On 13 April 1886 the younger Naren went to see the Master. That day three physicians came to examine the Master. M. recorded:
Dr. Haldar: “Sir, when that boy (pointing to the younger Naren) came in, you said he had controlled his passions.”
Master: “Yes, it is true. He is totally unaffected by worldliness. He says he doesn’t know what lust is. (To M.) Just feel my body. All the hair is standing on end.”
The Master’s hair actually stood on end at the thought of a pure mind totally devoid of lust. He always said that God manifests Himself where there is no lust.
There is a saying, “Inevitable are the decrees of fate.” Despite Sri Ramakrishna’s high opinion of the younger Naren, the young man had to marry and become a householder. We do not know exactly what happened. It is likely that his parents forced him to marry so that he would not become a monk by associating with the Master. Swami Saradananda wrote: “When a young devotee [the younger Naren] came to see him at the Cossipore garden house after his marriage, the Master grieved as if he had lost a son. He wept bitterly, throwing his arms around the boy’s neck and telling him repeatedly, ‘Try not to forget God and sink into the world completely.’”
Vaikuntha Nath Sanyal wrote in Sri Ramakrishna Lilamrita: “During his student life, the younger Naren came to the Master. While meditating on God, he would experience samadhi. The Master remarked: ‘This boy has reached a high state of spirituality. He will be a great yogi if he is not smitten by lust and gold.’ But fate decreed otherwise. The younger Naren married, but it was an unhappy marriage. Moreover, though he became an attorney, he could not make much money.” The Holy Mother also mentioned that the younger Naren later became entangled in worldly life.
Although the younger Naren became a householder, he kept in touch with the disciples of the Master and helped them. When Swami Vivekananda returned from the West and inaugurated the Ramakrishna Mission on 1 May 1897, Narendra Nath Mitra, attorney, became the first secretary of the organization. He also helped Sister Nivedita and other Western disciples of Vivekananda.
It is hard for ordinary people to fathom the mystery of the life of a great soul like the younger Naren. Why did Providence frown on him? Why did he fall from a high spiritual state to the mundane state? He received so many blessings from the Master; why did he stumble in his spiritual journey? What can we learn from what we know of his life? Perhaps the Master wanted to teach us the pitfalls of spiritual life through him: This path is very slippery. Be careful. Never be proud. Of course, nothing is lost. We read in the Chandi (I:55): “Verily, Mahamaya forcibly draws the minds of even the jnanis [the wise] and throws them into delusion.” But we also read in the Bhagavad Gita (9:31): “Proclaim it boldly, O son of Kunti, that My devotee never perishes.” There is no doubt that Sri Ramakrishna’s love, affection, and divine touch saved the younger Naren from maya. (Source: They Lived with God)
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