Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 142 on 15-July-2025

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PAHADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU

ओम् जननीम् शर्दाम् देवेम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुरुम् पादपत्मे तयोस्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुरु मुहु

So we are continuing the chapter, Advice to Householders. As I mentioned on so many occasions, a householder does not mean one who is married, anybody who is married to one's own body, to one's own mind, to one's own family, that means deeply attached, he is a Grihastha. This body is compared to a Griha, rather it is compared to a temple, because just as a temple houses Ishwara (God), so also our body houses the mind, and the mind houses the divine God, that's why this body is called Brahmapuri. So advice, we are all house holders. Whoever has not realized God is a house holder. But in the course of time, as we go on practicing spiritual disciplines, we become slowly non-attached, detached, thinking that I am not the body, I am not the mind, and that is called no householdership. But we are deeply attached because of the power of Maya, so let us slowly cultivate non-attachment.

We have been studying this chapter for the last few classes, Sri Ramakrishna's opinion on Kabir Das. Why is it very important? Because Kabir Das was strongly inclined to the formless aspect of God. We have to remember the background of Kabir Das. He was a child. Somebody had abandoned him by the river. There was a Muslim couple and they were weavers. They didn't have children. So one day they found this abandoned baby in a basket or on the shore, we do not know, and then the couple first found and they thought it is God, Allah has given them this baby as a result of their prayers to him. So joyfully they brought and then brought him up. Of course in their own religion, they must be extremely good people, really religious people. So he grew up. Very interesting story we have to remember.

At that time there was a very famous Swami belonging to the Shankaracharya tradition. His name was Ramanandaji and he was a great devotee of Bhagawan Ramachandra and his spirituality was very evident. People respected him, Hindus of course. So this Kabir Das was deeply attracted. And then he wanted to become his disciple. Now in Islam, if anybody becomes a Muslim, they will be very happy. But they get very angry if any Muslim turns out or even tries to follow the teachings of any other religion. In those circumstances Kabir Das approached Ramanandaji and requested him to accept him as a disciple. Ramanandaji being intelligent, he said that it may create some communal tension. So he said that I will not take you as my disciple. Kabir Das said, okay, I know how to become your disciple like Ekalavya. Ramanandaji had a fixed habit. Early morning at about 3 o'clock he will go to the banks of the Ganges and he will take bath and return. This all perhaps happened in Varanasi, Kashi. So one day Ramanandaji went early in the morning. It must be winter season or so. He could not see properly but by feeling he was descending the steps of the Ghat. And this Kabir Das laid himself on one of the steps. He noticed the particular path Ramanandaji takes. We are all creatures of habits. Even while walking in the road, some people walk on the footpath, some people on the road and many people are what is called uncultured Indians. Two, three people will be there. They will occupy the whole road talking their heads off, not caring how they are becoming nuisance to other people. And they consider themselves educated, literate, cultured and all that. If you say something to them, they take offense. Anyway, we all have our own habits. So Ramanandaji in the darkness he stepped onto the body of Kabir who was lying there and with that intention and purpose. And Ramanandaji understood he stepped on a human body. So he cried out Rama Rama. Kabir Das got up and said thank you for initiating into Rama Mantra. And then from then onwards he became a devotee of God.

But Kabir Das was an extraordinarily enlightened person and highly advanced in spiritual life and immediately he understood by Rama doesn't mean a particular deity. He was a Nirakaaravadi what we say. He did not believe much in forms of God but what is called all the auspicious qualities of God. They call it formless aspect. As I explained in our last classes, nobody can really meditate on a formless aspect of God. But there are some people who are inclined to meditate upon the auspicious, an ocean of auspicious qualities of the divine Lord. As Ramanujacharya mentions it. So he belonged to that and Sri Ramakrishna had come into contact with various followers of Kabir Das. They are called Kabir Panthis. Sri Ramakrishna was remarking about this. Kabir Das was strongly inclined to the formless God. At the mention of Krishna's name he would say, why should I worship him? The gopis would clap their hands while he performed a monkey dance. Kabir Das compares Rasa Leela, a monkey dance. So the gopis would clap, forgetting they also are part of the dance. This is what Kabir Das used to tell outwardly. But inwardly he used to enjoy. Anything about God is enjoyable. Madhuradhipatehe akhilam madhuram, adharam madhuram, smaranam madhuram, hasitam madhuram, bhakshitam madhuram. Whatever is related to Krishna. His smile is sweetest. His prasadam, after eating he gives to his devotees, that is also very sweet. His speech is beautiful. His very form is beautiful. Every atom on his body is madhuram. Madhuradhipatehe of the emperor of Mathura, everything is beautiful. And this is called smitten by love. Anything that we love, the whole thing will be beautiful only in the eyes of the beholder, the Beloved. Like we say in our language, the young one of a crow is the most beautiful baby in the whole world. If you have seen a baby monkey like a shriveled old man, but ask its mother and it will slap you if you say anything against what she thinks. So love makes everything absolutely blissful. That bliss is called rasa. Kabir Das was such a person.

