A few days after becoming acquainted with the Master, Gopal felt intense renunciation and expressed his desire to go for a pilgrimage. On 5 April 1884, M. recorded the following conversation in the Gospel:
Master (to the elder Gopal): “Do you intend to go on a pilgrimage now?”
Gopal: “Yes, sir. I should like to wander about a little.”
Master (to the elder Gopal and the other devotees): “As long as a man feels that God is ‘there,’ he is ignorant. But he attains knowledge when he feels that God is ‘here.’
“A man wanted a smoke. He went to a neighbour’s house to light his charcoal. It was the dead of night and the household was asleep. After he had knocked a great deal, someone came down to open the door. At the sight of the man he asked, ‘Hello! What’s the matter?’ The man replied: ‘Can’t you guess? You know how fond I am of smoking. I have come here to light my charcoal.’ The neighbour said: ‘Ha! Ha! You are a fine man indeed! You took the trouble to come and do all this knocking at the door! Why, you have a lighted lantern in your hand!’ (All laugh.)
“What a man seeks is very near him. Still he wanders about from place to place.”