Volumexv Apostle Evangelist.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
M., THE APOSTLE & THE EVANGELIST - XV M., the writer of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita Mahendranath Gupta, universally known as M. was an erudite scholar of the Calcutta University. He came in contact with Sri Ramakrishna on 26th of February 1882 – a divine dispensation which turned this householder devotee into a sage. Sri Ramakrishna later said to him: “... You belong to the ever-perfect class … you are my own, of the same substance as father and son ... You are one of those who trade in the jewellery of the Spirit ... You will have to do a little of the Divine Mother’s work … You will have to narrate Bhagavata to people …” M. lived and recorded Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, which is the “Bible of the countless devoted to the Great Master, Sri Ramakrishna.” About this everlasting monument, the Veda-like great classic of this age, the Holy Mother wrote in a letter to M., “One day as I heard you reading from the Kathamrita I felt as if he (Sri Ramakrishna) himself was talking.” Swami Vivekananda in overflowing praise declared, “It is indeed wonderful. The move is quite original. It has been reserved for you, this great work.” Swami Tapasyananda said: “If there is in the world any one text that comes very near the original teaching of a God- man, it is the record of M. and M. alone.” M., the Apostle & the Evangelist A continuation of M.’s Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita A guide to Indian culture & Self-knowledge VOLUME XV By SWAMI NITYATMANANDA Translated By Dharm Pal Gupta SRI MA TRUST 579, Sector 18-B, Chandigarh – 160 018, India. http://www.kathamrita.org Phone: +91-172-2724460 iv Published by The President, Sri Ma Trust, 579, Sector 18-B, Chandigarh (India) 160 018 Phone: +91-172-2724460, +91-98153-30032 Email: [email protected] http://www.kathamrita.org © 2017. All rights reserved The fifteenth of the sixteen volume work First Edition ISBN: 978-81-88343-15-7 (this volume) ISBN: 978-81-88343-10-2 (set) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT When Revered Swami Nityatmananda was deeply involved in composing the Bengali ‘Sri Ma Darshan’ from his daily diaries, Revered Swami Saradeshananda was also living at the Tulsi Math in the holy land of Rishikesh. Swami Saradeshananda, the privileged tapasvi blessed with the service of the Holy Mother, helped Swami Nityatmananda in many ways to accomplish this great and noble work. The sevakas of Sri Ma Trust and Swami Nityatmananda are ever grateful to him for this unrepayable debt. I am an insignificant person. But I live by the side of an ocean, and I keep with me a few pitchers of seawater. When a visitor comes, I entertain him with that. What else can I speak of but his words? – M. Publisher’s Note It gives us great pleasure to present our readers the first edition of the fifteenth volume of “M., the Apostle and Evangelist.” In this volume, Swami Nityatmananda has described vivid scenes of the Belur Math, including his initiation into sannyasa by Mahapurusha Maharaj. During Swamiji’s stay in the Belur Math, he visits Master Mahashay occasionally. So this volume depicts Mahapurusha Mahashay, an ideal sannyasi, and Sri M., an ideal householder. The former was the dīkṣā guru and latter the śikṣā guru of Swamiji. In 1958 Srimati Ishwar Devi Gupta, the second president of Sri Ma Trust, discovered invaluable pearls in the Bengali “Sri Ma Darshan”. Thereafter, she started the herculean task of translating them into Hindi as a prayerful offering for her own sake and for Hindi-speaking brothers and sisters. Subsequently, these were translated into English by Sri Dharm Pal Gupta with the assistance of few devotees and this translation is now appearing as these volumes. The Sanskrit text has been transliterated for the benefit of English-speaking readers. It has taken few years to get the book into a printed form. So the reader will find two different fonts for the transliterated text, to adapt to Unicode font for transliteration. Over a period of time the translations have been made easier for the reader to assimilate as the phrases have been made more current in usage, for example the phrase ‘lust and greed’ is being globally used rather than ‘woman and gold’. Sri Ma Trust offers sincere gratitude to all those devotees and friends, who are helping in any way to viii finance produce, edit, publish and distribute the volumes. Special mention must be made of: Edith Tipple Santa Barbara, California, USA Bob Adjemian, Vedanta Press & Catalog, Hollywood, USA Dr. Kamal Gupta, Noida, India Nitin Nanda, Sri Ma Trust, Chandigarh, India May our reade rs, friends and associates