罗摩克里希那：其生平与言说
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在西方梵文学者之中，麦克斯·缪勒教授首屈一指。《梨俱吠陀本集》——此前无人能够完整获取——如今已印刷精美，向公众开放，这有赖于东印度公司慷慨的资助以及教授数十年如一日的巨大劳力。从印度各地收集的大多数手稿，其字母形体各异，且其中许多词汇有所讹误。我们很难想象，对于一位外国人而言，无论其学识多么渊博，要辨别这些梵文字符的准确与否，尤其是要清晰理解一部极为简练而复杂的注释之义，究竟有多大的困难。对于麦克斯·缪勒教授而言，《梨俱吠陀》的出版是一件大事。除此之外，他一生仿佛栖居于古代梵文文献之中，将毕生心血倾注于此；然而，尽管如此，这并不意味着在教授的想象中，印度依然如昔，回荡着吠陀赞歌，天空被祭火的烟雾笼罩，各处都有婆私吒、毗斯瓦密特罗、阇那迦与雅若婆底亚之类的人物，每家每户都绽放着伽尔吉或迈特蕾依那样的女性，印度本身也受着《家庭经》（Grihya-Sutra）的吠陀规则指导。
教授以时刻保持警觉的眼睛，密切关注着现代印度——那半死不活、被信奉异族宗教的外来者踩在脚下、几乎失去其古老习俗、礼仪与风尚的印度——各个偏远角落里正在发生的新事件。由于教授的足迹从未踏上这片土地，许多在这里的英印人士对他关于印度人民习俗、礼仪与道德规范的观点表示纯粹的蔑视。但他们应当知晓：即使是终身定居于此，乃至在这个国家出生并长大的人，除了能够获得与他们直接接触的那一阶层社会的特定信息之外，英印当局对于其他各阶层人民，依然只能保持相当的无知；而当这个被划分为如此众多种姓的庞大社会中，甚至连其内部成员，不同种姓之间要想真正了解彼此的习俗与特性，都是极为困难的事情，更遑论外人。
不久前，在一本名为《居印纪事》的书中——由一位知名的英印军官所著——我读到了一章，题为"本地人内眷的秘密"。也许出于每个人内心都有的探秘渴望，我读了这章，却只发现这位大名鼎鼎的英印作者，正全心全力地通过描述一场据称发生于他的清道夫、其妻子与其情夫之间的风流韵事，来满足他自己同胞对本地人生活之谜的强烈好奇心！从英印社区对这本书的热情接待来看，这位作者的目的已经达到，他对自己的工作甚感满意。"祝你们好运，亲爱的朋友们！"——我们还能说什么呢？主在《薄伽梵歌》中说得何等好：
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते ।
सङ्गात्संजायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते ।
सङ्गात्संजायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥
——"人心若执着于诸境，对诸境之执取便由此而生。由执取而生渴望，由渴望而生嗔恨。"
让此类无关之事随它去吧。回到我们的主题：毕竟，麦克斯·缪勒教授对现代印度各省社会习俗、法律规范以及当代事件的了解，令人叹为观止；这一点已得到我们亲身经历的印证。
尤其是，教授以敏锐的目光关注着印度各地正在兴起的宗教新浪潮，并不遗余力地让西方世界不致对此一无所知。由德本德拉纳特·泰戈尔与凯沙布·钱德拉·森所领导的梵社，由斯瓦米·耶扬南达·萨拉斯瓦提所创立的雅利安社，以及神智学运动——都受到过他笔端的称赞或批评。因读到刊载于《梵行者》与《觉醒的婆罗多》这两份知名期刊上的罗摩克里希纳圣者的言论与教义，并阅读了梵社传教士普拉塔普·钱德拉·马祖姆达先生关于罗摩克里希纳的文章，他被这位圣者的生平所吸引。不久前，罗摩克里希纳生平的一篇简短介绍也刊载于英国知名月刊《帝国与亚洲季刊》，由印度馆的著名馆员C·H·陶尼（文学硕士）先生撰写。从马德拉斯与加尔各答广泛收集资料后，教授在英国最重要的月刊《十九世纪》杂志上发表了一篇短文，讨论了罗摩克里希纳的生平与教义。在文中，他表达了这样的看法：这位新圣者以其思想的原创性轻而易举地赢得了他的心——这些思想以新颖的语言表达出来，并注入了鲜活的精神力量，而他将这股精神力量注入印度之时，印度数百年来不过是在重复其古代圣者的思想，或者在近代，重复着西方学者的思想。教授本人曾多次研读印度的宗教文献，从而对许多古代圣者与神圣者的生平故事了如指掌；然而，在现代的这个印度、在这个时代，还能期望出现这样的生命吗？罗摩克里希纳的生平对这一疑问给出了肯定的回答。它如同在希望之藤的根部浇灌了生命之水，在这位将毕生献予印度的伟大心灵学者的内心，重新萌发了对印度未来伟大与进步的希望。
在西方，有一些伟大的灵魂真诚地希望印度好。但我们不知道欧洲是否还能找出另一位比麦克斯·缪勒教授更为印度的福祉而感同身受的挚友。麦克斯·缪勒不仅是印度的朋友，而且对印度哲学与印度宗教怀有坚定的信念。不二论（Advaitism）是宗教领域最高的发现，教授已多次公开承认这一点。转世轮回之说，对那些将灵魂与肉体合而为一的基督徒来说无异于梦魇，而教授却因在自身亲身经历中找到了确凿的证明而坚信不疑。更甚者，也许他的前世就在印度；唯恐前往印度之时，因突然被大量往世记忆奔涌激荡而导致这副旧躯垮塌——这一忧虑如今最为鲜明地横亘在他来访此国的途中。然而，作为一个世俗之人，无论他是谁，都必须顾及各方，据此行事。当一位已完全放下一切世间利益的游方僧（Sannyasin），在修习那些他自知是最为纯洁的行法之时，却仍因这些行法遭到他所在人群的非议，便见他因顾忌舆论而瑟瑟发抖；当对名誉、声望与高位的追求，以及失去它们的恐惧，规范着连最伟大的苦行者的行为，尽管他口头上将此类考量谴责为最为污秽可憎——那么，一位普受世人尊崇、时刻不愿冒犯社会的世俗之人，在宣扬他个人所珍视的观点时必须格外谨慎，这又有什么奇怪的呢？教授对瑜伽师的神秘心灵力量等微妙课题，并非完全不信任，这是事实。
