Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda - Vol-7
III
(Translated from Bengali)
[Place: The rented Math premises at Belur. Time: February, 1898.]
Swamiji has removed the Math from Alambazar to Nilambar Babu's
garden at Belur. He is very glad to have come to these new
premises. He said to the disciple when the latter came, "See how
the Ganga flows by and what a nice building! I like this place.
This is the ideal kind of place for a Math." It was then
afternoon.
In the evening the disciple found Swamiji alone in the upper
storey, and the talk went on, on various topics, in the course of
which he wanted to know about Swamiji's boyhood days. Swamiji
began to say, "From my very boyhood I was a dare-devil sort of
fellow. Otherwise, do you think I could make a tour round the
world without a single copper in my pocket?"
In boyhood Swamiji had a great predilection for hearing the
chanting of the Râmâyana by professional singers. Wherever such
chanting would take place in the neighborhood, he would attend it,
leaving sport and all. Swamiji related how, while listening to the
Ramayana, on some days, he would be so deeply engrossed in it as
to forget all about home, and would have no idea that it was late
at night, and that he must return home, and so forth. One day
during the chant he heard that the monkey-god Hanumân lived in
banana orchards. Forthwith he was so much convinced that when the
chant was over, he did not go home straight that night, but
loitered in a banana orchard close to his house, with the hope of
catching sight of Hanuman, till it was very late in the night.
In his student life he used to pass the day-time only in playing
and gambolling with his mates, and study at night bolting the
doors. And none could know when he prepared his lessons.
The disciple asked, "Did you see any visions, sir, during your
school-days?"
Swamiji: While at school, one night I was meditating within closed
doors and had a fairly deep concentration of mind. How long I
meditated in that way, I cannot say. It was over, and I still kept
my seat, when from the southern wall of that room a luminous
figure stepped out and stood in front of me. There was a wonderful
radiance on its visage, yet there seemed to be no play of emotion
on it. It was the figure of a Sannyasin absolutely calm,
shaven-headed, and staff and Kamandalu (a Sannyasin's wooden
water-bowl) in hand. He gazed at me for some time and seemed as if
he would address me. I too gazed at him in speechless wonder. Then
a kind of fright seized me, I opened the door, and hurried out of
the room. Then it struck me that it was foolish of me to run away
like that, that perhaps he might say something to me. But I have
never met that figure since. Many a time and often I have thought
that if again I saw him, I would no more be afraid but would speak
to him. But I met him no more.
Disciple: Did you ever think on the matter afterwards?
Swamiji: Yes, but I could find no clue to its solution. I now
think it was the Lord Buddha whom I saw.
After a short pause, Swamiji said, "When the mind is purified,
when one is free from the attachment for lust and gold, one sees
lots of visions, most wonderful ones! But one should not pay heed
to them. The aspirant cannot advance further if he sets his mind
constantly on them. Haven't you heard that Shri Ramakrishna used
to say, 'Countless jewels lie uncared for in the outer courts of
my beloved Lord's sanctum'? We must come face to face with the
Atman; what is the use of setting one's mind on vagaries like
those?"
After saying these words, Swamiji sat silent for a while, lost in
thought over something. He then resumed:
"Well, while I was in America I had certain wonderful powers
developed in me. By looking into people's eyes I could fathom in a
trice the contents of their minds. The workings of everybody's
mind would be potent to me, like a fruit on the palm of one's
hand. To some I used to give out these things, and of those to
whom I communicated these, many would become my disciples; whereas
those who came to mix with me with some ulterior motive would not,
on coming across this power of mine, even venture into my presence
any more.
"When I began lecturing in Chicago and other cities, I had to
deliver every week some twelve or fifteen or even more lectures at
times. This excessive strain on the body and mind would exhaust me
to a degree. I seemed to run short of subjects for lectures and
was anxious where to find new topics for the morrow's lecture. New
thoughts seemed altogether scarce. One day, after the lecture, I
lay thinking of what means to adopt next. The thought induced a
sort of slumber, and in that state I heard as if somebody standing
by me was lecturing - many new ideas and new veins of thought,
which I had scarcely heard or thought of in my life. On awaking I
remembered them and reproduced them in my lecture. I cannot
enumerate how often this phenomenon took place. Many, many days
did I hear such lectures while lying in bed. Sometimes the lecture
would be delivered in such a loud voice that the inmates of
adjacent rooms would hear the sound and ask me the next day, "With
whom, Swamiji, were you talking so loudly last night?" I used to
avoid the question somehow. Ah, it was a wonderful phenomenon."
The disciple was wonder-struck at Swamiji's words and after
thinking deeply on the matter said, "Sir, then you yourself must
have lectured like that in your subtle body, and sometimes it
would be echoed by the gross body also."
Swamiji listened and replied, "Well, may be."
The topic of his American experiences came up. Swamiji said, "In
that country the women are more learned than men. They are all
well versed in science and philosophy, and that is why they would
appreciate and honour me so much. The men are grinding all day at
their work and have very little leisure, whereas the women, by
studying and teaching in schools and colleges, have become highly
learned. Whichever side you turn your eyes in America, you see the
power and influence of women."
Disciple: Well, sir, did not the bigoted Christians oppose you?
Swamiji: Yes, they did. When people began to honour me, then the
Padris were after me. They spread many slanders about me by
publishing them in the newspapers. Many asked me to contradict
these slanders. But I never took the slightest notice of them. It
is my firm conviction that no great work is accomplished in this
world by low cunning; so without paying any heed to these vile
slanders, I used to work steadily at my mission. The upshot I used
to find was that often my slanderers, feeling repentant
afterwards, would surrender to me and offer apologies, by
themselves contradicting the slanders in the papers. Sometimes it
so happened that learning that I had been invited to a certain
house, somebody would communicate those slanders to my host, who
hearing them, would leave home, locking his door. When I went
there to attend the invitation, I found it was deserted and nobody
was there. Again a few days afterwards, they themselves, learning
the truth, would feel sorry for their previous conduct and come to
offer themselves as disciples. The fact is, my son, this whole
world is full of mean ways of worldliness. But men of real moral
courage and discrimination are never deceived by these. Let the
world say what it chooses, I shall tread the path of duty - know
this to be the line of action for a hero. Otherwise, if one has to
attend day and night to what this man says or that man writes, no
great work is achieved in this world. Do you know this Sanskrit
Shloka: "Let those who are versed in the ethical codes praise or
blame, let Lakshmi, the goddess of Fortune, come or go wherever
she wisheth, let death overtake him today or after a century, the
wise man never swerves from the path of rectitude." (Bhartrihari's
Nitishataka) Let people praise you or blame you, let fortune
smile or frown upon you, let your body fall today or after a Yuga,
see that you do not deviate from the path of Truth. How much of
tempest and waves one has to weather, before one reaches the haven
of Peace! The greater a man has become, the fiercer ordeal he has
had to pass through. Their lives have been tested true by the
touchstone of practical life, and only then have they been
acknowledged great by the world. Those who are faint-hearted and
cowardly sink their barks near the shore, frightened by the raging
of waves on the sea. He who is a hero never casts a glance at
these. Come what may, I must attain my ideal first - this is
Purushakâra, manly endeavour; without such manly endeavor no
amount of Divine help will be of any avail to banish your inertia.
Disciple: Is, then, reliance on Divine help a sign of weakness?
Swamiji: In the Shastras real self-surrender and reliance on God
has been indicated as the culmination of human achievement. But in
your country nowadays the way people speak of Daiva or reliance on
Divine dispensation is a sign of death, the outcome of great
cowardliness; conjuring up some monstrous idea of God-head and
trying to saddle that with all your faults and shortcomings.
Haven't you heard Shri Ramakrishna's story about "the sin of
killing a cow"? In the end the owner of the garden had to
suffer for the sin of killing the cow. Nowadays everybody says: "I
am acting as I am being directed by the Lord", and thus throws the
burden of both his sins and virtues on the Lord. As if he is
himself the lotus-leaf in the water (untouched by it)! If
everybody can truly live always in this mood, then he is a Free
Soul. But what really happens is that for the "good" I have the
credit, but the "bad" Thou, God, art responsible! Praise be to
such reliance on God! Without the attainment of the fullness of
Knowledge or Divine Love, such a state of absolute reliance on the
Lord does not come. He who is truly and sincerely reliant on the
Lord goes beyond all idea of the duality of good and bad. The
brightest example of the attainment of this state among us at the
present time is Nâg Mahâshaya. (Durgâ Charan Nag, a disciple of
Shri Ramakrishna.)
Then the conversation drifted to the subject of Nâg Mahâshaya.
Swamiji said, "One does not find a second devoted Bhakta like him
- Oh, when shall I see him again!"
Disciple: He will soon come to Calcutta to meet you, so mother
(Nag Mahashaya's wife) has written to me.
