Sri Ramakrishna in conversation with Pratap Chandra Mazumdar of the Brahmo Samaj.
MASTER ( to Pratap ): " You have been to England. Tell us what you saw there ".
PRATAP :" The English people worship what you call ' gold '. Of course, there are also some good people in England, those who live an unattached life. But generally one finds there a great display of rajas in everything. I saw the same in America."
MASTER (to Pratap ) : " It is not in England alone that one sees attachment to worldly things. You see it everywhere. But remember that work is only the first step in spiritual life. God cannot be realized without sattva --- love, discrimination, kindness, and so on. It is the very nature of rajas to involve a man in many worldly activities. That is why rajas degenerates into tamas. If a man is entangled in too many activities he surely forgets God. He becomes more and more attached to ' woman and gold ' .
" But it is not possible for you to give up work altogether. Your very nature will lead you to it whether you like it or not. Therefore the scriptures ask you to work in a detached spirit, that is to say, not to crave the work's results. For example, you may perform devotions and worship, and practice austerities, but your aim is not to earn people's recognition or to increase your merit.
" To work in such a spirit of detachment is known as karmayoga. But it is very difficult. We are living in the Kaliyuga, when one easily becomes attached to one's actions. You may think you are working in a detached spirit, but attachment creeps into the mind from nobody knows where.
You may worship in the temple or arrange a grand religious festival or feed many poor and starving people. You may think you have done all this without hankering after the results. But unknown to yourself the desire for name and fame has somehow crept into your mind. Complete detachment from the results of action is possible only for one who has seen God."
FROM: THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA - PAGE 452
Grateful thanks to Sheela Dhakane, Family of Thakur, Facebook
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