Work, a Jl;feans and Not an End 261

devotional practices and see God. Then it is that inspira­

tion and power will come to you, and you may talk of doing
good. Not till then."
A devotee : Sir, do you mean to say that we are to
give up all work until we have seen God?
The Master: No, my dear sir. Why should you give
up all �ork ? Meditation, chanting of hymns, repetition
of His holy ' names ·,, and other devotional exercises -
these you must go through.
The devotee: I mean work connected with the world.
Should we give up all worldly affairs ?
0

The Master: You may attend to them too, just as

much as you cannot do without, in order to live in this
world. But yon should, at the same time, pray to the
Lord with tears in your eyes for His grace, and for
strengt,h t� do your duties without the expectation of any
reward or fear of punishment in this world or the next.
826.* You cannot get rid of work, becaase Nature
will lead you on to it. That being so. let all work be
done as it ought to be. If work is done u'1attached, it
will lead to God. To work without any attachment·�s
to w01;k without the expectation of any reward or fear of
any punishment iu this world or the next. Work so
<lone is a means to the end, and God is the end.
827. 'It Work is a means, if done unattac�d ; but the
encl pf life is to see God. Let me repe;Jt that the means
s}iould not be confounded wjth the end-that the first stage
on a. road should not be taken for the goal. No. do not
regard work as "- be-all and the end-ali, t!te ifje� of
human exi�tence., �ra_y for deiotion to God. Suppose
262 Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna

you are fortunate enough to see God. Then what would

you pray for? Would you pray for dispensaries and hos•
pitals, tankii and wells, roads and alms-houses? No, these
are realities to us so long as we do not see God. But
once brought face to face with the Divine vision, we see
them as they are-transitory things no better than dreams.
And then we would pray for more light-more kdowledge
in the highest sense, more Di�irr, love-the love which
lifts us up from man to God, the love which makes us
realise that we are really sons of the Supreme Being of
Whom all that can be said is that He exists, that He is
Knowledge itself in the highest sense, and that H; is the
eternal fountain of love and bliss.'
828. * Referring to a devotee of his, the Master once
said : " Sambhu Mallick once talked of founding hospitals
and dispensaries, schools and colleges-of laying roads, sink­
ing wells and digging tanks for the good of all: I 'said to
him : • Yes, but you must be unattached while doing good
to others, and you must be careful to take up only such
works as ctJme in your way-such works, again, as appear
t<J be of pressing need. Do not seek them-do not seek

•
more work than you can well manage. If you do, )IOU will
lose sight of the Lord."

WORK AND WORKLESSNESS

829. When c,the pure Sattva arises in a man, he, only

meditates on God, and does qot find pleasure in any oth�r
work. Some are born with this pure Sattva on account
of tpeir ,ast actions. But one caJtl.develop this pure
.quality if one continues to perform •u\.i.elfish 'work m a
 Work and Worklessness 263
spirit of devotion and dedication to God. If there be •
Sijttva with an admixture of Rajas, the mind slowly gets
distracted in several directions and brings in its wake the
egoistic feeling, " I shall do good to the world." It is
highly hazardous for ordinary Jivas to attempt to do good
to the world. But it is good if a man works without
motive for the benefit of others; there is no danger in it.
This kind of work is q\lled Nishkama,Karma. It is quite
desirable to do such works. But all cannot do it I Very
difticult !
830. All have to do work; only a few can renounce it.
That kind of pure Sattva is found only in a very few per­
sons. If a person continues to perform his work with
devotion and non-attachment, Sattva becomes purged of its
Rajas element. And by virtue of this attainment of pure
Sattva, he realises God. Ordinary persons cannot under­
stand this state of pure Sattva.
831. Renunciation of work comes of itself when intense
love of God swells up in the heart. Let them work who
are made to do so by God. When the timt:• is ripe, one
must renounce every thing and say, "Come, 0 my min�.
let us \)'atch together the Divinity installe.-l in the heart."
832. Sandhya l_pses herself in Gayatri; G�yatri loses
herself in Pranava; Pranava in the end loses itself in
Samadhi. So every Karma (Sandhya and th1e like) ulti­
mately loses itself in Samadhi. 1

• 1 The idea is this: Sandhya co1!sists of the rituals and prayers performed
by high-caste Hindus at sun-rise and sun-set. The most important part of
it is the meditation Q\1.-�ayatri (Rig Veda, III. 62. .10). the greatest
Mantra of the Vedas. jT>ranava or Om, the mystic sound syfr,bofof Cod.
is prefixed to 1 this ma';'llficcnt Mantra. True meditation on •Om· lead• to