But Sri Ramakrishna is talking with a smile. But I accept God with form when I am in the company of people who believe in that idea. And I also agree with those who believe in the formless God. Sri Ramakrishna is what is called an all-rounded person. He accepts every ideal any devotee can have with form, without form, beyond form, any name, any shape, any size, anything, everything is acceptable. Sri Ramakrishna's most precious teaching to the whole humankind which even today big wars are being fought in the name of God. For example between the Muslims, fanatical Muslims and then Jewish people, Jews, how much they suffered. And even today most people hate Jews. I can never understand why they hate the Jews so much. Since centuries they have been suffering. And everybody, there are some people, they do not wish to eliminate them, but they wish if no Jews left out, it will be a happy world. Not knowing that God created everyone. We don't know why, but we know wars are fought, killings are done. How much mercilessly, not only that, in the name of religion, in the name of Allah, in the name of Jihad, how they think that God will be in my favour if I kill so many people. But Kabirdas was one of those exceptionally rare souls who becomes Atma Upam Yena Sarvatra Samadarshanaha. He looks upon everybody as the divine soul, potential soul.

So this Sri Ramakrishna used to say, never limit God. That is the beautiful Bengali word. One should not limit God either by name, by form, by quality, by any thought is a limitation. We must be aware of it and say, every thought is a limitation. What I think about God is also a limitation. That means I should be saying, I know only this much. I know very little about God. And God is much, much more almost impossible. Atyatishtat Dashaangulam having created this unimaginably large universe of uncountable trillions and trillions and trillions of what is called galaxies. Even one galaxy we cannot understand how big it is. And yet God created all this with only just a small bit of His power. Atyatishtat Dashaangulam is far beyond what we can conceive of Him. This pure teaching of Sri Ramakrishna is what we need to understand clearly. So Sri Ramakrishna is telling, when I am in the company of people who believe God with form, even God in the form of a stone, then I am one with them. Because like children who are in the kindergarten, they require concrete objects. This is an apple, this is a banana. B for banana, A for apple. So like that we require these helps. But that is also giving concession, thinking that we are better people than these people. Because the understanding is, if a person takes the help of a stone image or a symbol, either a pratima or a pratika, and sincerely practices and progresses in God, maybe he realises God very quickly, then the person who prides himself, I am a very superior person, I meditate upon God without any form, I am capable of meditating upon the auspicious qualities of God. How many qualities are you able to do that? And then Sri Ramakrishna says, when I am with people who do not believe God with form, that is formless aspect of God. For example, Brahmos. For example, M himself told that I believe in God without form, and in the very first chapter we have seen, Ramakrishna cautioned him, You follow your path, that is absolutely fine, but nowhere think others are wrong. He is with form, he is without form, and he is beyond both form and formless. That means form, the ideas of form and formless, that means any conception, any thought about God. So, we can cherish a particular thought, but we should not think God is only this much, and that is a very important saying. God can manifest in infinite number of forms, infinite number of powers, infinite number of activities. So, here a question will come, suppose there is no devotee, then what does Sri Ramakrishna do? So, he will be merged in himself, that is called, in the gospel itself we call it Atmarama. Once, if you remember, in the beginning, maybe in the first chapter itself, Sri Ramakrishna asked M to come to Balram Bose's house to hear more bhajans sung by Sri Ramakrishna himself, and M, Nod's agreement goes, he has a doubt, before he reaches the gate, whether he will be allowed inside that particular house. Now he came back, what does he find? It was evening, darkness had fallen, and that Natamandir they call it, that is the hall where religious bhajans, discourses, dramas, or talks, they are all conducted in front of the mother. This is a big hall, those who have visited Dakshineshwar, they could see, not really very big, but sufficient for those days, more than sufficient. So, Sri Ramakrishna was moving, he was walking up and down in that hall, completely absorbed, there was a small lamp, very dimly lit, and M immediately understood. When nobody was there, Sri Ramakrishna was absorbed, and that is called Atmarama, Atmarama, one who rebels himself, one who merges in himself. Then Sri Ramakrishna became conscious and asked, what brings you back? Then M explained, Sri