Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 163 on 05-May-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
Reading the Gospel as Participation
Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, every now and then, breaks into a beautiful song and also sometimes dances, completely forgetting himself, forgetting the whole world. That inspires the devotees who are attending the talks. And whenever we read the Gospel, it is not reading — it is participating. Time and space do not count here. We are transported, as it were, or, if you wish, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was transported into the present moment. When we enjoy whatever he is speaking, it is absolutely addressed to me alone. That is the bhāvanā with which we have to read any scripture. Whenever we read the Bhagavad Gītā or the Upaniṣads, we will have to think: God himself, or a great Ṛṣi himself, is addressing it towards us and towards each one of us. Because the simple truth is, even if there are a billion people listening, only those who are interested will be absorbing it — not otherwise. So this is a great spiritual practice.
Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Song and the Nature of Bhāgavatam
We have seen in our last class, with which we ended, that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa suddenly broke into a beautiful song. We have to remember that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa does not think, "I have to sing this song." Something from within inspires him, and he becomes one with the singing — like Bhāgavata, Bhakta, and Bhagavān. When Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa sings, he sees the Divine Mother, he sees the Bhāgavata people, the Bhaktas, and he himself is one of the Bhaktas. And the Bhāgavata is coming, like it came from the mouth of Śukadeva.
In this context, we have to understand that Bhāgavatam is not only the teachings that go by that name. Any realised soul — after realisation, it is only God who speaks. Bhagavān's words are called Bhāgavatam. So whether it is Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa or anybody else — that is why M had very aptly titled it Śrī Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Kathāmṛtam. He could have easily said Śrī Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Bhāgavatam. As I mentioned, one child who had obtained the blessings of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa in the form of a sweet also became a Paṇḍit when he grew up, and he wrote a beautiful book called Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Bhāgavatam. So everything that comes from the mouth of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is Bhāgavatam only.
M himself has said, on the very first visit, that what he had heard so far — in only a few minutes — made him feel as if Śukadeva himself were speaking of the glories of Bhagavān to Rājā Parīkṣit, who was in the direst condition, cursed to die within seven days. What a great blessing! Parīkṣit died — died due to what? After hearing the Bhāgavatam, anybody who is absorbed in Bhagavān and dies has attained Mukti, or liberation. So also, if some people's physical death happens to take place — let us say, after reading the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — if he is truly absorbed, by the grace of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, he might get Mukti also. We do not know, unless of course the person cherishes some lingering desires.
"Dive Deep, O Mind" — The Ocean of God's Beauty
So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa broke into this beautiful song in Bengali. I want to dive a little into the meaning of this particular song:
Dive deep, O mind, dive deep in the ocean of God's beauty.
A sādhaka is addressing his own mind. You have to go deep — how many times? Not once, not twice, but as many times as possible. And dive deep into what? Into the ocean of God's beauty.
"God's beauty" is beautifully described. There is a verse which says there are a few definitions of God. Sat Cit Ānanda is one. That Sat becomes Satyam, that Jñānam also becomes Śivam, and there is a word Sundaram. Sundaram means Ānanda. Whatever we love appears in our eyes as very beautiful. In the eyes of what we call a mother crow, the young one of the crow is the most beautiful creature in the whole world. That is why parents are ready to give up their lives — whether birds or animals. This is something so marvellous, even to contemplate.
So, only when we are able to meditate on the Ānanda aspect — which is also called the beauty aspect — then only will we be able to dive. Until that Ānanda comes, we will be trying to find some other object, trying to remember that which gave us so much happiness. But God's beauty is not some perishing, ephemeral, vanishing beauty. It is an ocean of God's beauty. And just as when we approach the ocean, we see how many waves — what are these waves? Waves of bliss. Because God can be enjoyed in infinite ways. The Infinite can be enjoyed in infinite ways. And if we descend to the uttermost depths, as we go on contemplating the Saundarya — the beauty of God — this God will not vanish, and this beauty will never vanish, and this Ānanda will never vanish. Therefore, there is no fear of losing it.
