{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_67019/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_67019","id":"gutenberg_67019","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67019","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Krishna (Hindu deity)"],"text":"Sree Krishna the Lord of Love\n\n-   SREE KRISHNA THE LORD OF LOVE PART I.\n    -   PREFACE\n    -   INTRODUCTORY.\n    -   SECTION I. THE CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT GOD.\n    -   SECTION II. THE SCIENCE OF CREATION.\n    -   SECTION III. THE STEPS OF CREATION.\n    -   SECTION IV. THE CYCLIC MOTION OF CHANGES.\n    -   SECTION V. THE GOLDEN AGE.\n    -   SECTION VI. THE SILVER AGE.\n    -   SECTION VII. THE CASTE SYSTEM.\n    -   SECTION VIII. THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE.\n    -   SECTION IX. THE COPPER AGE.\n    -   SECTION X. THE IRON AGE.\n    -   SECTION XI. MANWANTARA OR THE DELUGE.\n    -   SECTION XII. THE KALPA CYCLE.\n    -   SECTION XIII. NATURAL DISSOLUTION.\n    -   SECTION XIV. MODERN SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY.\n    -   SECTION XV. SCIENCE UPHOLDS SHASTRAS.\n    -   SECTION XVI. PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL BODIES.\n    -   SECTION XVII. KARMA.\n    -   SECTION XVIII. REINCARNATION.\n    -   SECTION XIX. HOW TO DESTROY KARMA.\n    -   SECTION XX. THE ATOM'S RETURN JOURNEY.\n    -   SECTION XXI. YOGA.\n    -   SECTION XXII. BHAKTI YOGA.\n    -   SECTION XXIII. VAISHNAV, CHRISTIAN OF CHRISTIANS.\n    -   SECTION XXIV. KRISHNA LEELA.\n-   SREE KRISHNA THE LORD OF LOVE PART II.\n    -   PROEM.\n    -   CHAPTER I.\n    -   CHAPTER II.\n    -   CHAPTER III.\n    -   CHAPTER IV.\n    -   CHAPTER V.\n    -   CHAPTER VI.\n    -   CHAPTER VII.\n    -   CHAPTER VIII.\n    -   CHAPTER IX.\n    -   CHAPTER X.\n    -   CHAPTER XI.\n    -   CHAPTER XII.\n    -   CHAPTER XIII.\n    -   CHAPTER XIV.\n    -   CHAPTER XV.\n    -   CHAPTER XVI.\n    -   CHAPTER XVII.\n    -   CHAPTER XVIII.\n    -   CHAPTER XIX.\n    -   CHAPTER XX.\n    -   CHAPTER XXI.\n    -   CHAPTER XXII.\n    -   CHAPTER XXIII.\n    -   CHAPTER XXIV.\n    -   CHAPTER XXV.\n    -   CHAPTER XXVI.\n    -   CHAPTER XXVII.\n    -   CHAPTER XXVIII.\n    -   CHAPTER XXIX.\n    -   CHAPTER XXX.\n    -   CHAPTER XXXI.\n    -   CHAPTER XXXII.\n    -   CHAPTER XXXIII.\n-   Messages and Revelations from Sree Krishna\n    -   MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS FROM SREE KRISHNA\n    -   A HOLY MAN'S PRAYER.\n    -   A SOUL AND ITS BELOVED.\n    -   THE FAIR ONE AND HER SOUL.\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nThis book was transcribed from scans of the original found at the\nInternet Archive. The page scans were done by Google. The original book\nused accents (\u00e1) but I have replaced these with macrons (\u0101) as this\nwould be considered a more correct way to spell the names in question.\nVariant spellings in the text have been left alone.\n\nSREE KRISHNA THE LORD OF LOVE PART I.\n\nSREE KRISHNA\n\nTHE LORD OF LOVE\n\nBY\n\nB\u0101b\u0101 Prem\u0101nand Bh\u0101rati\n\nPUBLISHED BY\n\nThe Krishna Sam\u0101j\n\nNEW YORK\n\nCopyright 1904\n\nBY\n\nB\u0100B\u0100 PREM\u0100NAND BH\u0100RATI\n\n[Total number of pages 650]\n\nS. L. PARSONS & CO., PRINTERS, NEW YORK\n\nTo\n\nBRAHM\u0100NAND BH\u0100RATI\n\nMY GOOROO\n\nTo Whom\n\nMy Soul Mind and Body\n\nARE\n\nIRREVOCABLY SOLD\n\nIn Payment of\n\nTHE GRACE OF HIS ILLUMINATION\n\nWHICH LIGHTED MY PATH\n\nTO\n\nTHE LOTUS FEET\n\nOF\n\nKRISHNA MY BELOVED\n\nPREFACE\n\nI beg to present this my humble work to the English reader. It is the\nhistory of the Universe from its birth to its dissolution. I have\nexplained the science of creation, its making and its mechanism. In\ndoing so I have drawn my information from the recorded facts in the\nSacred Books of the Root-Race of mankind. Some facts and explanations\nare herein furnished for the first time in any modern language. This\nbook embodies true Hinduism.\n\nIf read with an open mind, it will serve the reader with illumination\nand solve many a riddle of life, untie many a tangle of thought. I have\nspoken throughout from out of the depths of the ages. I have thought\nabsolutely in Sanscrit and expressed myself in English, an imperfect\nmedium for expressing Sanscrit, ideas. My object has been to impress my\nreaders with the substance of Hindoo thought in all its purity. This has\nnot been done before even by Hindoo writers on Hindoo religion and\nphilosophy. They have cared to humor the Western readers, by putting in\na mixture of Western thought and dressing it up in Western ways of\nexpression. I have not done so, because I know that in reading an\nEastern book the Western mind wants purely Eastern thought in pure\nEastern dress.