Chapter 7: THE
MASTER AND VIJAY GOSWAMI (PART-II)
Thursday, December 14, 1882
Bondage removed
by strong renunciation:
VIJAY: "What must the bound soul's condition of
mind be in order to achieve
 |
| Vijay Krishna Goswami |
liberation?"
MASTER:
"He can free himself from attachment to 'woman and gold' if, by the grace
of God, he cultivates a spirit of strong renunciation. What is this strong renunciation? One who has
only a mild spirit of renunciation says, 'Well, all will happen in the course
of time; let me now simply repeat the name of God.' But a man possessed of a
strong spirit of renunciation feels restless for God, as the mother feels for
her own child. A man of strong
renunciation seeks nothing but God. He
regards the world as a deep well and feels as if he were going to be drowned in
it. He looks on his relatives as
venomous snakes; he wants to fly away from them. And he does go away. He never thinks, 'Let me first make some
arrangement for my family and then I shall think of God.' He has great inward
resolution.
Parable of the
two farmers:
"Let me tell you a story about strong
renunciation. At one time there was a
drought in a certain part of the country.
The farmers began to cut long channels to bring water to their
fields. One farmer was stubbornly
determined. He took a vow that he would
not stop digging until the channel connected his field with the river. He set to work. The time came for his bath, and his wife sent
their daughter to him with oil.
'Father,' said the girl, 'it is already late. Rub your body with oil and take your bath.'
'Go away!' thundered the farmer. 'I have
too much to do now.' It was past midday, and the farmer was still at work in
his field. He didn't even think of his
bath. Then his wife came and said: 'Why
haven't you taken your bath? The food is getting cold. You overdo everything. You can finish the rest tomorrow or even
today after dinner.' The farmer scolded her furiously and ran at her, spade in
hand, crying: 'What? Have you no sense? There's no rain. The crops are dying. What will the children eat? You'll all starve
to death. I have taken a vow not to
think of bath and food today before I bring water to my field.' The wife saw
his state of mind and ran away in fear.
Through a whole day's back-breaking labour the farmer managed by evening
to connect his field with the river.
Then he sat down and watched the water flowing into his field with a
murmuring sound. His mind was filled
with peace and joy. He went home, called
his wife, and said to her, 'Now give me some oil and prepare me a smoke.' With
serene mind he finished his bath and meal, and retired to bed, where he snored
to his heart's content. The
determination he showed is an example of strong renunciation.
"Now,
there was another farmer who was also digging a channel to bring water to his
field. His wife, too, came to the field
and said to him: 'It's very late. Come
home. It isn't necessary to overdo
things.' The farmer didn't protest much, but put aside his spade and said to
his wife, 'Well, I'll go home since you ask me to.' (All laugh) That man never
succeeded in irrigating his field. This
is a case of mild renunciation.
"As
without strong determination the farmer cannot bring water to his field, so
also without intense yearning a man cannot realize God. (To Vijay) Why don't you come here now as
frequently as before?"
VIJAY:
"Sir, I wish to very much, but I am not free. I have accepted work in the Brahmo
Samaj."
Attachment to
"woman" creates bondage:
MASTER: "It is 'woman and gold' that binds man
and robs him of his freedom. It is woman
that creates the need for gold. For
woman one man becomes the slave of another, and so loses his freedom. Then he cannot act as he likes.
Story of
Govindaji's priests:
"The priests in the temple of Govindaji at
Jaipur were celibates at first, and at that time they had fiery natures. Once the King of Jaipur sent for them, but
they didn't obey him. They said to the
messenger, 'Ask the king to come to see us.' After consultation, the king and
his ministers arranged marriages for them.
From then on the king didn't have to send for them. They would come to him of themselves and say:
'Your Majesty, we have come with our blessings.
Here are the sacred flowers of the temple. Deign to accept them.' They came to the
palace, for now they always wanted money for one thing or another: the building
of a house, the rice-taking ceremony of their babies, or the rituals connected
with the beginning of their children's education.
Story of twelve
hundred nedas:
"There is the story of the twelve hundred nedas
and thirteen hundred nedis. Virabhadra,
the son of Nityananda Goswami, had thirteen hundred 'shaven-headed'
disciples. They attained great spiritual
powers. That alarmed their teacher. 'My disciples have acquired great spiritual
powers', thought Virabhadra. 'Whatever
they say to people will come to pass.
