Yugavani

A man verily becomes liberated in life if he feels: ‘God is the Doer. He alone is doing everything. I am doing nothing.’ Man’s sufferings and worries spring only from his persistent thought that he is the doer.

As long as there is bhoga, there will be less of yoga. Furthermore, bhoga begets suffering. It is said in the Bhagavata that the Avadhuta chose a kite as one of his twenty-four gurus. The kite had a fish in its beak; so it was surrounded by a thousand crows. Whichever way it flew with the fish, the crows pursued it crying, ‘Caw! Caw!’ When all of a sudden the fish dropped from its beak, the crows flew after the fish, leaving the kite alone. The ‘fish’ is the object of enjoyment. The ‘crows’ are worries and anxiety. Worries and anxiety are inevitable with enjoyment.

This world is the lila of God. It is like a game. In this game there are joy and sorrow, virtue and vice, knowledge and ignorance, good and evil. The game cannot continue if sin and suffering are altogether eliminated from the creation. There is no substance whatsoever in the worldly life. The members of Ishan’s family are good; so he has some peace here. Suppose his sons had been lewd, disobedient, and addicted to drink and other vices. Then there would have been no end to his troubles. One very seldom comes across such a religious family, in which all the members are devoted to God. I have seen only two or three such families. Generally, one finds quarrels, misunderstanding, jealousy, and friction.

Besides, there are disease, grief, and poverty in the world. Seeing this condition, I prayed to the Divine Mother, ‘O Mother, turn my mind at once from the world to God.’ (A person told Sri Ramakrishna that instead of feeling for the suffering of his disciples, he should remain in samadhi. Narrating this incident Sri Ramakrishna later told the devotees:)

I thought he was right and that I must not do so again. When afterwards I was coming back from under the Tamarisk trees, I was shown (by Mother) a vivid picture of Calcutta, as if the city was present before me and all the people were night and day immersed in lust and gold and were suffering miserably. When I saw it, compassion welled up in my heart. I thought, ‘Were I to suffer a million times greater misery for the good of these people, most gladly will I do that.’ I returned and said to Hazra, ‘I choose to think of them; what is that to you, wretch?’ —Sri Ramakrishna Suffering