\n\nThis will afford all soul-hungry readers with enough healthy food and\ndrink. The first part of the book contains the food, the Kernel of the\nSoul-cocoanut; the second part, its Sweet Milk. The third part is from\nKrishna Himself. It is the purest Nectar of Spiritual Love. Let the\nreader open his heart to it, and I am sure it will fill it with ecstasy.\nThe soulful reader will thrill with the joyous vibrations of every\nsentence of the \"Messages and Revelations.\"\n\nThe belief that our life begins with the birth of this physical body and\nends with its death is the worst superstition, because it is the worst\nobstacle in the way of our soul's unfoldment. This life has sprung from\nEternity; it draws its breath in Eternity, and is finally absorbed by\nEternity which is Absolute Love. To know that we, human beings, were\nnever blessed with greater powers than we possess in this age is the\nsaddest of mistakes. To believe that we were once as great and powerful\nas divine beings and that we can recover that greatness and those\npowers, is to believe in the actual potentialities of the human mind.\nThis life can be made one long ecstatic song; this life can, if we take\nthe trouble to make it, be made the source of joy to ourselves as well\nas to all around us forever and ever; it can even attain to the Essence\nof Godhood, from which it has sprung, by developing uninterrupted\nGod-Consciousness.\n\nWe all are idolators. Some of us worship idols of Divinity, others\nworship idols of Matter. Some of us worship the Spirit through\nsuggestive signs and symbols, others worship Flesh, mere forms of\nanimated flesh. Since our mind wants idols for worship, just as our body\nwants food for sustenance, let us all worship idols of Spirit in Form.\nThrough its concrete Form-Centre we can enter into the Abstract Spirit\nof Love\u2014Love which is our one object and goal in life. This Love is\nKrishna and the universe and we, its parts, are the materialized\nmanifestation of that Love.\n\nPREM\u0100NAND BH\u0100RATI.\n\nThe Alpine, 55 West 33d Street,\n\nNew York, July 7, 1904.\n\nINTRODUCTORY.\n\nLIFE'S SOURCE AND SEARCH.\n\nBeloved! I wish to call you \"my beloved,\" whoever you are who have taken\nup this my love-message to read, for you are the beloved of my\nBeloved\u2014Krishna. I may not know you, nor you me, and yet we have been\ntogether times without number: yet we have loved each other with the\ntruest, the purest, the sweetest love again and again, when we lived in\nLove, when we had our being in the Ocean of Love, when we were awake in\nthe consciousness of the One Essence which ever pervades us all\u2014Love.\n\nBeloved! That state, that realm, in which we lived and knew and loved\neach other, we have forgotten, and this forgetfulness is the cause of\nour separateness, our non-recognition, our want of sympathy, our\ntroubles and quarrels. Going into the depth of Silence\u2014Silence within\nand without us\u2014I have discovered its Secret which is also the Secret of\nour forgotten Love-Existence. And this my message to you is the\nrevelation of that mystery which our strayed soul is trying to solve\nthrough every effort of the life we are living now.\n\nBeloved! I humbly lay before you this message to read\u2014to help you to\nrecognize your true self, to help you to find your true goal in this\nlife's race. This message is a magic mirror in which, maybe, you will\ncatch the reflection of your soul's All-Beautiful Image.\n\nYou are now engaged, my beloved, in reading this message with the same\nobject for which every one of us is just now engaged in doing various\nthings. It is life's one common object for us all\u2014Pleasure. That is the\none all-absorbing quest of humanity, nay, of all living creatures, of\nall creation. We are ever striving, all of us, every minute, to find\nthat one blessing which ever eludes our grasp, ever misses our ken, ever\ndeludes us like the will-o'-the-wisp\u2014the one object of our desire, of\npredominant, spontaneous, practical, natural interest\u2014Unmixed, Unbroken\nHappiness.\n\nNot only is this quest for happiness ever present within mankind, but\nalso in lower animals, and even in every phase of Nature, more or less\npronounced or discernible. Every manifestation of Nature, man or beast,\nbird or tree or plant, is ever endeavoring to adjust a state of internal\ndisorder and disturbance\u2014I mean ever endeavoring to bring about a sense\nor instinct of that harmonious equilibrium, which we call Full\nSatisfaction, Complete Contentment, Absolute Happiness.