All around was pitch dark save the flicker of a kerosene lamp hanging in the station. There was no habitation nearby, only bushes and wild vegetation. He boarded a bullock-cart and proceeded towards his destination. Swami Nirvanananda (Surjo Maharaj) was the President of the Bhuvaneshwar Math then and it was frequented by stalwarts like Swami Sankarananda (Amulya Maharaj). Famed as Gupta kashi, Bhuvaneshwar was Swami Brahmananda's favourite retreat and the Bhuvaneshwar Ashrama much graced by his holy association. Young Nareshranjan was welcomed into the Order at this ashrama in the wee hours of the morning and tonsured later during the day leaving a tuft of hair to signify that he was a novice now, that is, a prospective monastic. When the young aspirant sought the blessings of Swami Nirvanananda, he was reminded that everything in spiritual life depended on self-effort and the aspiration towards perfection through the devoted performance of one's duty and designated work.
Brahmachari Naresh soon settled into the discipline of the novitiate. His perspective underwent a profound transformation as he learnt the science of service keeping God central to all activity. He also ingrained routinized living as part and parcel of his life with the central theme of time-management revolving around his meditations at dawn and dusk for which his entire day had to be duly phased in time. The inspiration of Swami Nirvanananda played a pivotal role in the shaping of his spiritual life in these early days of his joining the Order. Naresh also came into close association with Swamis Achalananda (Kedar Baba) and Akhunthananda (Shambhu Babu) at this time. The venerable old Kedar Baba deeply impressed him with his tangible spirituality and with his reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda. He instilled in Naresh the fundamental monastic value of spiritual practice as a daily discipline.
Scriptural study also accompanied spiritual practice in these early days of his novitiate. Naresh studied the Sanskrit texts with Pandit Dinesh Shastri and Pandit Vidhubhusan Bhattacharya. In later years Swami Gahanananda fondly reminisced how he was keen on studying the Upanishads with these scholars who even took periodic tests to find out the level of comprehension of the students.
Finally came the day when Brahmachari Nareshranjan was reborn into the world of the Spirit. Swami Virajanandaji, 6th President of the Ramakrishna Order, disciple of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, sannyas disciple of Swami Vivekananda, himself an illumined soul, visited Bhuvaneshwar Math and Naresh was blessed with spiritual initiation by him. But the days at Bhuvaneshwar were drawing to a close and Naresh was soon posted elsewhere by the authorities at Belur Math. He was transferred to the Kolkata branch of Advaita Ashrama.
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