Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 089 on 20-June-2023

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGAD GURAM ADHAPATME TAYO SHRITVA PRANAMAMI MOHORUM OHO HO We are discussing about Keshav Chandra Sain's and Sri Ram Krishna's visit to him. We just started that particular episode. Keshav was about to go out when he was told of Sri Ram Krishna's arrival. He came to the drawing room fully dressed to go out. But seeing Sri Ram Krishna, he cancelled the plan. Then Sri Ram Krishna is telling something very important. You have so many things to attend to. Besides, you have to edit a newspaper. You have no time to come to Dakshineshwar. So I have come to see you. When I heard of your illness, I vowed green coconut and sugar to the Divine Mother for your recovery. I said to her, Mother, if something happens to Keshav, with whom shall I talk in Calcutta? Sri Ram Krishna spoke to Pratap and the other devotees. Very important point we have to note down here. When a devotee is busy, then God Himself has to come down and He will come down. And there is a marvellous story of a saint, a saint of Maharashtra illustrating this fact. Perhaps many of you know this story. It is the story of Saint Pundalika. The modern Pandharapura is supposed to have sprung up only because of this Bhakta Pundalika. Very interesting story. How even a wicked person like Girish Chandra Ghosh can turn around his life. And it illustrates many points. I will tell you very briefly what is this story. There was a devotee. His name was Pundalika and he was very busy serving his parents. And before that, he used to visit God many times. But after he started serving his parents, he had hardly had any time. Then God Himself came to him. Krishna had come to him. And Pundalika immediately knew that Bhagavan Krishna had come. And He said, Lord, You know I am very busy. According to Your own commandment, I am serving my parents. So You just stand there until I complete. And He threw a brick on which this Pithala, Pandharipur Vithala, Bhagavan Krishna, they call Him Vithala, with His hands like this. And I hope you will see the main deity in the Pandharipura temple. He stood there. And then later on, He asked the devotee, I am so pleased with you. What do you wish? And then He prayed, I don't want anything. You gave me everything. But you stay here as a Jagrata Devata, living deity. And bless your devotees. Whoever wishes to visit you, you bestow your abundant grace upon them. And the Lord had immediately consented. And that is the story of modern Pandharipura to which many Karnataka saints like Purandara Dasa, Dasa Sampradaya have sung. In fact, this Purandara Dasa, he is only devoted to Lord Krishna in the form of Pandharinath. That is why at the end, He always mentions the name of the Pandharipura as the signature of His composition. Vithala. Vithala is the name. Now the story of this devotee is what really counts. He was born to very pious parents and the parents were very God-fearing. They used to live a very religious life, virtuous life like Shudhiram and Chandramani Devi. And they got this son. In the beginning, this Pundalika was extremely good, like a Jamila. Very orthodox, very highly devoted. And then when he grew up, his parents, every parent wishes their children also to suffer. If any child says, why don't you want to get married? Then they reply to the force of the child, what? We have suffered so much, we are suffering so much and you want to escape suffering so easily? That is one of the reasons why parents force their children even if they are highly developed also. Rarely, any parent gladly gives consent for him either not to marry or to become a monk, which is a very hard life. When he grew up, his parents married him off and there was a very nice girl. She was also devoted but addicted to luxury, lazy life. And the husband had long fell into the net of his wife's love. Not that we have to blame her, he was like that for some time. It is only a temporary Samskara. We see in many devotees, this temporary Samskara. And then he neglected his parents. They became old, they forced them to do all the donkey's work, servant's work and they wanted just to live a happy, go lucky life. Parents suffered very much, they said enough is enough, we don't want to stay here, we will go to Kashi and live there and give up our body there. So when they informed this news to their son and daughter-in-law, they consulted with each other, we also will go to Kashi and then we will make them do all the hard work on the way, we will just want to enjoy the pilgrimage. So that is