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

The Master and Keshav

October 27, 1882

The Divine Mother's Play

It was Friday, the day of the Lakṣmī Pūjā. Keśava Candra Sen had arranged a boat trip on the Gaṅgā for Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. He was taken onto the boat, and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was continuously talking.

We are in the midst of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's description of the Śakti. This is one of the most wonderful topics in the world. If we really analyze it, we see that the whole of India had been submerged in the darkest of darknesses.

The Problem of Undigested Advaita Vedānta

Advaita Vedānta—undigested Advaita Vedānta—had darkened the whole of India. All of us know everybody touts māyā: "Everything is magic, illusion." And at the same time, they will be doing everything that is opposite to spiritual life.

Even Advaitins will have to follow some power which is called Śakti. And this is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had been describing even in the earlier classes. Especially in our last class, we have been talking about the beautiful song.

The Song of the Kite

What is that song? "O Mother, you are throwing a number of kites." The whole world—creation, preservation, and reabsorption—everything is a play of the Divine Mother.

Out of a hundred thousand kites (this is called the song of the kite), one or two at best become free. And you clap in glee: "Oh, there goes one!"

You know, in India—I think in other places also—playing of the kites and trying to cut each other's kite is a wonderful game. But some great saint poet (not a poet, but a saint poet, a realized soul) had turned it into the greatest truths. Out of a hundred thousand kites, only one or two go free.

And this has been echoed by the Bhagavad Gītā:

मनुष्याणां सहस्रेषु कश्चिद्यतति सिद्धये ।

यततामपि सिद्धानां कश्चिन्मां वेत्ति तत्त्वत: ॥ ३ ॥

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu

kaścid yatati siddhaye

yatatām api siddhānāṁ

kaścin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ

Out of a hundred thousand people—people means here only those who are striving—only one or two succeed. Only one or two. How do they succeed? That is the subject matter.

The Necessity of Śraddhā

Do they succeed because they are doing sādhana? Even to strive, to turn our mind away from this world, to have strong faith in the teachings of these scriptures, which is called śraddhā—and incidentally, I spoke many times, Hindus have a funeral ceremony called śrāddha. And this śrāddha is the outcome of this word śraddhā.

The Meaning of Śraddhā

Śraddhā means faith. What is the faith involved in this ceremony, sacrament? This is called antyeṣṭi, the last pūjā for a human being. Śraddhā means what? Faith in the scriptures.

What do the scriptures tell? There is nobody who can die. There is nothing called permanent non-existence. Those whom we call dead have but given up this body and gone to some other place. It may be the same earth, or they can also go below, or they can also go and be born in higher lokas. And incidentally, the loka is only a setup in the mind. There is no world outside the mind at all.

The True Purpose of Śrāddha

So our ancestors who are dead—they are not dead. They are not non-existent. They are there. And if we can pray for them and express our gratitude, śrāddha is a ceremony where we express our gratitude in the form of prayers on behalf of those people, whether they are good or evil. But we pray: "I am very, very grateful. Without you, I would not have survived. So I want to remember you. I want to offer my prayers to God"—because only prayers are offered to God only. And if anyone can help you, only God can help you.

This is the exterior, outside meaning of the word śrāddha. But the real meaning, which I discussed about many times, is that they are not dead. Death is not a fact of life. They are there someplace we cannot recognize, because the dress is totally changed. But they are alive. There is nothing called death.

The Power of Prayer

But if we pray, our prayers will definitely reach them. And we pray to God. And whatever we offer is only a medium through which our prayers are sent. And if God is pleased, He can bestow His grace upon them. He can save them. He can reduce their sins. Or even the best prayer: He can bestow upon them bhakti, jñāna, vairāgya. This is the real prayer.

That "let them be saved from hell" or "let them be sent to heaven"—this is a prayer for continuation of saṁsāra. No! Let them become free. Every day, every Hindu ought to pray, do some japa, and offer it to his or her own chosen deity. Say: "O Mother, O Lord, please bless my parents wherever they are. Let them develop devotion to you. Give them shelter at your lotus feet. And if it is possible, free them. Give them mukti." That is the real prayer.

