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 ...

MORE MIRACLES: CARRYING THE LOAD

It was during a rainy season that the Sevak ( Swami Mahadevananda) came to Jairambati (Mother's village) from the Ashram at Koalpara. The Mother asked him to stay on to help her by fetching things from a grocery shop in another village - Haldipukur - at a distance of two kilometers. (There was no grocery shop in Jairambati). In the afternoon the Sevak went to Haldipukur and purchased atta, ghee, and other provisions and one tin of kerosene oil weighing, in all, about a maund. Noting the weight of the of the items, the shopkeeper suggested that a porter be engaged for carrying the provisions. As Mother had not specifically authorised this expenditure, the sevak put the heavily loaded basket on his own head and started for Jairambati. However, after covering only a short distance he realised that the load was too heavy to be carried in comfort. The muddy surface of the road, drenched by the monsoon rains, had become slippery and full of puddles and he had to keep one arm engaged in holding the umbrella to protect the provisions from the pelting rains. But ignoring the pain and hardship and with firm determination he kept moving forward, for he was carrying things needed by the Mother! In this fashion he negotiated a tricky stretch of water-filled depression on the road which stretched his endurance to the limit, when he suddenly realised that the load was no longer troubling him and seemed to have become lighter. So surprised was he that he actually halted in his tracks and looked for an explanation but could not find any. When he resumed his walk towards Jairambati, he had been fully freed from all discomfort. Thus he entered the Mpther's house at ease, but found he walking about on the front Verandah in extreme agitation. He face was flushed, as if with exertion and the whites of her eyes were showing. She was muttering to herself, "Oh, why did I not tell him to engage a porter!" After the sevak had unloaded the basket on the floor she said to him: " You should have engaged a porter. Does it matter that I did not ask you to do so? One must never undergo such hardship".

Gentle reader, you decide, how the Sevak's load was lightened!.

Next, back to the Master for a story of full protection for a devotee.

MORE MIRACLES

 In the first part of this essay, nine of the lesser known miracles of Shri Ramakrishna have been studied. In this section, we take up some more of these miracles performed not only by the Master himself but also by Ma Sarada and Swami Vivekananda through whom also the Master's powers operated.

2. Regarding Shri Shri Ma, the Master himself made the position clear through many utterances such as this one to Galap-Ma (a woman devotee of the Master who was an "Antaranga" of the Mother');

" Bestower of knowledge is she, born with uncommon sagacity. She is no ordinary person - She is my Shakti." Again, after the Sodoshipuja (worship of Ma Sarada as Divine Shakti) the Master's final offering was - himself. He offered up the fruit of all his Sadhanas together with his rosary at her feet. Shri Shri Ma herself said: "What is Shri Ramakrishna that I am." So, a miraculous act by the Mother is equally a miracle of Shri Ramakrishna. Hence it was teh Master himself who set the ball rolling when a lady ( wife of Kalipada Ghosh), who at that time regarded Shri Ramakrishna no more than Sadhu with yogic powers, approached him. Her prayer was that the Master prescribe some 'Medicine' to cure her wayward husband of his evil ways which had blighted her married life and rid him of the unwholesome friends who had led him astray. The Master surprisingly did not rebuff her but said " You better appeal to the lady who stays in the Nahabat: if you explain frankly your predicament to her, she will give you the right medicine. She knows all about these miraculous remedies and in such matters she has even greater powers that I"; Shri Shri Ma was then approached and gave a patient hearing to the lady, concluded that teh Master was playing a game and told the lady that it was the Master who knew about such medicine and she must press him for it. The poor woman was thus tossed from one to the other three times when the Mother's kind heart melted and, maybe, to remove here immediate distress she picked up a 'Bel' leaf that had been offered in puja and gave it to her saying, "my child, take this; it will bring about what you wish". The result of this blessing of the Mother is now a leaf in the history of the Ramakrishna movement. How the 'Dana' (terrible) Kali was in due course converted into one of the brightest gems in the string of the Master's devotees has been recorded in the 'Punthi' as also in Swami Gambhirananda's essay on Kalipada Ghosh in his 'Bhakta Malika' (Garland of Devotees)

3. Now, Vivekananda. We have noticed earlier that the Master had declared categorically that he and Naren were non- different. The sole witness of the strange behaviour of the Master towards Naren on that occasion, Vaikuntha Sanyal, has recorded the Master saying to Naren:

" What I see is that I am this body and I am also that body. It is true, I see no difference .... What ignorance! Are you and I different? This is I and that is also I".

