Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 121 on 24-September-2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are studying the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna in that chapter dealing with visit to Vidyasagar, August 5th, 1882. We have discussed so many things and then Sri Ramakrishna sang a song glorifying the power of faith. AMI DURGA DURGA DURGA BOLE JODHI MORI MA AKHIRE KEMONE NA TARO If only I can pass away repeating Durga's name, how canst thou then, O blessed one, withhold from me deliverance? Wretched though I may be! And while singing, the master went into Samadhi. Vidyasagar too was speechless and could not take his eyes from the master. After a time, Sri Ramakrishna showed signs of regaining the normal state. He drew a deep breath and said with a smile, The means of realizing God are ecstasy of love and devotion. That is, one must love God. He who is Brahman is addressed as the mother. He it is, says Ram Prasad, that I approach as mother. Now Sri Ramakrishna's commentary on this song, Nature of Brahman. Ram Prasad asks the mind only to guess the nature of God. Every single word that comes from the mouth of Sri Ramakrishna is full of deep meaning. So Sri Ramakrishna is commenting on this song, taking the excuse of Ram Prasad's song. This song, Durga Durga Bole, was composed by Ram Prasad, who was first and foremost one of the greatest tantric sadhakas. He was born in a village and a very interesting story is told about his life. When he was a young man and he was a householder, somebody gave him a small job in a zamindar's office of writing accounts. In those days, there used to be a long book with very short widths, both sides, one side credit, another side debit. I have seen it for a long time. And then this man, instead of maintaining accounts, he started writing, composing devotional songs. And he was writing all the time. And the head clerk or manager thought that he was maintaining the accounts. One day he asked for the account books, found it was full of only these songs. He got so terribly irritated, he took him to the owner, the zamindar. And said, you have given employment to this fellow and he is not worthy, you dismiss him. Fortunately for Ram Prasad, the owner was a great devotee of Mother Kali. When we say great devotee, we have to be careful, especially in those days. If he was a great devotee of Krishna, I think before even the manager complained, he would have thrown him out. Such was the animosity that was reigning in those days. But being Kali Bhakta, he said, all right, let me see what he has been writing. And then he read, he was overwhelmed with emotion. Because it was his Ishta Devata's praises in such inimitable language. Those who understand Bengali, they can understand what depths of meaning can come out of this. What we call, some people call them poet saints. But I would not prefer to call them poet saints. I will call them saint poets. Poet saints means, first they are poets, later on they are saints. But according to me, first they are saints and then only poetry was a gift given to them by God Himself. Like Tyagaraja, Meerabai, what education did she have? Tulasidas was of course a great pandit, even before he became a saint. So, Sourudas, blind man, how many songs he composed. So, India is full of these people. Nowadays, people are composing all sorts of devotional songs. They are neither, they are not saints, but some of them are very good poets. There is a beautiful cinema song. Even though it is a cinema song, I liked it very much, not only the tune, but the meaning. The point had hit the point rightly. I don't remember the rest of it, but a bit of it. It goes like that. So, it will show, it will give accurate reflection. If only we take care to look at it. But this is not out of, probably, I don't know, personal life. But certainly, the same poet will write next moment, something between a young man and a young woman, full of pathos, love, dance, etc. But these saint poets, they were first tremendous spiritual seekers. And on some of them, the poetry has been missed out. So, this was one of those songs. So, the zamindar looked into and then he packed him off. But don't be shocked because that is the Divine Mother's grace. I wanted to take a bit of fun with you. So, he said, Ramprasad, you don't need to work. I am so much overwhelmed by your song. You go, continue your sadhana and whatever I have been paying you for writing these accounts, I will be sending the same money. Don't waste your life in writing account books. And the whole life, the zamindar kept his word. Ramprasad was looked after. He was a very poor person. Of course, we have to understand the whole thing was the grace of the Divine Mother. So, this is the song. And what highest sentiments! Even though he was a Shakta, he was not one of them who quarrels with Vaishnavas or devotees of Krishna, etc. So, there in Tantra especially, what Vedantins choose to call Brahman. And when we say Vedantins, we have to distinguish between dualistic Vedanta and non-dualistic Vedanta. Advaitins call it Brahman, not Brahma. Whereas these dualistic schools, they call him Narayana. All other schools except Advaita are dualistic only. So many are there. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu started following a special type of school of philosophy. It is called Achaitya Bheda. So, there is difference. There is also non-difference. It is more or less a modification of Ramanuja's Visishta Advaita. Anyway, the point is Shri Ramakrishna is expounding this. Ramaprasad was one who has realized Brahman. But he used to call Brahman as Mother. This was what Shri Ramakrishna wanted to convey to Ishwar Chandra Vidya Sagar. Otherwise, if we hear somebody singing Ma Ma like that, so he is a Bhakta. Many Advaitins have animosity towards these Bhaktas. They think they are inferior type of spiritual seekers. Shri Ramakrishna had come to correct this view. I don't know whether Ishwar Chandra Vidya Sagar was cherishing any such narrow-minded idea. But the teachings of Shri Ramakrishna is meant for all of them. So, here is Shri Ramakrishna's take-up. Ramaprasad asks the mind only to guess the nature of God. Because we can only guess. Whatever we think about God is pure guesswork. What is then not guesswork? When we realize God, then that is the right knowledge. Until that time, whatever we think about God is our mind's thoughts. The highest thoughts may be. So, it is only guesswork. Because, as the Upanishad, especially Taittiriya Upanishad tells us, यतो आचो निवर्तन्ते अप्राप्य मनसा सहा The mind cannot think and returns baffled. What to speak of thought? What to speak of speech? That is the limitation of mind. Mind means limited. In that mind, whatever we experience is completely limited. You look at the world through that mind, it will be limited only. You look at God and that is only an object. For every mind, God is only an object. That is why it is called प्रम्हा कारवृत्ति A thought about, unbroken of course, thought about God. Shri Ramakrishna continues, रमः प्रसत् विषयसि तु अन्धस्तेन्द That what is called Brahman in the Vedas, Vedanta, is addressed by Him as Mother. He who is attributeless also has attributes. There is no contradiction. And then we can say, He who has form has also formlessness. That was one of the first lessons Ramakrishna taught to end the chronicler of this gospel of Shri Ramakrishna. God is with form. God is without form. God is both beyond form as well as formlessness. Shri Ramakrishna was trying to tell us that whatever we do with the mind is only a property of the mind. A limited view of mind. And Shri Ramakrishna's half-quoted saying, ब्यूतिफुल वे इन बिंगाली ताके इती कोतेने One should not limit God. Earlier we have seen that everything has been polluted by being described. But Brahman alone remains unpolluted. What about Shri Ramakrishna saying Brahman is unpolluted? Is it polluted? No. Because that Brahman is a particular name. We give it. So Shri Ramakrishna is telling who is Brahman. He who is Brahman is also Shakti. When thought of as inactive. This is a beautiful sentence. When thought of as inactive, He is called Brahman. And when thought of as the creator, preserver and destroyer, He is called the primordial energy, Kali. सर्ममंगल मांगली स्रिष्रिस्तिति विनाशाना शक्ति भूते सनातनी So what Shri Ramakrishna is telling is that we think of God as active. How long? So long as the mind is active, God also will be dancing. He will be active only. But when mind becomes inactive, what does it mean? We have to understand going beyond mind is called being inactive. So when the mind becomes completely inactive, what is that state? Patanjali Yogi tries to put it in words as the definition of Yoga. योगः चित्त पृत्ति निरोधः That is called quietening the mind. But still it is the mind. So when the mind becomes active, functional, then we have no option but to think of God as the creator, preserver and destroyer. And He is called Kali. So by Kali, we should not limit only as Kali. That's why Shri Ramakrishna says Shakti. Shakti means that which expresses in activity. When there is no activity, we cannot call anything as Shakti. Only when there is an activity, energy is functioning. And this Shakti, whether you call it Brahma is Shakti, Vishnu is Shakti and Shiva is Shakti. And that is why for us to understand an idea or knowledge plus expression. Expression of the idea. So that is why Brahma is inevitably