\n\nNow the question may be asked: Why is this universal quest for\nhappiness? How is it that every man or woman or child is every minute\nseeking some sort of happiness or other? The Hindoo sages have answered\nthis question to the satisfaction of all intelligent human beings. Why\nis this eternal search for happiness?\n\nThat answer is: Because the whole universe, of which we are parts, has\ncome out of that Eternal Abode of Happiness, called Bliss, where it had\ndwelt before creation, like a tree in a seed, and the memory of which\ndwells still in the inner consciousness of all created beings, though it\nhas dropped out of their outer consciousness.\n\nThat abode of happiness is called the Abode of Absolute Love; the Hindoo\ncalls it Krishna. The word Krishna, in Sanscrit, comes from the root\n\"karsha\"\u2014to draw. Krishna means that which draws us to Itself; and what\nin the world draws us all more powerfully than Love? It is the\n\"gravitation\" of the modern scientist. It is the one source and\nsubstance of all magnetism, of all attraction; and when that love is\nabsolutely pure, its power to draw is absolute, too.\n\nIn seeking even material Pleasure or happiness through life we are ever\nseeking this Absolute Bliss, only most of us do not know it. The man who\ndevotes his heart and soul to acquiring wealth is, in fact, but striving\nto attain this blissful state. For what does the would-be millionaire\nwork to make the million but to secure pleasure, the pleasure of good\neating, good drinking, good living, good enjoyment\u2014to be happy? He makes\nthe million; but the happiness which he secures, by securing the means\nof pleasure and by enjoying the pleasures themselves, is not complete.\nHe still feels some void in that happiness, something still wanting in\nthose pleasures to make him fully happy. He therefore piles up more\nmillions, he plunges into newer pleasures, he leaves no stone unturned\nto find the material objects which will add to his pleasure; and when he\nhas secured all these objects and enjoyed them, he finds himself exactly\nat the same place where he was before\u2014there is something still wanting\nto make him completely happy. Finding no newer objects which are likely\nto add to his happiness, he occupies himself by enjoying what he has\nalready enjoyed over and over again; that is to say, he goes over again\nthe same round of pleasures to delude himself into the belief that that\nis the best happiness allowed to mortal man.\n\nBut the delusion is temporary and far from complete. The longing, the\nsearch for something still wanting, is present all through that\ndelusion\u2014something unknown, but which he thinks he might know and\nrecognize, if he once found it. But, alas, he does not!\n\nPoor Man! He does not know the secret of true happiness, the happiness\nwhich is complete in itself, which never ends, which, once secured,\nnever falls short or vanishes, which flows from within the heart through\nall the channels of the body, out through the pores of it in a continual\nstream of ecstasy. He does not know that this thing, this unending\nhappiness, is not to be found in material objects; that it cannot be\nsecured by the means or by the instincts of the physical senses, which\ncognize only material objects.\n\nAnd why? Why is it that material objects fail to give us that true and\nabsolute happiness, fail to satisfy the hunger of the yearning human\nheart for that unknown something which it feels somehow must exist, but\nwhich ever eludes its ken and quest, and which, alas! it does not\nrealize that it once knew, that it once owned by right of heritage?\n\nThe answer is simple, and ought to be convincing to every thoughtful\nmind. The answer is: Because material objects are changeful in their\nnature and principle; because, being nothing but forms of changefulness,\nthey do not possess this permanent, this unchangeable happiness, to give\nit to those who seek to derive it from them. An object whose very\nprinciple is changefulness can afford nothing which is not changeful in\nits nature. All the pleasures, therefore, that we derive from material\nobjects must necessarily be changeful, which means short-lived,\npleasures of short duration, broken pleasure, distinguished by the\nHindoos from unbroken pleasure, which, because of its unbrokenness and\necstatic taste, ceases to be called pleasure and assumes the name of\nBliss.