Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 149 on 21-October-2025
Full Transcript (Not Corrected)
Opening Invocation
OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PAHADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU
ओम् जननीम् शर्दाम् देवेम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुरुम् पादपत्मे तयोस्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुरु मुहु
October 27, 1882 - Boat Trip on the Ganges
Opening Invocation
Oṁ janānīṁ śāradāṁ devīṁ rāmakṛṣṇaṁ jagadgurum
Pāda padmetayo śrītvā praṇamāmi mohor moho
The Context of the Teaching
We are discussing the spiritual talk that Sri Ramakrishna was giving on a huge boat arranged by Keshav Chandra Sen. October 27, 1882—it was Friday, the day of the Lakshmi Puja. Keshav Chandra Sen had arranged a boat trip on the Ganges for Sri Ramakrishna.
The Divine Mother as Creator, Sustainer, and Absorber
Sri Ramakrishna was describing the Divine Mother. She is the creator, sustainer, and absorber, re-absorber: sṛṣṭi, sthiti, laya.
What happens when a person dies, or any creature dies—anyone with life? Sri Ramakrishna is telling that this is not the end of existence. But what happens after the destruction of the universe, at the end of a great cycle, at the end of pralaya? The Divine Mother garners the seeds for the next creation. She is like the elderly mistress of the house who has a hodgepodge pot in which she keeps different articles for householder use.
Sri Ramakrishna's Unique Teaching Style
The way Sri Ramakrishna talks—he was an extraordinarily great singer, great talker. You can say he is a ventriloquist. So everybody had to laugh the way he says.
And Sri Ramakrishna is continuing: "Oh yes, housewives have pots like that where they keep sea foam, blue pills, small bundles of seeds of cucumber, pumpkin, and gourd and so on. They take them out when they want them. In the same way, after the destruction of the universe, my Divine Mother, embodiment of Brahman, gathers together the seeds for the next creation."
The Four Types of Pralaya
As I have mentioned many times, this is called laya. If it is individual life, it is called laya. If it is collective, it is called pralaya. And there are four types of pralayas:
- Daily Dissolution (naimittika pralaya): When we go to deep sleep, that is called dainandina pralaya, everyday dissolution of our whole universe.
- Individual Death: Then there is, at the end of each one of our lives, we also give up this old body and assume a new body. That is the second kind of pralaya.
- Brahma's Rest: Then Brahma himself—he wants to take rest. The whole day he works like any coolie or worker. He works the whole day and becomes tired. So like we take rest at the end of the day, Brahma also takes rest.
Understanding Brahma's Time
What is the difference? We only sleep for a few hours. And how much time does Brahma also sleep? Only a few hours. We have to understand what this means.
Because from Brahma's point of view, what we call sahasra yuga—one thousand yugas, as it is so beautifully described in the Bhagavad Gita—is one day; another thousand yugas is one night. Twelve hours is one thousand yugas. Another twelve hours is one thousand yugas. Exactly like us.
But when we say that we only sleep for a few hours, yes, exactly Brahma also—for him it appears [the same]. Because remember, māyā sahita brahman is called Brahma, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, Śiva, Rudra.
The Nature of Time and Experience
So for him also it appears to be only a few hours. We must be definitely reading some Purāṇas. So a person who accumulates meritorious deeds, he goes to svargaloka, the heavenly world. And there he lives a long time, a very, very happy time.
What happens when a person is very happy? He forgets time. Like we forget Saturday, Sunday—they melt away. Just as though only yesterday was Saturday and Sunday. Oh, so fast it is finished and Monday comes. Monday to Friday, the time drags its feet, as it were.
Because whenever we are not happy—most of us are not happy when we are working, especially at jobs which we do not like but we are forced [to do] for the sake of earning money, etc.—time passes very slowly. But whenever we like something, [it is] just like play. So when we are happy with what we are doing, that is called play. When we are unhappy, even play becomes work. That is the difference.
The Divine Mother and the Seeds of Creation
So what happens? The Divine Mother, as it were, just like a village woman—Sri Ramakrishna always gives these illustrations—a grandmother. So she plants, not whenever she wants, [but] when the right season comes, [when the] rainy season comes. She prepares the small garden, she takes out pumpkin seeds, etc., and she sows them according to the season.
