Gadadhar is sitting under a tree in Panchvati. A nyanta saint named Totapuri Ji comes to him. He is a saint residing in the Himalayas and a knower of Vedanta (the notion of formlessness). He is passing by Dakshineshwar and has planned to stay in the town for not more than three days. Then, further, he shall proceed towards Badrinath and Kedarnath. For forty years, he has been traveling and has never stayed at a place for more than three days.
The saint says to Gadadhar, “Will take the initiation in Vedantic discipline from me?” Gadadhar never breathes without Mother’s permission and thus says, “I must ask my Mother.” Totapuri Ji asks him to ask his mother. Gadadhar goes into the temple and sees Mother Kali before him. He says, “Mother, a saint has visited me and is asking me to take initiation in Vedantic discipline. What do you propose?” Mother says, “O son! Go and take the initiation. I have sent him to you.”
Gadadhar asks Nyanta saint to initaite him. The saint says, “You must take sannyasa before receiving Vedanta.” Gadadhar says, “I am already married. I have a wife, mother, and family. How can I do it?” The saint says, “Don’t worry. You are purer than purity. You shall live a life of a householder, with a mind of a sannyasi. Now, focus your attention on the Ajna. Perceive the formlessness.” As Gadadhar closes his eyes, he sees Mother Kali all the time. Gadadhar says, “Guruji, I can’t see the formlessness. I only see Mother. I feel that I am Mother Kali.” The saint scolds him and says, “You must focus.” All efforts appear worthless. The saint lifts a glass piece lying nearby and pierces it into Gadadhar’s eyebrow center. Immediately, Gadadhar rises beyond the climax and merges with the formlessness. The saint is amazed. He thinks, “I took forty years, from my childhood to attain this height and, he attained within few seconds. He is truly a divine being.”
Gadadhar remains in this state of suspended animation (viz, arrested breathing, heartbeat, and pulse) for three days and nights. Then, the saint taps on Gadadhar’s head thrice, saying, “Hari Om Tatsat, Hari Om Tatsat, Hari Om Tatsat.” Gadadhar immediately descends to the gross plane of consciousness and smiles, seeing the saint. Then, the saint names him Ramakrishna as he attained the climax and became the same eternity. He has reached the state of omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient and is thus called Paramhamsa.
The nyanta saint, who never stayed at a place for more than three days, stays with Ramakrishna Paramhamsa Ji for six months. They discuss Vedanta. One day, Totapuri Ji and Ramakrishna Paramhamsa Ji are sitting in Panchvati. Totapuri Ji burns some coal on his palm (he is a videhi, the one detached from the sense of being a body). A wandering man comes near him and burns his cigar from the burning coal over Totapuri Ji’s hands. Totapuri Ji becomes very angry and says, “How can someone dare to burn a cigar from a pious fire?” Ramakrishna Paramhamsa Ji taps on Totapuri Ji’s shoulder and says, “Guruji, You believe in form. How can you dare to become angry over the formless existence?” Totapuri Ji immediately realizes his mistake and takes a vow saying, “I shall never become angry again.” (He lived till eight years of his age and never became angry even for a speck.) There is another Leela on Mother’s part, as Totapuri Ji still doesn’t believe in form. Every day, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa Ji goes to the mandir and tells about the daily activities to Mother. But, Totapuri Ji never goes with him.
One day, Totapuri Ji is sitting lost in his ways. Suddenly, he experiences severe abdominal pain. He thinks, “I have already united with the Eternity. I must renounce the physical body.” He tries to take samadhi, but his attention returns to his own gross body. He walks towards Ganga and tries to take Jal samadhi. Though the river is in high tide, as he walks in the waters, the level lowers down to his knees. He crosses the deepest portions of the river without being dipped above the knees. He even sits in the river but in vain. Out of pain, he shouts, “Maa.” Listening to the word, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa Ji says, “Thou art the believer of Formless God. How can you be stuck by a gross pain?” Totapuri Ji says, “I don’t know. Please do something.” Ramakrishna Paramhamsa Ji says, “You don’t believe in Mother. She told me that she shall punish you. You must bow down before her.” Choiceless Totapuri Ji walks into the mandir and bows before the altar. Immediately, he sees an opulent form of Mother. Mother says, “I am in the form, the formless and even beyond it. Your task in Dakshineshwar is over. You must continue your journey.”
As Totapuri Ji initiated Gadadhar in Vedantic discipline, he was Gadadhar’s Guru. Even Totapuri Ji attained the state of Paramhamsa in Ramakrishna Paramhamsa Ji’s presence. Both of them hug each other.