Sri Ramakrishna on Power

• Man is insignificant. He cannot perform the difficult duty of a religious teacher without receiving direct power from God.
• Brahman and Shakti (His power) are inseparable. He who is Brahman is Himself Shakti. So long as there is body consciousness, you are conscious of duality.
• Getting only a single ray from the goddess of learning (Saraswati), one attains such strength that even the most learned become like earthworms before him.
• God is present in every being as the all-pervading Spirit, so He is in everything. Just as He is in me, He is in an ant, too. But there is special manifestation of God’s power in some.
• The Gita says: ‘If a person is considered great by many, whether it is because of his learning, his ability to sing and play musical instruments, his oratory, or anything else, know it for certain that he has within him a special power of God.’ (BG 10.41)
• He is everywhere. But this is also true, that there is a difference in manifestation of the divine power. He manifests Himself in some as ignorance and in some as knowledge. In some ‘receptacles’ there is greater power, and in others less. So all men are not equal.
• The fact is that a mere man can do nothing. Only God makes one respect another. Before God’s power, man is a mere straw.
• What can a man do before the will of God? Arjuna said in the battle of Kurukshetra, ‘I won’t fight this battle, I won’t kill my relatives.’ Sri Krishna said, ‘Arjuna, you will have to fight. Your nature will compel you.’ Sri Krishna revealed everything to him – that everyone had already been slain.
• Whatever you see is all His power. Without His power, nobody can do anything. Yet God’s power is not equally manifest everywhere. Vidyasagar asked me, ‘Has God given more power to some?’ I replied, ‘If there was not unequal power, why should we have come to see you? Have you grown two horns?’ Yet this is certain: God is present in all as the all-pervading power – but there is a special manifestation of His power in some.
• God has granted more power to some than to others. In one there is the light of a single earthen lamp, while in another it is a blazing torch.
• There is a special manifestation of God’s power in some. Truly He has become all – but at certain places there is greater manifestation of His power, in others less.
• Vidyasagar asked, ‘So, has God given more of His power to one and less of it to another?’ I said, ‘If it were not so, how could one person defeat fifty others? Besides, why should we have come to see you?’ There is more power of God in that receptacle in which He manifests His lila (divine sport).
• He who meditates on the Lord has substance and God’s power in him. And He who sings well, or plays musical instruments well – anybody who is expert in any branch of knowledge – has divine power within. The Gita says this too. And the Chandi says that one who is endowed with exquisite beauty has substance too, has God’s power in him.
• Certain objects have more light. The rays of the sun fall one way on the ground, another way on trees, and quite another way on glass. On a mirror there is more light. And then think about this: are there devotees here at the same level as Prahlada? The heart and soul of Prahlada were dedicated to God.
• See how wonderful the world is! How many different things there are in this universe: the sun, the moon and the planets! How many kinds of creatures there are: big, small, good and bad! Some have more power, others less.
• He dwells in all beings as the all-pervading Power. He is present even in an ant. But there is a special manifestation of His power in some. If that were not true, how could one man defeat ten, while another person tries to run away from even one?
• Can everybody understand Him? He has created good people as well as bad, devotees as well as non-devotees. He has created believers in God and non-believers. There is such variety in His sport! There is a greater manifestation of His Power at one place than another. There is a greater reflection of the light of the sun on water than on the earth, and again there is more of its reflection in a mirror than on water.
• He dwells in all beings as the All-pervasive Being. But there is a special manifestation of His power in some. In some, there is more power of knowledge; in others, more power of ignorance. Moreover, some have more of His Power than others. Haven’t you noticed that there are gamblers and swindlers? And there are also people as ferocious as tigers. I say that the swindler is Narayana, and so is the tiger.
• You must accept Shakti. Vidyasagar asked, ‘Has God given more power to some?’ I replied, ‘Otherwise, how can one man defeat a hundred men? Why is Queen Victoria respected and honoured if not because of God’s power?’
• A man hasn’t the power to instruct mankind. One cannot subdue ignorance without the power of God.
• According to the Gita, one who is respected and accepted by many has the power of God within. But there’s a little work he has yet to do.
• When a person has taken a human body, he must accept Shakti. Even a judge has to stand in the witness box if he gives evidence.
• Many people used to visit Keshab Sen. Not so many come here. What great respect people have for Keshab! He is known even in the West. The queen [Victoria] talked to him. The Gita also says that there is more divine power in a person who is respected by many.
• God has become the world, its living beings, and the twenty-four cosmic principles. When He is inactive, He is called Brahman. When He creates, preserves, and dissolves, He is known as Shakti, or Power. Brahman and Shakti are not different from each other. Water is water whether it is still or in motion.
• Please remember that it is God’s power through which everything happens. You have this high post because it is He who has granted it. People think they are great. But it is water on the roof that flows down the drain pipe which ends in the shape of a lion’s mouth – it looks like the water’s coming out of a lion’s mouth. But see where the water is coming from. In the sky is a cloud that rains down on the roof. Then the water flows down the drain pipe and comes out through the lion’s mouth.

Primeval Power

• The Primordial Divine Energy creates, preserves, and dissolves. She is known as Kali (the Mother of the Universe). Kali is Brahman and Brahman is Kali, one and the same substance.
• In the dilapidated house, I saw the face of Simhavahini beaming with glory. You have to believe in the divine presence in an image of the Deity.
• The fact is, Brahman and Shakti are inseparable. For example, take a jewel and its lustre. When you talk of the lustre of a jewel, you think of the jewel – and when you talk of the jewel, you think of its lustre.
• Brahman is the same as Kali, the Primal Power. When inactive, I call It Brahman. When creating, preserving, and dissolving, I call It Shakti (Power).
• The One who is Brahman is Kali. Kali is the Primal Power. When It is inactive, I call it Brahman. When It creates, preserves, and dissolves, I call It Shakti, I call It Kali. Whom you call Brahman, I call Kali.
• Adyashakti (the Primordial Power of Brahman) has differentiated into the phenomenal world, living beings and the twenty-four cosmic principles. It is a case of involution and evolution.
• A woman is none other than a form of the maya of the Mother of the Universe. When you have understood this correctly, you no longer wish to lead a worldly life. It is only when you have realized that all women are forms of the Mother that you can lead a spiritual life in the world.
• He who is without attributes also has attributes. He who is Brahman is indeed Shakti. When I see Him inactive, I call Him Brahman; and when I think of Him creating, preserving and destroying, I call Him the Primal Power, or Kali.
• To obtain His grace, one must keep the Primal Energy, Shakti, pleased. She Herself is indeed Mahamaya. By enchanting the world, She creates, preserves and dissolves. It is She who has deluded our spiritual awareness. One can enter the door only when She allows us through. When one is outside, one can see only outer objects – one cannot know the Supreme Eternal Person, Sat-chit-ananda.
• “Shakti is at the root of the universe. She includes both knowledge and ignorance. Ignorance deludes and enchants – it leads to ‘lust and greed’. On the other hand, love and devotion, compassion, jnana and prema, which take one to the Lord, come from knowledge (vidya).
• Brahman and His Power are one and the same. If you don’t believe in His Power, the world becomes illusory for you. I, you, hearth and home, and the family – all of them become illusory. It is because of the Primordial Energy that the world stands firm. A framework can’t be made without bamboo poles.
• Brahman is free from attachment to anything. Air carries both good and bad smells, but it remains unaffected. Brahman and His Power are not separate from each other. The world and its creatures have been created by the same Primal Power.
• You may watch a thousand tricks of magic, yet everything is under God. You cannot escape. You are not independent. Indeed, you have to do what He makes you do. One attains the knowledge of Brahman only when His Primal Power dispenses it. Then you can witness the play of the magician. Otherwise not.
• As long as you have even a little consciousness of ‘I,’ you are under the jurisdiction of the Primal Power – and unable to set yourself free.
• The play of an incarnation of God is the play of the Primal Power. It is by Her power that the avatar incarnates as a human being. Thus alone does an incarnation work; it is all by the power of the Divine Mother.
• You are the son of the All-Blissful Mother. She resides in every being. I shall certainly enforce my demand. A peasant said to his guru, ‘I will get the mantra from you by beating if necessary.’
• In the state of perfection, after God-realization, one sees woman as the All-Blissful Mother. One then looks at each as a different aspect of the Divine Mother.
• Both knowledge and ignorance are in His maya. Darkness is necessary to show the glory of light. If lust, anger and greed are bad, why has He made them? Because He wants to create saintly people.
• Whatever we see or think is the manifestation of the same Primal Power, the Primal Consciousness – creation, preservation and dissolution, the world and living beings. Also meditation, he who meditates, love for God, ecstatic love for God – all these are manifestations of that Primal Power.
• This very Primal Power, or Mahamaya, covers Brahman. As soon as the veil is removed you realize, ‘I am You and You are I.’
• Is the Primal Power male or female? In the countryside [Kamarpukur], I saw Kali being worshipped in the house of the Lahas. She was wearing a sacred thread around Her neck. Somebody asked, ‘Why a sacred thread around the Mother’s neck?’ The master of the house, said, ‘Brother, you have understood the Mother. But I don’t know whether She is male or female.’
• ‘Whom you call Brahman, I call Shakti, the Primal Power.’ What is beyond mind and speech, attributeless and inactive, the Vedas call Brahman. When I see creation, preservation and destruction, I call it Shakti, the Primal Power.
• ‘I bite becoming a snake and cure becoming a doctor.’ He has become both knowledge and ignorance and dwells in the world. He dwells as ignorance in the maya of delusion, and He cures in the form of the maya of knowledge, in the guru.
• You should worship the Primal Power. You have to please Her. It is She who lives in the world in the form of all women. That’s why I look on all women as mother.

Power of Attorney

• Give God the power of attorney. If you give your burden to a good person, can he ever do you wrong? Give Him your entire burden with a sincere heart, and then be at peace.
• When a person is overwhelmed with spiritual knowledge, he is left with no duties to perform. God takes charge when you are no longer able to do so. When a zemindar dies, leaving behind a minor son, a guardian takes the entire responsibility for the boy.
• Give your general power of attorney to God. Lay the whole burden on Him. If you give responsibility to an honest fellow, will he deceive you?
• Give Him the general power of attorney. If you give the responsibility to a good man, you never suffer any harm. Let His will be done.
• Surrender everything at His feet and give Him the general power of attorney. Let Him do what He considers best for you. If you place your responsibility on a great man, he will never do you any harm.
• If a boy holds his father’s hand while he walks on the balk of a field, he can fall into the ditch. But if the father holds the boy’s hand, he can never fall.
• Give God your general power of attorney. Let Him do what He wills.
• Give your power of attorney to God. Let Him do what He likes. You just cry to Him longingly, like a kitten. Wherever a mother cat places her kitten is all right. Sometimes she places it on a bed, sometimes she takes it to the kitchen.
• God is the ruler within the heart, He understands what people of the world have to do. You have no time to call on Him. Therefore, you must give Him the power of attorney. If you do not realize Him, if you do not see Him, you have not achieved anything.