麦克斯·缪勒教授"感到有责任就印度目前正在进行的某些宗教运动发表几点意见"——这片土地"常被人们、且不无道理地称为哲学家的国度"——而这些运动在他看来，"在国内受到了很大程度的误解与曲解"——这件事距今不过数年。为了消除这些误解，并抗议"那些关于印度目前存在的圣者与先知的狂妄夸大的描述，已经以印度、美国和英国报纸上广泛散布的方式发表"；为了"同时表明，在印度神智学、密宗佛教等奇异名目背后，确实存在着某种真实的、值得了解的东西"——换言之，为了向欧洲有思想的群体指出，印度并非仅仅居住着"一批全新的人类，他们经历了一些最为可怖的苦行修炼"，以此谋取暴利，施展诸如像长着羽毛的动物一样飞行于空中、在水上行走或像鱼一样在水下生活、以咒语治愈各种疾病，以及凭借秘术从粗陋材料中炼制金、银、钻石，或凭借神通（Siddhis）之力为富贵人家赐予强壮儿子之类的"极其愚蠢的奇迹"——而是要说明：在现实生活中真正证悟了伟大超验真理的人，真正认识梵（Brahman）的人，真正的瑜伽师，真正的虔信者，在印度从未缺席；最重要的是，要表明整个印度的雅利安人口尚未堕落到与禽兽同列的地步，以至于排除了后者，却转而让一位位"贵贱皆有的"活神仙、以人形出现的神明，日夜忙着去舔弄前述那些施展愚蠢把戏者的脚——麦克斯·缪勒教授以一篇题为《真正的圣者》的文章，将罗摩克里希纳的生平呈现给欧洲的学术大众，该文刊于《十九世纪》杂志1896年8月号。
欧美的学术之人兴致盎然地阅读了这篇文章，许多人被其主角——罗摩克里希纳尊者——所吸引，结果是，西方文明世界对印度的错误认知——认为印度是一个充斥着裸体的、溺婴的、无知的、懦弱的食人族，是与禽兽相差无几的人群，他们强迫寡妇殉葬，并沉溺于各种罪孽与黑暗之中——对于形成这种错误认知，基督教传教士，以及（我不得不既羞愧又痛心地承认）我自己的一些同胞也难辞其咎——这种认知开始得到纠正。西方人眼前那由这两类人竭力铺设的无知蒙昧之幕，正在慢慢地、慢慢地撕裂开来。"产生了像罗摩克里希纳尊者这样伟大世界导师的国家，难道真的充满了我们被告知要相信的那些丑行，还是说我们一直以来都被有组织的别有用心的坏人所欺骗，在关于真实的印度这一问题上，始终处于彻底的蒙昧与错误之中？"——这样的疑问自然而然地在西方人的心中油然而生。
当麦克斯·缪勒教授——印度宗教、哲学与文献领域在西方享有首席地位的学者——怀着一颗赤诚的心，在《十九世纪》杂志上发表了一篇简短的罗摩克里希纳生平介绍，以飨欧美读者，自然不必说，那两类前文所提及的人群中，燃起了刻骨深重的愤恨。
基督教传教士不遗余力地歪曲印度教神明，竭力证明其信众之中不可能产生真正的宗教圣者；然而，这种努力如同汹涌潮流前的一根稻草，被轻易席卷而去；而前文所提及的我们同胞中的那一类，曾绞尽脑汁谋划如何扑灭罗摩克里希纳之名迅速传播的那团熊熊烈火，如今见一切努力徒劳无功，已陷入绝望。人的意志在神的意志面前，又算得了什么？
当然，来自双方的猛烈炮火对这位老教授不断轰炸；然而这位老将并非甘愿退却之人。他曾在类似的争论中多次取得胜利。这一次，他同样以从容不迫通过了考验。为了制止那些低劣对手的空洞叫嚷，他以一种警告的方式出版了《罗摩克里希纳：其生平与言论》一书，在书中收集了更为完整的资料，对其生平与言论作了更为翔实的记述，使广大读者能够更好地了解这位伟大圣者及其宗教思想——这位圣者"近来在印度与美国都获得了相当大的声誉，他的弟子们在那里积极致力于宣扬他的福音，甚至在基督徒听众中也赢得了信徒"。教授补充道："这在我们看来也许显得非常奇怪，甚至几乎难以置信……然而每一颗人心都有其宗教渴望；它对宗教怀有一种饥渴，迟早需要得到满足。而罗摩克里希纳弟子们所传扬的宗教，却毫无任何强迫性的权威束缚地来到这些饥渴的灵魂面前"，因此，它作为"自由的生命甘露"而受到欢迎……"因此，尽管据称皈依罗摩克里希纳宗教的人数或有夸大……但毫无疑问，一种能在我们这个时代取得如此成就的宗教，同时又以完全正当的名义自称为世界上最古老的宗教与哲学，即吠檀多——吠陀之终极或最高旨归——理应受到我们的认真关注。"
在该书第一部分讨论了圣者（Mahatman）的含义、人生四阶段、苦行修炼即瑜伽，并略作提及耶扬南达·萨拉斯瓦提、帕赫哈里·巴巴、德本德拉纳特·泰戈尔，以及罗陀斯瓦米派领袖拉伊·沙里格拉姆·萨赫布·巴哈杜尔之后，教授进入了对罗摩克里希纳生平的叙述。
教授深为担忧"对话过程"——叙述者对事件过于偏爱或不偏爱所造成的、对事实本来面目的描述上的转变，此乃一切历史不可避免的惯常规律——也会影响到这篇现在的生平记述。因此，他对事实的收集格外谨慎。本文作者是罗摩克里希纳一位微不足道的仆人。尽管他为罗摩克里希纳生平所收集的材料已经过教授逻辑与公正判断这一研磨钵的充分研磨，教授仍然没有忘记补充说明，即便在"他对其导师的朴实描述"中，也可能存在"他所称的'对话过程'的痕迹，以及虔诚弟子难以遏制的神奇化倾向"。而且，毫无疑问，教授在答复孟加拉某些人——以梵社教义传教士普拉塔普·钱德拉·马祖姆达牧师为首的一批人——写信给他、急欲揭示罗摩克里希纳品格的"不体面之处"时所说的那些严厉而甘甜交织的话，值得我们孟加拉人中那些充满嫉妒、难以看见他人幸福之辈进行深思熟虑。
书中以极为简短而朴素的语言呈现了罗摩克里希纳的生平。在这段生平叙述中，这位谨慎的历史学家的每一个字，仿佛都经过了落笔前的仔细斟酌；那些在《真正的圣者》一文中时而迸射的火花，这一次被以最大的克制加以收敛。教授的这艘船，正在一侧是基督教传教士的锡拉礁，另一侧是梵社人士汹涌浪涛的卡律布狄斯漩涡之间穿行。《真正的圣者》一文从两方引来了许多刻薄的话语与对教授的诸多苛责。令人欣慰的是，此处既没有对他们进行反唇相讥的企图，也没有任何卑鄙小气之举——毕竟，英国的有修养的作者是不会沉溺于那种风气的——而是以一种沉稳、庄重、无丝毫恶意、却又坚定有力、如雷贯耳的声音，恰如这位老学者的风范，他驳斥了那些针对这位伟大心灵圣者若干非比寻常的思想所提出的种种指责——这些思想从一个深邃到寻常人难以把握的心灵深处涌溢而出。
而那些指控，在我们看来，实在令人诧异。我们曾听闻梵社的伟大领袖、已故的受人尊崇的阿旃黎凯沙布·钱德拉·森，以其迷人的方式讲述：罗摩克里希纳那简朴、甘甜的口语中，透着一种超人的纯洁；虽然在他的讲话中偶尔可以听到我们称之为粗俗的词语，但这些词语的使用，由于他那与众不同的孩童般的天真无邪，以及这些词语完全没有丝毫的肉欲气息，非但不是应当受到谴责的东西，反而起到了使语言更加生动的作用——然而，这竟成了一项重大的指控！
