The Vedanta Kesari, Oct 2021

Page 16

Reminiscences

Reminiscences of Sargachhi SRIMAT SWAMI SUHITANANDA JI

(Continued from previous issue. . .)

65

October 2021

6.3.61 (contd…)

The Vedanta Kesari

16

The father is acting the role of a king. His son, seeing him, says, ‘Father has become the king.’ Here, if the father becoming the king is left out, then the totality of the father remains unattained. If we see a boy when he studies, but don’t see him when he plays, then we fail to see the boy in totality. Similarly, Lord Hari has created this world in play. If we don’t perceive God’s sport in this world and the ultimate truth behind it, we will not know Lord Hari in totality. We get to know a wood-apple in its entirety only when we take into account its shell, its seeds, and its pulp. That is precisely the reason why Shankara and Totapuri, though they reached the summit of Advaitic experience, had to acknowledge and accept the disport of Brahman in the form of the world. We cannot describe adequately what sort of troubles man has to undergo in the name of religion. The worshippers of Allah, Jesus, Krishna, and Durga regard each other as their enemies. But if men can regard all as their own, then their lives would be saved and they would also have peace. This hating each other happens when we become a dualist without understanding the Truth. Actually, Dvaita and Advaita are not different — they see the same thing from different angles. There is nothing to

quarrel about. Gopaler Ma was a confirmed Dvaitavadi. Even she, while walking in the fair absorbed in herself, saw that everything was pervaded by her Lord Gopala. Thereafter, looking at the face of Krishna — the source of infinite beauty — for hundreds of thousands of years, she won’t even realise when her mind will become one with God. Until then there remains a kind of a distinction within oneself. The Vaishnavas say nirguna is nothing but the lustre of Krishna’s body. That is right. Again, Krishna is a condensed form of that lustre. We (followers of Sri Ramakrishna) have a great advantage — we can partake of fish curry in the form of soup, as a hot dish, or a sour preparation [i.e., accept all the three — Dvaita, Vishishtadvaita, and Advaita). There’s no difficulty. 5.4.61

Question: If knowledge [spiritual truth] is not attained by work, then how is it attained?

Answer: Knowledge, devotion, discernment and dispassion cannot be attained — these are already present within us. They

The author, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Ramakrishna Order, presents here his conversations with Swami Premeshananda (1884-1967), a disciple of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi.


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