The fire chick

The fire chick that Sri Ramakrishna placed…

Swami Vivekananda sent the message, “Service to mankind alone is the service to the Lord” in the loudest and the clearest terms to the whole world. Gurubhais of Swamiji did not buy his theory and thought that he was introducing western concepts into Indian theories of Spirituality masquerading them as Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings. In their view, Moksha, or Self realization alone is the goal of spirituality. And, the Master did not teach anything contradicting it. Swami put his foot down and incorporated service motive as an essential part of the Mission of Sri Ramakrishna sangha he founded. Love of the Master Sri Ramakrishna bound all the disciples together, and all of them had enormous confidence in the leadership of Swami Vivekananda. They had abundant love for him and his views were therefore accepted in the formation of the Mission. It is because of this insistence by Swamiji, we find the Sri Ramakrishna Math engaging themselves in various welfare activities even today.

Well, where is the authority that Sri Ramakrishna spoke about service to people as essential part of spirituality? We get it from an episode narrated in Lilaprasanga quoted by the biographer Sudhir Dhar.

One day, the conversation Sri Ramakrishna had with his disciples drifted to Vaishnav religion. The Master observed,” This religion enjoins upon its followers the practice of three things—delight in the name of God, compassion for all Jivas, (living beings) and service to the devotees of Vishnu.” Just as he was finishing this sentence, he passed in to Samadhi. Still in an unconscious mood, he said, as if to himself,”Jiva daya, Jiva daya! Thou fool! An insignificant worm crawling on earth, thou to show compassion to others! No, no, it is not compassion for others, but it must be service to all creatures, recognizing that all creatures are God!”

Even though all the devotees assembled thee heard these words, Swami Vivekananda (then only Narendra) alone understood their implications. He said, “What a strange light have I discovered in the wonderful words of the Master! How beautifully he has reconciled the ideal of Bhakthi with the knowledge of the Vedanta! I have understood from these words of wisdom that the ideal of the Vedanta lived by the recluses in the forests can be practiced at home and applied to all our daily concerns. It is He who has become all the different creatures-object of our love; and yet He is beyond all these. Such realization of the Divine in all the created beings and the world leaves no room for egotism. Service of man, knowing him to be the manifestation of the God, purifies the heart, and in no time such an aspirant realizes himself as part and parcel of God-existence-Knowledge-Bliss... Well, if God wills, the day will come when I shall proclaim the great Truth before the world at large-I shall make it the common property of all-the wise and the ignorant, the rich and the poor, the Brahmin and the Chandala!”

Yes, that day came, and the Swamiji proclaimed this great Truth from one end of the earth to the other. Thus, the fire chick (agnikkunju) that Sri Ramakrishna placed in the young heart of Narendra turned in to a great spiritual conflagration that encompassed the whole world.