Another ideal veiy common in all our sects, I want to place before you pi also a vast subject. This unuiue idea that teligioii is to be realised, is in India alone.
* The vvoul JuHuka lit, uiortus a tatlicj.
lECTURES-FROM COLOMBO TO ALMORA 5T>4r ^ ^ W ^ ^f^Tf ^%5T I— “ This Atman is not to be reached by too much talking, nor is U to be leachcd by the power of inlellocl, nor by much study of the sciiptiires,” Nay, ours is the only sciiplure in the woild that declares, i70t even by the study of the striptures can the Atman be realised-— not talks, not lecturing, none of that, but It is to bo lealised. It comes fiom the teacher to the disciple. When this insight comes to the disciple, everything is cleaied up and lealisation follows.
One more idea. Theie is a peculiar custom in Bengal, which they call kulagtirti^ of hereditaiy Omnship. “ j\Iy father was your Ouiii, now I shall be yoni Ouiu. JNIy father was the Guru of youi father, so shall 1 be yours,” What is a Gum? Let us go back to the Srutis, — “ He who knows the secret of the Vedas,” not book-woims, not giammarians, not Pund.ts in gcneial, but he who knows the jneaning. »T ^ “An ass laden with a load of sandal-wood knows only the weight of the wood, hut not its precious quali- ties so are these Pandits; we do not want such. What can they teach if they have no realisation? When I was a boy here, in this city of Calcutta, I used to go from place to place in seaich of religion, and every wheie I asked the lectuier aftei hearing veiy big lectuies, “ Have you seen God The man was taken aback at the idea of seeing God, and the only man who told me, ” 1 ha\c,” was Ramakiishna Paramahamsa, and not only so, but he said, “I v/ill ppt )ou in the way of seeing Him too.” The Gum is not a man who twists and lor- tuies lexis. ^ ^ i “ l)ilfeicnt w'a)S of throwing out woids, diflcicnl ways of explaining te^ls of the sciiptuies, these aie foi the enjoyment of the learned, not foi ficedoin ' Sraliiyit, he w'ho knows the secicl of the.Smlis, Avnjuid, the sinh'ss, and unpiciced by dcsite,- he who does not want to make money by teaching jou— he is the fsanta, the S^dhu, wdio conies as the sjuing, which bungs the leaves and blossoms to vaiioLis planU, but does not ask an) thing fiom ihe plant, for its veiy natuio is to do good. It docs good and iheie it is.Such is the (jiim. rfpnt 5r?TT: |— ” Who has himself ciossed this tciiible ocean of life, and williout any idea of gam to himself, helping olheib to cjoss the ocean also.” This is the Guru, and maik, that none else can be a Gum, for pni 'TfTiTrfWTi^jrHr: i qn Xhemsclves steeped in daikiiess, but m the piule of their heads thinking they know cveiything, the fools want to help othcis, and they go round and jound in many ciooked ways, staggering to and fio, and thus like blind loading tlie blind, both fall into the ditch ” ’I'hus, say the Vedas rompaie that and youi present custom. You are Yedanlists, you aie very oithodox,aro you not? You are gieat Hindus, and very orthodox. Aye, what 1 want to do is to make you more oithodox. 