Page:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu/325

 the Real from the unreal phenomenal universe and non-attachment to the world are the two purifying agents. Thus it is that the worldly man ceases to be worldly and becomes pure. Worldly people have the knowledge of diver- sity, which is the same as ignorance. But true knowledge makes one realize the unity of ex- istence. "This is gold, that is brass" is igno- rance, while "all is gold" is true knowledge. All differentiation ceases, when true knowledge comes. Sankara was a great Jnani. He had true Self-knowledge; he realized one Brahman every- where and in all beings. He recog- nized no distinction in caste or creed. At one time, however, he had the consciousness of difference; he would ditferentiate a pariah from a high-caste Brahmin or a sage. He would not touch a pariah after bathing in the sacred river Ganges. One day a pariah was carrying animal flesh along the river bank as Sankara was coming from his bath and the pariah ran against him. Sankara exclaimed: "Sirrah, how darest thou touch me?" The pariah replied: "Neither hast thou touched me