Page:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu/141

 your son's life." The physician forgets that the will of the Lord is at the root of every event of life and death. The Lord then smiles, thinking: "How foolish this man must be who boasts of saving the life of his patient when the latter is dying under My will." The Lord smiles again when two brothers are engaged in partitioning their estate. They take a measuring-tape and, putting it out across the land, say: "This portion is mine, and that is yours." The Lord smiles, thinking: "The whole Universe belongs to Me, but these foolish brothers say: 'This portion is mine and that is yours.

"O Lord, Thou makest everything and Thou art my nearest and dearest One. This house, this family, these relatives, these friends of mine, nay, this whole universe belongs to Thee, O Lord." Such is the nature of true Jnâna (knowledge). But "I do everything, I am the doer. My house, my family, my children, my friends, everything belongs to me"; all this proceeds from Ajnâna (ignorance).

A Guru was giving this instruction to his disciple: "The Lord alone is thine own and no one else belongs to thee." The disciple replied: "But my mother and my wife, who take such good care of me, who love