另一项对他的指控，是说他以出家人身份立誓之故，对待其妻子的方式是粗野的！对此，教授的回答是：他是在妻子同意的前提下立誓出家的，而且在他在世的岁月里，他的妻子以与丈夫相匹配的品格，衷心地将他视为自己的导师（Guru），并按照他的指示，作为终身梵行女（Brahmacharin），在无尽的祥和与安宁中度日，投身于对神的侍奉之中。此外，他还问道："夫妻之间的爱，真的不可能离开生儿育女而存在吗？""我们必须学会相信印度人的诚实"——即在没有任何肉体关系的情况下，一位奉行梵行的丈夫能够过着水晶般纯洁的生活，从而使他奉行梵行的妻子成为最高精神证悟之不朽喜乐——梵喜（Brahmananda）——的同伴——"尽管在我们自己的国度，对于这样的事情我们有充分的理由持怀疑态度"。感谢教授发出如此有价值的言论！连他这样生于异国、居于异邦之人，都能理解我们的梵行（Brahmacharya）作为通往灵性的唯一道路的意义，并认为即便在今日的印度，此亦并不罕见，而我们自己家中那些虚伪的英雄，却在婚姻结合中除了肉欲关系之外一无所见！"人心所思，外物所现。"
又另一项指控是，他"未能对娼妓表现出足够的道德厌恶"。对此，教授的反驳极为中肯，语带甘甜：他说，在这项指控上，罗摩克里希纳"在宗教创始者中并非孤例！"啊！这些话何等甘甜——它们令人想起那位娼妓安婆帕利，佛陀无量悲悯的承受者，以及那位获得耶稣基督恩宠的撒玛利亚妇人。
再另一项指控是，他未曾憎恨那些饮酒无度之人。真是大发慈悲！仅仅因为某人喝了一两口酒，就必须连他的影子都不去踩踏——难道这就是指控的含义？真是一个了不起的罪名！这位大人物（Mahapurusha）为何不将醉汉、娼妓、盗贼以及世间所有罪人愤然踢走、驱散？为何他不以眼帘低垂之态，用那一成不变的印度竹笛演奏者般的单调腔调，或以陈腐的套话掩盖自己的真实思想，喋喋不休？而最重要的是，最高的指控——为何他没有一生"夫妻同居"！
除非生命能够按照指控者所提出的那种奇异的纯洁与良风美俗之理想来加以规范，否则印度注定要走向毁灭。就凭借这样的伦理规则来崛起吧，如果她真的必须这样崛起的话！
该书的较大篇幅，与其说致力于生平本身，不如说致力于言论的收集。那些言论引起了世界各地许多英语读者的关注，这从该书的快速售罄中便可轻易推断出来。这些言论从他神圣的嘴唇中直接倾泻而出，充溢着最强烈的精神力量，因此必将在世界的每个角落发挥其神圣的影响。"为众多人之利益，为众多人之幸福"，伟大的灵魂降生人间；他们的生命与事业超越了寻常人类的范畴，他们传道的方式同样令人叹为观止。
而我们又在做什么呢？一位穷苦婆罗门的儿子，以其降生而使我们蒙受圣化，以其工作而使我们得以提升，并以其不朽的言论赢得了征服者种族对我们的同情——为了他，我们又做了什么？真理并非总是令人愉快，但有时不得不讲出来：我们之中有些人确实理解他的生命与教义对我们大有裨益，但事情便止于此了。我们甚至没有能力尝试在自己的生命中践行那些教义，更遑论将我们的整个身心托付于罗摩克里希纳所激起的那巨大的智慧（Jnana）与虔信（Bhakti）和谐浪潮之中。对于这场主的游戏，那些已经理解或正在尝试理解的人，我们对他们说："仅仅理解又有何用？理解的证明在于工作。若只停留于口头的保证或作为个人信念提出，他人会相信你吗？工作彰显一个人的真实感受；将你所感受的付诸实践，让世界亲眼见到。"一切从充盈的心灵涌出的思想与感情，都要通过其果实——实际的工作——来加以衡量。
那些自以为饱学多识、因而轻视这位目不识丁、贫穷普通的庙祝之人，我们对他们的陈述是："那个国家——其中一位目不识丁的庙祝，凭借自身的力量，在如此短暂的时间内，便使你们祖先古老的永恒法（Sanatana Dharma）的胜利回响甚至在遥远海外的他乡他国——那个国家的你们，是英雄中的英雄，受人尊崇者，力量超群，出身高贵，学问渊博——那么，若你们有此意愿，你们又必定能够为自己土地与民族的福祉做出远为超凡的英雄壮举！因此，奋起吧，向前吧，彰显你们内在卓越力量的游戏，将其彰显出来，而我们正手捧最深厚的崇敬之礼，随时准备顶礼膜拜。我们是无知的、贫穷的、默默无闻的、微不足道的乞丐，仅以乞丐的袈裟为生计；而你们在财富与影响力方面首屈一指，权势巨大，出身名门，是一切知识与学问的中心！为何不振作精神？为何不走在前列？为世界之善而完全舍离的榜样，请指引我们，我们将如同被束缚的奴仆一般追随你们！"
另一方面，那些出于彻底的恶意与嫉妒——奴性民族的天性——无端地对罗摩克里希纳的成功与名声表露出毫无正当理由的、充满怨恨的敌意的人——对他们我们说："亲爱的朋友们，你们这些努力都是徒劳的！这股无限无边的宗教浪潮，已将空间的尽头都淹没在其深处——在其雪白的浪峰之上，在天国威仪的庄严光辉中，闪耀着这一神圣的形象——若这是由我们急切地追求个人名声、声望或财富的努力所带来的结果，那么，无须你们或任何人的努力，这股浪潮将依照宇宙不可抗拒的法则，很快消逝于时间的无尽怀抱之中，永不再起！但若这股潮流，是依照那唯一宇宙圣母的意志，在其神圣感召之下，已开始以一位伟大者心灵中无私之爱的洪流淹没世界，那么，哦渺小的人啊，你有何力量能够阻挡全能圣母之意志的前进步伐？"
注释
English
Among the Sanskrit scholars of the West, Professor Max Müller takes the lead. The Rig-Veda Samhitâ, the whole of which no one could even get at before, is now very neatly printed and made accessible to the public, thanks to the munificent generosity of the East India Company and to the Professor's prodigious labours extending over years. The alphabetical characters of most of the manuscripts, collected from different parts of India, are of various forms, and many words in them are inaccurate. We cannot easily comprehend how difficult it is for a foreigner, however