And when they become seedlings, plants, yield their fruits, vegetables, etc., then they automatically close their life. So their fruits—some of the fruits are kept as seedlings. The best fruits or the best plants or their seeds are kept so that she can replant them again.
Saṁskāras as Seeds
And that is the same process according to each one of our karmas. That is why we call them bīja. Every saṁskāra is a bīja, is a seed. That is why our mantra is also called bīja mantra. What is a bīja mantra? A seed mantra.
What is a seed mantra? Where the huge potentiality of Bhagavān, God himself, is there in a potential form. And then our sādhana is like bringing it out, sowing in the soil and daily taking care of it, giving the right type of water, right quantity of water at the right time, and fencing it around and then protecting it. And sooner or later, according to their time, the fruits will come.
The Tree of Saṁsāra
So this whole world, saṁskāra, is compared in many Upaniṣads—in Kaṭha, and here also in Bhagavad Gītā, 15th chapter, Purushotthama Yoga.
urdhva-mulam adhah-shakham ashvattham prahur avyayam
chhandansi yasya parnani yas tam veda sa veda-vit
So we are all coming from God. That is, our roots are in God. Coming down means forgetting God, thinking we are other than God.
Puurnnam-Adah Puurnnam-Idam
So this whole universe is also infinite, but we think that it is finite because we are viewing Brahman through the lens, through the prism of time, space, and causation. And that marvellous philosophical theory is being explained in the simplest manner.
Just like our grandmother, she gathers the seeds, and when the right season comes—when does she gather? When this life is exhausted—and she gathers all our saṁskāras and she puts us exactly at the right time. How long she is going to keep [them] depends upon our past lives. Then she puts [us] exactly in that family, in the womb of that particular mother, and then everything is predetermined.
How long we are going to live and what type of species—human species, animal species or insect species or plant species, bird species—according to our prārabdha karma. And through these life after life experiences, we are slowly progressing towards our own nature. Coming down from God is called involution, and going towards God is called evolution. And we are always in the evolutionary scale.
The Divine Mother Pervades Creation
This is what Sri Ramakrishna is telling: "In the same way, after the destruction of the universe, my Divine Mother, embodiment of Brahman, gathers together the seeds for the next creation."
After the creation, the primal power dwells in the universe itself. Where does the Mother go? She is not like an ordinary woman. The seed is separate. The Divine Mother is separate. That is our experience in this saṁsāra. But in this creation, she is the creation. She is the material cause. She is also the efficient cause. She is also the instrumental cause.
That is what Sri Ramakrishna is going to tell. So she brings forth this phenomenal world and then pervades it.
The Spider and Its Web: Upaniṣadic Metaphor
In the Vedas, creation is likened to the spider and its web. A spider brings the web out of itself and then remains in it. God is the container of the universe and also what is contained in it.
In Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, there is a particular subject called praveśa, entrance. This is in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad:
Tad srishtva (Having created this universe) tad eva anupravishanti —so Brahman itself, in the form of Brahmā, the creator—he became the clay and he became what enters into that clay.
How does he become? It is just like he became the space. He became the air. He became the fire. He became the waters. He became the earth. Then he became the food. Out of food, [both] living as well as the non-living, both are born.
Examples from Nature and Science
So even Himalayas, deserts—they were not there. Suddenly, a city becomes a desert. And because of the rubbing, clash of two tectonic plates, just like two plates—one plate is broken into five or six parts. That is what has become America, Africa, Asia, etc.
And they constantly—the earth is heaving. And during that process, so two tectonic plates, they combine together and they exert pressure. And that which is in between these two is forced to squeeze up. And that is how the mountains grow, islands grow. And after some time, slowly again, they start dwindling until they go back to nothing. Such a marvellous phenomenon.
Stars are born. Stars live for some time. And they explode, which the science describes as supernova. What happens [at] supernova time? The whole energy material, the whole material becomes energy. That energy condenses itself into a single point and it becomes a black hole. And what happens? It doesn't get destroyed. From out of that black hole, on the other side, again creation starts. This is [a] mind-boggling theory of scientists.