associated with Saraswati. Saraswati is the knowledge. Brahma is the expression of that knowledge in the form of creation. Vishnu and Lakshmi. Lakshmi is the Shakti and she is the preserver. And Vishnu taking help of this Lakshmi, He is the expression of this Lakshmi. That is why we cannot separate Lakshmi and Vishnu. Similarly Shiva and Shakti. This is what Shankaracharya says in his very first verse of Ananda Lahari or Soundarya Lahari. Lahari means wave. So waves of description of the beauty of the Divine Mother. If Shakti is separated from Shiva, Shiva will not be able to create. And then he goes on to say, If Saraswati is separated from Brahma, Brahma will not be able even to exist. Even the idea of existence is part of the Shakti only. And if Lakshmi is to be separated, then Vishnu will become totally useless. If electricity is not there, a bulb will be useless. And if there is no bulb, electricity is also equally useless. This Avinabhava Sambandha. Unbreakable relationship between Shakti and Shiva. That is energy and knowledge. That is what Sri Ramakrishna wants to say. And of course as I mentioned, the mind cannot think of pure consciousness. So it has to think of consciousness as expressed in the form of energy which is called activity. And every activity when we analyze has only three aspects. Srishti, Sthithi and Laya. This we have to pay attention. Otherwise most of us will understand as before the creation only Brahman was there. Then he started creating. Then somebody was preserving or maintaining, sustaining. And somebody is taking it back. Very vague ideas we cherish in our minds. What does this mean really? You take an activity, any activity. So you are hungry. And you have to remove that hunger. What do you do? Then you cook food and eat food. That is called Srishti. And the food goes inside and removes the hunger. Makes the body active. That is called Sthithi. And the undigested part of this food goes out after doing its function. That is called Laya. So what comes in from one side it comes in. And from the other side it goes out. And what goes out comes in. And what comes in goes out. This is called like a wheel. It is above. After some time it goes below. Then it goes above. So continuously it is going on. That is called Samsara Chakra, Brahma Chakra, Brahma Chakra. By whatever name you choose to call. And that is what Sri Ramakrishna is telling. When our minds function thinking about God, Creator, Preserver and Destroyer. And he is called, that is Brahman is called the primordial energy Kali. Any activity you take. You want to sleep. Then you have to get tired. So tiredness creates this desire. I want to get rid of tiredness. Then you go to sleep. Whatever time. Depending upon how much we require. How much rest. That is called Sthithi. And then it will have to come to an end. Because you can't go on sleeping. So every single activity. We take in breath. It is kept inside. And then it goes out. Apply it to every activity. This is called Sthithi Samhara. That is what he says. Brahman and Sthithi are not separate. They are identical. Like fire and its power to burn. What a beautiful illustration. You cannot separate fire and its power to burn. You may have an idea about fire. But if you want to cook something. Or get rid of cold. Heat or cold. Then you will have to use either fire. Low fire. Higher fire. Whatever it is. When we talk of fire. We automatically mean also its power to burn. And again when fire's power to burn. Implies the fire itself. If you accept the one. You must accept the other. If you accept Brahman. You have to accept Shakti. So how? When our mind doesn't function. Then what remains is Brahman. We have to understand that. And when the mind becomes active. Same Brahman is looked upon as time. Kala or Kali. Kali is the deity. Time deified is called Kali. So Brahman alone is addressed as the mother. This is because a mother is an object of great love. One is able to realize God just through love. Ecstasy of feeling. Devotion. Love. And faith. These are the means. Ramakrishna's commentary is marvelous. He says. There is no way. A Advaitin. He must have love for Brahman. And a Bhakta must have love for Ishtadevata. A Karma Yogi. Must have tremendous love for Karma. Swami Ranganathanji Maharaj. Sometimes he makes profound remarks. Jokingly also. He says. Every born Indian is a born Nishkama Karma Yogi. What did he mean? He means. He is absolutely disinterested in any type of work. Sometimes this Nishkama Karma Yoga is translated as disinterested activity. We are not interested. But if a Karma Yogi. He will be tremendously interested. He will be loving. And he wants to serve God through that activity. If a Yogi. He is also doing tremendous