Notwithstanding his failing health the Swami resumed his old life with the monks. Hours were spent in religious converse., question-classes were held; the scriptures were read and commented upon; and he took up seriously the training of the Math members. He instituted regulations and monastic discipline with spiritual and intellectual work for certain hours of the day. On the day of his arrival he thrilled his hearers by reading, with his characteristic eloquence and depth of feeling, the three poems that he had. Written in Kashmir. Every word of them, as uttered by him, seemed ensouled with his own realizations.

The disciple is staying with Swamiji at the garden-house of Nilambar Babu at Belur for the last two days._x000d_ Today, Swamiji has given permission to the disciple to stay in his room at night. When the disciple was serving Swamiji and massaging his feet, he spoke to him: "What folly! Leaving such a place as this, you want to go back to Calcutta! See what an atmosphere of holiness is here--the pure air of the Ganga--what an assemblage of Sadhus--will you find anywhere a place like this!"_x000d_ Disciple: Sir, as the fruition of great austerities in past lives, I have been blessed with your company. Now bless me that I may not be overcome by ignorance and delusion any more. Now my mind sometimes is seized with a great longing for some direct spiritual realisation._x000d_ Swamiji: I also felt like that many times. One day in the Cossipore garden, I had expressed my prayer to Shri Ramakrishna with great earnestness. Then in the evening, at the hour of meditation, I lost the consciousness of the body, and felt that it was absolutely non-existent. I felt that the sun, moon, space, time, ether, and all had been reduced to a homogeneous mass and then melted far away into the unknown; the body-consciousness had almost vanished, and I had nearly merged in the Supreme. But I had just a trace of the feeling of Ego, so I could again return to the world of relativity from the Samadhi. In this state of Samadhi all the difference between "I" and the "Brahman" goes away, everything is reduced into unity, like the waters of the Infinite Ocean--water everywhere, nothing else exists--language and thought, all fail there. Then only is the state "beyond mind and speech" realised in its actuality. Otherwise, so long as the religious aspirant thinks or says, "I am the Brahman"--"I" and "the Brahman", these two entities persist--there is the involved semblance of duality. After that experience, even after trying repeatedly, I failed to bring back the state of Samadhi. On informing Shri Ramakrishna about it, he said, "If you remain day and night in that state, the work of the Divine Mother will not be accomplished; therefore you won't be able to induce that state again; when your work is finished, it will come again."_x000d_ Disciple: On the attainment of the absolute and transcendent Nirvikalpa Samadhi can none return to the world of duality through the consciousness of Egoism?_x000d_ Swamiji: Shri Ramakrishna used to say that the Avataras alone can descend to the ordinary plane from that state of Samadhi, for the good of the world. Ordinary Jivas do not; immersed in that state, they remain alive for a period of twenty-one days; after that, their body drops like a sere leaf from the tree of Samsara (world)._x000d_ Disciple: When in Samadhi the mind is merged, and there remain no waves on the surface of consciousness, where then is the possibility of mental activity and returning to the world through the consciousness of Ego? When there is no mind, then who will descend from Samadhi to the relative plane, and by what means?_x000d_ Swamiji: The conclusion of the Vedanta is that when there is absolute samadhi and cessation of all modifications, there is no return from that state; as the Vedanta Aphorism says: "{Sanskrit}--There is non-return, from scriptural texts." But the Avataras cherish a few desires for the good of the world. By taking hold of that thread, they come down from the superconscious to the conscious state._x000d_ Disciple: But, sir, if one or two desires remain, how can that state be called the absolute, transcendent Samadhi? For the scriptures say that in that state all the modifications of the mind and all desires are stamped out._x000d_ Swamiji: How then can there be projection of the universe after Mahapralaya (final dissolution)? At Mahapralaya everything is merged in the Brahman. But even after that, one hears and reads of creation in the scriptures, that projection and contraction (of the universe) go on in wave forms. Like the fresh creation and dissolution of the universe after Mahapralaya, the superconscious and conscious states of Avataras also stand to reason._x000d_ Disciple: If I argue that at the time of dissolution the seeds of further creation remain almost merged in Brahman, and that it is not absolute dissolution or Nirvikalpa Samadhi?_x000d_ Swamiji: Then I shall ask you to answer how the projection of the universe is possible from Brahman in which there is no shadow of any qualification--which is unaffected and unqualified._x000d_ Disciple: Why, this is but a seeming projection. The reply to the question is given in the scriptures in this way, that the manifestation of creation from Brahman is only an appearance like the mirage in the desert, but really there has been no creation or anything of the kind. This illusion is produced by Maya, which is the negation of the eternally existing Brahman, and hence unreal._x000d_ Swamiji: If the creation is false, then you can also regard the Nirvikalpa Samadhi of Jiva and his return therefrom as seeming appearances. Jiva is Brahman by his nature. How can he have any experience of bondage? Your desire to realise the truth that you are Brahman is also a hallucination in that case--for the scripture says, "You are already that." Therefore, "{Sanskrit}--This is verily your bondage that you are practising the attainment of Samadhi."_x000d_ Disciple: This is a great dilemma. If I am Brahman, why don't I always realise it?_x000d_ Swamiji: In order to attain to that realisation in the conscious plane, some instrumentality is required. The mind is that instrument in us. But it is a non-intelligent substance. It only appears to be intelligent through the light of the Atman behind. Therefore the author of the Panchadashi (III.40) says: "{Sanskrit}--The Shakti appears to be intelligent by the reflection of the intelligence of the Atman." Hence the mind also appears to us like an intelligent substance. Therefore it is certain that you won't be able to know the Atman, the Essence of Intelligence, through the mind. You have to go beyond the mind--for only the Atman exists there--there the object of knowledge becomes the same as the instrument of knowledge. The knower, knowledge, and the instrument of knowledge become one and the same. It is therefore that the Shruti says, "{Sanskrit}--Through what are you to know the Eternal Subject?" The real fact is that there is a state beyond the conscious plane, where there is no duality of the knower, knowledge, and the instrument of knowledge etc. When the mind is merged, that state is perceived. I say it is "perceived," because there is no other word to express that state. Language cannot express that state. Shankaracharya has styled it "Transcendent Perception" (Aparokshanubhuti). Even after that transcendent perception Avataras descend to the relative plane and give glimpses of that--therefore it is said that the Vedas and other scriptures have originated from the perception of Seers. The case of ordinary Jivas is like that of the salt-doll which attempting to sound the depths of the ocean melted into it. Do you see? The sum and substance of it is--you have only got to know that you are Eternal Brahman._x000d_ You are already that, only the intervention of a non-intelligent mind (which is called Maya in the scriptures) is hiding that knowledge. When the mind composed of subtle matter is quelled, the Atman is effulgent by Its own radiance. One proof of the fact that Maya or mind is an illusion is that the mind by itself is non-intelligent and of the nature of darkness; and it is the light of the Atman behind, that makes it appear as intelligent. When you will understand this, the mind will merge in the unbroken Ocean of Intelligence; then you will realise: "{Sanskrit}--This Atman is Brahman."_x000d_ Then Swamiji, addressing the disciple, said, "You feel sleepy, then go to sleep."_x000d_ _x000d_ In the night the disciple had a wonderful dream, as a result of which he earnestly begged Swamiji's permission to worship him. Swamiji had to acquiesce, and after the ceremony was over he said to the disciple, "Well, your worship is finished, but Premananda will be in a rage at your sacrilegious act of worshipping my feet in the flower-tray meant for Shri Ramakrishna's worship." Before his words were finished, Swami Premananda came there, and Swamiji said to him, "See what a sacrilege he has committed! With the requisites of Shri Ramakrishna's worship, he has worshipped me!" Swami Premananda, smiling, said, "Well done! Are you and Shri Ramakrishna different?"--hearing which the disciple felt at ease._x000d_ The disciple is an orthodox Hindu. Not to speak of prohibited food, he does not even take food touched by another. Therefore Swamiji sometimes used to refer to him as "priest". Swamiji, while he was eating biscuits with his breakfast, said to Swami Sadananda, "Bring the priest in here." When the disciple came to Swamiji, he gave some portion of his food to him to eat. Finding the disciple accepting it without any demur, Swamiji said, "Do you know what you have eaten now? These are made from eggs." In reply, the disciple said, "Whatever may be in it, I have no need to know; taking this sacramental food from you, I have become immortal." _x000d_ _x000d_ Thereupon Swamiji said, "I bless you that from this day all your egoism of caste, colour, high birth, religious merit and demerit, and all, may vanish for ever!". . .