That is all we can do. Wholeheartedly, if we pray, definitely God's grace will descend upon them. But the main purpose of śrāddha is: there is no death. Therefore, I am also not going to die. And if I don't die, those who are my children or my friends, they can also pray for me. And this is the strong faith.

The Divine Mother's Līlā

If a person takes bath in the Gaṅgā, repeats God's name, and then ultimately surrenders to God's will—this is what the song is indicating. "O Mother, you are playing this game called sṛṣṭi, sthiti, saṁhāra."

Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-vināśānāṁ śakti-bhūte sanātani

Guṇāśraye guṇamaye nārāyaṇi namo'stu te

But then the next śloka from this Durgā Saptaśatī is the most important śloka. In fact, I consider the whole of this, beginning from the sarvamaṅgalā until the third śloka, is the most marvelous sthuti. It is the essence of all the scriptures. Sarvamaṅgalā maṅgalye: Whatever happens in this world, whatever is happening, it is all for the beautiful auspiciousness—whatever the Divine Mother does. And it is Her līlā.

Sṛṣṭi, sthiti, laya is Her līlā. This is what in this song is called: "You are playing with 100,000 kites."

The Nature of Happiness and Suffering

So we experience so many things. And especially we remember—we rarely remember when we are happy. This is one point I want to emphasize again and again. If someone is apt to complain that "Oh, my whole life is full of suffering," you just ask that person one question: "How much time are you happy? How much time really did you suffer?" And we will be maybe shocked to hear the answer. Our periods of happiness are much, much more than our period of unhappiness.

How do we know? Because how much time had passed without our remembrance? How much time had passed? If we had been suffering, even one millisecond of suffering brings us again and again—we become aware of passing of the time. Rather, non-passing of the time. But we have passed so many years, and we don't remember. And not remembering time is equivalent to joy or happiness. Think over it.

The Jurisdiction of Śakti

So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling this fact: Whatever happens, that's Mother's will.

Sakali Tomari Iccha

IcchaMoyi Tara Tumi

But in the end, he is telling—Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling—you cannot go beyond the jurisdiction of Śakti. Because what we call the whole saṁsāra, what we call in Advaita Vedāntic language māyā—this creation, preservation, and dissolution—is nothing but the play of the Divine Mother.

And then if it is the Divine Mother, then we are still in the realm of the Divine Mother. That's what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling—this greatest of the truths, Vedāntic truth: You cannot go beyond the jurisdiction of the Śakti.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Vision at Maṇikarṇikā Ghāṭ

And in this connection, we have to remember: Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had a vision at Maṇikarṇikā Ghāṭ in Kāśī that Śiva is moving from one funeral pyre to the other and whispering the tāraka mantra.

Tāraka mantra means saving mantra. Saving mantra means: "You are OK. Don't worry, I will make you reborn next birth in more fortunate circumstances." No. Śiva says, "I will give you mukti." And he gives the mantra. Which mantra? "You are not jīva, you are Śiva."

And then immediately the person's intense vyākulatā—what does he do after hearing this? This is what is called commentary upon this vision. Śiva is moving, after initiating every jīva. Remember, what is dead is only body. But the jīva is waiting. And Śiva goes and tells: "You are Śiva."

The Role of Mahākālī

Immediately—they are not ordinary words, Śiva's words—they will have electronic effect. But then, how many aeons of time have we committed so many—some good, mostly bad? So they are all binding us. We are caught, as it were, in a huge roll of Mahāmāyā's net. And Śiva said: "You are Śiva." And the jīva knows "I am Śiva." But then, pūrva janma saṁskāra will not go.

That is where Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's vision comes to help us understand. Immediately, Mahākālī—because Śiva said, "You are mukta. You are free"—just like when a person is imprisoned in the jail, the judge or king or whoever says, "I pardon you," and immediately the news goes to the jailers. And the jailers run and open, and they give back his own dress, and the person is escorted to the gates so that he will be free, walk out free.

That is exactly what happens. The Divine Mother Kālī removes all the bonds with her khaḍga. That is why, whenever we see the image of Mother Kālī, we see four hands.

The Symbolism of Kālī's Four Hands

Right side: sṛṣṭi, uplifted hands—"You have no fear." That is called abhaya hasta. Then, who is maintaining? Divine Mother. That is called varada hasta. Whatever the child wants, the Divine Mother gives.

But on the left side, there is the sign of death. Mother is holding a skull. And there is a sword in the uplifted hands. Where there is birth, there will be death. And don't think that a person or a jīva has to live hundreds of years. We don't know. According to the past karma, a person may live only for a few milliseconds, or a few days, few months, few years. We don't know.

That doesn't depend upon natural growth, even though we see that one. But when death is going to come, nobody knows. That is why: "O man, death is awaiting you. Jīb sājo soṁore." Be prepared to battle with mṛtyu.

What is the battle? Not to give in, but to conquer death. How does one conquer death? Only by ātma-jñāna. And that ātma-jñāna, Śiva gives. But if Śakti doesn't cut the bonds, there is no hope. But there is nothing to fear. Śiva himself is awakening the person, and he surrenders himself. That surrender is the word that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's message every time.

Saranagata dinarta paritrana parayane

sarvasyarti hare devi narayani namo stute

This is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa wants to expound.

The Realm of Śakti

But though you reason all your life, unless you are established in samādhi, you cannot go beyond the jurisdiction of Śakti. Even when you say, "I am meditating" or "I am contemplating," still you are moving in the realm of Śakti, within its power. Because the mind, with the help of which we want to meditate, contemplate, or do whatever action (good or evil), Śakti is there behind. A person cannot do anything without Śakti.

The Necessity of Śakti

There are so many people—we want to do wonderful things, but no śakti. There are even more number of people, and all of us must be counted among these people. If I can just look angrily at this fellow, and that fellow will be reduced like Bhasmasura's touch—that also is not possible. We want to do good. So we can show sympathy, but nothing is going to happen. Why? Because there is no śakti.

But if people like Swami Vivekananda speak, immediately śakti starts flowing. But then we have to understand: they can only give inspiration. As somebody said so beautifully about greatness of life, "What is a great life? One percent inspiration and 99% perspiration."

So we can get—we are all getting—inspiration through the teachings of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, Swami Vivekananda. But where is the perspiration? What does perspiration mean? Perspiration means transforming our life.

The Practice of Mantras

That is why I have dealt upon this subject many times. I want to deal: So suppose some spiritual aspirant—I am not talking about ordinary persons, all of us who have been initiated, and who are more or less struggling to progress in spiritual life—we go on having faith in guru's, guru-given mantra. But this mantra is not accompanied by another form of mantra. What do I mean?

So this is said: Guru gives the name of God. That is for what purpose? "If you bless me, then I will transform my life with your blessings, with your inspiration. I will not fail." That is the faith.

The Secondary Mantra

Supposing someone is initiated in Kṛṣṇa mantra or Kālī mantra—you go on doing. What do people understand? "My guru has given me the mantra. The more I do japa, the more I meditate, the more I am progressing in spiritual life."

But if we really perceive what is happening in these persons—not look merely, but with that eye of discrimination—nothing is happening in the life of these people. Why? Because they are not doing japa of secondary mantras. I will just give you one or two examples. You are all intelligent people. You can create your own specific mantras, because you know best what is the greatest obstruction.

So what is the second mantra? After doing your normal prayers, japa of the guru-datta mantra (the mantra given by the guru), then you start finding out: "What is my greatest fault?"

Creating Personal Mantras

Supposing a person is a short-tempered person, then create your own mantra: "From now onwards, I will try to not be temperamental, short-tempered. I will try to put up. I will not allow my mind to get agitated. Let circumstances be whatever they are. Someone criticizes me. Somebody praises me. It makes no difference in my life. Other people's words are totally useless. So if somebody praises me or finds fault with me, I am not going to react. I am not going to be a slave to other people's words. They are simply words. They don't mean it. And then they themselves forget it after a millisecond when their attention is turned away."