The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad and the Spider
It is so beautifully described in the Vedas—Vedas means in the Upaniṣads, because Upaniṣads are the very essence of the Vedas. That's what Ramakrishna is referring [to], especially the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad:
yathorṇanābhiḥ sṛjate gṛhṇate ca
yathā pṛthivyāmoṣadhayaḥ sambhavanti .
yathā sataḥ puruṣāt keśalomāni
tathā’kṣarāt sambhavatīha viśvam
This whole universe—how does it come? Ūrṇanābhi means a spider. sṛjate means out of it, it weaves a beautiful web. That is called spider's web. And from there only, what is called World Wide Web. Whenever you go to any—what is called particular—we create some websites. And that is called website. Spider's web. Always it's a W, W, W. This is the web.
So, the spider—we have seen, I have seen—so, when you frighten it, it simply gathers [the web in a] marvellous thing. See, the whole net, within seconds, disappears into itself. So, it moves. This is what is called mobile houses. So, it goes to another corner. And immediately it starts weaving. And within a few hours, the whole net is ready to catch any wandering insect, etc.
And this web is so marvellous. And out of this web only, how intelligence or information can be spread by cutting it into several pieces and simultaneously sending through different channels. By observing the spider's web, scientists have discovered practically everything. How an aeroplane moves. How wheels are invented.
The Discovery of the Wheel
So, how are wheels invented? Somebody noticed [that] there is a round stone, and the stone started rolling. And if there is a slope, and that thing is unstoppably going and gathering more and more speed. And that is how human beings started rough sculpting of wood or stone. Even now you see in village temples, huge chariots made out of stone wheels.
So, that first understanding of wheel, first production of fire—and that changed this phase of civilisation forever and ever.
Three Examples from the Upaniṣads
So, a spider creates and absorbs. As medicinal plants grow from the earth, as hairs grow from the living person, so this universe proceeds from the immortal.
So, the spider example is to illustrate [that] Brahman is both the material as well as intelligent cause. The spider, the living spider—dead spiders never weave. So, what is the cause? What is the origin of that web, that net? It is a spider. Living spider. Out of itself. It becomes both the material and intelligent causes.
First Example: Plants from Earth
Then, pṛthivyām oṣadhayaḥ sambhavanti. How the whole of the food material—and all of us are nothing but food. We don't forget: "I am the eater of food." No. Each one of us is not only the eater of food. We are also pure food. When a mosquito looks at us, when a tiger looks at us, we are the food to be eaten. So, even a leech, when it catches hold of us, we are nothing but pure food.
Billions of bacteria are living, sucking our blood. But there is beneficial bacteria like yogurt or [bacteria] in our gut. If this bacteria leaves us, there will be no life at all.
Second Example: Hair and Nails from Living Being
And then, a third example: yathā sataḥ puruṣāt keśā lomāni. So, the nails and the hair come out. What is this example for? From the living being [comes] that which we call non-living—mud, stones, etc.
Remember, this is according to the Western science. According to Hindu scriptures, everything is living only. So, we cannot live without minerals—without iron, without gold, without silver. These are called minerals. So, and then, there are very fine materials there, like zinc, etc.
So, everything is necessary. We are a combination of both the living and non-living. Our hair, our nails, that is non-living. That is why we are able to cut without experiencing any pain. So, everything is a combination of living and non-living also. So, this is what Sri Ramakrishna is mentioning.
Sri Ramakrishna's Divine Intoxication
Then, what happened? Sri Ramakrishna became intensely intoxicated because his mind dwells all the time in pure Brahman. Once upon a time, Sri Ramakrishna dwelt in nirvikalpa samādhi for six months continuously. At the end of it, because he was an avatāra, incarnation, he was born to convey a message of the scriptures to the humanity.
This is like father and mother calling all of us: "Children, it is time for you to go to bed. Stop your play. Come and eat your food. And then go to bed." This is the call.
The Nature of Brahman and Śakti
And then there is a beautiful song describing, trying to describe that the Divine Mother is both Brahman as also Divine Mother. Both are there.