Swamiji: Shri Ramakrishna used to compare him to King Janaka. A
man with such control over all the senses one does not hear of
even, much less come across. You must associate with him as much
as you can. He is one of Shri Ramakrishna's nearest disciples.
Disciple: Many in our part of the country call him a madcap. But I
have known him to be a great soul since the very first day of my
meeting him. He loves me much, and I have his fervent blessings.
Swamiji: Since you have attained the company of such a Mahâpurusha
(holy soul), what more have you to fear about? As an effect of
many lives of Tapasyâ one is blessed with the company of such a
great soul. How does he live at home?
Disciple: Sir, he has got no business or anything of the kind. He
is always busy in serving the guests who come to his house. Beyond
the small sum the Pal Babus give him, he has no other means of
subsistence; his expenses, however, are like those in a rich
family. But he does not spend a pice for his own enjoyment, all
that expense is for the service of others. Service - service of
others - this seems to be the great mission of his life. It
sometimes strikes me that realising the Atman in all creatures, he
is engrossed in serving the whole world as a part and parcel of
himself. In the service of others he works incessantly and is not
conscious even of his body. I suppose, he always lives on the
plane which you, sir, call the super conscious state of the mind.
Swamiji: Why should not that be? How greatly was he beloved of
Shri Ramakrishna! In your East Bengal, one of Shri Ramakrishna's
divine companions has been born in the person of Nag Mahashaya. By
his radiance Eastern Bengal has become effulgent.
IV
(Translated from Bengali)
[Place: The rented Math Premises at Belur. Year: 1898, November.]
It is two or three days since Swamiji has returned from Kashmir.
His health is indifferent. When the disciple came to the Math,
Swami Brahmananda said, "Since returning from Kashmir, Swamiji
does not speak to anybody, he sits in one place rapt in thought;
you go to him and by conversation try to draw his mind a little
towards worldly objects."
The disciple coming to Swamiji's room in the upper storey found
him sitting as if immersed in deep mediation. There was no smile
on his face, his brilliant eyes had no outward look, as if intent
on seeing something within. Seeing the disciple, he only said,
"You have come, my son? Please take your seat", and lapsed into
silence. The disciple seeing the inside of his left eye reddened
asked, "How is it that your eye is red?" "That is nothing", said
Swamiji and was again silent. When even after a long time Swamiji
did not speak, the disciple was a little troubled at heart and
touching his feet said, "Won't you relate to me what things you
have seen at Amarnath?" By the disciple's touching his feet, the
tensity of his mood was broken a little, as if his attention was
diverted a little outwards. He said, "Since visiting Amarnath, I
feel as if Shiva is sitting on my head for twenty-four hours and
would not come down." The disciple heard it with speechless
wonder.
Swamiji: I underwent great religious austerities at Amarnath and
then in the temple of Kshir Bhavâni. Go and prepare me some
tobacco, I will relate everything to you.
The disciple joyfully obeyed the order. Swamiji slowly smoking
began to say, "On the way to Amarnath, I made a very steep ascent
on the mountain. Pilgrims do not generally travel by that path.
But the determination came upon me that I must go by that path,
and so I did. The labour of the strenuous ascent has told on my
body. The cold there is so biting that you feel it like
pin-pricks."
Disciple: I have heard that it is the custom to visit the image of
Amarnath naked; is it so?
Swamiji: Yes, I entered the cave with only my Kaupina on and my
body smeared with holy ash; I did not then feel any cold or heat.
But when I came out of the temple, I was benumbed by the cold.
Disciple: Did you see the holy pigeons? I have heard, in that cold
no living creatures are found to live, but a flight of pigeons
from some unknown place frequents the place occasionally.
Swamiji: Yes, I saw three or four white pigeons; whether they live
in the cave or the neighboring hills, I could not ascertain.
Disciple: Sir, I have heard people say that the sight of pigeons
on coming out of the temple indicates that one has really been
blessed with the vision of Shiva.
Swamiji: I have heard that the sight of the pigeons brings to
fruition whatever desires one may have.
Then Swamiji said that on the way back he returned to Srinagar by
the common route by which the pilgrims return. A few days after
returning to Srinagar, he went to visit Kshir Bhavani Devi and
staying there for seven days worshipped the Devi and made Homa to
her with offerings of Kshira (condensed milk). Every day he used
to worship the Devi with a maund of Kshira as offering. One day,
while worshipping, the thought arose in Swamiji's mind: "Mother
Bhavani has been manifesting Her Presence here for untold years.
The Mohammedans came and destroyed her temple, yet the people of
the place did nothing to protect Her. Alas, if I were then living
I could never have borne it silently." When, thinking in this
strain, his mind was much oppressed with sorrow and anguish, he
distinctly heard the voice of the Mother saying, "It was according
to My desire that the Mohammedans destroyed this temple. It is My
desire that I should live in a dilapidated temple, otherwise, can
I not immediately erect a seven-storeyed temple of gold here if I
like? What can you do? Shall I protect you or shall you protect
me!" Swamiji said, "Since hearing that divine voice, I cherish no
more plans. The idea of building Maths etc. I have given up; as
Mother wills, so it will be." The disciple, speechless with
wonder, began to think, "Did he not one day tell me that whatever
I saw and heard was but the echo of the Atman within me, that
there was nothing outside?" - and fearlessly spoke it out also -
"Sir, you used to say that Divine Voices are the echo of our
inward thoughts and feelings." Swamiji gravely said, "Whether it
be internal or external, if you actually hear with your ears such
a disembodied voice, as I have done, can you deny it and call it
false? Divine Voices are actually heard, just as you and I are
talking."
The disciple, without controverting accepted Swamiji's words, for
his words always carried conviction.
He then brought up the subject of departed spirits, and said,
"Sir, these ghosts and departed spirits we hear about - which the
Shastras also amply corroborate - are all these true or not?
Swamiji: Certainly they are true. Whatever you don't see, are they
all false for that? Beyond your sight, millions of universes are
revolving at great distances. Because you do not see them, are
they non-existent for that? But then, do not put your mind on
these subjects of ghosts and spirits. Your mental attitude towards
them should be one of indifference. You duty is to realise the
Atman within this body. When you realise the Atman, ghosts and
spirits will be your slaves.
Disciple: But sir, I think that, if one sees them, it strengthens
one's belief in the hereafter, and dispels all doubts about it.
Swamiji: You are heroes; do you mean to say that even you shall
have to strengthen your belief in the hereafter by seeing ghosts
and spirits! You have read so many sciences and scriptures - have
mastered so many secrets of this infinite universe - even with
such knowledge, you have to acquire the knowledge of the Atman by
seeing ghosts and spirits! What a shame!
Disciple: Well, sir, have you ever seen ghosts and spirits?
Swamiji narrated that a certain deceased relative of his used to
come to him as a disembodied spirit. Sometimes it used to bring
him information about distant events. But on verification, some of
its information was not found to be correct. Afterwards at a
certain place of pilgrimage Swamiji prayed for it mentally,
wishing it might be released - since then he did not see it again.
The disciple then questioned Swamiji if Shrâddha or other
obsequial ceremonies appeased the departed spirits in any way.
Swamiji replied, "That is not impossible." On the disciple's
asking for the grounds of that belief Swamiji said, "I will
explain the subject to you at length someday. There are
irrefutable arguments to prove that the Shrâddha ceremony appeases
the departed beings. Today I don't feel well. I shall explain it
to you another day." But the disciple did not get another
opportunity to ask that question to Swamiji.
V
(Translated from Bengali)
[Place: The rented Math premises at Belur. Year: 1898, November.]
The Math is still situated in Nilambar Babu's garden house at
Belur. It is the month of November. Swamiji is now much engaged in
the study and discussion of Sanskrit scriptures. The couplet
beginning with "Âchandâlâ-pratihatarayah", he composed about this
time. Today Swamiji composed the hymn, "Om Hring Ritam" etc., and
handing it over to the disciple said, "See if there is any
metrical defect in these stanzas." The disciple made a copy of the
poem for this purpose.
On this day it seemed as if the goddess of learning had manifested
herself on his tongue. With the disciple he fluently talked about
two hours at a stretch in exceedingly melodious Sanskrit. After
the disciple had copied the hymn, Swamiji said, "You see, as I
write immersed in thought, grammatical slips sometimes occur;
therefore I ask you all to look over them."
Disciple: Sir, these are not slips, but the license of genius.
Swamiji: You may say so; but why will other people assent to that?
The other day I wrote an essay on "What is Hinduism", and some
amongst you even are complaining that it was written in a very
stiff Bengali. I think, language and thought also, like all other
things, become lifeless and monotonous in course of time. Such a
state seems to have happened now in this country. On the advent of
Shri Ramakrishna, however, a new current has set in, in thought
and language. Everything has now to be recast in new moulds.