So the whole life is a life of experience. Turn it. Let us turn it for our advantage. So what is the secondary japa? "Today, I will keep my mind calm and joyful. Calm. I will not be affected by circumstances—be it cold, be it hot. Or I encounter some negative experiences or positive experiences. I am not going to be agitated, moved by those circumstances."

Understanding Karma Phala

According to my karma phala, things will happen—not because other persons are the cause. Nobody can give us happiness or unhappiness. It is only our own pūrva janma karma phala that we have to go through happiness or unhappiness. This is the veda-vākya. But our experiences have to come through maybe a good family, maybe a third-class family, maybe a poor family or rich family.

So the other people, objects, circumstances—they are medium through which we gain this experience. So if I have faith in God, I must have faith in the scriptures. If I have faith in the scriptures, the scripture is clearly telling: everyone's life is nothing but the manifestation of one's own past karma. But at the same time, every second is a new opportunity to change our life. We should never forget: we are the architects of our own karma.

Customizing Your Japa

So the secondary mantra: If I am greedy, what is necessary? "I want to live a happy life. Whatever is necessary, I have a right to pray to God. But beyond that, I am not going to carry a single penny. I can't even carry this body, much less carry anything that belongs, a bank balance." No. What is carried? Only dharma and dharma—puṇya and pāpa, nothing else.

So let our japa be molded according to our necessity. If somebody is greedy: "Oh Lord, let me be satisfied. Let me be peaceful. I don't need to be greedy." If a person is suffering from anger: "Let me not be so angry. Let me gradually reduce. Let me not be angry. Let me not be angry." This should be the secondary japa.

So you can create your own mantras according to your necessity. And God has given each one of us that understanding. Otherwise, we have to pray - Dhiyo Yonaḥ Prachodayāt. So this is what we must do. This is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling.

The Example of Totāpuri

Nobody can go beyond the realm of Śakti. Everybody is moving. Even samādhi is the result of Divine Mother's grace. And I emphasize this again and again and again. And as an example, not to find fault, not to criticize, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's own guru—he thought he attained nirvikalpa samādhi. And Mother understood: "My child doesn't recognize me. Because if he recognizes, he will thank: 'Mother, it is all Thy grace. I would not have been able to achieve anything.'"

But Totāpuri is telling: "I am a man of samādhi, and I am suffering from this stomach ache." "Arre Baba, if you are a man of samādhi, why don't you enter into samādhi? If you are in samādhi, you will not be conscious of your body. Then you won't be suffering. You will be swimming, as we say, in Brahmānanda sāgara." But no. "I am suffering. And I tried to meditate. I can't meditate. Previously, I could enter into samādhi. Now I can't even meditate"—worse than our meditation. How is it possible? Because he did not understand.

Totāpuri's Attempted Suicide

"So I will commit suicide. I know I am Brahman, so I am not going to commit suicide. This is not suicide. I am a Brahma-jñānī." So we know the incident. Innumerable times we read it. We heard about it. So he swam. He wanted to drown his body in the sacred Gaṅgā. But daivi maya - there was not sufficient water in the Gaṅgā to drown his body. No doubt his body was a huge, bulky body. No doubt about it. But there was not sufficient water.

So he walked from Dakṣiṇeśvara side to Belur Math side. And then the Divine Mother, out of her infinite grace—and how did that grace come about? Because of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Who was Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? The manifestation of the Divine Mother.

The Guru-Disciple Relationship

So out of his own disciple—we should not say his own disciple. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa approached his guru Sāndīpani, Sāndīpani laughed and said: "Lord, are you trying to play with me? I know you are Jagadguru, and I have become a small guru, small bubble, only because of your grace. And you want to pretend that you are my disciple?"

Kṛṣṇa said: "You are right. But if I don't become a disciple, other people follow me and will never become disciples. So it is not for your sake—to set what is called sampradāya, guru-śiṣya sampradāya, the tradition of the guru and śiṣya. And in Vedānta, this guru-śiṣya sampradāya is the greatest." I spoke about it many times and will do so whenever occasion comes in future.

