While he was there, the Dewan took all possible care of him. This is known from the letter the Swami wrote to him from Girnar:_x000d_ Very kind of you to send up a man inquiring about my health and comfort. But that's quite of a piece with your fatherly character. I am all right here. Your kindness has left nothing more to be desired here. 1 hope soon to see you in a few days. I don't require any conveyance while going down. Descent is very bad, and the ascent is the worst part of the job, that's the same in everything in the world. My heart felt gratitude to you. Yours faithfully, Bibekananda.

This is confirmed by Akhandananda who, as will be seen presently, was tracking the Swami down. At Wadhwan Akhandananda met someone recently arrived from Junagadh. This person said that at Junagadh he had met a learned monk named Vivekananda. The description of the monk tallied with that of Akhandananda's beloved "Naren".

Abhedananda was also wandering in Gujarat at this time. He happened to meet the Swami at Junagadh. This is the account that he gives in his autobiography of their meeting:_x000d_ On arrival at Junagadh, I came to hear from people that a Bengali sannyasin with high English education was staying for some days at the house of Mansukhram Suryaram Tripathi, a Gujarati Brahmin, who was the Private Secretary of the local Nawab. . . . Elated with joy I reached the house of Mansukhram . . . by enquiry and imme¬diately found that my conjecture was true. Narendranath brightened up with joy to see me unexpectedly. I too could not check my tears to meet him after a long time. Fortunately when I arrived there Narendra¬nath was discussing some topic of non-dualistic Vedanta with Mr. Tripathi. . . . Mr. Tripathi requested me with courtesy to take rest and sent an order in his house for arranging food for me along with Narendranath. . . . I gladly stayed in his house for three or four days in the company of Narendranath, and then I got ready to start for Dwarka.

The Swami, we have noticed and shall be noticing, spent much of his time in the palaces of the Princes of India or with their Dewans. Many severely criticized him for doing so; others asked him why he did so. The Swami replied that his intention was to .influence the princes, and by turning their attention to the religious life, thus to ensure that they were true to their Swadharma (own duty), that is, government for the good of the people whose custodians they were. Upon these princes depended not only the present welfare, but the future advancement also, of the governed. They alone could inaugurate reforms, improve methods of education, and establish and foster charitable institutions in their territories. "If I can win over to my cause those in whose power are wealth and the administra-tion of the affairs of thousands, my mission will be accomplished all the sooner; by influencing one Maharaja alone I can indirectly benefit thousands of people." With this intention he consented on occasion to reside in a palace. One day would find him strolling in the gardens of some prince, or driving with him in his carriage; the next, perhaps alone and afoot on the dusty road making for some poor devotee's house.

After a short stay at Limbdi, the Swami left for Junagadh with letters of introduction from the Thakore Saheb to his friends there and elsewhere. The Prince entreated him to be cautious on his solitary wanderings, and the Swami too, after his experience at Limbdi, resolved to be more circumspect in accepting offers of lodging, and to be more discriminating as to the people with whom he came in contact.

At Junagadh he was the guest of Haridas Viharidas Desai, the Dewan of the State, who was so charmed with his company that every evening he, with all the State officials, used to meet the Swami and converse with him until late at night.

The manager of the Dewan's office was one C. H. Pandya. He became the Swami's staunch admirer, and in his house the Swami stayed for a time. This is what he had to say:_x000d_ The Swami's simplicity of life, his unostentatiousness, his profound knowledge of various arts and sciences, his catholicity of views and his devotion to religion; his stirring eloquence and his magnetic powers and extraordinary personality, influenced all of us in Junagadh. Added to these qualities he possessed a great proficiency in music and was conversant with all forms of Indian art. Ay, withal he was even an artist of the cuisine and could prepare excellent rasogollas. We were devoted to him.

In his talks at Junagadh the Swami spoke much of Jesus Christ. He said that he had long since come to understand the influence of Christ in regenerating the ethics of the Western world. Becoming fervent in his eloquence, he went on to relate how all the medieval greatness of Europe--the paintings of Raphael, the devotion of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Gothic cathedral, the Crusades, the political systems of the West, its monastic orders and its religious life--all were interwoven, in one way or another with the teachings of the sannyasi Christ._x000d_ From this he went on to narrate the excellences of the Sanatana Dharma, illuminating and enlarging his listeners' understanding of it. And then, in a patriotic spirit, the Swami made clear to them the nature and extent of the influence exerted by Hinduism on the Western religious imagination, and showed how Central and Western Asia was the scene of this interracial exchange of ideas. He brought out the values for which their own culture stood, and the essential worth of the Hindu experience in the development of spiritual ideals throughout the world. He told them also about the life and teaching of the Saint of Dakshineswar; and thus Shri Ramakrishna came to be known and appreciated in those distant parts. At Junagadh, too, he had long discussions with many orthodox Hindu pandits.

Interested as he was in ancient monuments and ruins, the Swami found ample scope for study at Junagadh. Here, there are the old fortress called Uparkot, an old Rajput palace, two ancient wells, and the Khapra Khodia caves dating back to the Buddhist period and perhaps used as monasteries; but of chief interest is the Ashoka Stone. It is a huge rock just outside the town, in which the Edicts of the Emperor Ashoka and of two other emperors are cut.

Girnar, about two miles from Junagadh, is a place of pilgrimage, sacred to Buddhists, Jainas and Hindus because of its association with the traditions of all three religions. It is a group of some ten hills, the highest of which, known as Gorakhnath, is about 3,600 feet. Climbing starts from Girnar Taleti. There are 10,000 or more steps cut in the rock, leading to the many Jaina and Hindu temples built on the different hills. After the first half of the climb the way becomes very narrow, and at times turns on the edge of a great precipice. Used to mountain paths, the Swami made the ascent with ease. How many of the hills he climbed is not known;