As Ramakrishna tested Narendra in various ways before accepting him as a disciple, so did Narendra test Ramakrishna before he accepted him as the guru. Narendra heard that the Master’s renunciation was so absolute that he could not bear the touch of money. One day Narendra arrived at Dakshineswar and found that the Master had gone to Calcutta. Suddenly he felt a desire to test the Master. He hid a rupee under the Master’s mattress and waited for him. The Master returned, but no sooner had he touched the bed than he drew back in pain, as if stung by a scorpion. The Master called a temple attendant to examine the bed, and the rupee was discovered. Narendra admitted that he had put the money there. The Master was not displeased at all. He said to Narendra: “You must test me as the money-changers test their coins. You mustn’t accept me until you’ve tested me thoroughly.” (Source: God Lived with Them)
Finally, after passing through all these hardships, Saradananda wanted to test whether the Master was with him or not. He thought: If anyone feeds me luchi (fried bread) and halua (farina pudding) tomorrow, I shall believe that the Master is with me.
The next morning Saradananda went alone to visit the village marketplace. All of a sudden, a shopkeeper called to him, “Hello, holy man, have some refreshment.” Saradananda replied: “I have two more companions. Please give me whatever you want, and I shall share with them.” “No, you eat first,” said the shopkeeper. “I shall arrange for them later.” The shopkeeper then served him hot fried bread and farina pudding. When Saradananda asked for food for his companions, the man refused to give anymore. Saradananda told the whole story to Turiyananda and Vaikuntha, and knew without a doubt that the Master was with him. (Source: God Lived with Them)
Throughout his life Jogin was a light sleeper. At midnight he woke up and found that the Master was not in his bed. He first checked the water pot which the Master used for washing and found it in its proper place. Then he thought that he might be walking outside, but could not find him there. Suddenly a terrible suspicion gripped his mind: “Has the Master gone to the nahabat [concert tower] to be with his wife? Can it be possible that his actions are contrary to his teachings?”
Determined to find out the truth without delay, Jogin went out of the room and stationed himself near the nahabat. But while he waited there and watched the door of the nahabat, he heard the clattering of slippers coming from the side of the Panchavati. Within a few minutes Sri Ramakrishna appeared in front of Jogin and asked, “Hello, why are you standing here?” Embarrassed, Jogin hung his head in shame for having doubted the Master and could not utter a single word. The Master understood everything from the expression on his face. Instead of taking offence, Sri Ramakrishna reassured Jogin: “Well, you are quite right — you must examine a sadhu [holy man] by day and by night before believing in him.” Though forgiven, Jogin could not sleep anymore that night. (Source: God Lived with Them)
Holy Mother recalled:
What an austere life they led at the Baranagore Monastery! Niranjan and others often starved themselves. They spent all their time in japam and meditation. One day they resolved among themselves: “Well, we have renounced everything in the name of Sri Ramakrishna. Let us see if he will supply us with food if we simply depend on him. Neither will we tell anyone about our wants, nor will we go out for alms.” Saying so, they covered themselves with their chadars [shawls] and sat down for meditation. The whole day passed. It was late at night. They heard someone knocking at the door. Naren left the seat and asked one of his brother monks: “Please open the door and see who is there. First, check if he has anything in his hand.” What a miracle! When the door was opened, they found a man had come from Lala Babu’s Krishna Temple near the Ganges with various delicacies in his hand. They were overjoyed and became convinced of the protecting hand of Sri Ramakrishna. They then offered that food to the Master and partook of the prasad. Such things happened many a time.
From Vrindaban, Subodhananda left for a pilgrimage in the Himalayas. He visited the holy shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath. While he was practising austerities in Hardwar, the following incident occurred:
I had been suffering from fever for two months. I was so weak that I could not lift my water pot to pour water into my mouth. One night when I went near the water pot to quench my thirst, I fell down on the floor unconscious. When I regained consciousness, my feelings were hurt and I cried: “Master, I am suffering terribly. There is none to look after me. You didn’t give me sufficient strength even to drink a glass of water by myself.” Thinking thus I fell asleep. Then I saw [in a dream or vision] the Master stroking my body with his hand, and he said: “Why are you anxious? Don’t you see I am always near you? What do you want — attendants or money?” I replied: “I don’t want either of those things. I can’t avoid disease as long as I have a body. May I never forget you: that is all I want. Be with me wherever I go.”
Early in the morning I heard a voice from outside, “Swami, please open the door.” I got up and opened the door. A young monk told me: “Please tell me what you need. I shall beg food for you.” I said to him, “I don’t want anything.” When I asked how he knew about me, he said that he had arrived there a couple of days earlier to perform a religious rite at the Brahmakunda. The previous night Mother Durga had appeared to him in a vision and said, “You will get more virtue by serving that sick monk in the cottage than by performing this religious rite.” So early in the morning he came to my cottage and realized that his vision was true. Tears trickled from my eyes. I controlled myself and asked the young monk to let me live alone.
