SRI RAMAKRISHNA’S VISION AT HOLY CITY VARANASI

[ From “ Journeys With Sri Ramakrishna — Swami Prabhananda ] :- A number of Bengalis had settled in Varanasi by the time Sri Ramakrishna visited there. Joynarayan Tarkapanchanan passed away there in 1867, and Premchandra Tarkavagish and several other distinguished Bengalis residing in Varanasi were held in high esteem. Thakurdas Bandyopadhyaya, father of Iswarchandra Vidyasagar, went to live there in 1869. From Mughalsarai the pilgrims took boats for Varanasi.After some hours the boats approached the city. The three-mile-long stretch of river front, lying like the tusk of an elephant, presented a majestic sight. With the large number of ghats, or flights of stone steps, descending into the waters of the Ganga, and the still larger number of temples with their tall spires rising above the ghats, as well as the dharmashalas and other buildings—all this gave the impression of a solid mass of carved stone. Bathing in the glow of the morning sun, the crescent city cast its deep reflection in the waters of the Ganga. It appeared to be a golden city, an unearthly kingdom of Shiva on the surface of the earth. Here Sri Ramakrishna had a glorious vision. He could see the subtle form of the city: it was ‘made of gold’—a mass of spirituality solidified, as it were.
After this vision, the guileless Sri Ramakrishna was seized with such a strong sense of the sacredness of Varanasi that he was careful not to relieve himself within its boundary.Sri Ramakrishna himself said later that Mathurmohan had arranged a palanquin to carry him across the stream Asi so that he could relieve himself there. After some days, however, this mood of his disappeared and he gave up this bothersome practice. One day Mathurmohan took Sri Ramakrishna on a boat ride on the Ganga to see some of the five holy places of the city. Of them, Manikarnika is of great importance to the devotees. As the boat approached the burning ghat of Manikarnika, the air was full of smoke from several funeral pyres. Just then Sri Ramakrishna was blessed with a strange and grand vision. In his own words: ‘Our boat was passing the Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges, when suddenly I had a vision of Siva. I stood near the edge of the boat and went into samadhi. The boatmen, fearing that I might fall into the water, cried to Hriday, “Catch hold of him! Catch hold of him!” I saw Siva standing on that ghat, embodying in Himself all the seriousness of the world. At first I saw Him standing at a distance; then I saw Him approaching me. At last He merged in me. The Master’s description recorded by Swami Saradananda gives further details. He said: ‘I saw a tall, white person with tawny matted hair walking with solemn steps to each pyre in the burning-ghat, raising carefully every Jiva and imparting into his ear the Mantra of supreme Brahman. On the other side of the pyre, the all-powerful Mahakali was untying all the knots of bondage, gross, subtle and causal, of the Jiva produced by past impressions and sending him to the indivisible Sphere by opening with Her own hands the door to liberation. Thus did Visvanatha, the divine Lord of the universe, endow him in an instant with the infinite Bliss of experiencing non-duality, which ordinarily results from the practice of Yoga and austerity for many cycles. Thus did He fulfil the perfection of the Jiva’s life.