Totāpuri's Realization

So Totāpuri understood: "If everything is Brahman—your body, your mind, your everything is nothing but Brahman—and I am that Brahman, you don't owe anything. If you are having stomach ache, it is like I am having stomach ache, because your body is me, your mind is me."

At once, by the grace of the Divine Mother (dhiyo yonaḥ pracodayāt), his buddhi understood that "I succeeded in my sādhana—that I had even a desire for spiritual life, and I got a sadguru, I got the right teaching, and I succeeded in practicing—is all because of the Divine Mother."

Such a beautiful commentary he gives in his The Great Master: Out of her infinite grace, the Divine Mother started removing all the pebbles, thorns, and making the path extraordinarily easy for the child to run. And the child is running, and it is getting pride: "Oh! I am able to run unlike other children. I never stumbled. I never fell. I never got hurt"—unable to know the Mother was sweeping away every single obstacle that he could have, should have encountered, and made the path smooth.

But now he understood: "It is all kṛpā, kṛpā, kṛpā." And he came back completely at peace. And what is the result? Psychosomatic effect. His stomach problem totally got removed.

The Healing of Body and Mind

So if the stomach problem is a real problem, he would have understood intellectually that "this problem belongs to the body. I have to do something about it." But then this was created by the Mother so that he could understand. And he did understand. And he came back the same way. The description doesn't show whether still the water was—probably it was like that. So he came back, completely radiant with joy, healthy.

Next day, as soon as dawn came, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa came running because he saw the previous night what happened to his guru. But he was shocked—completely healthy, radiant. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa must have questioned through his eyes, and the guru made him sit down with a sign and narrated what happened.

And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa started clapping his hands and dancing joyfully: "See! How many times I told you it is my Divine Mother! This is whom I am clapping, whose name I am taking!"

Totāpuri's Surrender to the Divine Mother

Now for the first time, Totāpuri completely surrendered himself to the Divine Mother—here in the form of Dakṣiṇeśvara Kālī. He said: "I never understood. Your Mother has made me understand. Come, let us go and take her permission. I have been thinking of leaving this place." For one year he was thinking of leaving the place. He could not.

So he went—first time—and he must have, with the new understanding, and the Divine Mother appeared to be graciously giving permission: "You could not go because this was the lesson I wanted to teach you." And he learned the lesson. Now he could enter into nirvikalpa samādhi at any time he wants.

In fact, it is said Totāpuri Mahārāj lived for many years even after Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's passing away. And some of our swamis went and then met Totāpuri Mahārāj near Kurukṣetra, where Totāpuri Mahārāj joined a sannyāsī maṭha and he became the head. And they also say he knew how to convert metals into gold and only used it for the sake of feeding the monks who were residing. Sometimes it is said 700 monks—and to feed 700 hefty Punjabi monks is not an easy affair.

If a South Indian fellow, just one-fourth of the chapati they make in North India would be more than sufficient for three days! But these fellows, they can go on eating 25 such thick chapatis and digest it. To feed them they required money. Many times devotees used to feed them, but sometimes there would be nothing. At that time, Totāpuri Mahārāj would just create a little bit of gold and through that purchase provisions, etc.

But it should not be—first of all, such things do exist. Secondly, they are not meant for becoming selfish and rich and one's own enjoyment. Therefore, that vidyā of converting metals into gold has totally disappeared by now.

Līlā Dhyāna: Meditation on Divine Play

Now what is Rāmakṛṣṇa saying? This is līlā dhyāna. Many times we refer to the same incidents, but this is how we have to meditate every day. In fact, every millisecond.

So Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling: Unless you are established in samādhi—and how do you establish? How does one get established in samādhi? By the grace of the Divine Mother. Only by her grace she permits: "Now you can go out of my jurisdiction"—just like obtaining a visa or a passport to go.

So Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling: Even when you say "I am meditating," that also depends upon the grace of the Divine Mother. Nobody can meditate. Faith will not come unless Mother is gracious -

Yaa Devi Sarva-Bhuteshu Shraddhaa-Rupena Samsthitaa |

Namas-Tasyai Namas-Tasyai Namas-Tasyai Namo Namah ||

And in which form?

Yaa Devi Sarva-Bhuteshu Bhraanti-Rupena Samsthitaa |

Namas-Tasyai Namas-Tasyai Namas-Tasyai Namo Namah ||

Among many of us, the Divine Mother is manifesting in the form of delusion. But that is also her play.

You may say naturally: "Why is she making me suffer? Why can't she manifest in the form of knowledge, devotion, śraddhā?" Then the answer is: This is her play. Actually, it is not you—it is she. Your body belongs to her. She is your body. She is your mind. She is the whole saṁsāra.

The Dream Analogy

It is just like in our dreams: What is our dream world? I become my dream world, and I recreate myself. I recreate everybody else. Only upon waking up I realize it is the "I" that appeared in my dream—is also me. The "you" that appeared in my dream is also I only. That is the truth that is called Śakti.

Brahman and Śakti Are Identical

And then Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling: Brahman and Śakti are identical. So when Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says you cannot go beyond the jurisdiction of Śakti, we have to understand: there is no difference between Brahman and Śakti.

So we cannot go beyond the jurisdiction of Brahman. Instead of saying Brahman or Śakti, if we use the word God, then it will be universally satisfactory. It is God who is the creator, the God who is maintaining, the God who is reabsorbing. Whom is he creating? Himself. Whom is he maintaining? Himself. Whom is he again taking back? Himself. This is called līlā dhyāna.

If we think it is absolutely real, then it is called world creation. If we think it is just like a drama, a cinema, that is called līlā. So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says there are only two states: Remain without līlā. Remain with līlā. One is Brahman. Another is līlā. One is nitya. Another is līlā.

The Example of Fire and Its Burning Power

Thus, Brahman and Śakti are identical. If you accept the one, you must accept the other. It is like fire and its power to burn. This is a very classical example given. So if you accept fire, what is fire? It is not having a quality. A mango is green. A mango is sweet. A mango is ripe. This is called a quality. Mango is separate. Quality is separate. Intellectually, of course, we can separate. Actually, we cannot separate.

You can't take a knife and then cut the mango and say, "This is mango and this is greenness. This is mango. This is ripeness." You can't do that. But intellectually, this is called quality. Now the point is: the substance and the quality can be separated.

But if you take fire, fire is not having a quality of burning. Fire IS burning. A person, for example, is a good person, charitable person, liberal person, is a saint. So he has got a quality—liberality—or he is a miser. These are qualities. You can separate. A miserly person can become liberal. A liberal person can become miserly.

Inseparable Attributes

But you cannot think of certain things: Sun and its light. Milk and its whiteness. Fire and its burning power. Water and its wetness. There are two names for the same substance. That is how we have to understand.

You must recognize its power to burn also. You cannot think of fire without its power to burn, nor can you think of the power to burn without fire. You cannot conceive of the sun's rays without the sun, nor can you conceive of the sun without its rays. But usually we say "the light of the sun"—the sixth case. It is not like that.

What is milk like? Oh, you say it is something white. You cannot think of the milk without the whiteness, and again you cannot think of the whiteness without the milk. Thus, one cannot think of Brahman without Śakti.

Why cannot one think of Brahman without Śakti? Because this thinking—thinking is done by whom? By the mind. And the mind originated how? Because of Brahman. And the mind is sustained, endowed with the power to be aware, the capacity to think and to be alive. By whose power? By the power of Brahman.

The Limitation of the Mind

So if we are saying "this is nirguna Brahman"—Brahman without any qualification—and who is telling? The mind is telling. If the mind is saying it, it cannot be without qualification. Saying "Brahman without qualification" means you are endowing Brahman with that qualification called "no qualification." Whatever you do with the mind, it is qualified, it is limited by time, space, and object.