We also know of the Master's offer to transfer to Naren all his occult powers and Naren's refusal to accept these. But the matter did not ed there. The powers did get transferred. This is how Christopher Isherwood describes the process of transfer, vide Ramakrishna and His Disciples:

" ..... Ramakrishna summoned Naren to him. There was no one else in the room. Gazing fixedly at Naren he passed in Samadhi. Naren felt a force somewhat like an electric current was taking possession of his body; Slowly he lost consciousness. When he came to himself again he found Ramakrishna weeping. "Oh, Naren, " he said " I've given you everything I have - and now I am a beggar! But these powers I have handed over to you will make you able to do great things in this world. When all that is accomplished you can go back where you came from". 

But these inherited (?) powers were used by Swamiji for the good of humanity only He had said so specifically to the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Lion of Chicago whose hospitality was accepted by Swamiji quite often during his stay in America. This young lady had got interested in Indian religious practices and with the help of someone had quickly made some progress and had acquired the power of visualising the face of the writer of any letter she might hold in her hand. After about a year Swamiji came yo know of it when he was again a guest of the Lions. He told Miss Lion that he had also possessed miraculous powers but Shri Ramakrishna had cautioned him never to use these powers except for the general benefit of people at large.

4. With this brief introduction, let us now get on with the miracles themselves and start with a cameo from the Mother.

Miracles...concluded

RAKHAL

7. After two stories where devotees were blest by being denied food, it is time to listen to one where a meal had to be arranged by the Master, long after he had moved to the 'other room' to pacify his spiritual son and another beloved child of his. They were Rakhal and Harinath whose monastic names were Swami Brahamananda and Turiyananada., respectively. For a proper appreciation of the story one should know that Rakhal Maharaj was born in an affluent family with lots of landed properties. So, if he had stuck to the worldly life, whatever else he might have missed, it would not have been two square meals a day! 

When this story unfolds the two of them, Rakhal and Harinath, were roaming around together, visiting various holy places and performing the most austere sadhana. The Master had passed away about ten years earlier in 1886 and Swamiji had also left on his world-conferring mission to America. Rakhal Maharaj was so fully absorbed in his sadhana that he devoted no time for anything else and it was left to Turiyananda to do madhukari ( begging for food) for both. Rakhal Maharj's detachment knew no bounds and he was satisfied with whatever food could be obtained. Even dry bread dipped in water, for days together was accepted cheerfully without ever a complaint. It was Turiyananda who used to feel miserable, thinking, "He whom the Master used ti feed 'ksheer and noni' with such loving care should be offered only dry bread by me!"

Matters became even worse when in the course of the wanderings they came to Ayodhya, the holy city of Ramachandra. For, while they enjoyed the celebrations connected with 'Dulan Purnima' the hardship about food became more severe as Ayodhya was in the grip of a famine. On the Ekadasi day following the Dulan Purnima, all that Hari Maharaj could procure were a few pieces of boiled arum ( arbi) The two brothers sat down to make meal out of them but discovered almost immediately that the arums were of the wrong variety which causes severe irritation to the throat followed by swelling and pain. The 'meal' had to be discontinued almost before it had begun and Turiyananda, who was in considerable pain himself ,rushed out in search of the antidote, i.e a sour lemon. He searched for and located a garden full of lemon plants, but devoid of any lemons, as it was the off season for the fruits. He appealed to the labourers working in the garden but they regretted that no lemons would be available. Disappointed, he was about to retrace his steps, when he saw one, solitary, lemon ripening on a plant. This surprised the labourers also who gladly plucked it and handed it over saying "It is your good fortunate that has produced one!  take it."

After sucking the lemon Rakhal Maharaj felt some relief from the pain but the swelling continued. The discomfort in the throat coupled with the acute hunger in the stomach taxed the patience of even a Brahmananda to the limit and in a sudden pique he complained to Thakur, " If you cannot  arrange for even a daily morsel of food why did you pull me out of the home? If only you can arrange for hot khichuri with achar for breakfast tomorrow, I shall know that you are still with me."

The spiritual son of the Master having doubts about him? well, perhaps an occasional bout of doubt adds spice to the 'play' of the Master! Let us pass on to the sequel.

