and bait and throw some lure in the water. Then from the deep water the fish will rise and come nearer, and you will be able to see and catch them. You wish me to show you God while you sit quietly by, without making the least effort. How unreasonable! You would have me set the curds, churn the butter, and hold it before your mouths. You ask me to catch the fish and place it in your hands. How unreasonable! If a man desires to see the King in his palace, he will have to go to the palace and pass through all the gates; but if after entering the outermost gate he exclaims, "Where is the King?" he will not find him. He must go on through the seven gates, then he will see the King.

Mahima: Bhagavan, by what kind of work can God be attained?

[Work and grace.] Ramakrishna: There is no difference in work. Do not think that this work will lead to God and that will not. Everything depends upon His Grace. Whatever work you perform with sincerity and earnest longing will attract His Grace and help towards realization. Through His Grace the conditions for realization will become perfect. These conditions are association with the holy, right discrimination

of the Real from the unreal, and the finding of the real Guru, or true spiritual master. If your family depends upon you, perhaps your brother will assume its responsibility for you. Perhaps your wife will not hinder you in your spiritual life, but will rather help you; or perhaps you will not marry at all and will not be attached to the world in any way. When such conditions become absolutely favorable, the realization of God becomes easy.

[Parable of the father and his dying son.] Once a man's son lay at the point of death and none could help him. Some one, however, said: "There is but one hope. If you can get the venom of a cobra mixed with a few drops of rain-water fallen under the constellation of Swati in a human skull, by it your son's life will be saved." The father looked and found that the constellation of Swati would be in the ascendant on the morrow; so he prayed, saying: "O Lord, do Thou make possible all these conditions and spare the life of my son." With extreme earnestness and longing in his heart he set out on the following evening and searched diligently in a deserted spot for a human skull. At last he found one under a tree and watched, praying. Suddenly a shower came up and a few drops of