Accepting a Little Child
Navagopal Ghosh’s son was Neeroda Ghosh. He wrote in his memoirs: “My parents were devotees of Sri Ramakrishna. They often visited him in Dakshineswar. Duriing her pregnancy, my mother, Nistarini Ghosh, decided that if a son was born, she would dedicate him to the service of Sri Ramakrishna. Through the grace of the Lord, I was born to her.
She resolved to keep her promise. One day, when I was a few weeks old, my mother carried me snugly bundled up in a sheet to Dakshineswar. My father accompanied my mother. Sri Ramakrishna stood in an ecstatic mood. As soon as he saw my parents, he said to my mother, “Here you are! Whgat have you brought for me?” My mother placed me at the feet of the Master and said: “I have brought you this offering.”
Sri Ramakrishna looked at me for a few moments and remarked, “Ah, what a nice child! You offer it to me? Good.”
He took me on his lap, put his right palm on my head as a blessing, and then placed me back in my mother’s arms, saying, “Take care of this child now. But know that he belongs to me. In due time, I shall take him back.”
Years later, when I joined the Ramakrishna Monastery, my mother was the happiest of all, for she felt that Sri Ramakrishna had accepted me.”
Neeroda Ghosh, became Swami Ambikananda. He was a melodious singer and an assistant of Swami Brahmananda
