Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 090 on 04-July-2023

Full Transcript (Under Review by Kumar Veluguleti)

Today we have two marvelous questions I would say. We have discussed about the Karma Siddhanta. This is the fourth pillar of Hinduism.

What are the four pillars of Hinduism?

Brahman is the only reality, first pillar.

Second pillar, we have to overcome the Maya. Because of Maya, we are not able to cognize that we are Brahman. So the whole sadhana is to overcome Maya, Prakruti or other words, three gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.

The third pillar of Hinduism is the law of the chosen deity, Ishta Devata Siddhanta. It's only Hinduism which gives complete freedom. Anybody can think of God by any name, any quality, any form, by any concept. It is not up to God, but it is up to us. I choose the way I want to think about you. This is called Ishta, my Ishta, my chosen. That's why God is called chosen deity, chosen by me.

The fourth pillar, most marvelous pillar, which alone can explain every anomaly, every mystery. This is called Karma Siddhanta. So this first question is about Karma Siddhanta. Even though I talk about it, everybody talks about it, few people really understand what is Karma Siddhanta. Very briefly, I will give you a very small introduction.

What is Karma Siddhanta?

I am the architect of my own fate. What I did in the past is what I am now. And what I am doing in this life is going to be my future life. Continuously, we are fashioning, we are the architects. Not God, not Devil, not anybody else. Then, is there anything called accidental? Good parents and one child is okay, or all the children are okay, excepting for one autistic, or the questioner has put it so beautifully, mentally challenged person. That is to say, what is called moron. We don't want to use harsh words. They have coined it previously, they used to call them mad. Now, they call it mentally challenged in developing countries. So, these euphemistic words. A fellow who takes care of corpses is called funeral director. A fellow who used to be called woodcutter is now tree surgeon. So, we cannot tolerate even straightforward meanings. This is not to degrade, what is meant is, this is the question. We talk about souls choosing their own journey in lifetimes for the purpose of evolution. Beautifully put, what is it? Each one of us is a soul, Jeevatma.

And what does Jeevatma mean?

Pure consciousness, limited by body and mind complex is called Jeevatma. And each one of us, not only we choose our body and mind, it is astonishing that we create our entire world. The only analogy I can give you, which comes nearest for our understanding, is our dream world. Hundred of us might be sleeping in the same hall, but each one of us have our own private dreams.

What is a dream?

A dream world. Who is the creator? Myself. And we experience our own karma phala. If we have read what you call

