THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA

CHAPTER-IV; PART-VIII                        Tuesday, October24, 1882

Sri Ramakrishna

It was three or four o'clock in the afternoon.  The Master was standing near the shelf where the food was kept, when Balaram and M. arrived from Calcutta and saluted him. 

Sri Ramakrishna said to them with a smile: "I was going to take some sweets from the shelf, but no sooner did I put my hand on them than a lizard dropped on my body.  At once I removed my hand.  (All laugh.)

"Oh, yes! One should observe all these things.  You see, Rakhal is ill, and my limbs ache too.  Do you know what's the matter? This morning as I was leaving my bed I saw a certain person, whom I took for Rakhal.  (All laugh.) Oh, yes! Physical features should be studied.  The other day Narendra brought one of his friends, a man with only one good eye, though the other eye was not totally blind.  I said to myself, 'What is this trouble that Narendra has brought with him?'

"A certain person comes here, but I can't eat any food that he brings.  He works in an office at a salary of twenty rupees and earns another twenty by writing false bills.  I can't utter a word in his presence, because he tells lies.  Sometimes he stays here two or three days without going to his office.  Can you guess his purpose? It is that I should recommend him to someone for a job somewhere else. 

"Balaram comes from a family of devout Vaishnavas.  His father, now an old man, is a pious devotee.  He has a tuft of hair on his head, a rosary of tulsi beads round his neck, and a string of beads in his hand.  He devotes his time to the repetition of God's name.  He owns much property in Orissa and has built temples to Radha-Krishna in Kothar, Vrindāvan, and other places, establishing free guest-houses as well. 

(To Balaram) "A certain person came here the other day.  I understand he is the slave of that black hag of a wife.  Why is it that people do not see God? It is because of the barrier of 'woman and gold'.  How impudent he was to say to you the other day, 'A paramahamsa came to my father, who fed him with chicken curry!'

"In my present of my mind I can eat a little fish soup if it has been offered to the Divine Mother beforehand.  I can't eat any meat, even if it is offered to the Divine Mother; but I taste it with the end of my finger lest She should be angry.  (Laughter.)

"Well, can you explain this state of my mind? Once I was going from Burdwan to Kamarpukur in a bullock-cart, when a great storm arose.  Some people gathered near the cart.  My companions said they were robbers.  So I began to repeat the names of God, calling sometimes on Kāli, sometimes on Rama, sometimes on Hanuman.  What do you think of that?"

Was the Master hinting that God is one but is addressed differently by different sects?

MASTER (to Balaram):  "Maya is nothing but 'woman and gold'.  A man living in its midst gradually loses his spiritual alertness.  He thinks all is well with him.  The scavenger carries a tub of night-soil on his head, and in course of time loses his repulsion to it.  One gradually acquires love of God through the practice of chanting God's name and glories.  (To M.) One should not be ashamed of chanting God's holy name.  As the saying   goes, 'One does not succeed so long as one has these three: shame, hatred, and fear.'

"At Kamarpukur they sing kirtan very well.  The devotional music is sung to the accompaniment of drums. 

(To Balaram) "Have you installed any image at Vrindāvan?"

BALARAM: "Yes, sir.  We have a grove where Krishna is worshipped."

SOURCE: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna