The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 4/Translation: Prose/Ramakrishna, his Life and Sayings
Among the Sanskrit scholars of the West, Professor Max Müller takes the
lead. The Rig-Veda Samhitâ, the whole of which no one could even get at
before, is now very neatly printed and made accessible to the public, thanks
to the munificent generosity of the East India Company and to the
Professor's prodigious labours extending over years. The alphabetical
characters of most of the manuscripts, collected from different parts of
India, are of various forms, and many words in them are inaccurate. We
cannot easily comprehend how difficult it is for a foreigner, however
learned he may be, to find out the accuracy or inaccuracy of these Sanskrit
characters, and more especially to make out clearly the meaning of an
extremely condensed and complicated commentary. In the life of Professor Max
Müller, the publication of the Rig-Veda is a great event. Besides this, he
has been dwelling, as it were, and spending his whole lifetime amidst
ancient Sanskrit literature; but notwithstanding this, it does not imply
that in the Professor's imagination India is still echoing as of old with
Vedic hymns, with her sky clouded with sacrificial smoke, with many a
Vasishtha, Vishvâmitra, Janaka, and Yâjnavalkya, with her every home
blooming with a Gârgi or a Maitreyi and herself guided by the Vedic rules or
canons of Grihya-Sutra.
The Professor, with ever-watchful eyes, keeps himself well-informed of what
new events are occurring even in the out-of-the-way corners of modern India,
half-dead as she is, trodden down by the feet of the foreigner professing an
alien religion, and all but bereft of her ancient manners, rites, and
customs. As the Professor's feet never touched these shores, many
Anglo-Indians here show an unmixed contempt for his opinions on the customs,
manners, and codes of morality of the Indian people. But they ought to know
that, even after their lifelong stay, or even if they were born and brought
up in this country, except any particular information they may obtain about
that stratum of society with which they come in direct contact, the
Anglo-Indian authorities have to remain quite ignorant in respect of other
classes of people; and the more so, when, of this vast society divided into
so many castes, it is very hard even among themselves for one caste to
properly know the manners and peculiarities of another.
Some time ago, in a book, named, Residence in India, written by a well-known
Anglo-Indian officer, I came across such a chapter as "Native Zenana
Secrets". Perhaps because of that strong desire in every human heart for
knowledge of secrets, I read the chapter, but only to find that this big
Anglo-Indian author is fully bent upon satisfying the intense curiosity of
his own countrymen regarding the mystery of a native's life by describing an
affaire d'amour, said to have transpired between his sweeper, the sweeper's
wife, and her paramour! And from the cordial reception given to the book by
the Anglo-Indian community, it seems the writer's object has been gained,
and he feels himself quite satisfied with his work "God-speed to you, dear
friends!" — What else shall we say? Well has the Lord said in the Gita:
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते ।
सङ्गात्संजायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥
—"Thinking of objects, attachment to them is formed in a man. From attachment longing, and from longing anger grows."
Let such irrelevant things alone. To return to our subject: After all, one
wonders at Professor Max Müller's knowledge of the social customs and codes
of law, as well as the contemporaneous occurrences in the various provinces
of present-day India; this is borne out by our own personal experiences.
In particular, the Professor observes with a keen eye what new waves of
religion are rising in different parts of India, and spares no pains in
letting the Western world not remain in the dark about them. The Brâhmo
Samaj guided by Debendranâth Tagore and Keshab Chandra Sen, the Ârya Samaj
established by Swami Dayânanda Sarasvati, and the Theosophical movement —
have all come under the praise or censure of his pen. Struck by the sayings
and teachings of Shri Ramakrishna published in the two well-established
journals, the Brahmavâdin and the Prabuddha Bhârata, and reading what the
Brahmo preacher, Mr. Pratâp Chandra Mazumdâr, wrote about Shri Ramakrishna,
[2] he was attracted by the sage's life. Some time ago, a short sketch of
Shri Ramakrishna's life [3] also
appeared in the well-known monthly journal of England,
The Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review, contributed by Mr. C. H. Tawney, M.A., the
distinguished librarian of the India House. Gathering a good deal of
information from Madras and Calcutta, the Professor discussed Shri
Ramakrishna's life and his teachings in a short article [4]
in the foremost monthly English journal, The Nineteenth Century. There he
expressed himself to the effect that this new sage easily won his heart by
the originality of his thoughts, couched in novel language and impregnate
with fresh spiritual power which he infused into India when she was merely
echoing the thoughts of her ancient sages for several centuries past, or, as
in recent times, those of Western scholars. He, the Professor, had read
often India's religious literature and thereby well acquainted himself with
the life-stories of many of her ancient sages and saints; but is it possible
to expect such lives again in this age in this India of modern times?
Ramakrishna's life was a reply in the affirmative to such a question. And it
brought new life by sprinkling water, as it were, at the root of the creeper
of hope regarding India's future greatness and progress, in the heart of
this great-souled scholar whose whole life has been dedicated to her.
There are certain great souls in the West who sincerely desire the good of
India, but we are not aware whether Europe can point out another well-wisher
of India who feels more for India's well-being than Professor Max Müller.
Not only is Max Müller a well-wisher of India, but he has also a strong
faith in Indian philosophy and Indian religion. That Advaitism is the
highest discovery in the domain of religion, the Professor has many times
publicly admitted. That doctrine of reincarnation, which is a dread to the
Christian who has identified the soul with the body, he firmly believes in
because of his having found conclusive proof in his own personal experience.
And what more, perhaps, his previous birth was in India; and lest by coming
to India, the old frame may break down under the violent rush of a suddenly
aroused mass of past recollections - is the fear in his mind that now stands
foremost in the way of his visit to this country. Still as a worldly man,
whoever he may be, he has to look to all sides and conduct himself
accordingly. When, after a complete surrender of all worldly interests, even
the Sannyasin, when performing any practices which he knows to be purest in
themselves, is seen to shiver in fear of public opinion, simply because they
are held with disapproval by the people among whom he lives; when the
consideration of gaining name and fame and high position, and the fear of
losing them regulate the actions of even the greatest ascetic, though he may
verbally denounce such consideration as most filthy and detestable — what
wonder then that the man of the world who is universally honoured, and is
ever anxious not to incur the displeasure of society, will have to be very
cautious in ventilating the views which he personally cherishes. It is not a
fact that the Professor is an utter disbeliever in such subtle subjects as
the mysterious psychic powers of the Yogis.
It is not many years since Professor Max Müller "felt called upon to say a
few words on certain religious movements, now going on in India" — "which
has often and not unjustly, been called a country of philosophers"— which
seemed to him "to have been very much misrepresented and misunderstood at
home". In order to remove such misconceptions and to protest against "the
wild and overcharged accounts of saints and sages living and teaching at
present in India, which had been published and scattered broadcast in
Indian, American, and English papers"; and "to show at the same time that
behind such strange names as Indian Theosophy, and Esoteric Buddhism, and
all the rest, there was something real something worth knowing" — or in
other words, to point out to the thoughtful section of Europe that India was
not a land inhabited only by "quite a new race of human beings who had gone
through a number of the most fearful ascetic exercises", to carry on a
lucrative profession by thus acquiring the powers of working such "very
silly miracles" as flying through the air like the feathered race, walking
on or living fishlike under the water, healing all sorts of maladies by
means of incantations, and, by the aid of occult arts fabricating gold,
silver, or diamond from baser materials, or by the power of Siddhis
bestowing sturdy sons to rich families — but that men, who had actually
realised in their life great transcendental truths, who were real knowers of
Brahman, true Yogis, real devotees of God, were never found wanting in
India: and, above all, to show that the whole Aryan population of India had
not as yet come down so low as to be on the same plane as the brute
creation, that, rejecting the latter, the living Gods in human shape, they
"the high and the low" were, day and night, busy licking the feet of the
first-mentioned performers of silly juggleries, — Professor Max Müller
presented Shri Ramakrishna's life to the learned European public, in an
article entitled "A Real Mahâtman", which appeared in The Nineteenth Century
in its August number, 1896.
