Page:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu/145

 may laugh at the thought of swimming across the mighty ocean," and this my mind perceiveth, but my heart enfoldeth it not; yet it still aspireth to touch the moon.

The Blessed One, referring to this song, said: See how Râmaprasâd describes that books and reasoning cannot reveal the Divine Mother. Faith is necessary.

Reason is weak. Faith is omnipotent. Reason cannot go far enough and must stop short of the goal. Faith will work wonders. There was a certain Brâhmin priest who served in a household chapel. Once he went away leaving the charge of the service to his son. He told the boy to place the daily offering of food before the Deity and see that He ate it. The boy, following the instructions of his father, placed the offering before the image and silently waited. But the image neither spoke nor ate. The boy watched for a long time. He had firm faith that the Deity would come down from the altar, take the seat before the offering and eat it. Then he prayed: "O Lord, come and eat. It is