[paragraph continues] Mother of the Universe, is making Herself manifest in this world of Her sports.

[The Mother of the universe and Her sports.] Sri Ramakrishna, smiling: Oh, the Mother sports with the world, Her toy, under various aspects and names. Now She is the God Unconditioned, Absolute, Formless (Maha-Kali): now the Everlasting as distinguished from Her works (Nitya-Kali). Under another aspect She is the Goddess of burning Ghats or crematories, the dreaded Being who presides over death (Smasan-Kali); now again does She stand before us ready to bless, to preserve Her children (Rakshya-Kali); under another aspect She appears pleasing to the eye of Her devotees as the Mother with the dark blue color, Consort of the God of Eternity and Infinity. Maha-Kali and Nitya-Kali are described in the sacred books, the Tantras: "When nothing was--neither sun, nor moon, nor planets, nothing but Darkness Deep, there was alone my Divine Mother, Formless, the Eternal Consort of the Infinite." As Mother with the dark blue color (Syama), She is tender and loving. She is the bestower of all blessings and makes Her children fearless; She is worshipped in the Hindu household. As Preserver She appears in times of plague, famine, earthquake,

drought or flood. At cemeteries, burning Ghats or crematories She appears in the form of the Destroyer. The dead body, the jackal, the spirits of destruction are Her terrible companions. She lives in the midst of those horrible scenes, of those fearful environments. Streams of blood, a garland of skulls thrown round Her neck, a girdle made of the hands of those that are dead, are the symbols that mark Her as the dread Mother, as the All-Destroyer.

[Creation of the world.] Now look at Her mode of creation. At the end of a cycle, upon the destruction of the world, my Mother, good Matron that She is, puts together the seeds of creation. The mistress of a house has a hodgepodge pot of her own in which to keep sundry things for household use. (Ramakrishna, smiling) Yes, my friends, that is indeed so. The mistress of a house has such a pot in her possession. In it are kept the "sea-foam" in a solid state, small parcels containing seeds of the cucumber, gourd, and so on. She brings them out when wanted. In much the same way my Mother keeps the seeds of creation after the destruction of the world at the end of a cycle.