The learned people of Europe and America read the article with great
interest and many have been attracted towards its subject, Shri Ramakrishna
Deva, with the result that the wrong ideas of the civilised West about India
as a country full of naked, infanticidal, ignorant, cowardly race of men who
were cannibals and little removed from beasts, who forcibly burnt their
widows and were steeped in all sorts of sin and darkness — towards the
formation of which ideas, the Christian missionaries and, I am as much
ashamed as pained to confess, some of my own countrymen also have been
chiefly instrumental — began to be corrected. The veil of the gloom of
ignorance, which was spread across the eyes of the Western people by the
strenuous efforts of these two bodies of men, has been slowly and slowly
rending asunder. "Can the country that has produced a great world-teacher
like Shri Bhagavân Ramakrishna Deva be really full of such abominations as
we have been asked to believe in, or have we been all along duped by
interested organised bodies of mischief-makers, and kept in utter obscurity
and error about the real India?"— Such a question naturally arises in the
Western mind.
When Professor Max Müller, who occupies in the West the first rank in the
field of Indian religion, philosophy, and literature, published with a
devoted heart a short sketch of Shri Ramakrishna's life in The Nineteenth Century
for the benefit of Europeans and Americans, it is needless to say
that a bitter feeling of burning rancour made its appearance amongst those
two classes of people referred to above.
By improper representation of the Hindu gods and goddesses, the Christian
missionaries were trying with all their heart and soul to prove that really
religious men could never be produced from among their worshippers; but like
a straw before a tidal wave, that attempt was swept away; while that class
of our countrymen alluded to above, which set itself to devise means for
quenching the great fire of the rapidly spreading power of Shri Ramakrishna,
seeing all its efforts futile, has yielded to despair. What is human will in
opposition to the divine?
Of course from both sides, unintermittent volleys of fierce attack were
opened on the aged Professor's devoted head; the old veteran, however, was
not the one to turn his back. He had triumphed many times in similar
contests. This time also he has passed the trial with equal ease. And to
stop the empty shouts of his inferior opponents, he has published, by way of
a warning to them, the book, Ramakrishna: His Life and Sayings, in which he
has collected more complete information and given a fuller account of his
life and utterances, so that the reading public may get a better knowledge
of this great sage and his religious ideas — the sage "who has lately
obtained considerable celebrity both in India and America where his
disciples have been actively engaged in preaching his gospel and winning
converts to his doctrines even among Christian audiences". The Professor
adds, "This may seem very strange, nay, almost incredible to us. . . .Yet
every human heart has its religious yearnings; it has a hunger for religion,
which sooner or later wants to be satisfied. Now the religion taught by the
disciples of Ramakrishna comes to these hungry souls without any untoward
authority", and is therefore, welcomed as the "free elixir of life". . .
"Hence, though there may be some exaggeration in the number of those who are
stated to have become converted to the religion of Ramakrishna, ... there
can be no doubt that a religion which can achieve such successes in our
time, while it calls itself with perfect truth the oldest religion and
philosophy of the world, viz the Vedanta, the end or highest object of the
Vedas, deserves our careful attention."
After discussing, in the first part of the book, what is meant by the
Mahatman, the Four Stages of Life, Ascetic Exercises or Yoga, and after
making some mention about Dayananda Sarasvati, Pavhâri Bâbâ, Debendranath
Tagore, and Rai Shâligrâm Sâheb Bahadur, the leader of the Râdhâswami sect,
the Professor enters on Shri Ramakrishna's life.