Next morning the two brothers went for an early bath to the 'Lakshman Barjan' Ghat on the banks of the river Sarayu famous in the Epic. As they were coming out of the river after the ablutions, they noticed a sadhu (a Ramayet i.e devotee of Lord Rama, from the markings) eagerly looking for someone. After seeing Brhamananda and his companion he quickly approached them and said "Are you the two who observed fast on Ekadasi day yesterday? Do please come to Lord Rama's cottage for breaking the fast". The two sanyasi's were surprised and one of them asked, " Babaji, what can you offer for breakfast this early in the morning?" The sadhu said humbly " I have already offered Khichri to Ramji and I am afraid you will have to be satisfied with His prasad". The two brothers followed the sadhu to a straw hut under a neem tree, the sadhu's dwelling. They sat down to a breakfast of khichri with three varieties of achar (mango, lemon and tamarind). As they were eating, the sadhu kept on shedding tears of joy and saying repeatedly how kind Ramji had been to him. Swami Brahmananda interrupted him and asked for an explanation. Babaji said, " I have been living a life of prayer in this kothri for twenty four years hoping to hear one word from Lord Rama and longing for one vision of him. Last night, in the early hours, soft hands shook me awake and I heard, ' I am very hungry; please cook some khichri soon and offer it to me. Then as soon as it is dawn go to Lakshman Barjan Ghat where you will find two devotees of mine having their bath. They observed a fast on Ekadasi day. Invite them in and give them my prasad to eat". Pointing to a framed picture of Lord Rama, he continued." I clearly saw that it was this Ramji who woke me up and said those words to me. It is surely due to your kindness that this hard hearted Ramji has at last fulfilled my life's ambition today".

No comments are necessary except to recall that Vivekananda had recorded in writing that " The same Ramachandra dearer that life to Sita, incomparable in the three worlds, has in this age of ours' been born as Shri Ramakrishna."

SANYAL

8. This is also a story of hunger and of direct intercession by the Lord on behalf of his devotee. But whether the story can qualify as a miracle of Shri Ramakrishna, it is for the reader to judge.

The first name of this Sanyal was Sashibhushan and his great scholarship and saintly life so impressed the eminent educationist and well known sadhaka, Dr. Gopinath Kaviraj, that Sanyal finds an important place in Kaviraj's study of saints and savants written in Bengali under the title: Sadhu Darshan o Satprasanga.

Sashibhshan's scholarship was such that the list of those who studied with him includes the great Vivekananda and Swami Abhedananda. He perused no other profession, and for teaching he charged no fees even from the resident students. He depended entirely on charity for his own sustenance as also of his family members and the resident students. Moreover, such charity had to come unsolicited. This was the creed of "Ajachakvritti" that he had voluntarily adopted and so rigid was his code that he would rather go hungry with all his dependents than solicit help from any source. Let us now pick up the thread of the story as told by Dr. Kaviraj. 

"He (Sanyal) was residing at Baranagar at the time when this incident occurred. Though a householder, he depended entirely on unsolicited charity. He could have made a living by practising medicine but did not take it up as a profession....not that he did not treat patients, for many persons from different parts of the country used to come to him for treatment, but he did not charge any fees from them....there was no question of his taking up any salaried job. The number of his dependents was also not small, as, apart from his direct family, visiting relatives, patients and resident students had to be provided for. He used to consider it his duty to provide free maintenance to all of them and he never asked for any contribution from them. The maintenance of the dependents had to be manged with whatever was given freely and good heartedly. 

It happened once that nothing whatsoever was received.one day and he had to instruct all to subsist on the juice of 'bel' leaves. The same thing happened on the second day. On the third day also, up to  midday, there was no indication of any help materializing from any where. The Babaji (Shri Sanyal) continued to remain calm and unperturbed and went on performing his daily routine which included treatment of his patients and imparting instructions to the students. In the afternoons he used to study the spiritual texts with seekers after knowledge. On the third day (of continuous fasting) he was, in the afternoon, studying a commentary on the Brahma Sutras with the assembled listeners, quite a few in number, including, I understand, Swami Abhedananda. Of course he was not known by that name at that time, but as Kali Maharaj.

No one in the assembly knew the state of affairs in Babaji's household as he never gave a hint to anyone about want. He believed that He who need know, knew everything and it was pointless to inform others!

That afternoon when the participants were fully absorbed in the philosophical discussions, a postal peon appeared with a registered and insured cover addressed to Babaji. He opened it after taking delivery and silently read the letter that was inside. After laying it aside, he remained quiet with his face fixed upwards and tears streaming down from his eyes.This continued for about fifteen minutes, the assembled persons watching him silently.

Then Kali Maharaj said,''Sir what has happened? Has the letter brought some bad news?........We are surprised at your shedding tears so copiously and the rigid silence after reading the letter". Babaji replied,"No, these are not tears of anguish. Grief does not upset me much. What has overwhelmed me is the kindness of God and inspite of my best efforts I could not hold up my tears of joy''.So saying he tossed the letter forward and said , ''You can read it and find out for yourself ''.

The letter was read aloud and it transpired that it had come from Benaras and had been written by one Mitra, apparently a person of some importance, residing in Chowkhamba area of the city. He had written that on the previous night his 'Ishta' (chosen ideal) Lord Viswanath had come to him in a dream asking for food to assuage his hunger. He felt as if the Lord was saying, ''I am fasting, have taken neither food nor water, since a great devotee of mine has been going hungry. If you have the least devotion for me, at once arrange for my food and drink by providing food for my devotee. You must do this immediately without the least delay ''. So saying, he informed Mitra the name address of the devotee and also visually exhibited these in letters of gold. Mitra woke up after the dream and wrote down the name and address. Next day he despatched the letter along with currency notes for Rs. 500/- in the name of Babaji. Mitra ended the letter saying, " Though I have no other knowledge of your name and address, I have no doubt my dream has not deceived me and that this letter and the money will reach the intended person".

