Kathamrita, 97th Visit of M. 3-Jul-1884 Vol 4, Chap 5
* V e n u *
Chapter V
The Return Car Festival – Thakur and the devotees sing devotional songs and dance in front of the chariot
Thakur comes out of samadhi. The song is over. Shashadhar, Pratap, Ramdayal, Ram, Manomohan, some young boy devotees, and others are also present. Sri Ramakrishna says to M., “Please poke him.” That is, he wants someone to ask something of Shashadhar.
Ramdayal (to Shashadhar): “The scriptures speak of the form of Brahman as an imagination. Who does the imagining?”
Pundit: “Brahman Himself. It is not the ima-ginings of a human being.”
Dr. Pratap: “But why? Why does Brahman imagine?”
Sri Ramakrishna: “Why not? He doesn’t consult anybody before He does anything. It is His pleasure. He is self-willed. Why should we care to know the reason why God does it? You’ve come to the orchard to eat mangoes, so eat them. If you begin to count the trees, how many thousands of branches and how many hundreds of thousands of leaves – what use are all these calculations? Futile reasoning and discussions do not yield the truth.”
Dr. Pratap: “So should we not reason anymore?”
Sri Ramakrishna: “You must not argue or reason for no purpose. However, you must reason about what is Real and what is unreal, what is permanent and what is impermanent. You must reason in times of passion, anger, or grief.”
Pundit: “That’s different. It’s called reasoning by discrimination.”
Sri Ramakrishna: “Yes, discriminating between what is Real and what is unreal.” (All are silent.)
(To the Pundit) “Formerly, great men used to visit.”
Pundit: “Do you mean rich people?”
Sri Ramakrishna: “No, great scholars.”
Meanwhile the little chariot is brought to the outer verandah of the second storey. Lord Jagannath, Subhadra, and Balaram are adorned with flowers and garlands of different kinds. They are also bedecked with jewelry and clad in new yellow apparel. Balaram worships in the sattvic way, without any pomp or show. People outside don’t even know that the Car Festival is being celebrated in the house.
Thakur and the devotees go to the front of the cart. It will be pulled down this very verandah. Holding the string of the cart, Thakur pulls it for a while and then begins to sing:
Behold, the whole of Nadia trembles under the waves of Gauranga’s love!
Again he sings:
Behold, the brothers have come! The two who shed tears while chanting Hari’s name.
Sri Ramakrishna dances, and the devotees dance with him, singing. Vaishnavcharan, the musician, joins the group in dance and music.
In no time the verandah is filled with people. The women view this ecstatic celebration from a nearby room. It looks as if Sri Gauranga Himself, intoxicated with the love of Hari, is dancing in Srivas’s home with his devotees. The pundit and his friends also watch the song and dance in front of the chariot.
It is not yet evening. Thakur returns to the sitting room and sits down with the devotees.
Sri Ramakrishna (to the pundit): “This is called the joy of devotional song. Worldly people are engrossed in the joy of the senses, the joy of ‘lust and greed.’ Through worship, His grace descends. One attains God’s vision and then enjoys the bliss of Brahman.
Shashadhar and the devotees listen to Thakur without uttering a word.
Pundit (humbly): “Sir, what kind of yearning for God is needed for such a blissful state of mind?”
Sri Ramakrishna: “When your heart pants for His vision. The guru said to the disciple, ‘Come here. Let me show you what kind of yearning is needed to attain God.’ Saying this, the guru took him to a pond. He pushed his head under water and held him there. When he let him up, he asked the disciple, ‘How did your heart feel?’ The disciple said, ‘My heart was panting for breath.’”
Pundit: “Yes, yes. That’s it! Now I understand!”
Sri Ramakrishna: “Love of God – that is the essence. Love and devotion for God. Narada said to Rama, ‘May I have pure love for Your lotus feet. And may I never be enchanted by Your world-bewitching maya.’ Ramachandra said, ‘Ask for another boon.’ Narada said, ‘I want nothing else. I only want to have love and devotion for Your lotus feet.’”
The pundit is about to leave, and Thakur asks a devotee, “Please bring a carriage for him.”
Pundit: “No, sir. I’ll just walk.”
Sri Ramakrishna (laughing): “How can that be? You, even Brahma fails to find in meditation.”
Pundit: “I had no particular reason to leave. But I have to perform my evening devotions.”
Sri Ramakrishna in the state of a paramahamsa – renunciation of duties – sweet chanting of God’s name
Sri Ramakrishna: “The Divine Mother has taken away from me sandhya and such ritualistic worship. They purify the body and the mind. I am not in that state now.”
Saying this, Thakur hums the lines of a song:
When will you lie down happily between your wives, Purity and Defilement? When you see no difference between these two, then shall you see the Divine Mother Kali.
Shashadhar salutes Thakur and departs.
Ram: “I went to see Shashadhar yesterday, as you asked me to.”
Sri Ramakrishna: “When did I ask you to do that? But it’s good that you went.”
Ram: “The editor of a newspaper (The Indian Empire) has run you down.”
Sri Ramakrishna: “What does it matter?”
Ram: “Listen what else. After hearing me, he wouldn’t let me go. He wanted to hear more about you.”
Dr. Pratap is still sitting there. Thakur says to him, “Come to Dakshineswar. Bhuvan (the wet-nurse) says she’ll pay the carriage fare.”
It is evening. Thakur is chanting the name of the Mother of the Universe. And he repeats the names of Rama, Krishna, and Hari. The devotees listen without uttering a word. His chanting of the name is sweet, as if raining honey. Today Balaram’s house seems to have become Navadvip – Navadvip outside and Vrindavan inside.
Thakur will go back to Dakshineswar tonight. Balaram takes him to the inner apartments to serve him refreshments. This gives the ladies an opportunity to see him.
Seated in the sitting room, the devotees await him as they sing devotional songs together. Thakur returns and joins in the singing. The singing goes on:
Dancing with the devotees to the kirtan in Srivas’s courtyard.
His lips repeating “Haribol,”
He glances at Gadadhar.
From reddened eyes, Gaur’s tears stream incessantly onto his golden body.
My Gaur is dancing;
This Gaur, my life-breath, is dancing.
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