Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 119 on 27-August-2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are studying the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Visit to Pandit Eswar Chandra Vidyasagar. Pearls of wisdom are flowing out of the mouth of Sri Ramakrishna uninterruptedly. And in our last class, we have raised a very important point. What is life? It is nothing but full of thoughts. What is the world? It is nothing but full of thoughts. The whole cosmos is a thought, an idea in our mind. Not only is it philosophically right, psychologically also it is right. And I have discussed elaborately. So what about our thoughts about God, about Brahman, about God realization, about sadhana? They are also nothing but consisting of thoughts only, nothing but pure thoughts. So we have to understand this particular fact. But is that a good thing or bad thing? No, it depends upon what type of thoughts we are cherishing, we are cultivating. What type of thoughts in fact we should cultivate, that is the subject matter. So this whole topic has been summarized in Vedanta by one simple statement. Manayeva manusyanam karanam bandha-mokshayoh. Mind alone is the root cause of both bondage and liberation, of happiness and unhappiness, of good and of evil. This is all to point out how important our mind is. What is mind? It is a vehicle where all thoughts are kept. If we can really discriminate and keep out those thoughts which cause unhappiness, impurity, finally leading to suffering, then our life will be really blessed. Why should we not cultivate good thoughts? Of course we have to because how do we get rid of unholy thoughts? That is where Patanjali Rishi gives a beautiful analogy. Pratipaksha bhavanam. Don't ever go on saying, for example, I am a very angry person, so I must get rid of my anger. The more we cherish this thought, the more angry we become. What should be the right approach? I want to cultivate thoughts of peace. These are the preliminary things. This is what Sairam Krishna is trying to tell. And then further, how do we experience this world? As a world of multiplicity, innumerable objects. That is a real cause for bondage. Why? Because whatever we are born with, our body, of course we bring all our past habits, samskaras, from innumerable past births and we hug them. We do not wish to lose them. We cherish them. We judge the whole world only with our outlook. And our outlook is nothing but a bundle of our past samskaras. So this is called Dwandwa. Dwandwa, literally translated, means duality. But here it means multiplicity. That is why Patanjali Rishi, a master psychologist, or even I would say a psychiatrist, summarizes the whole, what is called Kresha. That is what brings on the suffering. Avidya, Asmita, Raga, Vesha and Avinivesha. So the first thing is Avidya, ignorance. Ignorance means wrong understanding. Understanding anything other than what it is right. And that brings in egotism, complete identity. If I think that the body is real, that is called Avidya. The mind is real, that is called Avidya. World is real, that is called Avidya. And then I make a discrimination that my body is real, my mind is real, my is real. Everything else is not real. So we say the world is real. But really speaking, we don't care a fig for the world. All that I am concerned is if something can help me, then that is good. Something doesn't let it go to the other place. This is our reaction. What does it mean? Because if we accept something as real, a great change will come in our life. This was what Buddha wanted to teach. Every Vedanta teacher wants to inculcate into our mind. See, birth is a change, growth is a change, youth is a change, old age is a change, disease is a change, misery is a change, and death also is a change. When we say change, behind that word change, a whole world of meaning is there. When you say that this baby was the baby whom I knew 20 years back, what are we really talking about? We are talking that there is no death. Change means deathlessness. Something is changing into something else. A baby is changing into a young person, then an old person. But when it comes to death, because we do not experience it, we think that death is the end of our life. But no, death, every change is a death to the past and a beginning of the future. If we can really understand that, then the first thing that disappears, should disappear, is fear. Whatever comes, it is the nature of the world. The world is changing, that is its nature. Then tremendous longing for that which never changes comes out immediately. All the spiritual practices that we undergo are meant only for this one particular dawn of wisdom that nothing in this world remains unchanged. And if everything is changing, then it is unreliable. I trust my friend, but tomorrow he will turn out to be my deadliest enemy, arch enemy. So that is very painful. Anybody is born going surely to die, and that is not a very pleasant fact. So we can become restless. But what do we say? The world is real. Real means what? Unchanging. Reality and unchangefulness are synonymous words. But do we mean that? No, our present experience is real because past experience is dead, future experience