The Gospel of Râmakrishna (ed. Swami Abhedananda, 1907) · 13 · 2

​that they had at their Math a Siddha who had acquired some miraculous powers. He used to go about with his eyes fixed on the sky, not caring for his companion Ganesh Gorgy, yet when he left him, he became disconsolate. By this time a change had come over the Bhagavan. He remained speechless for a while. Returning to consciousness, he said: "You have come, have you? Well, I am here too." Who was there to fathom the mystery of these divine words!

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Among the disciples who sat at the feet of Ramakrishna, Narendra did not believe in the Incarnation of God, while Girish had a burning faith that God incarnated Himself from age to age in this world of ours. The Bhagavan wished them to discuss the matter before Him. Sri Ramakrishna (to Girish): I should like to hear you both talk over the matter in English. The discussion was commenced. It was, however, carried on not in English but in Ben-gali, with here and there an English word. Narendra: God is Infinite; it is beyond our power to conceive Him by means of our poor intellect. God is in every human God manifest. being, but He is not manifest in one particular individual. The Bhagavan (affectionately): I quite con-cur. He is in every object, in every human being; only there is a difference in the mani-festation of Divine Energy in those objects. The Divine Energy manifest in some objects leads one away from God and is then called Avidya (ignorance). When it leads Godward it is called Vidya. Again, the manifested ​energy is greater in some vessels and less in others. Thus it is that all men are not equal. A disciple: What is the use of all this idle talk? Bhagavan: There is a great deal of use in it. Girish (to Narendra): How do you know that God does not take a human body, does not in-carnate Himself? Narendra: Oh! God is surely beyond the reach of words and the finite mind! Ramakrishna: Quite so; beyond the finite impure mind. But He can be realized by the God realized by purified soul. purified intellect (Buddhi). Purified intellect and purified soul are one The holy sages (Rishis) realized the pure universal Spirit by their purified intellect and purified soul. Girish (to Narendra): If God does not incar-nate Himself in a human form, who will ex-plain these difficult problems? He assumes human form to teach mankind Divine Wisdom and Divine Love. Who else has the power to teach in the same manner? Narendra: Why, He will certainly teach me wihin the heart. ​Bhagavan (affectionately): That is indeed so. He will teach as internal Ruler of the heart (Antaryamin). The discussion grew warm. It turned on matters too high for ordinary comprehension: Was Infinity indivisible? What did Hamilton say as to the limit of human knowledge; and Herbert Spencer, Tyndall and Huxley? Ramakrishna: I for my part do not like these things. God is beyond the power of reasoning; He is something more. I see that whatever is, is God. What then is the necessity of reason-ing about Him? I do actually see that what-ever is, is God. It is He who has become all these things. This is a stage at which the mind and the intellect (Buddhi) are lost in the Ab-solute and Indivisible Being. At the sight of Narendra my mind becomes merged in the In-divisible Absolute. What, pray, do you say to this? Girish (smiling): Surely, Revered Sir, we do not pretend that we understand everything except this. Ramakrishna: Thereupon at the end of Samadhi I must come down two notes at least below the highest note in the scale before I can utter a word. Vedanta has been explained by ​Sankara.[11] Another point of view is that of Ramanuja, [12] who has put forward the doctrine of qualified non-dualism. Narendra (to the Bhagavan): Sir, may I ask what is meant by Visishtadvaitavada (qualified non-dualism)? Ramakrishna: There is a doctrine called Visishtadvaitavada, the view of Ramanuja; Qualified non-dualism. that is, the Absolute (Brahman) must not be considered apart from the world and the soul. The three form one: three in one and one in three. Let us take a Bel-fruit. Let the shell, the seeds and the ker- nel be kept separate. Now suppose some one wished to know the weight of the fruit. Surely ​it would not do to weigh the kernel alone. The shell, the seeds and the kernel are all weighed with a view to knowing the real weight of the fruit. No doubt we reason at the outset that the all-important thing is the kernel — not either the shell or the seeds. In the next place, we go on reasoning that the shell and the seeds belong to the same substance to which the kernel be-longs. At the first stage of the reasoning we say, "Not this, not this." Thus the Absolute (Brahman) is not the individual soul. Again, it is not the phenomenal world. The Absolute (Brahman) is the only Reality, all else is unreal. At the next stage we go a little farther. We see that the kernel belongs to the same sub-stance as that to which the shell and the seeds belong; hence the Substance from which we derive our negative conception of the Absolute Brahman is the identical Substance from which we derive our negative conceptions of the finite soul and the phenomenal world. Our relative phenomena (Lila) must be traced to that eternal Being which is also called the Absolute Hence, says Ramanuja, the Absolute (Brahman) is qualified by the finite soul and the phenomenal world. This is the doctrine of the qualified non-dualistic Vedanta. ​I see that Being as a Reality before my very eyes! Why should I reason? I do actually see that the Absolute has become all Spiritual awakening necessary to see the Reality. things about us. It appears as the individual soul and the phenomenal world. One must have an awaken- ing of the spirit within to see the Reality. How long must one reason and discriminate, saying, "Not this, not this"? So long as one has not realized the Absolute Reality. It is not in mere words such as "I see that God has become everything"; mere saying is not enough. By the Lord's Grace the spirit must be quickened. Spiritual awakening is followed by Samadhi. In this state one forgets that one has a body; one loses all attachment to things of this world; one likes no other words than those relating to God; one is sorely troubled if called upon to listen to worldly matters. The spirit within being