Everything has to be propagated with the stamp of new genius.
Look, for example, how the old modes of Sannyasins are breaking,
yielding place to a new mould by degrees. Society is protesting
much against it - but is it of any avail? Neither are we
frightened by that. The Sannyasins of the present day have to go
to distant countries for preaching, and if they go in an
ash-besmeared, half-nude body like the Sâdhus (holy men) of old,
in the first place they won't be taken on board the ships, and
even if they anyhow reach foreign countries in that dress, they
will have to stay in jail. Everything requires to be changed a
little according to place, time, and civilisation. Henceforth I am
thinking of writing essays in Bengali. Littérateurs will perhaps
rail at them. Never mind - I shall try to cast the Bengali
language in a new mould. Nowadays, Bengali writers use too many
verbs in their writings; this takes away the force of the
language. If one can express the ideas of verbs with adjectives,
it adds to the force of the language; henceforth try to write in
that style. Try to write articles in that style in the Udbodhan.
Do you know the meaning of the use of verbs in language? It gives
a pause to the thought; hence the use of too many verbs in
language is the sign of weakness, like quick breathing, and
indicates that there is not much vitality in the language; that is
why one cannot lecture well in the Bengali language. He who has
control over his language, does not make frequent breaks in his
thoughts. As your physique has been rendered languid by living on
a dietary of boiled rice and dâl, similar is the case with your
language. In food, in modes of life, in thought, and in language,
energy has to be infused. With the infusion of vitality all round
and the circulation of blood in all arteries and veins, one should
feel the throbbing of new life in everything - then only will the
people of this land be able to survive the present terrible
struggle for existence; otherwise the country and the race will
vanish in the enveloping shadows of death at no distant date.
Disciple: Sir, the constitution of the people of this country has
been moulded in a peculiar way through long ages. Is it possible
to change that within a short time?
Swamiji: If you have known the old ways to be wrong, then why
don't you, as I say, learn to live in a better way? By your
example ten other people will follow suit, and by theirs another
fifty people will learn. By this process in course of time the new
idea will awaken in the hearts of the whole race. But even if
after understanding, you do not act accordingly, I shall know that
you are wise in words only - but practically you are fools.
Disciple: Your words, sir, infuse great courage, enthusiasm,
energy and strength into the heart.
Swamiji: By degrees the heart has to be strengthened. If one man
is made, it equals the result of a hundred thousand lectures.
Making the mind and lips at one, the ideas have to be practiced in
life. This is what Shri Ramakrishna meant by "allowing no theft in
the chamber of thought". You have to be practical in all spheres
of work. The whole country has been ruined by masses of theories.
He who is the true son of Shri Ramakrishna will manifest the
practical side of religious ideas and will set to work with
one-pointed devotion without paying heed to the prattling of men
or of society. Haven't you heard of the couplet of Tulsidas: "The
elephant walks the market-place and a thousand curs bark at him;
so the Sadhus have no ill-feeling if worldly people slander them."
You have to walk in this way. No count should be taken of the
words of people. If one has to pay heed to their praise or blame,
no great work can be accomplished in this life. "नायमात्मा बलहीनेन
लभ्य - The Atman is not to be gained by the weak." If there is no
strength in the body and mind, the Atman cannot be realised. First
you have to build the body by good nutritious food - then only
will the mind be strong. The mind is but the subtle part of the
body. You must retain great strength in your mind and words. "I am
low, I am low" - repeating these ideas in the mind, man belittles
and degrades himself. Therefore, the Shastra (Ashtâvakra Samhita,
I. 11) says:
"मुक्ताभिमानी मुक्तो हि बद्धो बद्धाभिमान्यपि।
किम्वदन्तीह् सत्येयं या मति: सा गतिर्भवेत्॥
- He who thinks himself free, free he becomes; he who thinks
himself bound, bound he remains - this popular saying is true: 'As
one thinks, so one becomes'." He alone who is always awake to the
idea of freedom, becomes free; he who thinks he is bound, endures
life after life in the state of bondage. It is a fact. This truth
holds good both in spiritual and temporal matters. Those who are
always down-hearted and dispirited in this life can do no work;
from life to life they come and go wailing and moaning. "The earth
is enjoyed by heroes" - this is the unfailing truth. Be a hero.
Always say, "I have no fear." Tell this to everybody - "Have no
fear". Fear is death, fear is sin, fear is hell, fear is
unrighteousness, fear is wrong life. All the negative thoughts and
ideas that are in this world have proceeded from this evil spirit
of fear. This fear alone has kept the sun, air and death in their
respective places and functions, allowing none to escape from
their bounds. Therefore the Shruti says (Katha Upanishad, II. iii,
3) says:
"भयादस्याग्निपति भयात्तपति सूर्य:।
भयादिन्द्रश्च वायुश्च मृत्युर्धावति पञ्चम:॥
- Through fear of this, fire burns, the sun heats; through fear
Indra and Vâyu are carrying on their functions, and Death stalks
upon this earth." When the gods Indra, Chandra, Vayu, Varuna will
attain to fearlessness, then will they be one with Brahman, and
all this phantasm of the world will vanish. Therefore I say, "Be
fearless, be fearless."
Swamiji, in saying these words, appeared in the eyes of the
disciple like the very embodiment of "fearlessness", and he
thought, "How in his presence even the fear of death leaves one
and vanishes into nothingness!"
Swamiji continued: In this embodied existence, you will be tossed
again and again on the waves of happiness and misery, prosperity
and adversity - but know them all to be of momentary duration.
Never care for them. "I am birthless, the deathless Atman, whose
nature is Intelligence" - implanting this idea firmly in your
heart, you should pass the days of your life. "I have no birth, no
death, I am the Atman untouched by anything" - lose yourself
completely in this idea. If you can once become one with this
idea, then in the hour of sorrow and tribulation, it will rise of
itself in your mind, and you will not have to strive with
difficulty to bring it up. The other day, I was a guest of Babu
Priyanath Mukherjee at Baidyanath. There I had such a spell of
asthma that I felt like dying. But from within, with every breath
arose the deep-toned sound, "I am He, I am He". Resting on the
pillow, I was waiting for the vital breath to depart, and
observing all the time that from within was being heard the sound
of "I am He, I am He!" I could hear all along "एकमेवाद्वयं ब्रह्म
नेह नानास्ति किञ्चन - The Brahman, the One without a second, alone
exists, nothing manifold exists in the world."
The disciple, struck with amazement said, "Sir, talking with you
and listening to your realisations, I feel no necessity for the
study of scriptures."
Swamiji: No! Scriptures have to be studied also. For the
attainment of Jnana, study of scriptures is essential. I shall
soon open classes in the Math for them. The Vedas, Upanishads, the
Gita, and Bhâgavata should be studied in the classes, and I shall
teach the Pânini's Ashtâdhyâyai.
Disciple: Have you studied the Ashtadhayayi of Panini?
Swamiji: When I was in Jaipur, I met a great grammarian and felt a
desire to study Sanskrit grammar with him. Although he was a great
scholar in that branch, he had not much aptitude for teaching. He
explained to me the commentary on the first aphorism for three
days continuously, still I could not grasp a bit of it. On the
fourth day the teacher got annoyed and said, "Swamiji, I could not
make you understand the meaning of the first aphorism even in
three days; I fear, you will not be much benefited by my
teaching." Hearing these words, a great self-reproach came over
me. Putting food and sleep aside, I set myself to study the
commentary on the first aphorism independently. Within three hours
the sense of the commentary stood explained before me as clearly
as anything; then going to my teacher I gave him the sense of the
whole commentary. My teacher, hearing me, said, "How could you
gather the sense so excellently within three hours, which I failed
to explain to you in three days?" After that, every day I began to
read chapter after chapter, with the greatest ease. Through
concentration of mind everything can be accomplished - even
mountains can be crushed to atoms.
Disciple: Sir, everything is wonderful about you.
Swamiji: There is nothing wonderful in this universe. Ignorance
constitutes the only darkness, which confers all things and makes
them look mysterious. When everything is lighted by Knowledge, the
sense of mystery vanishes from the face of things. Even such an
inscrutable thing as Maya, which brings the most impossible things
to pass, disappears. Know Him, think of Him, by knowing whom
everything else is known. And when that Atman is realised, the
purport of all scriptures will be perceived as clearly as a fruit
on the palm of one's hand. The Rishis of old attained realisation,
and must we fail? We are also men. What has happened once in the
life of one individual must, through proper endeavour, be realised
in the life of others. History repeats itself. This Atman is the
same in all, there is only a difference of manifestation in
different individuals. Try to manifest this Atman, and you will
see your intellect penetrating into all subjects. The intellect of
one who has not realised the Atman is one-sided, whereas the
genius of the knower of Atman is all-embracing. With the
manifestation of the Atman you will find that science, philosophy,
and everything will be easily mastered. Proclaim the glory of the
Atman with the roar of a lion, and impart fearlessness unto all
beings by saying, "Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is
reached."