nightmarish books, we will be having nightmarish dreams. If we read inappropriate books, we will be having inappropriate dreams. So, many times I explained two types of dreams, daydream and nightdream. What is the difference? Daydream is only we are aware that we are imagining things, sitting in a sofa or easy chair. But nightdream means whatever we think. Immediately it will become, it takes as if a concrete form. That is the difference. So, when we create a dream, suppose, let me give an example. We are in a dream and we are walking. Suddenly a tiger comes and attacks me or a pick pocketer comes and picks our precious necklace or whatever. Or an evil person comes and tries to molest or a good person, maybe Sriramakrishna himself may come. Whatever we imagine, that comes true. But are we free to imagine whatever we like? Tonight I would like to see Krishna. Is it possible? Yes, it is possible. Not by merely wishing, but by laying foundations, by creating samskaras. If we develop great love towards Krishna, then automatically we will be reading about Krishna, we will be meditating on Krishna, we will be singing Krishna bhajans, we will be talking about Parasparambhavayantaha. So, we will be talking and if somebody diverts the subject, we will not want to be diverted, we want to talk about our favorite subject. But if a fellow is loving money, he will be talking about money or business or relatives or whatever. So, we have to lay the foundation and what is my point? My point is that the entire dream world is called Dream Brahmanda the entire cosmos the Swapna Jagat. Who created it? Me and nd who lives in it? Me. Further, supposing we are seeing in a market, thousand people are in a political meeting, ten thousand people, and who created that meeting? Me. Suppose, you are that political leader, and you are giving a speech, and there is continuous applause, Encore, Encore. Encore means you have not spoken properly, so rephrase it and speak again, and that is the meaning of Encore. Or if you want to sing, people will tell you, Encore, that means what? Damn well you sing, until you do it properly. So, then somebody comes and appreciates. Oh, today your speech is marvelous. This is my favorite example. And then you will be very happy in the dream. Who was the speaker? You. Who was the audience? You. Who appreciated? You. Somebody might come along and say, Swami, you did not speak so well the last year when you came you spoke very well, but this time it is a little bit mixed up, diluted, not really. Who? Me only. So, everything that happens is my manifestation so, what is the point? The point is, what we call this waking world is of our own making. This is one of the important points that we are the creators, not only our body-mind, our entire world. To understand this, what we need to do is, we have to also say that we create our own environment, our parents, our neighbors, our social situations, our enemies, our friends and everything depends upon. Why? Because I have to experience the results of what I have done. This is the normal situation. Supposing I have done something or I was born as an autistic person. Two points we need to remember here.l, we are judging an autistic person from our viewpoint, we don't know actually what is happening in the mind of the autistic person. Let me give you some real examples, there are persons among autistic people who can draw extraordinarily well. You know a person I read about him, that you take him around a city, and he will observe and he has got a photographic memory, and then he comes and draws as if a photo has been taken of many places. And we call him autistic person. What is autistic? Socially, he won't be able to manage his own life. Somebody or other has to take care of that person but in particular fields, the person will be extraordinarily talented and this is one point. We all are familiar from the Bhagavatam about the story, In fact, I will give you two stories. One story is about Jada Bharata. Jada means you can almost call him autistic not really autistic, you can call him that mentally but physically, he was very strong, and his own family used to take terrible advantage of that person and make him do what we call 10 donkeys' work. Their own, his own parents, his own brothers and sisters but he never protested. Whatever people say, anybody says, will you do this for me? Immediately, he will jump and do, not only that he will do gladly and he will do with such a winning smile, you will be taken over. He was putting up because absolutely he sees no worries at all. And we know the story, King Rahu Gana came and he became King Rahu Gana, as the Bhagavatam tells us, in search of a sage who can tell him all about God. And on the way, one of his palanquin bearers had fallen sick, so he had to be replaced. Just at that very moment, this Jada Bharata was seen sitting happily under a tree, a very fit person physically. So the king ordered him, and he was not accustomed to carry a palanquin because it has to be carried in a rhythmic manner along with others like soldiers marching, etc and he could not do it. The king got angry, made fun, got angry and addressed him as an idiot. Immediately, out of tremendous compassion, you take notice of the story, if Jada Bharata wanted to destroy the king, he could have done it in a second, but he did not. He simply laid himself back with a smile, It did not affect him at all and said oh king, whom are you addressing as an idiotic person? Are you addressing the body or are you addressing the mind? just as Shankaracharya got a terrible blowback from the so-called Chandala "Dooram apasarave Chandala" Whom are you addressing as Chandala?. Then Shankaracharya came to his senses but his followers never come to their senses, even today. and they are continuing the same tradition. So, what is my point? He looked like an autistic person, but he was a fully ripe Vijnani that Sri Ramakrishna used to call as Vijnani. What is the point? The point is, some people are at least from our point of view appear completely idiotic that they cannot do anything, they cannot think, they cannot rationalize, they cannot reason out, they cannot understand, and everybody has to take care of them as they are only mentally challenged. There are also so many children that are physically challenged and completely helpless, It's a different story altogether. We don't know what is happening inside. All our judgment is from outside.

