Message from the Gospel – 36. God Will Take Care of Your Family if…

In the previous message we saw that God will not take over our responsibilities unless we get rid of our ego. As long as we think, “I am the doer. I can do this” God will stand at a distance and let us do what we want to do.  When will God take care of our family? The Gospel addresses this question through the following interesting conversation which also answers the interesting question, “How long should a householder support his wife and children?”

SUB-JUDGE: "Sir, we are householders. How long should we perform our worldly duties?"

MASTER (Sri Ramakrishna): "Surely you have duties to perform. You must bring up your children, support your wife, and provide for her in case of your death. If you don't, then I shall call you unkind. Sages like Sukadeva had compassion. He who has no compassion is no man."

SUB-JUDGE: "How long should one support one's children?"

MASTER: "As long as they have not reached their majority. When the chick becomes a full-grown bird and can look after itself, then the mother bird pecks it and doesn't allow it to come near her." (All laugh.)

SUB-JUDGE: "What is a householder's duty to his wife?"

MASTER: "You should give her spiritual advice and support her during your lifetime and provide for her livelihood after your death, if she is a chaste wife.

"But if you are intoxicated with the Knowledge of God, then you have no more duties to perform. Then God Himself will think about your morrow if you yourself cannot do so. God Himself will think about your family if you are intoxicated with Him. If a landlord dies leaving behind a minor son, then a guardian appointed by the court takes charge of the son. These are all points of law; you know them."

SUB-JUDGE: "Yes, sir."

VIJAY: "Ah! Priceless words! God Himself carries on His shoulders all the responsibilities of a person who thinks of Him with single-minded devotion and is mad with divine love. A minor gets his guardian without seeking him. Alas, when shall I have that state of mind? How lucky they are who feel that way!"

TRAILOKYA: "Is it ever possible, sir, to have true knowledge of God while living in the world? Can one realize God here?"

MASTER (with a smile): "Why do you worry? You are enjoying both treacle and refined sugar. (All laugh.) You are living in the world with your mind in God. Isn't that true? Why shouldn't a man realize God in the world'? Certainly he can."

What a powerful assurance! Even householders can realize God through intense love for God and devotion. May all our efforts be diverted to acquire these qualities.

Message from the Gospel – 35. God Does Not Take Over Our Responsibilities Unless…

Will God take over the responsibility of His devotee? If so, when will He do that? The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna answers these questions.

Sri Ramakrishna says, “The ego seems to vanish this moment, but it reappears the next. Unless one renounces the ego, one does not receive the grace of God.”

"Suppose there is a feast in a house and the master of the house puts a man in charge of the stores. As long as the man remains in the store-room, the master doesn't go there; but when of his own will he renounces the store-room and goes away, then the master locks it and takes charge of it himself.

"A guardian is appointed only for a minor. A boy cannot safeguard his property; therefore the king assumes responsibility for him. God does not take over our responsibilities unless we renounce our ego.

"Once Lakshmi and Narayana were seated in Vaikuntha, when Narayana suddenly stood up. Lakshmi had been stroking His feet. She said, 'Lord, where are You going?' Narayana answered: 'One of My devotees is in great danger. I must save him.' With these words He went out. But He came back immediately. Lakshmi said, 'Lord, why have You returned so soon?'  Narayana smiled and said: The devotee was going along the road overwhelmed with love for Me. Some washermen were drying clothes on the grass, and the devotee walked over the clothes. At this the washermen chased him and were going to beat him with their sticks. So I ran out to protect him.' 'But why have You come back?' asked Lakshmi. Narayana laughed and said: 'I saw the devotee himself picking up a brick to throw at them. (All laugh.) So I came back.'”

"I said to Keshab, 'You must renounce your ego.' Keshab replied, 'If I do, how can I keep my organization together?'”

"I said to him: 'how slow you are to understand! I am not asking you to renounce the "ripe ego", the ego that makes a man feel he is a servant of God or His devotee. Give up the "unripe ego", the ego that creates attachment to "woman and gold". The ego that makes a man feel he is God's servant, His child is the "ripe ego". It doesn't harm one.'"

TRAILOKYA: "It is very difficult to get rid of the ego. People only think they are free from it."

MASTER: "Gauri would not refer to himself as 'I' lest he should feel egotistic. He would say 'this' instead. I followed his example and would refer to myself as 'this' instead of 'I'. Instead of saying, 'I have eaten,' I would say, 'This has eaten.' Mathur noticed it and said one day: 'What is this, revered father? Why should you talk that way? Let them talk that way. They have their egotism. You are free from it; you don't have to talk like them.'”

"I said to Keshab, 'Since the ego cannot be given up, let it remain as the servant, the servant of God.' Prahlada had two moods. Sometimes he would feel that he was God. In that mood he would say, 'Thou art verily I, and I am verily Thou.' But when he was conscious of his ego, he felt that God was the Master and he was His servant. After a man is firmly established in the ideal of 'I am He', he can live as God's servant. He may then think of himself as the servant of God.”

  

Therefore the challenge is, “Can we get rid of our ego?” If we can, God Himself will take over all our responsibilities. Getting rid of our ego is the most essential requirement for spiritual advancement.

Message from the Gospel – 34. Don’t Shirk Responsibilities

Sri Ramakrishna does not support practice of spirituality without fulfilling one’s responsibilities. If a young unmarried man expressed his desire to renounce the world, he used to rejoice. He would appreciate it. However, he would still enquire if he had made provisions to take care of his parents. On the other hand, if a married man expressed a desire to renounce his family and practice spiritual disciplines to escape from his responsibilities, he would chide the man and ask him to go back to his family and complete his responsibility towards his family, i.e. to take care of his wife and children. We understand this from the following passage in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (Chapter 1):

 

SRI RAMAKRISHNA: "Pratap's brother came here.  He stayed a few days.  He had nothing to do and said he wanted to live here.  I came to know that he had left his wife and children with his father-in-law.  He has a whole brood of them! So I took him to task.  Just fancy! He is the father of so many children! Will people from the neighbourhood feed them and bring them up? He isn't even ashamed that someone else is feeding his wife and children, and that they have been left at his father-in-law's house.  I scolded him very hard and asked him to look for a job.  Then he was willing to leave here. 

 

Won’t God take responsibility of my family?

 

Then what is the way for married people? Should they get immersed in worldliness? Is there no reprieve for them?

The Gospel answers all these questions. We will see them all in the forthcoming blogs!