Ramakrishna's Bargain with the Goddess

Midnight. A golden, divine light fills the ruined temple in the forest. In a halo of light stands the Goddess with many faces. On the floor before her, little Ramakrishna lies fast asleep, snoring with his mouth open.

He opened one eye… so many glowing faces! Thinking it was a dream, he shut it again… then opened both eyes and sat bolt upright.

Who is this little boy who snored right in front of the Goddess? Let's see from the beginning.

Many years ago, in a small village, lived a mischievous boy named Ramakrishna. He loved asking questions.

Under a neem tree sat the street school. Ramakrishna was carefully tracing letters in the sand. He wiped his nose and left a streak of sand across his cheek.

All the children burst out laughing. The teacher sighed. Ramakrishna thought it was praise and smiled shyly.

Lakshmamma turned the empty rice pot over and tapped it on her palm. Just one single grain fell out.

Ramakrishna placed the grain on his fingertip, examined it cross-eyed and gravely gave his advice.

Lakshmamma couldn't help laughing and patted his head. He took her face in his hands and, holding up two fingers, made her a promise.

Tears of joy filled his mother's eyes.

Standing on tiptoe, Ramakrishna picked just three berries from the tree, counted them — one… two… three… — and jumped for joy.

In the shade of a banyan tree sat a tired Swami. Ramakrishna looked at the berries, then at the Swami… and gave him all three on a leaf. The Swami ate all three at once!

The Swami roared with laughter and raised his hand in blessing. A flash of gold.

Before he could answer, the Swami vanished in a swirl of dry leaves. Searching behind the tree, Ramakrishna found only three berry seeds.

A full moon. Small, careful steps with a lamp in hand. When an owl hooted "Hoo… hoo…", he jumped and hugged a tree tight.

In the ruined stone temple, he folded his hands and sat down to chant. His head nodded… he rubbed his eyes… and finally fell asleep leaning against a pillar.

The whole temple glowed gold, and out of that light the Goddess appeared — the very scene we saw at the start! Ramakrishna woke with a jolt, peeked at all her faces through his fingers… giggled, then clutched his belly and laughed out loud.

The Goddess couldn't hold back her laughter, and it spread to all her faces. Ramakrishna shyly drew circles on the floor with his toe.

A golden bowl of milk appeared in the Goddess's right hand, and a golden bowl of curd in her left. Ramakrishna's jaw dropped.

His eyes went milk… curd… milk… curd… his head swinging like a cradle. He tapped his chin and thought. A naughty sparkle lit his eyes!

With a smile from the Goddess, both bowls floated through the air into his hands. Ramakrishna poured the curd into the milk, stirred it with his finger and gulped it all down! A white moustache on his lips.

Ramakrishna's eyes filled with tears… then he started thinking. With his finger he wrote "Vi-ka-ta-ka-vi" in the dust and read it forwards and backwards. His eyes lit up!

The Goddess smiled lovingly, placed her hand on his head and blessed him. Ramakrishna folded his hands and closed his eyes. A single tear of joy.

The Goddess turned into golden sparkles, rose up and vanished. Alone beside the empty bowls, Ramakrishna turned to us with his milk moustache and proudly flashed two fingers with a grin!

That same naughty boy grew up to become one of the Ashtadiggajas — the eight great poets — in Sri Krishnadevaraya's Bhuvana Vijayam. And he lives on in history with the very name the Goddess gave him: Vikatakavi, the poet Ramakrishna!

In the royal court, the grown-up poet Ramakrishna flashed the very same two fingers with a smile. King Krishnadevaraya on his throne and the whole court burst out laughing.