Swami Adbhutananda related in his reminiscences how Sri Ramakrishna transformed Kalipada’s life:
Girish Babu arrived one night with Kalipada Ghosh. Kalipada was a terrible drunkard. He refused to give money to his family, spending it for wine instead. But his wife was very pure. I heard that many years earlier she had come to the Master, seeking some kind of medicine that would change her husband’s tendencies. The Master sent her to the Holy Mother. The Holy Mother sent her back to the Master. He again sent her to the Holy Mother, and this exchange went on three times. At last, the Holy Mother wrote the Master’s name on a bel leaf that had been offered to the Lord and gave it to Kalipada’s wife, telling her to chant the Lord’s name.
Kalipada’s wife chanted the Lord’s name for twelve years. When the Master first met Kalipada, he remarked, “This man has come here after tormenting his wife for twelve years.” Kalipada was startled but said nothing.
Then the Master asked him, “What do you want?”
Kalipada asked shamelessly, “Can you give me a little wine?”
The Master smiled. “Yes, I can. But the wine I have is so intoxicating that you will not be able to bear it.”
Kalipada took him literally and said: “Is it real British wine? Please give me a little to soak my throat.”
“No, it is not British wine,” said the Master, still smiling. “It is completely homemade. This wine cannot be given to just anyone, for not everyone can stand it. If a person tastes this wine even once, British wine will seem insipid to him ever after. Are you ready to drink my wine instead of the other?”
For a moment Kalipada was thoughtful, and then I heard him say, “Please give me that wine which will make me intoxicated my entire life.” The Master touched him, and Kalipada started to weep. We tried to calm him, but he went on weeping in spite of our attempts.
On 23 December Sri Ramakrishna touched Kalipada’s chest and said, “May your inner spirit be awakened.” Then, stroking Kalipada’s chin, he said with great affection, “Whoever has sincerely called on God or performed his daily religious devotions will certainly come here.” The Master’s blessing and unrestrained love that day made Kalipada a new person. He gave up his drinking habit and lost all interest in worldly things.
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- When a man rejects the sense objects by withdrawing the senses, he becomes free from the sense world only. The longing or taste for them still remains in the mind. Even this longing is removed when the self is perceived. (BG 2.59)