If anyone can descend, as we go on descending, our joy will increase and our Bhakti will increase. So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is singing, absorbed in ecstasy. If somebody reaches to the very depth, that is called Parābhakti — supreme devotion. And Swāmī Vivekānanda, in his book on Bhakti Yoga — there are two separate sets of talks Swāmī Vivekānanda had given: Bhakti Yoga is one, and Talks on Bhakti Yoga is another, at two different places, but the essence is the same — says at the end that Parābhakti, supreme devotion, and supreme knowledge are one and the same. We can also add: supreme Karma Yoga, supreme Bhakti Yoga, supreme Rāja Yoga, supreme Jñāna Yoga. That means when a person attains to the very peak of knowledge, or yoga, or devotion, or loving service to God, then there is no difference. He becomes one with God.
Vṛndāvana in the Heart — The Āḷvārs and the Gopīs
And there you will find the gem of love. What is love? Another word for love is complete unity. And the song continues:
Go seek, O mind, go seek. Do not stop.
Do not get disheartened if for some reason you are not getting what you want. If you go on seeking, what do you see? What do you get? You will see Vṛndāvana in your own heart. The real Vṛndāvana is in our own hearts. Whenever anybody — like a Gopī — can think of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then that place, that heart, becomes Vṛndāvana.
If you remember, there was a South Indian Āḷvār — a woman, the only woman who is the highest devotee of God among the twelve. They are called Āḷvārs. Interestingly, the word "āḷu" means depth. It is the same: one who has gone to the very bottom of this divine love. So whoever has reached that is titled an Āḷvār. There are twelve such Āḷvārs, even though there are millions and millions of devotees, but only twelve are mentioned there.
Of them, this Godhā — a woman called Godhā, whose father Viṣṇucitta was also an Āḷvār — he got this small baby in a garden, like Sītā was found in the furrow of a ploughed field. That is why Sītā is called Bhūmijā. Nobody knows who placed her there, just as nobody knows who was Godhā's mother. She developed tremendous devotion only because of past saṃskāras — like Mīrābāī, like Rādhārāṇī.
Also, Rāmakṛṣṇa meets an old woman in Vṛndāvana who was considered by Rāmakṛṣṇa as an Āḷvār. He said she is the incarnation of the Rādhā Gopī. So even today they are there. What about Gopāler Mā — is she not a Gopī? What about Holy Mother — is she not Rādhārāṇī? We have to think that all these people are Gopīs. Gopī means a loving heart — that is all.
So when a devotee goes on deeper and deeper, he will find Vṛndāvana. That is called Gokula, that is also called Viṣṇuloka, Vaikuṇṭha, Kailāsa, Devī Loka, Paradise, Kingdom of Heaven — all these mean the same thing.
Kṛṣṇa's Eternal Sports with Devotees
And what happens in this Vṛndāvana? There, with his loving devotees, Śrī Kṛṣṇa sports eternally. Eternal Kṛṣṇa cannot be eternal unless there are also devotees who do not want to become one with him, because that is called Līlā. And when we close our eyes and focus in the Vṛndāvana of our heart, we must also visualise all the scenes that had taken place in the life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. We will come to that topic, because this is a most loving topic.
All the direct disciples, first — not to speak of Holy Mother — were all living in Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Loka. Many of his householder devotees were also living outside, carrying on their normal duties, but inside they are nothing but pure devotees. That is why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to sing and dance with his devotees, especially at Dakṣiṇeśvar. Where, with his loving devotees, Śrī Kṛṣṇa sports eternally — because a devotee, since God is eternal and these devotees also live in eternity, wants to sport with God for eternity.
The Lamp of True Wisdom
That is so beautifully described. The song continues:
Light up, O mind, light up — true wisdom's shining lamp, and let it burn with steady flame, unceasingly within your heart.
What is this wisdom's shining lamp? That is the one in whose light one can behold — jyotira jyoti, ujjvala hṛdīkāndra tumi tama — and if the devotee looks inquiringly into the question of where the source of this light is, since it is coming from his beloved, let it burn with steady flame. Just as in the presence of light we can never lose sight.
Some clever fellow may retort — a wise talker — "Suppose I close my eyes. Yes, you closed your eyes. Will there be no light then?" So we are all like people who have already become experts in closing our eyes to the reality. We are being rushed to our deaths, and yet we are thinking we are very safe. Like the fish — the fourth type of fish — which goes deeper into the mud but within the net, and then thinks, "Oh, there is no net. We are safe in our own mud," and then burrows deep into it.
The Guru Steers the Boat
Now, there is a person called Kuber — not to be mistaken with Kabīr; Kabīr Dās was one of the greatest Jñāni saints. But here is a Kuber who must have been a devotee-saint. The song says: go on looking at your beloved, who is the very shining lamp in your own heart. And then this Kuber says:
Who is it that steers your boat across the solid earth? It is your Guru.