Now the question is, if a soul takes birth as a mentally challenged person, does this soul do it for the sole purpose of the evolution of others that are around him or her? I have broken down this marvelous question into several parts. So, I will answer this part. So, whenever we are born, wherever we are born, in whatever circumstances, it is all what is called interpersonal karmic effect. I was born to my parents to exhaust their karma. They had got me as their child to exhaust their karma. So also, our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, everybody else. Because the jati, ayu, bhoga had to be this. Karmaphala is collective. So, we have to exhaust each other's karma. But depending upon punya or papa karma, some people's life is more or less happy, some people's life is most of the time only tapatraya and abhigatha, It's too much of suffering. So, is this soul for the sole purpose of the evolution of others? Yes. Evolution. What do you mean by evolution? Very important for us to understand. There is nothing called automatic evolution. I always compare life to an evolutionary escalator. We know what is an escalator. You go to huge shops or sometimes railway stations or airports, you will see escalators. What is the point? You just have to stand there. It will always take you to your destination. We have gone through involution. We have come down to the lowest point which is the inorganic life, lifeless life and that is called involution. Now, we are being carried back to God and that is called evolution. Even avatara is only a helper in the evolution by showing us the right direction. So, yes, we have come for the benefit of exhausting. So, as I said, how do we evolve? Some people can sit there or stand there, but some people, they also not only are being carried forward, but they also walk as they help themselves and true sadhana comes there. In fact, nobody can sit,"Nahi Kachit Sanamapi tisthati akarma kit" impossible. So, yes, this soul does it for the sole purpose of the evolution of others. But I don't agree with the sole purpose that her around him or her. It is for the purpose of that person's evolution also. Now, the next part is, is there any evolution for the person himself or herself in this lifetime? Yes. Every second, there is an evolution. But we have sometimes wrong ideas. Evolution means always going forward. No. See, in our own life, there are three states waking state, dream state, and we know what is the third state, sleeping state. Are we evolving during the sleeping state? Definitely, we are evolving. I will give you a little explanation. For a spiritual person, sleeping is a worship of God. That is why it is said, especially in the Shiva Stuti, "yad yat karma karo me shambho tat tad akhilam tava aradhana" Whatever I do, "ashnam, gaccham, swapan, swasan", it is there in the Bhagavad Gita that I am eating, I am moving, I am even dreaming, I am even sleeping. Yes, they are also evolutionary aids. But I will give you a very short explanation. How can sleep be a part of the evolution? Now, supposing you are a sadhaka, you want to get up early in the morning, let us say at 4 o'clock or 5 o'clock, and then engage yourself in sadhana, and then you go to bed around 10 o'clock, whatever time, and then you had very good sleep, but for that you have laid foundation, you led such a life, there is no worry, and even while lying down, what is going to happen tomorrow, and day after tomorrow, and all these things, if you are going on brooding, that will not help. That is why many times we cannot sleep well because of the foundations we ourselves are laying, just like a dream. So even we have to lay foundations for this thing. So I am giving you a secret hint, because you are devotees, if you are not getting good sleep, then take up a heavy philosophical book, and you will see, especially Mandukya Karika, and Gaudapada Karika, and guaranteed, and if that doesn't succeed, then listen to my talks, you will definitely go to sleep. What am I talking about? If you can sleep as soon as within a few minutes, maybe 10 minutes, maybe 15 minutes, go on repeating the name of God, praying to Him, and then you have very good from 10 o'clock until 4 o'clock, 6 hours, excellent sleep, maybe you are having some beautiful divine dreams, and immediately you get up, you jumped up, because you cannot sleep any longer. Now, is it an evolutionary aid or not? Or otherwise, imagine you are tossing and turning, and struggling this way, that way, and you cannot sleep properly, is that the right way? So, sleep, every activity must be done in the proper way, during waking, during dream. Similarly, you read Bhagavata stories, before going to bed, especially Krishna, you will see, maybe you will have very good dreams on some occasions, and it is guaranteed day after day if you do, and you will not only develop your Krishna Bhakti, but your power of visualizing Krishna will also go on increasing, and definitely