After the letter was read, Babaji disclosed the state of affairs in his house and that he and his family members had been fasting....learning all these the assembled gentry were also overwhelmed with joy and divine fervor and started singing the praises of the Lord. Needless to say, studies for the day came to an abrupt halt!"

Having borrowed this story from Dr. Kaviraj it now remains to provide justification for its inclusion in a chronicle of miracles of Shri Ramakrishna. The reported presence of a disciple of the Master at the psychological moment when the intervention by Bhagwan on behalf of his bhakta was disclosed would not make it a miracle performed by the Master. The fact as recorded by Dr. Kaviraj, elsewhere in the essay, that Sanyal had met the Master would not link this story with him. For that we have to find out what the other Sanyal (Baikuntha) has recorded in his 'Leelamrita'.

SASHIBHUSAN SANYAL

9. Erudite scholar, a devotee scrupulous in observing the code of conduct prescribed in the shastras. Being pleased with his rigid adherence to the code, Thakur said," God himself has to step in to enable the genuine 'aachari' to maintain it. He had blest him once by stepping into his house after a visit to the Temple of Kalyaneshwar Mahadeva.

We also learn for 'Bharater Sadhak' written by Sankarnath Roy that it was the Master who had dissuaded Sanyal from adopting medicine as a profession. It is also recorded there that the Master himself had invited Sanyal to accompany him to the Kalyaneshwar Shiva Temple, from where the Master had walked, for him a long distance, to Sanyal's house. The Master had accepted some sweets and fruits and drunk a glass of water there.

So, we see that:

1. Sanyal's acceptance of "Unsolicited Charity" as his only means of sustenance had the approval of the Master and may have been directed by him;
2. Sanyal had received the Master's blessing that his 'achar' would be duly protected, if need be by divine intervention;
3. Sanyal's link with Mahadev ( or Vishwanath) as his protective Deity was established by the Master by taking him to the Kalyaneshwar Shiva Temple.

Would it then, be too much, to conclude that the Master did have a hand in the timely arrival of succor to the beleaguered Sanyal?

Before closing this episode I cannot help noting another (minor) miracle.

On the day the Master visited Sanyal's house he invited Sanyal to come to Dakshineshwar with him offering as an inducement to him the famous rasagullas of Baghbazar. Thakur told the 'Pundit', as Sanyal was called by him, that two persons would be sending two 'handis' (earthenware pots) full of rasagullas. One of them would be doing so with a 'motive' while the other's act would be 'pure' Of course, the Pundit was assured that he would get his share from the 'pure' lot.

When they arrived at Dakshineshwar the two 'handis' of rasgullas had duly arrived!

Nine Miracles.......continued

RAMLAL

4. In this story we come to a more familiar name and a more earthy miracle. Ramlal was the Master's nephew, son of Rameshwar, the second elder brother. As an attendant of the Master, rather than as a Priest in the Kali Temple, Ramlal figures very prominently in Ramakrishna literature. As a 'sevak' he stands second in importance only to Hriday. 

We know how very fond Shri Ramakrishna was of devotional music and how if the Master said to a visitor, " Here, listen to a song" the lucky one was indeed going to receive something extraordinary. For example, Mani Mallik. In Leelaprasanga, Sharadananda tells us how Mallik came straight from the cremation ground on the day he lost his son and how the insufferable grief was assuaged by Thakur by the gift of a song beginning with: 'To arms; To arms; O Man; Death storms your home in battle array'.

And he also loved to listen to songs. If he thirsted as a 'chataka' bird for Naren, it must have been, atleast partly, for the songs that Naren sang for him. Many eminent musicians of the day visited Shri Ramakrishna from time to time and sang themselves into immortality in the pages of the Kathamrita. But they were not available at odd hours or on call. The only person so available was, Yes, Ramlal. But Ramlal could not sing! Hence this story.

Let us see how Ramlal's son Harihar Chatterjee narrates this in his all to short Memoirs. 

"Thakur's love for singing songs about the Divine Mother was matched only by his eagerness to listen to such songs sung by others. He used to feel the absence of one who could sing to him whenever he wanted to hear songs."

"The only person who was a constant companion of Thakur was my revered father.That was why Thakur one day appealed to the Mother: " How nice it would be, if you would unlock Ram's voice". 

