Significance of the Kalpataru incident:
Sri Ramakrishna in Samadhi
“‘I shall make the whole thing public before I go,’ the Master has said some time before. On January 1, 1886, he felt better and came down to the garden for a little stroll. It was about three o’clock in the afternoon. Some thirty lay disciples were in the hall or sitting about under the trees. Sri Ramakrishna said to Girish (Ghosh), ‘Well Girish, what have you seen in me, that you proclaim me before everybody as an Incarnation of God?’ Girish was not the man to be taken by surprise. He knelt before the Master and said with folded hands, ‘What can an insignificant person like myself say about the One whose glory even sages like Vyasa and Valmiki could not adequately measure?’ The Master was profoundly moved. He said: ‘What more shall I say? I bless you all. Be illumined!’ He fell into a spiritual mood. Hearing these words the devotees, one and all, became overwhelmed with emotion. They rushed to him and fell at his feet. He touched them all, and each received an appropriate benediction. Each of them, at the touch of the Master, experienced ineffable bliss. Some laughed, some wept, some sat down to meditate, some began to pray. Some saw light, some had visions of their Chosen Ideals, and some felt within their bodies the rush of spiritual power.”
From the Introduction to THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA,
by Swami Nikhilananda”
Many devotees gathered at the Ashrama on the festive occasion of Kalpataru Day. Swami Shantatmanandaji, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi, performed the Homa and the ritualistic worship of Sri Ramakrishna. Bhajans, stotras and devotional songs on Sri Ramakrishna were sung in the prayer hall. Khichudi prasad, offered fruits etc. were distributed among the devotees.
A few photos of the day’s celebrations:
