The birth

The spring season had arrived.
The plants were blooming with new life. There was scent in the air. The delivery time of Chandra was also fast approaching. She looked full of hope and happiness but strangely she felt extremely tired.
If the child arrived how would she be able to do her daily pooja ritual?
Khudiram assured him, “Dear, do not worry. The great soul who is going to take birth from your womb won’t disrupt your pooja. I firmly believe in it . I have called Dhani to help you out. She will come to stay with you all night.”
That eased the tension of Chandra and she felt comforted. She busied herself in routine chores. The day passed. She offered her evening prayers.
At night Dhani arrived to give Chandra night long company and slept by the latter’s side.
In the wee hours of the morning Chandra felt labour pain. The child arrived shortly later without putting the mother in too much or too long labour pain.
It was a boy.
The couple called the boy ‘Gadadhar’ because that was one of the names of the god whose blessings had resulted in the birth, so Khudiram and Chandra believed. Formally the child was christened ‘Ramakrishna’, although parents stuck to Gadadhar.
The dream Khudiram had seen at ‘Gaya’ and the divine experiences Chandra had gone through had fructified in the birth of the new born, Gadadhar.
Gadadhar began to grow up. The child became the centre of the attraction of all the women of the neighbourhood because they had come to know the signs Khudiram and Chandra had seen connected to his birth. Every one believed that Gadadhar was an unusual child, may be some divine incarnation. The women felt great joy in fondling or cuddling the child.
When Gadadhar was eight weeks old Chandra suckled her baby and put him in the bed to sleep. She had a lot of house work to do.
After finishing the chores she went to bed to see if her darling child was alright.
The child was not there.
In his place a divine figure lay fast asleep. It frightened Chandra.
She frantically ran out calling out to her husband who was sitting outside chanting some mantra. He rushed to his wife. Chandra told him what she had seen. Both of them dashed into the room to investigate.
There was no sign of the divine figure. Gadadhar was sleeping on the bed peacefully.
Khudiram stared at his wife questioningly. She looked around puzzled.
Chandra insisted, “Master! I did see the man here. I am sure I was not imagining things. Please call some Pundit. I am feeling very agitated and frightened.”
“Take it easy,” Khudiram comforted her. “Dear, be brave. Show courage. We have experienced a lot of strange phenomena during the whole year and a half related to our Gadadhar. It is just another one. We have Lord Rama in our worship room. He will not allow anything bad to happen to your child or us. Have faith in his protection.”
It made Chandra be at peace again.
Khudiram had intimated his nephew Ramchandra about the birth of Gadadhar. The nephew, at once sent a milch cow to take care of the milk needs of the new born. He knew well that his maternal uncle had little financial resources of his own.