is not born. And this is exactly what Buddha was trying to inject into our brains. Life is full of misery because whatever we experience is ever-changing. And that which is ever-changing is unreliable, painful. Happiness changes into unhappiness, unhappiness changes into happiness, etc. Now this is what Ramakrishna is trying to inculcate into the mind of not only Vidya Sagar. Many times the people like Vidya Sagar are only an excuse, a peg to spread, widespread his teachings to many other people. How many people have attended along with Vidya Sagar? And what changes have come across seeing, hearing? Why do we say seeing? Because Ramakrishna was not simply sitting there and then giving teaching. How many changes he was going through? Singing a song, becoming identified with the song, entering into Samadhi, radiating unimaginable bliss. We have to imagine all those things. So this much we have discussed in our last class. Now another important topic has come. Difference in the manifestations of Shakti. Vidya Sagar has He, means God, endowed some with more power and others with less. But Ramakrishna need not search for answers. You know why? Because Ramakrishna used to say that whenever he becomes short of ideas, like a grain-selling merchant, the moment a heap in front of him is exhausted, immediately a servant will be pushing out another huge heap from a bigger heap. So as soon as an idea is exhausted and another idea is brought, the Divine Mother brings forth. So he says, I do not need to think. My mother thinks for me and she does everything in fact. I am only a Yantra, an instrument. So Vidya Sagar, why is he asking this question? Doesn't he know? Is he and the servants who are working in his home? Surely there are some and the peons that are working in his school. He established several schools. In fact, M was working in one of them. So does he not know? Even when he was employing teachers, he knows the difference between different teachers. He knows the difference between hundreds of students whom he was himself coaching. And he knows the difference between every servant. Every man is different. That means there is a difference in the manifestation of Shakti. Shakti means it could be bodily Shakti, it could be intellectual Shakti, it would be religious Shakti. So many differences are there. So he should not have asked because he was supposed to be a Pandit. But then he asked. So then Shri Ramakrishna also was not only a serious spiritual teacher, he was also a fun maker. Fun maker, pun maker and spiritual teacher. Extraordinary singer and extraordinary teacher. He was all combined into one. Of course, we can say God is most manifest in Shri Ramakrishna. And then what does the Master reply? Master, as the all-pervading spirit, he exists in every being, even in an ant. But the manifestations of his power are different in different beings. Otherwise, how can one person put ten to flight while another cannot face even one? And why do all people respect you? Have you grown a pair of horns? This was how Shri Ramakrishna is beautifully illustrating. And I am sure that definitely Vidyasagar being an intelligent person would understand it. So why do all people respect you? Have you grown a pair of horns? That is what he says. A very interesting thing here that not only there is a difference in good people, but there is also a difference in evil people, wicked people. So if a wicked person comes, perhaps we ourselves can say that get out of this place. But another person, lean and thin, very short, but seeing him, even the tallest persons try to flee away because that person doesn't know what is called fear. And if he happens to wield even a pen knife or a stick, then people will run away from him. We see it every day of our life, this difference in the manifestation of power. But Shri Ramakrishna brings to our notice, God is pervading in everybody. Wicked persons, good persons and intelligent persons, rich persons, illiterate persons, poor persons, cultured persons, uncultured persons, men, women, animals. Even he has given, endowed even a mosquito with a tremendous power. How these mosquitoes, especially Calcutta mosquitoes, how powerful they are. They sit quietly. When you are about to go to bed, you look here and there and you hush hush and then they seem to go away. But some of the clever mosquitoes are sitting right on the back of your body. And then you enter into the mosquito curtain, tuck it in carefully, and then you look around, not one single mosquito. You pat yourself, I am so clever, I have driven away, I can sleep. And then what a beautiful musical sound emanates very so near your ears. And then until you catch it, usually it is difficult, your whole night is disturbed. Unless of course, I want to serve mosquitoes with my blood and especially female mosquitoes, especially female pregnant mosquitoes. And it is a great meritorious act. If you have that kind of faith, that is a different issue. So Sri Ramakrishna says, it is the same God, but His manifestations are different. Why are they different? Not because God is different, but because we are different. So according to what type of instruments we have become, a 5 watt bulb is lighted up, backed