'I'he moic oithodox you are the more sensible, and the more }0u think of modern orthodoxy the more foolish you aie. Go back to your old oilhodoxy, for m those days every sound that came fiom these books, every pulsation, was out of a strong, steady and sincere heart; eveiy note was true. After that came degradation, in art, in science, in religion, in evc’rythmg, national degradation. We have no lime to discuss the causes, but all the books wiiUen aboqt that period biealhe of the pestilence, the national decay; instead of vigour, only wails and cries Go bgck, go back to the old days, when there was t>treugili and vilaliiy. Be strong once more, drink 'ioep of this fountain of yore, and that IS the only condition of life in India, Iiir. yiU}M\' TA JN ALL ITS PHASES 133 Accoiding 10 the Adsaiti.t, (Ins induid.nhtv which u<: hive to-dav is a delusion This has been a haul nut to c.ack all ovci (he ii.Mld. Foithwith you (ell a man he IS not an mdividual, he is so much afiaid that hi. mdiMdudU). uhatexei (hit m ly be. will be lost, but the Advailist sa)s Uie.e mnci has been an mdiMduahlv, loii Ime been chan.mno evoiy moment of your hie. You weic a child and thomdu' in one way, now )ou are a man a.ul ihink another way, a-ain, you will be an old man and think differently. Kveiylmdy is chan-mjr If.o, uheie 1. your mdividiialily? Ceitamly not in the l)ody. 01 m the mmd, 01 m thought. Alulbe^on<llhatlsyonr Atman, and, says the Ad\ailist, this Atman IS the Hinhman Itself Thcie camun be tuo Infinites. 'I'heie is only one individual and it is InfmUe In pliin wools, we aie lational bem^^es, and w-e want to leasoii. And wh.ii i. le.ason ^.Moie 01 less of classifKation. until yon cannot go on any Imihei And the infmile canon!) find its ultimate rest when it is cl-issifird into the Infinite ( lo on Ukino up a Vimte and finding its reasons, and so on, but yon find rest nowliero until yon icacli the ultimate, 01 Infinite, and that Infinite, says (be Ad\aitjst, is wb.n alone exists K\ei ylhing else IS Maya, nothing else has leal existence, whalcvei is of existence m any maioiiarihmjr is this Ib.ihman; we ar(‘ this Jhahman. and the shape and c\ei)thmg else is Mata, 'l ake away the foim and shape, and yon and I aie all one But wo ha\e to gnaid against tiie woid. ‘ I.’ Gcneially people say, ‘ If I am the Biahnian why cannot I do this and that,’ but this is using the woid m a dillcicnt sense As soon as )om think )on aie bound, no moie \ou aie Biabinan the Self, who wants nothing, whoso li'*ht IS inside. All Ills pleasuies and bliss aic mside, pcifec ib, satisfied with Ilunself He wants nollung, cjtpccts nothing, poifectly feailess. jieileclly fiee That is Biahnian. In That v\e aio all one Now this sei-ins, theiefote, to Ik‘ the gieal puml of diffeience between the Dualist and the Aihaitist Von Inut twen gieal comnieiil.uois like Sankauu har) a, making mcauiiigs 0* lexis, whuh, lo mv mind, sonu tunes do not seem to he )usulied. Sumelimcs vou find Uamaiuija dealmg wiih texts m a wa) (h.il is not \ei\ deal 'I'he idea has been c^en among oui Pandit, tliat onl) one ol llie^e s«.cts can be tine and the K'si false. — allliongb the)' ba\e the uiea in the Sinli., the most wondeifiil ide.i that India has )ct to give to the woild,- rri^JT I — “ That w ha h exists IS One; sages call It by \ai ions names" 'Plial lias lieeii the ibemc, aiul ihe woikmg out of the whole ol this hfe-pioblein of the nation is the woi kmg-ont ol that theme-- I Vea, except a vei) few le.iined men, I mean, harnng avci) tew simitnal men, m India, we alwats foiget this W’e fnigel this great idea, and you will find that iheic aie pei.ons among Pandits —I should think nnK't)-eight pci cent — who.ne of oimnon that (‘iihei the Adv.iitist wdl he tine, 01 the Vishisluadvaitist will be line, 01 the l)\aiiisl will be Uue, and if )ou go lo Bcnaies, and