Ramakrishna utters a beautiful word at that time, he says, M expresses the doubt, perhaps the host may not allow me to enter into his house. Sri Ramakrishna immediately says, no, no, you tell my name, somebody will bring you to me. And this sentence is interpreted in a spiritual way, that you take my name, somebody will bring you to me. That means, if somebody has a sincere desire to see God, then God will send somebody, that is in the form of a guide, teacher, guru, and the person will be taken to God. Sincerity is the only thing. It is a beautiful sentence, take my name and somebody will bring you to me. There is no bar. So, Sri Ramakrishna, what would he be doing when there are no devotees? He will be merged in himself. But on another occasion, then Sri Ramakrishna himself was explaining, because he realized God, he doesn't want anything to do with God. Realization of God means, you don't need to meditate, because he sees God inside, outside, all the 24 hours, through the Jagradavastha, through the dream state, through the deep sleep state, whatever be the state, he will be seeing nothing but the divine play of the Divine Mother. And sometimes, beyond these three states, Avastha, Traya, Sakshi, he will be the witness, and sometimes even that witness attitude will not be there, he will be merged in that deep state. There is a beautiful instance, once Narada had a curious doubt. Sri Krishna had so many wives, and we know if Sri Krishna spends some time with one wife, other wives will be pained or become jealous. What will they do? How can a man spend all the time with everybody? So this was a doubt for our sake, or to make us more understanding, this doubt was raised. So Narada wanted to see, he was curious. So he entered, and Sri Krishna, he built for every wife, very wise man, otherwise if they are all together, 24 hours there will be, 24 Kurukshetra wars will be there, or as many people, so many wars. So Narada entered into the first house, he saw, Krishna was milking the cows, oh, oh, Krishna is here, so let me see what the other wives are doing. So he entered second house, and Krishna was seen meditating. Another house, Krishna was holding Vedantic talks, conversation about Vedanta, Vedanta ghost. Another house, Sri Krishna was enjoying, sitting in a swing with his wife. Every house that Narada visited, Sri Krishna was doing different activity, that means he is present everywhere, because he is only everybody. And the same expression was given when Sri Krishna was playing Rasa Leela, every Gopi was aware of only one Krishna, she was not aware of anybody else, only herself and Krishna. So it is said, in between two Gopis, one Krishna will be there. What do we understand? So Sri Krishna was aware of all the Gopis, and Gopis are also aware of different Gopis. No, every Gopi will be absorbed. How come? How do we understand? Because Rasa means Ananda, Bhagawan means Ananda, Sat, Chit, Ananda. When a person is absorbed in God, he or she will be absorbed in Ananda. And what is the nature of Ananda? Forgetting the whole universe and completely being one's own self is called Ananda Rasa. So no Gopi was aware of any other Gopi. And if at all they are aware, do you know what will be the awareness? The awareness of every Gopi will be Sarvam Krishnamayam Jagat. The whole universe is nothing but my own Krishna, my own Rama, etc. That is the experience of every God-realized soul, whether they call God as Rama or Krishna or Christ or Buddha or whatever blessed name. So this is what we have to understand. Anyway, Narada, he went into the house. He saw Sri Krishna deeply absorbed in meditation. And when Ramakrishna meditates, when Rama meditates, when Krishna meditates, they will be completely merged in meditation. So Narada waited for some time and the presence of his devotee brought the consciousness of Krishna to the outside world. Otherwise, he will not be coming out. Anyway, Narada was curious. He asked Bhagawan Krishna, All the devotees will be meditating upon you, but upon whom will you be meditating, O Lord? And Krishna replied, I will be meditating on the devotees. And what is the meditation about? My particular devotee, where is he? What are the obstructions? And how can I make him overcome that obstruction? How can he progress towards me? So all the past obstacles, future obstacles, and before the child knows, if the child is walking, mother will be sweeping the path so that the child will not suffer from any pebble or sharp stones or thorns etc. Bhagawan will be sweeping away every obstacle. And that is the story of Bhagawan Totapuri who became the Advaita Guru of Sri Ramakrishna. He never encountered any problem in his spiritual life and unfortunately, a Divine Mother should have been a little more wiser and created some problems. Then Totapuri would have found it impossible to overcome that obstacle and he would have been praying, Oh Mother, I am your child. I am suffering. Please help me overcome this obstacle. Perhaps he would have developed complete self surrender much sooner. But