Swami Saradananda wrote: “Every one of the Master’s devotees has seen to a greater or lesser degree the coexistence of masculine and feminine moods in him. Once Girish experienced this and boldly asked, ‘Sir, are you a man or a woman?’ The Master replied with a smile, ‘I don’t know.'”
During his sadhana of madhura bhava (in the attitude of a lover for the beloved) the Master dressed like a woman. Hriday said: “When the Master was surrounded by ladies, it was hard for even his closest relatives to recognize him immediately. One day during that time Mathur took me to the women’s quarters at his Janbazar house and said, ‘Can you tell me which of them is your uncle?’ And although I had been living with him for so long and serving him daily, I could not recognize him at first.”
During the Durga Puja at Janbazar, the Master was fanning the Divine Mother and Mathur did not recognize him at all. When Mathur’s wife later told him that that person was the Master, he was dumbfounded. He said: “This is why I say that even in trifling matters no one can know the Father if he doesn’t allow himself to be known. Look, I live with the Father twenty-four hours a day, and still I did not recognize him!”
Mahendra Datta wrote: “Once some actresses visited the Master at Dakshineswar. They entertained the Master by acting in the roles of Sita and Savitri. The Master also entertained them by acting as a woman kirtan singer in the role of an envoy between Radha and Krishna. He mimicked those woman singers: how they raise their big nose rings and spit after chewing betel leaves, how they move their hands, their necks, and their heads. Amazed, the actresses said: ‘Being a monk, how does he know all these women’s gestures!'”
Later, the Master told the devotees about his experience of Purusha and Prakriti: “Oh, what a state I passed through! I passed some days absorbed in Shiva and Durga, some days absorbed in Radha and Krishna, and some days absorbed in Sita and Rama. Assuming Radha’s attitude, I would cry for Krishna; and assuming Sita’s attitude, I would cry for Rama. I would meditate day and night on Sita and Rama. At those times I would constantly behold the forms of Sita and Rama. Again I used to be absorbed in the ideal of Radha and Krishna the harmonization of two ideals: the Purusha and Prakriti.”
Atul Chandra Ghosh saw the united form of Radha and Krishna in Sri Ramakrishna. Akshay Kumar Sen described this episode in his book Sri Ramakrishna Punthi. Swami Abhedananda wrote in his autobiography:
Atul, Girish’s brother, was a great devotee of the Master. He could ascertain the condition of a patient by checking his pulse. For that reason, the Master would sometimes call for him. Once at 10:00 p.m., he [Atul] came from Baghbazar and found that the gate of the Cossipore garden house was closed. He knocked at the gate many times but got no response. Still he continued knocking. At last Brother Gopal heard the sound and opened the gate. Atul went upstairs to see the Master.
There he saw that Shashi was fanning the Master and Latu was sleeping on the other side of the room. Seeing Atul, Shashi handed the fan to him and went downstairs to rest. The Master was then sleeping, covered by a shawl.
After a while, Atul had a wonderful vision: He saw Krishna on the right half of the Master’s body and Radha on the left half. Seeing this united form in the Master, Atul thought that it was a hallucination. In the meantime, Sharat entered the room to serve the Master. Then the Master turned his face to Atul and asked: “Hello, how long have you been here? You go downstairs now and take some rest. Sharat will be with me.” Amazed, Atul went downstairs. He never forgot that united form appearing in the Master.”
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