VI
(Translated from Bengali)
[Place: The rented Math premises at Belur. Year: 1898.]
The disciple is staying with Swamiji at the garden-house of
Nilambar Babu at Belur for the last two days.
Today, Swamiji has given permission to the disciple to stay in his
room at night. When the disciple was serving Swamiji and massaging
his feet, he spoke to him: "What folly! Leaving such a place as
this, you want to go back to Calcutta! See what an atmosphere of
holiness is here - the pure air of the Ganga - what an assemblage
of Sadhus - will you find anywhere a place like this!"
Disciple: Sir, as the fruition of great austerities in past lives,
I have been blessed with your company. Now bless me that I may not
be overcome by ignorance and delusion any more. Now my mind
sometimes is seized with a great longing for some direct spiritual
realisation.
Swamiji: I also felt like that many times. One day in the
Cossipore garden, I had expressed my prayer to Shri Ramakrishna
with great earnestness. Then in the evening, at the hour of
meditation, I lost the consciousness of the body, and felt that it
was absolutely non-existent. I felt that the sun, moon, space,
time, ether, and all had been reduced to a homogeneous mass and
then melted far away into the unknown; the body-consciousness had
almost vanished, and I had nearly merged in the Supreme. But I had
just a trace of the feeling of Ego, so I could again return to the
world of relativity from the Samâdhi. In this state of Samadhi all
the difference between "I" and the "Brahman" goes away, everything
is reduced into unity, like the waters of the Infinite Ocean -
water everywhere, nothing else exists - language and thought, all
fail there. Then only is the state "beyond mind and speech"
realised in its actuality. Otherwise, so long as the religious
aspirant thinks or says, "I am the Brahman" - "I" and "the
Brahman", these two entities persist - there is the involved
semblance of duality. After that experience, even after trying
repeatedly, I failed to bring back the state of Samadhi. On
informing Shri Ramakrishna about it, he said, "If you remain day
and night in that state, the work of the Divine Mother will not be
accomplished; therefore you won't be able to induce that state
again; when your work is finished, it will come again."
Disciple: On the attainment of the absolute and transcendent
Nirvikalpa Samadhi can none return to the world of duality through
the consciousness of Egoism?
Swamiji: Shri Ramakrishna used to say that the Avataras alone can
descend to the ordinary plane from that state of Samadhi, for the
good of the world. Ordinary Jivas do not; immersed in that state,
they remain alive for a period of twenty-one days; after that,
their body drops like a sere leaf from the tree of Samsâra
(world).
Disciple: When in Samadhi the mind is merged, and there remain no
waves on the surface of consciousness, where then is the
possibility of mental activity and returning to the world through
the consciousness of Ego? When there is no mind, then who will
descend from Samadhi to the relative plane, and by what means?
Swamiji: The conclusion of the Vedanta is that when there is
absolute samadhi and cessation of all modifications, there is no
return from that state; as the Vedanta Aphorism says: "अनावृत्ति:
शब्दात् - There is non-return, from scriptural texts." But the
Avataras cherish a few desires for the good of the world. By
taking hold of that thread, they come down from the superconscious
to the conscious state.
Disciple: But, sir, if one or two desires remain, how can that
state be called the absolute, transcendent Samadhi? For the
scriptures say that in that state all the modifications of the
mind and all desires are stamped out.
Swamiji: How then can there be projection of the universe after
Mahâpralaya (final dissolution)? At Mahapralaya everything is
merged in the Brahman. But even after that, one hears and reads of
creation in the scriptures, that projection and contraction (of
the universe) go on in wave forms. Like the fresh creation and
dissolution of the universe after Mahapralaya, the superconscious
and conscious states of Avataras also stand to reason.
Disciple: If I argue that at the time of dissolution the seeds of
further creation remain almost merged in Brahman, and that it is
not absolute dissolution or Nirvikalpa Samadhi?
Swamiji: Then I shall ask you to answer how the projection of the
universe is possible from Brahman in which there is no shadow of
any qualification - which is unaffected and unqualified.
Disciple: Why, this is but a seeming projection. The reply to the
question is given in the scriptures in this way, that the
manifestation of creation from Brahman is only an appearance like
the mirage in the desert, but really there has been no creation or
anything of the kind. This illusion is produced by Maya, which is
the negation of the eternally existing Brahman, and hence unreal.
Swamiji: If the creation is false, then you can also regard the
Nirvikalpa Samadhi of Jiva and his return therefrom as seeming
appearances. Jiva is Brahman by his nature. How can he have any
experience of bondage? Your desire to realise the truth that you
are Brahman is also a hallucination in that case - for the
scripture says, "You are already that." Therefore, "अयमेव हि ते
बन्ध समाधिमनुतिष्ठसि - This is verily your bondage that you are
practicing the attainment of Samadhi."
Disciple: This is a great dilemma. If I am Brahman, why don't I
always realise it?
Swamiji: In order to attain to that realisation in the conscious
plane, some instrumentality is required. The mind is that
instrument in us. But it is a non-intelligent substance. It only
appears to be intelligent through the light of the Atman behind.
Therefore the author of the Panchadashi (III. 40) says:
"चिच्छायावेशत: शक्तिश्चेतनेव विभाति सा - The Shakti appears to be
intelligent by the reflection of the intelligence of the Atman."
Hence the mind also appears to us like an intelligent substance.
Therefore it is certain that you won't be able to know the Atman,
the Essence of Intelligence, through the mind. You have to go
beyond the mind - for only the Atman exists there - there the
object of knowledge becomes the same as the instrument of
knowledge. The knower, knowledge, and the instrument of knowledge
become one and the same. It is therefore that the Shruti says,
"विज्ञातारमरे केन विजानीयात् - Through what are you to know the
Eternal Subject?" The real fact is that there is a state beyond
the conscious plane, where there is no duality of the knower,
knowledge, and the instrument of knowledge etc. When the mind is
merged, that state is perceived. I say it is "perceived," because
there is no other word to express that state. Language cannot
express that state. Shankaracharya has styled it "Transcendent
Perception" (Aparokshânubhuti). Even after that transcendent
perception Avataras descend to the relative plane and give
glimpses of that - therefore it is said that the Vedas and other
scriptures have originated from the perception of Seers. The case
of ordinary Jivas is like that of the salt-doll which attempting
to sound the depths of the ocean melted into it. Do you see? The
sum and substance of it is - you have only got to know that you
are Eternal Brahman.
You are already that, only the intervention of a non-intelligent
mind (which is called Maya in the scriptures) is hiding that
knowledge. When the mind composed of subtle matter is quelled, the
Atman is effulgent by Its own radiance. One proof of the fact that
Maya or mind is an illusion is that the mind by itself is
non-intelligent and of the nature of darkness; and it is the light
of the Atman behind, that makes it appear as intelligent. When you
will understand this, the mind will merge in the unbroken Ocean of
Intelligence; then you will realise: अयमात्मा ब्रह्म - This Atman
is Brahman."
Then Swamiji, addressing the disciple, said, "You feel sleepy,
then go to sleep."
* * *
In the night the disciple had a wonderful dream, as a result of
which he earnestly begged Swamiji's permission to worship him.
Swamiji had to acquiesce, and after the ceremony was over he said
to the disciple, "Well, your worship is finished, but Premananda
will be in a rage at your sacrilegious act of worshipping my feet
in the flower-tray meant for Shri Ramakrishna's worship." Before
his words were finished, Swami Premananda came there, and Swamiji
said to him, "See what a sacrilege he has committed! With the
requisites of Shri Ramakrishna's worship, he has worshipped me!"
Swami Premananda, smiling, said, "Well done! Are you and Shri
Ramakrishna different?" - hearing which the disciple felt at ease.
The disciple is an orthodox Hindu. Not to speak of prohibited
food, he does not even take food touched by another. Therefore
Swamiji sometimes used to refer to him as "priest". Swamiji, while
he was eating biscuits with his breakfast, said to Swami
Sadananda, "Bring the priest in here." When the disciple came to
Swamiji, he gave some portion of his food to him to eat. Finding
the disciple accepting it without any demur, Swamiji said, "Do you
know what you have eaten now? These are made from eggs." In reply,
the disciple said, "Whatever may be in it, I have no need to know;
taking this sacramental food from you, I have become immortal."
Thereupon Swamiji said, "I bless you that from this day all your
egoism of caste, colour, high birth, religious merit and demerit,
and all, may vanish forever!". . .
VII
(Translated from Bengali)
[Place: The rented Math premises at Belur. Year: 1898.]