up by the same electricity. A 500 watt bulb by the same electricity. So God is not different, but manifestations are different. And what does it mean? It also means we have a sacred bound and duty. Whatever God has given us, gifts, talents, we have to manifest to them and use them in His service. Then we will also grow gradually, nearer and nearer to Him. And one day we become completely identified with Him. So this is what Sri Ramakrishna beautifully, tellingly illustrates. And then he further continues, the way Sri Ramakrishna was speaking, everybody bursts into laughter after hearing, Have you grown a pair of horns? Then Sri Ramakrishna explains, You have more compassion and learning, therefore people honour you and come to pay you their respects. And then Sri Ramakrishna, a little bit mischievous, Don't you agree with me? Vidya Sagar smiled. He did not reply anything. Now when we look into the Bhagavad Gita, the whole 10th chapter, and it is called Pibhuti Yogonama Dasamo Adhyayaha. What is it? What is it about? The whole 10th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is different manifestations of God. And the most marvellous chapter, because Arjuna asks a question, so the chapter starts with that question. And we have to take notice of that question. So, In what type of, in how many varieties of forms should I think about you? You know, when we want to think about God, we can, of course, think about God through any object. Any object can be a symbol. A smallest ant can also be a symbol. But if it is a very magnificent object, huge Himalayan peaks, huge ocean, a huge desert, a huge shining star like the sun, like the moon. Why are we worshipping sun and moon? Because among the stars, they are the most manifest one. So, it makes a sense, if we can find out somebody, a great musician called maestro or ustad, or a very powerful person, even if he is a wicked person, we have to distinguish between the power and the talent and the character. Because a great person will be great only. Suppose tomorrow Hitler turns to God, I think he will be reaching God much quicker than all of us. Why? He has already acquired the tremendous power of concentration. But we have not, even if we cannot concentrate for a few seconds, that is the reason. So, Sairam Krishna is trying to explain this difference. And this we find most understandable in the 10th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, that among so many people, among the Rishis, among the mountains, among the rivers, among the seasons, wherever there is Shresthatva, that is the best of the best. And that is a manifestation of God. It doesn't belong to any person, any object, but it is the manifestation of God. Everything is a manifestation of God. And then towards the end, the Lord concludes there, that wherever you see, the whole universe is nothing but my manifestation only. In fact, you don't exist. Nobody exists excepting me. You think you are you. Somebody else thinks it is he or she or it. No. Whatever exists, that is existence, manifestation of existence. And this is the subject matter of the 6th chapter of this Chandogya Upanishad called Sadviddhiya. Pure existence, manifesting in different names and forms and qualities, but they are nothing but manifestation of existence. They are not separate objects, but different forms of same existence. As an example, clay manifesting in a particular form for a particular purpose, given a particular name, called pot, and then small pot, big pot, square pot, round pot, etc., etc. But pots are not objects. Pots are not substances. Pots are only names. And names are nothing but thoughts. So this is the illustration. Whatever Sri Ramakrishna teaches is backed by the scriptures. And among the scriptures, we have got Prasthana. Three foundational scriptures, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, which is the essence of the Upanishads. And if there are any misunderstandings because of various statements by different Rishis, they are all wonderfully reconciled in Brahma Sutras. So these three, Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, and Bhagavad Gita. And by the way, most of you know, Upanishads are called Shruti Prasthana. Bhagavad Gita is called Smriti Prasthana. And Brahma Sutras are called Nyaya Prasthana. Now, on scholarship. The topic now is on scholarship. And then what is scholarship? Lot of learning. Something, a vast amount of information on one particular subject is called scholarship. So, Ramakrishna continued, there is nothing in mere scholarship. The object of study is to find means of knowing God and realizing Him. We can also recollect when Ramakrishna's eldest brother Ram Kumar chided him for neglecting his academic studies in the school. Ramakrishna famously replied, like the disciple that approaches Guru in the Mundaka Upanishad and says, So, O Lord, by knowing one, how can I obtain the knowledge of everything? Simple answer, by knowing the causeless cause, the original cause, the beginningless cause. Then, since everything is the only manifestation, one can get knowledge of everything in this world. In fact, everything doesn't exist. Only one thing exists, that is pure existence. And again, that is the subject