One day at Dakshineswar, the Master was praising Ganesha, the god of success, for his great filial love and absolute purity of heart. Sharat was present in the audience. He said at once: “Sir, I like the character of Ganesha very much. He is my ideal.” “No,” the Master immediately corrected him and said: “Ganesha is not your ideal. Your ideal is Shiva. In you lie dormant the attributes of Shiva. Always think of yourself as Shiva and me as your Shakti [power]. I am the ultimate repository of all your powers.” It is amazing how this mystical utterance of the Master was fulfilled later in Sharat’s life!
Friday, 19 August 1927 was the birth anniversary of Sri Krishna. About 1:00 a.m. the monks began to chant “Hari Om Ramakrishna.” At 2:34 a.m. Swami Saradananda, the great yogi and beloved disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, breathed his last. At that very moment in Belur Math, Shivananda heard the familiar and sweet voice of Saradananda, “Tarak-da, I am going to Kashi [Varanasi].”