The disciple has come to the Math this morning. As soon as he stood after touching the feet of Swamiji, Swamiji said, "What's the use of your continuing in service any more? Why not go in for some business?" The disciple was then employed as a private tutor in some family. Asked about the profession of teaching, Swamiji said, "If one does the work of teaching boys for a long time, one gets blunt in intellect; one's intelligence is not manifested. If one stays among a crowd of boys day and night, gradually one gets obtuse. So give up the working of teaching boys."_x000d_ Disciple: What shall I do, then?_x000d_ Swamiji; Why, if you want to live the life of a worldly man and have a desire for earning money, then go over to America. I shall give you directions for business. You will find that in five years you will get together a lot of money._x000d_ Disciple: What business shall I go in for? And where am I to get the money from?_x000d_ Swamiji: What nonsense are you talking? Within you lies indomitable power. Only thinking, "I am nothing, I am nothing", you have become powerless. Why, you alone! The whole race has become so. Go round the world once, and you will find how vigorously the life-current of other nations is flowing. And what are you doing? Even after learning so much, you go about the doors of others, crying, "Give me employment". Trampled under others' feet doing slavery for others, are you men any more? You are not worth a pin's head! In this fertile country with abundant water-supply, where nature produces wealth and harvest a thousand times more than in others, you have no food for your stomach, no clothes to cover your body! In this country of abundance, the produce of which has been the cause of the spread of civilisation in other countries, you are reduced to such straits! Your condition is even worse than that of a dog. And you glory in your Vedas and Vedanta! A nation that cannot provide for its simple food and clothing, which always depends on others for its subsistence--what is there for it to vaunt about? Throw your religious observances overboard for the present and be first prepared for the struggle for existence. People of foreign countries are turning out such golden results from the raw materials produced in your country, and you, like asses of burden, are only carrying their load. The people of foreign countries import Indian raw goods, manufacture various commodities by bringing their intelligence to bear upon them, and become great; whereas you have locked up your intelligence, thrown away your inherited wealth to others, and roam about crying piteously for food._x000d_ Disciple: In what way, sir, can the means of subsistence be procured?_x000d_ Swamiji: Why, the means are in your hands. You blindfold your eyes, and said, "I am blind and can see nothing." Tear off the folds from your eyes and you will see the whole world lighted by the rays of the midday sun. If you cannot procure money, go to foreign countries, working your passage as a Lascar. Take Indian cloth, towels, bamboo-work, and other indigenous products, and peddle in the streets of Europe and America; you will find how greatly Indian products are appreciated in foreign markets even now. In America I found, some Mohammedans of the Hooghly district had grown rich by peddling Indian commodities in this way. Have you even less intelligence than they? Take, for example, such excellent fabric as the Varanasi-made Saris of India, the like of which are not produced anywhere else in the world. Go to America with this cloth. Have gowns made out of this fabric and sell them, and you will see how much you earn. _x000d_ Disciple: Sir, why will they wear gowns made of the Saris of Varanasi? I have heard that clothes designed diversely are not to the taste of the ladies in those countries._x000d_ Swamiji: Whether they will receive or not, I shall look to that. It is for you to exert yourself and go over there. I have many friends in that country, to whom I shall introduce you. At first I shall request them to take this cloth up among themselves. Then you will find many will follow suit, and at last you won't be able to keep the supply up to the enormous demand._x000d_ Disciple: Where shall I get the capital for the business?_x000d_ Swamiji: I shall somehow give you a start; for the rest you must depend on your own exertions. "If you die, you get to heaven; and if you win, you enjoy the earth" (Gita). Even if you die in this attempt, well and good, many will take up the work, following your example. And if you succeed, you will live a life of great opulence._x000d_ Disciple: Yes, sir, so it is. But I cannot muster sufficient courage._x000d_ Swamiji: That is what I say, my son, you have no Shraddha--no faith in yourselves. What will you achieve? You will have neither material nor spiritual advancement. Either put forth your energy in the way I have suggested and be successful in life, or give up all and take to the path we have chosen. Serve the people of all countries through spiritual instruction--then only _x000d_ will you get your dole of food like us. If there is no mutual exchange, do you think anybody cares for anybody else? You observe in our case, that because we give the householders some spiritual instructions, they in return give us some morsels of food. If you do nothing, why will they give you food? You observe so much misery in mere service and slavery of others, still you are not waking up; and so your misery also is never at an end. This is certainly the delusive power of Maya! In the West I have found that those who are in the employment of others have their seats fixed in the back rows in the Parliament, while the front seats are reserved for those who have made themselves famous by self-exertion, or education, or intelligence. In Western countries there is no botheration of caste. Those on whom Fortune smiles for their industry and exertion are alone regarded as leaders of the country and the controllers of its destiny. Whereas in your country, you are simply vaunting your superiority in caste, till at last you cannot even get a morsel of food! You have not the capacity to manufacture a needle, and you dare to criticise the English! Fools! Sit at their feet and learn from them the arts, industries, and the practicality necessary for the struggle for existence. You will be esteemed once more when you will become fit. Then they too will pay heed to your words. Without the necessary preparation, what will mere shouting in the Congress avail?_x000d_ Disciple: But, sir, all the educated men of the country have joined it._x000d_ Swamiji: Well, you consider a man as educated if only he can pass some examinations and deliver good lectures. The education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle for life, which does not bring out strength of character, a spirit of philanthropy, and the courage of a lion--is it worth the name? Real education is that which enables one to stand on one's own legs. The education that you are receiving now in schools and colleges is only making you a race of dyspeptics. You are working like machines merely, and living a jelly-fish existence._x000d_ The peasant, the shoemaker, the sweeper, and such other lower classes of India have much greater capacity for work and self-reliance than you. They have been silently working through long ages and producing the entire wealth of the land, without a word of complaint. Very soon they will get above you in position. Gradually capital is drifting into their hands, and they are not so much troubled with wants as you are. Modern education has changed your fashion, but new avenues of wealth lie yet undiscovered for want of the inventive genius. You have so long oppressed these forbearing masses; now is the time for their retribution. And you will become extinct in your vain search for employment, making it the be-all and end-all of your life._x000d_ Disciple: Sir, although our power of originality is less than that of other countries, still the lower classes of India are being guided by our intelligence. So where will they get the power and culture to overcome the higher classes in the struggle for existence?_x000d_ Swamiji: Never mind if they have not read a few books like you--if they have not acquired your tailor-made civilisation. What do these matter? But they are the backbone of the nation in all countries. If these lower classes stop work, from where will you get your food and clothing? If the sweepers of Calcutta stop work for a day, it creates a panic; and if they strike for three days, the whole town will be depopulated by the outbreak of epidemics. If the labourers stop work, your supply of food and clothes also stops. And you regard them as low-class people and vaunt your own culture!_x000d_ Engrossed in the struggle for existence, they had not the opportunity for the awakening of knowledge. They have worked so long uniformly like machines guided by human intelligence, and the clever educated section have taken the substantial part of the fruits of their labour. In every country this has been the case. But times have changed. The lower classes are gradually awakening to this fact and making a united front against this, determined to exact their legitimate dues. The masses of Europe and America have been the first to awaken and have already begun the fight. Signs of this awakening have shown themselves in India, too, as is evident from the number of strikes among the lower classes nowadays. The upper classes will no longer be able to repress the lower, try they ever so much. The well-being of the higher classes now lies in helping the lower to get their legitimate rights._x000d_ Therefore I say, set yourselves to the task of spreading education among the masses. Tell them and make them understand, "You are our brothers--a part and parcel of our bodies, and we love you and never hate you." If they receive this sympathy from you, their enthusiasm for work will be increased a hundredfold. Kindle their knowledge with the help of modern science. Teach them history, geography, science, literature, and along with these the profound truths of religion. In exchange for that teaching, the poverty of the teachers will also disappear. By mutual exchange both parties will become friendly to each other._x000d_ Disciple: But, sir, with the spread of learning among them, they too will in course of time have fertile brains but become idle and inactive like us and live on the fruits of the labour of the next lower classes._x000d_ Swamiji: Why shall it be so? Even with the awakening of knowledge, the potter will remain a potter, the fisherman a fisherman, the peasant a peasant. Why should they leave their hereditary calling? "{Sanskrit} --Don't give up the work to which you were born, even if it be attended with defects." If they are taught in this way, why should they give up their respective callings? Rather they will apply their knowledge to the better performance of the work to which they have been born. A number of geniuses are sure to arise from among them in the course of time. You (the higher classes) will take these into your own fold. The Brahmins acknowledged the valiant king Vishvamitra as a Brahmin, and think how grateful the whole Kshatriya race became to the Brahmins for this act! By such sympathy and co-operation even birds and beasts become one's own--not to speak of men!_x000d_ Disciple: Sir, what you say is true, but there yet seems to be a wide gulf between the higher and lower classes. To bring the higher classes to sympathise with the lower seems to be a difficult affair in India._x000d_ Swamiji: But without that there is no well-being for your upper classes. You will be destroyed by internecine quarrels and fights--which you have been having so long. When the masses will wake up, they will come to understand your oppression of them, and by a puff of their mouth you will be entirely blown away! It is they who have introduced civilisation amongst you; and it is they who will then pull it down. Think how at the hands of the Gauls the mighty ancient Roman civilisation crumbled into dust! Therefore I say, try to rouse these lower classes from slumber by imparting learning and culture to them. When they will awaken--and awaken one day they must--they also will not forget your good services to them and will remain grateful to you._x000d_ After such conversation Swamiji, addressing the disciple, said: Let these subjects drop now--come, tell me what you have decided. Do something, whatever it be. Either go in for some business, or like us come to the path of real Sannyasa, "{Sanskrit}--For one's own liberation and for the good of the world." The latter path is of course the best way there is. What good will _x000d_ it do to be a worthless householder? You have understood that everything in life is transitory: "{Sanskrit}--Life is as unstable as the water on the lotus leaf." Therefore if you have the enthusiasm for acquiring this knowledge of the Atman, do not wait any more but come forward immediately. "{Sanskrit} --The very day that you feel dispassion for the world, that very day renounce and take to Sannyasa" (Jabalopanishad, 4). Sacrifice your life for the good of others and go round to the doors of people carrying this message of fearlessness "{Sanskrit}--Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached."

Swamiji accompanied by Sister Nivedita, Swami Yogananda, and others has come to visit the Zoological Gardens at Alipur in the afternoon. Rai Rambrahma Sanyal Bahadur, Superintendent of the Gardens, cordially received them and took them round the Gardens. Swamiji, as he went on seeing the various species of animals, casually referred to the Darwinian theory of the gradual evolution of animals. The disciple remembers how, entering the room for snakes, he pointed to a huge python with circular rings on its body, with the remark: "From this the tortoise has evolved in course of time. That very snake, by remaining stationary at one spot for a long time, has gradually turned hard-backed." He further said in fun to the disciple, "You eat tortoises, don't you? Darwin holds that it is this snake that has evolved into the tortoise in the process of time--then you eat snakes too!" The disciple protested, "Sir, when a thing is metamorphosed into another thing through evolution, it has no more its former shape and habits; then how can you say that eating tortoise means eating snakes also?"_x000d_ This answer created laughter among the party. After seeing some other things, Swamiji went to Rambrahma Babu's quarters in the Gardens, where he took tea, and others also did the same. Finding that the disciples hesitated to sit at the same table and partake of the sweets and tea which Sister Nivedita had touched, Swamiji repeatedly urged him to take them, which he was induced to do, and drinking water himself, he gave the rest of it to the disciple to drink. After this there was a short conversation on Darwin's evolution theory._x000d_ Rambrahma Babu: What is your opinion of the evolution theory of Darwin and the causes he has put forward for it?_x000d_ Swamiji: Taking for granted that Darwin is right, I cannot yet admit that it is the final conclusion about the causes of evolution._x000d_ Rambrahma Babu: Did the ancient scholars of our country discuss this subject?_x000d_ Swamiji: The subject has been nicely discussed in the Samkhya Philosophy. I am of opinion that the conclusion of the ancient Indian philosophers is the last word on the causes of evolution._x000d_ Rambrahma Babu: I shall be glad to hear of it, if it can be explained in a few words._x000d_ Swamiji: You are certainly aware of the laws of struggle for existence, survival of the fittest, natural selection, and so forth, which have been held by the Western scholars to be the causes of elevating a lower species to a higher. But none of these has been advocated as the cause of that in the system of Patanjali. Patanjali holds that the transformation of one species into another is effected by the "in-filling of nature" {Sanskrit}. It is not that this is done by the constant struggle against obstacles. In my opinion, struggle and competition sometimes stand in the way of a being's attaining its perfection. If the evolution of an animal is effected by the destruction of a thousand others, then one must confess that this evolution is doing very little good to the world. Taking it for granted that it conduces to physical well-being, we cannot help admitting that it is a serious obstacle to spiritual development. According to the philosophers of our country, every being is a perfect Soul, and the diversity of evolution and manifestation of nature is simply due to the difference in the degree of manifestation of this Soul. The moment the obstacles to the evolution and manifestation of nature are completely removed, the Soul manifests Itself perfectly. Whatever may happen in the lower strata of nature's evolutions, in the higher strata at any rate, it is not true that it is only by constantly struggling against obstacles that one has to go beyond them. Rather it is observed that there the obstacles give way and a greater manifestation of the Soul takes place through education and culture, through concentration and meditation, and above all through sacrifice. Therefore, to designate the obstacles not as the effects but as the causes of the Soul-manifestation, and describe them as aiding this wonderful diversity of nature, is not consonant with reason. The attempt to remove evil from the world by killing a thousand evil-doers, only adds to the evil in the world. But if the people can be made to desist from evil-doing by means of spiritual instruction, there is no more evil in the world. Now, see how horrible the Western struggle theory becomes!_x000d_ Rambrahma Babu was astonished to hear Swamiji's words and said at length, "India badly needs at the present moment men well versed in the Eastern and Western philosophies like you. Such men alone are able to point out the mistakes of the educated people who see only one side of the shield. I am extremely delighted to hear your original explanation of the evolution theory."_x000d_ Shortly after, Swamiji with the party left for Baghbazar and reached Balaram Bose's house at about 8 p.m. After a short rest, he came to the drawing-room, where there was a small gathering, all eager to hear of the conversation at the Zoological Gardens in detail. When Swamiji came to the room, the disciple, as the spokesman of the meeting, raised that very topic._x000d_ Disciple: Sir, I have not been able to follow all your remarks about the evolution theory at the Zoo. Will you kindly recapitulate them in simple words?_x000d_ Swamiji: Why, which points did you fail to grasp?_x000d_ Disciple: You have often told us that it is the power to struggle with the external forces which constitutes the sign of life and the first step towards improvement. Today you seem to have spoken just the opposite thing._x000d_ Swamiji: Why should I speak differently? It was you who could not follow me. In the animal kingdom we really see such laws as struggle for existence, survival of the fittest, etc., evidently at work. Therefore Darwin's theory seems true to a certain extent. But in the human kingdom, where there is the manifestation of rationality, we find just the reverse of those laws. For instance, in those whom we consider really great men or ideal characters, we scarcely observe any external struggle. In the animal kingdom instinct prevails; but the more a man advances, the more he manifests rationality. For this reason, progress in the rational human kingdom cannot be achieved, like that in the animal kingdom, by the destruction of others! The highest evolution of man is effected through sacrifice alone. A man is great among his fellows in proportion as he can sacrifice for the sake of others, while in the lower strata of the animal kingdom, that animal is the strongest which can kill the greatest number of animals. Hence the struggle theory is not equally applicable to both kingdoms. Man's struggle is in the mental sphere. A man is greater in proportion as he can control his mind. When the mind's activities are perfectly at rest, the Atman manifests Itself. The struggle which we observe in the animal kingdom for the preservation of the gross body obtains in the human plane of existence for gaining mastery over the mind or for attaining the state of balance. Like a living tree and its reflection in the water of a tank, we find opposite kinds of struggle in the animal and human kingdoms._x000d_ Disciple: Why then do you advocate so much the improvement of our physique?_x000d_ Swamiji: Well, do you consider yourselves as men? You have got only a bit of rationality--that's all. How will you struggle with the mind unless the physique be strong? Do you deserve to be called men any longer--the highest evolution in the world? What have you got besides eating, sleeping, and satisfying the creature-comforts? Thank your stars that you have not developed into quadrupeds yet! Shri Ramakrishna used to say, "He is the man who is conscious of his dignity". You are but standing witnesses to the lowest class of insect-like existence of which the scripture speaks, that they simply undergo the round of births and deaths without being allowed to go to any of the higher spheres! You are simply living a life of jealousy among yourselves and are objects of hatred in the eyes of the foreigner. You are animals, therefore I recommend you to struggle. Leave aside theories and all that. Just reflect calmly on your own everyday acts and dealings with others and find out whether you are not a species of beings intermediate between the animal and human planes of existence! First build up your own physique. Then only you can get control over the mind. "{Sanskrit}--This Self is not to be attained by the weak" (Katha Upanishad, I.ii.23)._x000d_ Disciple: But, sir, the commentator (Shankara) has interpreted the word "weak" to mean "devoid of Brahmacharya or continence"._x000d_ Swamiji: Let him. I say, "The physically weak are unfit for the realisation of the Self."_x000d_ Disciple: But many dull-headed persons also have strong bodies._x000d_ Swamiji: If you can take the pains to give them good ideas once, they will be able to work them out sooner than physically unfit people. Don't you find that in a weak physique it is difficult to control the sex-appetite or anger? Lean people are quickly incensed and are quickly overcome by the sex-instinct._x000d_ Disciple: But we find exceptions to the rule also._x000d_ Swamiji: Who denies it? Once a person gets control over the mind, it matters little whether the body remains strong or becomes emaciated. The gist of the thing is that unless one has a good physique one can never aspire to Self-realisation. Shri Ramakrishna used to say, "One fails to attain realisation if there be but a slight defect in the body"._x000d_ Finding that Swamiji had grown excited, the disciple did not dare to push the topic further, but remained quiet accepting Swamiji's view. Shortly after, Swamiji, addressing those present, said, "By the bye, have you heard that this `priest' has today taken food which was touched by Nivedita? That he took the sweets touched by her did not matter so much, but--here he addressed the disciple--"how did you drink the water she had touched?"_x000d_ Disciple: But it was you, sir, who ordered me to do so. Under the Guru's orders I can do anything. I was unwilling to drink the water though. But you drank it and I had to take it as Prasada._x000d_ Swamiji: Well, your caste is gone for ever. Now nobody will respect you as a Brahmin of the priest class._x000d_ Disciple: I don't care if they do not. I can take the rice from the house of a Pariah if you order me to._x000d_ These words set Swamiji and all those present in a roar of laughter._x000d_ The conversation lasted till it was past midnight, when the disciple came back to his lodging, only to find it bolted. So he had to pass the night out of doors._x000d_ The wheel of Time has rolled on in its unrelenting course, and Swamiji, Swami Yogananda, and Sister Nivedita are now no more on earth. Only the sacred memory of their lives remains--and the disciple considers himself blessed to be able to record, in ever so meagre a way, these reminiscences.

