God lived with them

[shubha...@hotmail.com]

Swami Abhedananda

Kali Prasad Chandra was born on Tuesday, 2 October 1866, at 21 Nimu Goswami Lane, Ahiritola, North Calcutta.

In June 1884 Kali went to Dakshineswar and met Sri Ramakrishna. In his autobiography, he describes their first meeting"

On Sunday morning I started for Dakshineswar by asking directions from people on the street. I crossed the Baghbazar bridge and walked north on the Barrackpore Trunk Road. It was quite a distance. I then asked a person on the road about the temple garden of Dakshineswar. He told me : " You have gone the wrong way. The Kali Temple is on the bank of the Ganges." Finally I reached the temple garden at eleven o'clock. When I asked about Sri Ramakrishna, a temple worker informed me that he had gone to Calcutta that morning. I was exhausted, having walked all that way barefoot in the sun. Disappointed, I sat on the steps of Sri Ramakrishna's northern veranda and wondered how could ever go back to Calcutta.I had no strength to walk back to Calcutta. I began to cry.

Just then another young man arrived and asked me about Sri Ramakrishna, and I told him that he had gone to Calcutta. We then talked and got acquainted with each other. On inquiry I learned that his name was Shashi. He advised me saying," Have a bath in the Ganges, take prasad, and then return to Calcutta after a rest." Shashi told me: " You should not return home without seeing the Master. Is there any certainty that such an opportunity will come again in your lifetime?