learned he may be, to find out the accuracy or inaccuracy of these Sanskrit characters, and more especially to make out clearly the meaning of an extremely condensed and complicated commentary. In the life of Professor Max Müller, the publication of the Rig-Veda is a great event. Besides this, he has been dwelling, as it were, and spending his whole lifetime amidst ancient Sanskrit literature; but notwithstanding this, it does not imply that in the Professor's imagination India is still echoing as of old with Vedic hymns, with her sky clouded with sacrificial smoke, with many a Vasishtha, Vishvâmitra, Janaka, and Yâjnavalkya, with her every home blooming with a Gârgi or a Maitreyi and herself guided by the Vedic rules or canons of Grihya-Sutra.
The Professor, with ever-watchful eyes, keeps himself well-informed of what new events are occurring even in the out-of-the-way corners of modern India, half-dead as she is, trodden down by the feet of the foreigner professing an alien religion, and all but bereft of her ancient manners, rites, and customs. As the Professor's feet never touched these shores, many Anglo-Indians here show an unmixed contempt for his opinions on the customs, manners, and codes of morality of the Indian people. But they ought to know that, even after their lifelong stay, or even if they were born and brought up in this country, except any particular information they may obtain about that stratum of society with which they come in direct contact, the Anglo-Indian authorities have to remain quite ignorant in respect of other classes of people; and the more so, when, of this vast society divided into so many castes, it is very hard even among themselves for one caste to properly know the manners and peculiarities of another.
Some time ago, in a book, named, Residence in India, written by a well-known Anglo-Indian officer, I came across such a chapter as "Native Zenana Secrets". Perhaps because of that strong desire in every human heart for knowledge of secrets, I read the chapter, but only to find that this big Anglo-Indian author is fully bent upon satisfying the intense curiosity of his own countrymen regarding the mystery of a native's life by describing an affaire d'amour, said to have transpired between his sweeper, the sweeper's wife, and her paramour! And from the cordial reception given to the book by the Anglo-Indian community, it seems the writer's object has been gained, and he feels himself quite satisfied with his work "God-speed to you, dear friends!" — What else shall we say? Well has the Lord said in the Gita:
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते ।
