THE DREAM COME TRUE

The hero of this story is Vishwanath Upadhyaya, an orthodox and devout Hindu hailing from Nepal. Shri Ramakrishna used to address him as 'Captain'. He had come to Calcutta, the then capital city of India, as the Officer-in-Charge of a large timber yard belonging to the State of Nepal. It was located at Ghusuri, Howrah on the banks of the Ganga opposite Calcutta. One night in 1871 or '72, Upadhayaya saw in a dream a holy man who beckoned to him to come for receiving the gift of Divine knowledge. Soon after, he heard of Shri Ramakrishna, decided to pay a visit and was very pleasantly surprised to find in Shri Ramakrishna the holy man of his dream! No wonder he became a devotee. But devotees have no special immunity from troubles of this world and our captain got into very serious trouble indeed. The timber yard was located on the banks of the Ganga which upto Calcutta (and for some distance further upstream) is subject to the influence of the tides. On days of very high tides the Nepal Govt. timber yard at Ghusuri used to get flooded, often resulting in some pieces of stored timber being carried away by the receding waters. By the time the Captain woke up to these small but persistent losses, the accumulated value of the missing timber had become very high and he found it difficult to render accounts on the basis of physically verified stocks of timber. So the Captain also defaulted in the submission of accounts! When vague rumors about stock shortages and alleged embezzlements reached the King, Upadhayaya was summoned to Nepal to explain. He knew he was in very grave danger and toyed with the idea of disobeying even the royal command to return to his country. He finally decided to make an appeal to the Master for protection and was shedding copious tears when he approached Shri Ramakrishna for this. The Master, who could surrender everything else, to his Mother Kali but Truth, naturally asked Upadhyaya to come clean. 'Captain' explained the position and assured Thakur that there had been nothing malafide and the large losses were entirely due to natural causes. Assured on this point the Master said that he believed him and Upadhyaya need not be afraid to tell the exact truth to the King also. He further assured his devotee that be the grace of mother Kali he would return to Calcutta fully exonerated! With this clear cut assurance of protection, Vishwanath went to Nepal and faced the King with confidence. He admitted the losses and his responsibility for failure to take timely preventive measures but denied any malafide or improper conduct like unrecorded sales and embezzlement of cash. The Ruler not only believed him fully but was also impressed by his straightforward manner and the able presentation of his case.

The result was that he was not only re-posted to Calcutta but also in a much more responsible position as the Envoy of His Majesty's Govt. in India. His salary was increased four-fold and his rank upgraded to that of a Colonel in the Royal Nepal Army. A weeping Vishwanath shedding, this time, tears of joy, reported all this to the Master dwelling on his 'Colonel-hood' the most. Thakur sought clarification about the precise significance of this but concluded by saying "That is all very good, but I would rather call you Captain." And that is why he continued to be ' the Captain' and achieved immortality in that name in the pages of Kathamrita, a one sentence extract from which is given below:

" Master: There is another big man. Captain. Though a man of the world, he is a great lover of God ..... he knows the Vedas, the Vedanta, the Bhagavata, the Gita and Adhyatma Ramayana and other scriptures by heart."

With this testemonial from the Master himself, there is hardly any scope for doubt that the Captain's dream did come true. Remember, he was summoned in his dream to "receive the gift of divine knowledge".

It is time now to try and record one of Swamiji's miracles. I select one which because of the time factor would appear to be the Master's doing as well. The story has been recorded by  that famous Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda whose Autobiography must be regarded as the most astounding and outstanding first-person experience of reality behind the phenominal veil of our day-to-day experience.

The story is as much about Yogananda as it is about Vivekananda, but I shall highlight the role of Swamiji only ...