The car goes towards Dakshineswar. It is about five in the afternoon. M. is sitting on the back seat to the right. To the left is the Doctor. Vinay and Jagabandhu are in front with the chauffeur.

The car goes toward Baranagore. To the left is the Cossipore cremation ground on the bank of Ganga. It was at this great holy place, that Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna’s physical body was consigned to the flames. M. joins his palms and offers his pranam to this spot with Thakur as his object. The car now goes further toward the north. Pointing to a spot to the left, he says that it is perhaps the Patbari of Bhagavata-Acharya. Pointing toward the bathing point on the tank, M. says, "This is a memorable spot. Many a days, drenched with perspiration while coming in the heat of the sun, I would rest here."

Bhagavata-Acharya is a disciple of Sri Chaitanya Deva.

The car enters the Baranagore Bazar, and then leaving it goes towards Alam Bazar. M. says, "I will show you the house in which I was staying when I first had Thakur’s darshan." The car moves on. M. says, "There, you see the house of Ishan Kavi Raj. He was the husband of my elder sister. He treated Thakur and was loved by him."

Now the car stops near the Alam Bazar Math. M. says, "Here is Alam Bazar Math." Swamiji was here after his return from America.

The doctor goes to buy some sandesh. The car starts again. Now, it stops at the main gate of the Dakshineswar Temple. M. says, "Let us go on foot now." The devotees say that it (car) could take them to the end. M. says, "But then, we will not be able to see all these spots." M. comes down from the car with a pair of slippers on his feet.

M. moves slowly towards the west. He has a loose sleeve war flannel shirt on his body. A Bhagalpuri cotton shawl is hanging on both of his shoulders. His dhoti is white bordered and he has black slippers on his feet. M. is walking, overcome with emotions. His mind is fixed within. He offers his pranam with folded hands to the Banyan tree at the Gazitala.

With the Kuthi to his left, he walks towards the north. He stops for a while near the Kuthi and seeing Mother Kali’s temple, offers pranams to Her joining his hands. Then, walking on the eastern bank of the Hanspukur towards east, he goes through the mango grove to the pond for sanitary washing. To the left of the M.’s path, three friends are cooking food in the garden ­ they are on a picnic today. M. says, "Good, what they are doing. They will have to stay here for a long time in connection with their forest meals. Thus, repeatedly seeing the garden, the tank, the ghat, the path, all, an impression will be formed on their minds. Later on, whenever they will recall this picnic, they will also remember Thakur and Mother Kali. Thakur used to get something like this done by the devotees, from time to time. If one has something to eat, it leaves a far greater impression on the mind. Thakur used to employ so many means to attract the mind to God. No sooner did the devotees arrive that he would give them something to eat. This would serve two objects, one they would remember this food. Mere instructions are forgotten. And two, without knowing they would develop love for Thakur. Their mind would tell them that they were dear to him. Otherwise, why should he have given them snacks? This memory would save them, instil courage in their mind when they would be struggling to save themselves from drowning in the sea of sansara.

"Every act of Thakur was a lesson to humanity ­ this, he himself said. There was nothing small or big in his acts ­ every one of them was holy and beneficial for all.

"Once, he sent a devotee to another in Calcutta in the Haritiki garden saying, ‘Go and tell him that he will succeed just by thinking upon me.’ He who was sent was fond of reasoning. So, he says in front of him itself, ‘Well Mother, have I done anything wrong by saying so? I see that you are present everywhere ­ in the body, mind, intellect, consciousness, I-sense and the fourteen elements, in all these.’ Tell me, is there another person like him? Absolutely Unique!"

Now M. walks on the Belatala, having walked northwards on the eastern bank of the Hanspukur. This is the spot of Thakur’s sadhana of the tantras. It was here that the Brahmin lady had established the panchamundi asana. Here, she made Thakur practice the sadhana of sixty eight tantras.

M. touches the Vilva tree with his hands from south over the vedi (altar). Then with the tree to his right, he begins to circumambulate. He lies on the ground to offer pranam in the middle of the eastern edge of the vedi. Once, Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna stood at this very place. M. was sitting facing east on the vedi meditating. It was all a jungle then ­ nothing was visible from outside. After his dhyana, M. was wonder-struck when he saw Thakur standing in front of him. It is a very great and invaluable wealth of the human life to be able to see standing in front, with physical eyes, him on whom one was meditating in the heart. Only, the very very fortunate can have such a divine opportunity. The scripture narrates that Narayana stood before the great devotee Dhruva in this way. M.’s face lit up with deep joy. Thrice, he went round the vedi. Then, sitting down in the north-eastern corner of the vedi, he began to meditate. Behind him is the Vilva tree. The devotees also meditate, the Doctor, Vinay and Jagabandhu.

On rising, they go towards the Panchavati. To the right of M. is Jhautala and then the Ganga. On the turning of the path to Jhautala, M. stops. He stands and gazes at the Ganga for a long time facing north west.

At Panchavati now. He takes off his shoes under the steps towards the north-west of the old vedi of the Banyan tree. Then, he offers pranam again and again, placing his head on the vedi of the third court i.e. some four arm lengths away from the northern step to the east. It was to its south on the vedi (raised platform) that Thakur used to meditate at the foot of the Banyan tree facing north. There, he had had the darshan of so many gods and goddesses and tasted the divine joy of their sight, touch and talk at the same spot. This spot is surcharged, awakened even today. In 1883, he asked M. to meditate for almost a month there. He said, "One has had so much darshan etc. here. You had better be there, it is full of inspiration." M. had his seat in the meditation hut of Thakur at the spot, so pure, so free, so awakened, so very alive of the Nirvikalpa samadhi of Thakur. M. was a poet. He wanted to establish a seat on the second level of the Nahabat so that he could have a good view of the Ganga. But Thakur did not approve of it. He said, "Panchavati is good, how much tapasya has been carried out there! How much darshan!" So, M. keeps on asking the devotees to practice tapasya there. He tells them, "The fire is ablaze there." He adds, "One should meditate in Panchavati or under the Vilva tree or in Thakur’s room or Mother Kali’s shrine or Nat Mandir ­ all these places. They are (surcharged) like a dry match stick."

Now, M. goes around it bare foot, silently, keeping the old vedica of the Banyan tree to his right. The devotees follow him. Standing in the middle of the western spot of the vedica, he touches it with forehead and offers his pranam. The Ganga is flowing behind M.

M. stands for sometime in the north-western corner of the vedica under the steps, facing south. In front of him, some devotees are doing some holy reading seated on the vedica of the Panchavati grown by Thakur himself. M. says to the devotees accompanying him "Please go and listen to them, I myself want to hear them."

M. puts on his shoes and proceeds towards the south and reaches the Panchavati grown by Thakur’s own hands. Thakur had grown five trees in this spot ­ the Banyan, the Ashwatha, the Vilva, the Neem and the Myrobalan. Only the Ashwatha tree has survived. However, the spot is still called the Panchavati. Earlier, it was known as the Vatatala.

The Vatatala and the Panchavati are famous for a number of reasons. In the future, men of the world will gather there for gaining peace. The Vatatala is not just famous as a spot of Thakur’s spiritual sadhana, there is more to it. Sri Ramakrishna would come and talk of God to bhaktas himself, seated on the vedi of the Vatatala, a number of times. Sri Ramakrishna also joined a number of times in the forest-feasts held on the land beautified by Crotons and evergreen foliage near to the Vata-vedica. It was to satisfy his wish that the bhaktas used to arrange these festivities and Thakur would sit with the bhaktas to partake of the food to add to their joy. M. has also made the bhaktas arrange for the feast in memory of Sri Bhagavan’s forest-food-lila and has joined himself increasing the joy of the bhaktas.

Once the bhaktas were to arrange the forest feast in the Kalibari. All the items for preparing food had been procured. The bhaktas had the desire that it should be cooked at the Vatatala, the holy spot of Thakur’s forest feast. But, the superintendent of the temple did not permit it. When M. was told about it, he wondered why the permission had been refused. Seeing the earnest keenness of M., the bhaktas went to Calcutta and told about it to Kiran Dutt, the receiver of the temple. He wrote to the superintendent rebuking him, "Let the revered Sri M. arrange it anywhere he likes and you people should clean that spot and help in every possible way." M. was very happy and he said, "Why should we arrange it there? Because the spot has become surcharged because the Lord himself arranged the joyous forest feast there along with bhaktas."

Dakshineswar is holy everywhere. But, for repeating the task that Thakur had performed there, the spots are especially surcharged. If one partakes of the forest feast in the same spot, the earlier joy would get revived and fill the minds of the bhaktas with joy of the lila. By replaying the earlier lila, a joy similar to it develops again. Besides, Thakur had experienced the pure joy of Brahman at the foot of the Vata tree, nearby. How often and in how many ways, he has tasted the joy of Parama-Brahman in so many forms. By celebrating this mixed forest feast near the holy, pure feast of joy, the former will also carry the influence of the latter. So, it should be celebrated at that very spot. Eating by itself is just a physical pleasure. So, the Vedas says, ishavasyamidam sarvam. The Veda asks one to cover all work, all thought and all places with God’s name. This is called sublimation, i.e. to say, joining of all thinking with God. But the work, thought and place which have been sublimated by God Himself coming down as an avatara, if repeated at the same spot, so easily bring union with the joy of Brahman to the mind and cover it with the joy.

M. comes with the devotees and offers his pranam prostrating himself on the ground at the root of Sri Thakur’s hand grown Ashwatha and touches the holy tree with his hand. To the east of this holy Ashwatha is situated Thakur’s meditation room. Earlier in Thakur’s time, this room was built with mud, now it is built with bricks. To the east and south, it has two windows and to the west a door. It was in this room that Thakur had attained the highest treasure of Vedanta, Nirvikalpa samadhi of the Vedanta under the care of Acharya Paramahansa Totapuri. There, he remained merged in the sea of joy for three days. M. touches the door and the steps of this hut with his hand and then brings it up to touch his forehead. Then he takes rounds of the hut having come down from the north of the veranda of the hut. To the east and south there are two windows. Having had the darshan of the inside of the room through these windows, M. comes to the foot of the Madhavi creeper. This spot is in the middle of the Ashwatha and the Vata-vedica (altar). This creeper was brought by Thakur from Vrindavan and was transplanted there with his own hands. Today it is no longer a creeper ­ it is almost a tree. The trunk of the creeper is now fat and round, some eighteen inches in circumference. Having divided itself into two branches four arm lengths above the trunk, it climbs some fifty feet and then like two hands the two branches lovingly embrace the Vata on one side and the Ashwatha on the other.

M. prostrates himself to offer his pranam at the foot of this holy creeper and then holds it in a tight embrace. Says he, "This Madhavi is very dear to us. Thakur has brought it up serving it like a mother. It bears the touch of his divine holy hand on its body. Blessed indeed is this tree which received so much of love, so much of darshan, so much of touch, so much of care and so much of concern in its early years as from a mother. Like Yamalarjuna, this creeper tree is also perhaps some saint in disguise. Its birth as a plant is blessed! The Veda says that man is born on the earth as a plant as a result of his Karmas: sthanumanyenusamyanti yathakarma yathashrutam."

In the Bhagavata, the twin trees Yamlarjuna are mentioned as the gatekeepers of Narayana in disguise, their names: Jai and Vijaya. It is said that Jagdish Chandra Bose, the great scientist of Bengal, took this sutra of the Veda as the basis and with the help of a very sensitive instrument proved that a tree also feels joy and grief, comfort and pain like a human being and he established that it is also a living entity. It has also proved the depth of the knowledge, its extent and greatness of the ancient Brahman-realised rishis ­ and it has also proved the veracity of the Vedas. Just as the rishis were experts in Brahman-Jnana, so were they experts in psychology and the science of atoms. Perhaps, the knowledge of atomic science of the ancients will one day join itself with psychology and reach the early premises of Brahmajnana. Only then our search of knowledge will be complete. It will result into a flood of peace and joy and bring back satyayuga.

M. says, "This Madhavi grove is also a great holy centre of pilgrimage for other reasons. Totapuri Maharaj, the naked Paramahansa, also made it his seat for eleven long months. He used to live there under the open sky having lighted a fire. Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna used to come here many times during the day and sit with the teacher for long periods to listen to Vedanta from him. Totapuri had reached Dakshineswar by divine command. One day, Thakur was clapping and singing at the spot: ‘The bee of my mind drinks deep at the lotus-like feet of Mother Shyama.’ Acharya Totapuri making fun of it said, ‘Why are you flattening the dough into a loaf?’