Sri Ramakrishna told an innumerable number of times—when I look, this is a very philosophical teaching: "When I look through the prism of time, space, and causation, I see my Divine Mother creating, sustaining, and dissolving, taking back, just like a spider. First it creates, then it maintains, and when necessary, it withdraws into itself. Similarly, when Brahman is seen through the prism of time, space, and causation, I call her Active Brahman."
Another name for Active Brahman is called Śakti. But when I transcend the mind, when do I see Brahman as it is? When I transcend, when I don't use the prism of time, space, and causation, then there is no "I," there is no Brahman. It is only the mind which creates the division, "I" and "the other." That is the bondage. That is what Sri Ramakrishna wants to tell, and he bursts into a beautiful song.
The Song: "Is Kālī Black?"
And there is a beautiful song: "Is Kālī, my Divine Mother, of a black complexion?" Śyāmā mā ki āmār kālo re
Sri Ramakrishna teaches not only through speech, but even better, through songs. When Sri Ramakrishna used to sing, he could uplift everybody around him. What do I mean by uplifting? Through his divine voice, he brings about a rare emotional upliftment, which we will never experience through any ordinary singer, however good that singer is.
There are so many, both classical and cinema singers, with a divine voice, I would say. What happens? We feel, "very good singer, very good, nicely sung," but no character change will ever take place. But if Sri Ramakrishna sings, and if we are fortunate to hear it, then that—what is called brahmānanda—is felt through our mind, at least temporarily. Not only that, our devotion to the Divine Mother increases very much.
The Setting on the Boat
So Sri Ramakrishna, on that ship, along with Keshab Chandra Sen and Vijayakrishna Goswami—there must be plenty of people. The whole ship was crowded. The room where Sri Ramakrishna was taken in the ship, that cabin, must have been a small cabin; it was overcrowded. And Keshab Chandra Sen and others went, opened the windows, and requested the people, "If so many people are there, it is very difficult to breathe out."
He burst into this beautiful song.
Studying the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
Now, when we are studying the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, it is also very helpful, because it is not a mere song. The highest philosophy is almost compressed into these songs. The highest Vedānta is being expressed through this. And we will just analyse a little bit. We are going to enjoy it. Do not ever think, "Oh, it is taking ages even to complete a few pages of the Gospel." It does not matter. You just read five, six pages and go on dwelling on it. That would be of more use than just for the sake of saying, "I completed it, I completed it." You go through, you rush through that. No.
So when an ordinary singer sings, it appears to be very pleasant to us, but it does not have a deeper impact. But when a person like Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda sings, then it has a tremendous impact.
Analysis of the Song
So before teaching, this is the song. So in some places, the whole song is sung. And then there is a beautiful index, which Bengali lyrics of the song correspond to the English meaning.
So, is my Mother Kālī black? This is how I think it comes on the page 137 of the original Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Briefly, I will dwell upon it.
Śyāmā mā ki āmār kālo re, loke bole Kālī kālo.
Śyāmā mā ki āmār kālo re—is my Mother Śyāmā [really black]? Is she really black? People say Kālī is kālo, black.
āmār mana to bolena kālo re—But my mind, it refuses to [accept that] Mother is black.
The Naked Form
Kālo rūpe digambarī
So she appears to be black. And she doesn't have any clothes. Naked. What does it mean? You look around, excepting a few human beings, the whole universe is nothing but naked. Have you ever looked at a bull, at a cow, at a dog, at a donkey, at a horse? Are they putting any dress? They are all nothing but naked. The whole universe is nothing but naked. And our Mother Kālī is what? The manifestation of this entire universe. She is the manifestation.
hṛdi padma kare mora ālo re
She lights up my heart. Heart means here, understanding and the result of understanding.
Various Colors and Forms
And then there is one caraṇa [stanza] we call it.
Śyāmā kakhano śveta, kakhano pīta—Sometimes she is white and sometimes she is yellow
kakhano nīla, lohita re— Sometimes she is blue
If you remember, there is an animal, chameleon. It goes on changing its colours. Sometimes red. Lohita means red. Sometimes blue. Sometimes yellow.
Māyera se bhāva kemana bujhite nā pāri
I cannot understand. My mind gets puzzled. It becomes dizzy with understanding. How can the same Mother, sometimes black, sometimes white, sometimes blue, sometimes yellow, sometimes red—I cannot understand. How can the same Mother, sometimes black, sometimes white, sometimes blue, sometimes red—[I am] not able to understand? I cannot understand.
bhābite janama gela re
Trying to understand her. How many lives have passed away?