what they did, they came. But as a result, there are many versions of this story. See, Pundalika, in one version, he lost his sight, eyesight, then he came to his senses. Then he asked a saint, how can I regain back my eyesight? Then the saint told him, you committed the greatest sin, you made your parents work so hard, you made them suffer so much. And that has brought a terrible amount of sin and the only way you can get rid of it is that you go on a pilgrimage, carry your parents wherever you go and serve them and through that your Papas will come to an end and then one day you will regain back your lost eyesight. And by that time, he was a changed man, we don't know the other details what happened. So he started carrying his parents and then wherever he went, so devotedly he was worshipping them. Then one night, he happened to come to the ashrama of a sage called Kutamuni and then he was restless. His parents were sleeping and this person was restless and towards midnight he could not sleep and it was also humid. So he came out and was wandering in the garden of the Kutamuni. Suddenly, he saw three very ugly, dirty, old women enter into the ashrama. Very soon, they took up the brooms and started cleaning thoroughly the entire ashrama and he was watching with amazement. Who are these people? Why are they coming at night? And why are they doing silently? Nobody knew when everybody was asleep. And he was astonished to see further, as they were cleaning the ashrama, slowly there was a transformation in them. They were becoming clean, they were becoming younger, they were becoming very beautiful. And by that time, before the Rishi got up, they were shining like three goddesses. Then he went and fell down at their feet and said, I cannot believe what I saw and what I have seen. Who are you? Why do you come here? What is this? Then they said, we are three rivers — Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. And every day, literally millions of sinners, after committing unimaginable crimes, they come and take bath in us and their sins are transferred to us. As a result, we become very ugly and the only way we know how to gain back our original stature is to come to this Rishi and clean up his ashrama. He is so great. He is such a great Brahma Gnani. By just merely, even without his knowledge, when we do service, that service purifies us and we become very great. And then they disappeared, having told who they were. And this man's kundalika's devotion, it increased by leaps and bounds. Then he went and fell down at the feet of the Rishi. The moment he did that, his eyesight had come back. Then the Rishi advised him, there is no greater opportunity than serving your own parents — Matru Devo Bhava, Pitru Devo Bhava. Serve them to the best of your ability and this is the only way you will reach God. And then he carried them lovingly back and ever since have been until they are fed and go to sleep. Day and night, he was engaging himself only in serving his parents. And as a result of that, slowly his Devo Bhakti has started growing. And then God himself had come to visit him because he was such a Karma Yogin. This is what is called Brahma Brahma Yagna. In his eyes, the parents were no longer mere parents. They were manifestations of God themselves in the form of old and probably they can't see properly. So his worship of God was to his parents. This is the purest Karma Yoga that Sri Ramakrishna and especially Swami Vivekananda was trying to tell. This is the Karma Yoga advocated in the Bhagavad Gita by the Divine Lord. A householder is burdened with a lot of things. God understands that and He bestows His grace upon them. So what is the way? He doesn't have time to either devote for meditation or study of scriptures or so many other things. Most of the people do not have. Unless they are very wise people, they plan from the very beginning that we will lead a simple life. And if there are children, when our children grow up and stand on their own feet, we will retire and devote our life only by entering into the Vanaprastha Shrama, only to God. There, such people are very few. So what is the way to progress in spiritual life? That is when Karma Yoga comes in. For Brahmacharis, it is the Guru Seva. And you remember, I am remembering so many things. One of the greatest disciples of Shankaracharya was one Sanat Sanandana. He was not a very bright person. So one day, the Guru, that is Shankaracharya, wanted to teach his other three disciples. Shankaracharya had mainly four disciples. There were many. And to them, he made them head of a centre by