Kathamrita Volume II - Swami Vivekananda

ice melts and becomes the same water asbefore. Similarly, when a devotee treads thepath of Self-knowledge [12] , or the path ofdiscrimination, he does not see the aspect ofGod with form any longer. Then all is formless.When the sun of Self-knowledge rises, the iceof God’s form melts away.“But see, the Being who is formless hasHimself taken up a form.”It is dusk. Thakur rises to return toDakshineswar. He stands and talks to Ishan onan open porch south of the parlour. Someoneremarks that repeating God’s Name does notalways seem to bear fruit.Ishan says, “What do you mean? Though theseed of the Ashwattha tree is tiny, it containswithin it a very big tree. It is only that the treeis not visible for a long time.”Sri Ramakrishna — Yes, yes. It takes a longtime to see the effect.Ishan is an unattached householder – state of aparamahamsaIshan’s house is located east of the house of hisfather-in-law, Kshetranath Chatterji. There is apath connecting the houses. Thakur stands atthe gate of the Chatterji house. Ishan comeswith his family to see him off by carriage.Thakur says to Ishan, “You are living in thehousehold like a mud fish. It lives in the mudof a pond, but the mud doesn’t stain its body.”