MY MASTER

Swamiji’s Time                        J K SIVAN 

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

                                MY MASTER

                        (Swami Vivekananda)

‘’The Hindu saint is a man under forty.He is a Brahmin by caste, he is well-formed in body naturally, but the dreadful austerities

through which his character has developed appear to have disordered his system. Yet, in the midst of this emaciation

his face retains a fullness, a child-like tenderness, a profound visible humbleness, an unspeakable sweetness of expression and a

smile that I have seen on no other face that I can remember. A Hindu saint is always particular about his externals. He wears

the garua cloth, eats according to strict forms, refuses to have intercourse with men, and is a rigid observer of caste. He is always

proud and professes secret wisdom. He is always guruji, a universal counsellor and a dispenser of charms.

This man is singularly devoid of such claims. His dress and diet do not dilifer from those of other men except in the general negligence he shows towards both, and as to caste, he openly breaks it every day. He most vehemently repudiates the title of guru, or teacher, he shows impatient displeasure at any exceptional honor which people try to pay to him, and emphatically disclaims the

knowledge of secrets and mysteries. He protests against being lionized, and openly shows his strong dislike to be visited and

praised by the curious.

The society of the worldly-minded and carnally-inclined he carefully shuns. He has nothing extraordinary about him. His religion is his only recommendation. And what is his religion?

It is orthodox Hinduism, but. Hinduism of a strange type. Rama krishna Paramhamsa (for that is the name of this saint), is the

worshipper of no particular Hindu god. He is not a Shivaite, he is not a Shakta, he is not a Vaishnava, he is not a Vedantist. Yet he is all these. He worships Shiva, he worships Kali, he worships Rama, he worships Krishna, and is a confirmed advocate of Vedantist doctrines. He accepts all the doctrines, all the embodiments, usages, and devotional practices of every religious cult. Each in turn is infallible to him. He is an idolater, yet is a faithful and most devoted meditator of the perfections of the one formless, infinite Deity whom he terms, " Akhanda Sach-chidananda," ("Indivisible Existence-Knowledge-Bliss.") His religion, unlike the religion of ordinary Hindu sadhus, does not mean  too much dogma, or controversial proficiency, or the outward worship with flowers and sandal-wood; incense and offering.