Kamalākānta's Composition
Further, this was a beautiful song composed by a great devotee of the Divine Mother called Kamalākānta.
How do we know? Because at the end of the song, the composer—if it is Tyāgarāja, it is Tyāgarāja. If it is Purandara Dāsa, it is Purandara Viṭhala. If it is Tulasī Dāsa, it is Tulasī kahe. If it is Kabīr Dāsa, it is Kabīr kahe. If it is Mīrā Bāī, it is Mīrā kahe. If it is Tukhā, it is Tukhā māne.
So, we get out of this. So, that is what it comes here. So, Kamalākānta. That is how it comes. That is how we know Kamalākānta had composed this song.
Beyond Form and Gender
So, not only of various hues but
Śyāmā, kakhuno puruṣa—sometimes she is male. Kakhuno prakṛti—sometimes she is female. Puruṣa and prakṛti.
Kakhuno śūnya rūpare—so, sometimes she has no form. She is neither man nor woman. Nobody can say what it is.
So, kakhuno śūnya rūpare. Māye saibhāva bhābhi eka Kamalākānta. So, what Kamalākānta is trying to figure out—what this my Mother is. So, how many lives have passed away.
Sahoje pāgala holore. It is natural. Unable to find out, figure out. Sahoje. Very naturally. Pāgala holore. Has becomes mad.
The Divine Madness
Śyāmā mā ke āmār kālore. Kāloru pe digambarī.
She is not only black. She is without any dress. Why? Dress, address - both cannot be had. Why? Because who can cover the Infinite? The Infinite can never be covered up. It is not possible. But—
hṛdi padma kore mora Ālore.
She makes me mad. What does it mean? She makes me understand: You cannot understand. But I will make you understand. So, the Mother, she comes and then—
Yā devī sarva bhūteṣu buddhi rūpeṇa saṁsthitā.
Namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai Namo namaḥ.
Hṛdi padma kore mora. Ālore.
English Translation of the Song
Is my Mother Śyāmā black? People say Kālī means black. But my mind says that this is not so. In her dark beauty, the naked one illumines the lotus of my heart. Śyāmā is sometimes white, sometimes yellow, again blue, and vibrant red. The Mother's true nature is beyond my understanding, and in contemplating her, my life has dissolved. Śyāmā is sometimes spirit, sometimes matter, and a transcendent void beyond both spirit and matter. Lost in her ecstasy, Kamalākānta has gone insane. Is my Mother Śyāmā black?
Sri Ramakrishna's Commentary: Distance and Intimacy
And then Sri Ramakrishna continues: She appears black because she is viewed from a distance.
From a distance means what? Not that she is at a distance. A Divine Mother is never at a distance. If we cannot understand, she is on the other side of the world. This is what again Ishavasya Upanishad says:
tadejati tannaijati tad dūre tadvantike |
tadantarasya sarvasya tadu sarvasyāsya bāhyataḥ ||
So what is the nature of Brahman or Ātman? tadejati—It moves. It shakes. tannaijati—And at the same time, not at different time, it is also not shaking. It is unshakeable and yet shaking all the time. How do we understand?
tad dūre—It is very far away. tadvantike—It is just the nearest to you. In fact you are that.
tadantarasya sarvasya—That Ātman is within everybody.
tadu sarvasyāsya bāhyataḥ—And the same Ātman is also outside everybody. There is no inside [or] outside. There is no here and there. There is no "me" and Brahman. Everything is the same.
That is what Sri Ramakrishna says: She appears black because she is viewed from a distance. tad dūre—That means what? Sri Shankaracharya's commentary on this illumines this for us, which is applicable here. He says: For an ignorant person, God is far away, somewhere. But for a knowing person, he is not only not far away—in fact, a jñānī doesn't exist. That jñānī is none other than aham brahmāsmi.
So this is what Sri Ramakrishna is trying to convey—those Upaniṣadic truths, those truths which are so hard to understand, in simple language. But when intimately known, she is no longer at a distance.
