Mr. Viswas had been sitting in the room a long time; he now left. He had once been wealthy but had squandered everything in an immoral life. Finally he had become indifferent to his wife and children. Referring to Mr. Viswas, Sri Ramakrishna said: "He is an unfortunate wretch. A householder has his duties to discharge, his debts to pay: his debt to the gods, his debt to his ancestors, his debt to the rishis, and his debt to wife and children. If a wife is chaste, then her husband should support her; he should also bring up their children until they are of age. Only a monk must not save; birds and monks do not save for tomorrow. But when a bird has chicks, it takes grains in it's beak and brings to it's nest for its chicks."
Balram: "Mr. Viswas now wants to cultivate the company of holy people."
Sri Ramakrishna (with a smile): "A monk's kamandalu goes to the four principal holy places[1] with him, but it still tastes bitter. Likewise, it is said that the Malaya breeze turns all trees into sandal-wood. But there are a few exceptions, such as the cotton-tree, the aswattha, and the hog plum.
"Some frequent the company of holy men in order to smoke hemp. Many monks smoke it, and these householders stay with them, prepare the hemp, and partake of the prasad."
Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
[1] At the four cardinal points of India, namely,
Kedarnath in the Himalayas,
Dwaraka in the west,
Rameswar in the south, and
Puri in the east.
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