establishing four separate centres. Why four separate centres? Otherwise, they would start quarrelling with each other. Non-cooperation movement will start. That is the special talent of every born Hindu. He is born with a non-cooperation samskara. So strong. So every day, Shankaracharya used to take a class. And one morning, he came to the class. Three of his disciples were waiting. Very interesting topic. Or the teacher makes it extraordinarily interesting. But the teacher kept mum. And after a few minutes, they became restless. Sir, why are you waiting? He said, you know, our Sananda, he is not coming yet. He is busy in doing some service to me. Let him come. And they snickered. Oh, there is no need. Whether he comes or he doesn't come, it doesn't really matter. Because nothing much goes inside into his head. As if in our heads, so many things will come. So then Shankaracharya wanted to teach them a lesson. Knowledge comes not by study, but by the grace of the Guru, by the grace of God, by the grace of Mother Saraswati. So there was a river there and he called out, Hey Sanandan, come and the Sanandan heard it. It was a small river, not like a huge Ganga. And then he thought, my Guru needs me. Without thinking, he plunged into the river, only thinking the lotus feet of his Guru. And the miracle of miracles. Every footstep of his is supported by a lotus. Later on, because of this, he was called Padmapada. His feet were supported by Padmas. And he reached very soon. He did not know how he was crossing the river. And he asked, Gurudev, did you require anything? He said, No, class is about to start. That's why I called you. You sit down. And then later on, Padmapada, Sanandana, he sat down. Then previous day's lesson, which was very tough, Advaita Vedanta. You know Advaita Vedanta, the tenets are very, very simple. But the explanation is extraordinarily hard. Especially if you are familiar with a particular book written by one Uttar Pradesh, highly learned sadhu in local Hindi language. It is called Vichara Sagara. He wrote several books. One of them is called Vritti Prabhakaram. Oh my God, it will literally split our brains if we try to understand it. Hair splitting, what they call, I call it brain splitting. So these kinds of books were written. And most of the time, this is what the gurus go on teaching to the disciples. But look at the Paramguru, God himself, whether it is Krishna or Rama or Sri Ramakrishna, in how simple words they taught. That is what we are studying here. So Shankaracharya wanted to teach the others that wisdom doesn't come from studying books. It can come only by the grace of God. So he asked of all the people, that Sanandana, now yesterday we were discussing something. So can you explain how much you understood? And by Shankaracharya, the Paramaguru has bestowed his grace. And then Padmapada's mind had opened up. And he started explaining in beautiful language the intricacies of whatever Shankaracharya had taught. And the other disciples, it passed even beyond their brains. And they were astonished. Then, temporarily perhaps, they came to their senses. All this can happen. Overnight transformation can happen only by the grace of God. So by the grace of God and which is not different from the grace of the Guru. Because Guru is only a medium. Through the Guru, it is God who takes the opportunity to bestow his grace. And that is how Sri Ramakrishna also had bestowed his grace upon his beloved disciple who did exactly what this Sanandana was doing to Shankaracharya. He was serving, busy serving. And in this, we get some of the episodes. Especially in Sri Ramakrishna, the great master. One day, this Swami Advaitananda was serving Sri Ramakrishna. And then Sri Ramakrishna asked him, My boy, and this Lato Maharaj, he used to be called Leto. Very often, Leto. La is pronounced as Na. Leto. Leto, do you know what your Ram is doing? Ramachandra was the Ishta Devata of Lato Maharaj who was born in Bihar. His Kuladevata was Rama. So he asked, What is your Rama doing? And then he said, How do I know? I don't know what my Rama is doing. Then Sri Ramakrishna said, My boy, he is passing elephants through the eye of a needle. Lato Maharaj could not understand. Don't you understand? Sri Ramakrishna said, It is how difficult it is to pass an elephant through the eye of a needle. That means what? Lord is disturbing His grace even upon His unworthy devotees who do not have the capacity to receive that grace. So that is what God is doing. Then Sri Ramakrishna tried to educate him. And Lato Maharaj could not even understand the difference between