So one cannot think of the absolute without the relative, or of the relative without the absolute.

The Primordial Power at Play

And then Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa continues: This primordial power is ever at play. She is creating, preserving, and destroying in play, as it were. A profound statement.

So when a person attains liberation, how? Not "attaining" liberation. Nobody need attain liberation. Suppose there is a rich person. He is dreaming that he lost all his wealth. And then he is dreaming: "Oh, I have become a poor man. I was very rich." Then somebody wakes him up, and then he finds nothing has been lost.

He may be dreaming: "I played with stock market. I thought I am a very intelligent person. I gave the whole thing to AI to speculate, and AI wiped off all my savings. Now I am a pauper. Oh my God! What happened?" And then when you are thus struggling, grieving, somebody wakes you up or you wake up, and then you realize nothing happened. This understanding—"I have not lost anything. Temporarily I lost the knowledge that I am Brahman"—that is called attaining Brahman. Re-cognition. Recognizing that forgotten truth: "I am Brahman." That is called attainment.

The Four Types of Karma Phala

So in our last class I told you: Karma phala is only of four types. A new creation, and that which is called utpatti. And it is there—some object is there which I want. But it is not here. It is available only in the next village or next town. That is called āpti. I have to go there or send somebody and get it.

Third is: I have got a beautiful chair. It is 10 years old and one of its legs has fallen. So I have to replace it or attach it. So that is called vikṛtā. Then I have got an old brass pot and it has become stained. So I have to bring some polish and then restore it to its prestige, pristine condition, original condition by polishing it, remove the stains. This is called saṁskāra.

So utpatti, āpti, vikāra, and saṁskāra. Every result of any action falls only under these four. But Brahman is never born. It is available everywhere. I don't need to go anywhere. It doesn't become old and some of its legs come out. No. And it never becomes stained because it is unattached. What does it mean? Like ākāśa, like this space.

Why? Because staining is always the result of two things getting mixed up. Iron and oxygen. When they get mixed up then it becomes stained. But the point is: Brahman is one without a second. Advitīya. So therefore there is nothing. Brahman is ananta. It is all-pervading. So there is no second object. And Brahman is nitya. That means not affected by time. Even if some stains come, it is only because of the effect of time.

The Recognition of Brahman

Therefore, "I am Brahman." That means: I have not become, I have fallen from Brahman and I have become a body and I have become old and like this I spent billions of lives and one day I became awakened and I practiced sādhana and I obtained the grace of God and I became Brahman. No, no, sir! That ajñāna, removal of ignorance, is called attainment of my real nature. Just as a person wakes up or is woken up. And who wakes us up? The grace of God. How does the grace of God come? In the form of guru.

The True Understanding of Guru

Whenever we have a sadguru—and here also I go on emphasizing—it doesn't matter who our guru is. He may be an ordinary person. He may be a great sādhu. It doesn't really matter. "I have chosen this person as my guru. I decided that this person, I will choose this person as my guru and I decided to look upon him as my God." It has nothing to do with him. Let him act, react, whichever way he likes. That is his headache, not my headache. Whatever way you react towards me, I will react to you as if you are my God. This is real understanding about guru.

This is called Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu. Usually what we say: "Viṣṇu has become guru." No, what we say: "I made my guru into Brahmā, into Viṣṇu, and I will do this until—supposing I am wrong. If I am wrong, I don't care. But I consider my guru as my God."

The Psychological Effect of Devotion to Guru

You see what happens psychologically when I am thinking of my guru: "Where is my guru?" With me. "How long will he be with you?" All the time.

Eklavya was refused by Droṇācārya. He said: "If you don't accept me, that is your headache. But I have decided to make you my guru." He went, fashioned—maybe, we are just imagining and expanding our imagination—maybe it was a very crude image of Droṇācārya. That is for whom? That crude Droṇācārya. For others. For Eklavya, he is the most beautiful figure.

As we say in our language, the young one, baby of a crow is the most beautiful bird in the whole world. Not only bird, he is the most beautiful creature in the whole world. And the mother proves it. It will try to protect its baby even at the cost of its own death. Any mother will do that, should do that.

