One day, soon after she arrived, Balaram said to Gauri-ma: “Sister, let us go to visit Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. You have never seen such a wonderful holy man. He goes into samadhi every now and then. If you do not see him, you will certainly miss something in your life.” Gauri-ma smiled and replied: “I have seen many monks in my life, and I have no desire to see another. If your holy man has real power, then let him pull me.”
The pull came at last in a mysterious way. One morning Gauri-ma began her daily ritual to the deity. She first bathed the stone image of Vishnu and then was about to place it on the altar when she saw two live human feet there, without a body. At first she thought that it was an optical illusion, but observing carefully, again and again, she saw only those two human feet. Gauri-ma was frightened. The hair on her body stood on end, and her hands started trembling so much that she dropped the image. She then lost consciousness and fell to the floor. After a few hours Balaram’s wife learned that Gauri-ma was lying unconscious, so she went to her. Although she called her repeatedly, she could get no response. Then Balaram came there and realized that Gauri-ma was in samadhi. Sometime later Gauri-ma regained a little outward consciousness and pointed to her heart. She felt that somebody had tied a string to her heart and was pulling it. She passed the whole day and night in a semiconscious state.
The next morning Gauri-ma tried to leave without telling anyone, but the gatekeeper stopped her. Just then Balaram arrived and asked her: “Where do you want to go? Sister, would you like to meet the Master in Dakshineswar?” Although Gauri-ma did not answer, Balaram understood that her silence meant assent. He immediately ordered the coachman to get the carriage ready, and they left for Dakshineswar with Balaram’s wife and some other women. When they arrived, they found Sri Ramakrishna seated in his room, winding thread around a stick and singing:
O Mother, for Yashoda Thou wouldst dance,
When she called Thee her precious “Blue Jewel”:
Where hast Thou hidden that lovely form,
O terrible Shyama?
Dance that way once for me, O Mother!
Immediately after their arrival, Sri Ramakrishna finished winding the thread and cordially received them. Gauri-ma understood that Sri Ramakrishna had attracted her heart, which he had indicated by winding the thread. Then when she bowed down to the Master, she saw the same two feet that she had seen the previous day on the altar. She was overwhelmed with joy and astonishment. Sri Ramakrishna just smiled. He asked Balaram about Gauri-ma, and then he talked to them about spiritual life. While seeing them off, the Master said to Gauri-ma, “Come again.”
The next day, after bathing in the Ganges, Gauri-ma went to Dakshineswar with two pieces of cloth and her inseparable companion, Lord Vishnu. As soon as she entered the Master’s room he said, “I was thinking of you.” Gauri-ma told him about herself and about her recent vision of the Master’s feet on the altar. “Father,” she said, “I did not know that you were hidden here.” The Master smiled and said, “If you had met me earlier, would you have practised so much austerity?”13 Sri Ramakrishna then took Gauri-ma to the nahabat and introduced her to the Holy Mother, saying: “Hello, you were looking for a companion. Here is one for you.” After this Gauri-ma lived at Dakshineswar whenever the Holy Mother was there. When the Holy Mother had to go to her village home, Gauri-ma stayed at Balaram’s house. Gauri-ma would sometimes cook for the Master, and once in a while she would sing for him in her melodious voice. Sri Ramakrishna had a very high opinion of her and once said, “Gauri is a perfect soul — a gopi of Vrindaban.” (Source: They Lived with God)
As Gauri-ma grew older her body began to fail, but she passed her days in various kinds of spiritual moods. One day she told two nuns, “Look, I shall go to Vrindaban, so don’t cry for me.”41 At this time if anyone asked any mundane questions, she told them: “Don’t talk to me about the world anymore. Talk only about the Master so that I will get joy and you will attain blessedness.” Neither attachment nor delusion nor fear of death could touch Gauri-ma. She was absorbed in the bliss of the Self.
On Monday, 28 February 1938, the day of Shiva-ratri (the spring festival of Lord Shiva), Gauri-ma announced, “The Master is pulling the string.” In the afternoon she began to prepare herself for her final departure, and she asked her students to help her get dressed. She put on a silk sari and shawl, and a flower garland was placed around her neck. She indicated that her chariot was coming. That night she talked to her assistant, Durga Devi, about the forthcoming festival of the Master and advised her to follow the tradition.
The next morning, Tuesday, 1 March 1938, Gauri-ma handed over her beloved image of Vishnu to Durga Devi. She then felt relieved. She was quite cheerful the whole day and talked frequently about the Master. That evening she uttered aloud three times, “Guru Sri Ramakrishna,” and then started repeating her mantra silently. At 8:15 p.m. Gauri-ma passed away. Her body was cremated the next day at the Cossipore cremation ground, where the body of her beloved guru, Sri Ramakrishna, had also been cremated. (Source: They Lived with God)