The disciple has come to the Math (monastery) today. It has now been removed to Nilambar Babu's garden-house, and the site of the present Math has recently been purchased. Swamiji is out visiting the new Math-grounds at about four o'clock, taking the disciple with him. The site was then mostly jungle, but on the north side of it there was a one-storeyed brick-built house. Swamiji began to walk over the site and to discuss in the course of conversation the plan of work of the future Math and its rules and regulations._x000d_ Reaching by degrees the veranda on the east side of the one-storeyed house, Swamiji said, "Here would be the place for the Sadhus to live. It is my wish to convert this Math into a chief centre of spiritual practices and the culture of knowledge. The power that will have its rise from here will flood the whole world and turn the course of men's lives into different channels; from this place will spring forth ideals which will be the harmony of Knowledge, Devotion, Yoga, and Work; at a nod from the men of this Math a life-giving impetus will in time be given to the remotest corners of the globe; while all true seekers after spirituality will in course of time assemble here. A thousand thoughts like these are arising in my mind._x000d_ "Yonder plot of land on the south side of the Math will be the centre of learning, where grammar, philosophy, science, literature, rhetoric, the Shrutis, Bhakti scriptures, and English will be taught. This Temple of Learning will be fashioned after the Tols of old days. Boys who are Brahmacharins from their childhood will live there and study the scriptures. Their food and clothing and all will be supplied from the Math. After a course of five years' training these Brahmacharins may, if they like, go back to their homes and lead householders' lives; or they may embrace the monastic life with the sanction of the venerable Superiors of the Math. The authorities of the Math will have the power to turn out at once any of these Brahmacharins who will be found refractory or of a bad character. Teaching will be imparted here irrespective of caste or creed, and those who will have objection to this will not be admitted. But those who would like to observe their particular caste-rites, should make separate arrangements for their food, etc. They will only attend the classes along with the rest. The Math authorities shall keep a vigilant watch over the character of these also. None but those that are trained here shall be eligible for Sannyasa. Won't it be nice when by degrees this Math will begin to work like this?"_x000d_ Disciple: Then you want to reintroduce into the country the ancient institution of living a Brahmacharin's life in the house of the Guru?_x000d_ Swamiji: Exactly. The modern system of education gives no facility for the development of the knowledge of Brahman. We must found Brahmacharya Homes as in times of old. But now we must lay their foundations on a broad basis, that is to say, we must introduce a good deal of change into it to suit the requirements of the times. Of this I shall speak to you later on._x000d_ "That piece of land to the south of the Math," Swamiji resumed, "we must also purchase in time. There we shall start an Annasatra--a Feeding Home. There arrangements will be made for serving really indigent people in the spirit of God. The Feeding Home will be named after Shri Ramakrishna. Its scope will at first be determined by the amount of funds. For the matter of that, we may start it with two or three inmates. We must train energetic Brahmacharins to conduct this Home. They will have to collect the funds for its maintenance--ay, even by begging. The Math will not be allowed to give any pecuniary help in this matter. The Brahmacharins themselves shall have to raise funds for it. Only after completing their five years' training in this Home of Service, will they be allowed to join the Temple of Learning branch. After a training of ten years--five in the Feeding Home and five in the Temple of Learning--they will be allowed to enter the life of Sannyasa, having initiation from the Math authorities--provided of course they have a mind to become Sannyasins and the Math authorities consider them fit for Sannyasa and are willing to admit them into it. But the Head of the Math will be free to confer Sannyasa on any exceptionally meritorious Brahmacharin, at any time, in defiance of this rule. The ordinary Brahmacharins, however, will have to qualify themselves for Sannyasa by degrees, as I have just said. I have all these ideas in my brain."_x000d_ Disciple: Sir, what will be the object of starting three such sections in the Math?_x000d_ Swamiji: Didn't you understand me? First of all, comes the gift of food; next is the gift of learning, and the highest of all is the gift of knowledge. We must harmonise these three ideals in the Math. By continuously practising the gift of food, the Brahmacharins will have the idea of practical work for the sake of others and that of serving all beings in the spirit of the Lord firmly impressed on their minds. This will gradually purify their minds and lead to the manifestation of Sattvika (pure and unselfish) ideas. And having this the Brahmacharins will in time acquire the fitness for attaining the knowledge of Brahman and become eligible for Sannyasa._x000d_ Disciple: Sir, if, as you say, the gift of (spiritual) knowledge is the highest, why then start sections for the gift of food and the gift of learning?_x000d_ Swamiji: Can't you understand this point even now? Listen. If in these days of food scarcity you can, for the disinterested service of others, get together a few morsels of food by begging or any other means, and give them to the poor and suffering, that will not only be doing good to yourself and the world, but you will at the same time get everybody's sympathy for this noble work. The worldly-minded people, tied down to lust and wealth, will have faith in you for this labour of love and come forward to help you. You will attract a thousand times as many men by this unasked-for gift of food, as you will by the gift of learning or of (spiritual) knowledge. In no other work will you get so much public sympathy as you will in this. In a truly noble work, not to speak of men, even God Himself befriends the doer. When people have thus been attracted, you will be able to stimulate the desire for learning and spirituality in them. Therefore the gift of food comes first._x000d_ Disciple; Sir, to start Feeding Homes we want a site first, then buildings, and then the funds to work them. Where will so much money come from?_x000d_ Swamiji: The southern portion of the Math premises I am leaving at your disposal immediately, and I am getting a thatched house erected under that Bael tree. You just find out one or two blind or infirm people and apply yourself to their service. Go and beg food for them yourself; cook with your own hands and feed them. If you continue this for some days, you will find that lots of people will be coming forward to assist you with plenty of money. "{Sanskrit}--Never, my son, does a doer of good come to grief." (Gita, VI.40)_x000d_ Disciple: Yes, it is true. But may not that kind of continuous work become a source of bondage in the long run?_x000d_ Swamiji: If you have no eye to the fruits of work, and if you have a passionate longing to go beyond all selfish desires, then these good works will help to break your bonds, I tell you. How thoughtless of you to say that such work will lead to bondage! Such disinterested work is the only means of rooting out the bondage due to selfish work. "{Sanskrit} There is no other way out" (Shvetasvatara Upanishad, III.8)._x000d_ Disciple: Your words encourage me to hear in detail about your ideas of the Feeding Home and Home of Service._x000d_ Swamiji: We must build small well-ventilated rooms for the poor. Only two or three of them will live in each room. They must be given good bedding, clean clothes, and so on. There will be a doctor for them, who will inspect them once or twice a week according to his convenience. The Sevashrama (Home of Service) will be as a ward attached to the Annasatra, where the sick will be nursed. Then, gradually, as funds will accumulate, we shall build a big kitchen. The Annasatra must be astir with constant shouts of food demanded and supplied. The rice-gruel must run into the Ganga and whiten its water! When I see such a Feeding Home started, it will bring solace to my heart._x000d_ Disciple: When you have this kind of desire, most likely it will materialise into action in course of time._x000d_ Hearing the disciple's words, Swamiji remained motionless for a while, gazing on the Ganga. Then with a beaming countenance he addressed the disciple, saying: "Who knows which of you will have the lion roused up in him, and when? If in a single one amongst you Mother rouses the fire, there will be hundreds of Feeding Homes like that. Knowledge and Power and Devotion--everything exists in the fullest measure in all beings. We only notice the varying degrees of their manifestation and call one great and another little. In the minds of all creatures a screen intervenes as it were and hides the perfect manifestation from view. The moment that is removed, everything is settled; whatever you want, whatever you will desire, will come to pass."_x000d_ Swamiji continued: "If the Lord wills, we shall make this Math a great centre of harmony. Our Lord is the visible embodiment of the harmony of all ideals. He will be established on earth if we keep alive that spirit of harmony here. We must see to it that people of all creeds and sects, from the Brahmana down to the Chandala, may come here and find their respective ideals manifested. The other day when I installed Shri Ramakrishna on the Math grounds, I felt as if his ideas shot forth from this place and flooded the whole universe, sentient and insentient. I, for one, am doing my best, and shall continue to do so--all of you too explain to people the liberal ideas of Shri Ramakrishna; what is the use of merely reading the Vedanta? We must prove the truth of pure Advaitism in practical life. Shankara left this Advaita philosophy in the hills and forests, while I have come to bring it out of those places and scatter it broadcast before the workaday world and society. The lion-roar of Advaita must resound in every hearth and home, in meadows and groves, over hills and plains. Come all of you to my assistance and set yourselves to work."_x000d_ Disciple: Sir, it appeals to me rather to realise that state through meditation than to manifest it in action._x000d_ Swamiji: That is but a state of stupefaction, as under liquor. What will be the use of merely remaining like that? Through the urge of Advaitic realisation, you should sometimes dance wildly and sometimes remain lost to outward sense. Does one feel happy to taste of a good thing by oneself? One should share it with others. Granted that you attain personal liberation by means of the realisation of the Advaita, but what matters it to the world? You must liberate the whole universe before you leave this body. Then only you will be established in the eternal Truth. Has that bliss any match, my boy? You will be established in that bliss of the Infinite which is limitless like the skies. You will be struck dumb to find your presence everywhere in the world of soul and matter. You will feel the whole sentient and insentient world as your own self. Then you can't help treating all with the same kindness as you show towards yourself. This is indeed practical Vedanta. Do you understand me? Brahman is one, but is at the same time appearing to us as many, on the relative plane. Name and form are at the root of this relativity. For instance, what do you find when you abstract name and form from a jar? Only earth, which is its essence. Similarly, through delusion you are thinking of and seeing a jar, a cloth, a monastery, and so on. The phenomenal world depends on this nescience which obstructs knowledge and which has no real existence. One sees variety such as wife, children, body, mind--only in the world created by nescience by means of name and form. As soon as this nescience is removed, the realisation of Brahman which eternally exists is the result._x000d_ Disciple: Where has the nescience come from? _x000d_ Swamiji: Where it has come from I shall tell you later on. When you began to run, mistaking the rope for the snake, did the rope actually turn into a snake? Or was it not your ignorance which put you to flight in that way?_x000d_ Disciple: I did it from sheer ignorance._x000d_ Swamiji: Well, then, consider whether, when you will again come to know the rope as rope, you will not laugh at your previous ignorance. Will not name and form appear to be a delusion then?_x000d_ Disciple: They will._x000d_ Swamiji: If that be so, the name and form turn out to be unreal. Thus Brahman, the Eternal Existence, proves to be the only reality. Only through this twilight of nescience you think this is your wife, that is your child, this is your own, that is not your own, and so on, and fail to realise the existence of the Atman, the illuminator of everything. When through the Guru's instructions and your own conviction you will see, not this world of name and form, but the essence which lies as its substratum then only you will realise your identity with the whole universe from the Creator down to a clump of grass, then only you will get the state in which "{Sanskrit}--The knots of the heart are cut asunder and all doubts are dispelled"._x000d_ Disciple: Sir, one wishes to know of the origin and cessation of this nescience._x000d_ Swamiji: You have understood, I presume, that a thing that ceases to exist afterwards is a phenomenon merely? He who has truly realised Brahman will say--where is nescience, in faith? He sees the rope as rope only, and never as the snake. And he laughs at the alarm of those who see it as the snake. For this reason, nescience has no absolute reality. You can call nescience neither real nor unreal; "{Sanskrit}--Neither real, nor unreal, nor a mixture of both". About a thing that is thus proved to be false, neither question nor answer is of any significance. Moreover, any question on such a thing is unreasonable. I shall explain how. Are not this question and answer made from the standpoint of name and form, of time and space? And can you explain Brahman which transcends time and space, by means of questions and answers? Hence the Shastras and Mantras and such other things are only relatively, and not absolutely, true. Nescience has verily no essence to call its own; how then can you understand it? When Brahman will manifest Itself, there will be no more room for such questions. Have you not heard that story of Shri Ramakrishna about the shoemaker coolie? The moment one recognises nescience, it vanishes._x000d_ Disciple: But, sir, whence has this nescience come?_x000d_ Swamiji: How can that come which has no existence at all? It must exist first, to admit the possibility of coming._x000d_ Disciple: How then did this world of souls and matter originate?_x000d_ Swamiji: There is only one Existence--Brahman. You are but seeing That under different forms and names, through the veil of name and form which are unreal._x000d_ Disciple: But why this unreal name and form? Whence have they come?_x000d_ Swamiji: The Shastras have described this ingrained notion or ignorance as almost endless in a series. But it has a termination, while Brahman ever remains as It is, without suffering the least change, like the rope which causes the delusion of the snake. Therefore the conclusion of the Vedanta is that the whole universe has been superimposed on Brahman--appearing like a juggler's trick. It has not caused the least aberration of Brahman from Its real nature. Do you understand me?_x000d_ Disciple: One thing I cannot yet understand._x000d_ Swamiji: What is that?_x000d_ Disciple: You have just said that creation, maintenance, and dissolution, etc. are superimposed on Brahman, and have no absolute existence. But how can that be? One can never have the delusion of something that one has not already experienced. Just as one who has never seen a snake cannot mistake a rope for a snake, so how can one who has not experienced this creation, come to mistake Brahman for the creation? Therefore creation must have been, or is, to have given rise to the delusion of creation. But this brings in a dualistic position._x000d_ Swamiji: The man of realisation will in the first place refute your objection by stating that to his vision creation and things of that sort do not at all appear. He sees Brahman and Brahman alone. He sees the rope and not the snake. If you argue that you, at any rate, are seeing this creation, or snake--then he will try to bring home to you the real nature of the rope, with a view to curing your defective vision. When through his instructions and your reasoning you will be able to realise the truth of the rope, or Brahman, then this delusive idea of the snake, or creation, will vanish. At that time, what else can you call this delusive idea of creation, maintenance, and dissolution, but a superimposition on the Brahman? If this appearance of creation etc. has continued as a beginningless series, let it do so; no advantage will be gained by settling this question. Until Brahman is realised as vividly as a fruit on the palm of one's hand this question cannot be adequately settled, and then neither such a question crops up, nor is there need for a solution. The tasting of the reality of Brahman is then like a dumb man tasting something nice, but without the power to express his feelings._x000d_ Disciple: What then will be the use of reasoning about it so much?_x000d_ Swamiji: Reasoning is necessary to understand the point intellectually. But the Reality transcends reasoning: "{Sanskrit}--This conviction cannot be reached through reasoning."_x000d_ In the course of such conversation Swamiji reached the Math, accompanied by the disciple. Swamiji then explained to the Sannyasins and Brahmacharins of the Math the gist of the above discussion on Brahman. While going upstairs, he remarked to the disciple, "{Sanskrit}--This Atman cannot be attained by the weak."