energy. How? For controlling the mind. So much of energy is needed. That is the greatest activity. So one is able to realize God just through love. Once again confirmation. Bhakta Yoga leads to the same goal. But much sooner. Much easily. So he says. Sri Ramakrishna says. Ecstasy of feeling. Devotion. Love and faith. These are the means. This is what we have discussed in our last class. Then Sri Ramakrishna again burst into song. Whenever Sri Ramakrishna sings. He is not singing like any one of us singing. Because he is conveying tremendous amount of Bhakti. Shraddha. And arousing the Kundalini. Sometimes when people heard his songs. They were overcome. And that was the awakening of their Kundalini. But that much he can do. But to sustain it. Again we go back to sleep. Because when he is not there. When he is absent. Whatever the Kundalini. Quietly goes back to sleep. So Sri Ramakrishna burst into. As is a man's meditation. So is his feeling of love. As is a man's feeling of love. So is his gain. And faith is the root of all. If in the nectar lake of mother Kali's feet. My mind remains immersed. Of little use or worship. Of blessings or sacrifice. What is needed. Is absorption in God. Loving him intensely. The nectar lake. Is the lake of immortality. That means the knowledge. I am Brahman. I am one without a second. But let us come back to the first part of this one. Faith is the root of all. If we don't have faith. Faith is indirect knowledge. If we don't have knowledge. We will not start at all. Then what happens? So we start loving it. Repeat. And repetition brings in love. Go on doing japam. And however mechanical the japam is. But there is nothing called absolutely mechanical japam. So there is one sort of mechanical japam. Somebody asked me. I don't have. I have lot of work. So can I repeat my mantra. Recording it on a cassette recorder. Can I get mukti? And I replied. I don't know whether you will get mukti. But definitely your cassette recorder will get mukti. If you go on using it. So what is it? We start with a little bit of faith. And then repeat it. Japam for example. Slowly it turns into love. Because as we go on repeating. We become accustomed to it. So to that extent is his labha gain. And then when he advances further. So that love itself makes the meditation one pointed. And so his feeling of love. Meditation and the degree of the feeling of love are one and the same. That's what Sri Ramakrishna says. And then he says. All these are not that they are useless. But their main purpose is to make us love God. And what is love? What is needed is absorption in God. Loving him intensely. So the more we love. The more we forget ourselves. Because that is the test of love. The less we love. The less we are aware of ourselves. And the less we love the other person. But if we love more. We forget ourselves. And the only other person comes to the fore. And this is why it is said. That absorption in God. The more love. More bhakti. More absorption in God. There is a beautiful saying. Gopis. They were mad with the love of Krishna. So they went to meet him. On a moonlit night. In the month of. What is called. Atom season. Full moon. There is no cloud at all. And the splendor of moon. Comes to the fore. Only in that Sharath Kaala. This is beautifully described in the Bhagavatam. In five chapters. And it is called. Rahasa Panchadhyayi. Five chapters. This comes in the. Bhagavatam. Tenth Skanda. Tenth chapter. So they were absorbed. There were a lot of wonderful stories there. But I will shorten it. So they prayed to Mother Katyayani. And then through Mother Katyayani. Krishna granted them. Yes you will come and meet me. And it happened only for one night. In Krishna's life. In Gopi's life. Not that he was. He was running to the banks of the Yamuna. And then playing. Only one single night. It has happened. So the Gopikas. Granted their wish. And they were called. How? By the call of the flute. Krishna played. They knew. And that description. What happened when they heard the. Call of the flute of the Bhagavan. Calling them. Is itself. A tremendous subject for. Deep contemplation. Some were milking. The cows. They threw away. The pots. And ran. Some were cooking. And then they ran away. Some were feeding. Their children. They ran away. Some were feeding their husbands. They ran away. Some wanted to run away. And their husbands, brothers. Everybody prevented them. Then out of the. Pain of separation. Some Gopis. By thinking. Absorbed only about Krishna. They gave up the body. And became permanently. Merged in Bhagavan Krishna. So many Gopis. Gathered there. And then Krishna. Started making fun with them. You are supposed to be. Chased twice. How come at midnight. You have come