The devotees sing the kirtan in the Panchavati in the afternoon. Sri Ramakrishna joins them. Repeating the name of the Divine Mother with the devotees, he is filled with joy.
Song -
The kite of my mind was soaring high up in the sky of the feet of Mother Shyama.
The rough wind of 'misdeeds' made it fall, circling to the ground.
Maya's pull made it heavy and I could not raise it again.
It got entangled with the string of love for wife and children.
Alas! Its crest of jnana is rent. One may pull at it but it falls down.
It has lost its crest, so how can it fly? The six passions have overpowered it.
It was tied to the string of bhakti. While playing, it fell into illusion.
Oh Nareschandra! Rather than weep or laugh, it was better not to have come to play.
They sing another song with the accompaniment of drum and cymbals. Thakur dances with the devotees.
Song -
The bee of my mind drinks deep at the blue lotus-like feet of Mother Shyama.
At the blue lotus-like feet of Shyama, at the blue lotus-like feet of Mother Kali.
The honey of all worldly things - the flowers of lust and so on - have lost all charm.
The feet of the Mother are black-hued, so is the bee; black has mixed with black.
The five elements, turbulent and fascinating, have broken away on seeing this play.
It is only now that Kamalakanta has seen the fulfillment of his hopes.
Joys or sorrows are the same to him; the ocean of joy rolls on.
The kirtan continues. The devotees sing.
Song -
What a machine Ma Shyama has built!
(What a machine Ma Kali has made!)
In this machine three and a half cubits high, what pranks She is playing!
Mother, You Yourself are working this machine, holding its cord.
But the machine says: I am working by myself. It does not know who is working it.
Whoever finds the Mother remains a machine no more.
Yet some machines have even bound the Mother Herself with the cord of love.
Song -
One comes to this world to throw dice. Coming here, I had entertained so many hopes.
To hope for hope is a low state of mind. First I got a 'five' [of the dice].
Then a 'twelve'! And 'eighteen' and 'sixteen'. The way they come again and again, I, too, came to the world.
O Mother! When I got the 'next twelve,' I got entangled with the five[1] and the six[2].
The devotees enjoy themselves. When they stop for awhile, Thakur rises. A number of devotees have arrived in and around Thakur's room.
Sri Ramakrishna is going south toward his room from the Panchavati. M. is with him. They meet Trailokya as they reach Bakultala. Trailokya offers his obeisance to him.
Ref:
[1] Five elements collectively, namely: earth, water, fire, air and space
[2] Six passions
Source: Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, Vol II, Section II
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