सङ्गात्संजायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते ।
सङ्गात्संजायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥
—"Thinking of objects, attachment to them is formed in a man. From attachment longing, and from longing anger grows."
Let such irrelevant things alone. To return to our subject: After all, one wonders at Professor Max Müller's knowledge of the social customs and codes of law, as well as the contemporaneous occurrences in the various provinces of present-day India; this is borne out by our own personal experiences.
In particular, the Professor observes with a keen eye what new waves of religion are rising in different parts of India, and spares no pains in letting the Western world not remain in the dark about them. The Brâhmo Samaj guided by Debendranâth Tagore and Keshab Chandra Sen, the Ârya Samaj established by Swami Dayânanda Sarasvati, and the Theosophical movement — have all come under the praise or censure of his pen. Struck by the sayings and teachings of Shri Ramakrishna published in the two well-established journals, the Brahmavâdin and the Prabuddha Bhârata, and reading what the Brahmo preacher, Mr. Pratâp Chandra Mazumdâr, wrote about Shri Ramakrishna, he was attracted by the sage's life. Some time ago, a short sketch of Shri Ramakrishna's life also appeared in the well-known monthly journal of England, The Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review, contributed by Mr. C. H. Tawney, M.A., the distinguished librarian of the India House. Gathering a good deal of information from Madras and Calcutta, the Professor discussed Shri Ramakrishna's life and his teachings in a short article in the foremost monthly English journal, The Nineteenth Century. There he expressed himself to the effect that this new sage easily won his heart by the originality of his thoughts, couched in novel language and impregnate with fresh spiritual power which he infused into India when she was merely echoing the thoughts of her ancient sages for several centuries past, or, as in recent times, those of Western scholars. He, the Professor, had read often India's religious literature and thereby well acquainted himself with the life-stories of many of her ancient sages and saints; but is it possible to expect such lives again in this age in this India of modern times? Ramakrishna's life was a reply in the affirmative to such a question. And it brought new life by sprinkling water, as it were, at the root of the creeper of hope regarding India's future greatness and progress, in the heart of this great-souled scholar whose whole life has been dedicated to her.
