One day Girish surrendered himself completely to the Master. He asked him for instruction as to what he should do from then on. “Do just what you are doing now,” said Sri Ramakrishna. “Hold on to God with one hand and to the world with the other. Think of God at least in the morning and evening.” This sounded simple to Girish; but then he recalled that his life was so irregular that it would be hard for him to remember God at those stated hours, so he kept quiet. Sri Ramakrishna read his mind and said, “Well, if you cannot do that, then remember God before you eat and before you sleep.” But now Girish was reluctant to promise anything to Sri Ramakrishna. He knew that, with his instinctive resistance to self-discipline and rules, he might not be able to keep even this simple observance. Then Sri Ramakrishna went into an ecstatic mood and said to him: “So you are unwilling to agree even to this. All right. Give me your power of attorney. Henceforth I will take full responsibility for you. You won’t have to do anything at all.”
Girish was relieved. This sounded to his liking, for he understood that Sri Ramakrishna had relieved him of all responsibility for his own spiritual well-being and had made him free. But, in fact, he had made himself Sri Ramakrishna’s slave. Complete self-surrender is more binding than the observance of strict disciplines. One day, soon after this, Girish remarked in Sri Ramakrishna’s presence, “I shall do this.” “No, no,” corrected Sri Ramakrishna. “You can’t talk like that anymore. Say, ‘I shall do this if God wills.’”36 Girish began to understand the mystery of the power of attorney. As time passed he came to realize that he could no longer perform any action of his own free will. He had to consciously surrender to the Divine Will, and gradually he found that he was forced to think of the Master every moment. In the later part of his life he would say: “Look at me. I am not even free to breathe.” (Source: They Lived with God)