Query : Why do the great men experience so much sufferings in their lives? Common men experience sufferings due to their Prarabdha ( Past Karma). But the great men are not suposed to have any Prarabdha!
Gurumaharaj : If the great men do not take upon themselves the worldly miseries, then how can the sufferings of common people be reduced? They are born out of the deepest love and compassion for all the beings on earth. This is why they experience sufferings. Don’t you feel annoyed when your near and dear ones are in pain? The more you love a person, the more you suffer for him. Isn’t that so? Parents stay awake all night long spending anxious hours when their child falls sick. A mother can suffer relentlessly to bring smile to her child’s face. These great men descend on earth only to allay the sufferings of all the human beings because their hearts are aching in intense pain for the humanity. So, they are ready to accept much more sufferings for us. Rabindranath Tagore has written how one can defy death by dedicating his own life for a noble cause. Actually these great souls perform the same task.
But what you have just said is absolutely correct. These noble souls do not have any Prarabdha. They are not born to fulfil material desires like us. These noble souls are born only to fulfil divine purposes. This is why their present Karma do not generate any Prarabdha. You have asked me still why they have to suffer so much. Like blotting papers the Avataras ( the God incarnates) absorb all the heat of sins of the contemporary human civilisation. Thus, we experience the compassion of Jesus Christ through them. This was the reason why Sri Ramakrishna suffered excruciating pain and remained bed ridden during his sickness. This was the reason why Swami Vivekananda was inflicted with diabetes and many other critical diseases.
Many persons asked me,” How was an Avatara like Sri Ramakrishna inflicted with cancer?” They frequently referred to a text. Perhaps it suggests that Maa Sararda once told that Sri Ramakrishna absorbed all the sins of Girish Ghosh and was thus inflicted with cancer. But Maa Sarada never uttered such words. These were the rumours spread by the ‘Babus’ of kolkata during her times. Many of such babus could not tolerate Girish ( Girish Chandra Ghosh) due to his alcoholism and intimacy with the famous actresses of contemporary theatre. These were their opinions. Swami Vivekananda deeply respected Maa Sarada. Maa Sarada stayed at Girish’s place on many occasions. Why would she utter such rubbish ? Maa Sarada was the manifestation of Maa Jagadamba, the Divine Mother. She knew everything. Whenever an Avatara is born, he is endowed with requisite divine potential. When God takes a human form, every cell of His body functions differently. Sri Ramakrishna also possessed a Bhagabati tanu ( a divine body). Maa Sarada once described what kind of body Sri Ramakrishna used to have while performing rigorous sadhanas . She said, ” Thakur’s body was as beautiful as any god that time.” But at the same time Thakur ( Sri Ramakrishna) was dyspeptic and he used to have a diet prescribed by the Vaidya. Eventually he was inflicted with throat cancer. There was specific divine reasons for for all these.
The food offered to him at Dakshineswar by the royal family was not acceptable for a saint. Rani Rashmoni was a pious lady. Thakur said,” She was one of the Ashta Sakhis of Sri Radha.” But her staff tortured the poor peasants for collecting tax. But Rani Rashmoni’s sincere desire was to feed saints with the Bhog offered to Goddess Kali at Dakshineswar temple. Many of the priests and the workers of the temple were immoral. They regularly sent the Bhog to their mistresses. Sri Ramakrishna purified the food offered to Goddess Kali by absorbing such sins in his body. In the earlier days Thakur could not partake of the food offered at the temple and did not come to the temple. He used to spend hours by the river Ganges making various idols of gods with clay and later immersing them.
( to be continued)
Translated by Amitava Saha
Gurumaharaj : If the great men do not take upon themselves the worldly miseries, then how can the sufferings of common people be reduced? They are born out of the deepest love and compassion for all the beings on earth. This is why they experience sufferings. Don’t you feel annoyed when your near and dear ones are in pain? The more you love a person, the more you suffer for him. Isn’t that so? Parents stay awake all night long spending anxious hours when their child falls sick. A mother can suffer relentlessly to bring smile to her child’s face. These great men descend on earth only to allay the sufferings of all the human beings because their hearts are aching in intense pain for the humanity. So, they are ready to accept much more sufferings for us. Rabindranath Tagore has written how one can defy death by dedicating his own life for a noble cause. Actually these great souls perform the same task.
But what you have just said is absolutely correct. These noble souls do not have any Prarabdha. They are not born to fulfil material desires like us. These noble souls are born only to fulfil divine purposes. This is why their present Karma do not generate any Prarabdha. You have asked me still why they have to suffer so much. Like blotting papers the Avataras ( the God incarnates) absorb all the heat of sins of the contemporary human civilisation. Thus, we experience the compassion of Jesus Christ through them. This was the reason why Sri Ramakrishna suffered excruciating pain and remained bed ridden during his sickness. This was the reason why Swami Vivekananda was inflicted with diabetes and many other critical diseases.
Many persons asked me,” How was an Avatara like Sri Ramakrishna inflicted with cancer?” They frequently referred to a text. Perhaps it suggests that Maa Sararda once told that Sri Ramakrishna absorbed all the sins of Girish Ghosh and was thus inflicted with cancer. But Maa Sarada never uttered such words. These were the rumours spread by the ‘Babus’ of kolkata during her times. Many of such babus could not tolerate Girish ( Girish Chandra Ghosh) due to his alcoholism and intimacy with the famous actresses of contemporary theatre. These were their opinions. Swami Vivekananda deeply respected Maa Sarada. Maa Sarada stayed at Girish’s place on many occasions. Why would she utter such rubbish ? Maa Sarada was the manifestation of Maa Jagadamba, the Divine Mother. She knew everything. Whenever an Avatara is born, he is endowed with requisite divine potential. When God takes a human form, every cell of His body functions differently. Sri Ramakrishna also possessed a Bhagabati tanu ( a divine body). Maa Sarada once described what kind of body Sri Ramakrishna used to have while performing rigorous sadhanas . She said, ” Thakur’s body was as beautiful as any god that time.” But at the same time Thakur ( Sri Ramakrishna) was dyspeptic and he used to have a diet prescribed by the Vaidya. Eventually he was inflicted with throat cancer. There was specific divine reasons for for all these.
The food offered to him at Dakshineswar by the royal family was not acceptable for a saint. Rani Rashmoni was a pious lady. Thakur said,” She was one of the Ashta Sakhis of Sri Radha.” But her staff tortured the poor peasants for collecting tax. But Rani Rashmoni’s sincere desire was to feed saints with the Bhog offered to Goddess Kali at Dakshineswar temple. Many of the priests and the workers of the temple were immoral. They regularly sent the Bhog to their mistresses. Sri Ramakrishna purified the food offered to Goddess Kali by absorbing such sins in his body. In the earlier days Thakur could not partake of the food offered at the temple and did not come to the temple. He used to spend hours by the river Ganges making various idols of gods with clay and later immersing them.
( to be continued)
Translated by Amitava Saha