Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 155 on 13-January-2026

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

Setting the Scene: The Boat Trip

Sri Ramakrishna is talking with the Brahmo devotees. They were all on a boat trip. Keśab Chandra Sen had arranged this boat trip, and some time before, Keśab Chandra Sen and Vijaykrishna Goswami both had differences of opinion, and Vijaykrishna Goswami had left the Brahma Samaj. But on this occasion, he was also there. A profound spiritual talk was going on, and we had discussed some of the points earlier.

The Question of Sannyāsa

And one of the doubts that comes is: should everyone become a sannyāsin, a monk? Without that, without sannyāsa, is it possible to realize God? Sri Ramakrishna is clarifying one of the most marvelous answers he was giving: sannyāsa or gṛhasthāśrama has no relevance at all. So there can be a good gṛhastha or a bad gṛhastha, householder. There can be a good sannyāsin and there can be also very bad sannyāsins.

An Incident of Unconventional Behavior

Sri Ramakrishna himself has quoted many instances when a rich man had given a feast and Sri Ramakrishna was invited. And the monks—Sri Ramakrishna started eating without waiting for certain conventions. There is a convention that when some large number of monks are invited to come and participate in a feast, then before the feast starts, there will be probably discourses on spiritual topics. And even before, while the food is being served, it is the tradition to read. Everybody chants aloud some of his favorite ślokas from the Upaniṣads, Mahābhārata, etc. And just before food is started, the 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā has to be recited completely, which consists of 20 verses.

But Sri Ramakrishna did not wait for any of these things, and he started eating. Of course, from the conventional point of view, it is not correct to do it, because whenever we are in a company, however great we are, we should not break the rules and regulations. We should not draw attention, because ordinary people would never understand.

Seeing the behavior of Sri Ramakrishna, the devotees, the sannyāsins, started criticizing: "This person had started eating without following the Gītā recitation, etc., etc." But how do they know what was the condition? It is not one time—Sri Ramakrishna has surrendered himself to the Divine Mother, only 24 hours a day. That is called ātmaharpaṇam.

The Concept of Self-Immolation

There is a beautiful hymn called Ātmaharpaṇastuti—so, self-immolation. It is said Pavahārī Bābā used to perform these homas with clarified butter, etc. But when the time came, he lit the fire, and when it is blazing nicely, he himself immolated himself because he was a realized soul. It is permitted for realized souls to give up their body after realization. Why? Because the whole purpose of a body, and of course the mind, is to progress in spiritual life and to realize God. So once that purpose is served, then there is no use of that physical body. By the will of God, some people make—some people might give it up.

In the Himalayas, we have certain spots where when a person thinks, "I am old, I don't want to be a burden to other people," and they can commit suicide. They don't put a rope round their neck, but they sit at the edge of a huge high cliff, and the wind is so powerful that the wind blows. His body—it could be there for a few days, or a powerful wind can topple the body, and the person falls down. But what was the person doing? He absorbs himself in meditation. It is allowed for certain monks, not to everybody—for certain monks.

Who Can Realize God?

So, there is no distinction: who can realize God, who cannot realize God? Children can do that, old people can do that, men can do, women can do, brāhmaṇas can do, or non-Brahmins can do. It is a matter of spiritual practice. It has nothing to do with anything. That's what Sri Ramakrishna is telling.

King Janaka's Realization

"Why should not one be able to realize God in this world? King Janaka had such realization."

Here is a marvelous certificate by God himself, an avatāra of God, that King Janaka had such realization—he attained God realization. Whereas some of the traditional followers of Śaṅkarācārya dare to say, even contradict Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa's words. What is that word?

Karmaṇaivahi saṃsiddhim āsthitā janakādayaḥ. Lokasaṅgraham evāpi sampaśyan kartum arhasi.

This is the verse which Sri Ramakrishna was referring to when he said King Janaka had such a realization. Whereas the traditional followers of Śaṅkarācārya, they interpret it in a very peculiar way, not acceptable.

