The Gospel of Râmakrishna (ed. Swami Abhedananda, 1907) · 5 · 3

While listening to this dialogue between the Sannyâsin and her mother-in-law, the wife wept bitterly and, addressing her parents, said: "For your sake, dear father and mother, I cannot make the sacrifice." In this way everyone found an excuse. Then the Sannyâsin turned to the patient and said: "Do you see, no one here is ready to sacrifice his life for you. Do you understand now what I meant by saying that there was no depending on anybody?" When the disciple saw all this, he abandoned his so-called home and followed the Sannyâsin, his Guru.

Srî Râmakrishna continued: The Absolute Brahman cannot be known by reasoning. Be Self-surrender and prayer. his servant and taking refuge with him pray to Him with earnestness and sincerity. He will surely reveal Himself unto you. Book-learning or intellectual discussions cannot reveal the Divinity.

Thus saying the Blessed One sang:

The Glory of the Divine Mother

1. Who knoweth what is Kâli (my Divine Mother)?

Even the Six Schools of Philosophy get not a glimpse of Her.

2. The Yogi ever meditateth upon Her at the Mulâdhâra and the Sahasrâra.

As the swans, male and female, commune with each other, so in this lotus (Lotus here is a symbol of Plexus) forest doth Kâli commune with Her consort (Shiva).

3. Kâli, the soul of Âtmârâma (Shiva), is as beloved as Sitâ is of Râma. The majesty of Kâli, Shiva (Kâla) alone can know, forsooth who else may know it?

4. For She giveth birth unto the universe; think how vast She is.

She dwelleth within all things as the will omnipotent.

5. The Psalmist (Prasâd) [8] singeth: "Mortals ​may laugh at the thought of swimming across the mighty ocean," and this my mind perceiveth, but my heart enfoldeth it not; yet it still aspireth to touch the moon.

The Blessed One, referring to this song, said: See how Râmaprasâd describes that books and reasoning cannot reveal the Divine Mother. Faith is necessary. The omnipotence of faith. Reason is weak. Faith is omnipotent. Reason cannot go far enough and must stop short of the goal. Faith will work wonders. There was a certain Brâhmin priest who served in a household chapel. Once he went away The parable of a Brâhmin priest and his boy. leaving the charge of the service to his son. He told the boy to place the daily offering of food before the Deity and see that He ate it. The boy, following the instructions of his father, placed the offering before the image and silently waited. But the image neither spoke nor ate. The boy watched for a long time. He had firm faith that the Deity would come down from the altar, take the seat before the offering and eat it. Then he prayed: "O Lord, come and eat. It is ​getting very late; I cannot wait any longer." But the Lord did not speak. Then the boy began to cry, saying: "Lord, my father told me to see that Thou didst eat the offering. Why dost Thou not come. Thou comest to my father and eatest his offering. What have I done that Thou dost not come to me and eat my offering?" He cried bitterly and for a long time. Then as "he looked up at the seat, he saw the Deity in a human form eating the offering. When the service was ended and the boy came out, the members of the household said to him, "If the service is over, bring out the offering." The boy replied: "Yes, but the Lord has eaten everything." In amazement they asked: "What did you say?" With absolute innocence the boy repeated: "Why, the Lord has eaten all that I offered." Then they entered the chapel and were dumbfounded at the sight of the empty dishes. Such is the power of true faith and true yearning! Yes, faith will enable a man to cross the mighty ocean itself without the least difficulty. In the epic Ramayana it is said: Rama Chandra (God Incarnate) worked hard to throw a bridge over the part of the sea separating Lanka (Ceylon) from the mainland of India. But as if ​to prove the majesty, the omnipotence of faith, He gave it to His Bhakta, the great Hanuman,[9] to jump across the ocean by the unaided power of faith. It is also told that once a Bhakta, a friend of Vibhishana,[10] wanted to go across the sea. Vibhishana, to whom he appealed for help, had the name of Rama (God) written on a leaf, without the knowledge of his friend. He then said to the Bhakta: "Take this and be careful that you have it tied to the end of your cloth. It will enable you to walk across the ocean in safety. But mind, never look inside, for you will go under the water if you open it." The Bhakta put faith in his friend's words and walked on the ocean in safety for some time, but unfortunately his curiosity became his enemy. He wanted to see what precious thing Vibhishana had given him that had the power ​of taking him unhurt over the mighty deep. When he opened it he discovered a leaf with the name of Rama written on it. He thought what a trifling thing it was; no sooner did that thought arise in his mind than he was drowned. Those who belong to this class of Jivas cannot easily have faith in God, but those who are born with Divine qualities possess the highest faith naturally. When Prahlada [11] tried to write the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, "K," it brought up before his mind the name Krishna, and he began to cry. The natural tendency of a Jiva is to doubt and to become sceptical. Hazra [12] will not believe in the truth that Brahman and Divine Mother, the Absolute and His Energy, are one and the same. Yet, faith is omnipotent. Before it all the powers of nature shrink and give way. It carries one over seas and mountains with perfect ease. Sin and ​iniquity, worldliness and ignorance all vanish before true faith.