\n\nThe question now arises, where is this true happiness to be found, if it\ncannot be found in material objects? Some modern scientists call this\nunbroken happiness a delusion and a snare of credulous humanity. Modern\nscience has done much, has done wonders in this Western world. None but\na fool will deny the glory of its brilliant achievements. But even among\nthose who admire the wonderful progress of modern science, if there be\none who fails to find anything in these products of science which is in\nany way likely to contribute towards the attainment of contentment by\nthe human mind, that person need not necessarily be a fool. Modern\nscience has excited our wonder, but has failed to make us either\ncontented or happy\u2014contentment and happiness, which are our eternal\nquest, the one object of our life, the one goal to which all creation is\nrunning in a blindfolded race. It should rather be claimed for modern\nscience that it has made its followers outward-looking. It has produced\nconveniences and comforts of life, which have made all people hanker for\nthem; and many, failing to secure them, make themselves discontented and\nunhappy. Modern science, in a word, has served only to put obstacles in\nthe way of our attempt to realize that one object of our\nexistence\u2014contentment, which affords true happiness.\n\nThis leads me to repeat what I have just said, that no true or\nall-satisfying permanent happiness can be found in material objects, and\nhence the failure of material scientists to make humanity either\ncontented or happy.\n\nWhere is, then, this happiness to be found?\n\nThe answer is: Within ourselves. It cannot be found in anything outside\nof ourselves. This continual stream of happiness is flowing at all times\nfrom our heart of hearts all through our body, but we cannot perceive\nit, or feel it, because our mind has been covered by the clouds formed\nout of our hankerings for material objects. Our desire for material\npleasures is the only veil that shrouds this fountain of true happiness\nfrom our mental vision.\n\nBut if our desires for material enjoyments be carefully and\nintelligently analyzed, we can arrive at only one conclusion, and that\nis that in hankering for material pleasures we are in fact practically\nhunting for that happiness which, once attained, is ever full, ever\nsatisfying; which, once enjoyed, lays all hankerings for material\nenjoyments forever at rest. The fact of our material possessions and\nenjoyments ever leaving within us a wish, more or less pronounced, for\nsomething still more enjoyable, still more pleasurable, is the most\nindirectly direct proof that we are in quest of something which material\nobjects cannot supply; and the fact of this quest being present in all\nhuman souls, in all their thoughts and actions at all times forces us to\nthe irresistible conclusion that we once knew or had a taste of the\nthing we all are eternally searching for; and that, having lost it, we\nare ever endeavoring to regain it, its absence having rendered us as\nunhappy and restless as a fish out of its element.\n\nThis lost object, this once enjoyed state of the human soul, now absent\nbut ever longed for, is\u2014Krishna.\n\nIt is Krishna\u2014Perfect State of Love or Bliss\u2014that is ever drawing us to\nItself. This Krishna was once our home, when this creation, of which we\nform but atoms, slept for aeons unnumbered in the bosom of Krishna,\nforming but a part of His will. When those unnumbered aeons were\nnumbered, after these atoms of creation had slept for enough time to\nrest themselves in that bosom of Absolute Bliss, they were thrust out of\nthat realm into space, to form a universe.\n\nThey first manifested themselves as Universal Consciousness, which,\nwanting to be conscious of something, developed into Ego, and Ego\ndeveloped into the Mind, as no Ego is possible without the faculty of\nthought, which is the Mind's function. And as thoughts are not possible\nwithout objects to think upon, the five fine objects, namely: Sound,\nTouch, Form, Taste and Smell, came into existence, along with their\ngross counterparts and compounds, I mean the five elements, namely,\nEther, Air, Fire, Water and Earth; while the Mind's channels of\ncommunication with these fine and gross forms of matter were developed\nsimultaneously, namely, the five Cognizing Senses: Power of Seeing,\n(eye), Power of Hearing (ear), Power of Smelling (nose), Power of\nTasting (tongue), Power of Feeling (skin), with the five Working Senses,\nnamely, Power of Speaking (vocal organs), Power of Holding (hands),\nPower of Moving (feet). Power of Excreting and Power of Generating.\n\nThus from Krishna to earth, Krishna's Will took twenty-four steps to\nassume the form of the universe, and myriad steps more to divide the\nuniverse into earth, heaven, stars, planets, sun and moon, man and beast\nand bird; trees and shrubs and grass; mountains and rivers, which go to\nmake it up.