The success which attended the labours of the disciples of Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in diffusing the principles of Hindu religion and obtaining some respect for our much abused faith in the West, gave rise to the hope of training a number of young Sannyasins to carry on the propaganda, both in and out of India. And an attempt is being made to educate a number of young men according to the Vedic principle of students living in touch with the Guru._x000d_ A Math has already been started on the Ganga near Calcutta, through the kindness of some European and American friends._x000d_ The work, to produce any visible results in a short time, requires funds and hence this appeal to those who are in sympathy with our efforts._x000d_ It is intended to extend the operation of the Math, by educating in the Math as many young men as the funds can afford, in both Western science and Indian spirituality, so that in addition to the advantages of a University education, they will acquire a manly discipline by living in contact with their teachers._x000d_ The central Math near Calcutta will gradually start branches in other parts of the country as men become ready and the means are forthcoming. _x000d_ It is a work which will take time to bring forth any permanent result and requires a great deal of sacrifice on the part of our young men and on those who have the means of helping this work._x000d_ We believe the men are ready, and our appeal therefore is to those who really love their religion and their country and have the means to show their sympathy practically by helping the cause.

It was during their stay with Nivedita that Mrs. Ole Bull requested the Holy Mother to allow her photograph to b,6 taken. Mrs. Bull said, "Mother, I wish to take your photograph to America and worship it." Only after being repeatedly requested did the Mother consent. _x000d_ When the photographer came, she cast down her eyes and went into trance. That was the first photo taken of the Mother. After she had regained the normal state, another was taken. And a third was taken with Nivedita facing her.

The Swami and his disciple reached the monastery, still Nilambar Mukherjee's house at Belur; on October 18 (1898). The Swami's unexpected appearance made his brother-monks and disciples happy; but their joy was mingled with pain to see how pale and ill he looked. Though they had not been informed of his sudden departure from Kashmir, news of his movements there had often reached the Math through Nivedita’s letters, which were read out at class meetings.

On October 19 and 20 he performed the Homa rite. The next three days were given over to the great religious festival of Durga Puja, when many lay disciples of the Order gathered at the Math.

On the 24th Swami Turiyananda arrived from Almora. Everything was now centring, as it were, in the monastery, and the devotional fervour of the Baranagore days seemed to shine forth anew.

Among the members who had joined the monastery, both before and during the Swami's absence, were those who later became Swamis Vimalananda, Bodhananda, Kalyanananda, and Somananda. The first two had joined when the Math was at Alambazar, and the others at Nilambarbabu's garden-house. These, with the other disciples, had followed courses of study on the Vedas, Hindu theology, and even material science. But still more important, of course, were the worship of the Master and the hours spent in meditation and devotion.

To Sister Christine_x000d_ The Math, Beloor, Howrah Dist.,_x000d_ 25th October, 1898._x000d_ My dear Christina,_x000d_ How are you? I am very anxious about your health. I have long not had any letter from you._x000d_ My health again failed badly. I had, therefore, to leave Kashmir in haste and come to Calcutta. The doctors say I ought not go tramping again this winter. That is such a disappoint¬ment, you know. However, I am coming to the U. S. this sum mer. Mrs. Bull and Miss MacLeod enjoyed this year's trip to Kashmir immensely, and now they are having a glimpse of the old monuments and buildings of Delhi, Agra, Jeypore [Jaipur], etc._x000d_ Do write a nice, long letter if you have time, and do not work yourself to death. Duty is duty, no doubt; but we have our duties, not only to our mother etc., but to others also. Some¬times one duty asks for physical sacrifice, whilst the other insists on great care for our health. Of course, we follow the stronger motive, and [I] do not know which will prove stronger in your case. Anyhow, take great care of your body, now that your sisters have come to your help._x000d_ How do you manage the family?__the expenses etc? Write me all you like to write. Give me a long chat, will you? Do!_x000d_ I am getting better every day__and then the long months before I can start for the U.S. Never mind, "Mother" knows what is best for us. She will show the way. I am now in Bhakti. As I am growing old, Bhakti is taking the place of Jnâna. Did you get the new Awakened India? How do you like it?_x000d_ Ever yours in the Lord,_x000d_ Vivekananda.

Math, Belur,_x000d_ Howrah Dist., Bengal,_x000d_ 26th October, 1898_x000d_ Your Highness {Maharaja of Khetri},_x000d_ I am very very anxious about your health. I had a great desire to look in on my way down, but my health failed completely, and I had to run down in all haste. There is some disturbance with my heart, I am afraid._x000d_ However I am very anxious to know about your health. If you like I will come over to Khetri to see you. I am praying day and night for your welfare. Do not lose heart if anything befalls, the "Mother" is your protection. Write me all about yourself. . . . How is the Kumar Saheb?_x000d_ With all love and everlasting blessings,_x000d_ Ever yours in the Lord,_x000d_ Vivekananda

The monks constantly made efforts to keep him from going into the deeper states of meditation, fearing that the Great and Final Meditation might come upon him at any time, and that he might throw off the body like a worn-out garment. So abstracted was his mind from outward things in these days, that often he would not hear the answers to questions that he himself had asked.

The Math, Belur,_x000d_ Howrah Dist.,_x000d_ November (?), 1898_x000d_ Your Highness {Maharaja of Khetri},_x000d_ Very glad to learn that you and the Kumar are enjoying good health. As for me, my heart has become very weak. Change, I do not think, will do me any good, as for the last 14 years I do not remember to have stopped at one place for 3 months at a stretch. On the other hand if by some chance I can live for months in one place, I hope it will do me good. I do not mind this. However, I feel that my work in this life is done. Through good and evil, pain and pleasure, my life-boat has been dragged on. The one great lesson I was taught is that life is misery, nothing but misery. Mother knows what is best. Each one of us is in the hands of Karma; it works itself out--and no nay. There is only one element in life which is worth having at any cost, and it is love. Love immense and infinite, broad as the sky and deep as the ocean--this is the one great gain in life. Blessed is he who gets it._x000d_ Ever yours in the Lord,_x000d_ Vivekananda

From his first meeting with Sister Nivedita, the Swami had discussed with her at great length the situation of Indian women, his ideas for the improvement of their condition, and his plans for the education of Hindu girls. She had been known as an educationist and educator in England, and she had come to India expressly to be of service to the women of India. It had been assumed. during her stay, first in Calcutta and then at Almora, and later during her wanderings with the Swami in Kashmir, that at the first opportunity, she would open a girls' school in Calcutta, so as "to make some educational discovery, which would be qualitatively true and universally applicable to the work of the modern education of Indian women" at large. The Swami, when in Calcutta, saw her frequently and gave her additional insight into the Indian consciousness and into the nature of the work that she had assumed. This insight she sought to embody in her book, The Web of Indian Life. At the Holy Mother's residence she came in touch with several orthodox women who were well versed in the epics, dramas, and religious teaching of Hinduism — women whose lives testified to the truth of the values and realizations of Hinduism. This was of special advantage to her. She herself lived the life of a Hindu Brahmacharini and soon became altogether Hinduized.

The Mother had no objection whatever, for she had already taken Nivedita into her heart; but some of the orthodox members of Mother's household felt inconvenienced. However, she did not have to stay there for long. After a week or so a house was found for Nivedita at 16 Bosepara Lane, where she happily lived till she left for the West in June 1399. All the same, whenever possible, she would spend the afternoons and, in the hot weather, the nights with the Holy Mother and the women devotees at their residence, I6/2 Bosepara Lane.

