Niranjanananda’s character was a mixture of tenderness and sternness. He was an unattached monk and his love for truth was uncompromising. Once a rich man of Calcutta built a Shiva temple in Varanasi, ostensibly to acquire merit. When Vivekananda heard about it, he remarked, “If he would do something to relieve the suffering of the poor, then he would acquire the merit of building a thousand such temples.” When Swamiji’s statement reached the rich man, he offered a generous donation to the Ramakrishna Mission Home of Service at Varanasi, in a nucleus state at that time. But later, as the rich man’s initial enthusiasm waned, he decided to reduce the sum he had originally offered. This breach of promise so offended Niranjanananda’s regard for truth that he rejected the offer altogether, even though he knew it would cause great hardship for the institution.