The Debate on Karma Yoga

The Lord is telling: so many people have attained perfection by worshipping me through what? Karma. Karma means not work—karma yoga. Seeing Brahman in everybody and serving them is called karma samādhi.

Brahmārpaṇaṃ brahma haviḥ brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam. Brahmaiva tena gantavyaṃ brahmakarma samādhinā.

Karma yoga is a proven method to realize God. Whereas here, saṃsiddhi means perfection—that is the literal meaning. Whereas these followers, they go on telling: saṃsiddhi means the person had attained purity of the mind, and that is it. He has to do further—approach a guru, śravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsana. They never accept that karma yoga can take one to God.

That is what Sri Ramakrishna brought in this world in this incarnation: any yoga is a path, provided a person is longing, yearning to go back to its origin, rather, we want to go back to our parents, mother and father.

The Question of Liberation

And these followers, they go to the extent of saying that even Īśvara cannot give liberation. He is also a bound jīva, great jīva, Paramātmā, but he cannot give liberation. Whereas Ramakrishna said, anything is possible by the Divine Mother's will. She can give liberation even to the worst of the worst of the people, because it is her will, her grace, and these people do not accept it.

We, the followers of Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Holy Mother—Holy Mother definitively says, God realization is possible only by the Mother's grace. Only she can cut the bonds of a jīva and liberate a person. Sri Ramakrishna is emphasizing this one.

Ram Prasad's Songs

And in this connection, Sri Ramakrishna is recollecting a funny incident in the life of Ram Prasad. One of the greatest devotees that was born in India, in Bengal, was Ram Prasad. And he was also a born poet. He had composed so many marvelous songs. His particular tradition in which people sing his particular compositions is also named after him: Prasadi Raga. It is all about the Divine Mother.

The Framework of Illusion

So what happened? Once Ram Prasad described the world as a mere framework of illusion. And that is what Sri Ramakrishna is referring. And then he is remarking: "But if one loves God's hallowed feet, then this very world is a mansion of mirth. Here I can eat, here drink, and make merry."

"Janaka's might was unsurpassed. What did he lack of the world or the spirit, holding to one as well as the other? He drank his milk from a brimming cup." It's a beautiful Bengali expression. That means enjoyed the world. He also obtained the grace of the Divine Mother.

The Paradox of Worldly Enjoyment

But every ordinary worldly person tries to enjoy. There is a psychological truth here. A worldly person cannot enjoy the world. Why? A worldly person is one who is terribly attached to the world. And if some disaster—even the smallest disaster—takes place, his mind will get very highly upset. Whereas only a spiritual person can take it in his stride. "Okay, these are all things that come and go, and everybody experiences at some point of time or the other." And that is what Sri Ramakrishna is trying to quote.

So hearing the expression of Ram Prasad that this world is a world of delusion, is an act of delusion—so he was a poet. There was another poet, and he gave as a retort. What did he say? "Why, here, this is a place of joy. A devotee of the Divine Mother can eat, can drink, can enjoy the world." So he can have both bhoga and also yoga. That is what Sri Ramakrishna is telling.

It doesn't mean we will have to rush and then try to become devotees of Divine Mother and willingly enter into the network of mahāmāyā. It should be gradually developed. This is bhakti mārga.

The Path to Becoming Like Janaka

Now having referred to King Janaka, Sri Ramakrishna is remarking: "But one cannot be a King Janaka all of a sudden. Janaka at first practiced much austerity in solitude."

What is Sri Ramakrishna telling? That it is not easy to become a devotee of God—whether devotee of Viṣṇu, Śiva or Divine Mother, it is one and the same. One cannot be a King Janaka all of a sudden. Janaka at first practiced much austerity. Then only he attained that detachment.

Janaka's Detachment

If you remember, once the guru wanted to show to the other disciples how great this Janaka was. He was a small boy. He was in a gurukula along with other students. And by the guru's power, the whole palace of Janaka appeared to be in flames, going up. But everybody is looking. So many precious things were there in that palace. But King Janaka was completely unmoved. He was watching.