It is two or three days since Swamiji has returned from Kashmir. His health is indifferent. When the disciple came to the Math, Swami Brahmananda said, "Since returning from Kashmir, Swamiji does not speak to anybody, he sits in one place rapt in thought; you go to him and by conversation try to draw his mind a little towards worldly objects."_x000d_ The disciple coming to Swamiji's room in the upper storey found him sitting as if immersed in deep mediation. There was no smile on his face, his brilliant eyes had no outward look, as if intent on seeing something within. Seeing the disciple, he only said, "You have come, my son? Please take your seat", and lapsed into silence. The disciple seeing the inside of his left eye reddened asked, "How is it that your eye is red?" "That is nothing", said Swamiji and was again silent. When even after along time Swamiji did not speak, the disciple was a little troubled at heart and touching his feet said, "Won't you relate to me what things you have seen at Amarnath?" By the disciple's touching his feet, the tensity of his mood was broken a little, as if his attention was diverted a little outwards. He said, "Since visiting Amarnath, I feel as if Shiva is sitting on my head for twenty-four hours and would not come down." The disciple heard it with speechless wonder._x000d_ Swamiji: I underwent great religious austerities at Amarnath and then in the temple of Kshir Bhavani. Go and prepare me some tobacco, I will relate everything to you._x000d_ The disciple joyfully obeyed the order. Swamiji slowly smoking began to say, "On the way to Amarnath, I made a very steep ascent on the mountain. Pilgrims do not generally travel by that path. But the determination came upon me that I must go by that path, and so I did. The labour of the strenuous ascent has told on my body. The cold there is so biting that you feel it like pin-pricks." _x000d_ Disciple: I have heard that it is the custom to visit the image of Amarnath naked; is it so?_x000d_ Swamiji: Yes, I entered the cave with only my Kaupina on and my body smeared with holy ash; I did not then feel any cold or heat. But when I came out of the temple, I was benumbed by the cold._x000d_ Disciple: Did you see the holy pigeons? I have heard, in that cold no living creatures are found to live, but a flight of pigeons from some unknown place frequents the place occasionally._x000d_ Swamiji: Yes, I saw three or four white pigeons; whether they live in the cave or the neighboring hills, I could not ascertain._x000d_ Disciple: Sir, I have heard people say that the sight of pigeons on coming out of the temple indicates that one has really been blessed with the vision of Shiva._x000d_ Swamiji: I have heard that the sight of the pigeons brings to fruition whatever desires one may have._x000d_ Then Swamiji said that on the way back he returned to Srinagar by the common route by which the pilgrims return. A few days after returning to Srinagar, he went to visit Kshir Bhavani Devi and staying there for seven days worshipped the Devi and made Homa to her with offerings of Kshira (condensed milk). Every day he used to worship the Devi with a maund of Kshira as offering. One day, while worshipping, the thought arose in Swamiji's mind: "Mother Bhavani has been manifesting Her Presence here for untold years. The Mohammedans came and destroyed her temple, yet the people of the place did nothing to protect Her. Alas, if I were then living I could never have borne it silently." When, thinking in this strain, his mind was much oppressed with sorrow and anguish, he distinctly heard the voice of the Mother saying, "It was according to My desire that the Mohammedans destroyed this temple. It is My desire that I should live in a dilapidated temple, otherwise, can I not immediately erect a seven-storeyed temple of gold here if I like? What can you do? Shall I protect you or shall you protect me!" Swamiji said, "Since hearing that divine voice, I cherish no more plans. The idea of building Maths etc. I have given up; as Mother wills, so it will be." The disciple, speechless with wonder, began to think, "Did he not one day tell me that whatever I saw and heard was but the echo of the Atman within me, that there was nothing outside?"--and fearlessly spoke it out also--"Sir, you used to say that Divine Voices are the echo of our inward thoughts and feelings." Swamiji gravely said, "Whether it be internal or external, if you actually hear with your ears such a disembodied voice, as I have done, can you deny it and call it false? Divine Voices are actually heard, just as you and I are talking."_x000d_ The disciple, without controverting accepted Swamiji's words, for his words always carried conviction._x000d_ He then brought up the subject of departed spirits, and said, "Sir, these ghosts and departed spirits we hear about--which the Shastras also amply corroborate--are all these true or not?_x000d_ Swamiji: Certainly they are true. Whatever you don't see, are they all false for that? Beyond your sight, millions of universes are revolving at great distances. Because you do not see them, are they non-existent for that? But then, do not put your mind on these subjects of ghosts and spirits. Your mental attitude towards them should be one of indifference. You duty is to realise the Atman within this body. When you realise the Atman, ghosts and spirits will be your slaves. _x000d_ Disciple: But sir, I think that, if one sees them, it strengthens one's belief in the hereafter, and dispels all doubts about it. _x000d_ Swamiji: You are heroes; do you mean to say that even you shall have to strengthen your belief in the hereafter by seeing ghosts and spirits! You have read so many sciences and scriptures--have mastered so many secrets of this infinite universe--even with such knowledge, you have to acquire the knowledge of the Atman by seeing ghosts and spirits! What a shame!_x000d_ Disciple: Well, sir, have you ever seen ghosts and spirits?_x000d_ Swamiji narrated that a certain deceased relative of his used to come to him as a disembodied spirit. Sometimes it used to bring him information about distant events. But on verification, some of its information was not found to be correct. Afterwards at a certain place of pilgrimage Swamiji prayed for it mentally, wishing it might be released--since then he did not see it again._x000d_ The disciple then questioned Swamiji if Shraddha or other obsequial ceremonies appeased the departed spirits in any way. Swamiji replied, "That is not impossible." On the disciple's asking for the grounds of that belief Swamiji said, "I will explain the subject to you at length some day. There are irrefutable arguments to prove that the Shraddha ceremony appeases the departed beings. Today I don't feel well. I shall explain it to you another day." But the disciple did not get another opportunity to ask that question to Swamiji.

The Math is still situated in Nilambar Babu's garden house at Belur. It is the month of November. Swamiji is now much engaged in the study and discussion of Sanskrit scriptures. The couplet beginning with "Achandala-pratihatarayah ", he composed about this time. Today Swamiji composed the hymn, "Om Hring Ritam " etc., and handing it over to the disciple said, "See if there is any metrical defect in these stanzas." The disciple made a copy of the poem for this purpose._x000d_ On this day it seemed as if the goddess of learning had manifested herself on his tongue. With the disciple he fluently talked about two hours at a stretch in exceedingly melodious Sanskrit. After the disciple had copied the hymn, Swamiji said, "You see, as I write immersed in thought, grammatical slips sometimes occur; therefore I ask you all to look over them."_x000d_ Disciple: Sir, these are not slips, but the licence of genius. _x000d_ Swamiji: You may say so; but why will other people assent to that? The other day I wrote an essay on "What is Hinduism", and some amongst you even are complaining that it was written in a very stiff Bengali. I think, language and thought also, like all other things, become lifeless and monotonous in course of time. Such a state seems to have happened now in this country. On the advent of Shri Ramakrishna, however, a new current has set in, in thought and language. Everything has now to be recast in new moulds. Everything has to be propagated with the stamp of new genius. Look, for example, how the old modes of Sannyasins are breaking, yielding place to a new mould by degrees. The Sannyasins of the present day have to go to distant countries for preaching, and if they go in an ash-besmeared, half-nude body like the Sadhus (holy men) of old, in the first place they won't be taken on board the ships, and even if they anyhow reach foreign countries in that dress, they will have to stay in jail. Everything requires to be changed a little according to place, time, and civilisation. Henceforth I am thinking of writing essays in Bengali. Litterateurs will perhaps rail at them. Never mind--I shall try to cast the Bengali language in a new mould. Nowadays, Bengali writers use too many verbs in their writings; this takes away the force of the language. If one can express the ideas of verbs with adjectives, it adds to the force of the language; henceforth try to write in that style. Try to write articles in that style in the Udbodhan. Do you know the meaning of the use of verbs in language? It gives a pause to the thought; hence the use of too many verbs in language is the sign of weakness, like quick breathing, and indicates that there is not much vitality in the language; that is why one cannot lecture well in the Bengali language. He who has control over his language, does not make frequent breaks in his thoughts. As your physique has been rendered languid by living on a dietary of boiled rice and dal, similar is the case with your language. In food, in modes of life, in thought, and in language, energy has to be infused. With the infusion of vitality all round and the circulation of blood in all arteries and veins, one should feel the throbbing of new life in everything--then only will the people of this land be able to survive the present terrible struggle for existence; otherwise the country and the race will vanish in the enveloping shadows of death at no distant date._x000d_ Disciple: Sir, the constitution of the people of this country has been moulded in a peculiar way through long ages. Is it possible to change that within a short time?_x000d_ Swamiji: If you have known the old ways to be wrong, then why don't you, as I say, learn to live in a better way? By your example ten other people will follow suit, and by theirs another fifty people will learn. By this process in course of time the new idea will awaken in the hearts of the whole race. But even if after understanding, you do not act accordingly, I shall know that you are wise in words only--but practically you are fools. _x000d_ Disciple: Your words, sir, infuse great courage, enthusiasm, energy and strength into the heart._x000d_ Swamiji: By degrees the heart has to be strengthened. If one man is made, it equals the result of a hundred thousand lectures. Making the mind and lips at one, the ideas have to be practised in life. This is what Shri Ramakrishna meant by "allowing no theft in the chamber of thought". You have to be practical in all spheres of work. The whole country has been ruined by masses of theories. He who is the true son of Shri Ramakrishna will manifest the practical side of religious ideas and will set to work with one-pointed devotion without paying heed to the prattling of men or of society. Haven't you heard of the couplet of Tulsidas: "The elephant walks the market-place and a thousand curs bark at him; so the Sadhus have no ill-feeling if worldly people slander them." You have to walk in this way. No count should be taken of the words of people. If one has to pay heed to their praise or blame, no great work can be accomplished in this life. "{Sanskrit}--The Atman is not to be gained by the weak." If there is no strength in the body and mind, the Atman cannot be realised. First you have to build the body by good nutritious food--then only will the mind be strong. The mind is but the subtle part of the body. You must retain great strength in your mind and words. "I am low, I am low"--repeating these ideas in the mind, man belittles and degrades himself. Therefore, the Shastra (Ashtavakra Samhita, I.11) says: "{Sanskrit}--He who thinks himself free, free he becomes; he who thinks himself bound, bound he remains--this popular saying is true: 'As one thinks, so one becomes'." He alone who is always awake to the idea of freedom, becomes free; he who thinks he is bound, endures life after life in the state of bondage. It is a fact. This truth holds good both in spiritual and temporal matters. Those who are always down-hearted and dispirited in this life can do no work; from life to life they come and go wailing and moaning. "The earth is enjoyed by heroes"--this is the unfailing truth. Be a hero. Always say, "I have no fear." Tell this to everybody--"Have no fear". Fear is death, fear is sin, fear is hell, fear is unrighteousness, fear is wrong life. All the negative thoughts and ideas that are in this world have proceeded from this evil spirit of fear. This fear alone has kept the sun, air and death in their respective places and functions, allowing none to escape from their bounds. Therefore the Shruti says (Katha Upanishad, II.iii,3) says: "{Sanskrit}--Through fear of this, fire burns, the sun heats; through fear Indra and Vayu are carrying on their functions, and Death stalks upon this earth." When the gods Indra, Chandra, Vayu, Varuna will attain to fearlessness, then will they be one with Brahman, and all this phantasm of the world will vanish. Therefore I say, "Be fearless, be fearless."_x000d_ Swamiji, in saying these words, appeared in the eyes of the disciple like the very embodiment of "fearlessness", and he thought, "How in his presence even the fear of death leaves one and vanishes into nothingness!"_x000d_ Swamiji continued: In this embodied existence, you will be tossed again and again on the waves of happiness and misery, prosperity and adversity--but know them all to be of momentary duration. Never care for them. "I am birthless, the deathless Atman, whose nature is Intelligence"--implanting this idea firmly in your heart, you should pass the days of your life. "I have no birth, no death, I am the Atman untouched by anything"--lose yourself completely in this idea. If you can once become one with this idea, then in the hour of sorrow and tribulation, it will rise of itself in your mind, and you will not have to strive with difficulty to bring it up. The other day, I was a guest of Babu Priyanath Mukherjee at Baidyanath. There I had such a spell of asthma that I felt like dying. But from within, with every breath arose the deep-toned sound, "I am He, I am He". Resting on the pillow, I was waiting for the vital breath to depart, and observing all the time that from within was being heard the sound of "I am He, I am He!" I could hear all along "{Sanskrit}--The Brahman, the One without a second, alone exists, nothing manifold exists in the world."_x000d_ The disciple, struck with amazement said, "Sir, talking with you and listening to your realisations, I feel no necessity for the study of scriptures."_x000d_ Swamiji: No! Scriptures have to be studied also. For the attainment of Jnana, study of scriptures is essential. I shall soon open classes in the Math for them. The Vedas, Upanishads, the Gita, and Bhagavata should be studied in the classes, and I shall teach the Panini's Ashtadhyayai._x000d_ Disciple: Have you studied the Ashtadhayayi of Panini?_x000d_ Swamiji: When I was in Jaipur, I met a great grammarian and felt a desire to study Sanskrit grammar with him. Although he was a great scholar in that branch, he had not much aptitude for teaching. He explained to me the commentary on the first aphorism for three days continuously, still I could not grasp a bit of it. On the fourth day the teacher got annoyed and said, "Swamiji, I could not make you understand the meaning of the first aphorism even in three days; I fear, you will not be much benefited by my teaching." Hearing these words, a great self-reproach came over me. Putting food and sleep aside, I set myself to study the commentary on the first aphorism independently. Within three hours the sense of the commentary stood explained before me as clearly as anything; then going to my teacher I gave him the sense of the whole commentary. My teacher, hearing me, said, "How could you gather the sense so excellently within three hours, which I failed to explain to you in three days?" After that, every day I began to read chapter after chapter, with the greatest ease. Through concentration of mind everything can be accomplished--even mountains can be crushed to atoms._x000d_ Disciple: Sir, everything is wonderful about you._x000d_ Swamiji: There is nothing wonderful in this universe. Ignorance constitutes the only darkness, which confers all things and makes them look mysterious. When everything is lighted by Knowledge, the sense of mystery vanishes from the face of things. Even such an inscrutable thing as Maya, which brings the most impossible things to pass, disappears. Know Him, think of Him, by knowing whom everything else is known. And when that Atman is realised, the purport of all scriptures will be perceived as clearly as a fruit on the palm of one's hand. The Rishis of old attained realisation, and must we fail? We are also men. What has happened once in the life of one individual must, through proper endeavour, be realised in the life of others. History repeats itself. This Atman is the same in all, there is only a difference of manifestation in different individuals. Try to manifest this Atman, and you will see your intellect penetrating into all subjects. The intellect of one who has not realised the Atman is one-sided, whereas the genius of the knower of Atman is all-embracing. With the manifestation of the Atman you will find that science, philosophy, and everything will be easily mastered. Proclaim the glory of the Atman with the roar of a lion, and impart fearlessness unto all beings by saying, "Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached."

