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Sri Ramakrishna’s Visit to Surendra’s Home
Chapter One
Sri Ramakrishna with Ram, Manomohan, Trailokya, Mahendra Goswami and others
Today Sri Ramakrishna and some devotees have come to Surendra’s home. It is a day in the month of Ashada, 1881 A.D. It will be dusk soon.
Earlier this afternoon Sri Ramakrishna rested at Manomohan’s residence.
Devotees have gathered in Surendra’s second floor parlour. Mahendra Goswami, Bholanath Pal and other neighbours are also present. Keshab Sen was expected, but was unable to come. Trailokya Sannyal and some other devotees of the Brahmo Samaj have come.
A cotton carpet with a sheet on it has been spread on the floor of the parlour. A beautiful carpet and bolster have been laid over them. Surendra leads Thakur to the carpet and asks him to sit there.
Sri Ramakrishna says, “But why?” Instead, he sits with Mahendra Goswami. For several months, whenever there has been a festival at Jadu Mallick’s garden, Sri Ramakrishna has attended it.
Mahendra Goswami (to the devotees): “For months I used to be with him [Sri Ramakrishna] almost all the time. I’ve never seen such a great man. His spiritual moods are not ordinary.”
Sri Ramakrishna (to the goswami): “What are you saying? I’m the lowest of the low, poorest of the poor. I am servant to his servants. Only Krishna is great.
“He who is the Indivisible Sat-chit-ananda is alone Sri Krishna. From a distance the water of the ocean looks blue, but when you are close to it you see that it has no colour. He is with attributes and He is also without attributes. The being who is the Eternal is the phenomenal as well.
“Why is Sri Krishna bent in three places [tribhanga]? Because of his intense love for Radha. That which is the Absolute is also Kali, the Primal Power which creates, preserves and dissolves. He who is Krishna is also Kali. The source is one. All the rest is a game, divine play.”
Way to realize God
“You can see God. You can see Him through a pure mind, a pure intellect. Attraction for ‘lust and greed’ defiles the mind.
“It is the mind that is all important. It’s like a newly-laundered cloth that takes the colour it’s dipped in. It’s the mind alone that makes a person either a man of knowledge or ignorant. ‘So and so has gone bad’ means that a bad dye has coloured the person’s mind.”
Trailokya Sannyal and other Brahmo devotees arrive. They sit down.
Surendra comes in with a garland to put around Thakur’s neck. Thakur takes the garland in his hand, but throws it away.
Eyes brimming with tears, Surendra goes to the western verandah and sits down. Ram, Manomohan and a few others are with him. Surendra says, “I am very hurt. What does a brahmin from the Rad region[1] know about the value of these things? It costs a lot. I spoke in anger, ‘Put the other garlands on the necks of the other devotees!’ I understand now that it was my fault. The lord is not bought with money. Nor can he be won by pride. I am proud. Why should He accept my worship? I have no desire to live anymore.”
As he says this, streams of tears flow down his face and onto his chest.
Meanwhile, Trailokya is singing in the room. Sri Ramakrishna is dancing, intoxicated. He picks up the garland which he had thrown aside and puts it around his neck. Holding it in one hand, he sings and dances, swinging it with the other hand:
You are the philosopher stone of my heart.
And he adds:
Do I want any other jewel?
I have put on the garland of the moon.
Surendra is overwhelmed with joy that Thakur is dancing with the garland around his neck. He says to himself, “The Lord takes the pride of the proud. But He is the treasure of the poor, of the humble.”
Sri Ramakrishna sings:
Behold the two brothers[2] have come, they who shed tears when chanting Hari’s name;
They who offer love even after receiving blows, these two brothers have come.
They who are Kanai and Balai of Vraja, these two brothers have come.
They who embrace even the pariah, these two brothers have come.
Several devotees dance with Sri Ramakrishna. Finally they all sit down and talk with one another.
Sri Ramakrishna says to Surendra, “Won’t you give me something to eat?”
Saying this, he gets up and goes to the inner apartments. The women come and salute him by prostrating on the ground with great devotion. After his meal, Thakur rests awhile and then leaves for Dakshineswar.
[1]. A few districts in West Bengal where Sri Ramakrishna was born.
[2]. Gauranga and Nityananda.
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