Then the guru asked, "Janaka, are you not going to rush and try to save at least as much as you can?" King Janaka said, "Mithilāyāṃ pradagdhāyāṃ na me kiñcit pradahyate"—in the burning city of Mithilā, I have nothing that I have kept there. Nothing belongs to me. Such was his knowledge even when he was a small child.

The Importance of Solitude

So Sri Ramakrishna is taking this every little occasion to illustrate a high spiritual truth. "Even if one lives in the world, one must go into solitude now and then. It will be of great help to a man if he goes away from his family, lives alone and weeps for God even for three days. Even if he thinks of God for one day in solitude, when he has the leisure, that too will do him good."

Modern Day Retreats

Nowadays, many of our ashrams are conducting what is called one-day retreats. The Swamis know how difficult it is for householders to spend more time, but if somebody can get away to some quieter place, even for three days, seven days, whatever, it would be wonderful. But these ashrams, they conduct day-long retreats.

So it starts with some bhajan. And of course, we understand the capacity of the devotees. They cannot spend hours together. Even if they do japa, their mind will be full of worldly thoughts. So break it. So one or two hours japa, then a talk by one of the Swamis, or some bhajans, or some spiritual movie might be shown. So the idea is to make these devotees forget their home, at least for the whole day. Then at the end of the day, they can return home, and slowly they will develop taste for spiritual life and progress further.

Ramakrishna's Second Commandment

Ramakrishna's commandments, second commandment actually, of the five commandments: now and then go into solitude. That's what he is referring here. "Even if one lives in the world, one must go into solitude now and then. It will be of great help to a man if he goes away from his family, lives alone and weeps for God even for three days. Even if he thinks of God for one day in solitude, when he has the leisure, that too will do him good."

The Meaning of Solitude

"People shed a whole jug of tears for wife and children. But who cries for the Lord? Now and then, one must go into solitude and practice spiritual discipline to realize God."

Earlier, I have explained to you what is this solitude. Sri Ramakrishna had used a particular word called nirjanasthāna. Jana means where people are there. Nirjana means no person, no people are present. But it is not only referring to the external atmosphere, but also more importantly, to the inner attitude.

I have nobody who can come to my rescue in this world. As we discussed so many times: nobody can help me sleep, nobody can help me dream, nobody can take away my worries. Nobody can drink for me, eat for me. Nobody can work for me. Maybe a bit of help by supplying some things, carrying a little burden—physically very little other human beings can do. But we have to eat, we have to digest, and we have to take care of our body. Nobody can do.

In this world, when the time comes for departing from this world and death comes, who is going to rescue us? We know what type of life we are leading. And therefore, it's very, very important for us to understand how to live in this world. We have to cultivate that attitude from the beginning that, accepting God, nobody can really help us.

The Parable of Young Trees

And Sri Ramakrishna, a past master in similes, immediately is giving an example. "While the trees on the footpath are young, they must be fenced around. Otherwise, they will be destroyed by cattle and other animals. The fence is necessary only when the tree is young. But it can be taken away. When the trunk is thick and strong, then the tree won't be hurt, even if an elephant is tied to it."

Warning to Spiritual Aspirants

And then Sri Ramakrishna always used to warn his devotees, not only would-be sannyāsins, but even devotees: sādhu sāvadhāna. Sādhu means you aspire to become a holy man. Be extremely careful all the time.

Reverend Swami Yatiśwarānanda Mahārāj used to always emphasize: cultivate continuous awareness.

The Disease of Worldliness

Sri Ramakrishna explains: a disease of worldliness is like typhoid. So, when a person has got this typhoid, he has to be extremely careful. Otherwise, life is in danger. And then he is telling what happens when a person is having typhoid.

"There are huge jugs of water and a jar of savory pickles in the typhoid patient's room. If you want to cure him of his illness, you must remove him from that room. The worldly man is like the typhoid patient. The various objects of enjoyment are the huge jug of water, and the craving for their enjoyment is his thirst. The very thought of pickles makes the mouth water. You don't have to bring them near. And the worldly person is surrounded with them."