A gathering was an everyday occurrence when Swamiji used to stay in Calcutta. At every hour of the day, from early morning till eight or nine at night, men would flock to him. This naturally occasioned much irregularity in his meals; so, his brother-disciples and friends, desiring to put a stop to this state of things, strongly advised him not to receive visitors except at appointed hours. But the loving heart of Swamiji, who was ever ready to go to any length to help others, was so melted with compassion at the sight of the thirst. For religion in the people, that in spite of ill health he did not comply with any request of the kind. His only reply was, "They take so much trouble to come, walking all the way from their homes; and can 1, sitting here, not speak a few words to them, merely because I risk my health a little?"

His heart went out to everybody. His grace descended on all, saints and sinners alike. The misery of the world afflicted him terribly. Perhaps he also knew that the time of his passing away was approaching; so he could not deny anybody his blessings. As a result, many persons who led indifferent lives were initiated by him into the mysteries of spirituality. Soon a whisper went round the Math that the Swami was not a proper judge of a man's inner propensities, that he could easily be satisfied with a few words of praise; otherwise, how could he give his blessings to men of such worldly inclinations? This disparaging talk particularly pained a certain disciple, and one day, as the Swami was taking his evening stroll in the Math compound, he approached and said, "Swamiji, I have something to ask you." "Yes", said the Swami without turning his head. Then the disciple said: "Much talk is going round the Math that you cannot properly discriminate a right person from a wrong one. You bestow your grace upon everybody without looking into his previous life or inner propensities. As a result we find some of your disciples leading an indifferent life even after receiving your blessings." The Swami suddenly turned towards the disciple and exclaimed, with emotion: "My boy, do you say that I do not know a man? What! When I see a man I not only find out the working of his inner self, but even get a glimpse of his previous life. I know what is going on in his sub-conscious mind: even he does not know it. But then, do you know why I bless such people? The poor souls have knocked at every gate to get a little peace of mind; but they have been refused everywhere. They have come to me at last. If 1, too, refuse them, they will have nothing else to fall back upon. So I do not discriminate. Oh, they are so afflicted! The world is so full of miseries!"

He gave her full liberty in the working out of her ideas. She could be free from collaborators if she chose. Above all, she could, if she wished, give her work "a definite religious colour" or even make it sectarian; but he added knowingly, "You wish through a sect to rise beyond all sects." Eventually it should include all sects, not only within, but outside, Hinduism. The Swami once told her, "If amidst their new task the Indian women of the future would only remember now and then to say, 'Shiva! Shiva!', it would he sufficient worship." And indicating his idea of what a worker in the cause of womanhood should be like, he once said to the Sister, "Yes, you have faith, but you have not that burning enthusiasm that you need! You should be consumed with energy." Then he blessed her; and, it will be right to say, she did indeed become "a consuming energy" in that cause.

The Swami did all he could to make the life, that Nivedita had adopted, easier. Sometimes he would ask her to eat with him; he would then prepare special dishes for her, and make her to take them in his presence, for he knew that she was then practising austerities, such as living on a spare diet of milk and fruit, and sleeping on a hare board. He would now and then ask her to cook delicacies for him, so that she too might partake of them. He would also make others eat a little of the food cooked by her, thus breaking down to a great extent the iron barriers of orthodoxy among his own people with regard to her.

He made every effort to have her accepted by Hindu society, and was always ready to listen to her views in a discussion. As for his own orthodox disciples, he was constantly breaking the bonds of the meaningless among the age-old customs and traditions in which they had been brought up. He sometimes tested their loyalty by asking them to take, as his Prasada, food forbidden by orthodoxy.

This time they could not stay in the cottage that they had previously occupied, since arrangements were being made to shift the Math to its new grounds, on which the cottage stood. For some days they lived with Nivedita at 16 Bosepara Lane; then they found a house for themselves at Bally, on the West Bank of the Ganga,. about two miles north of the Belur Math.

12th November, 1898_x000d_ _x000d_ My Dear Joe [(Josephine MacLeod)],_x000d_ _x000d_ I have invited a few friends to dinner tomorrow, Sunday. . . . We expect you at tea. Everything will be ready then._x000d_ _x000d_ Shri Mother is going this morning to see the new Math. I am also going there. Today at 6 p.m. Nivedita is going to preside. If you feel like it, and Mrs. Bull strong, do come._x000d_ _x000d_ Ever yours in the Lord,_x000d_ _x000d_ Vivekananda

Maharaja Ajit Singh, the Raja of Khetri_x000d_ _x000d_ Math Belur_x000d_ _x000d_ 22 November 1898_x000d_ _x000d_ Your Highness--_x000d_ _x000d_ Many thanks for your kind note and the Nimbarka Bhashya_x000d_ _x000d_ --reached through Jaga Mohan Lalji._x000d_ _x000d_ I approach your Highness today on a most important business of mine, knowing well that I have not the least shame in opening my mind to you, and that I consider you as my only friend in this life. If the following appeals to you, good; if not, pardon my foolishness as a friend should._x000d_ As you know already, I have been ailing since my return. In Calcutta your Highness assured me of your friendship and help for me personally and [advised me] not to be worried about this incurable malady. This disease has been caused by nervous excitement; and no amount of change can do me good, unless the worry and anxiety and excitement are taken off me._x000d_ _x000d_ After trying these two years a different climate, I am getting worse every day and now almost at death's door. I appeal to your Highness's work, generosity and friendship. I have one great sin rankling always in my breast, and that is [in order] to do a service to the world, I have sadly neglected my mother. Again, since my second brother has gone away, she has become awfully worn out with grief. Now my last desire is to make Sevâ [give service] and serve my mother, for some years at least. I want to live with my mother and get my younger brother married to prevent extinction of the family. This will certainly smoothen my last days as well as those of my mother. She lives now in a hovel. I want to build a little, decent home for her and make some provision for the youngest, as there is very little hope of his being a good earning man. Is it too much for a royal descendent of Ramchandra to do for one he loves and calls his friend? I do not know whom else to appeal to. The money I got from Europe was for the "work", and every penny almost has been given over to that work. Nor can I beg of others for help for my own self. About my own family affairs--I have exposed myself to your Highness, and none else shall know of it. I am tired, heartsick and dying. Do, I pray, this last great work of kindness to me, befitting your great and generous nature and [as] a crest to the numerous kindnesses you have shown me. And as your Highness will make my last days smooth and easy, may He whom I have tried to serve all my life ever shower His choicest blessings on you and yours._x000d_ _x000d_ Ever yours in the Lord,_x000d_ _x000d_ Vivekananda_x000d_ _x000d_ P.S. This is strictly private. Will you please drop a wire to me whether you will do it or not?_x000d_ _x000d_ Ever yours,_x000d_ _x000d_ Vivekananda

A letter that the Swami received at this time from Sir Jamsetji Tata, of Bombay, is worth reproducing. The Swami had met this well-known millionaire-philanthropist in Japan. In July 1893 they were fellow-passengers from Yokohama to Vancouver on board the C.P.R. steamer Empress of India, and also on the journey from Vancouver to Chicago by Canadian Pacific Railway. While in Japan the Swami had been impressed by the industrial development of the country, and had hoped for a similar development in India. He wrote to the Raja of Khetri and to Alasinga Perumal of Madras to this effect. Probably he spoke in the same way to Sir Jamsetji during their journey. Having some acquaintance with the Swami's views, the latter evidently felt sure that his present scheme would interest the Swami. His letter ran as follows:

Dear Swami Vivekananda, _x000d_ I trust, you remember me as a fellow-traveller on your voyage from Japan to Chicago. I very much recall at this moment your views on the growth of the ascetic spirit in India, and the duty, not of destroying, but of diverting it into useful channels. _x000d_ 1 recall these ideas in connection with my scheme of Research Institute of Science for India, of which you have doubtless heard or read. It seems to me that no better use can he made of the ascetic. spirit than the establishment of monasteries or residential halls for men dominated by this spirit, where they should live with ordinary decency, and devote their lives to the cultivation of sciences — natural and humanistic. I am of opinion that, if such a crusade in favour of an asceticism of this kind were undertaken by a competent leader, it would greatly help asceticism, science, and the good name of our common country; and I know not who would make a more fitting general of such a campaign than Vivekananda. Do you think you would care to apply yourself to the mission of galvanizing into life our ancient traditions in this respect? Perhaps, you had better begin with a fiery pamphlet rousing our people in this matter. I should cheerfully defray all the expenses of publication. _x000d_ With kind regards, I am, dear Swami, _x000d_ 23rd November, 1898. Yours faithfully, _x000d_ Esplanade House, Bombay. JAMSETJI N. TATA.

We do not know what the Swami wrote in reply, but we can safely assume that he expressed his appreciation of the scheme. Incidentally, while speaking of Sir Jamsetji Tata, it is interesting to note what he once told Sister Nivedita: when the Swami was in Japan, everyone who saw him was struck by his likeness to the Buddha.