Meditate on his holy feet, says Kuber. A great Guru-Bhakta must have been this Kuber. He asks: who is it that can steer a boat where normally boats travel only on waters? But here he says "solid earth." That means, even in this thick forest of ignorance, if anybody surrenders himself to a Sadguru, he will take one to the Sat — the source of everything. So only the Guru can steer your boat across the solid earth — meaning, even across this impossible net of Māyā — and into whose presence? Into Vaikuṇṭha, where we see the Divine Lord all the time with unblinking eyes.
And we have to imagine — not that there are millions of other devotees and I am one of them. No, only you are there. This is beautifully illustrated in the Rāsalīlā dance on the banks of the Yamunā. The Gopīs could not see anybody. Turn to the right — Kṛṣṇa. Turn to the left — Kṛṣṇa. Look in front of you — Kṛṣṇa. They were all in a circle. Wherever you look — above, below, front, back, left, right — everywhere there is nothing but Kṛṣṇa.
Rāmakṛṣṇa's First Experience of Consciousness
"Consciousness has overwhelmed me and I became unconscious" — this is peculiar mystical language. Rāmakṛṣṇa was describing the very first experience of consciousness after he took up the worship of the Divine Mother. "Mā, Mā" — his mouth started only doing this. He was thinking only about God, no one else.
The Jīvanmukta and the Desire to Witness Līlā
Rāmakṛṣṇa continues: "It is also true that after the vision of God, the devotee desires to witness his Līlā." That is, Rāmakṛṣṇa is describing the condition of a Jīvanmukta. In Vedānta, we first get a Jīvanmukta. He first realises Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi. Afterwards, by God's will, he may be kept in this world as a teacher to awaken the ripened souls. But at the same time, they never have this Ahaṃkāra — "I am a teacher, I have been kept here for teaching." No.
Rāmakṛṣṇa can be taken as an example. He never said, "I am preaching. I don't know anything. My Mother knows everything. I only know how to eat and drink" — that means, "I enjoy." But here is what is called Līlāsvādhana: he participates in the Divine Līlā. Everything is the Divine Līlā.
Once Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was given jalebi by his devotees. He was eating, like a child, and another child entered the room. Immediately, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa covered that jalebi vessel and pushed it behind his back so that this child would not see — looking fearfully to see if the new child was going to discover it. Because if the child sees it, his vision will be unwaveringly concentrated on it only. That is one type of Līlā. But the devotees who were witnessing this Līlā must have been enjoying it.
Here is a person — a so-called God-realised soul — eating and enjoying thoroughly. How much Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa enjoys whatever he enjoys — can you guess? Can you imagine? Because each one of us can only imagine according to our own experiences. Only a person who has enjoyed it thoroughly can really identify with Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.
Suffering and the Jīvanmukta — The Sthitaprajña
So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling: this is also a Līlā of God. And if you ask Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, "Why did you suffer at the end?" — hardly any even semi-liquid sūjī halvā used to go down, and only with great pain — first he will pretend, "Oh, I am suffering so much, don't you see?" But then, on other occasions, he will say, "This is also the Līlā of my Divine Mother." And Līlā means: just as we enjoy a cinema or a drama, we enjoy that too.
This is another aspect of Līlā — that of Sukha and Duḥkha. The characteristics of a Sthitaprajña have been so beautifully brought out at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, in response to the question put by Arjuna. When a Sthitaprajña is going through so-called misery or suffering — is it suffering?
Remember when Hari Mahārāj came. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa wanted to test him. "Look how much I am suffering." Hari Mahārāj — at that time he was deeply immersed in the study of Advaita Vedāntic scriptures, and sometimes he even stopped visiting Rāmakṛṣṇa — immediately said: "No, sir. I see you are swimming in an ocean of bliss." And Rāmakṛṣṇa burst out into joyful laughter and said, "This rascal has found me out!"
For people like us, it is very difficult to understand: is it true that even though the body is suffering, the mind does not suffer? This is what we need to understand. Does the mind suffer? No — as if somebody else's mind is suffering.
