This is the story to loosen the chains in our minds about casteism and free us if we are planning for a pilgrimage this moment. This parable is about Swami Ramakrishna Paramhamsa (Thakur Ji- Master), Swami Vivekananda, and their feats.
Rani Rasmani lives in Dakshineshwar and is the queen of a so-called-low-caste-community. She is quite a sincere devotee of Mother Kali. She feels like planning a trip to all the Shakti Pitha (the centers of energy scattered across the Indian Subcontinent) and distributing the money to the needy along her trip. She thinks such things in her mind and then talks to her relatives about her plan. She prepares for the trip.
One day, she sees a dream of Mother Kali saying, “O Rasmani, do not go for the external pilgrimage. I’m within and without you. You built a mandir in Dakshineshwar itself and, the true Brahmins, the ones who are curious for me, shall visit it.”
Rani Rasmani feels amazed, wakes in the mid-night, and meditates on the Name. She can’t believe in the dream and considers it a futile imagination. She sees the same dream for seven days, continuously. In the dream itself, she says, “Mother! Will you make me do such grand tasks?” Mother blesses her.
She cancels her plan of pilgrimage and collects resources to build a Kali Mandir. She gets a beautiful Kali mandir constructed at the banks of river Ganga in Dakshineshwar.
Rumors spread like a forest fire. The so-called-Brahmins say, “We cannot enter the temple and perform rituals as a low-caste person has built it.” When a brahmin boy Gadadhar listens to such talks, he says, “Mother is One. She is everywhere.” Gadadhar talks to his elder brother but, he says, “No Gadadhar, no we should not go to such places. It is not good.” Gadadhar agrees and, he does not go.
But, Gadadhar sees Mother Kali in his dream and, she says to him, “O boy, you must visit the mandir and perform prayers.” He sees the same dream for several days. Gadadhar tells about such dreams to his elder brother, and they together leave for the mandir.
The brahmin boy Gadadhar enters the mandir and performs all the rituals. This is the first time a brahmin enters the mandir built by a shudra. Gadadhar dips into divine ecstasy in the mandir. The boy is no other than Thakur Ji.
Things to learn- Though Rani Rasmani collected the resources for the sake of charity, she could do a bigger charity and even become immortal. She could accumulate good fruits by helping the needy, but then she became one with infinity. We are no one to judge the deeds or thoughts of anyone. We need to introspect over our aspects and assets.
Remaining stuck in the webs of casteism is wrong. All are one before the Lord, and we are His children.
If we see the incarnations or Gurus in any form in our dreams, it means that our destiny has lightened our progress in the path of spirituality. In that case, the awakened state is an illusion and, the dream is the reality. Perceiving Lord even in our imagination makes us one with the Lord. If we ask Lord for Lord itself, we shall receive it. It is said, “Jaki Rahi Bhavana Jaisi Prabhu Murat Dekhe Vo Vaisi.”