The Professor greatly fears lest the Dialogic Process — the transformation
produced in the description of the facts as they really happened by too much
favourableness or unfavourableness of the narrator towards them — which is
invariably at work in all history as a matter of inevitable course, also
influences this present sketch of life. Hence his unusual carefulness about
the collection of facts. The present writer is an insignificant servant of
Shri Ramakrishna. Though the materials gathered by him for Ramakrishna's
life have been well-pounded in the mortar of the Professor's logic and
impartial judgment, still he (Max Müller) has not omitted to add that there
may be possible "traces of what I call the Dialogic Process and the
irrepressible miraculising tendencies of devoted disciples" even in "his
unvarnished description of his Master". And, no doubt, those few harsh-sweet
words which the Professor has said in the course of his reply to what some
people, with the Brâhmo-Dharma preacher, the Rev. Pratap Chandra Mazumdar,
at their head, wrote to him in their anxiety to make out a "not edifying
side" of Ramakrishna's character — demand thoughtful consideration from
those amongst us of Bengal who, being full of jealousy, can with difficulty
bear the sight of others' weal.
Shri Ramakrishna's life is presented in the book in very brief and simple
language. In this life, every word of the wary historian is weighed, as it
were, before being put on paper; those sparks of fire, which are seen here
and there to shoot forth in the article, "A Real Mahatman", are this time
held in with the greatest care. The Professor's boat is here plying between
the Scylla of the Christian missionaries on the one hand, and the Charybdis
of the tumultuous Brahmos on the other. The article, "A Real Mahatman"
brought forth from both the parties many hard words and many carping remarks
on the Professor. It is a pleasure to observe that there is neither the
attempt made here to retort on them, nor is there any display of meanness
— as the refined writers of England are not in the habit of indulging in
that kind of thing — but with a sober, dignified, not the least malignant,
yet firm and thundering voice, worthy of the aged scholar, he has removed
the charges that were levelled against some of the uncommon ideas of the
great-soured sage — swelling forth from a heart too deep for ordinary grasp.
And the charges are, indeed, surprising to us. We have heard the great
Minister of the Brahmo Samaj, the late revered Âchârya Shri Keshab Chandra
Sen, speaking in his charming way that Shri Ramakrishna's simple, sweet,
colloquial language breathed a superhuman purity; though in his speech could
be noticed some such words as we term obscene, the use of those words, on
account of his uncommon childlike innocence and of their being perfectly
devoid of the least breath of sensualism, instead of being something
reproachable, served rather the purpose of embellishment — yet, this is one
of the mighty charges!
Another charge brought against him is that his treatment of his wife was
barbarous because of his taking the vow of leading a Sannyasin's life! To
this the Professor has replied that he took the vow of Sannyasa with his
wife's assent, and that during the years of his life on this earth, his
wife, bearing a character worthy of her husband, heartily received him as
her Guru (spiritual guide) and, according to his instructions, passed her
days in infinite bliss and peace, being engaged in the service of God as a
lifelong Brahmachârini. Besides, he asks, "Is love between husband and wife
really impossible without the procreation of children?" "We must learn to
believe in Hindu honesty" — in the matter that, without having any physical
relationship, a Brahmachari husband can live a life of crystal purity, thus
making his Brahmacharini wife a partner in the immortal bliss of the highest
spiritual realisation, Brahmânanda — "however incredulous we might justly be
on such matters in our own country". May blessings shower on the Professor
for such worthy remarks! Even he, born of a foreign nationality and living
in a foreign land, can understand the meaning of our Brahmacharya as the
only way to the attainment of spirituality, and belies that it is not even
in these days rare in India, whilst the hypocritical heroes of our own
household are unable to see anything else than carnal relationship in the
matrimonial union! "As a man thinketh in his mind, so he seeth outside."
Again another charge put forward is that "he did not show sufficient moral
abhorrence of prostitutes". To this the Professor's rejoinder is very very
sweet indeed: he says that in this charge Ramakrishna "does not stand quite
alone among the founders of religion! " Ah! How sweet are these words — they
remind one of the prostitute Ambâpâli, the object of Lord Buddha's divine
grace, and of the Samaritan woman who won the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Yet again, another charge is that he did not hate those who were intemperate
in their habits. Heaven save the mark! One must not tread even on the shadow
of a man, because he took a sip or two of drink — is not that the meaning? A
formidable accusation indeed! Why did not the Mahâpurusha kick away and
drive off in disgust the drunkards, the prostitutes, the thieves, and all
the sinners of the world! And why did he not, with eyes closed, talk in a
set drawl after the never-to-be-varied tone of the Indian flute-player, or
talk in conventional language concealing his thoughts! And above all, the
crowning charge is why did he not "live maritalement" all his life!
Unless life can be framed after the ideal of such strange purity and good
manners as set forth by the accusers, India is doomed to go to ruin. Let
her, if she has to rise by the help of such ethical rules!
The greater portion of the book has been devoted to the collection of the
sayings, rather than to the life itself. That those sayings have attracted
the attention of many of the English-speaking readers throughout the world
can be easily inferred from the rapid sale of the book. The sayings, falling
direct from his holy lips, are impregnate with the strongest spiritual force
and power, and therefore they will surely exert their divine influence in
every part of the world. "For the good of the many, for the happiness of the
many" great-souled men take their birth; their lives and works are past the
ordinary human run, and the method of their preaching is equally marvellous.
And what are we doing? The son of a poor Brahmin, who has sanctified us by
his birth, raised us by his work, and has turned the sympathy of the
conquering race towards us by his immortal sayings — what are we doing for
him? Truth is not always palatable, still there are times when it has to be
told: some of us do understand that his life and teachings are to our gain,
but there the matter ends. It is beyond our power even to make an attempt to
put those precepts into practice in our own lives, far less to consign our
whole body and soul to the huge waves of harmony of Jnâna and Bhakti that
Shri Ramakrishna has raised. This play of the Lord, those who have
understood or are trying to understand, to them we say, "What will mere
understanding do? The proof of understanding is in work. Will others believe
you if it ends only in verbal expressions of assurance or is put forward as
a matter of personal faith? Work argues what one feels; work out what you
feel and let the world see." All ideas and feelings coming out of the
fullness of the heart are known by their fruits — practical works.
Those who, knowing themselves very learned, think lightly of this
unlettered, poor, ordinary temple-priest, to them our submission is: "The
country of which one illiterate temple-priest, by virtue of his own
strength, has in so short a time caused the victory of the ancient Sanâtana
Dharma of your forefathers to resound even in lands far beyond the seas — of
that country, you are the heroes of heroes, the honoured of all, mighty,
well-bred, the learned of the learned — how much therefore must you be able
to perform far more uncommon, heroic deeds for the welfare of your own land
and nation, if you but will its Arise, therefore, come forward, display the
play of your superior power within, manifest it, and we are standing with
offerings of deepest veneration in hand ready to worship you. We are
ignorant, poor, unknown, and insignificant beggars with only the beggar's
garb as a means of livelihood; whereas you are supreme in riches and
influence, of mighty power, born of noble descent, centres of all knowledge
and learning! Why not rouse yourselves? Why not take the lead? Show the way,
show us that example of perfect renunciation for the good of the world, and
we will follow you like bond-slaves!"
On the other hand, those who are showing unjustified signs of causeless,
rancorous hostilities out of absolute malice and envy — natural to a slavish
race — at the success and the celebrity of Shri Ramakrishna and his name —
to them we say, "Dear friends, vain are these efforts of yours! If this
infinite, unbounded, religious wave that has engulfed in its depths the very
ends of space — on whose snow-white crest shineth this divine form in the
august glow of a heavenly presence — if this be the effect brought about by
our eager endeavours in pursuit of personal name, fame, or wealth, then,
without your or any others' efforts, this wave shall in obedience to the
insuperable law of the universe, soon die in the infinite womb of time,
never to rise again! But if, again, this tide, in accordance with the will
and under the divine inspiration of the One Universal Mother, has begun to
deluge the world with the flood of the unselfish love of a great man's
heart, then, O feeble man, what power cost thou possess that thou shouldst
thwart the onward progress of the Almighty Mother's will? "
- Notes