" And what a surprise! My father who could not sing at all, got the gift of an extremely melodious voice from the Mother who thus responded to the sincere prayer of Thakur". 

" One day Ramakrishnadeva asked my father to sing. They sat on the verandah to the east of his room and my revered father began with this song:

Come and see my Queen,

Shiva's golden Kashi;

How shall I describe Kashi

With my one tongue?

It is difficult to do so

With even a hundred tongues;

Our son-in-law is no more

A pauper, etc.

"Thakur's joy knew no bounds after listening to the song, and he said, "Go and fetch you aunt".

" After Sarada Devi came from the nahabat, Thakur said, " Ram will sing. I wanted you to listen; so I called you."

"Ramlal would sing! one who could not even ennuciate his words properly!"

" So, she said 'How is that? He cannot even pronounce his words fully, how can he possibly sing?'

" Thakur said, 'Don't you worry about that I have fixed up all that speaking to Mother!'"

" Sri Ma was indeed happy to listen to the song then sung by my father and said, 'For Thakur nothing is impossible!'."

Yes, the memoirs are available. In the bookstall of Harihar Chatterjee's son, on the eastern Verandah adjacent to the Master's room at Dakshineshwar.

KALI

5. After listening to stories about the not so well known, it is now time to turn to one of the Giants Kaliprasad Chandra. A child of the Master who came to him at the early age of seventeen and became famous as Swami Abhedananda. One of the 'Pundits' of the Order, he is the only one on record to have ever worsted the great Vivekananda in an argument! Known as 'Kali-tapasvi' in the inner circle, he was also the bard of Mother Sarada and has gifted to the world and humanity the wonderful hymn to her. His narration of an incident witnessed by him and specifically categorized by him as a miraculous act of the Master is of special significance in the present context.

The incident took place in April 1885 shortly after the onset of the throat affliction which later developed into cancer. As the discomfort was persisting, Shri Ramakrishna accepting the suggestion of Golap-Ma (a woman devotee who was the 'antaranga' of Shri Shri Ma), decided to go to Calcutta to consult an eminent physicain, Dr. Durgacharan. One day early in the morning he started for Calcutta by boat accompanied by Golap-ma, Latu ( later Swami Adbhutananda) and Kaliprasad. After getting off the boat they proceeded by horse carriage to Beadon Square area and consulted the doctor and got the prescription for medicines etc. The party then moved to Ahiritola Ghat to board a boat for the return trip. It was about half-past two in the afternoon and no one had had any food till then. ( Before resuming the narrative by Kaliprasad, we should note that the Master did not even touch money. Latu was the penniless attendant of the Master and young Kaliprasad was equally penniless.) Now to quote Kali; 

" I noticed that Paramahansadev was extremely hungry. He asked the boatman to anchor the boat at the Pramanik Ghat at Boranagar. The local market place was quite near the Ghat and he asked me to buy some snacks from the sweetmeat shop. There was only one anna (one sixteenth of a rupee) left with Golap-ma. I took it and quickly went to the market and brought back in a paper bag some 'Chana murki' ( a kind of dry sweetmeat of the size of puffed rice.) and handed over the packet to Paramahansadev. he eat up the entire quantity with apparent relish, threw away the crumpled bag into the water, washed his hands, collected water in his cupped hands from the river (Ganga) and drank several mouthfuls. Then he belched audibly. The three of us who had accompanied him  were also extremely hungry and surely Paramhansadev knew it well; but he had consumed the entire quantity of sweets without offering any share to any one of us. But the surprising denouement was that as soon as he belched our hunger went away and as we looked at each other, Paramahansadev started laughing.  During the rest of the journey to Dakshineshwar he made merry, cutting jokes as if he was a young lad! After the boat stopped at the Ghat of the Kali Temple at Dakshineshwar we all got down and the three of us compared notes about the sudden satisfaction of our hunger and came to the conclusion that we had been privileged  to witness an act of miracle or of use of supernatural powers by the Master. It was on that day that I really understood, by the grace of the Master, the significance of Lord Krishna's 'Leela' of a similar nature, and the truth of the Sanskrit adage 'Tasmin tusta jaga tusta" ('When thou art satisfied, so is the entire Universe')."

'Shri Krishna's Leela' obviously refers to the incident in the Mahabharata where Draupadi's problem of feeding a thousand hungry disciples of the proverbially angry Sage Durbasa was solved by Lord Krishna by expressing, through a loud belch, satisfaction of his hunger after swallowing only a single particle of rice. Durbasa and his disciples had to beat a hasty retreat as they were no longer in a position to partake of the lunch for which they had arrived without prior notice. 