attain supreme bliss and peace – this is our heartfelt prayer at the feet of the Lord. The Publisher, Friday, 14 July, 2017 Sri M.’s Birth Anniversary The Author’s Blessings 1 Ever blessed Srimati Ishwar Devi Gupta, Devi, your Hindi translation of Sri Ma Darshan, being your holy offering in your devotions, is not only most beautiful, simple and artistic; it is equally lucid, expressive and true to the original. The work of translation is a dull affair, but because of your identification with the subject matter of the book, your translation has come out so lively and pleasing. It was indeed a difficult task to translate into Hindi this book on ‘Vedanta in daily life,’ in your sickly state of health, after learning the Bengali language. The main subject of Sri Ma Darshan is to show how to live the divine life, as described in the Vedas, in this world of happiness and sorrow. In the modern materialistic age, the times of Sri Ramakrishna, the avatara of the age and the image of the Vedas, Professor M. brought the Vedanta of the forest to the homes of householders and relived it in his own life in the 19 th and 20 th centuries exactly as it was practiced in the forests in the Vedic age in the lives of the rishis. Sri Ma Darshan is a living narrative of the life of Maharishi M. Besides, it is an interesting, living 1. Swami Nityatmananda, the author, blessed Srimati Ishwar Devi Gupta, who translated into Hindi Swamiji’s first volume of the Bengali Sri Ma Darshan and undertook to publish the rest of the volumes, on Shardiya Durga Navaratri Day, 1965. This text is its translation from Hindi. x annotated commentary and dialogue on Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, the authentic text written by Sri M., which narrates the lila of Sri Ramakrishna in this age of science. By making a loving present of this great text to Hindi-speaking devotees, you have started a great jñāna- 1 yajña . Devi, seeing this great effort on your part, it spontaneously comes to my mind that Bhagavan Sri Sri Ramakrishna has taken possession of your heart and mind. I pray sincerely and humbly at his holy feet that he may inspire you to translate the remaining fourteen 2 parts in the same simple, sweet and pleasant language. This will bring great blessings in your life and make it sweeter. Besides, it will surely raise and spiritualize the life of the community. With all good wishes. Swami Nityatmananda Sri Ramakrishna Math Rishikesh, Himalayas Shardiya Durga Navaratri, 1965 1. Sacrificial rite of spiritual knowledge. 2. Now, there are a total of 16 volumes of Sri Ma Darshan . Prayer Om Thakur, our beloved Father! This day we open this centre named Sri Ramakrishna Sri Ma Prakashan Trust (Sri Ma Trust) to propagate your holy name to all people of the world in our humble way for the peace and happiness of all. Yourself, accompanied by the Holy Mother and your beloved disciples like Swami Vivekananda and revered ‘M.’, do bless us; be always with us; do guide us in the right direction. By this unselfish work, by this labour of love, may we realise your real nature, God-incarnate on earth! May we have peace and happiness real; may all beings of the universe be peaceful and happy; may the entire universe be the abode of peace and happiness, real and eternal! I am your humble son and servant, Swami Nityatmananda Civil Lines, Rohtak December 20, 1967 SRI RAMAKRISHNA’S PHOTOGRAPH SRI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHANSA (1836 – 1886) xiii Contents Publisher’s Note vi i The Author’s Blessings ix Prayer xi Preface: M., the Model of Sannyasa in the Household 1 1. All Men Have their Faults and Qualities, Even So 25 Reverence is Due to Sadhus 2. Death Flees when one Entreats the Lord 29 3. Thakur is Living – Truly he is Living 41 4. A Collection of Images 57 5. Sannyasa – a Sight for Gods to See 79 6. A Child is a Hundred Percent Child 105 7. These Words are Like a Necklace of Pearls 135 8. Company of Sadhus Always 161 9. About Sri Mahapurusha 177 10. The Image of Shiva 215 11. Sri Mahapurusha, Liberated in this Very Life 235 12. The Great Importance of Puri 249 13. M. in Sick Bed 261 14. M. Filled with Sri Ramakrishna 275 15. Thakur Came to Make Heroes 303 16. Picture of Mahapurusha Maharaja 317 17. Picture Album 333 18. M.’s Last Reading of the Kathamrita 353 xiv 19. The Lotus Grove 373 20. The Test 395 21. On His Way to the Great Journey 409 22. A New Centre of Pilgrimage 457 Appendix I M.’s Mahasamadhi: Antevasi 501 Appendix II Immediately Before M.’s Samadhi: Antevasi 527 PREFACE M., THE MODEL OF SANNYASA IN THE HOUSEHOLD 1 Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna is Brahman-Shakti (the power of Brahman), the Divine Mother of the Universe in human form.