Beautiful Similes
Sri Ramakrishna is well known for his similes like Kālidāsa.
upamā kālidāsasya bhāraverarthagauravam |
daṇḍinaḥ padalālityaṃ māghe santi trayo guṇāḥ ||
Kālidāsa is the most famous—for everything he gives a similarity, simile, so that we can understand, poetically we can enjoy. Sri Ramakrishna is giving a simile—he even surpasses perhaps Kālidāsa.
The Blue Sky
The sky appears blue at a distance. Have you ever seen? Just look up. The vast blue. And look at the ocean. You will see, especially in cinemas. You will never see as we see physically.
But you go near. Take a little bit of water in your hand. You go near the sky. Sky means what? Whatever is at a distance we call it sky. But we are in the sky only. Space only. But anywhere you are, it doesn't appear to be blue. That which is at a distance appears to be blue.
Blue is the symbol of infinity. That's why Kṛṣṇa is Śyāma. He is called Śyāma. And Divine Mother is called Śyāmā. So it is not really black. It is really blue colour.
So when you go and look at it close, the closer you are—how do I go closer to the sky? Don't go. You just look in front of you. Is it appearing to be blue? Or is it appearing to be normal to you? Only that which is at a distance appears to be blue. Look up at the sky. Lie down and look up. And you will see the whole—what is called horizon—looks blue totally, like a huge dome of blue.
The Ocean Water
Similarly Ramakrishna gives [another example]: The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance. But if you go near and take it in your hand, you find that it is colourless. In fact the definition of water is that which is colourless, shapeless, formless, tasteless.
Then some places water is very tasty. Some places it is very foul. That is not because of the water [but] because [of] certain elements which became mixed up with the water. That's all.
So there are some places like Rishikesh. And if anybody goes and stays there, you will notice his health—every likelihood that person's health will increase enormously. A person who is suffering from digestive problems—you go and stay there and you drink that water, and it is full of medicinal water. Water is not medicine. Of course water is medicine for the disease called thirst. But I am speaking [of how] so many Himalayan herbs, plants—the water is mixed up, it is flowing along with the essence of those plants, etc. And even if, as they say, iron is eaten, it will be digested. And very soon it becomes much more healthy. Some places [have] hard water, very difficult to digest. But I have noticed water at Rishikesh especially [is] extraordinarily digestive.
The Master's Song Continued
So [the] Master became intoxicated with divine love and sang. This is the song which I already referred [to]. Śyāmā mā ki āmār kālo re—He is calling: [Is] my Mother really black? A naked one, a blackest hue, lights the lotus of the heart.
Bondage and Liberation Through Māyā
The Master continued: Bondage and liberation are both of her making. By her Māyā, worldly people become entangled in "woman and gold." And again through her grace, they attain their liberation. She is called the saviour and the remover of the bondage that binds one to the world.
What a marvellous teaching. Who made us get bound? Who made us make our minds dwell continuously on lust and gold? Most of us, we blame ourselves, not knowing the truth. She is called Mahāmāyā. It is she who became the mind.
The Nature of Mind
What is the nature of the mind? To think: I am not divine. To think: I am separate from God. I am separate. Everything is separate. And everything in my body is separate. Everything in my mind also is separate. Right decision. Wrong decision. Sorrow. Happiness. Pleasure. Pain. Honour. Dishonour. These are all nothing but properties of the mind.
The Mind as Divine Spy
So hearing some people's words and sometimes not hearing anything—supposing you are on a stage, podium, and along with you some other speakers are also there. And then you are all given an opportunity to give a speech. And all of you have given at least according to you, nice speeches. And then at the end the thanksgiving person comes. He mentions only one particular person's speech, of which you yourself are not highly impressed. But you are burning inside: "This fellow did not mention my name even once." Not to speak of [him saying] "the speaker has spoiled the whole spirit of the meeting by mentioning things like that." No, no. He simply doesn't refer to you. And it becomes [a] terrible offence. And thereafter, afterwards you may be smiling. But you will not be—you will be what you call—if you can burn with your look, you want to burn that person.
So you see all these tricks of the mind—who created [it]? The Divine Mother.