unfortunately, this is one of the divine sports of the Divine Mother. Totapuri had encountered no obstruction and he ran like the Olympic runner. Even then it took him 40 years to attain so-called Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Even then his sadhana was not complete. So we will be surprised, he attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi and his sadhana... Do you say Swami that the sadhana is not complete? Yes, his sadhana was not complete. Then how do we know? Can you explain that his sadhana is not complete? Well, if anybody's sadhana is complete, he will have total self surrender. He will never say, I have attained. He will say, the grace of God had made me attain to this state. Because so long as we are Jeevas, In this most essential shloka of the Bhagavad Gita, in fact the Vaishnavites, that is the Ramanujites and Madhvites, consider this particular shloka as called Charama shloka, the very essence. Sharanagati is the only pathway, that is what every devotee claims. Being Dvaitins, being devotees, Dvaita means devotion, being devotees, they are accepted. But even the Dvaitins, they will be surrendering themselves to the Guru. So Guru takes the place of God and they will be surrendering themselves to the Guru. They believe by the grace of the Guru one can attain to that state of Brahma. And that is what Swami Brahmanandaji affirms. One disciple asks him, Maharaj, can a Guru give Brahma Gnanam? He says, what are you talking about? A Guru, if he wishes, he can give you everything. Bhakti, Bhakti, Mukti. All the three can be obtained by the grace of a Guru. What is Bhakti? Devotion. What is Bhakti? Absolute worldly enjoyment. There would be no lack of any worldly enjoyment. Especially that is what Tantra proclaims. Those who practice Tantric disciplines and they become like the children of the Divine Mother. So they will be enjoying the world. They will also progress in spiritual life. Everything is possible. And that is what Sri Ramakrishna also says that the Divine Mother gives Bhakti, Bhakti, Bhakti, Mukti. Everything the Divine Mother gives. But whereas for the Gnanis, they go on suffering from stomach problem. They can't digest, as I call, even boiled water. So they do not accept. There are some Gnanis. Sri Ramakrishna was what is called the very Everest of all Gnanis. And what type of Gnana? Everything is possible. My Gnana is also possible only by the grace of the God. That is called true Bhakti. It is called Para Bhakti. There is no difference between Para Bhakti and Para Gnana. Para Yoga. Para Karma. There is no difference at all. Complete Oneness with God. That is called the grace of God. Self-surrender. Aham Brahmasmi when he says, I have no separate Aham, that this so-called previous separate Aham has become completely merged, forcibly merged in the ocean of Brahman, in the infinity of Brahman. So when God incarnates, he comes for the welfare of the devotees. So Krishna says he is meditating on his devotees in reply to Narada's question. That means what? You, if a baby is thinking of the mother, mother has thought all that the baby needs, long before the baby even thinks about it. Now my child is playing and after such and such a time he will get hungry. So the food is ready. The moment the baby is ready, the food also is ready. As we are ready, the grace is ready. And how much grace we can take, that depends upon our receiving capacity. The giving capacity is infinite. The receiving capacity totally depends upon the receiver. This is a very important point we have to understand. And this is what Sri Ramakrishna is trying to tell, that when nobody is there, then I also agree with those who believe in the formless God. Then the question we raised was, what does he do when there is no devotee of a believer, either in form or without form? He will be meditating upon the devotees. And we have seen so many times in the biography of Sri Ramakrishna that he is deeply meditating. Yami himself asks, what are you meditating upon, sir? He says, I am meditating on the devotees and I am seeing who progressed how much and what is preventing them from progressing further. And I am trying to either remove it or teach them how to overcome that etc. This is the unsolicited grace of God. And hearing this, Sri Ramakrishna's words, I am smiling. You are as infinite as he of whom we have been talking. Truly, no one can fathom your depth. Now, we have to understand this beautiful saying of M. If M can understand Sri Ramakrishna that you are not an ordinary person, you are as infinite as he of whom we have been talking. Truly, no one can fathom your depth because only another person who becomes Brahman, he can understand the other person. But that means M also was becoming purified. He may not understand what is that infinitude, but he understands that Sri Ramakrishna is far, far above any finitude. And M frankly says, I have never met any person equivalent to you. And when I was reading this one, I was recollecting another incident in the life of Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna was at Dakshineshwar and he had been going through these practices. And as you know that there are 12 temples of Lord Shiva. Very small, one small room like that. In the middle there is a big Shiva linga. So there is a ghat, people coming by boat, they can stop there. There are steps, they come up. And that ghat, it has got a tremendous name, it is called the temple ghat. And then both sides of that ghat, there are six temples on one side, six temples on the other side. Several temples of Lord Shiva are there. And one day, one of the temples, I think nearest to it is Rome, Sri Ramakrishna entered into a spiritual mode and he went there. And these Shiva temples are their own special priests. So he went and embraced the stone linga of Lord Shiva. And Sri Ramakrishna's memory, we must remember, is extraordinary. He was called Ekashrutidhara. Whatever he hears but once. And we have to understand what it means. Any Tom, Dick, Harry talking, he will not remember. Only that which is essential, that he will never forget even if he hears once. So Sri Ramakrishna, he remembered one particular shloka from Shiva Mahimna Stotram. This is the 32nd shloka. It goes like this. So Sri Ramakrishna, he knew the meaning of this. What does it mean? Oh Divine Mother, Oh Lord, even if one were to imagine that the blue mountain, the ocean, the heavenly tree and the earth are the ink, the ink pot, the pen and the paper. That is to say that the blue mountain, so that is the ink and the ocean is the ink pot. And a branch of the heavenly tree, Parijatha tree is the pen and the earth is the paper. And Saraswati, the goddess of learning, herself is writing, trying to write all your glories. And even if she goes on writing for eternity, even then she will not be able to reach the frontiers of your greatness. Let alone coming to the end of your greatness, however long she were to write. And why is it so? Because any amount of finite thinking can never come to the end of infinity. Finite can never grasp what is infinity. Even if it discards one idea, takes up a new idea, discards it and takes up another new idea. Infinity is infinity. There is no doubt about it. As Sri Ramakrishna has understood this and incessant tears were flowing from his eyes. And suddenly people came and it appeared as though a madcap is doing this. He should not be doing that one. They were about to wrench him from that Shiva linga. And even some people were thinking of beating him up also. Not because they were angry with him. Their genuine understanding is he was a madcap. And they were also jealous in some peculiar way. Divine Mother's, Mahamaya's glories cannot be imagined by us. Some people, they were jealous. Many people were jealous. Many priests were jealous. Why? Because Sri Ramakrishna, about Sri Ramakrishna, they knew that he is a madcap. Then they should pity him but not become jealous. Nobody becomes jealous of madcap. How? I wish I could be a madcap like that. Very rarely people do that. But sometimes we also say how I could be mad like Sri Ramakrishna or another great soul who appears to be mad, how I wish. In fact, there was a story about Sadashiva Brahmendra. He behaved like a madcap. And one day a disciple mentioned to a Shankaracharya that, Sir, your such and such a disciple is a madcap. And Shankaracharya, his face became very sad. You know what he said? He said, How I wish I could have one hundredth of my disciple's madness but I am not able to be mad. He really understood. His disciple was not mad in the worldly sense but he was mad for God. And that the other people were not able to understand it. So people can become jealous of even madcaps only in this sense. Normally we pity them. We look down upon them. Anyway, the point is the infinite can never be contained by anybody. That is why the Upanishad categorically remarks this one. Yato vacho nivartante aprapya manasa sahaa. In this context, I remember a beautiful story. A Chinese author had written one of the most interesting books. It is titled as The Monkey. So it is a story about there were some monks. And they wanted some sacred scriptures about Buddhism. And they came to know that these scriptures were available only in India. And in those days to come from China to India would have taken years together. Through Himalayas etc. mountain range they have to travel. So one monk, I think Buddha Dharma, was given that assignment. Please go to India, collect some Buddhist texts or copy them and bring them here. So he agreed. So based upon this event an author has written. So in those days lots of obstacles on the way. Physical and madcaps and wild animals and robbers etc. So it is a big story but very very interesting story. And there are also series on the YouTube what is called The Monkey. If you wish, you go through the YouTube and say The Monkey King. You are likely to get some episodes. So there was a character called Monkey. He was extraordinarily powerful, extraordinarily egotistic. And once he challenged Bhagawan