When Ramaṇa Mahārṣi's hand had developed a carbuncle, he was operated on by some of his close doctor-devotees without anaesthesia — very, very painful for ordinary persons like us. But Bhagavān went on looking as if somebody else's hand was being operated. There was no reaction at all. "I go on looking at this body also, just as I am looking at you" — that means he was ever living in that state. He himself used to call it a natural Samādhi — that means it has no break. And that is the condition of anybody who is called a Jīvanmukta.
If you remember, Swāmī Vivekānanda came across a sādhu, an old man who was being pelted with stones by children who did not understand him. Blood was coming out, and he went on laughing. Then, in reply to Swāmiji, he said: "Thus prays the father." So do the Jīvanmuktas really suffer? No.
A Jīvanmukta is one who becomes a participant in the Līlā. So their suffering — from our point of view — we cannot imagine. Their suffering is only a pretence, an act, like a drama. But from their point of view, when we are watching two people fighting in a cinema — good versus evil — first only the good people will be thrashed. Many times they are even killed. And that is what history teaches us: good people are apt to suffer more than evil people. If we have any iota of intelligence, read history — it is nothing but the murder of billions and billions and billions of people by a few wicked people. Even today it is going on in every way. But as soon as we get our dāl roṭī, we do not think anything. "The world is fine, I am also fine. I am fine, so the world is also fine."
Nikāśā and the Understanding of the Avatāra's Līlā
So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling: the devotee desires to witness his Līlā. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa gives a beautiful example. We do not know where from he heard it, because there are so many versions of the Rāmāyaṇa.
After the destruction of Rāvaṇa at Rāma's hands, Nikāśā, Rāvaṇa's mother, began to run away for fear of her life. Lakṣmaṇa said to Rāma: "Revered brother, please explain this strange thing to me. This Nikāśā is an old woman who has suffered a great deal from the loss of her many sons." In fact, every son had been killed excepting one — who was Vibhīṣaṇa — and yet she is so afraid of losing her own life that she is taking to her heels.
Rāma bade her come near, gave her assurance of safety, and asked her why she was running away. Nikāśā answered: "O Rāma, I am able to witness all this Līlā of yours because I am still alive. I want to live longer so that I may see the many more things you will do on this earth."
Now, what I would like to point out: even in this so-called innocent recollection by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — this Nikāśā must have been old then. And what does she say? When Rāma asked, she says: "I am able to witness all this Līlā of yours." So that means she knew who Rāma was. She knew that this killing, this battle — everything is the Līlā.
Now stop for a second. Ask yourself: what is the meaning of Līlā? Is the Līlā real, or does it look real but is not real? A beautifully made film may look so realistic — and "realistic" and "real" are two separate words — it looks so realistic that we actually feel either happiness or sadness. We can also shed tears at the sufferings of people.
Like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, when he was hearing the story of Satyā Hariścandra — the devotees started weeping. Because the narrator, called a Kathāk — a storyteller — there are so many varieties of storytellers. Some people, when they tell a story, it is dry as dust. And some people have the divine capacity to make their audience feel the description. Sometimes even they themselves may not feel it, but the audience will.
So, like that, this Nikāśā could say: "O Rāma, I know you are an Avatāra. I know this is all your Līlā." And if it is Līlā, then — I am the mother of Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa and Vibhīṣaṇa — is that also real, or is it also part of the Līlā?
So: is there death? Is it Līlā? Ubhau tau na vijānīto — nāyaṃ hanti na hanyate. That is the Līlā. We see the action, we enjoy the action, but we know it is not real. That is called Līlā. And when we understand it that way, we are also participators in that Līlā. But if we are affected by it — some people cannot see sad dramas, what is called tragic. They all want to see the hero and heroine get married, and "ever after they are happy." This illusion they want to keep. That is why in old-time cinema, after the marriage, usually they would not show what happened. "Śubham," they say — "We wish you all the best."
So Nikāśā's answer contains the highest Vedāntic description of a Jīvanmukta: "I am able to witness all this Līlā of yours because I am still alive. I want to live longer so that I may see the many more things you, the incarnation as Rāma, will accomplish on this earth."
Śrīnivāsa Recognises the Child Gādāi at Kāmārpukur
There was an incident. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was at Kāmārpukur. He was only five or six years old. There was a great Vaiṣṇava devotee who was a bangle-seller. He was called Śrīnivāsa. One day Śrīnivāsa took Gādāi — his Iṣṭa Devatā — to his home and worshipped him like his Iṣṭa Devatā, and bowing down to him said: "O Gādāi, this body will not last long. I feel it coming to an end. But I can guess how many Līlās you are going to perform."