matter of the, especially, sixth chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad. So, what is the ultimate goal, according to Ramakrishna, of any scholarship? Knowledge. That is, that the object of study is, how to know God, how to strengthen one's faith in God. And that is what we are, everybody is going to reach, lettered, unlettered, rich or poor, powerful or weak. Everybody, in the end, after millions of births of suffering, comes to this, that the goal of life is to realize God. This is the simplest way one can put it. Shri Ramakrishna is illustrating his own experience. Once, when Shri Ramakrishna was at Dakshineshwar, accepting for the last one and a half years of his life, he was there, since he came as a young man of 17 or so, until he's passing away at the age of 50, accepting for a short time. He lived only at Dakshineshwar. I think about 32 years or something he lived there. So, once a sadhu came there, because Dakshineshwar became very famous. It is a place where sadhus can go and they get a place to stay there. There are guest houses where they can live and they can get regular food. They don't need to go out anywhere, any way of speaking, to take rest on and back their pilgrimages. And there is something very attractive there, where subhiksha, good bhiksha is available there and people respect there. And nobody asks, how long are you going to stay? You can stay as many days as you want. You don't need any recommendations. And that was the idea of Rani Rasmani and Shri Ramakrishna. So long as he was alive, he kept that idea completely bright and alive. So a sadhu came, he had a huge book and every day he will keep it in front of him and now and then he will open and he will smile, he will close it. Shri Ramakrishna was a keen observer of everything, the world, sadhus, everybody. From childhood he had that tremendous power. So he observed it. One day he went, sat there. Shri Ramakrishna can make friends with anybody. It is a very great talent. He has a very special way of making friendship. So he went and then asked, can I look into the book? Sadhu said, of course. And Shri Ramakrishna looked and on every page, only one word is written, Rama. That is what he is referring. A holy man had a book. When asked what it contained, he opened it and showed that on all the pages were written the words Om, Rama and nothing else. That is all. He did not explain. What it means is that Shri Ramakrishna was explained. The sadhu himself explains what is the essence of all scriptures. God alone is real. O mind, you worship God. Surrender to Him. And He will lovingly take you into His lap. Makes you one with Him. That is the essence. God alone is. That is, nowadays we are posting some of the most beautiful sayings on Sufi saints. And they look like, even sometimes the expression is much, much better than our Advaita Vedanta teachers. It says one of the teachings goes like this, that how can I ever know God? And then the Sufi master tells, I'm removing the author's name because the teachings are most important and it's very difficult. Anyway, we will not remember them. So the mystic answers that one can never realize God. It is Allah who attracts you. It is Allah who is working through you. It is Allah who will destroy you. It is Allah who will make you one with Him. Accepting through Him, you do not exist at all. I and Allah can never exist. Either Allah exists or you exist. And only Allah exists. And one can know Him only through His grace. That is why Sri Ramakrishna used to say, all jackals howl the same way. So Sri Ramakrishna illustrates what is the significance of the Gita. Thousands of people have commented upon Bhagavad Gita. And Sri Ramakrishna's commentary is one of the smallest and the most significant. Sri Ramakrishna says, it is what you find by repeating the word 10 times. It is then reversed into Thagi. If you utter the word Gita very fast, then Gita becomes Thagi, which means a person who has renounced everything for God. And the lesson of the Gita is, O man, renounce everything and seek God alone. Whether a man is a monk or a householder, he has to shake off all attachment from his mind. Every single word of Sri Ramakrishna has loads of meaning. And just to remind you, once Swami Vivekananda was strolling along with his brother disciples. And he said, on every word of teaching of Sri Ramakrishna, cart loads of commentaries can be written. Other disciples did not actually understand it. He said, can you illustrate one? And then Swamiji took only one example, what is called Mahat Narayana. So Mahat, that is the elephant driver, he will be sitting there. And Sri Ramakrishna's famous story, that once Mahat was sitting on an elephant. It went mad and it was trying to destroy whatever comes in its way. And so the Mahat was sitting there and then he was shouting, this is a mad elephant, run away from here. And then there was one misunderstood sanyasi. He stood there. My Guru taught everything is God. So the elephant is also God. I am also God. And then it of course flung him aside. He was injured and later on when he was taken to his Guru, Guru asked him, why did you not run away? Then he explained, you only taught us. That means he is accusing