There are certain great souls in the West who sincerely desire the good of India, but we are not aware whether Europe can point out another well-wisher of India who feels more for India's well-being than Professor Max Müller. Not only is Max Müller a well-wisher of India, but he has also a strong faith in Indian philosophy and Indian religion. That Advaitism is the highest discovery in the domain of religion, the Professor has many times publicly admitted. That doctrine of reincarnation, which is a dread to the Christian who has identified the soul with the body, he firmly believes in because of his having found conclusive proof in his own personal experience. And what more, perhaps, his previous birth was in India; and lest by coming to India, the old frame may break down under the violent rush of a suddenly aroused mass of past recollections - is the fear in his mind that now stands foremost in the way of his visit to this country. Still as a worldly man, whoever he may be, he has to look to all sides and conduct himself accordingly. When, after a complete surrender of all worldly interests, even the Sannyasin, when performing any practices which he knows to be purest in themselves, is seen to shiver in fear of public opinion, simply because they are held with disapproval by the people among whom he lives; when the consideration of gaining name and fame and high position, and the fear of losing them regulate the actions of even the greatest ascetic, though he may verbally denounce such consideration as most filthy and detestable — what wonder then that the man of the world who is universally honoured, and is ever anxious not to incur the displeasure of society, will have to be very cautious in ventilating the views which he personally cherishes. It is not a fact that the Professor is an utter disbeliever in such subtle subjects as the mysterious psychic powers of the Yogis.
It is not many years since Professor Max Müller "felt called upon to say a few words on certain religious movements, now going on in India" — "which has often and not unjustly, been called a country of philosophers"— which seemed to him "to have been very much misrepresented and misunderstood at home". In order to remove such misconceptions and to protest against "the wild and overcharged accounts of saints and sages living and teaching at present in India, which had been published and scattered broadcast in Indian, American, and English papers"; and "to show at the same time that behind such strange names as Indian Theosophy, and Esoteric Buddhism, and all the rest, there was something real something worth knowing" — or in other words, to point out to the thoughtful section of Europe that India was not a land inhabited only by "quite a new race of human beings who had gone through a number of the most fearful ascetic exercises", to carry on a lucrative profession by thus acquiring the powers of working such "very silly miracles" as flying through the air like the feathered race, walking on or living fishlike under the water, healing all sorts of maladies by means of incantations, and, by the aid of occult arts fabricating gold, silver, or diamond from baser materials, or by the power of Siddhis bestowing sturdy sons to rich families — but that men, who had actually realised in their life great transcendental truths, who were real knowers of Brahman, true Yogis, real devotees of God, were never found wanting in India: and, above all, to show that the whole Aryan population of India had not as yet come down so low as to be on the same plane as the brute creation, that, rejecting the latter, the living Gods in human shape, they "the high and the low" were, day and night, busy licking the feet of the first-mentioned performers of silly juggleries, — Professor Max Müller presented Shri Ramakrishna's life to the learned European public, in an article entitled "A Real Mahâtman", which appeared in The Nineteenth Century in its August number, 1896.
The learned people of Europe and America read the article with great interest and many have been attracted towards its subject, Shri Ramakrishna Deva, with the result that the wrong ideas of the civilised West about India as a country full of naked, infanticidal, ignorant, cowardly race of men who were cannibals and little removed from beasts, who forcibly burnt their widows and were steeped in all sorts of sin and darkness — towards the formation of which ideas, the Christian missionaries and, I am as much ashamed as pained to confess, some of my own countrymen also have been chiefly instrumental — began to be corrected. The veil of the gloom of ignorance, which was spread across the eyes of the Western people by the strenuous efforts of these two bodies of men, has been slowly and slowly rending asunder. "Can the country that has produced a great world-teacher like Shri Bhagavân Ramakrishna Deva be really full of such abominations as we have been asked to believe in, or have we been all along duped by interested organised bodies of mischief-makers, and kept in utter obscurity and error about the real India?"— Such a question naturally arises in the Western mind.
When Professor Max Müller, who occupies in the West the first rank in the field of Indian religion, philosophy, and literature, published with a devoted heart a short sketch of Shri Ramakrishna's life in The Nineteenth Century for the benefit of Europeans and Americans, it is needless to say that a bitter feeling of burning rancour made its appearance amongst those two classes of people referred to above.
