As a good shepherd knows his sheep by sight, so Ramakrishna recognized the intimate disciples who had been born to carry his message. As soon as he met one of them, he would lovingly say, “You belong to this place.” He would treat each of them as would a most loving father. Swami Saradananda writes: Shortly after the arrival of such a devotee the Master would call him aside, ask him to meditate, and then under the influence of divine inspiration he would touch certain parts of his body like the chest or the tongue. By that potent touch the devotee’s mind would become indrawn and sense objects would vanish from its perception. His accumulated impressions of the past would be activated and produce spiritual realization in him… . Besides touching the devotees in that way, the Master initiated some of them with mantras.
Niranjan was initiated by the Master with a mantram. He later described this experience:
I was then working in an office. One day I went to visit Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. He wrote a mantram on my tongue and asked me to repeat it. What an experience! After returning home, even when my eyes were closed, I began to see innumerable fireflies in my room. The mantram was vibrating in my head and in every limb of my body. I wanted to sleep, but I could not stop the repetition of japam. I had previously been unaware of this phenomenon. I became scared and thought that I would go out of my mind. After three days I returned to Dakshineswar and said to the Master, “Sir, what have you done to me?” After listening to my story, he laughed and withdrew the power of the mantram. He then said, “It is called ajapa japam [the repetition of japam effortlessly and unceasingly].”