you will have good dreams, spiritual dreams, divine dreams, as I said. On another occasion, in the past I had explained, four varieties of dreams. What are they? Normal events which are worthless, remembrance of the past, glimpses of the past, or glimpses of the future, or sometimes God comes in the form, or He will grant you your visions. Several Sadhakas had this kind of visions, so that is also possible. So, we have to lay the foundation. Is that laying foundation an evolutionary step or not? Now I will come back. Suppose somebody is born as a mentally challenged person, is there any evolution for that person in this lifetime? Definitely. That is why I brought up this subject, just as even our beautiful sleep is a part of the evolutionary scale, because by sleeping beautifully, we are laying foundations. I will give another example. You will have to multiply them yourself. You are walking, suddenly you stumble, and you injured yourself a little bit, and you can't proceed further, and you are doing your best to tend yourself, which means you are paying the karmic fala in your life. It goes on. But as soon as you are healed, immediately, with great enthusiasm, you continue. Can you continue with that, what is called, inappropriate leg or hand, or whatever it is, sickness I am talking about? So a person has done something wrong, and as a result, the person is born physically or mentally, but by exhausting the karma itself, is a part of the evolutionary scale. Don't forget about it, just as so many marvelous thoughts can come, if you think deeply about it. What is the best thing a baby can do? Kumbhakarna, decome the best Kumbhakarna. What does it mean? Eat and sleep, eat and sleep. But as a child, baby starts growing, starts playing, crying. That is why there is a beautiful Sanskrit saying, "Balanam Rodanam Balam" How does a baby, what exercise do you expect the baby to do? Rodanam. Lustily, the baby will be crying out, and it will exercise its whole body, shaking, etc. and that will create Balam. There is a lot of truth in these sayings. So, if we have done something wrong, and we are sick, and then we have to recover, and recovering well, exhausting our karma, is also to be viewed as a future evolutionary progress and that is one. I will give you another answer given by revered Swami Abhedanandaji Maharaj, I liked it so much. Once a person, you know Swami Abhedanandaji, he was a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. Once somebody asked him, Swami, I seem to be moving at a snail's pace and suddenly I come across a problem, an obstruction, I do not seem to have faith and in fact, it seems as if I am falling down. Swami gave two beautiful examples. He said, first of all, have you ever climbed a spiral staircase? When you are climbing, it seems as if you are coming back from where you started. But if you observe, every time you come, you are far higher than where you started. Even though it seems to be the same direction, same place, but you have already climbed a lot. And second example, even more beautiful example, suppose you are traveling, and you are walking at your normal pace, suddenly you come across a stream. Normally, if you are walking, you can't jump but what do you do? You go back 100 steps, or 50 steps, and then you start running, then with one jump, you clear the stream. Now this going back 50 steps, is it part of your evolution, or is it a real obstruction? Try to understand what it is. So this is the view. Mentally challenged means the karma phala has come and in any case, there is no escape as "karma phala is inevitable". Because without experiencing, karma phala cannot be overcome. As we have been dealing in the Svetashvatara Upanishad, which I am holding on Saturdays and also Sundays, it is impossible. If you have not heard, I will just repeat one small something, It comes in the Tulasidas Ramayana called Ramcharitmanas. Rama was commanded by Dasaratha to go to Dandakaranya for 14 years but Lakshmana insisted, Sita insisted that they also cannot live without Rama, They will have to follow and he had reluctantly agreed. The condition was only Rama should go,they reached the bank of the Ganga, If he crosses, that will be the crossing of the Kosala Rajya that is Dasaratha's kingdom. Gohaka, the ferryman, is the greatest friend of Dasaratha, friend, not subject. Now this Gohaka, he loved Rama, he saw the condition that the people who were brought up in such luxurious surroundings, at night they were sleeping. Can you imagine? When you are reading Ramayana, have you ever imagined what is it to be? You just imagine. You just go and sleep outside, maybe it is cold, maybe it is mosquito ridden, and maybe there is plenty of traffic going on, a lot of what is called evil people, drunken people, drug addicts are moving around, are all surrounding you. Just see how uncomfortable it would be. What to speak of a forest? So Rama, Sita were sleeping, Lakshmana was guarding for nearly 12 