Ramakrishna loved Narendranath because he saw him as the embodiment of Narayana,the Divine Spirit, undefiled by the foul breath of the world. But he was criticized forhis attachment. Once a trouble-maker of twisted mind named Hazra, who lived withthe Master at Dakshineswar, said to him, 'If you long for Naren and the otheryoungsters all the time, when will you think of God?' The Master was distressed bythis thought. But it was at once revealed to him that though God dwelt in all beings, Hewas especially manifest in a pure soul like Naren. Relieved of his worries, he then said:'Oh, what a fool Hazra is! How he unsettled my mind! But why blame the poor fellow?How could he know?'Sri Ramakrishna was outspoken in Narendra's praise. This often embarrassed theyoung disciple, who would criticize the Master for what he termed a sort of infatuation.One day Ramakrishna spoke highly of Keshab Sen and the saintly Vijay Goswami, thetwo outstanding leaders of the Brahmo Samaj. Then he added: 'If Keshab possessesone virtue which has made him world-famous, Naren is endowed with eighteen suchvirtues. I have seen in Keshab and Vijay the divine light burning like a candle flame,but in Naren it shines with the radiance of the sun.'Narendra, instead of feeling flattered by these compliments, became annoyed andsharply rebuked the Master for what he regarded as his foolhardiness. 'I cannot help it,'the Master protested. 'Do you think these are my words? The Divine Mother showedme certain things about you, which I repeated. And She reveals to me nothing but thetruth.'But Naren was hardly convinced. He was sure that these so-called revelations werepure illusions. He carefully explained to Sri Ramakrishna that, from the viewpoint ofWestern science and philosophy, very often a man was deceived by his mind, and thatthe chances of deception were greater when a personal attachment was involved. Hesaid to the Master, 'Since you love me and wish to see me great, these fancies naturallycome to your mind.'The Master was perplexed. He prayed to the Divine Mother for light and was told:'Why do you care about what he says? In a short time he will accept your every wordas true.'On another occasion, when the Master was similarly reprimanded by the disciple, hewas reassured by the Divine Mother. Thereupon he said to Naren with a smile: 'Youare a rogue. I won't listen to you any more. Mother says that I love you because I seethe Lord in you. The day I shall not see Him in you, I shall not be able to bear even thesight of you.'On account of his preoccupation with his studies, or for other reasons, Narendra couldnot come to Dakshineswar as often as Sri Ramakrishna wished. But the Master couldhardly endure his prolonged absence. If the disciple had not visited him for a n

umberof days, he would send someone to Calcutta to fetch him. Sometimes he went toCalcutta himself. One time, for example, Narendra remained away from Dakshineswarfor several weeks; even the Master's eager importunities failed to bring him. SriRamakrishna knew that he sang regularly at the prayer meetings of the Brahmo Samaj,and so one day he made his way to the Brahmo temple that the disciple attended.Narendra was singing in the choir as the Master entered the hall, and when he heardNarendra's voice, Sri Ramakrishna fell into a deep ecstasy. The eyes of thecongregation turned to him, and soon a commotion followed. Narendra hurried to hisside. One of the Brahmo leaders, in order to stop the excitement, put out the lights. Theyoung disciple, realizing that the Master's sudden appearance was the cause of thedisturbance, sharply took him to task. The latter answered, with tears in his eyes, thathe had simply not been able to keep himself away from Narendra.On another occasion, Sri Ramakrishna, unable to bear Narendra's absence, went toCalcutta to visit the disciple at his own home. He was told that Naren was studying inan attic in the second floor that could be reached only by a steep staircase. His nephewRamlal, who was a sort of caretaker of the Master, had accompanied him, and with hishelp Sri Ramakrishna climbed a few steps. Narendra appeared at the head of the stair,and at the very sight of him Sri Ramakrishna exclaimed, 'Naren, my beloved!' and wentinto ecstasy. With considerable difficulty Naren and Ramlal helped him to finishclimbing the steps, and as he entered the room the Master fell into deep samadhi. Afellow student who was with Naren at the time and did not know anything of religioustrances, asked Naren in bewilderment, 'Who is this man?''Never mind,' replied Naren. 'You had better go home now.'Naren often said that the 'Old Man,' meaning Ramakrishna, bound the disciple for everto him by his love. 'What do worldly men,' he remarked, 'know about love? They onlymake a show of it. The Master alone loves us genuinely.' Naren, in return, bore a deeplove for Sri Ramakrishna, though he seldom expressed it in words. He took delight incriticizing the Master's spiritual experiences as evidences of a lack of self-control. Hemade fun of his worship of Kali.'Why do you come here,' Sri Ramakrishna once asked him, 'if you do not accept Kali,my Mother?''Bah! Must I accept Her,' Naren retorted, 'simply because I come to see you? I come toyou because I love you.''All right,' said the Master, 'ere long you will not only accept my blessed Mother, butweep in Her name.'Turning to his other disciples, he said: 'This boy has no faith in the forms of

God andtells me that my visions are pure imagination. But he is a fine lad of pure mind. Hedoes not accept anything without direct evidence. He has studied much and cultivatedgreat discrimination. He has fine judgement.'