the Guru, you misguided us. So everything is God. The Guru said, my son, you did not understand properly. It is true, everything is God. The elephant is God, but it is a mad God. But the Mahat who is sitting on its back, he is also God. So what is this Mahat God is telling, run away. So why did you not listen to that Mahat God? So in this life, we can be great spiritual people, but we should not be foolish on that account. So here Shri Ramakrishna is telling, what is the essence of Gita? That a man renounces everything. Means what? Nothing is of primary importance. Only secondary importance. Because Sadhana requires the world. Sadhana requires instruments, body and mind. Sadhana requires varieties of experiences. Otherwise, we will never progress. But then he is telling, whether a man is a monk or a householder, in one stroke, Shri Ramakrishna is removing the difference. Because some monks think they are superior and some householders think that they are inferior. But that is not true. Monk or householder, he has to shake it. Every man has to shake off all attachment. Whoever has got attachment is a householder. He who doesn't have attachment or pretends he has attachment, he is a real monk. And then this is all about scholarship. And then Shri Ramakrishna says, he has heard a lot. He has not read books, but he had heard a lot Shruti. And he was called Ekashruti Dhara. That he could remember. Once he hears, that will never go out of his mind. But then we have to also understand, he must have heard a lot of negative things, bad things, worldly things. That he will not remember. What is worth remembering, that he will remember. Not anything else. So here Shri Ramakrishna is giving a beautiful illustration from the life of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The story goes like that. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu once went on a pilgrimage to South India. There he entered into the compound of a famous temple. There, some pandit was expounding Bhagavad Gita. And at a distance from the pandit, a poor man, who did not look like a learned man, was weeping copiously. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was attracted by him because sincerity, purity always attracts similar things. A pure man is attracted to a pure person. Similarly, an impure person is also attracted only by an impure person. Not vice versa. Never. So he went and said, Sir, do you understand what the pandit is expounding? The man said, No. I am not even listening to what he is telling. Then why are you weeping, may I ask? Then he explained, I see in front of me a chariot. Shri Krishna is standing there. Arjuna is kneeling there. Shri Krishna is expounding the Bhagavad Gita. I see my divine Lord in front of my eyes. And I cannot check my tears. This is called true vision. I see Arjuna's chariot before me. I see Lord Krishna and Arjuna seated in front of it, talking. I see this and I weep. And this is what Ramakrishna wants to explain. What is this Gita? A sacred scripture. A learned person was expounding it. Here was an illiterate person weeping. Is it because of the Gita? No. He somehow understood it is a holy book and it is a teaching of Bhagavan Krishna to Arjuna. And in his pure mind, he was able to visualize the whole thing as if he was standing at that time. This also illustrates to us that Bhagavan Krishna is sitting in our hearts and then we can also hear Him. In fact, whenever we are reading or what is called studying the Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna, we have to imagine ourselves. We are sitting or standing in front of Shri Ramakrishna. There are several other devotees and He is addressing these words directly towards me. This is called Leela Dhyana. And that would be very very effective. Then the next topic. Why does a Vijnani keep an attitude of love towards God? Why does a Vijnani keep love? And earlier also we discussed the point. What is the point? Here Vijnani means a Jeevan Mukta. That is, this person through Sadhana entered into Nirvikalpa Samadhi. He experienced his oneness with Brahman. And thereafter, as we discussed in other topics also, that with God's will, this person returned as an individual after realization. And then now they are called Jeevan Muktas. That is free even while living. And other people think it is the same Ramakrishna, same Krishna. No. That is, who is living really? Sakshat Parameshwaraha. God only is living. But He is working through those instruments called body and mind. But because we see that person, the body is working, which we saw before. The mind is working, which also people saw before. And he has preferences. This Ramakrishna liked a curry prepared with five types of spices. We call it Panchpuran. So why do you think he is bound by this taste of these five types of spices? Absolutely no. Because he doesn't want to create a commotion by leading a different type of life. He wants to appear exactly like them. Then only we can approach such people. So we mistake that they are the same persons. But they are not the same persons. Now they have to work in this world. And how do they maintain? What attitude? It is an attitude of love. That's why Sri Ramakrishna said elsewhere, Some