Every November in his Ahiritola house Upendra celebrated a festival in honour of Sri Ramakrishna with kirtan and a grand feast. He would decorate a picture of the Master with flowers and garlands, and many monks would participate in the celebration.
Upendra, always eager to serve the monks and the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna, kept his workplace open to them. In fact, his workers often referred to the Basumati Sahitya Mandir as “Ramakrishna Sadavrata” (Sri Ramakrishna’s Inn). Swami Akhandananda wrote in his memoirs that whenever he and his brother monks would visit Upendra’s bookshop, Upendra would feed them with various kinds of sweets and other delicacies. Then he would send them by a share-carriage back to the Baranagore monastery.
Swami Adbhutananda stayed for some time at Upendra’s Basumati press and everything was provided for him. At one time Upendra even sent him by boat to Puri for a pilgrimage. After his return from the West in 1900, Swami Vivekananda heard from Swami Adbhutananda that Upendra had graciously provided food and shelter for him for some time. Touched by Upendra’s generosity, Swamiji prayed to Sri Ramakrishna, “Master, please bless Upendra.”
Because Upendra had experienced crippling poverty, he had tremendous love and compassion for the poor. He would help his workers whenever they were in need of financial assistance. Once two young boys from a reformatory were sent by the government to the Basumati Publishing House for training. One of them stole some books and was caught by the police. The kind-hearted Upendra went to court and informed the judge that he had given the books to the boy. Hearing this, the judge released him.
On another occasion Upendra arrived at his office and found a young worker encircled by others. He was told that the young man had stolen some type and that the police were there to arrest him. But Upendra told the police he had given the type to the young man. After the police left Upendra said to the youth,“My boy, go away immediately and never do such a thing again.” Though it may seem that Upendra deviated from the truth, the scriptures say that one may tell a lie in order to save another’s life.
There are countless stories about Upendra’s generosity. Once the merchant who supplied the paper for Upendra’s press sent a reminder to him that a large invoice had not been paid. Upendra immediately informed the merchant that he had already paid the paper company’s representative. A high official of the company came to the Basumati office to check their account book and discovered that Upendra was right — the bill collector had misappropriated the money. Upendra, knowing that the collector had now and then visited Sri Ramakrishna, stepped forward to assume entire responsibility for the money and asked the official not to take any action against the man.
One day on his way to the press, Upendra was stopped by a man who needed help to pay for his daughter’s marriage. Upendra promised to give him the entire income of that particular day and asked him to come to his Basumati office in the evening. At the end of the day he kept his promise and gave the man three hundred rupees.
Upendra was a self-made man. He earned money by the sweat of his brow and encouraged others to earn money honestly. Tarapada Haldar, a staff worker, recorded his memoirs in Upendra’s Centenary Issue: “Upen Babu used to put on a dhoti and a loose fitting shirt, over which he wore a black silk coat. He would carry a silver stick in his hand, and I don’t remember whether or not I ever saw him without a Burmese cigar in his mouth. Upendra Nath had a sweet relationship with his workers. It was not an employer-employee relationship; it was a father-son relationship. He was a true disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. In every step of the prosperous journey of the Basumati, Upendra saluted Narayana and sought the blessings of the Master. Sri Ramakrishna was the presiding deity of the Basumati Sahitya Mandir. Upendra did not show his devotion publicly, so we never saw him salute the Master, but he practised his spiritual life beyond the gaze of others.”
Upendra was a jolly, loving soul. At the same time he was honest and spiritual. Although he had no formal education, he was known and respected by the great writers and thinkers of Bengal. He had tremendous love and respect for writers and scholars, and it pained him whenever he found a writer’s talent stifled from lack of money.
Upendra’s son, Satish, had the same principles as his father, and achieved similar success. He also imbibed from Upendra a deep love for God. Once he went to Belur Math and asked to become a monk, but the swamis reasoned with him and sent him back home to take care of his father’s business.
Upendra believed wholeheartedly that his success was due to the blessings of Sri Ramakrishna. He knew that his beloved Master would guide him in the right direction and protect him from worldly attachment. Throughout his life Upendra experienced his guru’s grace, which made him truly wealthy. He passed away on Monday, 31 March 1919, in his uncle’s home in Ahiritola, Calcutta. (Source: They Lived with God)