Akara and Akara, short A and long A. So Sri Ramakrishna, he stopped instructing. And then he said, My boy, in time, Vedas and Vedanta, they will come out of your mouth. So what is our important point? Whether Keshav Chandra Sen had become the world's famous orator who could attract hundreds of educated youth, or Sri Ramakrishna or Swami Vivekananda could become so famous at the Parliament of Religions. As we all know, just before he started his speech, he completely surrendered himself to Mother Saraswati, remembered Her and prayed to Her, Oh Mother, speak through my mouth. And he used to say, I am only His master's voice. But who spoke? It was Sri Ramakrishna. According to him, Sri Ramakrishna was Sarvadeva Devi Swaroopa. So what are we talking about? It is only God's grace. So there are so many stories, God's grace, provided we are a little bit sincere, God's grace will come. And especially householders, they don't have time. And Sri Ramakrishna proved in his life, he knew in those days, it was very hard to reach Dakshineshwar. And many days, a devotee could not come. That's why Sri Ramakrishna, he used to go to Calcutta very often, especially into the house of his beloved householder devotee, Balaramvasu, where Sri Ramakrishna had visited more than a hundred times, and many nights he stayed there itself. Fortunately, his granddaughter had donated that house to Sri Ramakrishna's order. Now it has become one of the most important centers of Sri Ramakrishna Matan mission. So why was Sri Ramakrishna going? He knew that it would be easier for devotees to visit him. If they cannot come to me, then I have to come, go to them. There is a beautiful saying in English, if the mountain cannot come to Mohammed, Mohammed has to go to the mountain. So this Bhakta Pundalika was extremely busy serving his parents, and he considered that as the greatest seva rendered to God Himself. And that is why God Himself came to him in Bhagavad Gita, 4th chapter, 24th verse. This is called Brahma Karma Samadhi. Whoever practices Brahmaarpanam, transform the whole life as a Yajna, then he will attain to Samadhi, and it is called Karma Samadhi. Samadhi is not Karma, Samadhi is Samadhi. But through these Karma activities, considering everything as the manifestation of God, and that leads one to Samadhi, which means simply Aham Brahmasmi, knowledge. That is what is important. Ramakrishna, as we discussed earlier, had to play a great role as an Avatar, and several people had to assist him, and Keshav Chandra Sen was one of them. That is what Ramakrishna was telling to Keshav Chandra Sen, You have no time to come to Dakshineswar. So I have come to see you. And then he is explaining, You have so many things to attend to. Besides, you have to edit a newspaper. Very important statement, because how did the people of Calcutta at first, the people of other regions, sooner or later, and the whole world come to know about Sri Ramakrishna? So to say, Keshav Chandra Sen was the first person who recognized the great saintliness of Sri Ramakrishna. He surrendered himself in some respect to Sri Ramakrishna. He used to regularly publish in his Bengali papers, some daily, some weekly, especially weekly papers, about Sri Ramakrishna, the saint of Dakshineswar, about the Paramahamsa of Dakshineswar, and his teachings with superb illustrations. And that is how the people of Calcutta had come to know. But as we discussed, the most important point was, Sri Ramakrishna had picked up his chosen disciples, who were almost in the followers of Keshav Chandra Sen until that time. So, and then not only that, Keshav Chandra Sen was endowed with a very special talent. He was absorbed in meditation. That means he was a very advanced spiritual soul. And that is why Sri Ramakrishna was attracted. And if Sri Ramakrishna was attracted, we have to understand that there is something in that devotee which makes it possible. When you see a bright light coming out of a bulb, then you have to understand that the bulb has the capacity to burn brightly. A high wattage element is there. Otherwise, electricity cannot do anything. So Sri Ramakrishna had come to see him. And then another purpose is also there. Keshav Chandra Sen was such a busy man. He had to give a lot of lectures. He had to edit newspapers. He had to conduct worship. He had to rush here and there. And therefore Sri Ramakrishna had come. Why? Because he could speak to him. And he knew that Keshav Chandra Sen had an extraordinary memory. Remember, in those days there were no recorders. Everything was recorded only in the mind. Very interesting topic, this