sil foi five minutes m one of the llieie, )oa will have demonsiiation of what I sa)’ You will sec a icgtilai bull-light going on, about these vaiious sects and things I'hns It icmains Then came one whose life was the c.xplanation, whose life was the woiking out of the hannony that is the background of all the different sects of India, I mean Ramakiishna Ikuamahamsa. It is his life that explains that both of these aic ncce.ss.aiy, that they aic like the geocentric and the hchocentiic in astrononi). When a chil<l is taught astronomy he is taught the gcocentiic fust, and woiks out simil.u ideas of astionomy lo the hehoccntiic. But Atheii he comes to finci s) stems of astionomy, the liehocenliic will be necessary, 34 LECTURES—FROM COLOMBO TO ALMORA and he w ill niuici stand it better. J^ualism is the natural idea of the senses; as long as \vc aio bound by the senses we aie bound to see a (jod who is only Peisonal, and jKJthing but Peibonal, we aie bound to see the woild as it is. Says Ramanuja, “ So long as you think you are a body, and you think you aie a mind, and 3011 think you aie a Ji\a, cveiy act of peicejition will gi\e }ou the thiec,- -God, and Natuie, and some- thing as causing both.", Rut jet, at the same time, even the idea of the body disap- pe.iis where the mind itself become'^ finei and tinei, nil it has almost disappeaied, when all the ddfeient things that make us feu, make us weak, and bind us down t(^ this botl\ -life, • have disappeaied. 'I'lien and then alone one finds out tlie tiuth of that gland old leaching — What is the teaching jjtqr \ IGcn in this life the) have coiujucied he.uen, whose minds are rum-fixed on the sameness of cveij thing, foi (iod is puie, and the same to all, and theiefoie, such aie said to be luiiig in God.’'
ft I ^?T^r jrfJT’T ii ‘‘Thus seeing the Loid the same e\eiywheie, he, the sage, does not huiL the Self by the self, and so goes to the highest goal."
»i<CCOOCC«=»' THOUGHTS ON THR GITA.
Diirinpf liis sojourn in Calcutta in iSyy, S^\amiJi used to stay for llie mo.st pait at the Math, llie licatlqnaiteis of the Kamakiishna Mission, located tlun at Aliiinh.i.'.ai Duiinq tins tiiuo sevcial young men, \\lu) had hcon jiicpaiing iIkmu- selv'c's foi soniotime pieviously, gaihcicd lound him and took the \o\\s of Hiahma- clni}ain and Sannyas, and Swamiji l)e^an to iiain them foi fniiiic woi k,!>) holding classes on the Cita and \'cdanla, and initiating them into the prat tices of nitMlilation. In one of these classes he talked eloipientl) m Bengali on the (Iita. 'I’he following is the uanslalioii of the smnmaiy of the discouise as it was enteied m the Math diaij; — The hook known as the (ola foims a pait of the Mahabhniala. In iiiidci siandiitg the Cita piopeily, scweial things aie \(My impoitant to know, h'lisi, whelhci it loiiiied a p.iU ol the Mahahhaiata, i e.whilhei the anihoislup altiibuled to \’cda \'),'isa was tine, 01 if It was iiKiel) inteipolaled within the gietl epic, secondly, whollier llieic was anv hislotical jfCisonahty of the name of Kiidma, thiidh', whelhei the great w’li ol Ism iikshelia as mcntiom'd in the (Iita.itluall)’ look place; and louithl)', whether Aijiina and raheis weie leal histoiical peisons Now ill the Inst phue, let ns see whalgiounds there aie foi such cn([iiiry Wo knoA’ that iheK' we'tc man) w'ho went h\ the atm e of Wala-Vj.Is.i, and among them wlio was the leal authoi ol iho Cita the Badti.nana V)asa oi Dvaipat ana Vyasa?