years that He never slept. Daytime he will work like a slave, and nighttime he will only guard Rama and Sita and for Lakshmana, Rama and Sita are like Lakshmi and Narayana. So this Guhaka could not bear it. So he started cursing Dasaratha and Kaikeyi and other people. Then Lakshmana was consoling him, Bhai Guhaka please listen, with sweet words he was giving the highest. Nobody suffers because of anybody's actions. We suffer because of our own Purva Janma Karma, and without experiencing, Prarabdha Karma will not get exhausted, It's beautiful saying. By the way, if you want Bhagavad Bhakti, love of God, read Ramcharitmanas and the very reading will make you a devotee and so many marvelous stories are also there. Anyway, what I am trying to tell you that Karmapala is inevitable. Nobody needs to be blamed. So if I am born as a physically or mentally challenged person, it is only because of what I have done. So how am I evolving? By exhausting my Purva Janma Karma. Because that is also part of the evolutionary process only. Just as we sleep, just as we sit when we are tired and do so many other things, Prarabdha Karma is also getting exhausted. Once it is exhausted, a person steps back sprightingly and then he moves forward very much. Then we also have, as I said, I broke down this question. So there is evolution for that person and himself or herself. In this lifetime? Yes, in this lifetime. Because we have to exhaust it some lifetime or other. And God is called Sanyogakarta. That means He will bring appropriate Karmapala and makes it join, unite with us at the right time, in the right lifetime. In this life, past life, future life, etc. So the next part, if the person can't relate or understand what is happening around him or her in the material world, will the soul still evolve? I already answered indirectly. I will remind you about that. When today itself you are sleeping, now you answer yourself after hearing me. Is that sleeping well? Is it part of your next day's evolution or not? You tell it. So this person is exhausting, it is also there. And that's why I also mentioned that we are not able to understand what the person himself is experiencing. We take it for granted. A sleeping person doesn't know anything. Stupidity can go no further. A person who is dreaming, you don't know what type of... Nobody knows, excepting that person, what that person is dreaming about. So, as I said, Jada Bharata, did he know everything that was happening outside? Was he a fool? A person who knows God, he knows the world better than anybody. And if his parents and others were taking advantage of him, you think he was a fool? He doesn't know what they are doing. He understands. I am exhausting my Prarabdha Karma and they are also creating their own Prarabdha Karma by being selfish, etc. That is a very interesting point. I will leave you to think deeply. When somebody is behaving evilly towards me, making me suffer, suffering is my exhaustion of the Prarabdha Karma. But depending upon how the other person is doing this to me, that person's karmic effect will catch hold of that person. So, I am inclined today to give you a story. I have already told this story. I don't know whether in Gospel or not, but I will tell you very briefly, actually. There was a kingdom and there were, as usual, all the, not only saints, but sinners also will be there, definitely more number, and there were robbers. And if somebody had killed and robbed, if they are caught, the punishment would be to execute them. And then what happened? There was a person who used to go watchman, beating a drum, the awakening of the drum beating. That is the beautiful story. So this watchman, very alert, very faithful, he will go throughout the city, because there are robberies going on, so you please take care of them, and etc., etc., he used to keep the persons. So the robbers found it a little bit hard. Once this drum beater had to take leave, he begged the king for a few days, and then the king, he said, I am ready, willing to give you leave, but with the condition, you have to find out a substitute, because there are so many robberies going on. And then this person could not find anybody, but he had a young man, his own son, who was supposed to be, what is called, a mentally challenged person, but a little bit better. So the father taught him a little bit, and told him, my son, throughout the night, you go and awaken, keep people a little bit alert, so that robbers cannot have any advantage. And the son was a very good person, so he had consented, and the father went away, probably there was some anxiety, what he will do, but the king was very anxious, when he came to know, and then he wanted to follow, what the young son will be doing. So this young son started early, watch, he was beating the drum, I do not remember exactly, but the end words will be, tasmat jagrata jagrata, there are six ferocious robbers, called kama, krodha, loba, moha, madha, matsarya, and