Vedanta & Ishwara-A Real incident from the life of a brahmajnani

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Dear Advaitins,

 

There is a very interesting happening in the life of Sri

Ramakrishna. His Vedantic Guru Tota Puri accepting the divine

mother. I would like to share it with you as it may not be known by

the most of the members. I request members to go thru it and share

their views on the same. Pray, moderators may excuse me for this

long post if they feel it is out of the theme of the list. I just

want to share as it is a real case dealing with the intricate theme

of advaita.

 

It runs as under.

 

 

 

The story of Tota Puri

Next let us take the example of Tota Puri, the great Sannyasin

who taught the Advaita Vedanta to the Master. Tota Puri was a tall

and stalwart figure. He was able to make his mind still and devoid

of any functions whatever, in Nirvikalpa Samadhi, as a result of

practising mental abstraction and meditation for forty long years in

solitude as an all-renouncing ascetic. He nevertheless, spent much

time daily in practising meditation and Samadhi. The Master

referred to him as the 'naked one', as he used always to remain

nude, like a boy. Or the Master did so, more probably because one

should not always speak the name of one's spiritual teacher or call

him by name. The Master said that the 'naked one' never lived in a

house and always worshipped fire inasmuch as he belonged to the

denomination of the Nagas. The holy men of the Naga denomination

look upon fire as very sacred, and that is why they collect wood and

keep a fire lighted near them wherever they live. This fire is

usually called the Dhuni. Naga holy men offer Arati to the Dhuni

every morning and evening and also offer all food obtained as

Bhiksha to the fire in the form of the Dhuni, and then eat that

offered food. That is why at Dakshineswar, the 'naked one' had his

seat under the Panchavati where he resided and kept a Dhuni lighted

near him. His Dhuni burnt uniformly in rain or sunshine. It was

near the Dhuni that the 'naked one' took his food and rest. When

again, forgetting all worries and anxieties, the whole of the

external world lay happily at the dead of night in the arms of the

rest-giving sleep like a child in its mother's lap, the 'naked one'

would get up and make the Dhuni brighter. He would then sit down in

a posture steady and firm like Mount Sumeru and merge his mind in

Samadhi, restful like the motionless flame of a lamp in a windless

place. In daytime also Sri Tota meditated most of the time; but he

did it in such a way that people could not know of it. That is why

he was very often seen to be lying at full length like a corpse,

with his body covered from head to foot with his wearing wrapper.

People thought he was sleeping.

 

Tota Puri's ignorance of the path of devotion

An austere man of renunciation, observing continence from his

childhood, Tota had indeed the impression, as already remarked by

the Brahmani, that the path of devotion to God was a fantastic one.

He did not realize that love and devotion could teach man gradually

to renounce everything, including his own happiness, for the sake of

his beloved, and lead him on ultimately to the realization of God;

that in the ultimate development of his devotion, a true devotee and

Sadhaka acquired the capacity of attaining the knowledge of perfect

non-duality; and that Japa, glorifying the excellences of the Lord

in songs and praises, chanting His name and practising other

auxiliaries of devotional Sadhana were not therefore to be scoffed

at. It is for this reason that the saint sometimes ridiculed the

devotional acts performed under the influence of great spiritual

fervour. The reader, however, must not understand from this that the

revered Puri was a sort of an atheist or that he had no love for

God. Possessed of the control of the internal and external senses

and other virtues auxiliary to his Sadhana, the revered saint

himself had a calm nature and his devotion to God belonged to the

Santa or calm mood. He could understand in others only that kind of

devotion to God. But it never entered the mind of Sri Puri that one

could attain to the Supreme Being directly and with equal speed by

loving Him, the Maker of the universe, through the personal form of

love as one's own master, friend, son, or husband. The devotee's

compelling appeals to God under the influence of his loving mood,

his feeling of separation, his great yearning, his pique and egoism,

all centring

on God, as also the physical expression of this in laughing,

weeping, etc., under the influence of unrestrained divine sentiments-

all these Sri Puri could not but regard as the incoherent talks or

whims and antics of mad people. Nor could he ever imagine that an

aspirant of this nature might quickly attain the desired result with

the help of these love-inspired sentiments. Therefore, there used

to take place on many occasions a loving conflict of views between

the Master and Tota Puri regarding men's heart-felt devotion to the

Mother of the universe, the Power of Brahman, and the unrestrained

emotionalism resulting from it.

 

Proof thereof

 

It was a habit with the Master from his childhood to clap his

hands morning and evening for a short time and sometimes to dance

under the influence of devotional moods, as he went on chanting

loudly the Excellences of the Lord such as these: "Call on Hari,

call on Hari. Hari is the Teacher, the Teacher is Hari. Ah!

Govinda , my vital force, my life! The mind is Krishna, the vital

force is Krishna, knowledge is Krishna, meditation is Krishna,

consciousness is Krishna, and the intellect is Krishna. Thou art

the universe, the universe is in Thee. I am a machine, Thou art the

operator." He used to do so daily even after the attainment of

Nirvikalpa Samadhi and the acquisition of the knowledge of Non-

duality. One afternoon, sitting near Sri Puri, he was engaged in

conversation with him till it was dusk. Seeing it was dusk, the

Master stopped all conversation and started chanting the names and

excellences of the Lord accompanied with clapping of hands. Seeing

him do so, Tota Puri became surprised and wondered why a person,

whose exceptional fitness for Vedantic discipline brought him

Nirvikalpa Samadhi in such a short time, should practise such Bhakti

disciplines meant, as he thought, for men at the lowest rung of

spiritual development. And he sarcastically remarked, "Are you

fashioning Chapatis by clapping your hands!" He was just ridiculing

this type of Bhakti discipline by the allusion to the way in which

Chapatis are made, discarding the use of rolling pin and plank, by

people in North-Western India, who shape the dough with the pressure

of their two palms, producing a clapping sound in the process. In

response, the Master laughed and said, "What foolishness! I am

taking the names of God, and you say I am fashioning Chapatis!" At

this straight and simple answer of the Master without any sting, Sri

Puri also laughed, realizing that such an act of the Master might

not be meaningless, though its hidden meaning was not clear to him.

It was better not to pass a remark on what he did not understand.

 

 

Tota ignorant of the Divine Mother

 

Swami Tota Puri was a recipient of the grace of the Mother of

the universe from his birth. He was in possession, from his

childhood, of good impressions, a sincere mind, the company of a

great Yogi, and a firm and strong body. Maya, the power of the

Lord, did not show him her dreadful and all devouring form, horrible

as the shadow of death; nor did she draw him into the snares of Her

bewitching forms of spiritual ignorance. Therefore, it became an

easy affair for him to go forward with the help of his individual

effort and perseverance, attain Nirvikalpa Samadhi, realize God, and

acquire Self-knowledge. How could be understand that the Divine

Mother Herself had removed all obstacles and impediments with Her

own hands from the path of his progress and Herself moved away from

it? Now after so long a time, the Mother was pleased to explain it

to Swami Puri. He now got the opportunity of detecting that mistake

of his mind.

 

Tota Puri's illness

 

The revered Puri had the robust physique found in the

northwestern parts of India. He never knew what illness,

indigestion and a hundred other kinds of bodily indispositions

were. Whatever he ate he digested. He was never in want of deep

sleep wherever he was. And mental bliss and peace arising from the

knowledge and direct realization of God flowed in his mind in

incessant streams in a hundred channels. Attracted by the love and

respect of the Master, he had stayed with him for a few months; but

the water of Bengal, and its warm and dense air full of humidity

told upon his health, and his firm body fell an easy prey to

illness. He had a severe attack of blood dysentery. On account of

the wringing pain in the intestines day and night, his mind,

although calm and tranquil and accustomed to Samadhi, moved away

from its abidance in Brahman and came down to body-

consciousness. "Brahman has been caught in the net of the five

elements"; what was the way out now except the grace of the

Divine 'Mother, the ruler over all!

 

Tota disregarded the indication of his mind

 

For some time, before he fell ill, his watchful mind poised in

Brahman had made it known to him that inasmuch as the body was not

keeping well, it was not reasonable that he should emain any longer

there. But should he go away out of love for his body, leaving

behind the wonderful company of the Master? The body was a "cage

made of bones and flesh", full of blood and other filthy fluids and

abounding in various kinds of germs and worms. Its very existence

has been asserted in the Vedanta Sastra to be a delusion. And

looking upon such a body as "mine", should he go away hurriedly

forsaking the company of that divine man, the source of infinite

bliss? And what was the good of going elsewhere-was it not possible

that the diseases of the body and other kinds of trouble could occur

anywhere? And what fear had he, even if diseases and other troubles

came upon him? It was the body that would suffer, become emaciated,

or at the most get destroyed. But what was that to him? He had,

without the shadow of a doubt, seen and felt clearly that he was the

Self unattached and immutable, and he had never any relation with

the body; what should he then be afraid of? These and other similar

thoughts saved the revered Puri from being restless.

His desire to depart and the aggravation of his illness

Gradually, as the pain increased a little, the strong Swami Puri

felt a desire to leave the place. He went to the Master from time to

time to take leave of him, but absorbed in talks on divine topics,

he forgot completely to mention that. And when he happened to

remember to take leave of the Master, some one from within, he felt,

stopped his mouth for the time being. 'Peeling hesitant to speak

out, the Swami thought that he would better talk of it on the morrow

and not on that day. After taking such a decision and having had a

conversation on the Vedanta with the Master, the Swami Tota would

return to his seat under the Panchavati Time passed. The Swami's

body became weaker and the disease grew more acute. Seeing that the

Swami's body was thus daily becoming emaciated, the Master had in

the mean-time made arrangements for his special diet and a little

medicine and other remedies. But, in spite of all that, the illness

went on worsening. The Master began to take care of him and serve

him to the best of his power. He asked Mathur to make a special

arrangement for medicine and diet for him. Up till now it was only

in the body that the Swami felt much pain. He had perfect peace of

mind. He could forget all physical pains by merging the mind at will

in Samadhi; for, up till then, he retained full control over his

mind.

 

Tota's attempt at drowning and the mother's vision

 

It was night. The pain in the intestines had very much

increased. That pain did not allow the Swami even to lie quiet, He

tried to he down a little but could not, and sat up immediately.

There was no relief even then. He thought, "Let me merge the mind

in meditation and let anything happen to the body." But scarcely had

he brought the mind to rest by its withdrawal from the body, when it

turned sharply towards the pain in the intestines. He tried again

and again, but with little success. Hardly had the mind reached the

plane of Samadhi where the body was forgotten, when it came down on

account of the pain. He failed as many times as he attempted. The

Swami then became terribly annoyed with his own body. He

thought, "Even my mind is not under my control today on account of

the trouble from this 'cage of bones and flesh'. Away with this

nuisance of a body! I have undoubtedly known that I am not the

body; why do I then remain in this rotten body and suffer pain?

What is the utility of preserving it any more? I will put an end to

all suffering by immersing it in the Ganga at this dead of night."

Thinking so and fixing the mind with great care on the thought of

Brahman, the 'naked one' slowly got down into the water and

gradually waded farther into deeper water. But was the deep

Bhagirathi in truth dry that night? Or was it only the external

projection of his mental picture? Who could say? Tota almost

reached the other bank but could not get water deep enough for

drowning himself in. When, gradually, at last the trees and houses

on the other bank began to be visible like shadows in the deep

darkness of the night, Tota was surprised and thought, "What strange

Divine Maya is this? Tonight there is not sufficient water in the

river even to drown oneself in! What a strange unheard-of play of

God?" And immediately some one, as it was from within, pulled off

the veil over his intellect. Tota's mind was dazzled by a bright

light and he saw, "Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, the origin of the

universe! Mother, the unthinkable Power! Mother in land and Mother

in water! The body is Mother and the mind is Mother; illness is

Mother, and health is Mother; knowledge is Mother and ignorance is

Mother; life is Mother and death is Mother; everything I see, hear,

think or imagine is Mother. She makes 'nay' of 'yea' and 'yea'

of 'nay'! As long as one is in the body one has no power to be free

from Her influence, no, not even to die, till She wills ! It is that

Mother again who is also beyond body, mind and intellect-the Mother,

the supreme 'Fourth', devoid of all attributes! That One whom Tota

has so long been ealising as Brahman, to whom he has been offering

his heart-felt love and devotion, is this very Mother! Siva and

Sakti are One, ever existing in the form of Hara-Gauri! -Brahman and

BrahmaSakti are one and the same!"

 

Tota giving up his determination to die

 

Wading his way through the water in the same manner in which he

had gone, Tota now started back to the shore. His heart was now

full of devotion. He felt that all the quarters were reverberating

with cries-Mother! Mother! At the dead of night he had directly

realised the Mother of the universe in Her all-pervading form,

beyond the ken of the senses and the sense-bound intellect. He had

offered himself completely as an oblation at Her feet. Though there

was pain in the body, there was now no feeling of it. His heart was

now beside itself with an unprecedented bliss arising from the

memory of Samadhi. The Swami came slowly to the Dhuni under the

Panchavati, sat there, and spent the rest of the night in meditation

and repetition of the name of the Divine Mother.

His understanding that Brahman and His Power are one

As soon as it was morning, the Master came to enquire about his

health and found him a different person altogether. His face was

beaming with bliss, lips blooming with a smile, and his body, free

from all illness whatever. Tota asked the Master by a sign to sit

near him and described slowly all the events of the night. "It is

the disease," he said, "that has acted as a friend to me. I had the

vision of the Mother of the universe last night and am freed from

the disease by Her grace. Ah, how ignorant I was so long! Well,

please persuade your Mother now to allow me to leave this place. I

am now convinced that it was She who kept me confined here somehow

or other in order to teach me this Truth. It cannot be otherwise;

for I thought long ago of going away from this place, and went to

you over and over again to take leave of you. But some one, as it

were, diverted my mind to other topics and prevented me every time

from mentioning it to you." The Master said smilingly, "Well, you

did not accept the Mother before and argued with me saying that

Sakti was unreal! But you have now seen Her yourself, and direct

experience has now got the better of your arguments. She has

convinced me already of the fact that just as fire and its burning

power are not different, so, Brahman and the power of Brahman are

not different, but one and the same.

 

Tota accepted the Divine Mother and left

When they heard the morning tunes from the Nahabat, both the

great souls, bound to each other in the relation of teacher and

disciple like Siva and Rama, stood up, went to the temple of the

Divine Mother, and prostrated themselves before Her holy image.

Both of them felt in their heart of hearts that the Mother was

pleased and had graciously given Tota permission to leave that

place. A few days later, he took leave of the Master, left the

Dakshineswar Kali temple and started westward. This was his first

and last visit to that temple. He never again went there.

 

JAI JAI RAGHUVEER SAMARTHA

 

Yours in the lord,

 

Br. vinayaka