The Mother asked Swami Yogananda, through me, if he had received initiation already. He replied, "No, Mother, the Master did not give me any Ishta Mantra. I repeat a holy Name of my own choice." On hearing this; one day the Mother initiated him. The Mother was worshipping before a picture of the Master and the urn containing his relics. She sent for Swami Yogananda and asked him to sit by her side. While performing worship, she went into ecstasy and in that state gave him the initiation. She uttered the Mantra so loudly that I could hear it in the next room.
From Vrindaban we accompanied the Mother to Hardwar. Swami Yogananda was in the party. While travelling in the train, he contracted high fever. When I was feeding him with pomegranate juice, it appeared to the Mother, as if I were feeding the Master. Swami Yogananda, in his delirious condition, saw a hideous-looking figure which said to him, "I would have taught you a lesson, but what can I do? Paramahamsadeva (Sri Ramakrishna) has ordered me to leave this place right now. I am unable to stay here even for a moment." Pointing to a woman wearing a red bordered sari, the figure further said, "Feed this woman with some Rasagollas." Curiously enough, soon after this vision, Swami Yogananda was relieved of his fever. Subsequently we went to Jaipur from Hardwar. There we saw the image of Govinda and visited the various temples. While going round, Swami Yogananda suddenly noticed an image by the side of a temple and cried out, "I was asked to offer Rasagollas to this deity." And in front, we found a shop selling Rasagollas. We purchased eight annas (fifty paise) worth of Rasagollas and offered them to the deity. On enquiry we learnt that it was an image of Sitala.
From there, the Mother returned to Calcutta, and after a few days stay at Balaram Babu's house, she left for Kamarpukur. After about a year at Kamarpukur, the Mother went to stay at Nilambar Babu's house at Belur, rented for her by the devotees. There in 1888 she stayed for about six months. She left the rented house in Kartik (October-November) and spent a few days at Balaram Babu's house at Calcutta. Shortly afterward she went on a pilgrimage to Puri. From Calcutta she travelled to Chandbali, where she boarded the Cuttack Canal steamer, and from Cuttack she went to Puri in a bullock cart. Sarat (Swami Saradananda), Rakhal Maharaj (Swami Brahmananda), Swami Yogananda, and