How did this Śrīnivāsa know about it? He must have been, first of all, a great sādhaka. Secondly, he must have had visions of Gādāi. Remember: Sri Rāmakṛṣṇa had the vision of Gayā Viṣṇu. Candramaṇī Devī had the vision of Śiva in the form of light. Even when Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was in the womb of Candramaṇī Devī, how many divine visions she had!
And just imagine — we just read that information and pass on to the next page without feeling anything. If you had a dream that you are seeing Holy Mother, or Swāmiji, or Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, or your Guru, and you are speaking or sitting near him — how much joy you will get! Not to speak of that; the joy lasts for many days, provided you are a real devotee with real devotion to the Guru. How much Chandramaṇī Devī must have enjoyed these visions of various Gods and Goddesses! Why were they visiting? Because they know: "Our Divine Lord Nārāyaṇa, Viṣṇu, is here in the womb of this lady."
The Universe Within the Universe — Brahmāṇḍa within Brahmāṇḍa
So there is a song: "Only Śiva knows." Like that, if the whole universe is in the womb of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa — and Yaśodā saw the whole universe, not one universe but universe after universe, when she asked Kṛṣṇa to open his mouth to examine whether he had eaten mud — she saw universe within universe within universe within universe. Like when you are in a hall of mirrors, you will see an unending stretch of mirrors and your own reflections. Brahmāṇḍa within Brahmāṇḍa.
And really speaking, everything is a Brahmāṇḍa. Suppose an ant has given birth to a baby ant. That baby ant is living where? In its own baby ant's world. It has its own happiness, its own joy. The mother is looking after it. There also, Mātṛbhāva is there. If anybody tries to harm their babies, all the ants together will come and attack the enemy — wasps or other ants, etc. We have to understand that that is the condition of every creature.
So we are all cherishing — each one of us — one Brahmāṇḍa. How many Brahmāṇḍas are there? Brahmāṇḍa means universe. Because our mind is the Brahmāṇḍa. The entire world — that means our knowledge of the world — is within our minds. "This is good, that is not good. This is sweet, that is bitter. This is attractive, this is not attractive. This is joy, this is suffering." The whole universe is within our own mind.
That is why the more we study the phenomena of dream, the nearer we will be to the truth. Only upon waking up, we do not connect. What we saw in the dream world is nothing but what we are living — the waking state is exactly the same phenomenon. No difference at all. So this is also a dream. Don't even say it is a bigger dream or a smaller dream. It is exactly another state. You should not compare two states, saying, "That is bigger, this is smaller; that is of short duration and this is longer duration."
The Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — Dream and Waking Are the Same
If you still remember our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā classes, this was one of the objections raised: what is the difference between the dream world and the waking world? The opponent says: "Well, the dream world lasts only for a flash of a second, whereas this waking world lasts forever."
Once this conversation was going on in the presence of Ramaṇa Mahārṣi, and he clarified the point — "My dear sir," he didn't say that; I am adding that — "when you are in the dream state, do you feel that this is a dream state and this only lasts for one second, but when I go to the waking state that will last for a long time?" Just as we feel that we are going to live for many, many years and go on counting our birthdays until the time comes for us to become unconscious after death — so also, in the dream world, we do not hold the idea that it is any less than the waking state. In the dream state we do not call it a dream. We call it a complete waking state. But when we come back to the waking state, we say: "Oh, that was all my imagination."
Do we sit for a second and pause and ponder and say: "Is perhaps this also my own imagination?" Because we do not know the truth. What is the truth? Here is a person who is my arch enemy, and I would like to cut him or her to pieces. Is that the truth? "Yes, yes, I experienced it so many times. He or she is the most evil person on earth." But just go deep into it. You are talking about the Prāṇamaya Kośa, the Annamaya Kośa. Go to that person's Prāṇamaya Kośa, that person's Manomaya Kośa, that person's Vijñānamaya Kośa, that person's Ānandamaya Kośa. Then you understand: "No. Like me, this person also wants to dwell as long as possible in this state of Ānandamaya Kośa."
And since a person wakes up to the truth that even the Ānandamaya Kośa does not last for a long time, so also this person understands: beyond these Pañca Kośas there is something uncreated, eternal, infinite — one without a second. And that is the real nature of me. The moment I understand "I am one without a second," I am forced to admit that everything in this universe is also one without a second.