The Tantric Teaching
So there is another beautiful song and saying in Tantras. It seems the Divine Mother created the mind and she comes to every jīva [and] tells, "Oh, I am so happy with you, my own servant. I am gifting you, and this servant will serve you." Who is that servant? The mind. And then the Divine Mother says after that, "You get this servant of yours and to make yourself comfortable."
But aside she tells the mind, "Whatever this fellow is doing, you send me the video, audio to me. I want to know what this fellow is doing 24 hours a day." So that is like keeping a CCTV secretly. Our mind [says], "Oh sir, you are my master. I will do your bidding." But secretly it is sending everything that is happening. The mind itself is the CCTV. This is the essence [we] get in the Gospel itself. As if she had—what is called—made a sign with the eye that "you report to me secretly whatever this fellow is doing".
But then Ramakrishna also interprets it—at least we should understand that—supposing this person is always praying to the Divine Mother and taking refuge in her, attributing everything to her, he doesn't want to think anything else, what can the mind do [as a] CCTV? It is sending these pictures. And then the Divine Mother—she is also prone to this praise and censure.
So she becomes very pleased: "My child, he is my child, he is always thinking of me," so [she] tells to the mind, "So bring him to me. I want to bestow my grace upon him." So that is what Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa tells at the very end of the Bhagavad Gītā:
sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo mokshayishyami ma shuchah
"So my devotee..." Mother is calling, "my devotee." Then only we are true devotees—[not when] somebody else [is] calling me and myself calling myself, "Oh, you are a great devotee of God because you have taken initiation." These are all bunk.
The Master's Melodious Voice
Then the Master sang the following song in his melodious voice. Melodious means we have no idea how much it can stir our emotions, and what is emotion? The only instrument for devotion. Gather all the emotion, and if that emotion is directed towards God, that is called devotion.
Kāma and Prema
So in Bengali Vaiṣṇava saying that is saying:
ātmendriya-prīti-vāñchā — tāre bali ‘kāma’
kṛṣṇendriya-prīti-icchā dhare ‘prema’ nāma
So if all our desires are for our selfish purpose, that is called kāma, lust. But if the same emotions are directed towards God, Kṛṣṇa, then that is called prema.
But without emotions we cannot be happy in the world. We cannot also be happy—what we call—in spiritual life. Very, very important for us to understand that emotions are the very material by which we can become secular, we can become spiritual. Not only that, I will tell you some secret: Without first becoming worldly we can never become spiritual.
The Path of Evolution
Nobody has ever been created. Only four people were created by Brahmā. That is called first creation. They are called the mind-born children of Brahmā. Four: Sanaka, Sanātana, Sanandana, etc. They were so pure that they refused to propagate the saṁsāra and went away.
But other than that, everyone of us—this world is created not for binding us. World is created as a first-class ladder.
The Ladder of Life
And how do we climb the ladder? This ladder called the world has got three steps of the ladder: dharma, artha, kāma. And what is the fourth step? It is not a step. It is God [who] is the roof. That is called mokṣa.
That is why Hindu's life is divided into Brahmacārya Āśrama. First step: Know what is dharma. Without knowing what is dharma, we cannot practise dharma. We should know what is dharma. We should know what is adharma. Then second step is practise it.
How much can I develop my will power? How much can I restrain my mind running towards adharma, that is niṣedha, forbidden activities. And how much I can obey the scriptural injunctions called vidhi? That is the whole purpose of Gṛhasthāśrama—to control ourselves. And this life or after many lives, willy-nilly, will be forced. Forced by what? By two. One is called stick. Another is called carrot. By this methodology of training the animal—animals are trained in that way. If they behave according to the wishes of the owner, then some reward is given. If they do not, the stick is used. Pāpa, puṇya, sukha is the carrot. Duḥkha is the stick. It is not meant either to reward us or to punish us. It is meant to train us so that in course of time, even the dull-witted person also becomes—or understands—and he understands: If I want to be happy, then I have to follow this path.
The Awakening to Dharma
And then when a person willingly is following what is called vidhi and avoiding niṣedha, something wonderful happens. You know, when a person is an ignorant person and he wants to rush headlong into the net of Mahāmāyā and if anybody teaches, "Don't go there. You be truthful. You be dhārmic"—immediately, he also is what is called pervertedly intelligent.