to meet a stranger. And then moreover. All these woods are. Full of dangers. Is it true? Yes. How many. Rakshasas. Asuras. Putana. Shakatasura. And so many sent by. Kamsa etc. They are all roaming around. To finish. Not only Krishna. But whoever is associated with Krishna also. It is all described beautifully. In the Dashamaskanda of the Bhagavatam. So there were wolves. There were wild horses. There were wild donkeys. And so many other things were there. So. Why did you brave all these things. And then come here. You should not come. You should go back. And then they replied. Why are you behaving so strangely. Cruelly. Do you think. We have any power to escape your attraction. Do you think. We have come. Willy nilly. You possess our bodies and minds. We cannot go away. Then something strange happens. Krishna accepts. Something strange happens. The Gopis were filled with pride. We had obtained Krishna. That Ahankara has come. It arose like a big huge pillar. Or a big curtain. In front of them. And Krishna disappeared. Where can Krishna disappear. Krishna is Sarvantaryami. Sarva Vyapaka. How can he disappear. That means we are unable to see. And then the Gopis realized. Where were they. And where had they fallen. And that Viraha. Separation from one's own. Satchidananda. Was indescribable. Then they burst into Gopi Kagitham. 17 I think verses are there. One of them is Tava Katha Amritam. Which has been adopted. As the Mangala Sloka. For this Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. In our Sri Sri Ramakrishna Katha Amritam. Tava Katha Amritam. Tapta Jeevanam. Kavi Vireeditam. Kalma Shaapaham. Shravanamangalam. Srimadatatam. Bhuvigrinante Te Bhuridha Janaha. And then the Gopis start. They know who Krishna was. And they know who they were also. Who were they. According to Sri Ramakrishna. They were thousands and thousands of Rishis. Whom Sri Rama met. And then they experienced so much of joy. They wanted to be with Rama. Said no. In this life my mission is to destroy. Ramanasura. And 14000 Asuras. In Krishna's life also. 18 Akshavanis. Nearly 18000. In 18 days. So next birth. I will be incarnating as Krishna. All of you become women. Why women? Because of all the bhavas. Relationships. The most intense relationship is. That is called Madhura Bhava. The sweet mood. And in the sweet mood also there are two variations. Kanta Bhava. And Parakiya Bhava. All these points we have discussed many times. Kanta Bhava means. The intense love. That radiates between the wife and husband. Or the wife has for the husband. It is called Kanta. Means legally wedded wife. Parakiya means. That is a woman. Wedded to somebody else. Someone else's wife. But she feels inescapable attraction. Towards whom? Another person. And the intensity is more. Even though it is illegal, immoral. But that is considered as the Radha Krishna Bhava. Kanta Bhava. Rukmini and Krishna. Lakshmi and Vishnu. Parakiya Bhava. Radha and Krishna. That is the examples given. Now why are we discussing? Because Sri Rama. Paramatma. Asked all the Rishis. Then you assume. The Gopika forms. But Bhagavatam also adds something wonderful. Says Shruti's Vedas. We have been describing God so much. But we are like donkeys. We are only braying. We never experienced anything. But we are eager to experience. What we ourselves described. So we will be reborn as women. Then many Rishis. Many Munis. Many devotees. Many Gods and Goddesses. They all wanted to enjoy. Rasa Swadhana. How Bhagavan. The presence of Bhagavan. The presence of Bhagavan. Grants Ananda. So they were all born as the trees. As the Gopas. As the Gopis. As the cows. As the cows. As other animals also. And everything in that. What is called Gokula. Is full of divine beings. Only in the form of ordinary human beings. And including Kamsa. He was also the greatest devotee of Krishna. Whomsoever Krishna killed. They were all specially born. They were eager to get Moksha. They must have been Advaitins. They could not even digest boiled water. So they wanted to get rid of their bodies and minds. So these Advaitins are always after Moksha. Notice. But the devotees are never after Moksha. We want to be near you. We don't want to have Moksha. We want to enjoy your presence. Beautifully expressed in Bengali language. I don't want to become sugar. I want to enjoy sugar. This is the main attitude of every devotee of God. And Shri Ram Krishna is the epitome of this kind of what is called intense love. Love personified towards God. He is born to show what is this Radha's love. Meera's love. Andal's love. Shri Ram Krishna continues. What is needed is absorption in God. Loving Him intensely. Deep nectar lake is the lake of immortality. So a man sinking in it doesn't die but becomes immortal. We all know the famous story of Samudra Mantana. Churning the ocean, milk ocean. And then Shri Ram Krishna continues. Some people believe that by thinking of God too much, the mind becomes deranged. But that is not true. God is the lake of nectar, the ocean of immortality. So there are people who don't think too much about God. So you think about the world. Enjoy both the world. Think a little bit of God. Otherwise immediately Moksha will come. Then you will become like a piece of stone. And you will not enjoy anything. This is ordinary people's understanding of what is called Mukti or Moksha. Shri Ram Krishna continues. He is called the immortal in the Vedas. Sinking in it one doesn't die. What happens? But verily transcends death. And then he says of little use or worship, oblations or sacrifice if one does not attain that love. Not that these are useless. But if they do not bring Bhakti to God, then definitely they are useless. But every type of worship, however inferior may be the motive, but in course of time, like a stone that purifies the water, so slowly but surely, everybody, even a mechanical puja, also mechanical singing, slowly brings us. Only it may take some time. Of course we don't know. It may take many lives we go on despairing. How do you know many lives? It is only a thought in your mind. Because in this life you don't remember anything of your past lives. And in this life also you don't remember everything. In this life also you don't remember my last gospel class. What to speak of Purva Janma and Para Janma. Shri Ram Krishna comments. If a man comes to love God, he need not trouble himself much about these activities. One needs a fan only as long as there is no breeze. A fan may be laid aside if the southern breeze blows. Then what need is there of a fan? We experience it everywhere and I experience it in Kashi. In summer it is extraordinarily hot and we cannot put on the fan really. Because the fan only intensifies the heat. But there is now even the slightest breeze, especially after rains, so refreshing, so cool. So that is very important for us. So once a person obtains love, that is called the beginning of the southern breeze, then you don't need everything. And in the very first meeting, Shri Ram Krishna conveys this message. Everybody should start spiritual life with Sandhya Vandana. And as he progresses, Sandhya merges in Gayathri. Means just sit and repeat Gayathri Mantra. And that gives more than the result of all those earlier rituals. And if a person continues repeating this Gayathri, and Gayathri also is finally transcended, so what does he say? Gayathri merges in Aum. That means Gayathri means the person himself becomes merged in Aum. Aum means Brahman. So at the beginning, all these external rituals are necessary. Gradually they become attenuated, become less and less important. It should not be given up. I have done puja for 50 years. I don't want to do it anymore. I am giving up. That's not the point. Shri Ram Krishna illustrates, if there is a palm tree growing, and at first there will be huge green leaves, and then as it grows, these lower leaves, they become dried, and you don't need to cut them down. Of themselves, they fall down. Beautiful illustration. Means as we grow, whatever has helped us earlier, but not necessary now, falls down. There is no doubt about it. That is what Shri Ram Krishna really means. So we should not give up. So many times I repeated, we should not give up Karma. Karmas themselves fall down. When we have reached a higher state. Now He turned His attention to Vidyasagar. Why did Shri Ram Krishna come to Vidyasagar? To bestow His grace. So addressing Vidyasagar, He says, the activities that you are engaged in are good. It's very good. If you can perform them in a selfless spirit, renouncing egotism, giving up the idea that you are the doer, through such action, one develops love and devotion to God and ultimately realizes Him. This is the essence of Karma Yoga and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. Not only He was a Vidyasagar, He was a Dayasagar. He was a Sevasagar. He started so many schools, both in native Sanskrit, native Bengali. He wrote Sanskrit grammar, Laghu, Yakarana, Kaumudi. Even now it is the most easily accessible to enter into deeper Sanskrit grammar. And then He also wrote, Learn how to speak English through Bengali. And this book was first published by Upendra Nath Basu. And he became a very rich man because that book became so famous. Everybody was eager to become an Englishman. And they had to purchase this book. And even though it was very cheap, but so many copies have been sold, what you call nowadays bestseller. And then he became quite rich through that book. So