"Some days later, the same God-realised master hearing songs in praise of Mother of the universe from Thakur’s lips shed tears of joy. Why this firm sannyasin, the unique worshipper of the axiom ­ ‘Only Brahma is real, the world is only an illusion,’ he who had experienced the highest state of Vedanta in Nirvikalpa samadhi shed tears of love? Thakur had himself answered this question. He said to Mahimacharan Chakravarti, ‘The naked Totapuri knew what is here within.’ "

Mahimacharan did not believe in avatara. He was a follower of Advaita (Monism). He used to say that anybody can become Sri Ramakrishna if he had righteous acts to his credit. So, it was that Thakur held Totapuri as an example before him.

Acharya Puri recognised Sri Ramakrishna as an avatara later on. He did not stay at one place for more than three days and used to walk about naked. The only provisions he had was a jug of water, a chimta and a pot. However, this philosophical sannyasin could not leave Dakshineswar for any other place, though he tried to do so. Thakur would tell him, ‘‘You cannot leave this place till you have told me all about Vedanta. The Mother has told me so.’’ Once this hefty iron-bodied God-realised teacher began to suffer dysentery because of the climate of Bengal. And then, he tried to leave Dakshineswar but could not. He realised to some extent the work of this divine Maya. When he could no longer put up with his suffering, he tried to drown himself in the Ganga. The Veda says, "Giving up one’s body in this way by a jnani is not suicide ­ giving it up in a current of water or by entering a burning fire or by fasting or in mahaprasthan is not to be taken as suicide ­ veeradhvane va anashake va apaam praveshe va agnipraveshe va mahaprasthane va." Even today the jnani Mahatmas struck by disease give up their bodies by drowning themselves in the Ganga in their old age. So, making this resolve, Totapuri also entered into water midstream in the Ganga. M. says that during those days, a sand island used to form itself in front of the Kali temple at the ebb time. When Totapuri reached there, some unknown power broke this resolve of his. Another belief is that at that time, the whole of the Ganga had knee deep water. Let it be what it may, Totapuri could realise the work of the divine Maya. Though, he showed sympathy to his guru in a worldly way, in the spiritual sense Thakur resolved to make Totapuri realise that both Brahman and the jagat (world) are real. Totapuri was a philosopher and one having attained the knowledge of Advaita. Yet, in spite of his Brahmajnana that God inhered all brahmaveda brahmaiva bhavati (Knower of Brahman becomes Brahman himself), he was not aware that so long as one was in a body one was subject to Maya. One merges himself in the Nirvikalpa samadhi and realises Brahman by way of reasoning that only Brahman is real and the Universe an illusion (brahma satya jagat mithya), or by realising, ‘I am Brahman ­ aham brahmasmi’. It is then that world looses its reality. Sri Ramakrishna asked Totapuri who had established himself in this thought and in this knowledge, ‘‘What has happened to you?’’ The teacher replied, ‘‘Dysentery.’’ ‘‘How many motions did you have?’’ asked Thakur. Acharya Totapuri said, ‘‘Fifty times.’’ Then, Sri Ramakrishna, the disciple taking up the mantle of a guru said to Totapuri in a firm, solemn voice, ‘‘If you have dysentery, you have to accept the Mother of the Universe.’’ A new jnana dawned on Totapuri, that ‘‘Brahman is real as also the world.’’ The teacher had become the disciple. He became aware that Sri Ramakrishna was not merely a knower of Brahman but also an avatara. It was because of this knowledge that Totapuri began to shed tears on hearing Thakur sing, though he did not know the meaning of the song. Totapuri who on the first day ran down Mother Kali saying, ‘‘I say this is only Prakriti and Prakriti is an illusion,’’ he who had said, "Why are you flattening bread?’’ on hearing Thakur clapping and singing the Mother’s praise, this very Totapuri worshipped Mahamaya today. He understood that the Shakti of Brahman is real, that Brahman and his Shakti are indivisible. And he understood also that Sri Ramakrishna, his disciple, was an incarnation of God. That is why, Thakur had said to Mahimacharan, "The naked one knew what was within this (Sri Ramakrishna).’’