Buddha. And what was the challenge? That if this person can traverse a huge, unimaginably huge distance, then Buddha will acknowledge him as a great man. And the monkey nonchalantly accepted this challenge. So what happened that he immediately jumped like Hanuman trying to swallow the sun. And he travelled and travelled and travelled and travelled and ultimately landed. And then he was terribly ignorant and thinking to himself, Nobody can measure the distance I had covered in one jump. Then Buddha wanted to subdue his egotism. What did he do? He stretched his palm and then the monkey found himself. And then Buddha asked him, How far have you jumped my friend? And the monkey replied, Oh, people like you, ignoramuses like you, cannot understand how, what a great distance I could jump in one leap. Oh, I see. So where did you start? In such and such a place. Where did you land? There were some pillars. It is a long distance away. And how do I know? Because I passed some waters at the bottom of these pillars. I found some strange pillars. Oh, I see. Okay. Monkey looked back and then the monkey found out that there was Buddha's small finger. He started from there. And then the first knot of the Buddha's finger was that distance which he thought that was unimaginably longer distance. And then his astonishment grew even more. So because he passed some water at the roots of the so-called pillars, at the fingertips, ends of Bhagawan Buddha, he found some wet water. Oh, this is the distance I have covered. In my ignorance, I thought it was almost incomparably larger distance, but it is not even four inches. Then his egotism, he was ashamed. So his egotism had come down. Indeed, any amount of finite efforts cannot cover the infinite. That is the idea. Since God is Ananta, Sathyam Gnanam Anantam Brahma, we should not pronounce God is only this much and He cannot be anything else. All that we can say is, my little buddhi intellect can understand God this much and I will surrender myself. That is more than sufficient for me. There is no need for me to think about anybody else and everybody will ultimately reach God because everybody was there only, in God only. They cannot go beyond infinity. All these ideas are involved here in Sri Ramakrishna's that simple statement. God is with form, God is without form, God is beyond both form and formlessness. And then M understood a little bit of this greatness of Sri Ramakrishna. That means Ramakrishna is not a human being. He is the divine of whom M was meditating upon. But he had a glimpse and then Sri Ramakrishna proved, Ah, I see you have found it out. Let me tell you one thing, one should follow various paths. Now Sri Ramakrishna is taking up another path. And it is very important for us. One should practice each creed for a time. And then he gives a beautiful analogy. In a game of sathranj, sathranj is a small kind of what is called reaching heaven or what is called the snake and the ladder. Like that olden times for passing time, many people invent many things. So in a game of sathranj, a piece cannot reach the centre square until it completes the circle. But once in the square, it can't be overtaken by any other piece. That means that centre square is God and once a person reaches God, then no more striving, no more any sadhana. Sri Ramakrishna has reached the supreme goal. It is to know, I do not exist, only God exists. That is Bhakta's language. But it means Aham Brahma's name. And M understands immediately. That is true, sir. That is what he says. Now the topic is very interesting topic. Is Sri Ramakrishna advocating that we have to practice many paths? The categorical answer is no. We should not even attempt, we should not even think. For one year I will practice Hinduism or Vaishnavism, another year I will practice Shaivism. No. What is the reason? Because our powers are limited, our time is limited, our energy is limited, our capacity is limited. But then intellectually we have to understand, Oh Lord, jeer likhati yadigrihitva asarada sarva kalam tadapichatava gunanam isha param nayati Even Mother Saraswati cannot describe how many ways are there. Infinite is God, infinite are the ways. How can our finite mind ever understand that one? So we have to understand that everybody is travelling to the same God in their own way. Even I cannot understand my own self not to speak up about other people. So we have to be humble. And this teaching, every path is a path to God, provided we are sincerely striving and we desire only God and nothing else. That is very important. We must believe, I want to reach God, I want to realise God. And second thing is that God is infinite. Third thing is for the infinite God, infinite paths are there. Like an open shamiana, from any side one can enter into the shamiana. It is all open, there are no doors, it is all completely open. And Emma understands it, that is true, sir. Then the topic turns to very interesting, symbolical meaning also we have to understand. Then the topic was about Bahudakas and Kutichakas. So Sadhus or