One day Swamiji expressed a desire to build a ghat and an embankment on the bank of the Ganges for the Belur Monastery, so he asked Vijnanananda for an estimate. Fearing Swamiji might change his mind, Vijnanananda understated the cost and said it would be approximately three thousand rupees. This amount made Swamiji happy: He immediately consulted with Swami Brahmananda and ordered that the project be started. As the work proceeded, Vijnanananda realized that the cost would exceed his previous estimate. He humbly expressed his concern to Brahmananda who asked Vijnanananda to complete the project. Out of compassion for his younger brother, he accepted the responsibility of spending the extra money and risking a scolding from Swamiji.
Sometime later, Swamiji asked Brahmananda for the accounts. When he discovered that the expenses had already exceeded the original estimate, and the work was still unfinished, he became angry with Brahmananda and vehemently scolded him. The latter endured it calmly. When Swamiji returned to his room, Brahmananda went to his own room and closed the door and windows. After a while Swamiji regretted his bad temper. He then called Vijnanananda and said, “Could you check on what Raja [Brahmananda was called Raja or King] is doing?” Vijnanananda went to Brahmananda’s room and found that the doors and windows were closed. He called for him but got no response.
When he reported this to Swamiji, he said: “You are a fool! I asked you to find out what Raja was doing; and you say, ‘His door and windows are closed.’ Go back again and tell me what he is doing.” This time Vijnanananda pushed the door open and found Brahmananda on his bed, weeping. Vijnanananda said apologetically, “Maharaj, I am sorry; today you have suffered terribly for me.” Brahmananda said: “Brother, can you tell me what wrong I have done that Swamiji could scold me so harshly? Sometimes it becomes so unbearable that I feel I should go away to some place in the mountains, leaving everything.”
Returning to Swamiji, Vijnanananda reported that Brahmananda was crying. At this, Swamiji rushed to the room, embraced Brahmananda, and said tearfully: “Raja, brother, please forgive me. It is my fault that my temper is short and that I scolded you. Please pardon me.” Meanwhile, Brahmananda had regained his composure. Seeing Swamiji weep, he was also moved. Then he said: “What does it matter? You have scolded me because you love me — that is all.” But Swamiji continued: “Brother, please forgive me. I know how much the Master loved you and never uttered a harsh word to you. And I, on the other hand, for the sake of this petty work, have verbally abused you and given you pain. I am not fit to live with you. I shall go away to the Himalayas and live alone in solitude.” “Don’t say that, Swamiji,” said Brahmananda. “Your scolding is a blessing. How can you leave us? You are our leader. How shall we function without you?” Gradually both of them became calm.
Vijnanananda later remarked: “I shall never forget that scene in my life. I never saw Swamiji weeping so bitterly. What a bond of love existed between them! Swamiji loved his brother disciples like a mother, and that is why he could not bear any shortcoming in them. He wanted them to be as great as himself; nay, even greater than himself. His love was incomparable.” (Source: God Lived with Them)