Ram [Chandra Datta] had been visiting the Master at Dakshineswar for some time, and, wanting to help Surendra, he asked him many times to accompany him. ... After much persuasion Surendra finally said: “Allright, I shall go. But if that holy man of yours is a fake, I shall twist his ears.” Such was the attitude with which Surendra approached Sri Ramakrishna.

​

It was probably in the middle of 1880 when Surendra first went to Dakshineswar with Ram and Manomohan. That day the Master’s room was full of devotees. Surendra was determined to preserve his critical attitude, so he sat down without showing any sign of respect to Sri Ramakrishna. The Master was saying: “Why does a man behave like a young monkey and not like a kitten? The monkey has to cling to its mother by its own efforts as she moves around. But the kitten just goes on mewing until its mother comes and picks it up by the scruff of its neck. The young monkey sometimes loses its hold on its mother; then it falls and is badly hurt. But the kitten is in no such danger, because the mother herself carries it from place to place. That’s the difference between trying to do things for yourself and giving yourself up to the will of God.”

​

The Master’s words made a deep impression on Surendra, and this meeting became a turning point in his life. “I behave like the young monkey,” he thought, “and that’s the cause of all my troubles. From now on I’ll be satisfied with any condition the Divine Mother puts me in.” He then felt great relief and inner strength. When he was about to leave, the Master said to him, “Be sure to come again.” Surendra had by this time been humbled, and he willingly bowed down to the Master. On the way home he said to his companions: “Ah, how he turned the tables on me! It was he who twisted my ears! How could I have dreamed that there could be such a man? He read my innermost thoughts. Now at last I feel that my life has some meaning.”

​

They Lived with God, Life Stories of Some Devotees of Sri Ramakrishna, by Swami Chetanananda
Chapter 8 Surendra Nath Mitra, p 127