' V\,'isa' was onl\ a lillo An) one who composed a now Piiiana was known hv ihc name of \’).is.i, like the woul, \'ikiam.'ldit) a. which w.is also a gencial n.imc Aiiollior point IS, the lujok, Ciiit, was not much known to the gencialih of jieople, before Sankai achai) a made it famous by* wntmg his great commeiil.ii) on it. i.oiig befoic that, llieie wMs cmicnt, actoidmg to many, the commentaiy on it h\ Bodh.tvana If this could l)(‘ plumed, it would go a long wa) no doiihi, lo ost ibhsh the aiitiqiiil) of the Cila and the aiillioiship of \')asa But the Bodhlvana Bh.tshva on the \ edaiita Siilias— fioni which Bamaimja compiled his Si i-Bhash) a, wliith S.inkarath.ii ya meniions and eseii quotes in ptrL here and theie m his own commentaiy, and which was so gicatly discussed by the Swami J)a) anauda— not a copy ewen of that Bodlhuana Bh.ishya could I lind while tia\clhng ihioughoul India. It is said that oven Ivvmanuja compiled his Bhash\a from a woim-caton inaimstiipl whuh he happemod to fiiid When even this gical Bodh.nana Bh.ish).! on the Vedinta Sntias is so imich enshrouded in tlic daikness of unceilainty. it is simply useless to It y lo esiablish the e.xislence of the Bodhayana Bhash)a on the Gita. Some infer llial Sankai achai ya was the audioi of the Gita, and that it was he who foisted it into the body of tlie Mahabhaiala..,, t 'I'lieu as to the second point in question, much doubt exists about the personality of Ktishna. In one place in the Ghbandogya Upanishad we find mention of Kiislma, the son of Devaki, who icceived spintual msiiiiclion fiom one Ghoianama, a Yogi. In the Mahabharata, Kiishna is the king of Dwaiaka, and in the Vislinu Pnrana we lind a dcsciiption of Kiishna playing with llic Gopis. Again in the Bhaga\atam, the account of his R<'nhhl<) is detailed at length. In veiy ancient times in oiir country, there was in vogue an Ulsab called Madaiwlsah (celebialion in honour of Cupid).' That very thing was transformed into Dol and ihiust upon the shoulders of 136 LECTURES- f'ROM COLOMBO TO ALMORA Krishna. Wlio can’ve so bold as lo asscrl tlmt the Rd^hlila and olhei things con- nected with him \veie not similarly fastened upon him? In ancient limes, theie was vcMy little tendency in om ctiuniry to find out liiilhs by hislonc.il icscaich. So any one could say what he thouj’ht best without substantiating tt with pioper facts and evidence. Anolhei thing, in those ancient limes, there was veiy little hankering after name and fame in men..So it often happened that one man composed a book and made it pass ciuient in the name of histjmuorof spme one elae. In such cases it is very h.uai dons foi the investigator of histoncal facts lo gel at the tinlh. In ancient times they had no knowledge whatever of geogiaphy —imagination ran liot, and so we meet with such f.inlastic creations of the btain as sweet-ocean, milk-ocean, claiilied-bullei ocean, curd-ocean, kc! In the Pnianas, we find one living ten thousand yeais, anolhei a huiuhed thousand }ears! Hut the Vedas say,- “ JMan lives a hundred yeais " Whom shall we follow heie }.So, to reach a collect conclu- sion in the case of Kiishna is well nigh impossible.
It IS human naluie lo build round the leal character of a great man all sorts of imaginaiy superhuman attiibutes. As legaids Kiishna the same must have happened, bill it seems (juite jirobable that he was a king. Quite probable 1 said, because in ancient times in our country it was chielly the kings who excited tliemsclves most in the preaching of Hrahma-Jn.tna. Another point lo be especially noted heie is, that whoever might have been the author ol the (lita, we find its teachings the same as those in the whole of llie M.ihabh.ii.ita. Fiom this we can safely infei that in the age of the IMaliabhaiata some gical manaiose and jneached ihe Hialima-Jnana m this new garb lo llie then existing society. Anoilici lad conics lo ilic loie that m the olden days, as one.sect aftei anolhei aiosc, thme abso c.ime into existence and use among them, one nesv sciiptiue 01 anolhei. It hapjicned too, llnil in the lapse of lime both the sect and ils scnixme died out, or tlie sect ceased lo exist hut its scripluie remained..Similai ly it was cpiite piohahle th.u the Gita was the scri[)luie of such a sect, which had embodied its higli and noble ideas, in this sacied houk.
