An
interesting description of Sri Ramakrishna in the company of young men is found
in the Gospel of Ramakrishna:
‘Sri Ramakrishna was in his room;
Narendra, Bhavanath, and a few other devotees were sitting on a mat spread on
the floor. They were all young men of nineteen or twenty. Seated on the small
couch, Sri Ramakrishna was talking with them and smiling.
‘No sooner had M. entered the room
than the Master laughed aloud and said to the boys “There! He has come again.”
They all joined in the laughter. M. bowed low before him and took a seat …
‘Presently the Master explained the
cause of his laughter to the devotees. He said: “As man once fed a peacock with
a pill of opium at four o’clock in the afternoon. The next day, exactly at that
time, the peacock came back. It had felt the intoxication of the drug and
returned just in time to have another dose.” (All laugh)
‘… the Master was having great fun
with the boys, treating them as if they were his most intimate friends. Peals
of side-splitting laughter filled the room, as if it were a mart of joy. The
whole thing was a revelation to M…..
‘Sri Ramakrishna was having great fun
with the young devotees; now and then he glanced at M. He noticed that M. sat
in silence. The Master said to Ramlal: “You see, he is a little advanced in
years, and therefore somewhat serious. He sits quiet while the youngsters are
making merry.” M. was then about twenty-eight years old.’[1]
M. was amazed to see Sri Ramakrishna
behave like a young boy. He wondered, ‘Didn’t I see him only yesterday
intoxicated with God?... And today the same person is behaving like an ordinary
man ![2]
This was only one of the preliminary
visits of M. to Sri Ramakrishna. Gradually he was blessed to see Sri
Ramakrishna in various moods. Sometimes Sri Ramakrishna used to behave like a
child of five years; at other times he acted like an affectionate mother.
Sometimes he danced intoxicated in Divine Love while at other times he got
merged into deep samadhi and lost all consciousness of the outer world. A man
of infinite instructions to his disciples like an ideal preceptor (guru), while
at other times he behaved like an adolescent and made fun with the young boys
who came to him. He would cut jokes and did mimicry which made the boys roll
with laughter. Indeed it is the peculiarity of highly evolved spiritual
personalities that they can with ease act as they please with the young and the
old, child and adolescent alike. With the elderly they behave as men of mature
understanding; among the young they make fun and enjoy every bit of life.
People from all walks of life came to
Sri Ramakrishna. School and college students too came to him, not only for
spiritual instructions but also because they found in him their highest ideals
fully manifested. Sri Ramakrishna also liked the youth in particular. He used
to say that the mind of elderly people is like a pack of mustard sees which is
scattered and which is very difficult to collect again. On the other hand young
people have a pure and concentrated mind, which has not dissipated its energies
on wife, children and the multifarious activities of the world. Hence the young
can easily gather their mind and concentrate it on any subject they like.
Adults are anxious, worried and burdened with social responsibilities; the
young are carefree to devote their time to God. Youth therefore is the best
time for spiritual practices.
Sri
Ramakrishna, an Ideal Youth
The available pictures of Sri
Ramakrishna portray him as having an average build, rather a frail body.
Although advanced in age beyond youth and wise an elder, Sri Ramakrishna had in
abundance such qualities of youth as vigour, zeal, idealism, alertness,
inquisitiveness and a spirit of adventure. Born an orthodox Brahmin, in his
early youth he was orthodox in his attitudes. But he also possessed a
rebellions spirit against prevalent social customs and superstitions. Even in
his childhood, his keep intellect had detected the hypocrisy of the so called
scholars who though learned had ‘bread-winning’ as the sole aim of life. This
made him averse to an education meant only for earning a livelihood and for
getting worldly enjoyments. He therefore refused to get educated in that way.
Modern Indian youth too is totally
dissatisfied with the present system of education, consisting of subjects like
physics, chemistry, mathematics, history etc. But has he got any clean
alternative? Can he like Sri Ramakrishna totally discard the apara-vidya, the lower knowledge which
has the perishable universe as its subject matter, and take up the para-vidya, the supreme knowledge, which
imparts immorality? Who could be a greater revolutionary than Sri Ramakrishna
in the field of education who opted for the man-making, character building
education and imparted the same to his disciples ? This is the reason why great
scholars and famous preachers, school teachers and university professors used
to sit at his feet to be educated in the true sense.
