[Advaita-l] MASTER & VIJAY GOSWAMI

[KAMESWARARAO MULA]

Dear Friends,                         From Gospel of Ramakrishna:It was from a conversationbetween Vijay Krishna Goswami & Saint RamaKrsihna. 
Vijay Krishna Goswami was apracharak in the Brahmo Samaj established by Raja Ram Mohan Roy.  He camefrom a very noble family of Bengal noted for its piety and other spiritual qualities.  AdvaitaGoswami, one of his remote ancestors, had been an intimate companion of SriChaitanya.  As an adherent of the Brahmo Samaj, Vijay no doubt meditatedon the formless Brahman; but his innate love of God, inherited from hisdistinguished ancestors, had merely been waiting for the proper time tomanifest itself in all its sweetness.  Thus Vijay was irresistiblyattracted by the God-intoxicated state of Sri Ramakrishna and often sought his company. He used to listen to the Master's words with great respect. 
For A Devotees Question:  "I am frightened to hear of thesuicide."
MASTER: "Suicide is a heinous sin, undoubtedly.  A man who killshimself must return again and again to this world and suffer its agony.

"But I don't call it suicide if a person leaves his body after having thevision of God.  There is no harm in giving up one's body that way. After attaining Knowledge some people give up their bodies.  After the goldimage has been cast in the clay mould, you may either preserve the mould orbreak it."Many years ago a young man of about twenty used to come to thetemple garden from Baranagore; his name was Gopal Sen.  In my presence heused to experience such intense ecstasy that Hriday had to support him for fearhe might fall to the ground and break his limbs.  That young man touchedmy feet one day and said: 'Sir, I shall not be able to see you anymore. Let me bid you good-bye.' A few days later I learnt that he had given up hisbody.  
                              Once the Divine Master said that there exsists four classes of human beings: the bound, those aspiring after liberation,the liberated, and the ever-perfect. This world islike a fishing-net.  Men are the fish, and God, whose maya has createdthis world, is the fisherman.  When the fish are entangled in the net,some of them try to tear through its meshes in order to get theirliberation.  They are like the men striving after liberation.  But byno means all of them escape.  Only a few jump out of the net with a loudsplash, and then people say, 'Ah! There goes a big one!' In like manner, threeor four men attain liberation.  Again, some fish are so careful by naturethat they are never caught in the net; some beings of the ever-perfect class,some are never entangled in the meshes of worldliness.  Most of the fishare trapped; but they are not conscious of the net and of their imminentdeath.  No sooner are they entangled than they run headlong, net and all,trying to hide themselves in the mud.  They don't make the least effort toget free.  On the contrary, they go deeper and deeper into the mud. These fish are like the bound men.  They are still inside the net, butthey think they are quite safe there.  A bound creature is immersed inworldliness, in 'woman and gold', having gone deep into the mire ofdegradation.  But still he believes he is quite happy and secure. The liberated, and the seekers after liberation, look on the world as a deepwell.  They do not enjoy it.  Therefore, after the attainment of Knowledge, the realization ofGod, some give up their bodies.  But such a thing is rare indeed.The boundcreatures, entangled in worldliness, will not come to their senses atall.  They suffer so much misery and agony, they face so many dangers, andyet they will not wake up. The camel loves to eat thorny bushes.  The moreit eats the thorns, the more the blood gushes from its mouth.  Still itmust eat thorny plants and will never give them up.  The man of worldly naturesuffers so much sorrow and affliction, but he forgets it all in a few days andbegins his old life over again.  Suppose a man has lost his wife or shehas turned unfaithful.  Lo! He marries againOr take theinstance of a mother: her son dies and she suffers bitter grief; but after afew days she forgets all about it.  The mother, so overwhelmed with sorrowa few days before, now attends to her toilet and puts on her jewellery.  Afather becomes bankrupt through the marriage of his daughters, yet he goes onhaving children year after year.  People are ruined by litigation, yetthey go to court all the same.  There are men who cannot feed the childrenthey have, who cannot clothe them or provide decent shelter for them; yet theyhave more children every year.Again, theworldly man is like a snake trying to swallow a mole.  The snake canneither swallow the mole nor give it up.  The bound soul may have realizedthat there is no substance to the world-which the world is like a hog plum,only stone and skin-but still he cannot give it up and turn his mind to God.There is another characteristic of the bound soul.  If you remove him fromhis worldly surroundings to a spiritual environment, he will pine away. The worm that grows in filth feels very happy there.  It thrives infilth.  It will die if you put it in a pot of rice.
Sri Guru Padaravindarpana MastuKameswara