THE PEERLESS PARAMAHAMSA 2

Gadadhar or the boy Ramakrishna, was a bonny child given to much playfulness and pranks. He was contemplative by nature, was a beautiful singer, a good sculptor, a perfect mimic and a brilliant actor. He had an artistic temperament and was quite averse to formal academic training. Instead, he preferred the free and buoyant company of his friends in the enactment of a play in the orchard of the village landlord. He also had a pronounced dislike for mathematics. He had a great affinity for the mendicant monks that halted at Kamarpukur en route to Sri Jagannathkshetra, Puri. He served them in all possible ways and once even donned the sannyasin's garb much to his mother's consternation.