The disciple has come to the Math this morning. As soon as he
stood after touching the feet of Swamiji, Swamiji said, "What's
the use of your continuing in service anymore? Why not go in for
some business?" The disciple was then employed as a private tutor
in some family. Asked about the profession of teaching, Swamiji
said, "If one does the work of teaching boys for a long time, one
gets blunt in intellect; one's intelligence is not manifested. If
one stays among a crowd of boys day and night, gradually one gets
obtuse. So give up the working of teaching boys."
Disciple: What shall I do, then?
Swamiji; Why, if you want to live the life of a worldly man and
have a desire for earning money, then go over to America. I shall
give you directions for business. You will find that in five years
you will get together a lot of money.
Disciple: What business shall I go in for? And where am I to get
the money from?
Swamiji: What nonsense are you talking? Within you lies
indomitable power. Only thinking, "I am nothing, I am nothing",
you have become powerless. Why, you alone! The whole race has
become so. Go round the world once, and you will find how
vigorously the life-current of other nations is flowing. And what
are you doing? Even after learning so much, you go about the doors
of others, crying, "Give me employment". Trampled under others'
feet doing slavery for others, are you men anymore? You are not
worth a pin's head! In this fertile country with abundant
water-supply, where nature produces wealth and harvest a thousand
times more than in others, you have no food for your stomach, no
clothes to cover your body! In this country of abundance, the
produce of which has been the cause of the spread of civilisation
in other countries, you are reduced to such straits! Your
condition is even worse than that of a dog. And you glory in your
Vedas and Vedanta! A nation that cannot provide for its simple
food and clothing, which always depends on others for its
subsistence - what is there for it to vaunt about? Throw your
religious observances overboard for the present and be first
prepared for the struggle for existence. People of foreign
countries are turning out such golden results from the raw
materials produced in your country, and you, like asses of burden,
are only carrying their load. The people of foreign countries
import Indian raw goods, manufacture various commodities by
bringing their intelligence to bear upon them, and become great;
whereas you have locked up your intelligence, thrown away your
inherited wealth to others, and roam about crying piteously for
food.
Disciple: In what way, sir, can the means of subsistence be
procured?
Swamiji: Why, the means are in your hands. You blindfold your
eyes, and say, "I am blind and can see nothing." Tear off the
folds from your eyes and you will see the whole world lighted by
the rays of the midday sun. If you cannot procure money, go to
foreign countries, working your passage as a Lascar. Take Indian
cloth, towels, bamboo-work, and other indigenous products, and
peddle in the streets of Europe and America; you will find how
greatly Indian products are appreciated in foreign markets even
now. In America I found, some Mohammedans of the Hooghly district
had grown rich by peddling Indian commodities in this way. Have
you even less intelligence than they? Take, for example, such
excellent fabric as the Varanasi-made Sâris of India, the like of
which are not produced anywhere else in the world. Go to America
with this cloth. Have gowns made out of this fabric and sell them,
and you will see how much you earn.
Disciple: Sir, why will they wear gowns made of the Saris of
Varanasi? I have heard that clothes designed diversely are not to
the taste of the ladies in those countries.
Swamiji: Whether they will receive or not, I shall look to that.
It is for you to exert yourself and go over there. I have many
friends in that country, to whom I shall introduce you. At first I
shall request them to take this cloth up among themselves. Then
you will find many will follow suit, and at last you won't be able
to keep the supply up to the enormous demand.
Disciple: Where shall I get the capital for the business?
Swamiji: I shall somehow give you a start; for the rest you must
depend on your own exertions. "If you die, you get to heaven; and
if you win, you enjoy the earth" (Gita). Even if you die in this
attempt, well and good, many will take up the work, following your
example. And if you succeed, you will live a life of great
opulence.
Disciple: Yes, sir, so it is. But I cannot muster sufficient
courage.
Swamiji: That is what I say, my son, you have no Shraddhâ - no
faith in yourselves. What will you achieve? You will have neither
material nor spiritual advancement. Either put forth your energy
in the way I have suggested and be successful in life, or give up
all and take to the path we have chosen. Serve the people of all
countries through spiritual instruction - then only will you get
your dole of food like us. If there is no mutual exchange, do you
think anybody cares for anybody else? You observe in our case,
that because we give the householders some spiritual instructions,
they in return give us some morsels of food. If you do nothing,
why will they give you food? You observe so much misery in mere
service and slavery of others, still you are not waking up; and so
your misery also is never at an end. This is certainly the
delusive power of Maya! In the West I have found that those who
are in the employment of others have their seats fixed in the back
rows in the Parliament, while the front seats are reserved for
those who have made themselves famous by self-exertion, or
education, or intelligence. In Western countries there is no
botheration of caste. Those on whom Fortune smiles for their
industry and exertion are alone regarded as leaders of the country
and the controllers of its destiny. Whereas in your country, you
are simply vaunting your superiority in caste, till at last you
cannot even get a morsel of food! You have not the capacity to
manufacture a needle, and you dare to criticise the English!
Fools! Sit at their feet and learn from them the arts, industries,
and the practicality necessary for the struggle for existence. You
will be esteemed once more when you will become fit. Then they too
will pay heed to your words. Without the necessary preparation,
what will mere shouting in the Congress avail?
Disciple: But, sir, all the educated men of the country have
joined it.
Swamiji: Well, you consider a man as educated if only he can pass
some examinations and deliver good lectures. The education which
does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for
the struggle for life, which does not bring out strength of
character, a spirit of philanthropy, and the courage of a lion -
is it worth the name? Real education is that which enables one to
stand on one's own legs. The education that you are receiving now
in schools and colleges is only making you a race of dyspeptics.
You are working like machines merely, and living a jelly-fish
existence.
The peasant, the shoemaker, the sweeper, and such other lower
classes of India have much greater capacity for work and
self-reliance than you. They have been silently working through
long ages and producing the entire wealth of the land, without a
word of complaint. Very soon they will get above you in position.
Gradually capital is drifting into their hands, and they are not
so much troubled with wants as you are. Modern education has
changed your fashion, but new avenues of wealth lie yet
undiscovered for want of the inventive genius. You have so long
oppressed these forbearing masses; now is the time for their
retribution. And you will become extinct in your vain search for
employment, making it the be-all and end-all of your life.
Disciple: Sir, although our power of originality is less than that
of other countries, still the lower classes of India are being
guided by our intelligence. So where will they get the power and
culture to overcome the higher classes in the struggle for
existence?
Swamiji: Never mind if they have not read a few books like you -
if they have not acquired your tailor-made civilisation. What do
these matter? But they are the backbone of the nation in all
countries. If these lower classes stop work, from where will you
get your food and clothing? If the sweepers of Calcutta stop work
for a day, it creates a panic; and if they strike for three days,
the whole town will be depopulated by the outbreak of epidemics.
If the labourers stop work, your supply of food and clothes also
stops. And you regard them as low-class people and vaunt your own
culture!
Engrossed in the struggle for existence, they had not the
opportunity for the awakening of knowledge. They have worked so
long uniformly like machines guided by human intelligence, and the
clever educated section have taken the substantial part of the
fruits of their labour. In every country this has been the case.
But times have changed. The lower classes are gradually awakening
to this fact and making a united front against this, determined to
exact their legitimate dues. The masses of Europe and America have
been the first to awaken and have already begun the fight. Signs
of this awakening have shown themselves in India, too, as is
evident from the number of strikes among the lower classes
nowadays. The upper classes will no longer be able to repress the
lower, try they ever so much. The well-being of the higher classes
now lies in helping the lower to get their legitimate rights.
Therefore I say, set yourselves to the task of spreading education
among the masses. Tell them and make them understand, "You are our
brothers - a part and parcel of our bodies, and we love you and
never hate you." If they receive this sympathy from you, their
enthusiasm for work will be increased a hundredfold. Kindle their
knowledge with the help of modern science. Teach them history,
geography, science, literature, and along with these the profound
truths of religion. In exchange for that teaching, the poverty of
the teachers will also disappear. By mutual exchange both parties
will become friendly to each other.
Disciple: But, sir, with the spread of learning among them, they
too will in course of time have fertile brains but become idle and
inactive like us and live on the fruits of the labour of the next
lower classes.
Swamiji: Why shall it be so? Even with the awakening of knowledge,
the potter will remain a potter, the fisherman a fisherman, the
peasant a peasant. Why should they leave their hereditary calling?
"सहजं कर्म कौन्तेय सदोषमपि न त्यजेत् - Don't give up the work to
which you were born, even if it be attended with defects." If they
are taught in this way, why should they give up their respective
callings? Rather they will apply their knowledge to the better
performance of the work to which they have been born. A number of
geniuses are sure to arise from among them in the course of time.
You (the higher classes) will take these into your own fold. The
Brahmins acknowledged the valiant king Vishvâmitra as a Brahmin,
and think how grateful the whole Kshatriya race became to the
Brahmins for this act! By such sympathy and co-operation even
birds and beasts become one's own - not to speak of men!
