He asked- 'who is this saint?? do you know him?' Pranabananda ji said- 'yes, he is my guru Sitaramdas Omkarnathdeb.have u seen him?' Swamiji said-'oh yes, i have seen him, but otherwise.where can i get him now?' Swamiji came to know that Thakur is going to puri soon.On subsequent days, he had repeated darsans of THAKUR persuading him to go to Puri. Swamiji's sister used to send money from delhi for buying fruits. He insisted the doctors for release and bought rail-ticket with that money. In that train, Thakur was also going. At Cuttack, Thakur was viewed by swamiji from a distance. Thakur was surrounded by a crowd of devotees. Swamiji decided in mind- 'If this saint[thakur] is Ramkrisna Paramhamsadeb, then he must place his feet on my head when i offer pranam.' At Puri station, swamiji was taken by Pranabanandaji to Thakur by pushing through the crowd... swamiji did pranam, and immediately , THAKUR placed both His feet on swamiji's head.
CONDITION GIVEN WAS FULFILLED... ALL DOUBTS CLEARED, ALL BINDINGS BROKEN.
This was the beginning of Swamiji's journey with Thakur in this life... as life studded with spiritual revelations, renunciation, guruseba, and filled with perpetual showering of THAKUR's affection.
Swamiji used to point out small incidents to highlight the glory of THAKUR... but was always careful to hide himself. His entire
approach was to nurture love for Thakur, and to remain in backstage in peaceful solitude, away from the chaos of praise and popularity. Swamiji said oneday--
“ I had the duty of cooking prasada everyday. As there was no fixed number of visitors and devotees, adequate quantity would be prepared. So,often the excess food had to be discarded into the Ganga. Oneday, Baba saw this and exclaimed—‘so much food is wasted!’ I said—‘ Baba , there is no other way… what to do?’ Baba replied softly- ‘ do one thing. Everyday, ask me beforehand how many persons are going to come. Then cook accordingly.’ Henceforth, I would ask Baba before cooking, and his prediction would be accurate. There was no excess or shortage thereafter.” Once he was asked -' You have served Thakur so closely... please share some supernatural experiences.'
He said-' THAKUR HIMSELF IS SUPERNATURAL. THE ENTIRE EXPERIENCE OF BEING WITH THAKUR IS SUPERNATURAL. THERE IS NOTHING NATURAL OR WORLDLY HERE'
To write about Swamiji is indeed an impossible task as he is an eternal leela-companion of Thakur, and his essence is beyond the scope of petty worldly thoughts. This is a description written by Kinkar Bitthal Ramanuj, the President of our Sampraday...
"...on the eve of departure, Sri Sri Thakur most endearingly dragged SriSri Swamiji [ Swami Hariharananda ji] to an almost dark and desolate room where the most devoted sadhak-disciple of Sri Sri Thakur- Sriman Madhav Swamiji, was in a samadhi state for days--
almost without any food or drinks. 'Look, here is your YOGA, please bless him' -exclaimed Sri Thakur so fondly. What exactly he wanted to convey to Swamiji is that Yoga- samadhi is also possible by virue of Naam-japa, Guru-seva and above
all, Sri Guru-kripa. Sri Sri Hariharananda jihighly appreciated Thakur's stand with the practical example before him, and whole
heartedly blessed our Pujya Madhav Swamijee: 'A very good state indeed! Carry on your sadhana till your goal is reached. May Sri Sri Gurujeee's infinite grace be always with you'..." Swamiji’s words, his life style, his gestures , his unconditional love --- everything was so like Thakur…. His enigmatic eyes, his endearing words, his loving smile, all was blended in Thakur. Devotees could relish the divine essence of Sri Sri Thakur through his holy presence.Swami Vivekananada used to address Swami Brahmananda as –‘GURU-VAT GURU-PUTRESU’ So true indeed, a spiritual son of Sri Thakur is so much blended in His leela, teachings and philosophy that he becomes just a living image of Thakur Himself. THAKUR has written a beautiful quote of Bidyapati in ‘ NAM RASAYAN’—