people keep the eye of knowledge. Some people keep the eye of devotion. Or some people keep the eye of, I am the teacher. I am here to teach. Swami Vivekananda always used to say that I am his master's instrument. H M I His master's instrument. Not me. That individual me has disappeared into God long back. This is what Sri Ramakrishna measured himself the topic and answering. The answer is that eye consciousness persists. So long as there is a body, there is a mind, there is an eye, consciousness will be there. And it will never disappear. Then all of us, we go through three states. The waking, the dream, and then the sleep. Deep sleep. Dreamless sleep. And three different names are given. Vishwa, Taizasa, and Prajna. But that eye, I am the waker, I am the dreamer, and I am the sleeper. And that eye will never go away. But in the case of a realized soul, it appears to be there. It is just like a line drawn on water. It appears for a second, but they do not have real that eye will be there. But their eye will not be, I am the waker, I am the dreamer, I am the sleeper. No. I am Brahman. I am Brahman. I am Brahman. Forever it is there. This is what Sri Ramakrishna wants to say that even after the attainment of knowledge, this eye consciousness comes up. Nobody knows from where. You dream of a tiger, then you awake. But your heart keeps on palpitating. All our suffering is due to this eye. The cow cries Hamba, which means I am, I am. That is why it suffers so much. It is yoked to the plough and made to work in rain and sun. Then it may be killed by the butcher. From its hide, shoes are made and also drums which are mercilessly beaten. Everybody laughs. Still it does not escape suffering. At last, its strings are made out of its entrails for the bows used in carding cotton. Then it no longer says Hamba, Hamba, I, I, but Tuhu, Tuhu, Thau, Thau. Only then are its troubles over. O Lord, I am the servant, Thou are the master. I am the child, Thou are the mother. And then Ramakrishna illustrates this with a famous quotation from Hanuman. Once it seems, this perhaps comes in the Adhyatma Ramayana. Sri Rama asked Hanuman, what is your attitude towards me? Then his famous reply is put in a beautiful Sanskrit verse. Deha buddhya tu dasoham, jiva buddhya tu damsakaha, atma buddhya tu mevaham, iti me nishchita matihi. So this is the spiritual attitude he is bringing it. Once Rama asked Hanuman, how do you look upon me? And Hanuman replied, O Rama, as long as I have the feeling of I, I see that Thou are the whole and I am a part. Thou are the master and I am Thy servant. But when, O Rama, I have the knowledge of truth, then I realize that Thou are I and I am Thou. Then Ramakrishna summarizes, but the relationship of master and servant is the proper one. Since this I must remain, let the rascal be God's servant. Now I want to tell something about these five attitudes. These are the famous, well-known Vaishnava attitudes. That is Shanta, Dasya, Sakhiya, Vatsalya and Mathura. And in that order, Shanta, the person who maintains a peaceful attitude, his intensity of devotion is the lowest. But a very intimate relationship will be there when the same person progresses into a servant attitude. What is the servant attitude? Not a servant of nowadays. Here a servant says, you pay me wages, I will work. You pay less, I work less. And then even if you pay more, I have got so many rights. That is not the relationship. A truly self-dedicated servant says, I derive the greatest joy in serving you. And it is a loving attitude. If that loving attitude is not there, then it is not this servant attitude at all. So Ramakrishna, whenever he is talking about these relationships, we have to understand these things. But before we go there, these three attitudes, that is from the Hanuman's answer to Sri Rama, that first of all, Deha, Budhya, Das, Oham. When I think I am the body, I am your servant. Remember, this relationship, that is when we see multiplicity, when we say everything is different from everything else, and that school of philosophy is called Dvaita school of philosophy. But if that person persists from there, then he will progress into a higher attitude. That is called Vishistha Dvaita. Previously, in the state of Dvaita, everything is different from everything else. But in the state of Vishistha Dvaita, everything is related, but at the same time, everything is different. Unity in diversity. This is called Sharira Sambandha. The owner of the body and the body relationship. So they give this beautiful example. So Narayana is like the body. And then every cell in that body is everything in this object. So the living cell is Jeeva. But the hair, the nail, etc., which are there, but which are not to be considered as living, they are considered as Achaitana. So that is called Jada. So that is also part of the divine's body only. Everything is related, but not the same. But when the same person grows up through that attitude, then he will come to the other state, which is called Dvaita. So when Hanuman is replying, when I think I am the body, you are different, I am different, then this is the Dvaita philosophy. When I think I am the conscious being with a body and mind called Jeeva, then