one. Sri Ramakrishna's memory was incomparable. He was called Ekashruti Dhara. Once he listens to anything, he will remember it for the whole life. And Swami Vivekananda was called Dvishruti Dhara. He has to listen to anything twice. Then he will remember forever. And he was also a photo reader. That is, just like an encyclopedia Britannica, within a few hours he could turn out. And he was tested also. These are extraordinary personalities. Keshav Chandra Sen's memory must have been like that, specially endowed by the Divine Mother for her own mission to get fulfilled. So the teachings and the explanations of Sri Ramakrishna in the religious field were recognized by Keshav Chandra Sen. And he started publishing them. And Sri Ramakrishna wanted to aid in that activity. That is why, if you cannot come to me, I will come to you. Because this is the very purpose of my incarnation. And not only that, Keshav Chandra Sen was personally a great man in many ways. Of course, there were defects. Who doesn't have? But he was a great man. Sri Ramakrishna was attracted. And Sri Ramakrishna very often used to say, If I am attracted to somebody, that means Mother is more present in that person than other people. So Sri Ramakrishna was telling, When I heard of your illness, I vowed green coconut and sugar to the Divine Mother for your recovery. I said to her, Mother, if something happens to Keshav, with whom shall I talk in Calcutta? Why was Sri Ramakrishna saying this? Remember, most of the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna were not there before Keshav Chandra Sen had started publishing about Sri Ramakrishna. It is only through his writings, through his lectures, through his conversations, Keshav Chandra Sen was propagating Sri Ramakrishna in a way of speaking long before Swami Vivekananda did. What Keshav Chandra Sen did locally, Swami Vivekananda did it all over the world universally. So Sri Ramakrishna loved Keshav Chandra Sen because he was one of the powers of Divine Mother. And then he said, With whom shall I speak? It is only later on, through the work of Keshav Chandra Sen, other devotees, the people of Calcutta came to know about Sri Ramakrishna and slowly they started coming. Later on, of course, there were so many devotees who had come. So this is how it had happened. And then Sri Ramakrishna also, there were so many followers to Pratap. I think this Pratap was Pratap Chandra Majumdar who had written a beautiful comment, book about Sri Ramakrishna's life after coming along with Keshav Chandra Sen. He was a very intelligent person. Unfortunately, this is what is called the nature of slaves. Terrible jealousy will be there. And this person was smitten with jealousy and he was very popular in America before Swami Vivekananda went there. As soon as Vivekananda entered, it was as if a glow worm disappears as soon as the sun appears on the horizon. So the demon of jealousy started to show up in the mind of Pratap Chandra Majumdar. He went to the horrible extent, forgetting everything, that Narendra Nath was the beloved disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, whom he himself had met, heard, and somewhat he was also transformed. Not completely, but he became terribly jealous. He went to the extent of creating scandals about women and so many other things, the worst that anybody can do. And sadhus also can do that. There is no doubt about it. So this is the power of jealousy. But here we are talking about Keshav Chandra Sen. So before other devotees started coming, after knowing through Keshav Chandra Sen, there were very few people in Calcutta who knew the greatness of Sri Ramakrishna. So Sri Ramakrishna spoke to Pratap and the other Brahma devotees. Of course, I narrated the story of Pundalika. Why? Because these great stories tell us that if a devotee is obeying the commandments of God and serving a wife, serving her husband, children serving their parents, people serving the society, or a disciple serving the Guru, in every case, if the person is busy, God Himself will come to them and then bestow His grace. That's what I was reminded. In any case, this is all Satsanga. So whenever we are studying the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, if I remember either from the Puranas or from the Vedas or from other saints and sages, I am going to recollect to you, maybe not only once, but any number of times. But what I spoke about Bhakta Pundalika is only a very, very short summary. After this, if you have time, and this Google Devata is a living encyclopedia of everything. So you will get these beautifully