Page:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu/242

 it shakes it and breaks it to pieces; so when the elephant of the spiritual Ideal enters into the body, it shakes and sometimes shatters it. What happens; do you know? If there be a fire in the house, it burns up many things. Similarly, the fire of Divine Wisdom burns all passion, anger and other enemies, and in the end destroys the sense of "I, me and mine."- The body is then wrenched and shattered. You may think that everything is finished, but so long as there is the least sign of illness, so long He will not make you free. If you enroll yourself as a patient in a hospital, you cannot come out before you are absolutely cured. Keshab began to smile. The Bhagavan con- tinued: Hridai used to say, after seeing the condition of my body: "I have never seen so much spirituality with such a state of body!" But although my body was weak, still I never stopped talking of God with others. At one time, I remember; I was thin like a skeleton, yet I would continue discussions on spiritual subjects for hours. Then shedding tears of sympathy for Keshab, the Bhagavan said: It is His will. Everything happens by Thy will, O Lord! Thou doest Thy