Disciple: Sir, what you say is true, but there yet seems to be a
wide gulf between the higher and lower classes. To bring the
higher classes to sympathise with the lower seems to be a
difficult affair in India.
Swamiji: But without that there is no well-being for your upper
classes. You will be destroyed by internecine quarrels and fights
- which you have been having so long. When the masses will wake
up, they will come to understand your oppression of them, and by a
puff of their mouth you will be entirely blown away! It is they
who have introduced civilisation amongst you; and it is they who
will then pull it down. Think how at the hands of the Gauls the
mighty ancient Roman civilisation crumbled into dust! Therefore I
say, try to rouse these lower classes from slumber by imparting
learning and culture to them. When they will awaken - and awaken
one day they must - they also will not forget your good services
to them and will remain grateful to you.
After such conversation Swamiji, addressing the disciple, said:
Let these subjects drop now - come, tell me what you have decided.
Do something, whatever it be. Either go in for some business, or
like us come to the path of real Sannyasa, "आत्मनो मोक्षार्थ
जगद्धिताय च - For one's own liberation and for the good of the
world." The latter path is of course the best way there is. What
good will it do to be a worthless householder? You have understood
that everything in life is transitory: "नलिनीदलगतजलमतितरलम्
तद्वज्जीवनमतिशयचपलम् - Life is as unstable as the water on the
lotus leaf." Therefore if you have the enthusiasm for acquiring
this knowledge of the Atman, do not wait any more but come forward
immediately. "यदहरेव विरजेत् तदहरेव प्रव्रजेत् - The very day that
you feel dispassion for the world, that very day renounce and take
to Sannyasa" (Jâbâlopanishad, 4). Sacrifice your life for the good
of others and go round to the doors of people carrying this
message of fearlessness "उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान् निबोधत -
Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached."
VIII
(Translated from Bengali)
[Place: Calcutta. Year: 1898.]
Swamiji accompanied by Sister Nivedita, Swami Yogananda, and
others has come to visit the Zoological Gardens at Alipur in the
afternoon. Rai Rambrahma Sanyal Bahadur, Superintendent of the
Gardens, cordially received them and took them round the Gardens.
Swamiji, as he went on seeing the various species of animals,
casually referred to the Darwinian theory of the gradual evolution
of animals. The disciple remembers how, entering the room for
snakes, he pointed to a huge python with circular rings on its
body, with the remark: "From this the tortoise has evolved in
course of time. That very snake, by remaining stationary at one
spot for a long time, has gradually turned hard-backed." He
further said in fun to the disciple, "You eat tortoises, don't
you? Darwin holds that it is this snake that has evolved into the
tortoise in the process of time - then you eat snakes too!" The
disciple protested, "Sir, when a thing is metamorphosed into
another thing through evolution, it has no more its former shape
and habits; then how can you say that eating tortoise means eating
snakes also?"
This answer created laughter among the party. After seeing some
other things, Swamiji went to Rambrahma Babu's quarters in the
Gardens, where he took tea, and others also did the same. Finding
that the disciples hesitated to sit at the same table and partake
of the sweets and tea which Sister Nivedita had touched, Swamiji
repeatedly urged him to take them, which he was induced to do, and
drinking water himself, he gave the rest of it to the disciple to
drink. After this there was a short conversation on Darwin's
evolution theory.
Rambrahma Babu: What is your opinion of the evolution theory of
Darwin and the causes he has put forward for it?
Swamiji: Taking for granted that Darwin is right, I cannot yet
admit that it is the final conclusion about the causes of
evolution.
Rambrahma Babu: Did the ancient scholars of our country discuss
this subject?
Swamiji: The subject has been nicely discussed in the Samkhya
Philosophy. I am of opinion that the conclusion of the ancient
Indian philosophers is the last word on the causes of evolution.
Rambrahma Babu: I shall be glad to hear of it, if it can be
explained in a few words.
Swamiji: You are certainly aware of the laws of struggle for
existence, survival of the fittest, natural selection, and so
forth, which have been held by the Western scholars to be the
causes of elevating a lower species to a higher. But none of these
has been advocated as the cause of that in the system of
Patanjali. Patanjali holds that the transformation of one species
into another is effected by the "in-filling of nature"
(प्रकृत्यापूरात्). It is not that this is done by the constant
struggle against obstacles. In my opinion, struggle and
competition sometimes stand in the way of a being's attaining its
perfection. If the evolution of an animal is affected by the
destruction of a thousand others, then one must confess that this
evolution is doing very little good to the world. Taking it for
granted that it conduces to physical well-being, we cannot help
admitting that it is a serious obstacle to spiritual development.
According to the philosophers of our country, every being is a
perfect Soul, and the diversity of evolution and manifestation of
nature is simply due to the difference in the degree of
manifestation of this Soul. The moment the obstacles to the
evolution and manifestation of nature are completely removed, the
Soul manifests Itself perfectly. Whatever may happen in the lower
strata of nature's evolutions, in the higher strata at any rate,
it is not true that it is only by constantly struggling against
obstacles that one has to go beyond them. Rather it is observed
that there the obstacles give way and a greater manifestation of
the Soul takes place through education and culture, through
concentration and meditation, and above all through sacrifice.
Therefore, to designate the obstacles not as the effects but as
the causes of the Soul-manifestation, and describe them as aiding
this wonderful diversity of nature, is not consonant with reason.
The attempt to remove evil from the world by killing a thousand
evil-doers, only adds to the evil in the world. But if the people
can be made to desist from evil-doing by means of spiritual
instruction, there is no more evil in the world. Now, see how
horrible the Western struggle theory becomes!
Rambrahma Babu was astonished to hear Swamiji's words and said at
length, "India badly needs at the present moment men well versed
in the Eastern and Western philosophies like you. Such men alone
are able to point out the mistakes of the educated people who see
only one side of the shield. I am extremely delighted to hear your
original explanation of the evolution theory."
Shortly after, Swamiji with the party left for Baghbazar and
reached Balaram Bose's house at about 8 p.m. After a short rest,
he came to the drawing-room, where there was a small gathering,
all eager to hear of the conversation at the Zoological Gardens in
detail. When Swamiji came to the room, the disciple, as the
spokesman of the meeting, raised that very topic.
Disciple: Sir, I have not been able to follow all your remarks
about the evolution theory at the Zoo. Will you kindly
recapitulate them in simple words?
Swamiji: Why, which points did you fail to grasp?
Disciple: You have often told us that it is the power to struggle
with the external forces which constitutes the sign of life and
the first step towards improvement. Today you seem to have spoken
just the opposite thing.
Swamiji: Why should I speak differently? It was you who could not
follow me. In the animal kingdom we really see such laws as
struggle for existence, survival of the fittest, etc., evidently
at work. Therefore Darwin's theory seems true to a certain extent.
But in the human kingdom, where there is the manifestation of
rationality, we find just the reverse of those laws. For instance,
in those whom we consider really great men or ideal characters, we
scarcely observe any external struggle. In the animal kingdom
instinct prevails; but the more a man advances, the more he
manifests rationality. For this reason, progress in the rational
human kingdom cannot be achieved, like that in the animal kingdom,
by the destruction of others! The highest evolution of man is
affected through sacrifice alone. A man is great among his fellows
in proportion as he can sacrifice for the sake of others, while in
the lower strata of the animal kingdom, that animal is the
strongest which can kill the greatest number of animals. Hence the
struggle theory is not equally applicable to both kingdoms. Man's
struggle is in the mental sphere. A man is greater in proportion
as he can control his mind. When the mind's activities are
perfectly at rest, the Atman manifests Itself. The struggle which
we observe in the animal kingdom for the preservation of the gross
body obtains in the human plane of existence for gaining mastery
over the mind or for attaining the state of balance. Like a living
tree and its reflection in the water of a tank, we find opposite
kinds of struggle in the animal and human kingdoms.
Disciple: Why then do you advocate so much the improvement of our
physique?
Swamiji: Well, do you consider yourselves as men? You have got
only a bit of rationality - that's all. How will you struggle with
the mind unless the physique be strong? Do you deserve to be
called men any longer - the highest evolution in the world? What
have you got besides eating, sleeping, and satisfying the
creature-comforts? Thank your stars that you have not developed
into quadrupeds yet! Shri Ramakrishna used to say, "He is the man
who is conscious of his dignity". You are but standing witnesses
to the lowest class of insect-like existence of which the
scripture speaks, that they simply undergo the round of births and
deaths without being allowed to go to any of the higher spheres!
You are simply living a life of jealousy among yourselves and are
objects of hatred in the eyes of the foreigner. You are animals,
therefore I recommend you to struggle. Leave aside theories and
all that. Just reflect calmly on your own everyday acts and
dealings with others and find out whether you are not a species of
beings intermediate between the animal and human planes of
existence! First build up your own physique. Then only you can get
control over the mind. नायमात्मा बलहीनेन लभ्य: - This Self is not
to be attained by the weak" (Katha Upanishad, I.ii.23).