narrated stories and some of it is made up, but most of it indicates the kernel of the truth. That if really Karma Yoga is done, service to parents, etc., then God's grace will come through that form. Then we come to the next point. M also happened to come and then he was seated nearby. Point M, the Master said to Keshav, Will you please ask him why he doesn't come to Dakshineshwar anymore? He repeatedly tells me he is not attached to his wife and children. Very interesting conversation and when M declared his non-attachment to his wife and children, we don't get it either in the Great Master or in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. But slowly transformation was being observed by his association with Sri Ramakrishna. Here Sri Ramakrishna is asking, before a person progresses very much in spiritual life, it is very much necessary to cultivate holy company. And this is what he is telling. Two interesting facts are here. That why he stopped coming to Dakshineshwar, he doesn't come to Dakshineshwar. Sri Ramakrishna is more anxious that M should visit him. Why? Very interesting point is, what we are reading is the recordings of M. Supposing this M started going to Sri Ramakrishna as many times as it was possible for him to go, perhaps we could have got a large amount of material for the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. In fact, being a householder and also working in a school, very often he used to visit on holidays, Saturday, Sunday or some religious holiday or national holiday and that is when most of the householders used to come. And whenever he came, this M was trained in memory for 15 years before he met Sri Ramakrishna. All by the will of God, he had to play a very important role of being a scribe like Ganesha to Vedavyasa. So we don't know how many things we are missing because whatever we are obtaining is only by the wonderful memory of M. So M had been paying visits to the Master for about a month. His absence for a time from Dakshineshwar called forth this remark. So Sri Ramakrishna, this is the second fact, had asked M to write to him if his coming was delayed. Otherwise, you know, in those days there was no telephone, there was no other way of communication. What happened? Was he sick? Or is he dead? Or has some accident happened? These are very difficult in those days. Those news are very difficult to get. So Sri Ramakrishna, in case you are unable to come, then you inform me earlier why you are not coming. That means the postal system was there. In fact, Sri Ramakrishna, long before, so far I know, I had written only one letter and that was to Holy Mother, that Ramlal is neglecting me. Hriday was not there. So I am suffering. You come by whatever means and take care of me. That was so far as we know. Only letter Sri Ramakrishna had written. He must have written because he was a good writer and had Holy Mother known the value of this letter, she would have preserved it and probably it would have been kept in our museum. And most likely, somebody would have, a Thai monk would have stolen that letter also. We don't know. In fact, many things have been stolen by a monk. Suppose it to be a Thai monk, of course, it is an insider job. We have a museum at Bellarmat. Anyway, this was what had happened. Then the topic had turned to Pandit Samadhyay. He was also one of the speakers. He was quite popular. He was a scholar. So the Brahmo devotees introduced him to Sri Ramakrishna as a scholar, well-versed in the Vedas and other scriptures. That was how the Brahmo devotees introduced him to Sri Ramakrishna. Who should know better than Sri Ramakrishna? Because Sri Ramakrishna came to know once during the Samadhyay, during his speech, he gave out, Brothers, God is dry. Let us fill Him up with our emotion and bhakti and make Him full of rasa. Once Sri Ramakrishna came to know about this remark and then he got disgusted and said, What type of person is He? Can God, who is called by the Vedas as the very embodiment of rasa vaisaha, He is indeed bliss. Rasa means bliss. That is the first meaning. Second meaning of rasa is South Indian rasam, is indeed manifestation of God only. So this Pandit Samadhyay was present and then the Master said something very remarkable because Sri Ramakrishna could see the insides of people. He said, Yes, I can see inside Him through His eyes as one can see the objects in a room that are lying in a glass door. Nothing can be hidden. So only at that time, no, you go to the shrine, you sit in front of Him and He is also watching you. But you may not be watching Him. He knows everything