Swami Hariharananda Giri & Swami Narayana Giri (Prabhujee) at Karar Ashram

The day Rabi (Baba Hariharananda) arrived in Puri was full moon day, A special festival day in the temple of Lord Jagannath.

The three deities in the main temple are brought out of the temple to the bathing altar in the open air for a special ceremonial bath. After the full moon no can see the Lord for a full sixteen days.

This is followed by the famous rathayatra (car festival) of Jagannath.

In the evening Rabi came to have the darshan of Jagannath.

He was really floating in the ocean of bliss with fulfillment of seeing three things - the ocean, Lord Jagannath and in between the holy abode of Sriyukteswar.

He was mentally praying to God to give him the opportunity to stay in Puri for a longer period.

Rabi, after the evening meditation, was strolling on the terrace of his residence with his friend. It was almost dark except for a little moonlight in the sky. The cool breeze was soothing to the body.

From the terrace they could see the ocean on one side and the Ashram on the other.

In the faint moonlight the Ashram was fairly visible.

From the terrace Rabi saw Swami Sriyukteswar, his beloved Gurudev, walking in the garden of the Ashram and coming in the direction of his residence!

He was thrilled and his hair stood on end as he thought,

"How great you are ! You are an eternal teacher!"

Now Rabi pointing to Sriyukteswar asked his friend, "Do you see someone walking in the garden of the Ashram and coming in direction slowly?"

The friend replied, ""Yes, he is the old monk who gave me the information about this house and its caretaker."

Rabi said, "He is my beloved Gurudev, Swami Sriyukteswar Ji."

Surprised the friend said, "What? You said earlier that your Guruji is no longer in the body?"

"Yes that is correct! " said Rabi.

The friend was frightened. He had an encounter and conversation with a dead man., supposedly a spirit.

Shouting "GHOST", he fainted

It took quite some time for Rabi to get him back to normal conversation.

Chapter 3, Journey to Puri, Paramahamsa Hariharananda, River of Compassion 1999