awakened, the next step is the realization of the Universal Spirit. It is the spirit that can realize the Spirit. After the discussion was over the Bhagavan said: I have observed that discrimination brings only intellectual apprehension of the Ab- solute, which is far from true realization. The latter can be acquired by meditation in solitude ​(Dhyana); but it is very different from realiza-tion through His Grace. If He, out Intellectual apprehension and realiza-tion. of His Grace, makes us realize what is God-Incarnate and how He manifests through a human form, then it is no longer necessary to reason or ex-plain. Do you know how it is? As in a dark room someone rubs a match on the side of the box and all at once a light is struck. So, if the Lord is gracious enough to strike the light for us, the darkness of ignorance will be dis-pelled and all doubts will cease forever. Can He be realized by such discussions? The Bhagavan then invited Narendra to be seated by His side. He made many loving inquiries about him and caressed him. Narendra: Why, Revered Sir, I have medi-tated in solitude on the Divine Mother for three and four days together, but nothing has come of it. Bhagavan: All in time; do not be impatient. Mother is no other than Brahman the Absolute. Divine Mother is the primeval energy, when that is without activity I call it Brahman. But when it creates, preserves and destroys the phenomenal world I call it Sakti (energy), or ​Divine Mother. That which you call Brah- man is the same as my Divine Mother. (To Girish) It is getting late. Girish: I am afraid I shall have to leave Thee, Revered Sir, and go to my work, unfor- tunate that I am! Bhagavan: No, you must serve both parties. Janaka served God unattached to the world and thus looked to the interests of both this world and the next; he drank the cup of milk but did not forget the soul. Girish: I am thinking, Revered Sir, of giving up my profession. Bhagavan: No, no; you need not do any such thing. It is all right as it is. You are doing good to many. Narendra (softly): Just a moment ago he was addressing Him as Lord, God-Incarnate, yet he still has such strong attachment to his professional work. The Bhagavan had Narendra seated by his side. He fixed His eyes on him. He moved down to sit closer to him. Narendra did not believe that God incarnated Himself, but what did that signify? His love for him was still as great as ever. Touching his person the Bha- gavan said to him: Are your feelings wounded? ​Never mind; we, too, are of the same mind with you and feel for you. Bhagavan continued: So long as one reasons and argues about God, one has not realized Him. Disputations prevent reali-zation of God. You both were engaged in discussion. I did not like it. How long does the noise continue at a feast to which many are bidden? So long as the guests have not begun to eat. As soon as the viands are served and they begin to partake of them, three-fourths of the noise is gone. Then the more the sweetmeats are passed around, the more the noise subsides. The nearer you come to God, the less you are disposed to argue. When you come up to Him, when you behold Him as the Reality, then all noise, all disputa- tions are at an end. Then is the time for the enjoyment which comes in Samddhi. Saying this, the Bhagavan gently moved His hand over Narendra's sweet face and caressed him, repeating, "Hari Om, Hari Om, Hari Om." Then what a miracle passed before the eyes of the disciples! Looking at the Bhagavan, they saw His sense-consciousness beginning to leave Him. Looking again, they saw that it had left Him altogether. In this half-conscious state the hand of the Incarnation of Divine ​Love continued to rest on Narendra's body. Was He breathing into him the inspiration, the power that comes from above? Then yet other changes came over the Bhagavan. He said to Narendra, with folded hands: A song do sing, then I shall get well; how else shall I be able to stand on my feet. "My Nitai! Oh! He is deep drunk, intoxicated with the wine of Divine Love, the love for Gouranga (God- Incarnate)." A short while and He was speechless again, speechless like a figure cut in marble. Drunk with the joy of the Lord, the Bhagavan went on, saying: "Take care of Radha, lest thou fall into the Jamuna. O thou, mad with ecstatic love for Him who incarnated Himself at Brin- davan, the Lord Sri Krishna!" Once more He was in deep Samdhdi! Coming back into sense- consciousness he repeated portions of a well- known song: "O my friend, how far is that blessed woodland, the land where is to be seen my own Beloved One? Look! Here comes the fragrance from the blessed person of my Beloved! I am unable to take a step forward, O my friend!" Now the Bhagavan had lost all consciousness of the world. He was not mindful of anything ​or any person in this state. Narendra was seated before Him, but apparently He did not see him. He had lost all sense of time and place. The mind, the heart and the soul had all become absorbed in God. Suddenly He stood up, saying: "Deep drunk with the wine of Divine Love, with love for Gour (God-Incar- nate)." A few moments after He took His seat and said: "Yonder is a light coming this way, but I cannot even now say from which way the light comes." It was then that Naren- dra began to sing:

God-Vision

1. O Lord! Thou hast blessed me with Thy vision and Thou hast driven all my troubles away. A charm Thou hast thrown over my soul.

2. Beholding Thee as the Reality, the seven worlds have forgotten their grief! Not to speak of my poor self, so worthy of Thy pity and Thy loving-kindness!

Listening to the song the Bhagavan had once more lost all consciousness of the outer world. His eyes were closed. His body and limbs moved not He was in deep Samddhi. When ​the Samadhi was over he asked: "Who will take me home to the temple? " A child looking for a companion! Left alone, he saw nothing but darkness about. It was getting late and it was the night of the tenth day of the dark fort- night. Sri Ramakrishna wished to go back to the Temple at Dakshineswara. He seated Him- self in the carriage which was to take Him there. The disciples stood on either side of the carriage to see Him off. Even now was He deep drunk with the joy of the Lord! The carriage rolled away. The disciples looked after it for a few moments, then dispersed each to his own home.