Chapter-4. ADVICE TO HOUSEHOLDERS-30. Sri Ramakrishna

06/05/2018
Master's ecstasy at Vrindavan :

"But one undoubtedly finds inspiration in a holy place.  I accompanied Mathur Babu to Vrindavan.  Hriday and the ladies of Mathur's family were in our party.  No sooner did I see the Kaliyadaman Ghat than a divine emotion surged up within me.  I was completely overwhelmed.  Hriday used to bathe me there as if I were a small child.
"In the dusk I would walk on the bank of the Jamuna when the cattle returned along the sandy banks from their pastures.  At the very sight of those cows the thought of Krishna would flash in my mind.  I would run along like a madman, crying: 'Oh, where is Krishna? Where is my Krishna?'

"I went to Syamakunda and Radhakunda in a palanquin and got out to visit the holy Mount Govardhan.  At the very sight of the mount I was overpowered with divine emotion and ran to the top.  I lost all consciousness of the world around me.  The residents of the place helped me to come down.  On my way to the sacred pools of Syamakunda and Radhakunda, when I saw the meadows, the trees, the shrubs, the birds, and the deer, I was overcome with ecstasy.  My clothes became wet with tears.  I said: 'O Krishna! Everything here is as it was in the olden days.  You alone are absent.' Seated inside the palanquin I lost all power of speech.  Hriday followed the palanquin.  He had warned the bearers to be careful about me.

"Gangamayi became very fond of me in Vrindavan.  She was an old woman who lived all alone in a hut near the Nidhuvan.  Referring to my spiritual condition and ecstasy, she said, 'He is the very embodiment of Radha.' She addressed me as 'Dulali'.  When with her, I used to forget my food and drink, my bath, and all thought of going home.  On some days Hriday used to bring food from home and feed me.  Gangamayi also would serve me with food prepared by her own hands.

"Gangamayi used to experience trances.  At such times a great crowd would come to see her.  One day, in a state of ecstasy, she climbed on Hriday's shoulders.

"I didn't want to leave her and return to Calcutta.  Everything was arranged for me to stay with her.  I was to eat double-boiled rice, and we were to have our beds on either side of the cottage.  All the arrangements had been made, when Hriday said: 'You have such a weak stomach.  Who will look after you?' 'Why,' said Gangamayi, 'I shall look after him.  I'll nurse him.' As Hriday dragged me by one hand and she by the other, I remembered my mother, who was then living alone here in the nahabat of temple garden.  I found it impossible to stay away from her, and said to Gangamayi, 'No, I must go.' I loved the atmosphere of Vrindavan."

About eleven o'clock the Master took his meal, the offerings from temple of Kali.  After taking his noonday rest he resumed his conversation with the devotees.  Every now and then he uttered the holy word "Om" or repeated the sacred names of the deities.

After sunset the evening worship was performed in the temples.  Since it was the day of Vijaya, the devotees first saluted the Divine Mother and then took the dust of the Master's feet.

To be continued ..