One day Sri Ramakrishna was pacing back and forth on the northeastern veranda of his room in Dakshineswar. He was in a spiritual mood, completely oblivious to his surroundings. Mathur was then seated alone in a room of the kuthi (bungalow) near the nahabat, and was watching him through a window. All of a sudden Mathur ran out of the house, threw himself down at Sri Ramakrishna’s feet, and began to cry profusely.
“What are you doing?” said Sri Ramakrishna in alarm. “You are an aristocrat and Rani Rasmani’s son-in-law. What will people say if they see you acting like this? Calm yourself. Please, get up!”
Mathur gradually got control of himself and said: “Father [as he called Sri Ramakrishna], I was watching you just now as you walked back and forth — I saw it distinctly: As you walked towards me you were no longer yourself. You were the Divine Mother Kali from the temple! Then, as you turned around and walked in the opposite direction, you became Lord Shiva! At first I thought it was some kind of optical illusion. I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but I saw the same thing. As often as I looked I saw it!”
Sri Ramakrishna then said, “But I know nothing about it.”
Mathur again became overwhelmed and started crying. This made Sri Ramakrishna very nervous. He thought that if Rani Rasmani heard about it she might misunderstand and think that he had put a spell on Mathur. At last he was able to console Mathur and calm him down. (Source: They Lived with God)