Wherever they go they may create alarming situations; for people
offending them unwittingly will come to grief.' Thinking thus, Virabhadra one
day called them to him and said, 'See me after performing your daily devotions
on the bank of the Ganges.' These disciples had such a high spiritual nature
that, while meditating, they would go into samādhi and be unaware of the river
water flowing over their heads during the flood-tide. Then the ebb-tide would come and still they
would remain absorbed in meditation.
"Now,
one hundred of these disciples had anticipated what their teacher would ask of
them. Lest they should have to disobey
his injunctions, they had quickly disappeared from the place before he summoned
them. So they did not go to Virabhadra
with the others. The remaining twelve
hundred disciples went to the teacher after finishing their meditation. Virabhadra said to them: 'These thirteen
hundred nuns will serve you. I ask you
to marry them.' 'As you please, revered sir', they said. 'But one hundred of us have gone away.'
Thenceforth each of these twelve hundred disciples had a wife. Consequently they all lost their spiritual
power. Their austerities did not have
their original fire. The company of
woman robbed them of their spirituality because it destroyed their freedom.
Degrading effect
of serving others:
(To Vijay) "You yourself perceive how far you
have gone down by being a servant of others.
Again, one finds that people with many university degrees, scholars with
their vast English education, accept service under their English masters and
are daily trampled under their boots.
The one cause of all this is woman.
They have married and set up a 'gay fair' with their wives and children. Now they cannot go back, much as they would
like to. Hence all these insults and
humiliations, all this suffering from slavery.
"Once
a man realizes God through intense dispassion, he is no longer attached to
woman. Even if he must lead the life of
a householder, he is free from fear of and attachment to woman. Suppose there are two magnets, one big and
the other small. Which one will attract
the iron? The big one, of course. God is
the big magnet. Compared to Him, woman
is a small one. What can 'woman'
do?"
Worshipping woman
as Divine Mother:
A
DEVOTEE: "Sir, shall we hate women then?"
MASTER:
"He who has realized God does not look upon a woman with the eye of lust;
so he is not afraid of her. He perceives
clearly that women are but so many aspects of the Divine Mother. He worships them all as the Mother Herself.
(To
Vijay) "Come here now and then. I
like to see you very much."
VIJAY:
"I have to do my various duties in the Brahmo Samaj; that is why I can't
always come here. But I shall visit you
whenever I find it possible."
Difficulties of
preaching:
MASTER (to Vijay): "The task of a religious
teacher is indeed difficult. One cannot
teach men without a direct command from God.
People won't listen to you if you teach without such authority. Such teaching has no force behind it. One must first of all attain God through
spiritual discipline or some other means.
Thus armed with authority from God, one can deliver lectures.
"After
receiving the command from God, one can be a teacher and give lectures
anywhere. He who receives authority from
God also receives power from Him. Only
then can he perform the difficult task of a teacher.
"An
insignificant tenant was once engaged in a lawsuit with a big landlord. People realized that there was a powerful man
behind the tenant. Perhaps another big
landlord was directing the case from behind.
Man is an insignificant creature.
He cannot fulfil the difficult task of a teacher without receiving power
direct from God."
VIJAY:
"Don't the teachings of the Brahmo Samaj bring men salvation?"
MASTER:
"How is it ever possible for one man to liberate another from the bondage
of the world? God alone, the Creator of this world-bewitching maya, can save
men from maya. There is no other refuge
but that great Teacher, Satchidananda.
How is it ever possible for men who have not realized God or received
His command, and who are not strengthened with divine strength, to save others
from the prison-house of the world?
"One
day as I was passing the Panchavati on my way to the pine-grove, I heard a
bullfrog croaking. I thought it must have
been seized by a snake. After some time,
as I was coming back, I could still hear its terrified croaking. I looked to see what was the matter, and
found that a water-snake had seized it.
The snake could neither swallow it nor give it up. So there was no end to the frog's
suffering. I thought that had it been
seized by a cobra it would have been silenced after three croaks at the
most. As it was only a water-snake, both
of them had to go through this agony. A
man's ego is destroyed after three croaks, as it were, if he gets into the
clutches of a real teacher. But if the
teacher is an 'unripe' one, then both the teacher and the disciple undergo
endless suffering. The disciple cannot
get rid either of his ego or of the shackles of the world. If a disciple falls into the clutches of an
incompetent teacher, he doesn't attain liberation."
SOURCE: The gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