On the same day another monk received fifty rupees by money order. He came to me and said: “You are suffering from fever. You need food and medicine. Please use this money.” I declined his offer. Early the next morning the young monk came again and told me that at night Mother Durga had exhorted him to serve me as before. Then I told him politely that I really didn’t need any service and that perhaps Mother Durga had asked him to serve someone else. The young monk left. Then I prayed to the Master: “Please don’t tempt me anymore. I am glad that you have crushed my pique.” The young monk also came on the third day, but never again. (Source: God Lived with Them)
Akhandananda went to Delhi. While sitting on a park bench one day, he thought, “If I meet a devotee of the Master, I shall go to his house; otherwise I shall pass the night here.” A Marwari gentleman was seated on the other side of the bench. Out of respect for a monk, he saluted Akhandananda and offered him some money, but Akhandananda would not touch it. Then the Marwari exclaimed, “I have seen only one great soul — Ramakrishna Paramahamsa of Dakshineswar — who completely renounced money.” When Akhandananda inquired, he said that he was Lakshminarayan Marwari. He had once offered ten thousand rupees to Sri Ramakrishna, but the Master had refused to accept it. Akhandananda was very happy to meet another devotee of the Master, and introduced himself to him. Then Lakshminarayan joyfully took the swami to his house. (Source: God Lived with Them)
As God tests the faith of mystics, so mystics also verify God’s grace. One day Turiyananda said to Brahmananda: “Today I shall not go out to beg for food. Let us see if Radha [the spiritual consort of Krishna and the goddess of Vrindaban] will feed us.” Both swamis passed the whole day and night in meditation, and the next morning a man brought various kinds of food for them. On another occasion, when they were practising austerities near Lake Kusum (a suburb of Vrindaban), Turiyananda received only a little dry bread from begging. Offering that to Brahmananda, he said: “Maharaj, the Master used to take such wonderful care of you. He would feed you with delicacies, and I am feeding you this dry, tasteless bread.” So saying, he burst into tears. (Source: God Lived with Them)
The swamis then went to Ayodhya, the birthplace of Ramachandra. They could not remain there long because of a famine. One day Turiyananda went to beg for food and was given some boiled kachu (an edible root). As soon as they had eaten their throats began to sting and burn, and gradually their mouths and tongues swelled. Seeing Brahmananda suffering, Turiyananda went out to find a lime, an antidote for the allergy. He found a lime grove, but he could not see any fruit on the trees. He sought out the owner of the grove but was told that the fruit was out of season. Passing the grove again, he keenly searched the trees, and he unexpectedly saw a lime. With the permission of the owner, he plucked the lime and ran back to Brahmananda with it. It immediately relieved his painful throat. That night Brahmananda lamented, addressing Ramakrishna: “Master, why did you take me from home if you could not provide a morsel of food? Tomorrow morning if I get hot khichuri [rice and lentils cooked together] and pickles, I shall understand that you are with me.”
The next morning the swamis went to bathe in the Saraju River. A monk arrived and said to Brahmananda: “Swami, I understand that both of you fasted yesterday. Please come to my cottage and have some prasad, which I offered to Lord Rama.” The monk served hot khichuri and pickles to the swamis. They greatly enjoyed the meal. The monk then said: “Blessed am I! For the last twenty-four years I have been practising sadhana here in order to have a vision or to hear the voice of Lord Rama. Today the Lord has blessed me.” Tears trickled from the monk’s eyes. At Brahmananda’s request, he elaborated: “While I was sleeping last night I saw that Lord Rama touched my body with his soft hand and said: ‘Get up! I am hungry. Cook khichuri and offer it to me. Tomorrow morning you will see two devotees bathing at the ghat of the Saraju River. They are fasting. Offer my prasad to them.’ It is by your grace that I had the vision of Lord Rama.” While returning to their cottage Brahmananda related to Turiyananda the mystery behind the incident. (Source: God Lived with Them)
Another day, touching the casket of Sri Ramakrishna’s relics, Vivekananda asked himself: “Does the Master really reside here? I must test it.” Then he prayed, “Master, if you are truly present here, bring here the Maharaja of Gwalior [who was then visiting Calcutta] within three days.” The next day Vivekananda left for Calcutta on some business. However, when he returned later that afternoon, he was told that the Maharaja of Gwalior had stopped there earlier. He had been passing by the Grand Trunk Road near the monastery in his car and had sent his younger brother to see if the swami was in. Since Vivekananda was not there, the Maharaja had gone away disappointed.
When Swamiji heard this news, he remembered his test. He immediately rushed to the shrine, and holding the urn of relics on his head, repeatedly said: “Master, you are true! You are true! You are true!” At that time Swami Premananda entered the shrine for meditation, and he was bewildered. Later Swamiji told Premananda and the monks about his test, and all marvelled at this proof of the Master’s presence in the shrine. (Source: God Lived with Them)
One day while Surendra was meditating in his shrine, an idea came to him. He decided to test Sri Ramakrishna’s divinity. He thought that if the Master appeared before him in the shrine, he would consider him to be an avatar. Strangely enough, Surendra clearly saw the Master three times in the shrine. All his doubts were dissolved. (Source: They Lived with God)
One day Balaram decided to test Sri Ramakrishna’s power of omniscience. As he carried a tray of sweets to the Master, he mentally selected two of them for the Master to take. Balaram was amazed when the Master smiled at him and took those very two sweets. (Source: They Lived with God)