The impress was irresistible: ‘What a beautiful place!’ M said to himself, ‘What a charming man! How beautiful his words are! I have no wish to move from this spot.’

Living with Sri Ramakrishna meant being in perennial divine bliss. M records a scene with Narendra (later Swami Vivekananda) singing in his exquisite voice:

Meditate, O my mind, on the Lord Hari,
The Stainless One, Pure Spirit through and through.
How peerless is the Light that in Him shines!
How soul-bewitching is His wondrous form!
How dear is He to all his devotees!

Sri Ramakrishna ‘stood motionless, with eyes transfixed. He seemed not even to breathe’. M had never seen this phenomenon; it was samadhi. He wondered, ‘Is it possible for a man to be so oblivious of the outer world in the consciousness of God? How deep his faith and devotion must be to bring about such a state!’

Narendra continued to sing:

Ever more beauteous in fresh-blossoming love
That shames the splendour of a million moons,
Like lightning gleams the glory of His form,
Raising erect the hair for very joy.

‘The Master shuddered when this last line was sung. His hair stood on end, and tears of joy streamed down his cheeks. Now and then his lips parted in a smile. Was he seeing the peerless beauty of God, “that shames the splendour of a million
moons”? Was this the vision of God, the Essence of Spirit? How much austerity and discipline, how much faith and devotion, must be necessary for such a vision!’

If M saw the legendary Shukadeva in Sri Ramakrishna, he did not see wrongly. For the latter was as devoid of body-consciousness as Shuka. And this state of theirs was derived from their identification with the Divine. Shuka had ‘wandered forth from home and relatives, all alone, dutiless, from his very birth by virtue of his enlightened state, and who, when followed by his grief-stricken father Dvaipayana (Vyasa) with cries of “O son! Where are you?” answered, as it were, those anxious calls through the resonance of the forest trees, of which and of everything else he was the soul on account of his realization of the truth of Non-duality’.

The freedom and divine joy expressed by a Ramakrishna or a Shukadeva is innate. The Aitareya Upanishad records the experience of the rishi Vamadeva, while still in the womb: ‘Even while lying in the womb, I came to know of the birth of all the gods. A hundred iron citadels held me down. Then, like a hawk, I forced my way through by dint of knowledge of the Self.’

Of the person who has obtained freedom from the shackles of the body and mind the Taittiriya Upanishad announces: ‘He attains self-rule. He attains the lordship of the mind; he attains the lordship of speech; he attains the lordship of sight; he attains the lordship of hearing; he attains the lordship of intelligence. Furthermore, he becomes Brahman, whose body is space (akasha), whose nature is true, who delights in life (prana) and rejoices in the mind, who abounds in peace, who is immortal.’

‘He who knows the Bliss that is Brahman,’ the Upanishad further announces, ‘is not afraid of anything whatsoever.’ For, ‘One becomes fearless on obtaining lodgement in that invisible, incorporeal, indefinable, fearless, supportless support of all.’ ‘Such a person does not distress oneself with such thoughts as: “Why did I not do what is good? Why did I do what is evil?” For, whosoever knows this (Bliss that is Brahman) regards both (good and evil) as Atman, and cherishes both as Atman.’

This apparently antinomial position is the result of the perception of unity and a deep identity with all Creation: ‘The sage Vamadeva, having realized this [Self ] as That (Brahman), came to know: “I was Manu and the sun.” And to this day, whoever in a like manner knows the Self as “I am Brahman”, becomes all this (universe).’

That this experience should be remarkably exhilarating can be well imagined. And the Taittiriya Upanishad confirms this: ‘How wonderful! How wonderful! How wonderful! I am the food. I am the food. I am the food! I am the eater of food. I am the eater of food. I am the eater of food! I am the maker of their unity. I am the maker of their unity. I am the maker of their unity!’

The Vivekachudamani provides a fascinating portrait of such knowers of Brahman: ‘They have their food without anxiety or humiliation—by begging—and their drink from the water of rivers; they live freely and independently, and sleep without fear in cremation grounds and forests; their clothing may be the quarters themselves, which need no washing and drying, or bark (or similar stuff ); and the earth their bed. They roam the paths of Vedanta and have their pleasure in the Supreme Brahman.’

If this image does not appeal to our minds, then we could remember the thoughts of Janaka, the famous king of Mithila, on emerging from samadhi: ‘I desire not what is not got, nor do I surrender what is already got. What is mine let that be mine; composed, I abide in the Self.’ And the Laghu Yogavasishtha affirms: ‘Janaka, making up his mind thus, arose to perform without any attachment the work that came of its own, even as the sun rises to shine. Neither does he speculate about the future, nor think of what is past; ever smiling he acts in the living present.’

If enlightened souls have no personal desires, they still are a source of blessing and bounty tothe people around them. It is for this reason that the Mundaka Upanishad exhorts those desirous of prosperity to ‘worship the knower of the Self’, for ‘whatever world persons of pure understanding envisage in their minds and whatever desires they cherish, that world they conquer and those desires they obtain’.

But the greatest blessing offered by these souls— ‘who have the Divine, the source of all good, seated in their hearts’—is the ambrosia of divine bliss, for ‘theirs is perpetual celebration, perpetual prosperity, and perpetual goodness’.

‘When illumination is attained,’ Acharya Shankara asserts, ‘the entire world becomes a paradise, and people become like celestial wish-fulfilling trees. The entire mass of water becomes sweet and holy like Ganga water, and all women become full of beauty and sanctity; all speech whether in the language of gods or of men becomes, as it were, the highest and holiest verse of the Vedas. The whole world becomes a holy place like Varanasi, and every movement becomes a movement of joy.’

This is the state of jivanmukti—freedom while living—and rishis tell us that not only is this the highest human achievement but that it is well within the reach of all. ‘When I first read the verse in which it is said that life is meant for the realization of jivanmukti, ’ Swami Turiyananda recalled, ‘I leapt in joy, for that indeed was the purpose of my life.’ This is the purpose of our lives too.