Nikāśā Revisited — Squeezing the Meaning
But we are talking about Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa explaining beautifully that Nikāśā must have been a realised soul, to recognise Rāma as an Avatāra and the death of all her sons as part of the Līlā. "I want to live longer so that I may see the many more things you, the incarnation as Rāma, will accomplish on this earth." Everybody laughed — all the devotees present. But do you think they all understood?
Because just listen — tat tvam asi — how much do you understand? Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi — how much do we understand? But as we go on — śravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsana — slowly, through understanding, bit by bit, infinitesimally smaller bits come into our minds. So much meaning is there. This is how we have to squeeze every sentence of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Every word that came out of his mouth — and for that matter, any Jīvanmukta's mouth, any Avatāra's mouth, any Ṛṣi-Muni's mouth — we have to ponder. That pondering deeply and enjoying — what can we enjoy? Only that which is real. Nobody enjoys something fake.
The Illusion of Worldly Beauty
And everyday we are trying to fall into that trap of the enjoyment of fakeness. Somebody dresses beautifully, drives a beautiful car, puts on a lot of lipstick — and nowadays beauty parlours are there. They come out of that beauty parlour. You just look at them. But go near them, and you will see: the nearer we approach them, we see the defects more and more clearly — the stench, the bad smell. I have seen so many people who want to come near me and whisper, but such unbelievably intolerable stench comes from their mouth that sometimes I cannot tolerate it. So the nearer we approach, we see the defects. And one millisecond is sufficient to shatter all our illusions.
So we have to develop, at the same time, the capacity to see in and through and beyond all that. If we see through the Anātman — the non-Ātman — we can see the Ātman, and then we can see that the reality is the same. The same consciousness is wriggling even in a small worm, as Sri Rāmakṛṣṇa says.
Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Love for Pure-Souled Devotees — Śivanath
So let us enjoy. Maybe some of you might be thinking: "This gospel class is going on so slowly — what is the use?" So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa squeezed the entire essence of the Gītā into one word. If you repeat that word "Gītā" fast, it becomes "tāgī." Similarly, the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is — as Swāmī Vivekānanda described to one Robert Ingersoll, a confirmed atheist — like an orange: "I can squeeze it as many times as I want, because it is not the worldly orange, it is the divine orange." So it is Rasa Svādhana.
Now Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's attention had turned to Śivana. "I like to see you. How can I live unless I see pure-souled devotees? I feel as if they had been my friends in a former incarnation." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's mind, after singing this song, was filled with tremendous, indescribable joy. And when a person is joyous, in his eyes everybody looks joyous only.
Now what is important here: this same Śivana, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa loved — because God loves everybody. But Śivana later on withdrew from Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and passed on negative remarks, like: "He was very spiritual in the beginning; now he seems to have fallen from that high state." God alone knows what he meant by that. And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa sharply rebuked him also towards the end: "You people think of worldly things and are very conscious of it. But I, who think of nothing else except God, who am the very embodiment of consciousness — I am suffering from fits, states of unconsciousness. What type of intelligence is that?" So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa himself says: "You don't have that intelligence."
Anyway, Śivanath — we have to salute him, because he was so fortunate to see Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, to witness Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and to be addressed by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, who said: "How can I live unless I see pure-souled devotees like you?" So we have to accept this as part of Lila only.
The Brāhmo Devotee's Question on Reincarnation
Now a Brāhmo devotee is asking: "Sir, do you believe in the reincarnation of the soul?" This is what is called the Karma Siddhānta, the Punarjanma Siddhānta. We are all born because of the result — to reap the result, to experience the results of what we have done in our past lives. Not only one life. Because there is an understanding: the effects of this life are not necessarily only the results of the very last birth. It could be five thousand years before. But depending upon what type of experiences we can have, it could be some Karmaphala from five thousand years back, some other Karmaphala from two thousand years back, some other Karmaphala from the last birth — they can also be combined. Only God knows how he combines. The idea is: in one life, some of the results have to be exhausted. And even in this life, we are creating further actions and further results. And if we can somehow start moving towards God, then we will also reach God.
And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa did not want to say outright, "I know," because it was Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa himself who said: "He who was Rāma, he who was Kṛṣṇa, he who was Buddha, Jesus, etc., is now in this life reborn as Rāmakṛṣṇa." If he could say that, why not this also?