inside, outside, past and future. There is nothing to be hidden in front of God. Will He take offence? No, He will not take offence. If we are humble and we accept our lacks, what we lack in spiritual life, our defects, our what we call non-spiritual attitudes, He understands all of them. That's why He did not approve of Samadhyay because He must have been an egotistic person to remark about God like that. Anybody who believes, not let alone see but believe about God through the scriptures, through the Guru will never talk about Him. That is why Bhagavatam devotes five chapters. It is the very title of those five chapters is Rahasa Panchadhyay. Five chapters how Shri Krishna is portrayed with Gopis. Who are the Gopis? Never say they are women. Every devotee is a Gopi. That is what Shri Ramakrishna one day called at Dakshineshwar. All His devotees who were present asked them to sit surrounding Him and said, Now you meditate upon this and this is called Rahasa Mahotsava. This is called Rahasa Leela. And that means what? A devotee obtaining the highest measurable joy by meditating upon the Divine Lord is called Rahasa. Why? It is when you have put some sugar, tender sugarcane in your mouth and chewing, what do you get? Rasa. When you eat Rasagulla, what do you get? Rasa. So Rasa Vaisaha, that joy, Rasa represents joy. God is Ananda Swaroopa. This is what He is telling. Anybody, even without experience, if he has had faith in scriptures, he would never say God is dry and let us fill Him. That means what? God doesn't have happiness, but I have got happiness. Now poor God requires our help, so let us fill Him up with our joy. Otherwise He will starve and perhaps He will die also. Now comes another topic. Trilokya, there was a devotee. He was a beautiful singer. He was both a composer and a singer also. He belonged to Brahmo Samaj. Earlier I mentioned that many, many Brahmos have become transformed by coming into contact with Shri Ram Krishna. And especially one particular thing that previously they used to be influenced by Christianity especially and a little bit by Islam. They used to worship what we call the male aspect of God and so they used to call Him Father in Heaven. Somehow either Muslims or Christians, most of them, there were some devotees who considered Jesus Christ as a child, as a mother, etc. Most of them, only Father in Heaven. So the idea of fatherhood of God has been totally changed by coming into contact with Shri Ram Krishna. And this Trilokya, who especially got the blessings of Shri Ram Krishna, he started slowly feeling, yes, not that God is male or female, but the motherly qualities, a child is closer to mother than even to father, later on only father. So a mother is the most loving, she gives birth, she nourishes, she protects, 24 hours she is the greatest servant for the child. And that is how a child feels safe in the hands of the mother. And so this is the idea we must have. I might have been a sinner, I might have committed great things, but we are all children. Therefore if we can surrender ourselves and call upon God as mother, it will be far sweeter, far easier for us to progress in spiritual life. Instead of saying, Katyam Jnanam Anantam Brahma O Divine Mother, You are Srishti Sthiti Vinasha Ram, Shakti Bhute Sanatane, Sarva Mangala Mangalye Shive, Sarvadha Sadhike. That would be easier and sweeter and our progress will be faster. So that is why Sri Ramakrishna started advocating and slowly the Brahmo people started also composing songs and then singing about the motherhood of God. And this Srilokanath, Srilokanath Sanyal is full name, he belonged to Brahma Samaj. Under the influence of Sri Ramakrishna, he composed many songs unknown earlier to Brahmos. And here is a beautiful song that is coming, truly breathtakingly beautiful song. Aadhar Vashan Puri Samadhi Mandire O Ma, Ke Tumi Go Eka Boshi Abhay Paduk Amale Premer Bijali Khele Chinmaya Mukha Mandale Shobhe Atta Atta Hase Such a marvellous song this Trilokya could compose must be by the grace of the Divine Mother in the form of Sri Ramakrishna. First I will give you the English translation. In dense darkness, O Mother, thy formless beauty sparkles. Therefore the yogis meditate in a dark mountain cave. In the lap of boundless dark, on Maha Nirvana's waves upborn, peace flows serene and inexhaustible. Taking the form of the void, in the rope of darkness wrapped, who are to thou, Mother, seated alone in the shrine of Samadhi? From the lotus of their fierce scattering feet flash thy love's lightenings. This is a very simple English translation, but it does very poor justice