What are the pickles? The companionship of woman is the pickles. Hence, treatment in solitude is necessary.

Entering the World After Realization

But Ramakrishna says, "One may enter the world after attaining discrimination and dispassion."

What happens? Ramakrishna, on other occasions also, he referred to this. What is he referring? He is telling: in the ocean of the world, there are six alligators—kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, mātsarya—lust, anger, and so forth.

Protection from the Alligators

"But you need not fear the alligators if you smear your body with turmeric before you go into the water."

Our scientific community has manufactured a particular type of ointment-like or oil-like substance. When people go diving, there may be sharks. But it is said when a person anoints himself with this oil, particular oil, there is something in that which turns these animals of prey away.

That is what Sri Ramakrishna is telling: that in this world, what are they? This world very often is compared by Vedānta as an ocean. That world is called bhavasāgara taraṇa kāraṇahe. So this is only—God can take us across this ocean of this worldliness, bhavasāgara.

The Dangers Within

And there are all sorts of dangerous animals. Sharks are there, whales are there, and so many others. There is one smallest fish called piranha. And it is the most fearless one. And if any living or non-living flesh falls into the water, within milliseconds, it is devoured—very small fish.

And we also saw that there was a beautiful story, the drumbeat of awakening, where the son of a drumbeater, who was a great sage, and he had taken over one night in lieu of his father to watch the whole city. And the king was very worried whether this young boy, who appeared to be extremely dull outwardly, will he be able to do the job. And the king was transformed by the morning because from this young child's, young man's mouth were coming out pearls of wisdom.

One of them is this: kāmasya krodhasya lobhasya dehe tiṣṭhanti taskarāḥ, jñāna ratna apahārāya tasmāt jāgrata jāgrata.

Says, "O men, be careful, very careful"—twice, jāgrata. That's what Swami Vivekananda rolled as the line of Vedānta: uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata.

The Thieves Within

What was he telling? That, O men, there are terrific thieves are roaming all about. Who? And they are not outside. They are within this body. What are they? Kāmasya, krodhasya, lobhasya—only three are mentioned here. Kāma, krodha, lobha. We have to add moha, mada, mātsarya. Tiṣṭhante taskarāḥ. But what does a thief do? He will only steal. So what is that they steal? Jñāna ratna apahārāya. These thieves, robbers, they want to rob people of what? Jñāna ratna—that invaluable jewel of knowledge.

What knowledge? That I am the child of the Divine Mother. I am a devotee of God. Each soul is potentially divine. I am divine. Because the creator of me is saccidānanda. Therefore, the effect cannot be different from the cause. But at this moment, we do not have that knowledge.

And the body—so three factors we identify ourselves: I am my possessions, I am my body, and I am my mind. So the beautiful six verses are there. It's called the drumbeat of awakening.

The Turmeric of Discrimination

And then when we are swimming in this ocean of saṃsāra, we have to plume ourselves. What? Turmeric. What is the turmeric? Discrimination is the knowledge of what is real and what is unreal. This is the third commandment of Sri Ramakrishna: always practice discrimination.

And he continues: "God alone is permanent. Everything else is temporary."

So, everything is temporal. Do we not know? Yes, we know. And at the same time, we do not know—even though we know. But we ignore it. And we take every changing thing as a permanent thing. My life is permanent. My family members' life is permanent. This world is permanent. My job is permanent. My bank balance is permanent. And my health is permanent. And my youth is permanent. Every day we are changing.

The Reality of Impermanence

How many people? You just try to find out the statistics. Every day, how many people are meeting horrible accidents and then losing their limbs and yet alive? If a person is dead, blessed be he. But if a person meets an accident, loses some limbs or paralyzed by some disease and still continues to live, it is living hell.

Discrimination is the knowledge of what is real and what is unreal. It is the realization that God alone is the real and eternal substance, and all else is unreal, transitory, impermanent.