Disciple: But, sir, the commentator (Shankara) has interpreted the
word "weak" to mean "devoid of Brahmacharya or continence".
Swamiji: Let him. I say, "The physically weak are unfit for the
realisation of the Self."
Disciple: But many dull-headed persons also have strong bodies.
Swamiji: If you can take the pains to give them good ideas once,
they will be able to work them out sooner than physically unfit
people. Don't you find that in a weak physique it is difficult to
control the sex-appetite or anger? Lean people are quickly
incensed and are quickly overcome by the sex-instinct.
Disciple: But we find exceptions to the rule also.
Swamiji: Who denies it? Once a person gets control over the mind,
it matters little whether the body remains strong or becomes
emaciated. The gist of the thing is that unless one has a good
physique one can never aspire to Self-realisation. Shri
Ramakrishna used to say, "One fails to attain realisation if there
be but a slight defect in the body".
Finding that Swamiji had grown excited, the disciple did not dare
to push the topic further, but remained quiet accepting Swamiji's
view. Shortly after, Swamiji, addressing those present, said, "By
the bye, have you heard that this 'priest' has today taken food
which was touched by Nivedita? That he took the sweets touched by
her did not matter so much, but - here he addressed the disciple -
"how did you drink the water she had touched?"
Disciple: But it was you, sir, who ordered me to do so. Under the
Guru's orders I can do anything. I was unwilling to drink the
water though. But you drank it and I had to take it as Prasâda.
Swamiji: Well, your caste is gone forever. Now nobody will respect
you as a Brahmin of the priest class.
Disciple: I don't care if they do not. I can take the rice from
the house of a Pariah if you order me to.
These words set Swamiji and all those present in a roar of
laughter.
The conversation lasted till it was past midnight, when the
disciple came back to his lodging, only to find it bolted. So he
had to pass the night out of doors.
The wheel of Time has rolled on in its unrelenting course, and
Swamiji, Swami Yogananda, and Sister Nivedita are now no more on
earth. Only the sacred memory of their lives remains - and the
disciple considers himself blessed to be able to record, in ever
so meagre a way, these reminiscences.
IX
(Translated from Bengali)
[Place: The rented Math premises at Belur. Year: 1898.]
The disciple has come to the Math (monastery) today. It has now
been removed to Nilambar Babu's garden-house, and the site of the
present Math has recently been purchased. Swamiji is out visiting
the new Math-grounds at about four o'clock, taking the disciple
with him. The site was then mostly jungle, but on the north side
of it there was a one-storeyed brick-built house. Swamiji began to
walk over the site and to discuss in the course of conversation
the plan of work of the future Math and its rules and regulations.
Reaching by degrees the veranda on the east side of the
one-storeyed house, Swamiji said, "Here would be the place for the
Sadhus to live. It is my wish to convert this Math into a chief
centre of spiritual practices and the culture of knowledge. The
power that will have its rise from here will flood the whole world
and turn the course of men's lives into different channels; from
this place will spring forth ideals which will be the harmony of
Knowledge, Devotion, Yoga, and Work; at a nod from the men of this
Math a life-giving impetus will in time be given to the remotest
corners of the globe; while all true seekers after spirituality
will in course of time assemble here. A thousand thoughts like
these are arising in my mind.
"Yonder plot of land on the south side of the Math will be the
centre of learning, where grammar, philosophy, science,
literature, rhetoric, the Shrutis, Bhakti scriptures, and English
will be taught. This Temple of Learning will be fashioned after
the Tols of old days. Boys who are Brahmacharins from their
childhood will live there and study the scriptures. Their food and
clothing and all will be supplied from the Math. After a course of
five years' training these Brahmacharins may, if they like, go
back to their homes and lead householders' lives; or they may
embrace the monastic life with the sanction of the venerable
Superiors of the Math. The authorities of the Math will have the
power to turn out at once any of these Brahmacharins who will be
found refractory or of a bad character. Teaching will be imparted
here irrespective of caste or creed, and those who will have
objection to this will not be admitted. But those who would like
to observe their particular caste-rites, should make separate
arrangements for their food, etc. They will only attend the
classes along with the rest. The Math authorities shall keep a
vigilant watch over the character of these also. None but those
that are trained here shall be eligible for Sannyasa. Won't it be
nice when by degrees this Math will begin to work like this?"
Disciple: Then you want to reintroduce into the country the
ancient institution of living a Brahmacharin's life in the house
of the Guru?
Swamiji: Exactly. The modern system of education gives no facility
for the development of the knowledge of Brahman. We must found
Brahmacharya Homes as in times of old. But now we must lay their
foundations on a broad basis, that is to say, we must introduce a
good deal of change into it to suit the requirements of the times.
Of this I shall speak to you later on.
"That piece of land to the south of the Math," Swamiji resumed,
"we must also purchase in time. There we shall start an Annasatra
- a Feeding Home. There arrangements will be made for serving
really indigent people in the spirit of God. The Feeding Home will
be named after Shri Ramakrishna. Its scope will at first be
determined by the amount of funds. For the matter of that, we may
start it with two or three inmates. We must train energetic
Brahmacharins to conduct this Home. They will have to collect the
funds for its maintenance - ay, even by begging. The Math will not
be allowed to give any pecuniary help in this matter. The
Brahmacharins themselves shall have to raise funds for it. Only
after completing their five years' training in this Home of
Service, will they be allowed to join the Temple of Learning
branch. After a training of ten years - five in the Feeding Home
and five in the Temple of Learning - they will be allowed to enter
the life of Sannyasa, having initiation from the Math authorities
- provided of course they have a mind to become Sannyasins and the
Math authorities consider them fit for Sannyasa and are willing to
admit them into it. But the Head of the Math will be free to
confer Sannyasa on any exceptionally meritorious Brahmacharin, at
any time, in defiance of this rule. The ordinary Brahmacharins,
however, will have to qualify themselves for Sannyasa by degrees,
as I have just said. I have all these ideas in my brain."
Disciple: Sir, what will be the object of starting three such
sections in the Math?
Swamiji: Didn't you understand me? First of all, comes the gift of
food; next is the gift of learning, and the highest of all is the
gift of knowledge. We must harmonise these three ideals in the
Math. By continuously practicing the gift of food, the
Brahmacharins will have the idea of practical work for the sake of
others and that of serving all beings in the spirit of the Lord
firmly impressed on their minds. This will gradually purify their
minds and lead to the manifestation of Sâttvika (pure and
unselfish) ideas. And having this the Brahmacharins will in time
acquire the fitness for attaining the knowledge of Brahman and
become eligible for Sannyasa.
Disciple: Sir, if, as you say, the gift of (spiritual) knowledge
is the highest, why then start sections for the gift of food and
the gift of learning?
Swamiji: Can't you understand this point even now? Listen. If in
these days of food scarcity you can, for the disinterested service
of others, get together a few morsels of food by begging or any
other means, and give them to the poor and suffering, that will
not only be doing good to yourself and the world, but you will at
the same time get everybody's sympathy for this noble work. The
worldly-minded people, tied down to lust and wealth, will have
faith in you for this labour of love and come forward to help you.
You will attract a thousand times as many men by this unasked-for
gift of food, as you will by the gift of learning or of
(spiritual) knowledge. In no other work will you get so much
public sympathy as you will in this. In a truly noble work, not to
speak of men, even God Himself befriends the doer. When people
have thus been attracted, you will be able to stimulate the desire
for learning and spirituality in them. Therefore the gift of food
comes first.
Disciple; Sir, to start Feeding Homes we want a site first, then
buildings, and then the funds to work them. Where will so much
money come from?
Swamiji: The southern portion of the Math premises I am leaving at
your disposal immediately, and I am getting a thatched house
erected under that Bael tree. You just find out one or two blind
or infirm people and apply yourself to their service. Go and beg
food for them yourself; cook with your own hands and feed them. If
you continue this for some days, you will find that lots of people
will be coming forward to assist you with plenty of money. "न हि
कल्याणकृत् कश्चिद दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति - Never, my son, does a doer
of good come to grief." (Gita, VI. 40).
Disciple: Yes, it is true. But may not that kind of continuous
work become a source of bondage in the long run?
Swamiji: If you have no eye to the fruits of work, and if you have
a passionate longing to go beyond all selfish desires, then these
good works will help to break your bonds, I tell you. How
thoughtless of you to say that such work will lead to bondage!
Such disinterested work is the only means of rooting out the
bondage due to selfish work. "नान्य: पन्था विद्यतेऽयनाय - There is
no other way out" (Shvetâsvatara Upanishad, III. 8).