The platform of Hanspukur. M. having become tired is seated on the western stone bench some two and a quarter arm lengths away in its south, facing east. Before he sat down he offered pranam by touching the middle of the northern part of the platform with both of his hands and bringing them up to touch his forehead. It was at this spot that Thakur used to stand daily, while some bhaktas would go down to the ghat and bring him water in a jug. Thakur used this water for sanitary purposes ­ he would not use the Ganga water for it. He would say, "Ganga water is Brahman-water." M. narrates, "One day Thakur was standing on the platform. Narendra brought a jug full of water for him from the tank. Thakur said to him, ‘One should come more frequently in the initial days of love as a lover does during his first days of love with his beloved.’ "

M. rises after resting for a while and returns to the Panchavati via the south-western corner of the tank and proceeds towards the Ganga passing in between the Ashwatha and the Banyan trees. Then he goes to the south. In front of him is the Bakul tree. It is an old tree of Thakur’s time. To the west of it there is the Bakul Tala ghat. M. offers his pranam in the middle of the steps on the ghat. He says, "It was at this ghat that the antarjali ceremony of Thakur’s mother Chandramani Devi before her passing away was done. The mother was lying on the cot. Two of the legs of the cot were placed inside the Ganga water and the other two on the dry land above on the ghat. Holding his mother’s leg Thakur said, ‘Mother, who are you that you kept this body in your belly?’ In other words, she was no ordinary mother. She was like Kaushalya, Devaki, Mayadevi, Mary and Shachidevi."

It was also at this ghat that our Holy Mother used to take her bath daily at three before dawn. Then, she would enter the Nahabat and perform japa and dhyana and also cook Thakur’s food. It was also on the southern embankment of this ghat that Narendra sang an agamani song for Thakur which he had newly learnt. Thakur was seated on a brick bench towards north one day absorbed in bhavasamadhi. M. and the other bhaktas offer Him pranam. To the north of the bench. M. has darshan of the Ganga facing east. It is high tide now ­ Mother Ganga, the redeemer of fallen, is in flood. M. stood there for a while as if gazing at something in wonder. A little later he says, "How beautiful Ganga looks today! Just see, Mother, why did you kill one hundred and fifty sadhus in Rishikesh?" Some two months ago, a hundred and fifty tapasvi sadhus were carried away by the flood tide of Ganga. Some say that two hundred and fifty sadhus perished then.

Now M. stands below the steps of the Nahabat to the south. Touching the steps with both hands, he brings the holy dust of the spot to his forehead. He says, "It is by these steps that Thakur, the Holy Mother and the devotees used to enter the Nahabat." Now, he climbs up the smaller veranda of the Nahabat. The door of the Holy Mother’s room downstairs in Nahabat is shut. As soon as M. pushes the door which was unlocked, it opens and Buddhiram comes out with the joy and wonder on his face and prostrates before M. Every body laughs full of joy. M. also says with joy and wonder, "Very good! How a sadhu has appeared!" Antevasi says, "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." (Everybody laughs loudly.) Buddhiram and Gadadhar are practising tapasya for some days here.

This Nahabat Peetha is the new Shakti Peetha ­ the spot of the Holy Mother’s tapa. The Holy Mother lived here for a long time. There was a mat curtain round the veranda. The room is about six by six arm lengths. Here, the Holy Mother used to live like a bird in a cage. Not only was she there, but there were also her attendants ­ Golap Ma, Yogin Ma and Laxmi Didi living there with her. Sometimes Gauri Ma would also come here to live. Besides, the articles for the use of Thakur were also stored here. The Mother used to carry out japa on the steps of the first storey. The modern man is amazed when he sees this room. They wonder how a human being can live in such a small room. Add to it that the mother had so many devotee companions. Why did the Holy Mother live here? To serve Thakur, isn’t it? The mother used to live here to serve Thakur sacrificing all her comfort. The Holy Mother, the picture of modesty, used to enter this room after finishing her toilet etc. and her bath in the Ganga at three o’ clock in the morning and would leave it the next night at three before dawn to have her toilet and so on. Imagine answering the call of nature once in twenty four hours! What will the authorities on health say about it? But if one’s ideal is to serve the Lord, anything is possible. Our Mother, so unique in the service, patience and forbearance!