It was early one Sunday morning, writes our representative, in a beautiful Himalayan valley, that I was at last able to carry out the order of the Editor, and call on the Swami Vivekananda, to ascertain something of his views on the position and prospects of Indian women._x000d_ "Let us go for a walk", said the Swami, when I had announced my errand, and we set out at once amongst some of the most lovely scenery in the world._x000d_ By sunny and shady ways we went, through quiet villages, amongst playing children and across the golden cornfields. Here the tall trees seemed to pierce the blue above, and there a group of peasant girls stooped, sickle in hand, to cut and carry off the plume-tipped stalks of maize-straw for the winter stores. Now the road led into an apple orchard, where great heaps of crimson fruit lay under the trees for sorting, and again we were out in the open, facing the snows that rose in august beauty above the white clouds against the sky._x000d_ At last my companion broke the silence. "The Aryan and Semitic ideal of woman", he said, "have always been diametrically opposed. Amongst the Semites the presence of woman is considered dangerous to devotion, and she may not perform any religious function, even such as the killing of a bird for food: according to the Aryan a man cannot perform a religious action without a wife."_x000d_ "But Swamiji!" said I--startled at an assertation so sweeping and so unexpected--"is Hinduism not an Aryan faith?"_x000d_ "Modern Hinduism", said the Swami quietly, "is largely Pauranika, that is, post-Buddhistic in origin. Dayananda Saraswati pointed out that though a wife is absolutely necessary in the Sacrifice of the domestic fire, which is a Vedic rite, she may not touch the Shalagrama Shila, or the household idol, because that dates from the later period of the Puranas."_x000d_ "And so you consider the inequality of woman amongst us as entirely due to the influence of Buddhism?"_x000d_ "Where it exists, certainly," said the Swami, "but we should not allow the sudden influx of European criticism and our consequent sense of contrast to make us acquiesce too readily in this notion of the inequality of our women. Circumstances have forced upon us, for many centuries, the woman's need of protection. This, and not her inferiority, is the true reading of our customs."_x000d_ "Are you then entirely satisfied with the position of women amongst us, Swamiji?"_x000d_ "By no means," said the Swami, but our right of interference is limited entirely to giving education. Women must be put in a position to solve their own problems in their own way. No one can or ought to do this for them. And our Indian women are as capable of doing it as any in the world."_x000d_ "How do you account for the evil influence which you attribute to Buddhism?"_x000d_ "It came only with the decay of the faith", said the Swami. "Every movement triumphs by dint of some unusual characteristic, and when it falls, that point of pride becomes its chief element of weakness. The Lord Buddha--greatest of men--was a marvellous organiser and carried the world by this means. But his religion was the religion of a monastic order. It had, therefore, the evil effect of making the very robe of the monk honoured. He also introduced for the first time the community life of religious houses and thereby necessarily made women inferior to men, since the great abbesses could take no important step without the advice of certain abbots. It ensured its immediate object, the solidarity of the faith, you see, only its far-reaching effects are to be deplored."_x000d_ "But Sannyasa is recognised in the Vedas!"_x000d_ "Of course it is, but without making any distinction between men and women. Do you remember how Yajnavalkya was questioned at the Court of King Janaka? His principal examiner was Vachaknavi, the maiden orator--Brahmavadini, as the word of the day was. 'Like two shining arrows in the hand of the skilled archer', she says, 'are my questions.' Her sex is not even commented upon. Again, could anything be more complete than the equality of boys and girls in our old forest universities? Read our Sanskrit dramas--read the story of Shakuntala, and see if Tennyson's 'Princess' has anything to teach us!"_x000d_ "You have a wonderful way of revealing the glories of our past, Swamiji!"_x000d_ "Perhaps, because I have seen both sides of the world," said the Swami gently, "and I know that the race that produced Sita--even if it only dreamt of her--has a reverence for woman that is unmatched on the earth. There is many a burden bound with legal tightness on the shoulders of Western women that is utterly unknown to ours. We have our wrongs and our exceptions certainly, but so have they. We must never forget that all over the globe the general effort is to express love and tenderness and uprightness, and that national customs are only the nearest vehicles of this expression. With regard to the domestic virtues I have no hesitation in saying that our Indian methods have in many ways the advantage over all others."_x000d_ "Then have our women any problems at all, Swamiji?"_x000d_ "Of course, they have many and grave problems, but none that are not to be solved by that magic word 'education'. The true education, however, is not yet conceived of amongst us."_x000d_ "And how would you define that?"_x000d_ "I never define anything", said the Swami, smiling. "Still, it may be described as a development of faculty, not an accumulation of words, or as a training of individuals to will rightly and efficiently. So shall we bring to the need of India great fearless women--women worthy to continue the traditions of Sanghamitta, Lila, Ahalya Bai, and Mira Bai--women fit to be mothers of heroes, because they are pure and selfless, strong with the strength that comes of touching the feet of God."_x000d_ "So you consider that there should be a religious element in education, Swamiji?"_x000d_ "I look upon religion as the innermost core of education", said the Swami solemnly. "Mind, I do not mean my own, or any one else's opinion about religion. I think the teacher should take the pupil's starting-point in this, as in other respects, and enable her to develop along her own line of least resistance."_x000d_ "But surely the religious exaltation of Brahmacharya, by taking the highest place from the mother and wife and giving it to those who evade those relations, is a direct blow dealt at woman?"_x000d_ "You should remember," said the Swami, "that if religion exalts Brahmacharya for woman, it does exactly the same for man. Moreover, your question shows a certain confusion in your own mind. Hinduism indicates one duty, only one, for the human soul. It is to seek to realise the permanent amidst the evanescent. No one presumes to point out any one way in which this may be done. Marriage or non-marriage, good or evil, learning or ignorance, any of these is justified, if it leads to the goal. In this respect lies the great contrast between it and Buddhism, for the latter's outstanding direction is to realise the impermanence of the external, which, broadly speaking, can only be done in one way. Do you recall the story of the young Yogi in the Mahabharata who prided himself on his psychic powers by burning the bodies of a crow and crane by his intense will, produced by anger? Do you remember that the young saint went into the town and found first a wife nursing her sick husband and then the butcher Dharma-Vyadha, both of whom had obtained enlightenment in the path of common faithfulness and duty?"_x000d_ "And so what would you say, Swamiji, to the women of this country?"_x000d_ "Why, to the women of this country," said the Swami, "I would say exactly what I say to the men. Believe in India and in our Indian faith. Be strong and hopeful and unashamed, and remember that with something to take, Hindus have immeasurably more to give than any other people in the world."

As he was walking to and fro on the grounds of the new Math he said, pointing to an old cottage: _x000d_ There will be the place for the sadhus to live in. This Math will he the central institution for the practice of religion and the cultivation of knowledge. The spiritual force emanating from here will permeate the whole world, turning the currents of men's activities and aspirations into new channels. From here will be disseminated ideals harmonizing jnana, Bhakti, Yoga, and Karma. The time will come, when by the mere will of the sannyasis of this Math, life will vibrate into the deadened souls of men. All these visions are rising before me.

On that land to the south will be the Temple of Learning, modelled after the manner of our ancient Tols. In it will be taught Grammar, Philosophy, Arts, Science, Literature, Rhetoric, Hindu Codes of Law, Scriptures, and English. There the young Brahmacharis will live and study the Shastras. The Math will provide them with food, clothing, etc. After five years' training these Brahmacharis will be at liberty to return to their homes and lead the householder's life; or, if they prefer, they may take the vow of Sannyasa with the sanction of the Superiors of the Math. If any of these Brahmacharis are found to be disorderly or of bad character, the Math authorities will have the power to turn them out. Here boys will be taught irrespective of caste or creed. But those who would like to observe the orthodox customs of their respective castes and creeds, will have to arrange for their food and so forth separately. They will attend only the classes in common with the rest. The authorities shall keep a strict watch on their character too. No one will be entitled to admission into the monastic order who has not received his training here. Thus, in the course of 'time, the Math work will be conducted wholly with a personnel drawn from them.

Disciple: Then, sir, you mean to re-introduce the old Gurukula system in the country? _x000d_ Swamiji: Why, assuredly, yes! There is no scope whatever in the modern system of education for the unfoldment of the Brahmavidya. The old institution of Brahmacharya must be established anew. But its foundation must he laid on a broad basis, and many changes and modifications suited to the needs of the times will have to be introduced into it, of which I shall tell you later on. _x000d_ That plot of land adjoining ours in the south should be acquired in time. There will be the Annasatra or a Feeding Home of the Math in the name of Shri Ramakrishna, where proper arrangements will be made for serving food to those who are really poor and needy, regarding them as forms of Narayana. The scope of its work will be regulated according to the funds at its disposal; it may even be started with two or three people. Enthusiastic Brahmacharis will have to be trained to conduct this Annasatra. They themselves should find means for its support, even by begging from door to door. The Math will not be allowed to lend any pecuniary aid to it. When the _x000d_ _x000d_ _x000d_ # _x000d_ Brahmacharis have completed their five years' training in this Home of Service in that way, then only they will have the right of admission into the Temple of Learning branch of the monastery. Thus after ten years of training in all, they will be entitled to enter the Sannyasa Ashrama after due initiation by the Math authorities — .of course, if they have a mind to become sannyasis, and if the latter find them fit for it. But the President of the Math may, in the case of some specially gifted Brahmachari, waive this rule and give Sannyasa at any time in spite of this rule. You see I have all these ideas in my head. _x000d_ Disciple: Sir, what is the object of establishing these three separate branches in the Math? _x000d_ Swamiji: Don't you see? There should be, first, Annadana, or the giving of food and other necessaries of physical life; next, Vidyadana, or the imparting of intellectual knowledge; and, last of all, Jnanadana, or the conferring of spiritual knowledge. The harmonizing of these three aspects that conduce to the making of Man, must be the sole duty of the Math. By devoting themselves to the work of the Annasatra in the manner indicated, the idea of working for others by practical means, and that of serving humanity in the spirit of worship, will he firmly implanted in the minds of, the Brahmacharis. This will gradually purify their minds, leading to the development of Sattvic thoughts and aspirations. And such alone are capable of receiving and retaining the Apara and the Para Vidya (the secular and the supreme knowledge) and thus of becoming eligible for Sannyasa.... _x000d_ Disciple: Sir, your words encourage me to learn something more of your ideas about the Annasatras and Sevashramas. _x000d_ Swamiji: There should be well-ventilated rooms in these homes, in each of which two or three of the poor or the diseased will live. They should have comfortable bedding and clean clothes. There should be a doctor for them who will come and see them once or twice a week, or as often as convenient. The Sevashrama will he a department of the Annasatra, in which the diseased will be nursed and well taken care of. In time, as funds permit, a big kitchen will he built, and any number of hungry people will be fed at all times of the day to their hearts' content. None shall be refused under any circumstances. The water-gruel strained off from the cooked rice, draining into the Ganga, will turn its water white I Oh, how glad at heart I shall be to see an Annasatra working on such a grand scale here I _x000d_ Speaking thus the Swami stood for a while gazing dreamily at the Ganga, as if fathoming the future to see the sight that he had just visualized. He broke his rumination to say affectionately to the disciple: _x000d_ Who knows when the sleeping lion will be roused in one or other of you! If the Mother but kindles in the soul of any one of you a spark of Her divine power, hundreds of such Annasatras will he opened all over the country. Know this that jnana, Bhakti, and Shakti are already in every living being. It is only the difference in the degree of their manifestation that makes one great and another small. It is as if a curtain were drawn between us and that perfection. When that is removed, the whole of Nature is at our feet. Then, whatever we want, whatever we will, will come to pass. _x000d_ If the Lord wills, we shall make this Math a great centre of harmony. Our Lord is the visible embodiment of the perfect harmony of all ideals. His throne will remain unshaken in the world of spirituality if we keep alive that ideal of harmony here. We must see to it that people of all sects and creeds, from the Brahmana down to the Chandala, will find on coming here their respective ideals manifested. The other day when we installed the image of Shri Ramakrishna on the grounds of this Math, I saw his ideas emanating from here and flooding the whole universe with their radiance! I for one am doing and shall do my best to elucidate his broad ideas to all people; you all also do the same. What avails the mere reading of Vedanta? We have to exemplify the truth of the pure Advaita in practical life. This Advaitavada has so long been kept hidden in the forests and mountain-caves. It has been given to me to bring it out from seclusion and scatter it broadcast before the workaday world and society. The sound of the Advaita drum must resound in every hearth and home, in meadows and groves, over hills and plains. Come all of you to my assistance and set yourselves to work. _x000d_ Disciple: But, sir, my mind inclines rather to realize the Advaita state through meditation than to manifest it in action. _x000d_ Swamiji: Why! What is the use of remaining always stupefied in Jadasamadhi? Under the inspiration of Advaita why not some-times dance like Shiva, and sometimes remain immersed in Superconsciousness? Who enjoys a delicacy more — he who cats it all by himself, or he who shares it with others? Granted that by realizing the Atman in meditation you attain Mukti, but what is that to the world? We have to take the whole universe with us to Mukti! We shall start a conflagration in Mahamaya's dominion.. Then only you will he established in the Eternal Truth. Oh, what can con4pare with that Bliss, immeasurable. "infinite as the skies"! In that state you will be speechless, carried beyond yourself, by seeing your own Self in every being that breathes, and in every atom of the universe. When you realize this, you cannot bye m this world without treating everyone with exceeding love and compassion. This indeed is practical Vedanta.

But from December 9 several of the monks lived on the new Math grounds. The reason for the delay in moving the whole Math to the new place was that the alterations and additions to the existing quarters had not been completed. This work was begun in April 1898, but though it was pushed through with all speed, it was not completed until the beginning of 1899. An entire upper storey, with a veranda facing the Ganga, had to he built, and so also the building to accommodate the shrine of Shri Ramakrishna and the dining-hall of the monks.

