One day a holy man was on his way to visit the Divine Mother at Kalighat, in South Calcutta, when he was stopped by an old woman who wanted to pay her respects to him. Gauri-ma, who was then nine years old, was playing nearby with some other girls. When she saw that holy man, she felt an irresistible attraction and rushed over to him and bowed down. The holy man asked: “Your friends are playing and you have come to me. Why?” Gauri-ma replied: “Oh, they love to play that way, but I don’t like it. I felt an attraction in my heart, so I came to you.” The holy man touched the little girl’s head and blessed her, saying, “May you attain devotion to Krishna.”
Later, Gauri-ma found out from the old woman, who happened to be their neighbour, that this holy man had an ashrama at Nimta, in Belgharia, ten miles north of Calcutta. Without saying anything to her parents, Gauri-ma left home and through inquiry found the way there. The holy man was meditating inside his cottage when she arrived, so she waited. After some time he received her cordially and arranged for her to stay in a neighbour’s house. The next day was Raspurnima, the full moon night of autumn when Krishna played with the gopis. The holy man asked Gauri-ma to bathe in the Ganges, and when she returned he initiated her. Meanwhile, her absence from home had been discovered and there was a terrible commotion. Her brother found out from the old neighbour woman that she had gone to Nimta, so he immediately went to bring her back. When he arrived the holy man told him: “Please don’t scold her. She is just a little girl. It is hard to keep a yellow bird in a cage.” Gauri-ma then returned home with the consent of her guru. (Source: They Lived with God)