Disciple: Your words encourage me to hear in detail about your
ideas of the Feeding Home and Home of Service.
Swamiji: We must build small well-ventilated rooms for the poor.
Only two or three of them will live in each room. They must be
given good bedding, clean clothes, and so on. There will be a
doctor for them, who will inspect them once or twice a week
according to his convenience. The Sevâshrama (Home of Service)
will be as a ward attached to the Annasatra, where the sick will
be nursed. Then, gradually, as funds will accumulate, we shall
build a big kitchen. The Annasatra must be astir with constant
shouts of food demanded and supplied. The rice-gruel must run into
the Ganga and whiten its water! When I see such a Feeding Home
started, it will bring solace to my heart.
Disciple: When you have this kind of desire, most likely it will
materialise into action in course of time.
Hearing the disciple's words, Swamiji remained motionless for a
while, gazing on the Ganga. Then with a beaming countenance he
addressed the disciple, saying: "Who knows which of you will have
the lion roused up in him, and when? If in a single one amongst
you Mother rouses the fire, there will be hundreds of Feeding
Homes like that. Knowledge and Power and Devotion - everything
exists in the fullest measure in all beings. We only notice the
varying degrees of their manifestation and call one great and
another little. In the minds of all creatures a screen intervenes
as it were and hides the perfect manifestation from view. The
moment that is removed, everything is settled; whatever you want,
whatever you will desire, will come to pass."
Swamiji continued: "If the Lord wills, we shall make this Math a
great centre of harmony. Our Lord is the visible embodiment of the
harmony of all ideals. He will be established on earth if we keep
alive that spirit of harmony here. We must see to it that people
of all creeds and sects, from the Brâhmana down to the Chandâla,
may come here and find their respective ideals manifested. The
other day when I installed Shri Ramakrishna on the Math grounds, I
felt as if his ideas shot forth from this place and flooded the
whole universe, sentient and insentient. I, for one, am doing my
best, and shall continue to do so - all of you too explain to
people the liberal ideas of Shri Ramakrishna; what is the use of
merely reading the Vedanta? We must prove the truth of pure
Advaitism in practical life. Shankara left this Advaita philosophy
in the hills and forests, while I have come to bring it out of
those places and scatter it broadcast before the workaday world
and society. The lion-roar of Advaita must resound in every hearth
and home, in meadows and groves, over hills and plains. Come all
of you to my assistance and set yourselves to work."
Disciple: Sir, it appeals to me rather to realise that state
through meditation than to manifest it in action.
Swamiji: That is but a state of stupefaction, as under liquor.
What will be the use of merely remaining like that? Through the
urge of Advaitic realisation, you should sometimes dance wildly
and sometimes remain lost to outward sense. Does one feel happy to
taste of a good thing by oneself? One should share it with others.
Granted that you attain personal liberation by means of the
realisation of the Advaita, but what matters it to the world? You
must liberate the whole universe before you leave this body. Then
only you will be established in the eternal Truth. Has that bliss
any match, my boy? You will be established in that bliss of the
Infinite which is limitless like the skies. You will be struck
dumb to find your presence everywhere in the world of soul and
matter. You will feel the whole sentient and insentient world as
your own self. Then you can't help treating all with the same
kindness as you show towards yourself. This is indeed practical
Vedanta. Do you understand me? Brahman is one, but is at the same
time appearing to us as many, on the relative plane. Name and form
are at the root of this relativity. For instance, what do you find
when you abstract name and form from a jar? Only earth, which is
its essence. Similarly, through delusion you are thinking of and
seeing a jar, a cloth, a monastery, and so on. The phenomenal
world depends on this nescience which obstructs knowledge and
which has no real existence. One sees variety such as wife,
children, body, mind - only in the world created by nescience by
means of name and form. As soon as this nescience is removed, the
realisation of Brahman which eternally exists is the result.
Disciple: Where has the nescience come from?
Swamiji: Where it has come from I shall tell you later on. When
you began to run, mistaking the rope for the snake, did the rope
actually turn into a snake? Or was it not your ignorance which put
you to flight in that way?
Disciple: I did it from sheer ignorance.
Swamiji: Well, then, consider whether, when you will again come to
know the rope as rope, you will not laugh at your previous
ignorance. Will not name and form appear to be a delusion then?
Disciple: They will.
Swamiji: If that be so, the name and form turn out to be unreal.
Thus Brahman, the Eternal Existence, proves to be the only
reality. Only through this twilight of nescience you think this is
your wife, that is your child, this is your own, that is not your
own, and so on, and fail to realise the existence of the Atman,
the illuminator of everything. When through the Guru's
instructions and your own conviction you will see, not this world
of name and form, but the essence which lies as its substratum
then only you will realise your identity with the whole universe
from the Creator down to a clump of grass, then only you will get
the state in which "भिद्यते हृदयग्रन्थिश्छिद्यन्ते सर्वसंशया: -
The knots of the heart are cut asunder and all doubts are
dispelled".
Disciple: Sir, one wishes to know of the origin and cessation of
this nescience.
Swamiji: You have understood, I presume, that a thing that ceases
to exist afterwards is a phenomenon merely? He who has truly
realised Brahman will say - where is nescience, in faith? He sees
the rope as rope only, and never as the snake. And he laughs at
the alarm of those who see it as the snake. For this reason,
nescience has no absolute reality. You can call nescience neither
real nor unreal; "सन्नाप्यसन्नाप्युभयात्मिका - Neither real, nor
unreal, nor a mixture of both". About a thing that is thus proved
to be false, neither question nor answer is of any significance.
Moreover, any question on such a thing is unreasonable. I shall
explain how. Are not this question and answer made from the
standpoint of name and form, of time and space? And can you
explain Brahman which transcends time and space, by means of
questions and answers? Hence the Shastras and Mantras and such
other things are only relatively, and not absolutely, true.
Nescience has verily no essence to call its own; how then can you
understand it? When Brahman will manifest Itself, there will be no
more room for such questions. Have you not heard that story of
Shri Ramakrishna about the shoemaker coolie? The moment one
recognises nescience, it vanishes.
Disciple: But, sir, whence has this nescience come?
Swamiji: How can that come which has no existence at all? It must
exist first, to admit the possibility of coming.
Disciple: How then did this world of souls and matter originate?
Swamiji: There is only one Existence - Brahman. You are but seeing
That under different forms and names, through the veil of name and
form which are unreal.
Disciple: But why this unreal name and form? Whence have they
come?
Swamiji: The Shastras have described this ingrained notion or
ignorance as almost endless in a series. But it has a termination,
while Brahman ever remains as It is, without suffering the least
change, like the rope which causes the delusion of the snake.
Therefore the conclusion of the Vedanta is that the whole universe
has been superimposed on Brahman - appearing like a juggler's
trick. It has not caused the least aberration of Brahman from Its
real nature. Do you understand me?
Disciple: One thing I cannot yet understand.
Swamiji: What is that?
Disciple: You have just said that creation, maintenance, and
dissolution, etc. are superimposed on Brahman, and have no
absolute existence. But how can that be? One can never have the
delusion of something that one has not already experienced. Just
as one who has never seen a snake cannot mistake a rope for a
snake, so how can one who has not experienced this creation, come
to mistake Brahman for the creation? Therefore creation must have
been, or is, to have given rise to the delusion of creation. But
this brings in a dualistic position.
Swamiji: The man of realisation will in the first place refute
your objection by stating that to his vision creation and things
of that sort do not at all appear. He sees Brahman and Brahman
alone. He sees the rope and not the snake. If you argue that you,
at any rate, are seeing this creation, or snake - then he will try
to bring home to you the real nature of the rope, with a view to
curing your defective vision. When through his instructions and
your reasoning you will be able to realise the truth of the rope,
or Brahman, then this delusive idea of the snake, or creation,
will vanish. At that time, what else can you call this delusive
idea of creation, maintenance, and dissolution, but a
superimposition on the Brahman? If this appearance of creation
etc. has continued as a beginningless series, let it do so; no
advantage will be gained by settling this question. Until Brahman
is realised as vividly as a fruit on the palm of one's hand this
question cannot be adequately settled, and then neither such a
question crops up, nor is there need for a solution. The tasting
of the reality of Brahman is then like a dumb man tasting
something nice, but without the power to express his feelings.
Disciple: What then will be the use of reasoning about it so much?
Swamiji: Reasoning is necessary to understand the point
intellectually. But the Reality transcends reasoning: "नैषा तर्कण
मतिरापनेया - This conviction cannot be reached through reasoning."
In the course of such conversation Swamiji reached the Math,
accompanied by the disciple. Swamiji then explained to the
Sannyasins and Brahmacharins of the Math the gist of the above
discussion on Brahman. While going upstairs, he remarked to the
disciple, "नायमात्मा बलहीनेन लभ्य: - This Atman cannot be attained
by the weak."