It is about half past five or six. Sri Ramakrishna is seated with the devotees on the southeastern verandah. He is looking at the devotees.
Sri Ramakrishna (to Kedar and other devotees) - The sadhu who has renounced the world only repeats the name of Hari. He has no other work to do. If he meditates on the Lord, there is nothing to wonder at. If he doesn't contemplate the Lord and doesn't repeat the name of Hari, everybody will speak ill of him.
"But if a family man repeats the name of Hari, it is heroic. Just see: King Janaka was a great hero. He wielded a double-edged sword - one of jnana and the other of karma. On the one hand he was a perfect knower of Brahman; on the other, he engaged himself in worldly work. An unchaste wife attends to her household work with great care. But she is constantly thinking of her lover.
"The company of holy men is always essential. Holy men bring you in contact with the Lord."
Kedar - That is true, Thakur! Saints come for the good of mankind. They are like the railway engine which has many compartments attached to it. It pulls them all. Or they are like a river or reservoir: they quench the thirst of many people.
The devotees gradually prepare to go home. One by one they prostrate themselves before Sri Ramakrishna and take the dust of his feet. Addressing Bhavanath, Sri Ramakrishna says, "Don't go home today. I am greatly inspired when I see you people."
Bhavanath has not yet entered family life. He is about nineteen or twenty, fair complexioned, and has a beautiful body. He begins to shed tears at the very mention of the Lord. Sri Ramakrishna looks on him as Narayana (the very manifestation of God).
Source: Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, Vol II, Section II
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