There was a deep silence at the close of this song, which had been listened to with rapt attention. Everyone was moved.

[Ramakrishna's samadhi.] At the end of this song the Bhagavan was once more found to be in that indescribable state of Samadhi. His sweet divine voice became still. His eyes remained fixed and steadfast. But his spiritual eye was feasting on the beatific Vision of the Divine Glory! There was left just enough of self-consciousness to bring the soul face to face with the Divine Mother. This blessed Vision the Bhagavan enjoyed for a long time. His face was radiant with celestial light and expressed by sweet smiles the unbounded happiness which He was enjoying within Himself, and

in His semiconscious state He uttered these words:

[What is Bhakti?] Bhakti, or devotion, means whole-hearted love for the Lord. The Absolute Brahman is called "Divine Mother" by the Psalmist. Prasad asks his mind to understand it by hints; He who is described in the Vedas as the Absolute Brahman is my Divine Mother; I am praying to Her.

[Brahman impersonal and personal.] That which is the Absolute (Nirguna), impersonal beyond all attributes, is also the same as the Personal God who is with all attributes and blessed qualities. The Absolute Brahman again is inseparable from the Divine energy (Sakti).

The term "Brahman" refers to that aspect of Divinity which is impersonal and which is beyond all activity. But when we think of Him as creating, preserving and destroying all phenomena, then we call Him the Personal God, Divine Mother or Kali.

[Brahman and Sakti are one.] In reality there is no distinction between "Brahman," or the Impersonal Absolute, and "Sakti," the Divine Mother. The Brahman and the Sakti are one just as fire and its burning power are one. As by the word fire we understand its power of burning,

so by the latter we know that it is the same as fire. By realizing the one both are realized.

They are one just as much as milk and its whiteness are one. We cannot conceive the milk without the whiteness.

They are one just as a gem and its brightness are one. We cannot conceive a gem without the brightness.

They are one just as the serpent and its sinuous motion are one. We cannot conceive of the serpent without the serpentine movements.

He who knows what "light" is has the knowledge of darkness also. He who has the conception of the phenomenal world must have also some conception of the Absolute Noumenon. He who knows the Sakti, or the Personal aspect of the Absolute Being, knows also the Impersonal Brahman. Again, he who has realized the Absolute Noumenon has also realized the phenomenon. He who has realized Brahman has also realized the Personal God or Divine Mother (Sakti).