So he [has] read so many Purāṇas. "You know, you are talking like a foolish fellow. That person, for example Pāṇḍavas, they had to suffer so much because they followed the path of dharma. Look at Duryodhana. Look at Rāvaṇa. Look at Hiraṇyakaśipu. How much they enjoyed! Of course, yes, in the end they were punished. But in the beginning, for a long time, they enjoyed only."
The Perverted Logic
Even some perverted arguments are given: "Oh, you are talking about Hiraṇyakaśipu. So he enjoyed life up to the brim until the last moment. Then only Narasiṁha Mūrti came. Within a twinkling of a second he cut off his head or he tore him to pieces in the form of a half lion, half man." That is what is called Narasiṁha Mūrti. Nru and siṁha. Siṁha means lion. Nru means man. Man's—what is called—body and the head of a lion. Hayagrīva, the body of a human being and the head of a horse like that. So Bhagavān also—Varāhāvatāra. Head is like a boar and the whole body is a very strong, resilient body, human body.
Anyway, how much time Hiraṇyakaśipu suffered—[his] whole life he enjoyed only. For a few seconds, life is snatched out of him and then he became merged forever in Lord Nārāyaṇa. This is the perverted logic that people go through.
The Right Path
But the whole world—to go to the gurukula, then to go to—to get married and to take up responsibility—to live the life of a devotee, dhārmic person.
Satyam vada, dharmam chara; svãdhyãyãn mã pramadaha
Matrpitrkaryabhyam na pramaditavyam
Matru Devo Bhava - Pitru Devo Bhava
Acharya Devo Bhava - Atithi Devo Bhava
This is called the right path-Vidhi. So the whole worldly experience which takes us through aeons and aeons of lot of worries and suffering is meant to awaken us. God has not created what is called suffering for the sake of His enjoyment. He created it to call us back lovingly to himself, like the mother [who] sometimes forcefully has to drag her children away from their play because they don't want even to eat food. So like that, all the saṁsāra is created.
The Purpose of Saṁsāra
Why? We learn the right path. We learn to love. We learn to identify others with us. We become moral. We become truthful. We become dhārmic. And then, aavritta chakshur amritatvam icchan—then the mind automatically develops a beautiful attitude: excepting God, nothing is really worth desiring. And that is when Vānaprastha Āśrama—travel towards God, conscious travel towards God starts. And the journey will be there, and then one day the mind completely becomes absorbed in God. That is called mokṣa.
The Four Āśramas and Puruṣārthas
So dharma, artha, kāma, upāsanā, and mokṣa. Brahmacārya Āśrama, Gṛhastha Āśrama—artha and kāma. Vānaprastha Āśrama—upāsanā or contemplation. And finally Saṁnyāsī Āśrama for mokṣa.
The whole universe is created as a graduated staircase, not to degrade us, not to make us suffer. The suffering—like a mother when she is punishing her child, who suffers more, the child or the mother? Mother never wants to punish, but she is forced to do that for the good of the—for the welfare of the—for the future welfare of the child. And that is the play of the Śyāmā Mā.
The Song of the Kites
And there is a beautiful song:
In the world's busy marketplace, O Mother Śyāmā,
Thou art flying kites.High up they soar on the wind of hope,
Held fast by Māyā's string. Their frames are human skeletons,
Their sides are the three guṇas made, But all their curious workmanship
Is merely for ornament. Upon the kite strings
Thou hast rubbed the mañjā paste of worldliness
So as to make each straining strand. All the more sharp and strong.
Out of a hundred thousand kites, At least but one or two,
At best one or two break free, And Thou dost laugh and clap Thy hands, O Mother,
Watching them on favouring winds. Says Ramprasad:
The kites set loose will steadily Be borne away to the infinite
Across the sea of the world.
Conclusion
This is Śyāmā Mā Udāsī—the Divine Mother is playing kites. Beautiful ideas—we will talk about them in our next class.
Closing Prayer
OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PAHADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU
ओम् जननीम् शर्दाम् देवेम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुरुम् पादपत्मे तयोस्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुरु मुहु
May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna!