able to rid myself of worldly desires (when will such a day come?)

When shall my hairs shall stand on end (when will such a day come?)

Chapter Four

Bhava and Kumbhak  ­
vision of Bhagavan when mahavayu[2] rises

While the conversation is going on in this way, many other invited Brahmo bhaktas arrive. Many among them are learned, occupying high position in the government. One of them is Rajni Nath Ray.

Thakur says, “In the state of bhava your breathing stops.” He further says, “When Arjuna pierced his target, his sight was fixed only on the eye of the fish ­ he was not looking at anything else. So much so that he was not able to see any other organ (of the fish) but the eye. In such a state, one’s breathing stops and one attains the state of kumbhak.”

“There is another mark of the vision of the Lord: The mahavayu current from within gurgles up towards the brain. At that time if one attains samadhi, one sees Bhagavan.”

 

Mere learning by itself is deceptive ­ riches, power, honour and rank are all illusory

(Looking at the arrived Brahmo bhaktas)  “They who are mere learned and have no bhakti for Bhagavan talk confusing. There was a pundit, Samadhyayi by name. He said, ‘The Lord is neeras[3]. Make Him saras[4] by your prema and bhakti.’ He who is called Rasaswaroop[5] in the Vedas was termed neeras by this fellow. This only shows that the man did not know at all what the Lord is. That is why he talked absurd.

“Somebody said, ‘There is a cowshed full of horses in my maternal uncle’s house.’ From this, you can well understand that there was not a single horse ­ because horses are not kept in the cowshed. (All laugh.)

“There are people who are proud of riches, wealth, possessions, property, honour, rank and so on. These last only for a few days; nothing accompanies one at death. A song goes like this ­

O my mind, just think it over. Nobody really belongs to anyone in the world. There is mere illusion in the world.

Don’t forget the Dakshina[6] Mother Kali by getting ensnared in Her Own maya.

Just think it over. Will they accompany you for whom you are dying?

This beloved wife of yours would rebuke you saying:  ‘It brings harm if the dead revisits.’

It is just for two or three days that people call you as the lord, the master.

They will cease to call you the master when the Master in the form of death shall arrive.

 

The great remedy for pride ­
there are others greater than you

“One should not be proud of one’s money. If one thinks that he is wealthy, there are more wealthy and still wealthier persons than him. When the evening is over and the firefly comes out, it thinks that it gives light to the world. But as soon as the stars appear, its pride has a fall. The stars then begin to think that they are giving light to the world. After sometime the moon appears, the stars then feel ashamed and get dim. The moon then begins to think that the whole world is smiling because of its light, that it is giving light to the world. But not much later comes the dawn. The sun rises, and now the moon becomes dim. In a short while it becomes invisible.

“If the wealthy were to think in this  way, they would not have pride of their wealth.”

 

Manilal has arranged for a big feast in connection with the festival. He serves food to Sri Ramakrishna and the assembled bhaktas with great attention and love to their heart’s satisfaction. It is already quite dark when the guests start returning home but nobody feels any inconvenience.