Sri Ramakrishna was a revolutionary in
social matters as well. He accepted a low caste woman as his bhiksha mata and received from her the
first alms after investment with the scared thread, totally disregarding the
strong caste prejudices of the village. Initially, he was so orthodox that when
he first came to Calcutta
Courage was another virtue of Sri
Ramakrishna. Generally zeal and the spirit of adventure of the youth finds
expression in such acts as scaling snow-parked mountains, swimming across miles
wide rivers and channels touring the country on bicycle etc. But there is
another adventure which only a rare few undertake to search for God in the
unknown realm of one’s inner world. So difficult is this task that it has been
compared to walking on the razor’s edge. Totally disregarding social
injunctions and prohibitions, frustrating the hope and expectations of his
guardians and turning a deaf ear to the opinion of others, Shri Ramakrishna
undertook this courageous adventure, fraught with danger at every step and
shrouded in the cloud of uncertainty. How many young men and women can weep in
bitter agony at not attaining the goal of their life as Sri Ramakrishna did?
How many can lament and say as he did, ‘O Mother! Another day has passed and I
have not yet attainted Thy vision?’ Sri Ramakrishna was even prepared to lay
down his life for God-vision, the goal of his life. Such sincerity of purpose
is rarely found in the modern youth.
Even after attaining the direct vision
of the Divine Mother, prompted by his thirst for knowledge and the spirit of
inquiry, Sri Ramakrishna undertook the spiritual practices of other religious
and attained success in them. He wanted to confirm whether all these methods
also lead to the same goal.
Sri Ramakrishna’s idealism needs no
mention. The inherent idealism of young men and women generally expresses
itself in such abstinences as non-smoking not giving or receiving bribes,
avoiding luxury and leading a simple life. They may engage in philanthropic
activities and follow certain moral codes of conduct. But even these are not
long sustained. On the other hand, Sri Ramakrishna had practiced in his life
such ideals as truth, self-control renunciation etc. to the highest degree. He
never left anything half-done, but reached the ultimate limit of each ideal.
His renunciation was so complete that he could not even tough metal or coin
which symbolizes wealth. His non-covetousness was perfect to such a degree that
he could not keep with him even a handful of aniseed. If even by mistake, he
ever did something contrary to what he had spoken, his feet would stagger and
he would be unable to proceed further. Such was his adherence to truth.
In youth, not only the physical body
attains its full development, intellectual emotional faculties also develop. A
youth is emotional. He wants to love and be loved. But this feeling generally
manifests in his love for his won family or clan, or for another young person
of the opposite sex. Sri Ramakrishna too was a sensitive young man, infinitely
more affectionate than any other person of his age. But instead of pouring on
any one person, he poured all his heart’s love on God, who for him was the
Supremely Beloved Divine Mother. And since God resides in all beings, he was
able to love every one equally without distinction.
The young are mostly optimistic and
are disposed to enjoy life. So was Sri Ramakrishna. He was ever blissful,
always ready to console and allay the sorrow of the grief-stricken people. In
his presence every one felt relieved of his anxiety. His room was a veritable
mart of joy. Joyous singing of the Lord’s name, ecstatic dancing and kirtan used to be held wherever he went.
Interspersed with these were his soul-enthralling spiritual teachings, his
absorbing tables and parables and his side-splitting jokes and mimicries. Even
his fun and frolic were ennobling and elevating. That is why anyone who once
tasted the pure bliss of his company always pined to visit him again, like the
opium-addict peacock.
On reading the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna one rightly get the impression that
Sri Ramakrishna was a soft-natured, all-forbearing, compassionate man. Although
it is true that he was very considerate towards householders, he had an
uncompromising zeal too. When, after closing all doors and windows of his room,
he forcefully preached the highest ideal of all renouncing monasticism, and
total detachment and dispassion, he became an altogether different man. He
would then appear as he really was- the great conqueror, who had vanquished all
his passions and who had never compromised with falsehood, deceit and
sense-pleasures.
It was due to the above qualities of
the youth that idealistic, vigorous and intelligent young men were attracted
towards Sri Ramakrishna. After all, youth is not merely a period of few years
of life; it is a state of mind which can be maintained indefinitely,
irrespective of physical ageing.
Sri
Ramakrishna, an Ideal Student
Sri Ramakrishna had accepted a number
of instructions or gurus for the various spiritual practices he had undertaken.
Sri Kenaram Bhattacharya initiated him in the worship of the Divine Mother;
Bhairavi Brahmani guided him in the practice of the Tantras; Tota Puri was his
guru in Vedanta and he had learnt the Muslim practices from a Sufi named
Govinda Rai. From the available account of his spiritual practices we learn
that his teachers found in him an ideal student. He used to engage in these practices
with full concentration and one-pointed devotion, following the instructions of
the guru to the letter. He did not hesitate to do even some of the most
distasteful, difficult and frightening rites of the Tantras and attained
success in them in three days.