Now lo the thud point, beating on the sul)3oct of the Kuiukslietia Wai, no special evidence in suj-poil of it can be adduced. Hut there i^ no doubt that iheie was a wai fought between the Kurus and the IVinchakas. Anothei thing How could theie he so much discussion alioul Jnana, Bhakti and Voga on the baltle-lu'ld, wheie the huge army stood in battle ana) leady lo fight, jicsi waiting lor the last signal? And was any shoilhand writer picsent theie to note down eveiy woid spoken betw'eeii Krishna and Aijuna, in the dm and luimoil of the battle-field? Accoiding to some, this Kuiukshelia War is only an allegory. When we sum up its esoteric significance, it means the war which is constantly going on within man between the tendencies of good and bad. This meaning too, may not he 11 rational.
About the fourth point, theie is enough giound of doubt as regaids the hisloiicily of Arjuna and ollieis, and it is tins. — Salapalha Biahmana is a veiy ancient book. In it are mentioned somevvheie all the names of those wlio weie the peifoimeis of the Abhvamedha Yajiia, but in those places theie is not only no mention but no hint even of the names of Aijuna and otheis, though it speaks of Janmejaya, the son of Paiikshil, and grandson of Aijuna. Yet in the INIahabhai ala and other books it is stated that Yudhishlhira, Arjuna and otheis celebiated the Ashvan^edha saciifice.
One thing should be especially reinembeied heie, that there is no connection be- tween those liisloiical researches and our ical aim which is, the knowledge that leads to the acquiicincnt of Dharnu. Kven if the historicity of the whole thing is proved to moifGfrfS 01^ fttE GtfA 4^7 he ahsolulely false to-day, it will not in the least be any loss to Us. Then what is the 'use of so much historical research, you may ask. It has Its use, because we have to get at the tiuth I it will not do for us to remain bouna by wrong ideas due to ignorance. In this country people tliink very little of the importance of sucli enquiiies. Many of the sects believe that in older to preach a good thing which may be beneficial to many, Iheie is no haim in telling an untruth, if that helps such preaching, or in other Words,’ the end justifies the means. Hence we find many of our Tantias beginning with, — ‘Mahadeva said to Paivati.’ But our duty should be to comince ourselves of the tiuth, to believe in truth only. Such Is the power of siipeislitioii, oi faith In old iraditions without enquiry into its truth, that it keeps men bound haml and foot, so much so, that even Jesns the Cliiist, Mahommed and other gteat men belie\ed in many such superstitions and could not shake them off. You have to keep )our eyo alwaj’S (keel on tiuth only, and shun all superstitions completely, Now it is for us to see, what thele is in the (uta. If we study the Upanishads we notice, in wandeiing thiough the mazes of many iiielcvent subjects, suddenly the intioduction of the discussion of a gicat truth, just as in the midst of a huge wilder- ness a travellei unexpectedly comes acioss here and there an exquisitely beautiful lose, with its leaves, thoi ns, loots, all entangled. Compared to that, the Oita is like these truths beautifully aiianged together in their proper [ilaces— like a fine gailand or a bouquet of the choicest (lowers. The Upanishads deal elahoiately with Shraddli.l in many places, but baldly mentions Bliakti, In the (iita on the othei hand, the subject of Bhakti is not only again and again dealt with, but in it, the innate sjiuii of Bh.ikti has attained its culmination.
Now let us see.some of the main points discus.scd in the Gita. Wliereiii lies the oiigmalily of the (Jita, which distinguishes it fiom all piccecling sciiptuics.^ It is this: 'rhough bcfoie its advent, Yoga, jnana, Bhakti, had eath its stiong adlieients, they all quarrelled among themselves, each claiming siipeiiorily for his own path of devotion; no one ^yer tiied to seek for reconciliation among these dilfeicnt paths. It was the author of the Gita who for the first lime tiled to harmonise these, lie took the be.st from what all the.sects theff e>,isting had to offer, and threaded lliem in the Gila. But even where Kiislma failed to show a complete reconciliation {Hamanvyii) among these warring sects, it was fully accomplished by Kamakiishna Baiamahamsa in this nineteenth century.