they are ever ready, one second's forgetfulness, unawareness, and they will rob you of everything, and then make you go to the direst hell. Tasmat jagrata jagrata, the king was astonished, this type of wisdom is coming, from a mouth of a boy, that is so much, people thought he was an autistic person, something like that, they never used to call him mentally challenged person, in those days, they call it, what is called a stick is a stick, and a carrot is a carrot, like that. So, throughout the night, the king was fascinated, drawn like a small iron filing, by a huge magnet, by the time the night ended, the king was so hugely surprised, and then for the next few days, this is my edition, it is not there in the original story, the king was following, and this boy was only giving the highest advaitic wisdom, tasmat jagrata jagrata, human life is rare, turlabham trayamevaita, daivanugraha hetukam, manushyatvam mumukshatvam, mahapurushasam shreya, beautiful birds of wisdom was flowing, so, this king was very impressed, and 3-4 days passed, then the father, the watchman returned, and then as soon as the king came to know, he called him, come and meet me, and bring your son also, the watchman was sure, that he is going to be executed, because the son had not done properly, he never knew what had happened, now what happened, this watchman came trembling, and then the king said, you see, I never knew that you had a precious gem of a son, you did marvelously well, now I want to reward him, because I am highly pleased with him, so what do you want, the king asked the boy himself, my son, whatever job, prime minister, commander in chief, or my special advisor, whatever job you want, is my promise, I will offer you, and the boy simply thought, oh my king, I don't want any of these things, but if you are willing to give me, you make me your chief executioner, that is, the person who kills the criminals, the king, of course, when the king offered, the prime minister, the commander in chief, everybody was shaking, if this foolish king has promised, and in his greed, this boy asks for my job, whether my job is at stake, my job is at stake, but they were hugely relieved, this person must be really terribly, what is called, unintelligent, stupid, to ask for, nobody wants to be the chief executioner, not even the executioner, the king's shock was great, you really want it, yes, if you are pleased, I don't want any other job, I want this job only, so the king promised, so he appointed him, the chief executioner, and then the story, here comes the real story, the king was extremely curious to know, why this boy, so there were some robbers, who were sentenced to death, that very night, and there is a place, where this execution had to take place, so the king was hiding, and he was watching, what was this person doing, this person, this young boy, a marvellous singer, he was the greatest devotee of Hari, and then what was he doing, and he feels first of all, these prisoners were to be executed, finally, and then says, my brothers, this would be your last day, last night, I am going to make you hear, talk about Sri Hari's glories, and he starts singing, the glories of Sri Hari, such a melodious voice, full of emotion, like Sri Ram Krishna, singing about God or Mother, and what happens, so as soon as, within a short time, all the people who were to be executed, they were shedding tears, they were thinking of Lord Hari, nothing, no other thought was there, as if Lord Hari, they were witnessing in front of them, looking at them, with the most compassionate loving eyes, like a newly, a mother who had given birth, just a few days back, at her baby, lying, and with opening eyes, playing, looking at each one of them, and when they were completely absorbed, and thinking of Sri Hari, this boy would go back, with the sharpest sword, he will separate the heads from the people, so that their last thought would be, only of Sri Hari. That way, the boy believed, that all of them would definitely attain, Moksha, Mukti. Now what I am trying to tell you, what is the way, how is it, this answer here, we just don't know, as I said, there are people, who can compose poems, I am talking about artistic people, but there are also people, physically disabled, mentally they are being morons, there is nothing, but we don't know, the consciousness doesn't know anything. What is the problem? The problem is, we don't study our scriptures, we only study a little bit of this, what modern western scientists tell us. They tell us, the brain is consciousness, is an epiphenomenon of the brain, consciousness works only through the brain, if the brain is damaged, consciousness has no place, it is completely dead, these are the very, very ignorant, wrong understanding, understanding, that people like us have got. No, mind has nothing to do with the brain, mind is a subtle body, nobody can see it, it has nothing to do with the brain, and how do we know, what is