Striking Incidents at Dakshineshwar
Chapter V – Striking Incidents at Dakshineshwar
Rani Rasmani was greatly attracted to Sri Ramakrishna, for she felt that his strange behaviour bespoke the fullness of devotion rather than any mental derangement. One day she came to Dakshineswar and entered the temple, after bathing in the Ganga, and sat in meditation. She later requested Sri Ramakrishna to sing some songs to the Mother. Slowly the music arose from the heart of the devotee; like a fountain of heavenly bliss it bathed his whole being with ecstasy. After a time, the Rani began thinking of some important lawsuit. Noticing her inattentiveness, Sri Ramakrishna gave her a sharp rebuke. At this, the Rani’s heart was filled with remorse that worldly thoughts could so influence her mind as to turn it away from the divine bliss which the young priest was showering on her. Rasmani retired to her room. When her attendants complained of Sri Ramakrishna’s insolence towards her, she answered, “You do not understand; the Divine Mother Herself punished me and thus illumined my heart.”
Sri Ramakrishna had a catholic spirit from the very beginning. He made no distinction between one form of God and another. The realisation of one aspect of the Reality inspired him to take up another and to follow it with unflinching devotion till that aspect of Truth revealed itself.
He now felt a strong urge to realise Sri Rama, who is an Incarnation of the Lord Himself. He therefore took upon himself ‘Dasya Bhava’ (faithful servant towards the master), the task of reproducing as faithfully as possible the attitude of Hanuman towards Rama.
At the end of this Sadhana (spiritual endeavour) he had a wonderful vision, so exceedingly vivid and so different from any of his previous ones that it remained long in his memory. One day while he was seated in the Panchavati garden, a luminous female figure of exquisite grace slowly advanced from the north towards him. He described this experience thus:
“Looking graciously at me, that goddess-woman was advancing from north to south towards me with a slow, grave gait. I wondered who she might be, when a black-faced monkey came suddenly, no-body knew whence, and sat at her feet and someone within my mind exclaimed, ‘Sita, Sita who was all sorrow all her life, Sita the daughter of King Janaka, Sita to whom Rama was her very life!’ Saying ‘Mother’ repeatedly I was then going to fling myself at her feet, when she came quickly and entered this (showing His own body). Overwhelmed with joy and wonder, I lost all consciousness and fell down. Before that, I had had no vision in that manner without meditating or thinking. That was the first vision of that kind.”