तमेव धीरो विज्ञाय प्रज्ञां कुर्वीत ब्राह्मणः ।
नानुध्यायाद्बहूञ्छब्दान्, वाचो विग्लापनं
हि तत् ॥ इति ॥ २१ ॥tameva dhīro vijñāya prajñāṃ kurvīta brāhmaṇaḥ |
nānudhyāyādbahūñchabdān, vāco viglāpanaṃ
hi tat || iti || 21 ||21. The intelligent aspirant after Brahman, knowing about this alone, should attain intuitive knowledge. (He) should not think of too many words, for it is particularly fatiguing to the organ of speech.
The intelligent aspirant after Brahman, knowing about this kind of Self alone, from the instructions of a teacher and from the scriptures, should attain intuitive knowledge of what has been taught by the teacher and the scriptures, so as to put an end to all questioning—i.e. practise the means of this knowledge, viz. renunciation, calmness, self-control, withdrawal of the senses, fortitude and concentration. (He) should not think of too many words. This restriction on too many words implies that a few words dealing exclusively with the unity of the Self are permissible. The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad has it: ‘Maditate upon the Self with the help of the syllable Om’ (II. ii. 6), and ‘Give up all other speech’ (II. ii. 5). For it, this thinking of too many words, is particularly fatiguing to the organ of speech.
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
MASTER (to Narendra): “Were you with Hazra? Both of you are in the same boat. You know the saying about the two friends: ‘You are away from your country and he is away from his beloved.’ Hazra, too, needs fifteen hundred rupees (laughter.)
“Hazra says: ‘Narendra has acquired one hundred per cent sattva, though still there is in him a pink glow of rajas. But I have one hundred and twenty-five per cent pure sattva.’ (All laugh.)
“I say to Hazra, ‘You indulge in reasoning only: that is why you are so dry.’ He retorts, ‘No, I am dry because I drink the nectar of the sun.’
“Speaking of pure bhakti, I say to Hazra, ‘A real devotee does not pray to God for money or riches.’ Hazra replies: ‘When the flood of divine grace descends, the rivers overflow; and further, the pools and canals are filled. By the grace of God one gets not only pure devotion but also the six super-natural powers, and money too.'”
Narendra and many other devotees were seated on the floor. Girish entered the room and joined them.
MASTER (to Girish): “I look on Narendra as Atman. I obey him.”
GIRISH: “Is there anyone you don’t obey?”
MASTER (smiling): “He has a manly nature and I have the nature of a woman. He is a noble soul and belongs to the realm of the Indivisible Brahman.”
Girish went out to have a smoke.
NARENDRA (to the Master): “I had a talk with Girish Ghosh. He is indeed a great man. We talked about you.”
MASTER: “What did you say about me?”
NARENDRA: “That you are illiterate and we are scholars. Oh, we talked in that vein!” (Laughter.)
MANI MALLICK (to the Master): “You have become a pundit without reading a book.”
36.4 Goal of scriptural study
MASTER (to Narendra and the others): “Let me tell you this: really and truly I don’t feel sorry in the least that I haven’t read the Vedanta or the other scriptures. I know that the essence of the Vedanta is that Brahman alone is real and the world illusory. And what is the essence of the Gita? It is what you get by repeating the word ten times. Then it is reversed into ‘tagi’, which refers to renunciation. The pupil should hear the essence of the scriptures from the guru; then he should practise austerity and devotions. A man needs the letter he has received from home as long as he has not learnt its contents. After reading it, however, he sets out to get the things he has been asked to send. Likewise, what need is there of the scriptures if you know their essence? The next thing is the practice of spiritual discipline.” (BG 2.49) (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)