Page:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu/432

 relatives for His sake. Their one aim in life was to serve their Master, the living God on earth and the Incarnation of Divinity in a human form. The love of Sri Ramakrishna captivated their hearts and souls. Indeed these earnest and sincere disciples were the pillars upon which the Divine Manifestation was about to build the structure of His univer-sal mission. The illness which the Bhagavan had assumed upon His physical form was the means by which He gathered His beloved ones around Him and gave them the opportunity to nurse and wait upon their Divine Master. They sacrificed their personal comfort upon the altar of true devotion and served their Lord with whole heart and soul day after day and night after night. Their devotion was unique and unparalleled in the religious history of modern India. It was these young disciples who after-wards became the world-renowned Swamis of the Order of Sri Ramakrishna. There were also householder disciples, like Suresh, Balaram, Girish, Ram, Mahendra and others, who used to come frequently to see Ramakrishna and to serve Him by supplying the household with all necessary things.