Extract from: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Master: Ah! You have written nice plays.
Girish: But, sir, how little I assimilate! I just write.
Master: 'No, you assimilate a great deal. The other day I said to you that no one could sketch a divine character unless he had love of God in his heart'
Girish: I often ask myself, "Why bother about the theatre anymore?"'
Master: "No, no! Let things be as they are. People will learn much from your plays".

Extract from: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Conversation between Thakur and Girish on December 14, 1884:

Master: 'Have faith in the Divine Mother and you will attain everything'.
Girish: 'But I am a sinner'.
Master: 'The wretch who constantly harps on sin becomes a sinner'.
Girish: 'Sir, the very ground where I used to sit would become unholy'.
Master: 'How can you say that? Suppose a light is brought into a room that has been dark a thousand years; does it illumine the room little by little, or all in a flash?'
A little later Girish asked, 'tell me what I should do'
Master: 'Give God your power of attorney. Let him do what ever he likes'.

Extract from: They Lived With God; Swami Chetanananda

One day a devotee complained to Sri Ramakrishna about Girish's habit of drinking and begged him to ask Girish to give it up. But Sri Ramakrishna sternly replied: 'Why do you trouble your head about him? He who has taken charge of him will look after him. Girish is a devotee of the heroic type. I tell you, drinking will not affect him'.

Extract from: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Girish was convinced that Sri Ramakrishna was an incarnation of God, and he spread this idea among the devotees. Once Sri Ramakrishna asked Girish: 'Hello! What were you saying about me? I eat, drink, and make merry'.
Girish: 'What should we have been saying about you? Are you a holy man?'
Master: 'No, nothing of the sort. Truly I do not feel that I am holy man'.
Girish: 'I am not your equal even in joking'

Extract from: They Lived With God; Swami Chetanananda

One day Girish surrendered himself completely to the Master. He asked him for their instruction as to what he should do from then on. 'Do just what you are doing now' said Sri Ramakrishna. `Hold on to God with one hand and to the world with other. Think of God at least in the morning and evening'. This sounded simple to Girish; but then he recalled that his life was so irregular that it would be hard for him to remember God at those stated hours, so he kept quiet. Sri Ramakrishna read his mind and said, ` Well, if you cannot do that, then remember God before you eat and before you sleep'. But now Girish was reluctant to promise anything to Sri Ramakrishna. He knew that with his instinctive resistance to self-discipline and rules, he might not be able to keep even this simple observance. Then Sri Ramakrishna went ecstatic mood and said to him: 'So you are unwilling to agree even to this. All right. Give me your power of attorney. Henceforth I will take full responsibility for you. You won't have to do anything at all.'

Girish was relieved. This sounded to his liking, for he understood that Sri Ramakrishna had relieved him of all responsibility for his own spiritual well-being and made him free. But, in fact, he had made himself Sri Ramakrishna's slave. Complete self-surrender is more binding than the observance strict disciplines. One day, soon after this, Girish remarked in Sri Ramakrishna's presence 'I shall do this'. 'No, no' corrected Sri Ramakrishna. 'You can't talk like that anymore. Say, "I shall do this if God wills"'. Girish began to understand the mystery of the power of attorney. As time passed he came to realize that he could not perform any action of his own free will. He had to consciously surrender to the Divine Will, and gradually he found that he was forced to think of the master every moment. In the later part of his life he would say: 'Look at me. I am not even free to breathe'.

Extract from: They Lived With God; Swami Chetanananda

Sri Ramakrishna once made a remark about Girish to another devotee, 'You may wash a thousand times a cup that has held a solution of garlic; but is it ever possible to get rid of the smell altogether?' Girish heard about it and he was hut. He went to Sri Ramakrishna and asked 'will this smell of garlic go?'

'Yes, it will'
'So you say it will'
'All smell disappears when a blazing fire is lighted. If you heat a cup smelling of garlic, you get rid of the smell; it becomes a new cup.'

Extract from: They Lived With God; Swami Chetanananda

One day, when Sri Ramakrishna was visiting the theatre, Girish, under the influence of liquor, voiced his desire: 'I have not been able to serve in this life. But if you are born again as my son I can do so. Please promise that you will be my son'. 'What are you saying?' said Sri Ramakrishna. 'Why should I be born as your son? I shall be your guru, your Chosen Deity'. Then Girish became angry and abused the master in coarse language. The devotees who were present were very much shocked and upset and asked the master not to see Girish again. Sri Ramakrishna quietly returned to Dakshineshwar. He prayed: 'O Mother, Girish is an actor. How can he understand your glory? Mother, please forgive him'.

The next day Ram Chandra Datta visited Dakshineshwar. He heard the story of Girish behaviour the previous evening and told the master: 'Sir, the serpent Kalia told Krishna, "Lord, you have given me only poison; where shall I get nectar to offer you?" It is the same with Girish. Where will he get nectar? Girish has worshipped you with whatever you have given him. Sri Ramakrishna smiled and said to the other devotees present: 'Listen to what he is saying. Get a carriage. I shall go to Girish's house right now'.

Meanwhile Girish was very repentant. He had refused to eat and was weeping piteously. Suddenly he saw the master at his house and was overwhelmed. He said, 'Master, if you had not come today, I would have concluded that you had not attained that supreme state of knowledge where praise and blame are equal, and that you could not be called a Paramahamsa (an illumined soul)'.

Extract from: They Lived With God; Swami Chetanananda

Sri Ramakrishna once said to Girish: 'You utter many abusive and vulgar words; but that doesn't matter. It is better for these things to come out. There are some people who will fall ill on account of blood poisoning. The more the poisoned blood finds an outlet the better it is for them. You will be purer day by day. You will improve very much day by day. People will marvel at you.'

Extract from: They Lived With God; Swami Chetanananda

Sri Ramakrishna himself distributed ochre cloths among eleven of his young disciples. Thus, the foundation of the future Ramakrishna Order was laid by the Master. One cloth and one rosary were left and the Master asked that they be kept for Girish.