and say cordially, "Come in, brother. Have a smoke." '
We come across a remarkable instance of Ramachandra's generosity and goodness when Bengal was in the grip of a terrible famine in 1864. Ramachandra was himself a poor man, making a meagre living from the cultivation of a few acres of paddy fields, the performance of priestly duties, and the making of sacred threads. He had none the less a good stock of paddy from the surplus of the previous year's produce, and without any consideration for his own worldly circumstances, he spent it all in feeding the famine-stricken.
Recounting her impression of this event, which took place in her tenth year, the Holy Mother said to her disciple in later days: 'At one time a terrible famine devastated Jayrambati. People without number would come to our house for food. We had a store of rice from the previous year's produce. My father made Khichuri, cooking that rice and pulse together. The Khichuri used to be kept in a number of pots. All the members of the family would take only that Khichuri. The starving people would also eat the same. He would, however, say, 'A little plain rice of good variety shall be cooked for my daughter (Sarada, the Holy Mother herself). She will eat that.' Sometimes the starving people would come in such large numbers that the food would not be sufficient for them. Then new Khichuri would be cooked, and when the hot stuff was poured in large earthen pots, I would fan and make it cool. Hungry people would be waiting for it. One day a low class girl came there. She had shaggy hair and blood-shot eyes