Mother: No, not even he.
Disciple: How then is he managing the Belur Math?
Mother: That may be. But taking the responsibilities of women! He can at the most make enquiries from a distance.
Then the Mother talked about the disciples of the Master, whereupon the disciple asked her, "Please tell me who these disciples of the Master are. We cannot recognize them."
Mother: What do I know? But it is true that those who had been born with the Master in his previous incarnations have accompanied him this time also.
Disciple: I do not have any such desire as to see a four-handed Deity and the like. I am quite satisfied with what we have.
Mother: That is also the case with me. What shall we gain by these supernatural visions? For us the Master exists-and he is everything.
UDBODHAN
11th February, 1913
Disciple: Mother, Swamiji has initiated so many people with the Mantra and you also have initiated so many. They come and go away, and are not remembered.
Mother: So many people come. Can all be remembered?
When the fire burms do not the moths come? It is like that.
Disciple: They take the Mantra. But what do they get? We find the man remains as he was.
Mother: Power passes through the Mantra-the Guru's goes to the disciple and the disciple's comes to the Guru. That is why the Guru at the time of initiation takes on himself the sins of the disciple and suffers so much from physical maladies. It is extremely difficult to be a Guru, for he has to take the responsibilities for the disciple's sins. If the disciple commits a sin, that affects the Guru too. On the other hand, the Guru is benefited if the disciple is good. Some disciples make quick progress, and some do it slowly. It depends on the tendencies of the mind acquired by one's past deeds. That is why Rakhal (Swami Brahmananda) hesitates about giving initiation. He said to me, "Mother, as soon as I initiate a disciple, I fall ill. The very idea of giving initiation makes me feel feverish."
One Swami sent a boy to the Holy Mother for initiation. She