The Need for Intense Zeal

"And you must cultivate intense zeal for God. You must feel love for Him and be attracted to Him. The gopīs of Vṛndāvana felt the attraction of Kṛṣṇa."

In the words of Sri Ramakrishna, every devotee is a gopī. Who is a gopī? The soul who possesses intense love for God is a gopī.

So, many people interpret the rāsa līlā, and Sri Ramakrishna gave that example. Every gopī was a major ṛṣi. They had this knowledge: God alone is real, everything else is unreal. But they felt that tremendous love.

The Vision of the Gopīs

Every gopī is not looking upon Sri Kṛṣṇa as a body, as a human being, as a male. Na khalu gopikānandano bhavān akhiladehinām antarātma dṛk. Everyone is looked upon as Brahman. So, "O Lord, we know you are that Paramātmā who resides in the hearts of everybody, controlling everybody like a puppeteer controls everybody else."

Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ hṛddeśe'rjuna tiṣṭhati, bhrāmayan sarvabhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā.

What a profound śloka it is. You have to understand. I will be bringing now and then and then trying to tell my understanding, try to convey my understanding to you.

Understanding Divine Control

When you read the newspapers or when we read the newspapers or look at the newspapers, we are horrified. Practically every country—there is a civil war is going on. And in some countries, they have very powerful presidents, prime ministers, or military leaders. And they are killing other people left and right. Naturally, in our minds: is there no way, O Lord, can you not allow people to live in peace?

But then we have to understand: who is moving these puppets? We are all puppets. Every president, every prime minister, they are nothing but jīvātmās. Every jīvātmā is controlled from within by Īśvara.

The Law of Karma

And then naturally the question comes—we have discussed this point umpteen number of times. So the greatest Vedāntic teaching is: nobody can give us either happiness or unhappiness. But happiness and unhappiness can come to us from external circumstance. It could be food, it could be dress, it could be any external possession, it could be family, anybody, even weather.

But we have to understand: look at the babies born. Paupers also, tramps also have children. And the billionaire's, mega trillionaires are also having babies. What a difference it makes. So is God giving some people diamond spoon, some people not even wooden spoon? No. Everybody gets his due according to his karmaphala. What we sow, that is what we reap. This is a beautiful philosophy, and it is absolutely truth. But we cannot sometimes connect immediate actions with their results. That is our problem.

The Power of Sri Ramakrishna's Presence

So, Sri Ramakrishna—he can move people. Whenever he talks, those what is called Upaniṣadic teachings enter into the very depths of each one of us and unconsciously and then bring about a slow but sure improvement in everybody's life, if we really proceed every day to read, to study, to meditate, to pray.

And Sri Ramakrishna's songs, even through songs, through his touch, through his singing, through his talking, through his presence, through his prayers, Sri Ramakrishna is blessing all of us. But how much we can receive totally depends upon us.

The Magnet and Iron Filings

As Sri Ramakrishna says: when a ship approaches a magnetic hill, all the iron filings, they become detached and immediately get attracted. But it must be iron filings without any covering of the mud. That is very important for us. Yes, I am also an iron filing, but this kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, mātsarya, it covered all of us and is not allowing that magnet to attract us.

And as we become more and more pure, so slowly this purity—that means we are nearer to our original nature and that is called being iron filing or potential divinity. We are automatically attracted by the powerful magnetic personality.

The Song of the Flute

Sri Ramakrishna started singing in his superb voice, "Vaṃśī bājilo." Vaṃśī means a flute. Bājilo means someone was playing, and the sound is entering into the ears of these devotees—gopīs. And here goes, this is the, what is called Bengali title, "Vaṃśī bājilo."

The Lyrics

"Listen, the flute has sounded in yonder wood. There I must fly, for Kṛṣṇa waits on the path. Tell me, friends, will you come along or no? To you, my Kṛṣṇa is merely an empty name. To me, he is the anguish of my heart. You hear his flute notes only with your ears. But oh, I hear them in my deepest soul. I hear his flute calling, 'Rādhā, come out. Without you, a grove is shorn of its loveliness.'"