By improper representation of the Hindu gods and goddesses, the Christian missionaries were trying with all their heart and soul to prove that really religious men could never be produced from among their worshippers; but like a straw before a tidal wave, that attempt was swept away; while that class of our countrymen alluded to above, which set itself to devise means for quenching the great fire of the rapidly spreading power of Shri Ramakrishna, seeing all its efforts futile, has yielded to despair. What is human will in opposition to the divine?
Of course from both sides, unintermittent volleys of fierce attack were opened on the aged Professor's devoted head; the old veteran, however, was not the one to turn his back. He had triumphed many times in similar contests. This time also he has passed the trial with equal ease. And to stop the empty shouts of his inferior opponents, he has published, by way of a warning to them, the book, Ramakrishna: His Life and Sayings, in which he has collected more complete information and given a fuller account of his life and utterances, so that the reading public may get a better knowledge of this great sage and his religious ideas — the sage "who has lately obtained considerable celebrity both in India and America where his disciples have been actively engaged in preaching his gospel and winning converts to his doctrines even among Christian audiences". The Professor adds, "This may seem very strange, nay, almost incredible to us. . . .Yet every human heart has its religious yearnings; it has a hunger for religion, which sooner or later wants to be satisfied. Now the religion taught by the disciples of Ramakrishna comes to these hungry souls without any untoward authority", and is therefore, welcomed as the "free elixir of life". . . "Hence, though there may be some exaggeration in the number of those who are stated to have become converted to the religion of Ramakrishna, ... there can be no doubt that a religion which can achieve such successes in our time, while it calls itself with perfect truth the oldest religion and philosophy of the world, viz the Vedanta, the end or highest object of the Vedas, deserves our careful attention."
After discussing, in the first part of the book, what is meant by the Mahatman, the Four Stages of Life, Ascetic Exercises or Yoga, and after making some mention about Dayananda Sarasvati, Pavhâri Bâbâ, Debendranath Tagore, and Rai Shâligrâm Sâheb Bahadur, the leader of the Râdhâswami sect, the Professor enters on Shri Ramakrishna's life.
The Professor greatly fears lest the Dialogic Process — the transformation produced in the description of the facts as they really happened by too much favourableness or unfavourableness of the narrator towards them — which is invariably at work in all history as a matter of inevitable course, also influences this present sketch of life. Hence his unusual carefulness about the collection of facts. The present writer is an insignificant servant of Shri Ramakrishna. Though the materials gathered by him for Ramakrishna's life have been well-pounded in the mortar of the Professor's logic and impartial judgment, still he (Max Müller) has not omitted to add that there may be possible "traces of what I call the Dialogic Process and the irrepressible miraculising tendencies of devoted disciples" even in "his unvarnished description of his Master". And, no doubt, those few harsh-sweet words which the Professor has said in the course of his reply to what some people, with the Brâhmo-Dharma preacher, the Rev. Pratap Chandra Mazumdar, at their head, wrote to him in their anxiety to make out a "not edifying side" of Ramakrishna's character — demand thoughtful consideration from those amongst us of Bengal who, being full of jealousy, can with difficulty bear the sight of others' weal.
Shri Ramakrishna's life is presented in the book in very brief and simple language. In this life, every word of the wary historian is weighed, as it were, before being put on paper; those sparks of fire, which are seen here and there to shoot forth in the article, "A Real Mahatman", are this time held in with the greatest care. The Professor's boat is here plying between the Scylla of the Christian missionaries on the one hand, and the Charybdis of the tumultuous Brahmos on the other. The article, "A Real Mahatman" brought forth from both the parties many hard words and many carping remarks on the Professor. It is a pleasure to observe that there is neither the attempt made here to retort on them, nor is there any display of meanness — as the refined writers of England are not in the habit of indulging in that kind of thing — but with a sober, dignified, not the least malignant, yet firm and thundering voice, worthy of the aged scholar, he has removed the charges that were levelled against some of the uncommon ideas of the great-soured sage — swelling forth from a heart too deep for ordinary grasp.
And the charges are, indeed, surprising to us. We have heard the great Minister of the Brahmo Samaj, the late revered Âchârya Shri Keshab Chandra Sen, speaking in his charming way that Shri Ramakrishna's simple, sweet, colloquial language breathed a superhuman purity; though in his speech could be noticed some such words as we term obscene, the use of those words, on account of his uncommon childlike innocence and of their being perfectly devoid of the least breath of sensualism, instead of being something reproachable, served rather the purpose of embellishment — yet, this is one of the mighty charges!