Exactly the same answer was given by Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa in the beginning of the fourth chapter of the Gītā. Arjuna asks a question, and Kṛṣṇa says: "The same question was asked by Manu to me ten thousand years ago." Arjuna was shocked. What does this statement prove? That there are not many new questions — the same questions will pop up again and again. So I am telling you: Arjuna was asked, "How could you speak to Manu, who was ten thousand years back, you who are born along with me at this time?" Then Kṛṣṇa says: "I have had many births and I remember them all. You also had many births, and you will remember them — you just don't remember them, that's all."
Not only that — in the Gītā itself, Bhagavān says: even if somebody goes to heaven, one has to come down to this earth to continue the sādhana. And this will continue until one becomes completely united with God. So also we have to understand: when a person goes to Naraka, that is also not a permanent state. As soon as he has paid the Karmaphala, that person has to immediately be given another chance. How many chances? Infinite chances will be given, because each soul is potentially divine. Nobody can stop the progress of this potential divinity — this evolution — until one reaches one's own home.
So a master is evading this question. As they say, "There is something like that." How can we understand the ways of God through our small intellects? What does Rāmakṛṣṇa mean by "small intellects"? That means people of little faith. As Jesus Christ rebukes, "Ye of little faith" — how many times? His own direct disciples, especially Peter, had betrayed him three times and denied seeing Jesus Christ.
And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: "Many people have spoken about reincarnation, therefore I cannot disbelieve." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was not saying it categorically, because he was talking perhaps to a devotee who does not have faith in it but just put the question anyway. So even if I tell, it will have no effect upon this person's mind. A teaching will not have effect until the other person is ready — not only to listen, but to think over it, accept it, and transform the life.
So let us not think we all believe in Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — really? How do we say that? Because only when we start transforming our life earnestly can we say we are devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Until then, it is only intellectual satisfaction — a little bit of external rituals like pūjā, japa — everything is going on — but really speaking, we have to judge only by the amount of transformation that takes place in our life.
Bhīṣma's Tears and the Incomprehensibility of the Avatāra's Ways
Now another episode has come. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is continuing. He had completed the answer to that Brāhmo devotee's question — whether man has past lives, which implies whether we have future lives also.
"As Bhīṣma lay dying on his bed of arrows, the Pāṇḍava brothers and Kṛṣṇa stood around him. And these Pāṇḍavas saw tears flowing from the eyes of Bhīṣma. The great hero Arjuna said to Kṛṣṇa: 'Friend, how surprising it is! Even such a man as our Grandsire Bhīṣma — truthful, self-restrained, supremely wise, and one of the eight Vasus — weeps through Māyā at the hour of death.'" So Arjuna was living in his own world. He interpreted Bhīṣma's tears only as he understood them.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa asked Bhīṣma about it. Now Śrī Kṛṣṇa wants to give the answer through Bhīṣma. Bhīṣma replied: "O Kṛṣṇa, you know very well that this is not the cause of my grief. I am thinking that there is no end to the Pāṇḍavas' sufferings, though God himself is their protector and charioteer. A thought like this makes me feel that I have understood nothing of the ways of God, and so I weep."
This is the answer Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa has given. Then what does Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa want to convey to us? Because, like the Bhagavad Gītā, he says: "Even billions can hear the Gītā, but without my grace, nobody understands me."
Avajānanti māṃ mūḍhā mānuṣīṃ tanum āśritam | paraṃ bhāvam ajānanto mama 'vyayam anuttamam || daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā | mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṃ taranti te ||
For us, what is important to understand is this Māyā, which is binding us — and we don't understand it is Māyā. We are using the word Māyā and we are also understanding Māyā through Māyā only. We don't understand anything about Māyā.
Very interesting: the Sanskrit word Māyā, reversed — yā mā — yā means "which," mā means "that which does not exist." So we are talking about Māyā, which never existed. Like this world, it is called Mithyā.
So what is important for us? Do not try to fathom the Avatāra, to understand the Avatāra. Much less the Avatāra — we cannot even understand our own mother, our own father, our own wife, our own husband, our own selves. When I am not able to understand my own self and I require some help from a psychiatrist or psychologist — what to speak of such people?
So, did Bhīṣma understand? There are some beautiful thoughts about this subject which we will talk about in our next class.
Closing Prayer
Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum
Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh
May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti.
Jai Ramakrishna!