Jogin later described his mental condition: “As soon as I married, the thought came to me that the hope of God-realization was now a mockery. Why should I go to the Master, whose very first teaching was the renunciation of lust and gold? I have ruined my life because of the tenderness of my heart. It cannot be reversed. The sooner I die the better for me. I used to visit the Master daily; but after this event, I stopped going to him altogether and spent my days in utter despair and repentance.”
Such news travels fast. Sri Ramakrishna heard about Jogin’s marriage and was anxious to see him; he sent for him repeatedly, but Jogin did not come. Everyone said that he had changed since his marriage and that he would not even mention Sri Ramakrishna’s name. As Jogin disregarded his repeated summons, the Master hit upon a plan. He knew that before Jogin’s marriage, a man from the Kali Temple had given Jogin a few rupees to buy some articles for him. Jogin had sent the articles to the man through a friend, and sent word also that he would soon return the balance of the money. The Master therefore sent this message to Jogin: “What sort of man are you? A man gave you money to buy certain articles, and you have neither returned the balance nor even sent word when you will return it!”
These words touched Jogin’s pride and he was grievously wounded. He thought: “The Master considers me to be a cheat even after such a long association! Well, I’ll go there today and somehow put an end to the quarrel, and afterwards I will never again turn my steps towards the Kali Temple.” In the afternoon, Jogin went to the Kali Temple. He saw from a distance that the Master was standing outside his room, as if in ecstasy, with his cloth under his arm. As soon as he saw Jogin he came forward quickly, saying: “What if you are married? Haven’t I too been married? What is there to be afraid of in that? If you have the grace of this place [meaning himself], even a hundred thousand marriages will be powerless to affect you. If you want to live a family life and realize God at the same time, bring your wife here once. I will make both of you fit for that. And if you want to renounce worldly life and attain God, I’ll make that also possible for you.”
Jogin was stupefied. What was this that he had heard? Was it possible? He felt himself suddenly transported from a region of utter despair to one bright with hope. Was this why the Master had accused him — just to make him come to see him? A dead weight was lifted from his heart and he breathed freely again. Jogin bowed down to the Master with tearful eyes. Then the Master, taking Jogin’s hand, escorted him to his room. When Jogin referred to the payment of the balance of the money, the Master would not even listen.
The spiritual relationship between the Master and the disciple was reestablished. Ramakrishna reinforced Jogin’s spirit of renunciation and the cloud of maya that had been hovering in Jogin’s mind disappeared. He began once more to spend time with the Master.
Jogin felt a little guilty because of his behaviour towards his wife and he wanted to do something for her. One day he said to the Master: “Sir, you taught me how to overcome lust. Could you do something for my young wife? What will she do the rest of her life?” Sri Ramakrishna replied with assurance: “Don’t worry about your wife. Bring her here once either on Tuesday or Saturday [days considered to be auspicious for worship of the Divine Mother] and the Divine Mother will grant what is right for her.” Accordingly, Jogin took his wife to the Master, who accompanied them to the Kali Temple. Jogin and his wife bowed down before the Divine Mother. The Master blessed Jogin’s wife, touching her head. He then said to Jogin, “You will not have to worry about her anymore.” Jogin realized that the Master had taken on the responsibility of his wife and relieved him of it forever.