Another charge brought against him is that his treatment of his wife was barbarous because of his taking the vow of leading a Sannyasin's life! To this the Professor has replied that he took the vow of Sannyasa with his wife's assent, and that during the years of his life on this earth, his wife, bearing a character worthy of her husband, heartily received him as her Guru (spiritual guide) and, according to his instructions, passed her days in infinite bliss and peace, being engaged in the service of God as a lifelong Brahmachârini. Besides, he asks, "Is love between husband and wife really impossible without the procreation of children?" "We must learn to believe in Hindu honesty" — in the matter that, without having any physical relationship, a Brahmachari husband can live a life of crystal purity, thus making his Brahmacharini wife a partner in the immortal bliss of the highest spiritual realisation, Brahmânanda — "however incredulous we might justly be on such matters in our own country". May blessings shower on the Professor for such worthy remarks! Even he, born of a foreign nationality and living in a foreign land, can understand the meaning of our Brahmacharya as the only way to the attainment of spirituality, and belies that it is not even in these days rare in India, whilst the hypocritical heroes of our own household are unable to see anything else than carnal relationship in the matrimonial union! "As a man thinketh in his mind, so he seeth outside."
Again another charge put forward is that "he did not show sufficient moral abhorrence of prostitutes". To this the Professor's rejoinder is very very sweet indeed: he says that in this charge Ramakrishna "does not stand quite alone among the founders of religion! " Ah! How sweet are these words — they remind one of the prostitute Ambâpâli, the object of Lord Buddha's divine grace, and of the Samaritan woman who won the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yet again, another charge is that he did not hate those who were intemperate in their habits. Heaven save the mark! One must not tread even on the shadow of a man, because he took a sip or two of drink — is not that the meaning? A formidable accusation indeed! Why did not the Mahâpurusha kick away and drive off in disgust the drunkards, the prostitutes, the thieves, and all the sinners of the world! And why did he not, with eyes closed, talk in a set drawl after the never-to-be-varied tone of the Indian flute-player, or talk in conventional language concealing his thoughts! And above all, the crowning charge is why did he not "live maritalement" all his life!
Unless life can be framed after the ideal of such strange purity and good manners as set forth by the accusers, India is doomed to go to ruin. Let her, if she has to rise by the help of such ethical rules!
The greater portion of the book has been devoted to the collection of the sayings, rather than to the life itself. That those sayings have attracted the attention of many of the English-speaking readers throughout the world can be easily inferred from the rapid sale of the book. The sayings, falling direct from his holy lips, are impregnate with the strongest spiritual force and power, and therefore they will surely exert their divine influence in every part of the world. "For the good of the many, for the happiness of the many" great-souled men take their birth; their lives and works are past the ordinary human run, and the method of their preaching is equally marvellous.
And what are we doing? The son of a poor Brahmin, who has sanctified us by his birth, raised us by his work, and has turned the sympathy of the conquering race towards us by his immortal sayings — what are we doing for him? Truth is not always palatable, still there are times when it has to be told: some of us do understand that his life and teachings are to our gain, but there the matter ends. It is beyond our power even to make an attempt to put those precepts into practice in our own lives, far less to consign our whole body and soul to the huge waves of harmony of Jnâna and Bhakti that Shri Ramakrishna has raised. This play of the Lord, those who have understood or are trying to understand, to them we say, "What will mere understanding do? The proof of understanding is in work. Will others believe you if it ends only in verbal expressions of assurance or is put forward as a matter of personal faith? Work argues what one feels; work out what you feel and let the world see." All ideas and feelings coming out of the fullness of the heart are known by their fruits — practical works.
Those who, knowing themselves very learned, think lightly of this unlettered, poor, ordinary temple-priest, to them our submission is: "The country of which one illiterate temple-priest, by virtue of his own strength, has in so short a time caused the victory of the ancient Sanâtana Dharma of your forefathers to resound even in lands far beyond the seas — of that country, you are the heroes of heroes, the honoured of all, mighty, well-bred, the learned of the learned — how much therefore must you be able to perform far more uncommon, heroic deeds for the welfare of your own land and nation, if you but will its Arise, therefore, come forward, display the play of your superior power within, manifest it, and we are standing with offerings of deepest veneration in hand ready to worship you. We are ignorant, poor, unknown, and insignificant beggars with only the beggar's garb as a means of livelihood; whereas you are supreme in riches and influence, of mighty power, born of noble descent, centres of all knowledge and learning! Why not rouse yourselves? Why not take the lead? Show the way, show us that example of perfect renunciation for the good of the world, and we will follow you like bond-slaves!"
On the other hand, those who are showing unjustified signs of causeless, rancorous hostilities out of absolute malice and envy — natural to a slavish race — at the success and the celebrity of Shri Ramakrishna and his name — to them we say, "Dear friends, vain are these efforts of yours! If this infinite, unbounded, religious wave that has engulfed in its depths the very ends of space — on whose snow-white crest shineth this divine form in the august glow of a heavenly presence — if this be the effect brought about by our eager endeavours in pursuit of personal name, fame, or wealth, then, without your or any others' efforts, this wave shall in obedience to the insuperable law of the universe, soon die in the infinite womb of time, never to rise again! But if, again, this tide, in accordance with the will and under the divine inspiration of the One Universal Mother, has begun to deluge the world with the flood of the unselfish love of a great man's heart, then, O feeble man, what power cost thou possess that thou shouldst thwart the onward progress of the Almighty Mother's will? "
Notes
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。