Pandit Shashadhar asks the Master to cure his own disease through yogic power: his response.
We cannot resist relating another event regarding the depth of the Master’s nondual knowledge. At this time the Master was in the Cossipore garden house, critically ill. When they heard of this, Pandit Shashadhar Tarkachudamani and a few others came to see the Master. In the course of conversation, the pandit told him: “Sir, we have read in the scriptures that a great soul like yourself can cure his own physical illness by mere willpower. If you but concentrate your mind on the affected part of the body for a while with the resolve that it be healed, you will be cured. Why don’t you try it, sir?”
The Master replied: “As a pandit, how can you make such a suggestion? This mind has been given up to God once and for all. How can I withdraw it from Him and make it dwell on this cage of flesh and bone?”
Swami Vivekananda and other devotees make similar requests: the Master’s reply.
Pandit Shashadhar was silenced. But Swami Vivekananda and other devotees did not remain quiet. As soon as the pandit left, Swamiji fervently begged the Master to follow the pandit’s advice. He said, “Sir, you must cure yourself, at least for our sake.”
The Master: “Do you think I’m suffering like this because I want to? Of course I want to get better, but does that desire cure my disease? It all depends on Mother.”
Swamiji: “Then please pray to Her for your recovery. She will definitely listen to you.”
The Master: “It is easy for you to say that, but I could never utter such words.”
Swamiji: “No, sir, that won’t do. You must tell the Mother about it, at least for our sake.”
The Master: “All right, let me see if I can ask Her.”
After a few hours Swamiji returned to the Master and asked: “Sir, did you ask the Mother? What did She say?”
The Master: “I said to the Mother, ‘I can’t eat anything because of this pain (pointing to the sore in the throat) — please let me eat a little.’ But She pointed to all of you and said: ‘Why? You are eating through so many mouths already!’ I then felt ashamed and couldn’t utter another word.”
The depth of the Master’s experience of nonduality.
What a wonderful example of the Master’s lack of body-consciousness and how established he was in the knowledge of nonduality! For more than six months at that time his daily diet was about a half pound of boiled barley. When the Divine Mother told him on that occasion, “You are eating through so many mouths,” he immediately thought: “What a sinful act I have committed! I have called this little body ‘I’!” He became silent and hung his head with shame. (Source: Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play)
Related Articles: