God lived with them

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Swami Advaitananda

Sri Ramakrishna made his life a role model for his disciples to follow. . Gopal tried very hard to follow the ideal the Master set for them. Even his brother disciples praised his sincerity, love, and steadfast dedication to the Master. One day he heard the Master say," Never tell a lie - even jokingly or casually." Gopal followed his teaching to the letter and encouraged others to do the same. Once  a doctor prescribed the juice of three lemons for the Master's upset stomach, and Gopal was entrusted to collect them. Instead of only three he brought several additional lemons, but the Master accepted only three and asked him to return the extras. Gopal realized that the Master was an embodiment of truth and his speech and action were always congruous.

Every year during makar-sankranti , monks and pilgrims from all over India go to Gangasagar, the confluence of the Ganges and the Bay of Bengal, for a holy bath. Many pilgrims go by boat from the Jagannath ghat of Calcutta. Gopal had a little money and wanted to acquire virtue by offering cloths to holy people on that auspicious day; so he bought twelve pieces of cloth and twelve rosaries of rudraksha beads to distribute among the monks. He dyed the cloths in the ochre colour himself. When the Master heard about it, he said to Gopal:" You will attain a thousand times more virtue if you present those ochre cloths and rosaries to my children rather than giving them to the monks of Jagannath ghat. Where else will you find such all-renouncing monks? Each of them is equal to a thousand monks." This changed Gopal's mind.