to the Majesty. Nobody really can translate these beautiful songs, but we can talk about it a little bit. Nivedo Adhare, in dense darkness, which reminds us very often, in the Rig Veda there is a Sukta. Sukta means a great mantra discovered by Rishis. That is called Nasadiya Suktam. Nasadiya means the saying, the discovery of an unknown, indescribable, unimaginable aspect of God. Na Asat. You can't say it is. You can't say it is not there. Just imagine when you are in deep sleep. Can you say I am? Can you say I am not? It is beyond both subject and object experience. So Nivedo Adharema. It is a dense darkness. And what is it that is glowing brilliantly? A Rupa Rashi. Rupa Rashi means a beautiful form. But what is here? A Rupa Rashi. A dense beauty, formlessness. Form itself we can describe. Formlessness, how little we can describe. And it is dense darkness. And that is why, to enjoy this beauty of the Divine, Tai, because of that, Yogi, those who are spiritually minded people, Dhyanadhuri, they prefer to meditate where? Hoye Giri Guha Vashi. They will go to the mountains, enter into the deep caves, where no sound even comes. And they close their eyes. Already it is dark. Then they close their eyes and they must be beholding something. What is that? A Rupa Rashi. The unimaginable beauty of the Divine, which is formless beauty. Ananta Adhar Kole. In the infinite substratum, in the lap of the infinite substratum. Maha Nirvana Hillole. In that great experience called Maha Nirvana Hillole, it is tremendously active. What is it? Chirashanti Parimal. That Divine fragrance of peace that passeth all understanding. Aviral, unceasingly. Jai Bhashi. I am experiencing it, that pure fragrance which belongs to that infinite, indescribable substratum called Bhagawan Sat, pure Sat. It is very difficult, as I said, even to describe it. The only way Rishis found to describe it is Neti Neti. Is this? No. Is that? No. Not this, not this, not this. And what remains? And that is the denier. That is the pure consciousness. Nitya, Shuddha, Buddha, Mukta, Sarupa, Brahma. And then Maha Kaal Roop Dhori. O Mother, you yourself have assumed the Kaala of Maha Kaala, the form of Maha Kaala. And then what is it? Aadhaar Varshanapuri. Aadhaar means Andhakaar. What type of robe you are enveloping yourself with? Deep darkness. What does it mean? It means indescribability. Varshanapuri. Samadhi Mandir. Where are you? In that special place called Samadhi. O Ma, and in Samadhi how many will be there? You alone will be there. If you enter into Samadhi, how many of you will be there? You and God? No. Only yourself. Either God or yourself. Only one. So, Ketu Ma, who are you sitting alone in that beautiful temple called Samadhi? And what type of Maha Kaala? Assuming the form of Maha Kaala. Timelessness. And what type of clothing you are hiding yourself in? Deep darkness. Abhaya Pada Kamalai. And what are your lotus feet? Abhaya Pada. Whoever reaches those lotus feet, they go beyond all fear. They go beyond all duality. They go beyond all samsara. Premero Bijali Khele. The streaks of lightening. Of what? Pure love are playing unceasingly all around, everywhere. Chinmaya Mukha Mandale. And in that, on your face, what is that face? Chinmaya. Made up of pure consciousness. What is it showing? Shobhe Atta Atta Haase. That terrible laughter of Srishti, of Stithi and of Laya. This is a beautiful description of the Mother Kali. 24 hours a day, she is like Shiva's Tandava Nritya. Divine Mother is dancing. Who can describe that dance? Only a great Rishi like Swami Vivekananda had got a glimpse of that experience. And especially when Swamiji went with Sister Nivedita and other devotees to visit Amarnath Cave. And then he went away to meditate in the Kashmir area. One day he came completely shaking with ecstasy and out of his pen flew that beautiful, indescribably, ferociously, heart-renderingly beautiful poem called Kali, the Mother. Which we will talk about in our next class because this is how we can understand only through the other's expressions. Now, what is important? Only Sairam Krishna's grace must have been manifest in the heart of this Vaikunthanath Sanyal. And that is how this indescribably mystical song has come out in the form of these words. If you have time, please go through it. Then only perhaps we can enjoy it a little bit. As we go on with our sadhana, we will be enjoying more and more. Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padmetayo Sritva Pranamami Muhur Muhur May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vaikunanda bless us all with Bhakti. Ramakrishna