you are the whole and I am the part. But when I rise to that level, where I consider myself as pure consciousness, no body, no mind, then there is no difference between you and me. And then Ramakrishna also is talking about that keep up this servant relationship. And it is a loving servant relationship. Then as the man progresses, he feels like that I am the friend of God. God is my friend. And then if still further he progresses, says I am the child of God or God is my child. This is called parental attitude, Vatsalya Bhava. And the final is that I am the lover, God is the beloved. I am the beloved and God is the lover. Ramakrishna explicitly states in the Gospel that when a person reaches this state, then sometimes God becomes the attracting magnet. Sometimes devotee becomes the attracting magnet. God is a particle which is attracted. Through these different ways, a human being of course progresses, every devotee progresses and then every step further brings him nearer and nearer to God. And every higher attitude includes all the lower attitudes. So the lover and beloved relationship includes the Shanta Bhava, Dasya Bhava, Sakya Bhava and as well Vatsalya Bhava. Even this Madhura Bhava, that is the highest lover-beloved attitude has again two. One is socially restrained, another is completely unrestrained. One is called Kanta Bhava, another is called Parakiya Bhava. So the relationship between Rukmini and Shri Krishna illustrates the Kanta Bhava. And then the relationship between Radha and Krishna, which Vaishnavism is so popular in North India, especially as preached by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. It is called Parakiya Bhava. The attraction is irresistible and it is most intense. And when a person really reaches that state, then the devotee cannot stay away from God and God equally cannot stay away from the devotee. There is a beautiful story. Today's talk I will end with that story. You must have all heard a great place of pilgrimage called Pandharupura. And how did this Lord manifest there? There was one devotee and at the beginning he was a very wicked person and he wasted all the property or riches of his parents. Maul treated his parents. Later on he became repentant and he became a devotee. And then he becomes one of the greatest devotees. What is this thing? That I want to serve my parents. Previously he used to visit the temples. But now he completely stopped because for 24 hours he was engaged only in serving his parents. Then one day he was serving and when he was serving his parents, what do you think was his attitude? He was not thinking I am serving my earthly parents. I am serving the Lord Krishna only in this form. As he was absorbed in it, God Himself came and then He stood there right in front of this devotee. And then what can the devotee do? He is not talking. Then God Himself talked with him. I have come here to see you and you are not even looking at me. The devotee laughed and said, Lord, I have no time to look at you, to see you, to talk with you and then do one thing. I will soon complete my service of my father and mother. He was at that time having fed them. He was trying to see that they sleep. So he was pressing, massaging their legs and then he threw a brick. You stand there till I complete because I am serving you only. I am not serving these earthly father and mother. My attitude is you are manifesting in the form of my parents and I am serving you. And God became highly pleased. So this person completed his service and said, what can I do for you? Then Vitthala Deva, Vitthala means God, He said, my child, you don't need to do but I want to give you. I am so pleased with you. Pleased why? Because you are serving Me. Service to your parents as Me is really service to Me only. Shiva Jnane Jiva Shiva. That was what the devotee was practicing. And then this devotee said, Lord, my life is completely fulfilled. I don't need anything from You. But You specially manifest here so that any devotee in distress wants to meet You. You will be what is called Jivanta Deva, living God. You fulfil their desires, whether they are worldly desires or spiritual desires, and then bless them. And then the Lord smilingly accepted, became an image there itself. And even now, we can see the same image that appeared to that blessed devotee. And in course of time, somebody constructed a small temple there. But later on, people, rich people came and they developed. They recognized and a huge temple has come up. And now it is one of the most popular temples in Pandharipura. And one of the greatest devotees of that Pandharipura, a singer saint is Purandara Dasa. So many other Dasas were there but the Purandara Dasa. That's why his signature comes at the end of every bhajan, Purandara Vitthala. That means this song is composed by Purandara. But what does he say? Purandara Vitthala. That is the God of Purandara. He only has composed this. I am just an instrument. Such beautiful thoughts are there. So we must also develop the same attitude that I am either your servant. And that is the beginning it will come of the bhakti which will lead us in course of time to Parabhakti. May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna.