Extracts from the book “The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
by ‘M’ahendranath Gupta (conversations between Sri Ramakrishna, the Master, and
his disciples / devotees)
The Three Gunas
MASTER:
"Yes, it is. But that concept is something far beyond the ordinary
man. Daya springs from sattva. Sattva preserves, rajas creates, and
tamas destroys. But Brahman is beyond the three gunas. It is beyond
Prakriti.
"None
of the three gunas can reach Truth; they are like robbers, who cannot come to a
public place for fear of being arrested. Sattva, rajas, and tamas are
like so many robbers.
"Listen
to a story. Once a man was going through a forest, when three robbers
fell upon him and robbed him of all his possessions. One of the robbers
said, 'What's the use of keeping this man alive?' So saying, he was about to
kill him with his sword, when the second robber interrupted him, saying:
'Oh, no! What is the use of killing him? Tie him hand and foot and leave him
here.' The robbers bound his hands and feet and went away.
After
a while the third robber returned and said to the man: 'Ah, I am sorry.
Are you hurt? I will release you from your bonds.' After setting the man free,
the thief said: 'Come with me. I will take you to the public highway.'
After a long time they reached the road. Then the robber said: 'Follow
this road. Over there is your house.' At this the man said: 'Sir, you
have been very good to me. Come with me to my house ' 'Oh, no!' the
robber replied. 'I can't go there. The police will know it.'
This
world itself is the forest. The three robbers prowling here are sattva,
rajas, and tamas. It is they that rob a man of the Knowledge of
Truth. Tamas wants to destroy him. Rajas binds him to the
world. But sattva rescues him from the clutches of rajas and tamas.
Under the protection of sattva, man is rescued from anger, passion, and the
other evil effects of tamas. Further, sattva loosens the bonds of the
world. But sattva also is a robber. It cannot give him the ultimate
Knowledge of Truth, though it shows him the road leading to the Supreme Abode
of God. Setting him on the path, sattva tells him: 'Look yonder.
There is your home.' Even sattva is far away from the Knowledge of Brahman.
Three Classes Of Devotees
"As
worldly people are endowed with sattva, rajas, and tamas, so also is bhakti
characterized by the three gunas.
"Do
you know what a worldly person endowed with sattva is like? Perhaps his house
is in a dilapidated condition here and there. He doesn't care to repair
it. The worship hall may be strewn with pigeon droppings and the
courtyard covered with moss, but he pays no attention to these things.
The furniture of the house may be old; he doesn't think of polishing it and
making it look neat. He doesn't care for dress at all; anything is good
enough for him. But the man himself is very gentle, quiet, kind, and
humble; he doesn't injure anyone.
"Again,
among the worldly there are people with the traits of rajas. Such a man
has a watch and chain, and two or three rings on his fingers. The
furniture of his house is all spick and span. On the walls hang portraits
of the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and other prominent people; the building is
whitewashed and spotlessly clean. His wardrobe is filled with a large
assortment of clothes; even the servants have their livery, and all that.
"The
traits of a worldly man endowed with tamas are sleep, lust, anger, egotism, and
the like.
Three Kinds Of Bhakti
"Similarly,
bhakti, devotion, has its sattva. A devotee who possesses it meditates on
God in absolute secret, perhaps inside his mosquito net. Others think he
is asleep. Since he is late in getting up, they think perhaps he has not slept
well during the night. His love for the body goes only as far as
appeasing his hunger, and that only by means of rice and simple greens.
There is no elaborate arrangement about his meals, no luxury in clothes, and no
display of furniture. Besides, such a devotee never flatters anybody for
money.
"An
aspirant possessed of rajasic bhakti puts a tilak on his forehead and a
necklace of holy rudraksha beads, interspersed with gold ones, around his
neck. (All laugh.) At worship he wears a silk cloth.
"A
man endowed with tamasic bhakti has burning faith. Such a devotee
literally extorts boons from God, even as a robber falls upon a man and
plunders his money. 'Bind! Beat! Kill!'-that is his way, the way of the
dacoits."