spiritual aspirants are divided into Bahudaka and Kutichaka. Udaka means water. Bahudaka means a person who travels to various places and tastes the waters of each place. Because you know, the water is not the same. Water is water. But every place bestows a special quality on at different places. Some places like if you go to Rameshwaram, the water will be salty because the wells etc, the sea water seeps in. But if you go to places like Rishikesh, I tell you not only water is different, even milk is different, curds is different depending upon what type of grass is eaten by the cows. I will tell you just a few examples. So I have tasted the waters of many places but nothing like the water in Rishikesh. So once I drank that Rishikesh water, Ganga water, even my digestion is not very fierce. But even my digestion has improved I would say ten times more just by drinking that water. Ravenously hungry, I digested a huge meal. And next morning everything is cleared so easily, so naturally, but nowhere else have I found. That is one experience. When I was a school boy, I was studying in Hyderabad and their peculiar, the yogurt, the curds that is there, has a very peculiar taste, extraordinary taste, at least that is what I found. And that taste I have not found anywhere, even in the Belur mutt milk also I have not found that taste. It is something very peculiar, unless you taste that one, you will not be able to understand what I am saying. So why is that yogurt so peculiar, desirable taste? Because the cows there, cows are cows, but they are eating a particular type of grass. That grass is grown on that particular water and therefore that water, it becomes that milk, peculiar type of, and giving what is called that particular taste. So water is water everywhere, but it manifests in different ways. Like that, there are so many holy places are there. These are called places of pilgrimage, Tirthayathras we call it, Kashi, Prindavan, Aridwar, Madurai, Kanchipuram, Rameshwaram. In India, every state has got hundreds of these ones, and every place has a very special atmosphere. Not only that, we have to remember, every holy place has two aspects, the inner aspect or the spiritual aspect and the outer aspect. And if you go on looking as a critic to look at the external aspect, then you will not find any spirituality. Business is there, thieves are there, cheating is there, priests trying to take advantage will be there, pandas trying to squeeze as much money as possible from the pilgrims will be there, and businesses will be there. The same thing that is going on anywhere, you will find in greater perhaps degree in those places. But there is an inner sacred place, that is where the spiritual vibration will be there. And whenever we go on a place of pilgrimage, that is what we need to seek especially, and that can be sought only if we maintain a particular spiritual attitude, and that should come only with prior understanding. For example, when Sri Ramakrishna came to Varanasi first time, he saw the whole Varanasi in a golden light, that is golden Kashi, he used to say. And at that time, he refused even to answer calls of nature anywhere near Varanasi. Madhura Babu had to arrange a boat so that he will go to the other side of the Ganga. There were some jungles, there he will finish his what is called answers, calls of nature, and then comes back by boat. After taking bath, he will come back. But after some time, that mood subsided. But what I am trying to say, as Raja Maharaj used to say, that spiritual current flows at different places at different times, and we can experience it, and consistently we have to sit for a certain amount of time, for days, and practice it, then we will get it. And what Sri Ramakrishna wants to say, we will discuss of course, but what I want to say, the Sadhaka, who is because of the restlessness of the mind, roams many places, is called Bahudaka. Bahu means many, Udaka means waters. And after roaming for a long time, he understands, now I have seen everything, let me settle down in one place, and with undisturbed mind, think of God, that is called Kutichaka, or confined to one place for life. This is the external meaning. Internal meaning is, so long as the mind is doubtful about God, so perhaps Kashi is better than Vrindavan, Haridwar is even better than Vrindavan or Kashi, or Rameshwaram is even better, Tiruvannamalai is better. When the mind is restless, that restlessness state of mind doesn't allow anyone to settle into one place, that is called Bahudaka. And at last, the Sadhaka understands, God is one, and any particular Ishtadevata is more than sufficient, my Guru showed me the path, let me follow it, and then I will reach God, and he will never deviate from that path, such a person is called a Kutichaka. We will talk about these things in our next class. Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum Pada Padme Tayosritva Pranamami Mohur Mohur May Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vekananda bless us all with Bhakte. Jai Ramakrishna.