So, let us analyze this song very briefly.

Analysis of the Song

So, the gopīs heard, and then some gopīs are tardy. They also heard, but they are in no hurry. So, one of the gopīs, who was torn by the love of Kṛṣṇa, could not stand any longer. So, she is as if pouring out her heart to her companions.

"Listen, the flute has sounded in yonder wood." That means, where from the—who is playing the flute? My Kṛṣṇa. "There I must fly, for Kṛṣṇa waits on the path."

An interesting thing in Bhāgavatam is, Kṛṣṇa calls. In what we study in the rāsa pañcādhyāya, five chapters on rāsa līlā in the Bhāgavatam of the tenth chapter, daśama skandha. So, there it is said that Kṛṣṇa calls all the gopīs. How does he call? No email, no word, no supplication, but he sounds the flute.

The Universal Call

But the wonder of wonders is: supposing a person is not in Vṛndāvana, he is in America. He or she is in America and the Moon and the Mars. And here, Kṛṣṇa is sounding the flute. And that sound penetrates the hearts of every devotee. Time, distance, space, everything becomes shrunk into a single point. And that is what we have to understand. Whenever Kṛṣṇa calls, everybody who has his heart just open his ears and wait for that call. A call will come.

Then gopī seems to be addressing other gopīs: "Tell me, friends, will you come along or not?" But they were not—we have to imagine from the song—"to you my Kṛṣṇa is merely an empty name." That means there is no attraction. Kṛṣṇa doesn't attract you. "To me, he is the anguish of my heart." Whenever he calls me, my heart gets twisted.

"You hear his flute notes only with your ears. You are also hearing it. But oh, I hear them in my deepest soul." So you hear his flute notes only with your ears. Profound statement.

Krishna's Call in Every Tragedy

So is Kṛṣṇa calling? Yes. Every tragic moment is Kṛṣṇa calling us. God calling us. Kṛṣṇa means God. He is Christ. He is Buddha. He is Allah. He is everybody. He is calling us. How? "Oh, come. It is not—" Fruit means we should not expect fruit. Every news that conveys tragedy is a call. Every time we hear somebody is dead—not only an old person who lived after the ripe old age of 100 years. No, a baby dies, young man dies, young woman dies. Every day, how many people are dying by accidents, by killings, by bombings?

How many people died in Iran just because of this hesitation? But the rulers of that country, they are deaf, and they are supposed to be the messengers of Allah. They are supposed to bring peace to their people. They themselves are reveling in luxury, in wealth, in power, but they don't heed to the calls of the ordinary people.

So the gopī is telling that Sri Kṛṣṇa is not merely playing a flute. Every news that we get, that is Kṛṣṇa calling. Every tragedy especially is the calling of God.

Death is Ever-Present

"Jīva sajo samare," Sri Ramakrishna sang this song, beautiful song, when I think Maṇi Mallik came after cremating his young son, 25 years, 26 years old son. Straight he came to Sri Ramakrishna's room.

Death is awaiting, and we know that. We do not know death can come at any moment. That's why whenever anybody asks me, and when I ask anybody, "How are you?" I expect to hear, "I am well so far, until this moment," because we do not know what happens next moment.

So, "to me, he is the anguish of my heart. You hear his flute notes only with your ears, but oh, I hear them in my deepest soul. I hear his flute calling, 'Rādhā, come out. Without you, the grove is shown of its loveliness.'"

Ramakrishna's Anguish

So this gopī was Rādhā, and Sri Ramakrishna meditated on Rādhā. In the life of Sri Ramakrishna, we get: every day after sunset, Sri Ramakrishna's anguish bears completely, it goes out of control. He rolls on the ground, weeping copiously, not caring who is watching. "O Mother, another day is gone. When are you going to grant your precious vision to me?" Because death can—what was he hinting at? Death can come at any moment. I may not have this body, this mind. So I have to wait for next birth.

