GOSPEL OF RAMAKRISHNA
hallowed feet. The Bhagavan made him sit down and kindly inquired after the welfare of himself and of his family. A short while after the Bhagavan began to talk to him upon the Vedanta. He said:
The Astavakara Samhita [1] deals with the knowledge of the Atman (Self). The knowers Non-dualistic Vedantins. of the Self declare: "I am He, I am that Supreme Self." This is the view of all the Sannyasins belonging to the non- dualistic (Advaita) school of Vedanta. But it is not meet that a man of the world should hold such a view. He is doing all kinds of work; how at the same time can he be that Highest Self, the Absolute Brahman, who is beyond all ac- tions? The Non-dualistic Vedantins hold that the Self has no attachment to anything. Pleas- ure, pain, virtue, vice, can never affect the Self in any way; but they do affect men who think that their soul is the same as the body. Smoke can blacken only the wall, but not the space through which it moves. There was a certain devotee named Krishna Kisore who used to say that he was Kha, or empty space. He
- ↑ Astavakra Samhita is a work containing the highest exposition of the Advaita Vedanta, written by the ancient sage Astavakra, who was the preceptor of King Janaka.
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