SANYAL (I)

6.Now, another story of the 'Tasmin tuste jaga tusta' variety; Again a first person narration of a witness of unquestioned trustworthiness. His name is Baikunthanath Sanyal who without being in the select band of Sanyasi disciples, was very near indeed to the inner circle. He has achieved fame in the pages of the Leelaprasanga as an important witness of many events throwing light on the unique relationship and his alter-ego, Naren, including Thakur's response to Naren's acceptance of Mother Kali. That was the night when Naren, prompted by Thakur, went thrice to Bhabatarini to ask for material prosperity for his family but ended up each time by seeking knowledge, renunciation and devotion. Next morning sanyal appeared on the scene when Naren was still sleeping, after having sung the whole night the 'Shyama Sangeet', taught by Thakur,  and found Thakur almost beside himself with joy because Naren had 'accepted the Mother'. Later that day Thakur allowed him to become a witness of his declaration that he and Naren were 'non-different'. Sanyal is also author of 'Shri Shri Ramakrishna Leelamrita' from which I am reproducing the story;

Tasmin Tuste Jagat Tripta:

"The unfathomable acts of one whose nature,  thought cannot unravel, would naturally be beyond comprehension by human intellect; therefore who he would bless with his grace and in what manner is also beyond our imagination. He himself had told me that we had come to him because he had pined for us and had, as the hour struck for the evening arati for the Mother of the Universe, repeatedly cried aloud in anguish,  ' Do come, where ever you may be!' and so saying he had often showered endearments on me. But came a day when the same Master acted in a very strange way. After being saluted by this eternal slave (that day) he not only did not, as was his wont, give me prasad along with sweet words of endearment, but also appeared not even to know me. Undaunted and propping up my failing spirits with hope, I kept waiting. But as the day lengthened and gradually drew to a close, my mental suffering was compounded by gnawing hunger in the belly. It was at this time that the Master suddenly said aloud, ''I am hungry'', and then took out from a receptacle in the wall some sweets wrapped up in a paper bag and sat down to eat them. The gnawing hunger within made me think that he would surely not consume the whole lot and that I would get a share as prasad. Being denied even that I was really annoyed but realised that there was nothing that I could do about it! After consuming each individual sweetmeat, he made a ball of the paper packet, threw it aside with a childish expletive, "get lost!" and then for the first time that day talked to me, "Hey lad, get me a little water to drink". After drinking the water he said," Now I am fully satisfied". Wonder of wonders! at that precise moment my intense hunger just vanished and I also was fully satisfied. If I had not been a personal witness to this divine act the story of Lord Krishna satisfying Sage Durbasa and his disciples by expressing full satisfaction after eating only a minute morsel of food served by Draupadi, would have continued to remain only  a fable, for me."

Perhaps Thakur played out these two acts before three of intimate devotees (Adbhutananda, Abhedananda and Baikunthanath) as an advance hint of the formal declaration ( which came a year or so later) to Naren to the effect that " The famous person who has roared out the message of the Gita (in those days of old) has (in the age of our's) been born as Ramakrishna. 

Nine Miracles of Shri Ramakrishna

In this essay I shall try and narrate some of the miracles of Shri Ramakrishna which have been recorded but which are not known commonly. Many of us are aware that Mathur Babu's wife ( Jagadamba) had been cured of a mortal sickness after Mathur;s appeal to his 'baba' i.e., Shri Ramakriahna and that Mathur himself escaped a possible criminal charge after a similar appeal. Kathamrita  records how Bejoy Krishna Goswami had seen and felt (touched) the Master at Dhaka at a time when Shri Ramakrishna was very much there at Calcutta. The Master's power to transmit spirituality by a touch, look or glance is very well documented. Avoiding these and similar incidents which have become sort of common currency amongst the devotees of the Master, I shall select nine of those cases which are not so well known. Some of these have occurred when the Master was in the human body but others took place long after he had moved to the 'other room'. No attempt will, however, be made to arrange these in a time sequence or to classify them otherwise. The miracle's of Ramakrishna have by no means come to an end and we can expect many more in the years to come till his mission is fulfilled. As is known Shri Shri Ma had disclosed in her lifetime that the Master was to 'remain hidden in the hearts of his devotees for a hundred years' i.e., 1986. Perhaps the coming out process is best revealed in the storming of the Russian bastion which has suddenly, almost overnight, voluntarily opened its portals. Let a future generation then docket and classify the miracles of Shri Ramakrishna; it would be sufficient for us to eavesdrop on some of these partly hidden acts.

WILLIUMS

1. I shall begin with one who was born a devotee of Jesus but became one of Shri Ramakrishna also and who, true to Christian traditions, specifically asked for a sign from Shri Ramakrishna. Let the reader decide whether the signal he received was loud and clear enough! Unfortunately the full name of this fortunate one has not been recorded and the chroniclers have referred to him as William or Williams only.