Some time during his stay at Balarambabu's house, perhaps before his departure for Deoghar, the Swami, along with Swami Yogananda, Sharatchandra Chakravarty, and Sister Nivedita, went to see the Calcutta Zoological Gardens. The Superintendent, Rai Bahadur Ramabrahma Sanyal, hearing of his intended visit, received him and his party at the entrance, and showed them all the animal-houses. The Swami wanted to see the feeding of the lions and tigers. This was done on the order of the Superintendent. The snakes interested him, and he entered into a long discussion on the evolution of reptiles. Next it was the monkeys. On seeing the almost human members of this species, he was sometimes beard to address them in a curious way., saying, "Well, how did you get into that body? What frightful Karma in the past has brought you here?"

After light refreshments a long conversation ensued. The Superintendent was a student of botany and zoology, and held strongly to the Darwinian theory of evolution. But the Swami, though admitting Darwin's theory to be sound to a certain extent. preferred to it Patanjali's more comprehensive theory _x000d_ of "filling-in of nature", which, he showed, more satisfactorily explained evolution. He pointed out that Patanjali, unlike the Western philosophers, did not put forward "struggle for existence", "survival of the fittest". and "natural selection" as causes of the evolution of one species into another. However important struggle and competition may be in evolution in the lower orders of nature, they are, the Swami held, retarding rather than aiding factors in the development of human character. Perfection, according to the ancient Hindu sages, is man's real nature: only, it is prevented from manifestation by certain obstacles; and as these are removed, so it manifests itself more fully. It is through education and culture, through meditation and concentration, and, above all, through renunciation and sacrifice, that the obstacles are removed. Thus the competitive struggle over sex and food, he maintained, does not apply to the human plane on its higher levels. 1'he sages, on the contrary, struggled to grow above nature, to conquer animal instinct, to go beyond even the sense of process, and to merge human nature in the Divine.

The Superintendent, much pleased, exclaimed: ``Swamiji, that is a wonderful theory! We need in India at the present time more men like you, versed in Eastern and Western philosophy, to point out to our educated community their one-sidedness and to correct their fallacies and confusions." The same evening the Swami explained more clearly and elaborately his theory of evolution with special reference to the needs of modern India, to a group of friends and visitors, at Balarambabu's house.

To summarize what he said: Darwin's theory is applicable to the animal and vegetable kingdoms, but not to the human kingdom where reason and knowledge are highly developed. In the saints and ideal men we find no trace of struggle whatever, and no tendency to rise higher or grow stronger by the destruction of others. There we find sacrifice instead. The more a person can sacrifice the greater he is. The struggle of a rational man is with his internal nature. The more he succeeds in controlling his mind the greater he is. On being questioned, "Why then do you emphasize so much the need for our physical improvement?" the Swami thundered:

Are you men? You are no better than animals, satisfied with eating, sleeping, and propagating, and haunted by fear! If you had not had in you a little rationality, you would have become quadrupeds by this time! Devoid of self-respect, you are full of jealousy among yourselves, and have made yourselves objects of contempt to foreigners! Throw aside your vain bragging, your theories, and so forth, and reflect ~y on the doings and dealings of your everyday life. Because you are governed by animal nature, I teach you to seek success first in the struggle for existence, and to attend to the building up of your physique, so that you may he able to wrestle all the better with your mind. The physically weak, I say again and again, are unfit for the realization of the Self! When once the mind is controlled and man is the master of his self, it does not matter whether the body is strong or not, for then he is not dominated by it.

There was to be an eclipse of the sun. He was at Balarambabu's house, and had just eaten a meal cooked by a disciple, who was now rubbing the Swami's feet gently. The sound of conchs and the ringing of bells were heard, announcing the beginning of the eclipse. "Well," said the Swami, "the eclipse of the sun has begun. Let me have a nap." Later, when the sky had become quite dark, he remarked, "Isn't it an eclipse indeed!" Then he turned over to sleep. Some time after, he got up and said to the disciple attending on him: "They say a man is rewarded a hundredfold in what he desires or does during an eclipse. I thought that, if I could sleep soundly now for a little, I should get good sleep in the future; but it was not to be. I have slept for about fifteen minutes only. The Divine Mother has not blessed this body with sound sleep."

On July 17, 1898 he had written to Swami Brahmananda from Srinagar: "My opinion regarding what you have written about Sarada is only that it is difficult to make a magazine in Bengali paying; but if all of you together canvass subscribers from door to door, it may he possible. In this matter do as you all decide. Poor Sarada has already been disappointed once."

After the American ladies had returned to Calcutta from their tour in North India, Miss MacLeod gave what money she could to the Swami, who immediately passed it on so that the publication of the Udbodhan, a fortnightly journal in Bengali, could commence. In her reminiscences Josephine MacLeod writes: "Mrs. Bull had given several thousand dollars to found the monastery. I having very little, it took me some years to have eight hundred dollars. One day I said to Swam... 'Here is a little money you may be able to use.' He said, 'What? What?' I said, 'Yes.' 'How much?' he asked. And I said, 'Eight hundred dollars'. Instantly he turned to Swami Trigunatita and said, 'There, go and buy your press.' He bought the press which started the Udbodhan, the Bengali magazine published by the Ramakrishna Mission."

A press was bought and, to the delight of the Swami, the journal made its appearance on January 14, 1899. Swami Trigunatitananda had volunteered to be its editor and manager. With him were a few Brahmacharis to help. The Swami gave directions about the conduct of the magazine. Nothing but positive ideas for the physical, mental, and spiritual improvement of the race should have a place in it. Instead of criticizing and finding fault with the thoughts and aspirations of mankind as embodied in its literature, philosophy, poetry, arts, and so forth, ancient and modern, it should point out how they can be made more conducive to progress. It should never attack or seek to destroy any one's faith. The highest doctrines of the Vedas and Vedanta should be presented to the people in the simplest way, so that by diffusing true culture and knowledge it might in time be able to raise the Chandala to Brahmana status. It should stand for universal harmony as preached by Shri Ramakrishna, and scatter abroad his ideals of love, purity, and renunciation. With untiring zeal and perseverance, and wonderful self-denial, Swami Trigunatita laboured for the success of the journal. As the Swami remarked, only an unselfish sannyasi could do such heroic work.

To Maharaja Ajit Singh, the Raja of Khetri_x000d_ _x000d_ Math Beloor_x000d_ _x000d_ Howrah District_x000d_ _x000d_ 1 December 1898_x000d_ _x000d_ Your Highness--_x000d_ _x000d_ Your telegram has pleased me beyond description, and it is worthy of your noble self. I herewith give you the details of what I want._x000d_ _x000d_ The lowest possible estimate of building a little home in Calcutta is at least ten thousand rupees. With that it is barely possible to buy or build a house in some out of the way quarter of the town--a little house fit for four or five persons to live in._x000d_ _x000d_ As for the expenses of living, the 100 Rs. a month your generosity is supplying my mother is enough for her. If another 100 Rs. a month be added to it for my lifetime for my expenses--which unfortunately this illness has increased, and which, I hope, will not be for long a source of trouble to you, as I expect only to live a few years at best--I will be perfectly happy. One thing more will I beg of you--if possible, the 100 Rs. a month for my mother be made permanent, so that even after my death it may regularly reach her. Or even if your Highness ever gets reasons to stop your love and kindness for me, my poor old mother may be provided [for], remembering the love you once had for a poor Sâdhu._x000d_ _x000d_ This is all. Do this little work amongst the many other noble deeds you have done, knowing well whatever else can be proved or not, the power of Karma is self evident to all. The blessings of this good Karma shall always follow you and yours. As for me, what shall I say--whatever I am in the world has been almost all through your help. You made it possible for me to get rid of a terrible anxiety and face the world and do some work. It may be that you are destined by the Lord to be the instrument again of helping yet grander work, by taking this load off my mind once more._x000d_ _x000d_ But whether you do this or not, "once loved is always loved". Let all my love and blessings and prayers follow you and yours, day and night, for what I owe you already; and maythe Mother, whose play is this universe and in whose hands we are mere instruments, always protect you from all evil._x000d_ _x000d_ Ever yours in the Lord,_x000d_ _x000d_ Vivekananda

The Swami led, carrying on his right shoulder the urn containing the remains of Shri Ramakrishna. The blowing of conchs and beating of gongs sounded across the river. On the way the Swami said to a disciple: "The Master once told me, 'I will go and live wherever it will be your pleasure to take me, carrying me on your shoulders — be it under a tree or in the humblest cottage!' With faith in that gracious promise I myself am now carrying him to the site of our future Math. Know for certain, my boy, that so long as his name inspires his followers with his ideals of purity, holiness, and loving spirit of charity to all men, even so long shall he, the Master, sanctify the place with his hallowed presence." When they came in sight of the new Math, the Swami spoke of the glorious future that he felt it was to have: "It will be a centre in which will be recognized and practised a grand harmony of all creeds and faiths, as exemplified in the life of Shri Ramakrishna; and only ideas of religion in its universal aspect will be preached. From this centre of universal toleration will go forth the shining message of goodwill and peace and harmony to deluge the whole world." He warned them of the danger of sects in time arising within its fold.

Laying the sacred urn on the special scat spread on the Math grounds, the Swami and all the others prostrated themselves in fervent salutation before it. After the solemn rites of worship he lit the sacrificial fire and performed the Viraja Homa, at which only the sannyasis of the Order could be present. Having himself cooked the Payasanna (sweetened milk-rice) with the help of his sannyasi brethren, he offered it to the Master. This brought the consecration ceremony to a close. The Swami then addressed the gathering as follows: "Do you all, my brothers, pray to the Lord with all your heart and soul, that He, the Divine Incarnation of the age, may bless this place with His hallowed Presence for ever and ever, and make it a unique centre — a Punya-kshetra (holy place)—of the harmony of all the different religions and sects, for the good of the Many, for the happiness of the Many!" All, with folded palms, responded by joining in in prayer to the Lord. Then the return procession began. Sharatchandra, the Swami's disciple, on the order of his guru, carried the urn on his head.

The very atmosphere vibrated with spirituality. The Swami was jubilant, ecstatic. Now, he felt, a formidable task had been accomplished: that of finding a site and the means for the establishment of a temple for the Master and of a monastery — the whole to serve as the headquarters of a monastic order dedicated to the practice and propagation of the Master's teachings. He said.. "By the will of the Lord is established today His Dharmakshetra. Today I feel free from the weight of the responsibility which I have carried with me for twelve long years. And now a vision comes to my mind! This Math shall become a great centre of learning and spiritual practices. Pious householders will erect houses for themselves on the grounds round this future religious university and live there, with the sannyasis in the centre. To the South, the followers of the Lord from England and America will come and make their abode!" Turning to a disciple, he asked triumphantly, "What do you think of it?" The disciple respectfully expressed the doubt that this "most excellent piece of fancy" would ever materialize. "Fancy, do you say!" the Swami cried out. "Hear me, 0 you of little faith l Time will fulfil all my expectations. I am now only laying the foundation, as it were. Great things will come later on. I shall do my share of the task; and I shall instil into you all the various ideas that you will in the future have to work out. The highest principles and ideals of religion have not only to be studied and comprehended, but brought into the practical field of life. Do you understand?" _x000d_ A few days later, the same disciple had the privilege of hearing some of the Swami's ideas on the scope and ideals of the Math, and on the regulations and disciplines that he wished to be observed there in the future.

Math, Belur,_x000d_ _x000d_ 15th December, 1898_x000d_ _x000d_ Your Highness,_x000d_ _x000d_ Your very kind letter received with the order of 500 on Mr. Dulichand. I am a little better now. Don't know whether this improvement will continue or not._x000d_ _x000d_ Are you to be in Calcutta this winter, as I hear? Many Rajas are coming to pay their respects to the new Viceroy. The Maharaja of Sikar is here, I learn from the papers already._x000d_ _x000d_ Ever praying for you and yours,_x000d_ _x000d_ Yours in the Lord,_x000d_ _x000d_ Vivekananda

The Math, Belur_x000d_ _x000d_ 15th Dec., 1898_x000d_ _x000d_ Dear___,_x000d_ _x000d_ . . . The Mother is our guide and whatever happens or will happen is under Her ordination. . . ._x000d_ _x000d_ Yours etc.,_x000d_ _x000d_ Vivekananda

A prominent householder disciple of the Master, Ramachandra Datta, had passed away somewhat earlier, on December 17, 1898. Ever since the Master's demise, Rambabu had been leading a pious life in his Yogodyana at Kankurgachi.