BHAVANATH (humbly): “I feel disturbed if I have a misunderstanding with someone. I feel that in that case I am not able to love all.”
MASTER: “Try at the outset to talk to him and establish a friendly relationship with him. If you fail in spite of your efforts, then don’t give it another thought. Take refuge in God. Meditate on Him. There is no use in giving up God and feeling depressed from thinking about others.”
BHAVANATH: “Great souls, such as Christ and Chaitanya, have admonished us to love all beings.”
MASTER: “Love you must, because God dwells in all beings. But salute a wicked person from a distance. You speak of Chaitanya? He also used to restrain his spiritual feeling in the presence of unsympathetic people. At Srivas’s house he put Srivas’s mother-in-law out of the room, dragging her out by the hair.”
BHAVANATH: “It was not he but others who did it.”
MASTER: “Could the others have done it without his approval? What can be done? Suppose a man cannot make another love him; must he worry about it day and night? Must I waste my mind, which should be given to God, on useless, things? I say: ‘O Mother, I don’t want Narendra, Bhavanath, Rakhal, or anybody. I seek Thee alone. What shall I do with man?’
When the Blissful Mother comes to my house, how much of the Chandi I shall hear!
How many monks will come here, and how many yogis with matted locks!
“When I attain God I shall attain everything. I renounced gold and silver, saying, ‘Rupee is clay and clay is rupee; gold is clay and clay is gold.’ With these words I threw gold, silver, and clay into the Ganges. Then I was afraid at the thought that Mother Lakshmi might be angry with me because I had treated Her wealth with contempt; that She might even stop my meals. So I prayed to the Divine Mother, ‘O Mother, I want Thee and nothing else.’ I knew that by realizing Her I should get everything.” (BG 2.59, BG 18.66, Isha Upanishad Verse 1)
BHAVANATH (smiling): “This is the shrewd calculation of a business man.”
MASTER (smiling): “Yes, that is so. Once the Lord was pleased with a certain devotee. He appeared before him and said: ‘I am very much pleased with your austerities. Ask a boon of Me.’ The devotee said, ‘O Lord, if You are gracious enough to give me a boon, then please grant that I may eat from gold plates with my grandchildren.’ One boon covered many things — wealth, children, and grandchildren.” (All laugh.) (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Swami Subodhananda mixed freely with one and all; no one ever had any reason to fear him. Once, when I told him that so-and-so was not talking to me, he said: “Fine; why should you be bothered on that account? How long does the love of a human being last? Those who become aggrieved in this way are generally selfish people. Love for God is the only real love. One who loves God need not fear anybody.” — Swami Kaleshananda (Source: Swami Subodhananda by Swami Chetanananda)
The Ideal of the Gopis and Radha Sri Ramakrishna frequently cited the gopis of Vrindaban and Radha as the ultimate examples of spiritual aspirants who ignored public opinion for the sake of God.
- When his Western-educated disciples struggled to understand the divine play in Vrindaban, the Master explained: “Don’t you see how the gopis became impassioned for Krishna? They set aside their husbands, children, and families, gave up any consideration for their reputations, honour and dishonour, shame and hatred, and set aside all concern for public opinion and social propriety! This is the way one attains God”.
- Regarding Radha’s transcendental love, the text notes that “She shunned shame, hatred, fear, public opinion, and social criticism; she forgot pride of caste, family ties, appropriate conduct, personal dignity, and her own comfort and enjoyment in order to take joy in Krishna’s happiness alone”.
When the agony of separation from the Divine Mother made him weep and roll in the dust, a crowd would gather, thinking he had a physical illness. The Master later reflected on this: “I scarcely realized the presence of people around me. They looked more like shadows or painted pictures than real objects, and so I did not feel any shame or embarrassment at all”.