There is also difference of opinion as to whether he was of European or Indian stock. We will call him Williums and consider him to be an Indian Christian and note that he was a teacher, an erudite biblical scholar of Protestant persuasion, and a resident of a city in north west India, probably Lahore. There he came in contact with a visiting Brahmo preacher who was also an admirer of Shri Ramakrishna, Kedarnath Chatterjee by name. What Kedar had told Williums about the Master is not on record but he made the long journey to Calcutta, the then capital city of India, in 1881 and on arrival there waited for an auspicious day for the visit to Dakhshineswar. This he did on Good Friday. He came, he saw and was conquered. Shri Ramakrishna was also greatly impressed by Williums' spiritual hunger and he asked him to come "twice more". On the second visit Williums, on arrival, saluted the Master and said: " Our Jesus performed so many miraculous acts. Would you show something for my benefit?" A smiling Shri Ramakrishna replied: "We shall see about that later. First you go and see my Mother Kali from a distance". Williums removed his shoes, went to the temple of Kali, looked inside and saw - not the image of the Goddess but of Jesus the Christ! Williums was so overwhelmed by Divine power that he virtually collapsed and sat down, while copious tears wet his shirt front. Then, saluting the image, still from a distance, he walked unsteadily to the Master's room. A still smiling Ramakrishna said: " Have you now realized that your Jesus and my Kali are one and the same?"

Several years later, Ramachandra Dutta, one of the principal householder devotees of the Master, who had been present at the time of the first visit of Williums to the Master, saw to his utter amazement that Williums was saluting the image of Siddheswari (Kali) at Thanthania (in Calcutta). On being questioned, Williums said:  " I saw Christ in the image. Shri Ramakrishna crushed my prejudice and has given me a new vision".

Saradananda in his Leelaprasanga has concluded the story of Williums thus: " The person.....came to the conclusion after paying only a few visits to the Master, that the Master was an incarnation of God and he renounced the world as per his instructions and engaged himself in sadhana at some place in the Himalayas to the north of Punjab, till his death".

The interested reader may consult  the articles by Shri Jyotirmoy Basu Roy in the Aswin 1391 (B.S.) number of Udbodhan and also " First meetings with Shri Ramakrishna" by Swami Prabadananda, for further details.

DEVAMATA

2. This story also relates to one born a Christian, a lady and indisputably white. Her American name need not concern us but she became Sister Devamata as a devotee of Shri Ramakrishna and she did the Master's work at the Vedanta Centre at California and for about two years in the Madras Math under the direct tutelage of Swami Ramakrishnananda, one of the direct disciples of the Master. Let the Sister tell her own story in her own words which I am extracting from an Article published in the February - March 1936 Number of the Vedanta Kesari, as a centenary tribute to the Master. She writes:

      The day is coming to a close.....what I write now I had thought to leave for ever unsaid. I shrink from setting on the printed page experiences so sacred and personal that I have never voiced them....

      Those who tell about divine manifestations are simple chroniclers, not makers of literature. Their duty is to preserve the tradition so that the mighty ones of God may live on in the hearts of men. This is my intent in giving out those visions; they were not psychic visions, they were not dreams. They were not imagination, nor was the Great One who came in them an apparition. He was a pulsating presence, a living personality....

If the Sears of Ancient India or the mystics of the Medieval Europe or all those who have seen or heard had locked their visions in the deep recesses of their hearts and kept them secret, the world would have been incalculably poorer.Even the witness of lesser devotees has value to strengthen the faith of men and lend them courage to go forward.

      So, now as the sun nears its setting, I break the silence of years and share this spiritual confidence of my life, in the hope that through it others may gain a deeper realization of the spiritual grandeur and boundless mercy of one of the greatest among the Great Ones who have come to earth as saviours of men.

     I had fled from the hurried life of New York to the calmer atmosphere of Boston and was spending my days in seclusion and silence. One afternoon as I sat alone in my living room troubling over my aimless future, suddenly two figures stood before me. The face of one shone with super earthly smile which seemed to shed an effulgence over his whole being. In quiet tones he spoke these words: " Do not grieve. You have work to do for me". Then both figures vanished but the sense of their presence lingered for many days. 

     In the early spring I returned to New York and soon after became a member of the Vedanta Society being put in charge of the Publishing Department. At that time books came out in rapid succession; my hours were very full and I was in frequent consultation with the head of work. One late afternoon, he called me to his private study to talk over a new publication. As I entered the room, my eyes fell upon a photograph hanging over the mantle. I stood still, transfixed. It was the figure I had seen in Boston. I walked quietly to the fireplace and asked, almost abruptly, "Of whom is this a picture?" the head of work replied "It is my Master, Shri Ramakrishna".