And then, after his realization, every evening after sunset, he used to go to the roof of that kuṭi where he used to live. That was called kuṭi. "O my children, where are you? When are you coming? I want to speak about God to you. My ears are being burnt by continuously hearing worldly topics."

And then slowly, slowly, the devotees heard that flute and then they started coming. Because Ramakrishna is like a cow who has given birth to a calf, and the cow suffers more than the calf if it cannot—the mother cannot feed its child.

On the Boat Journey

Now the description follows. The master sang the song with tears in his eyes and said to Keśava and the other Brahmo devotees: "Whether you accept Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa or not, please do accept their attraction for each other. Try to create that same yearning in your heart for God. Yearning is all you need in order to realize him."

And then the description is coming. Gradually, the ebb tide set in. The steamboat was speeding towards Calcutta. It passed under the Howrah Bridge and came within the sight of the botanical garden. The passengers were enchanted with the master's words, and most of them had no idea of time or of how far they had come. That was the special power of Sri Ramakrishna.

Reconciling Keshab and Vijay

Keśava began to serve some puffed rice and grated coconut. The master noticed, however, that Keśab and Vijay rather shrank from each other, and he was anxious to reconcile them. Earlier I mentioned that Vijay had left the Brahma Samaj, the company of Keśava, because of some events which also I referred earlier. And then ever since they were not on talking terms.

But when Keśava Chandra Sen arranged this boat trip, Vijaykrishna Goswami happened to be in Sri Ramakrishna's room. So the people who came to take Sri Ramakrishna could not avoid him. They were feeling rather a bit embarrassed. A small boat carried them to the big ship which is some distance away from the shore, and they were sitting facing each other but they were not talking.

The Harmonizer

Now Sri Ramakrishna wanted to tell: you may have differences of opinions, but as devotees, you should never dislike each other. This is a great lesson for all of us to know since Sri Ramakrishna was born. He was called samanvaya ācārya, a teacher who brings harmony, unity among all religions, religious sects, etc. He was the harmonizer of what is called sevenfold harmonizer: secular and spiritual, householder and sannyāsins, four yogas and different, of course, religions. So poor and rich—no such a distinction.

If people's heart is filled with longing for God, to whatever degree, they belong to a different caste altogether. That's why Sri Ramakrishna was asked, "Will this caste system go at any time?" People were under the impression caste system is very bad for the progress of this world nowadays. But people have completely misunderstood what is caste. Caste has nothing to do with birth. It is something to do with guṇa and karma.

Accepting Differences Without Discord

Sri Ramakrishna said, whatever pathway you are following, you may have differences of opinion. "This is my chosen deity. That is your chosen deity. This is my path. That is your path." There is no harm. But then, there should not be any disgust, anger, jealousy, and looking down upon the other, criticizing the other path, etc.—should never be there. That's what Sri Ramakrishna wanted to tell.

"Look here, there is Vijay, and your quarrel seems like the fight between Śiva and Rāma." Somewhere some Purāṇa, Śiva and Rāma had fought. They never fight directly. Some devotee of Śiva, some devotee of Rāma—is because of that problem. It appears as though. That is what Sri Ramakrishna is referring.

"Śiva was Rāma's guru. Though they fought with each other, yet they soon came to terms." Because genuinely Śiva and Rāma cannot think, "I am different from you." This is only to teach us some great lessons.

The Ghosts and Monkeys

"But the grimaces of the ghosts, the followers of Śiva, and the gibberish of the monkeys, the followers of Rāma, would not come to an end."

And everybody—the way Sri Ramakrishna talks, sometimes he can be the greatest fun maker, joker. And when he used to joke, nobody can hold it. Even the serious Brahmo devotees have no option but to burst in spite of their resistance—loud laughter.

Sri Ramakrishna continued: "Such quarrels take place even among one's own kith and kin. Did Rāma fight with his own sons, Lava and Kuśa? Again, you must have noticed how a mother and daughter, living together, having the same spiritual end in view, observe their religious fast separately on Tuesdays, each on her own account, as if the welfare of the mother were different from the welfare of the daughter. But what benefits the one also benefits the other. In like manner, you have a religious society and Vijay thinks he must have one too."

And everybody laughed.

The Role of Troublemakers

"But I think all these are necessary. While Sri Kṛṣṇa, himself God incarnate, played with the gopīs at Vṛndāvana, troublemakers like Jaṭilā and Kuṭilā appeared on the scene. You may ask why? The answer is that a play doesn't develop without troublemakers. Jaṭilā, Kuṭilā. Some people to make the audience laugh out, enjoy everything. There is no fun without Jaṭilā and Kuṭilā."

And the way Sri Ramakrishna put it, everybody burst into loud laughter.

What was Sri Ramakrishna conveying? He is telling that you cannot avoid differences of opinion until one realizes God. And when one realizes God, then they understand that God only is manifesting to everybody in different ways.

The Example of Ramanuja

Sri Ramakrishna, he heard many things. So he is quoting from the life of Sri Rāmānuja. Rāmānuja upheld the doctrine of qualified non-dualism. But his guru was a pure non-dualist. They disagreed with each other and refuted each other's arguments. That always happens. Still, to the teacher, the disciple is his own. And we have to add, for the disciple, the teacher is his own.

Guru bhakti is the most important thing. What is guru bhakti? That which makes guru the very prāṇa of the disciple. And that which makes the guru—his prāṇa is the disciple's prāṇa. That is what we see in mother and children relationship.

Teaching on Discipleship

So, Sri Ramakrishna—it is said, all rejoice in the master's company and his words. Master education. "You don't look into people's natures before you make them your disciples, and so they break away from you."

Sri Ramakrishna is telling, you have no insight. You have only outside. That means you only judge a person after being introduced. You don't have that vision to penetrate into the nature of people. Sri Ramakrishna had that capacity, and he used to reject some people outright, not because of hatred, but "you don't belong here" or "you are not ready."

The Three Gunas

Sri Ramakrishna continued: "All men look alike, to be sure, but they have different natures. Some have an excess of sattva, others an excess of rajas, and still others an excess of tamas. You must have noticed that the cakes known as puli all look alike, but their contents are very different. Some contain condensed milk, some coconut kernel, and others mere boiled kalai pulse."

All of filler. Outside, these sweets look alike, but the fillers inside—some are made up of pure what is called chana. Some are made up of some kind of dāl, kalai pulse, etc.

Sri Ramakrishna's Attitude

"Do you know my attitude? As for myself, I eat, drink, and live happily. The rest, the Divine Mother knows. Indeed, there are three words that prick my flesh: guru, master, and father. There is only one guru and that is Saccidānanda. He alone is the teacher. My attitude toward God is that of a child towards its mother."

Total dependence upon the Divine is called this attitude, and this is called mātṛbhāva.

The Difficulty of Teaching

"One can get human gurus by the million. All want to be teachers. But one who cares to be a disciple..."

It is a beautiful saying in Hindi language: lākh lākh guru mile, celā na mile ek. So you can get gurus by droves, any number. But to get a true disciple is extremely difficult.

And it is also said: every sincere disciple gets his own real guru, and vice versa. Every insincere devotee gets not a sincere guru but an insincere guru. And an insincere guru and the reverse way gets only an insincere celā but don't expect otherwise. This is called karmaphala.

The Command from God

"It is extremely difficult to teach others. A man can teach only if God reveals himself to him and gives the command. Nārada, Śukadeva and sages like them had such a command from God, and Śaṅkara had it too. Unless you too have a command from God, who will listen to your words?"

"Don't you know how easily the people of Calcutta get excited? The milk in the kettle puffs up and boils as long as the fire burns underneath. Take away the fuel, all becomes quiet."

Each word of Sri Ramakrishna conveys a world of meaning. We will enjoy these classes further in future.

Closing Prayer