There was a milkmaid, one of whose customers was, a Brahman priest. He was living on the other side of river. Because the boat service was irregular, she could not supply milk to him punctually every day. Once on being rebuked for coming late, the poor woman said that although she started early from her house, because of the difficulties in crossing the river she could not come in time. The priest chided her and said, “What ! People cross the ocean of life (Samsar) by uttering the name of God and you cannot cross even this little river !” The simple hearted woman became very happy to learn about this easy method of crossing the river. From the next day she started supplying milk very punctually. On being asked by the priest for the reason for this transformation, she said that she crossed the river by uttering the name of the Lord as instructed by the priest and was no longer in need of a boat. The priest was astonished to hear this. He asked her whether she could demonstrate before him how she crossed the river. She took him to the river bank and right in front of his eyes started walking over the water. When she looked back she saw the pitiable condition of the priest. He was uttering the name of the God and at the same time was lifting his clothes with his hands to keep them from becoming wet. She pointed out that the priest did not rely fully on God.
Sri Ramakrishna, while narrating the above story said that total resignation to and absolute faith in God can bail human beings out of impossible situations in a miraculous way.