Sister Devamata has in the same article narrated several visions of Master that she had later. These would not however qualify as being miracles because they were bestowed on the devotee Devamata and what is so surprising about the darshan of the 'Ishta' by the 'Bhakta' ? The first darshan was indeed miraculous as at that time the Sister had no knowledge of the Master and the vision came as a call to her to do the Master's work which she did later so nobly. Unfortunately for us, she has not told is who the second figure was that she saw in the company of the Master. The article also does tell us who was the ' head of work' who's Master's photograph helped the Sister to identify the voice which called her to work.

RENU

3. This story is also one of the calls to action but of a male, an Indian and a Hindu. The main point of similarity with Devamata's story is that he also did not have a detailed knowledge of Shri Ramakrishna when the call came to do the Master's work, some sixty five years after the Master's passing away. Faniswar Nath 'Renu' was at the point of death in a Patna hospital when the story starts (1951-52). Till then he had mainly been a political activist and had been jailed in India and in Nepal. He had been awarded a Padmashree  by the government  of India and a pension by the government of Bihar, both of which he had surrendered. He had been smoking and drinking heavily and was drifting to his death, an embittered soul, when (to quote him): 

     " I re-live often the great moments in the hospital at that ecstatic time when I saw a figure like that of Shri Ramakrishna and he spoke to me! before that, photographs of Shri Ramakrishna did not evoke any feeling of veneration in my mind; on the other hand I had a feeling of hostility towards him. I knew practically nothing about him nor did I have any desire to learn anything. Vivekananda, I knew, was his disciple. But without bothering to find out what he had said or done I had developed a similar feeling of hostility towards Swamiji also. The Marxist's do usually consider men of God as if they are opium addicts or hemp-smokers! 

     (On that memorable day in the hospital) " after vomiting bucket fulls of blood I become cold with exhaustion. About half a dozen patients had already died in our (T.B.) ward that day. Electricity had failed, water taps had gone dry and ceiling fans had ceased to work. The spittle was like glue in my mouth and my tongue was stuck inside; breathing was becoming difficult, suffering as I was from a lung ailment but I was still conscious. Many of the patients in the ward were whimpering for a sip of water and though drowsy I could hear them and I could not avoid smelling the hellish odour that pervaded the ward. In my half sleep, I could sense someone bending over me and guessed it was the low caste attendant (dom), who removes the corpses, checking up whether I has ceased breathing before removing any valuables. Finding me stll alive the fellow leapt away. I put my hand under the pillow to check whether the watch and the pen were there. Then I lay down again with the hand under the pillow and tried my best to keep awake. 

      " It was then that a bearded person who looked as if he was crazy or had been smoking hemp, came near me still exuding some smoke. He smiled, exhaling the smoke in my direction and asked (in Hindi), " What makes you weep?" Then still smiling he spoke again, unexpectedly in Bengali, " You rascal why are you crying?" I replied, " I have left a lot of work incomplete and these now must remain so; I cannot also stand this life of confinement to a bed". The bearded one said, with biting irony, " Work! does the rascal think he was working for the country's salvation? He, serving the country! don't you realize that the people are fed up - . But you have a golden pen don't you? "Yes" I replied slightly ashamed, "a Parker - 51". " WHAT HAVE YOU WRITTEN SO FAR?", asked the bearded one. " Have you ever written my name with this pen? This rascal knows nothing yet", and with a laugh he continued,  " YOU ARE NO LONGER ILL; YOU ARE WELL, YOU ARE CURED. GET UP". Then he was there no more.

    " I opened my eyes wide and noticed the sunlight streaming on the Verandah of the hospital wall. I felt better. The fever which had been nagging me unabated for a year and a half that day came down for the first time by half a degree. Dr. Hord attending physician, examined me, and declared " the crisis is over".

     " The day after my release from hospital, I visited a book shop. The cover of a Bengali book attracted my attention- Param Purush Sri Sri Ramakrishna, written by Achintya Kumar Sen Gupta, cover design by Satyajit Ray ( not yet a film director). The photograph inside, as I turned the pages, completely unnerved me!  Yes, it was the same figure I had seen on that great occasion, six or seven months before.

     " I started consuming Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature like a starving person gobbling up his food. The more I read the more I wanted to read". 

Then it was that Fanishwar Nath, the political activict - cum- pamphleteer, sat before a portarait of Shri Ramakrishna to write his name with his 'golden' and pen and slowly, blossomed into 'Renu' the sahithyik. The interested reader may consult the article by Professor Sankari Prasad Basu in the Agrahayan 1394 (B.S.) number of Udbodan were he may learn for what specific work of his Ramakrishna gave a new lease of life to 'Renu' and how that life ended. Incidentally, 'Renu' means the minute, the insignificant particle. Would that we could be called to such insignificance!

Editors note ... to be continued.