In Vedanta Sadhana Ramakrishna was
confronted with a peculiar problem. While attempting to concentrate upon the
Formless Absolute aspect of the Godhead, the familiar form of his most beloved
Divine Mother would repeatedly arise in his mind. But even that he cut, as it
were, with the sword of knowledge, i.e by reasoning, discarded as unreal, and
attained to the highest realization. This became possible because of his single-mindedness
and a willingness to carry out his guru’s bidding, however, difficult or
unpleasant. He held all his gurus in the highest esteem. He would never utter
the name of Tota Puri and instead spoke of him as ‘the naked one’ as a mark of
respect for him.
Sri
Ramakrishna, an Ideal Teacher
Another aspect of Sri Ramakrishna which
might interest the youth is his greatness as an ideal teacher. Sri Ramakrishna
had the unique capacity to assess the mental make-up of the disciples and to
instruct them accordingly. If he found a young man with a devotional
temperament, he would instruct him to read devotional books, sing devotional
songs and associated himself with devotees. On the other hand if a disciple was
inclined to reasoning and had an intellectual bent of mind, he encouraged him
in those lines. He never liked to destroy the individual’s natural aptitude but
guided him according to his taste and temperament. To cast all disciples into
one mould was not his method of training.
His way of correcting the defects of
his disciples, too was unique. An example would suffice. One day one of his
disciples, Niranjan was coming to Dakshineswar by boat. He heard some fellow
passengers speak ill of Sri Ramakrishna. At first Niranjan protested but
without success. This made him terribly angry, and he decided to teach the
disparagers a lesson. With the strongly built body, standing on the boat he
started rolling it heavily and threatened to drown it. The passengers became
frightened and apologized. On reaching Dakshineswar, when he narrated the
incident to Sri Ramakrishna, the latter scolded him saying: ‘Anger is a most
dangerous and reprehensible sin. Should one be under its spell? Just think what
a great wrong you were going to commit under the influence of anger? You were
going to drown even those on boat who were not guilty.’ A similar event
occurred with Yogen, another of Sri Ramakrishna’s disciples, who was frail in
body and of a mild temperament. He too heard people speak ill of Sri
Ramakrishna, but did not protest thinking that they were ignorant of his
greatness. When Sri Ramakrishna heard this, he chided him and told him just the
opposite; ‘In the scriptures it is written that one must cut off the head of
the person who speaks ill of the Guru, or should leave the place: And did not
utter a single word of protest? Sri Ramakrishna was aware of the mile nature of
Yogen which could create problems in spiritual life. To remedy this, he
instructed him in the above manner. To the haughty Niranjan his instruction was
the opposite.
Even the most insignificant-looking
instructions of Sri Ramakrishna were full of deep significance. Once he caught
a cockroach and asked Yogen to take it out and kill it. The soft-hearted Yogen
took the insect out of the room and let it go unharmed. On his return Sri
Ramakrishna asked whether he had killed it. On being told to the contrary he
was displeased and warned that the instructions of the Guru must be followed to
the letter, otherwise one may suffer. Infact in last years Yogen had to suffer
a lot due to his mild nature.
Sri Ramakrishna never failed to test
his disciples. At the same time he never hesitated to subject himself to the
examination by his students also. Once he subjected Narendra (late Swami
Vivekananda) to a severe test. Generally when Narendra came to Dakshineswar Sri
Ramakrishna became over-joyed and gave maximum importance and attention to him.
But then came to a time when for full one month he totally neglected him. This
he did to test Narendra’s devotion to him. Narendra however continued to come.
When asked later, Narendra told that he came because he loved Sri Ramakrishna
and liked to see him. Conversely amoung the disciples it was Narendra who
tested Sri Ramakrishna the most. As has been said, Sri Ramakrishna could not
touch a coin. If ever he did, he would get excruciating pain. Narendra could
not believe it and to verify it, he kept a coin under the bed-sheet of Sri
Ramakrishna. When Sri Ramakrishna, unaware of the presence of the coin on the
bed, he started up in paid!
Sri Ramakrishna could not accept
anything given or touched by a person of immoral character. Once a man with a
vermilion mark on the head gave a glass of water to Sri Ramakrishna. But he
could not drink the water. Narendra who was present, noticed it and decided to
investigate. On inquiry it was found that the person in question had a dubious
character.
Conclusion
A youth of today can rightly claim
that he lacks the guidance of such ideal teacher as Sri Ramakrishna. But just
for that, he cannot disregard his duty towards himself and the society. There
is an inexorable law of demand and supply in nature. If a youth has a sincere
desire to be an ideal disciple and an ideal youth, and earnestly strives for
it, he will surely find an ideal teacher. Therefore, the first duty of the
modern youth is to emulate the example of Sri Ramakrishna and try to become the
ideal youth.
A youth of today shall be an elder
tomorrow. Today’s follower is tomorrow’s leader; today’s disciple the teacher
of tomorrow. Is it not the duty of every young man and woman to build her
character and become ideal teachers, able leaders and wise elders so that the
coming generation of youth may not complain that it lacks their guidance?
