348 Sayings of �ri Ramakrishna

t}iipking within himself, "Ah me I Why have I come here?

How happy must my friend be to be hearing all the w'5le
an account of the sacred deeds of Lord Hari." Thus he
meditated on Hari even tl,;ugh h� was in an unholy place.
The other man also, who was hearing the exposition of the
Bhagavata, did not find pleasure in it. Sitting there he
began to blame himself, saying, ' Ah ! What a fclol I was
to have not accompanied my frieIM to the brothel I What
great pleasure he must be having at this timt! there I " The
result was that he was merely sitting where the Bhagavata
was being read, while all the time his mind was dreQming
of the pleasures he might have enjoyol;!d in the bawdy-house.
Now as his mind was blackened with these thoughts, he
got all the sin of visiting the brothel, although he did not go
there in person. And the man who had gone to the
brothel acquired all the merit of hearing the Bhagavata,
because his mind was meditating on the sacred bo�k even
though he was in that bad place.
1072. A Sannyasin dwelt by the side of a temple.
There was• the house of a harlot in front. Seeing the
cot,stant concourse of men in the prostitute's house, the
.,
Sannyasin one day called her and censured her •sti.ying,
, " You are a great sinner. You sin day and night. Oh,
how miserable will be your lot hereafter I · · The poor
prostitute �ecame extremely sorry for her misdeeds, and
v,,ith genuine inward repentance she prayed to God
beseeching forgiveness. But • as prostitution was het
profession, she coutd not easily adopt any other means
of I !Jl,ini11g her livelihood. And• !ft>, when�ver her
1
I i
flesh sinned, she always •reproached J-ierself with greaier
I
 Spiritual Progress Depends on Mind 349

contrition of heart and prayed to God more and mo1e

fo� forgiveness. The Sannyasin saw that his advice
had apparently produced no effect upon her, and thought,
" Let me see how many per5'>ns will visit this woman in
0

the course of her life.:· And from that day forward, when­
ever any person entered the house of the prostitute. the
Sannyas,:wi Cl)unted him by putting a pebble for him, and so
in course of time therrt arose a big heap of pebbles. One
d:ty the Sannyasin said to the prostitute, pointing to the
heap, " Woman, don't you see this heap ? Each pebble
in it �tands for every commission of the deadly sin you have
been indulging in since) advised you last to desist from the
evil course. Even now I tell you, • Beware of your evil
deeds ! ' " The poor wretch began to tremble at the sight
of the accumulation of her sins, and she prayed to God
shedding \ears of utter helplessness, and inwardly repeating :
" Loni'. wilt Thou not free me from the miserable life that
I am leading ? " The prayer was heard. and on that very
day the angel of death passed by her house, and she ceased
to exist in this world. By the strange willtof God, the
Sannyasin also died on the same day. The messenger:,:)of
Vishau, came down from Heaven and carried the spirit
body of the contrite • prostitute to the heaven�y regions, •
while the messengers of Yama bound the spirit of the
Sannyasin and carried him down to the nether "'.rrld. ' The
Saonyasin, seeing the good luck of the ,prostitute, cried
"
1Jloud, " ls this the subtle justice of God? I passed all my
life. in asceticism and pov�rty, and l am carried to hell,
while tha\ prostitl'je,-,whose life was a whole rec,prd r;f •sin,
is ,going to Heaven l" Hearing this, the messengerl of•
850 Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna

\{jshnu said, " The decrees of God are always just ; as you
t�ink, so you reap. You passed your life in external s�w
and vanity. trying to get honour and fame ; and God has
given you this. Your he.-rt never sincerely yearned after
Him. This prostitute earnestly �rayed to God day and
night, though her body sinned all the while. Look at the
treatment which your body and her body are repei-...:ng from
those below. As you never sinn�d with your body, they
have decorated it with flowers and garlands.• and are carry­
ing it with music in a procession to consign it to the sacr;d
river. But this prostitute's body, which had sinned, is being
torn to pieces at this moment by vultures and ja�kals .
Nevertheless, she was pure in heart and is therefore going
to the regions of the pure. Your heart was always absorbed
in contemplating her sins and thus became impure. You are
therefore going to the regions of the impure. Yo� were the
real prostitute, and not she."

DANGERS OF MISUNDERSTOOD PHILOSOPHY

1073. A Rajah was once taught by his Guru the sacred

ddctrine of Advaita, which declares that the whole universe
is Brahman. The king was very much pleased v,ith this
C'
doctrine. Going in, he said to his .queen, " There is no
distinction
I
between the queen and the queen's maid-servant.
So the rmid-servant shall be my queen henceforth." The
.-iueen was thu11derstruck at this mad proposal of her lord.
She sent for the Guru and q>mplained to him in a piteoqs
tone, "Sir, look at lhe pernicious result of your teachings,"
an� eold •him what had occurred. l'hli Guru cohsoled the
queen and said, "When jou sehe dinner • to the king today,