he was a very intelligent person. After that Ramakrishna blessed him. His buddhi started growing up. So the idea came that if I approach Vidyasagar, because Vidyasagar was thinking who is going to take up the publication. And this man ran and said, Sir, give me the opportunity. I will publish it. Of course Vidyasagar, through God's will, had given him that right. And he became a rich man. And that is how Sri Ramakrishna makes other people also rich. You have to do something about it. You have to be intelligent. So he is addressing and he says, This is the essence of Karma Yoga. Spirit. What is it? If we are progressing in Karma Yoga, what happens? Or any yoga, for example, progress in any yoga, reduction of egotism, giving up the idea that we are the doers. And through any such sadhana, one develops love and devotion to God. And ultimately, of course, it leads to the realization of God. And then Sri Ramakrishna is a past master in illustration. And he gives this beautiful illustration. When the daughter-in-law is with the child, her mother-in-law gives her less work to do. Why did Sri Ramakrishna give this example? Do you know? Whether it is Maharashtrian devotees or devotees in Bengal, the mother-in-law hates the daughter-in-law. The relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, even now it is there. I don't know how much is there. But in the past, she had absolute power. Nowadays, the mother-in-law complains in the reverse way. Anyway, because the daughter-in-law says, Mother-in-law, I have no time. I have to go to my work. You please prepare this, such and such. This is what I like. And then if she remembers by chance, then this is what my husband also loves. So this is the reversal of the roles. So in those days, she will get as much work done through the daughter-in-law. And in the process, sometimes she enjoys making her son beat the wife also. So like that, it used to be there. We get so many stories, Maharashtrian saints, Sakubai, Rukminibai, etc. How their husbands started beating them. But fortunately, all the beatings ended up on the back of the Purandara Vitthala. So anyway, what it says, the same mother-in-law becomes completely changed as soon as the daughter-in-law becomes pregnant. Why? Because only mother-in-law, or both father-in-law and mother-in-law, they want their eager to become grandmother and grandchild. So like that, and just now I remembered something I want to share with you. See, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, the mother of future Swami Vivekananda, how much she was tortured by her aunt. So what happened was, Narendra's father, and he became practically an orphan, and he was brought up by his aunt and uncle. And then he was extraordinarily intelligent, and he became a kind of barrister. And he started earning a lot of money. Then all the money he will give to his uncle and aunt. And they used to, of course, see that he is fed properly. But when it comes to Bhuvaneshwari Devi, she hardly has anything to wear. When the mother-in-law is gluttoning, showing off her various harries in parties, etc. And Vishwanath Dutta, blind that he was, he could not understand what his wife was going through. Only much, much later he came to know how much the same uncle and aunt were mistreating her. Then he separated himself. Then even Narendranath had to go to court because of this uncle and aunt later on. So I am just trying to tell, even in Shri Ramakrishna's time, so much is there. But when it comes to Hari Mother and Chandramani Devi, it is just the reverse. Chandramani Devi started treating Sharada Devi like her own daughter. And then there was no distinction at all. So there are good people also there. Anyway, the point is, now as soon as the daughter-in-law comes into the family way, then these people, they want their grandchildren, granny, like that they have to call. So they are looking forward. And any damage done to the daughter-in-law will damage, will likely to damage the grandchildren. And that is why she changed her tune. Don't work too much. So she goes on reducing. And how Shri Ramakrishna had observed, we have to give kudos to him for this observational power. But he was not describing what happens earlier. As time goes by, she is given less and less work. When the time of delivery nears, she is not allowed to do any work at all, lest it should hurt the child or cause difficulty at the time of birth. And here it is not there. Elsewhere he gives the same illustration many times. But then he adds, once the child is born, the only work that the daughter-in-law has to do is look after the child, entertain him, because nobody can look after better than one's own mother. Now, through this illustration, what was Shri Ramakrishna trying to convey to us? Simple. When a sadhaka, a devotee, starts progressing in spiritual life, what happens? What happens? The mother-in-law, that is to say the scripture, gives her less and less work to do. That is to say that she doesn't say, I will do less work. Automatically, works or karmas fall down. Duties fall down. But it doesn't mean they neglect the duties. Duties are done in an even better way, in a faster way. That is why one of the definitions of Karma Yoga, Yoga in general, given in the Bhagavad Gita by Bhagavan Krishna is So when the time of delivery in years means what? As the spirituality, as the sadhaka, the aspirant, progresses in spiritual life, then what happens? Less and less work. And when the delivery time comes, the realization comes for a devotee. She is not allowed to do any work at all. Lest it should hurt the child or cause difficulty at the time of birth. No work should distract the mind of the devotees. That is why, what is that last work? That is called So that is the last practice. That is, the devotee's mind will not think anything else excepting only God. And this is the inner meaning of what Sri Ramakrishna was trying to deliver. It has nothing to do with mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. This is only observation on the status of the social condition. By these philanthropic activities, you are really doing good to yourself. So this is one of the important points we have to note down. However, many philanthropic or selfless or loving service we are rendering to the society, you are really doing good to yourself. Who is getting benefit? Only yourself. How do you say? If a person has started a hospital, school, educating the people who cannot afford to have good education, or treating after patients who cannot afford to go to fees-taking doctor, etc. The thing is, the law of karma applies here. What is the law of karma? If a person is not destined to get help, he will not get. But if he is getting help, not because we are giving, you are giving, because his own karma-phala deserves it. And we are giving it because we have taken it in the past life from him. We are only just returning it to the person from whom we have received and we are obliged to get rid of what is called Rinas, Veeruna, whatever you call it. So, this is what Sri Ramakrishna is telling. But real good happens because I earn punya if I do and then my mind becomes purified. As I mentioned earlier, every good action brings four results. First result is, whenever I do something good, I feel somehow uplifted myself instantaneously. That is there in the conscience. Secondly, the samskara, that it is good because I enjoy it, I feel like repeating and that repetition goes on growing. That's why a good man becomes gooder man, goodest man and vice versa. Bad man becomes bad man, badder man, baddest man, like that. That is the second result. What is the third result? Every action will give punya or paapam. So, because this person is doing good, his quota of punya goes on increasing. That is the third punya falla. But there is an invisible fourth result of activity. Our mind slowly becomes purified and in that purified mind, chitta dharpana, tora manu dharpana kahalaye, then you will see that our true nature flashes in it at least a little bit and that draws our attention immediately. Not only that. So, bhala, bura, whether we do good or bad, it brings to our attention that is also part of chitra shuddhi. So through all these activities, we grow. It helps us only that the others get help or not. That is not none of our business. That is also not in our hands. It is God who makes us do these good things because this is what we owe to the world and what they are obliged to receive because of their past karma. It applies both to good or evil activity. By these philanthropic activities, you are really doing good to yourself. If you can do them disinterestedly, that means without expecting any worldly result, your mind will become pure and you will develop love of God and once you develop love of God, as soon as you have that love, you will realize it. So, karma yoga, this is how leads one to the realization of God such a beautiful explanation Sai Ram Krishna gives here. So, we progress in spiritual life and karma yoga. Even if you are a bhakta, you have to do karma yoga in many ways that is part of the scheme of the pancha maha yagna and then Sai Ram Krishna concludes man cannot really help the world. About this, we will talk in our next class. Om Jananim Sharadaam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum Pada Padme Tayo Sritva Pranamaam Imuhur Muhuhu May Sri Ram Krishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti. Jai Ram Krishna