The ever-pure Brahman has been transformed into the Ganges to purify all beings.
So the Ganges is truly Brahman in the form of water.
The minds of all who live on the bank of the Ganges become divine, and the spiritual inclinations of these people manifest spontaneously. The air filled with moisture of the Ganges purifies the land as far as it blows. The people who live in that area are endowed with good conduct, devotion to God, steadfastness, generosity, and austerity by the grace of Ganges, the daughter of the great Himalayas.
- Sri Ramakrishna,
Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, P 193
One may enter the world after attaining discrimination and dispassion.
In the ocean of the world there are six alligators: lust, anger, and so forth. But you need not fear the alligators if you smear your body with turmeric before you go into the water.
Discrimination and dispassion are the turmeric.
Discrimination is the knowledge of what is real and what is unreal. It is the realization that God alone is the real and eternal Substance and that all else is unreal, transitory, impermanent. And you must cultivate intense zeal for God. You must feel love for Him and be attracted to Him.
- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 140
(October 27, 1882)
The disease of worldliness is like typhoid. And there are a huge jug of water and a jar of savory pickles in the typhoid patient's room.
If you want to cure him of his illness, you must remove him from that room.
The worldly man is like the typhoid patient. The various objects of enjoyment are the huge jug of water, and the craving for their enjoyment is his thirst. The very thought of pickles makes the mouth water; you don't have to bring them near. And he is surrounded with them.
The companionship of woman is the pickles. Hence treatment in solitude is necessary.
- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 140
(October 27, 1882)
To my Divine Mother I prayed only for pure love. I offered flowers at Her Lotus Feet and prayed to Her:
'Mother, here is Thy virtue, here is Thy vice. Take them both and grant me only pure love for Thee.
Here is Thy knowledge, here is Thy ignorance. Take them both and grant me only pure love for Thee.
Here is Thy purity, here is Thy impurity. Take them both, Mother, and grant me only pure love for Thee.
Here is Thy dharma, here is Thy adharma. Take them both, Mother, and grant me only pure love for Thee.'
- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, P 138
(October 27, 1882)