Making the Guru One's Ideal

So, what is meant is that I decided to make this person my guru, my ideal, and I will practice. He is my target practice. Target practice in the sense, I want to develop devotion, obedience, looking upon him as God. And what happens to such a person who develops this kind of idea about guru? If I am thinking "this person is my God," then God will manifest through that person. This is the secret of vigraha ārādhana, idol worship.

It is not that anything can be an idol. Mud can be an idol. Wood can be idol. A stone can be an idol. This is beautifully expressed by one of the swamis. He said: "What is—supposing there is a beautiful marble stone and it is cracked all around, but somehow somebody gets hold of it and then what does he do? 'I can make a beautiful figure of Kṛṣṇa.' Then, how does he do it? He chips away non-Kṛṣṇa. He doesn't create Kṛṣṇa. He simply chips away whatever is non-Kṛṣṇa, and what remains, that is Kṛṣṇa."

So we chip away all our old saṁskāras, and the more we do that, the more God manifests. And then God means only truth: satyaṁ, jñānam, anantaṁ brahma. That is what happens. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa worshipped Mother Kālī. It is not Mother Kālī.

The Play of Primordial Power

Many times I told you, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling: "This primordial power is ever at play." Means what? Saṁsāra is nitya, anādi. In Advaitic language, so if one person obtains knowledge and he becomes free, then only his saṁsāra comes to an end. But for other people, what is the proof? Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa attained mukti. Swamiji attained mukti. And I am still in this saṁsāra only.

So for Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, saṁsāra is not there. Only sāra is there. Some sāra, and there is no saṁsāra for some sāra. But Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa got all the sāra in the world.

So that primordial power is ever at play. Every word has its own play. Means what? A person is playing the role of a beggar. Is he a beggar? He is joyfully playing. He knows: "I am a rich man, but I am reveling myself by playing just like a born beggar."

So "my Mother is creating, preserving, and destroying in play, as it were. And this power is called Kālī. Kālī is verily Brahman. Brahman is verily Kālī. It is one and the same reality."

When Do We Call It Brahman or Kālī?

So why do we think this is Brahman? When do we call it Brahman? When do we call it Kālī? When we think of it, this primordial power as inactive—that is to say, not engaged in the acts of creation, preservation, and destruction—then we call it Brahman. But when it engages in these activities, then we call it Kālī or Śakti. The reality is one and the same. The difference is in name and form.

In fact, many people misunderstand. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was a votary, a devotee of Kālī. But what is Kālī? She is called—as we discussed earlier—Nityakālī, Bhadrakālī, Maśānakālī, Chinnamastā, Umāhoti, Sarasvatī, or Mahālakṣmī. It is only she. In Durgā Saptaśatī we get: Nārāyaṇi, namo'stu te. Durgā is Nārāyaṇī. Nārāyaṇī is Durgā. This is what we need to understand.

The Etymological Meaning of Kālī

But if we understand the etymological meaning of the word Kālī: Kāla thought of as a Goddess—that is called Kālī. Kāla means time. Brahman is Mahākāla, infinity. When infinity is perceived as segmented because of the limitation of the mind, that is called kāla. Kāla means what? Time. Time means what? Activity.

Every activity falls into three types only. I am hungry, so I bring food materials, procure food materials, and I cook it and I eat it and I digest it and I go about playing, as it were, and again I become hungry. This is called sṛṣṭi, sthiti, and laya. Every activity begins—called sṛṣṭi; continues—called sthiti; comes to an end—called laya. It is: every activity is only sṛṣṭi, sthiti, laya.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling: "Not engaged in the acts of creation, preservation, and destruction, then it deserves the name Brahman." Brahman means Śakti without activity. But when it engages in these activities, we call it Kālī or Śakti. Kālī means Brahman with activity is Kālī. Kālī without activity is Brahman.

Conclusion

These marvelous ideas we will have to meditate upon, make them our own.

Closing Prayer