happening in the mind, even if it is taken for granted, that the mind is not doing anything, but the person is definitely exhausting, and exhausting the karma phala, is also like our, exhausting our tiredness, and so that next day, we will be given a fresh opportunity, and Hindus believe, that every new birth, is a fresh opportunity, for people to move forward, in their evolutionary scale, so this is the answer, if the person cannot relate, or understanding, even if this person, is not able to understand, the person is moving forward, because this so called exhaustion itself, then next opportunity, he will be moving forward, so the person, don't say he cannot relate, whether he knows it or not, he is definitely progressing, the soul still evolves, why, why does it evolve, because there are two parts here, our standing, on the ever moving forward escalator, is one reason, and our self effort, which is a part of which is, exhausting our karma phala, is also there, so definitely, only second time, we are moving forward, last part of this first question, is this lifetime, a pure sacrifice for the souls, surrounding him to evolve, no, the definitive answer is, depends upon what the parents do, if the parents, surrounding him means what, parents, family members, brothers and sisters, servants, neighbouring people, relatives, all these are included there, so is this lifetime, pure sacrifice for the souls, means other people, surrounding him to evolve, the answer should be, that whether it is a sacrifice, and I will make a little bit of pun, sacrifice means, it can be for good, it can be for evil also, so their sacrifice, they are treating, looking upon this person, as a sinner, or as a nuisance, as a useless burden, better this person should be killed, as soon as possible, and several people, several parents, do that, so if that is the type of response, to this situation, definitely it is a sacrifice, they are sliding back, as it were, but as it were, but if the parents, take on the same job, with a beautiful, spiritual attitude, that is really a sacrifice, a puja, this is called Bali, and I will come back to that point also, for the souls, anybody, so what does it mean, it means it depends upon, how we understand the situation, and how we, react to the situation, and with what attitude, we are doing this, looking after that person, or whatever it is, and I will tell you, something very interesting, supposing, no parents, really want, a challenging mentally, or physically challenging baby, nobody wants, suppose somebody is born, they are grief stricken, and they go on beating their foreheads, what karma we have done, definitely they have done, that much they have understood, whether they understand or not, that is what is the truth, it is what is called, inescapable fact of life, how they have to deal with it, how they deal with it, depends upon their own, evolutionary scale, now what I wanted to, tell you about it, supposing the parents, had no child, and then they are longing, for a child, and they find there is no way, of getting a child, and suppose further imagine, that they are, great devotees of God, and suppose one day God appears, as a result of their, earnest prayer, places a baby, in the form of, an autistic person, or whatever it is, and says, this is the greatest service, you can render me, if you are my devotees, I want you to take care of, this baby, what will you, what will any of us, who claim ourselves as a, devotee of God, what are we going to do, about it, if we reject God's will, that means we have to, again come back to the same point, but it may take, a long long time, but every sincere devotee, will say we will gladly, take care of it, now in the West, I know so many families, who did not have, any children, but definitely they have taken, these unwanted children, this is the, and we have to remember, these people are not, devotees of God, but they are highly, what we call patriotic people, and socially, highly emotional, and responsible people, and this is the situation, this child, will be suffering, if nobody takes care of them, Christ wants me, to take care of these people, so we will adopt, such a child, so many people, hundreds and hundreds of them, adopt these people, and they voluntarily take, and what is the magic, if it is forced upon us, in the form of birth, we will be cursing our fate, and God also, but if we voluntarily take up, gladly, happily, we will sacrifice our life, for the sake of these things, so what is the summary, of what we discussed so far, whether we know it or not, we cannot escape, our Karmaphala, secondly, whether we are conscious or not, even, exhausting our Karmaphala, is also part of our, evolutionary progress, but if we can do it, with a spiritual attitude, then it will be better, and the last point, we have to understand, a person, from our point of view, we have not, entered into the mind, of that person, what that person is understanding, his or her situation, because we are only measuring, the responses of the brain, not of the mind, I think, this question, I thought, really deserved, what is called, a thoughtful answer, and this is my take, on that question, I hope definitely, it will involve, if any one of you, are faced with this challenge, simply take it this way, if, I am praying to God, and God comes and says, will you take care of, this person, this what I love, and I will help you attain Moksha, what will you do, and then, a funny story, story means, an incident, really that happened, once, a female cat, had given birth, to several kittens, and then the servants were, at Dakshineshwar, and the servants were trying to beat her and the kittens, and then she took refuge, in Shri Ram Krishna's room, and Shri Ram Krishna would not hurt a soul, we know, but he found it, a little bit, because he can't take care of, himself also, so once, I think it was Nishtarini Devi, Navagopal Chandra's wife, Gosha's wife had come, and he said, will you please, take care of these kittens, immediately, without hesitation, she said yes, and don't give it to anybody, you yourself will look after them, she said yes, I will look after, I am promising you, Shri Ram Krishna said, I will give you Mukti, for this purpose, remember, if you take care of somebody, if Shri Ram Krishna promises Mukti, he may not tell it, but he will definitely, give you Mukti, now second question, very easy question, so what is the question, this is the question, is about, why was the word, Katha Amrita, translated into, English as the Gospel, in the English edition, is there any significance to the word Gospel, and what is the true meaning, of Gospel, this is the second question, again a beautiful question, I dealt with it at the beginning, of this Gospel class, this word Katha Amrita, was specially chosen by M, because he was a great, admirer, devotee of Bhagavatam, and in the Bhagavatam, in the Dashamaskandha, I think 30th section, so there are, 5 chapters dealing with the, Rasa Panchadhyayi, and then Gopis, when they went to Krishna, their pride has risen, Ahamkara has risen, so Krishna disappeared as it were, and then they bursted forth, into lamentation, about 17 shlokas, called Gopi Gita, Gopika Gita, were marvellous things, one of them was, Tava Katha Amritam, Tapta Jeevanam, Kavi Bhereditam, Kalma Shaapaham, Shravanamangalam, Shreemadatatam, Bhuvigrinanthi Ete, Bhuridha Janaha, so this is the, Bengali word, but in Kannada, it is translated as, Sri Ramakrishna Vachana Veda, Veda in the form of, simple prose, as the translation of Katha Amrita, first of all, this was first translated, by M himself, but he simply, retained the name Katha Amrita, but for the first time, arranging all the original, five volumes of Katha Amrita, in Bengali, by M, Swami Nikhilananda, who was residing, in the New York City, and with the aid of somebody, he arranged everything, chronologically, and it was not chronological, it was in M's account, and then translated into English, and then he must have, consulted some people, so he was the first person, who was to coin, the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, now what does this Gospel, really mean, this is a word given to the, New Testament, you know the Bible, is divided into two parts, old part of the Bible, new Bible means, ever since the birth of Jesus Christ, Gospel means good news, the word Gospel, is derived from the, Anglo-Saxon term, Godspell, meaning, a good story, beautiful story, that is Jesus' story, a rendering of the Latin, Evangelium, that is why they call, some people who preach, they are called Evangelists, and Greek, Evangelium, meaning good news, or good telling, and later on, the word good news, that is, do not worry, Jesus has given us, good news, that we can go to God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and we can be, absolutely free, so this Gospel means, here the four Biblical narratives, covering the life and death, of Jesus Christ, according to tradition, rendition, especially, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John, so this is the story, Gospel means good news, so that is how, it has come to be, the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, so today, I have devoted my time, because I thought, this is a very beautiful question, and it is also part of, the background to understand, Sri Ramakrishna properly, each one of us, we have to exhaust our Prarabdha Karma, but how we take it, how, with what attitude we exhaust, and whether we will be progressing, in the proper way, everything, even for mentally challenged persons, that is the topic, so with this, I will stop here, and we will take up our, normal class, unless there are, further good questions in the future, Om Jananem, Prarabdham, Deveem, Ramakrishnam, Jagadgurum, Pada Padme, Tayo Sritva, Pranamami, Mohan Mohan, May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda, bless us all with Bhakti, Jai Ramakrishna.