The Bhagavan sang:

The Name of the Lord

1. O my Divine Mother, if I die with Thy hallowed name (Durga, Durga) on my lips. Then in the end, O Giver of all Bliss, shall it be seen whether Thou savest Thy poor child drowning in the ocean of sin. 2. I might have slain a cow or a Brahmin or an unborn child!

I might be a drunkard, nay more, the slayer of a woman!

But of all these dire sins I have not the slightest fear.

Through faith in Thy Holy Name I can reach the highest bliss of Brahman.

Yes, faith is at the root of all spiritual progress. Thou canst do without all other things, only thou must have faith. Have but faith in the Lord and thou shalt become at once free from the vilest, the blackest, of all sins. The one thing needed is faith and Bhakti—love, devotion, prayerfulness, self-surrender. It ​is exceedingly difficult, especially in this age, for a man with his limited faculties to come to my Mother through Vichara (discriminatoin of the Real Brahman from the unreal phenomenal universe), unaided by the Divine Person. Verily has Prasad, the "Sweet Psalmist" of Bengal, laid stress on this difficulty in his well-known song:

The Divine Mother and the Absolute Brahman

1. Like a mad man, O mind, what seekest thou in the dark room? He (Divine Being) cometh in deep meditation; without that, who can approach Him?

2. The moon of desire still shineth in thy secret chamber. First bring it under control with all thy might. It will hide itself at the dawn of Divine wisdom.

3. Holding this as the ideal, the great Yogi practiseth meditation for ages. When realization cometh it attracts the soul as a magnet draws unto itself a piece of iron. ​4. Thou shalt not find It in the Six Schools of Philosophy, in the Vedas, Tantras or in the Holy Scriptures. It loveth the sweetness of true devotion (Bhakti) and abideth in the body with everlasting Bliss.

5. Prasâd says: O mind, shall I disclose in public (Châtor) the true nature of that which I worship as my Divine Mother? Guess and understand it from these hints.

There was a deep silence at the close of this song, which had been listened to with rapt attention. Everyone was moved.

At the end of this song the Bhagavan was once more found to be in that indescribable Rama- krishna's Samadhi. state of Samâdhi. His sweet divine voice became still. His eyes remained fixed and steadfast. But his spiritual eye was feasting on the beatific Vision of the Divine Glory! There was left just enough of self-consciousness to bring the soul face to face with the Divine Mother. This blessed Vision the Bhagavân enjoyed for a long time. His face was radiant with celestial light and expressed by sweet smiles the unbounded happiness which He was enjoying within Himself, and ​in His semiconscious state He uttered these words:

Bhakti, or devotion, means whole-hearted love for the Lord. The Absolute Brahman is called What is Bhakti? "Divine Mother" by the Psalmist. Prasâd asks his mind to understand it by hints; He who is described in the Vedas as the Absolute Brahman is my Divine Mother; I am praying to Her. That which is the Absolute (Nirguna), impersonal beyond all attributes, is also the same Brahman im-personal and personal. as Personal God who is with all attributes and blessed qualities. The Absolute Brahman again is inseparable from the Divine energy (Sakti). The term "Brahman" refers to that aspect of Divinity which is impersonal and which is beyond all activity. But when we think of Him as creating, preserving and destroying all phenomena, then we call Him the Personal God, Divine Mother or Kali. In reality there is no distinction between "Brahman," or the Impersonal Absolute, and Brahman and Sakti are one. "Sakti," the Divine Mother. The Brahman and the Sakti are one just as fire and its burning power are one. As by the word fire we understand its power of burn​ing, so by the latter we know that it is the same as fire. By realizing the one both are realized. They are one just as much as milk and its whiteness are one. We cannot conceive the milk without the whiteness.

They are one just as a gem and its brightness are one. We cannot conceive a gem without the brightness.

They are one just as the serpent and its sinuous motion are one. We cannot conceive of the serpent without the serpentine movements.