The Day the Wish-Fulfilling-Tree Bore Fruit - Kalpatharu Day!

By Dr. Lekshmi Nair, Pearland, TX

There is no storyteller quite like Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

Born to a poor couple in a small village in Kamarpukur near Kolkata, his life and teachings have today reached every corner of the world.  While Sri Ramakrishna remained within the bounds of Bengal, it was His disciple Swami Vivekananda who carried His teachings to every corner of the world.

Sri Ramakrishna blessed this exalted disciple of His with the holiest of names, ‘Rama’. What can't a Guru's blessing and divine name accomplish? In an unbelievably short span of time, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa became a household name. Sri Ramakrishna's greatness lies not only in his divine experience but in his extraordinary ability to convey the most profound philosophies of Sanatana Dharma through simple, relatable stories.

The scriptures of Sanatana Dharma are vast and unique. They contain universal truths, relevant to this day, deeply embedded and often difficult for a common person to grasp. To truly understand them, one needs the guidance of a Guru - one who has experienced divinity and can reveal their inner meaning with clarity.

One of the core teachings of our dharma is to see the Divine in all beings—to recognize all as one, and all as Bhagavan. Sri Ramakrishna beautifully illustrates this truth through a simple yet powerful story of a Guru and his disciple. After listening to his Guru’s discourse, a disciple was walking along the street when he noticed a sudden commotion. An elephant had broken loose and was charging uncontrollably. The caretaker ran ahead, warning everyone to move aside. When the disciple saw the elephant approaching, he remembered his Guru’s teaching that all is God. Believing the elephant itself to be Bhagavan, he stood still, calm and unmoving. The elephant trampled him, leaving him severely injured. Barely surviving, the disciple returned to his Guru and asked why this had happened despite his unwavering faith. The Guru gently replied, “Yes, the elephant is God—but so was the caretaker who warned you. Why did you not listen to him?”

Through such everyday incidents woven into stories, Sri Ramakrishna transformed abstract philosophy into practical wisdom—wisdom that continues to resonate deeply with people of all walks of life.

In the final days of his life, Sri Ramakrishna endured immense suffering due to cancer and was moved to Cossipore Garden House. On January 1st, he called all his disciples to him and asked each one to express their wishes. He lovingly blessed them, assuring them that their wishes would be fulfilled. On that sacred day, Sri Ramakrishna revealed himself as the Kalpatharu—the divine wish-fulfilling tree.

This sacred tradition continues through our Master, H H Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji. Each year on January 1st, He instructs us to pray for our wishes as we reminisce about the divine moment when Sri Ramakrishna became the Kalpatharu. Our Master affirms that when we remember that divine play and pray with firm faith, our wishes too will be fulfilled - just as they were then.

For who else but the Guru can truly be the wish-fulfilling tree—granting worldly desires and beyond?