The next is, Nishkilma Karma or work without desire or attachment. Peojile nowadays undei stand what is meant by this in vaiious ways. 5ome say, what is inijilied by being unattached is to become j7ui posele.ss! If that were its real mean- ing, then heailless biutes and the walls would be the best ex'poncnts of the peifoiineis of NishkAma Kanna. I\Iany others again, give the example of Janaka, and wisli themselves to be ecjually recognised as past-masters in the piaclice of Nislikama Raima I Janaka did not acquire lliat distinction by bringing foilh children, but these people all want to be Janakas, with the sole qualification of being the falheis of a biood of cliildien! No! 'I'be Hue Ni.sbkaim Kaimi ([lerfoiiiK^ of woik without desiie) is ncilher to be like a biiite, iioi to he ineit, nor heaitles.s. lie is not I amasic but of puie Sattva. IBs heart is so full of love and sympathy, that he can embrace the whole world with his love. The woild at laige cannot geneially comprehend his all- embiacing love and sympathy.
The leconciliation of the different paths of Dhanm, and work without desire or attachment — these are the two special characteristics of the Gita, R LECTURES^-FROiM COLOMBO TO ALMORA Let us now read a little from the second chapter.
u II ^T^'T^’iTTT^ I iRii “ Sanjaya said: To him who was thus overwhelmed with pity and sorrowing, and whose eyes were dimmed with tears, Madhusudana spoke these words: The Blessed Lord said: In such a strait, whence comes upon thee, O Aijuna, this dejection, un-Arya-like, disgraceful, and contrary to the attainment of heaven?
Yield not to unmanlincss, O son of Prithit! Ill doth it become thee. Cast off this mean faint-heaitedncss and arise, O scorcher of thine enemies! ” Tn the slokas beginning with ^ f^Tf f>V4tRg. how poetically — how beautifully has Aijuna’s leal position been painted! Then Sii Kiishna advises Aijuna; and in the woids jnT*T *T»t: «Tr^ why is he goading Aijuna to fight? Be- cause it was not that the disinclination of Arjuna to fight arose out of the over- whelming predominance of pure Sattva Guna; it w'as all Tamas that brought on this unwillingness. The natuic of a man of Sattva Guna is, that he is equally calm in all situations in life — whether it be prospeiily oi adversity. But Aijuna was afraid, he was overwhelmed with pity. That he had the instinct and the inclination to fight is proved by the simple fact, that he came to the battle-field with no other pin pose than that. Frequently m our lives also such things aio seen to happen. INTany people think they are SalUic by natuie, but they are really nothing but Tdmasic. Many living in an uncleanly w'ay logaid themselves as Baramahamsas ' Why? Because the Slustras say that Baramahamsas live like one ineit, or mad, or like an unclean spiiit. Baramahamsas are compared to children, but here it should be understood that the comparison is one-sided. The Baramahamsa and the child are not one and non-different. They only appear similar, being at the two exti ernes of a pole, as it were. One has reached to a slate beyond Jnanam, and the othci h-'s not got even an inkling of Jnanam. The quickest and the gentlest vibialions of the moloculai atoms of light aie both beyond the learh of our spectacular vision; but in the one it is intense heal, and in the other it may be said to be almost W'ithout any heat. So it is with the optiosite ciualilics of the Saliva and the Tamas. They seem in some respects no doubt to be the same, but there is a world of difference between them. The Tamoguna loves very much to array heiself in the garb of the Sattva. Here, in Arjuna, the mighty warrior, ishc has come under the guise of Da>a (pity) I In Older to remove this delusion which had ovei taken Aijuna, what did the Bhagavhn say? As I always pi each that you should not deciy a man by calling him a siiinci but that you should draw his attention to the omnipotent power that is m him, in the same w'ay does the Bhagavan speak to Arjuna; - It doth not befit thee! Thou art that Atman imperishable, beyond all evil. Having for- THOUGHTS ON THE GITA,39 gotten Ihy real nature thou haat, l>y thinking thyself a sinner, as one afflicted with bodily evds and mental g,, of, ^hou hast made thyself so, -tins doth not befit thee I So says the Bhagavan:,^<1 W. Tf^ -Yield not to unnianlincss, O son of Pntha. I here IS 111 the world ncithei sin nor misery, neither disease nor grief - if theie ts anything in the woild which can be called sin, it is this--' fear ”; know that any work ivhichbiings out the latent power in thee, is Puny, t; and that which make, thy body mid mind wet* is, verily, sin. Sh.ake off this iveakness, this faint-hcarted- ncss iffw iTifi -TTSf, d'hou ait a hero, a Fir,i; “ this is inibecoiniiig of thee.”
Jl you, my^ sons, can proclaim this message to the world— "W ™ to- wrf ffff?^cg>JTWff"-lhcn all this disease, giicf, sin and sorrow will vanish fiom off the lace of the eatth in three days. All these ideas of we.ikiiess will be nowhere Now it IS cveiywhere-this cuirentof the vibiation of fear. Revci.se the current • bring ill the opposite vibiation, and behold the magic tiansfoimation I Thou art omnb potent;-go, go to the mouth of the cannon, fear not I Il.itc not the most abject biniicr, look not to his exterior. Turn thy gaze inw.iid, where resides the Pai-am- .atiiian. Proclaim to the whole woild with trumpet voice; “ ■I-hcrc is no sin in thee, theie is no misery in thee; thon art the reservoir of oninipotent power. Arise awake, and manifesl the Divinity within! ” ' ’ 'it'TTII— he gets all the moi its of leading the entile Gila; lor^ni tins one bloka lies imbedded the whole Message of the Gita.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME AT ALMORA AND SWAMIjrS REPLY.
On hjs arrival at Almora, Swamiji received an Address of Welcome in Hindi from the citizens of Almora, of which the following is a translation Great-soulcd one.-— Since the time we heard that, after gaining spiritual con- quest in the West, you had started from England for your motherland, India, we were naturally desirous of having the pleasure of seeing you. By the grace of the Almighty, that auspicious moment has at last come. The saying of the great poet and the prince of Bhaktas, Tulsidas — “A person who intensely loves another is sure to find him,” has been fully realised to-day. We have assembled here to welcome you with sincere devotion. You have highly obliged us by your kindly taking so much trouble in paying a visit to this town again. We can hardly thank you enough for your kindness. Blessed are youl Blessed, blessed is the reveied Ourudeva who initiated you into Yoga. Blessed is the land of Bhdrata where, even in this fearful Kaliyuga, there exist leaders of Aryan families like your.self. Even at an early period of life, you have by your simplicity, sincerity, character, philanthropy, severe discipline, conduct, and the preaching of knowledge, acquired that immaculate fame throughout the world, of which we feel so proud.
In truth, you have accomplished that diflicult task which no one ever undertook in this country since the days of Sri Sankaracharya. Which of us ever dreamt that a descendant of the old Indian Aryans, by dint of (apas^ would prove to the learned people of England and America the superiority of the ancient Indian Religion over other creeds. In the World’s Parliament of Religions held in Chicago, before the represeniativQS of different religions assembled there, you so ably advocated the Buperiovily of the ancient religion of India, that their eyes were opened. In that great assembly, learned speakers defended their respective religions in their own way, but you surpassed them all. You completely established that no religion can compete with the religion of the Vedas. Not only this, but by preaching the ancient wisdom at various places in the continents aforesaid, you have attracted many learned men towards the ancient Aryan religion and philosophy. In England, too, you have planted the banner of the ancient religion, which it is impossible now to remove.