\n\nBut every particle of this cosmos is conscious, directly or indirectly,\nin every point, of the home that it has left, the absolute state of\nBliss it once has soaked in, the incomparable nectar which it has once\ntasted. Yes, that memory endures; the memory of that Love Absolute is\nthe cause of all discontent, of all dissatisfaction, of all strife and\neffort, of all ambition and achievement. It is the cause as well of\nevery philosophy and transcendental thought, of moral and spiritual\nuplifting, and of developing the human into the Divine.\n\nFrom Krishna have we all come and Krishnaward are we all tending. And\nall our actions, good, bad or indifferent, are but the feeble steps with\nwhich we are all endeavoring to cover the journey back to Krishna\u2014our\nHome, Sweet Home!\u2014our ever-loved Home, from which we have come away as\nsorry truants and to which the needle of our soul ever trembles,\npointing to us the forgotten path, by which we fled from and by which we\nare again to return to that Home\u2014Sree Krishna!\n\nGOD IS FORMLESS AND HAS A FORM.\n\nThus Krishna is the object we are all seeking through every wish and\nevery act; every moment of our existence we are seeking Krishna. He is\nthe interest which makes life interesting, the one interest which makes\nlife worth living. He is the element of sweetness in the grossest\npleasure. He is the highest beatitude which the purest souls attain to.\nThe lover of good eating cannot keep on eating forever to sustain the\npleasure that good eating produces; if he did, he would die. The\nsensation of eating endures as long as the food is on the palate; but\nthe mind alone is the enjoyer of that sensation. The mind alone,\nlikewise, enjoys the pleasure of intoxication, which the dryest and\nhighest priced champagne can afford. A little while and the pleasure of\nthe daintiest of food and the most delicious of drinks is over, giving\nplace to the pain of its loss and the restlessness in the search again\nfor such pleasure!\n\nThe man who has solved the mystery of true pleasure that needs no\nre-eating and re-drinking to keep itself up, does not seek to find it in\nany food, or in any drink, or in any form or means of material\nenjoyments, knowing that it is the mind alone, affected by material\nobjects, that cognizes pleasure or pain. The pleasure or pain which the\nmind feels on being brought into contact with the thought or influence\nof material objects is derived from those objects themselves; and so\nlong as the mind is habituated to draw pleasure from such objects it\ncannot but come in for some sorrow, too, for objective pleasure is\nshort-lived, and its cessation is sorrow in the least pronounced sense.\n\nBut we all want only pleasure or happiness; we hate pain or sorrow in\nany shape. If that is true, and nobody can say it is not, then what we\npractically want is eternal, unending pleasure; but we seek to find it\nin objects whose very constituents partake of changeful materials born\nmore of pain than of pleasure.\n\nIf we can make the mind dwell upon some object which is eternally lovely\nand lovable, nay, even if we can imagine such an object, mentally create\nsuch an ideal object, and concentrate our mind exclusively upon it, then\nwe can have a taste of that unending happiness which we all are seeking\nin vain to find in material objects. Then, dwelling on this Changeless\nIdea, the restless mind becomes fixed and calm; and calmness of mind\nbeing happiness, the mind is thus made happy by itself. Then it has\nknown that happiness lies within itself, and within means independent of\nany concern with outside objects; then it finds that the coarsest meal\ngives as much pleasure as the daintiest of dinners, and that Adam's Ale\nis a more delicious drink than the highest-priced champagne. It has then\nlearned to drink the champagne of the soul, the least taste of which\nmakes one think the taste of the most delicious wine and food to be all\ntasteless.\n\nBut from such transcendental nonsense, as the materialist would call it,\nlet us come down for awhile to analyze matter, the God of the\nmaterialist. Let us for awhile examine the making and the mechanism of\nthe universe, and try to trace in the grossest matter the existence of\nthis Perfect Love or Happiness.\n\nI have already told you of the making of the universe, that it is made\nup of twenty-four principles; namely, Love, Universal Consciousness,\nEgo, Mind, the Ten Senses, the Five Objects and the Five Elements. I\nhave also told you very briefly the process of creation from Love to\nearth. I need now tell you that every succeeding principle, as it is\ndeveloped, contains the preceding principle or principles. A grain or\nearth therefore is as good as the whole universe in regard to its\ncomposition. There is but this difference between the universe and an\natom of it, that in the universe all the passages of its twenty-four\nprinciples are fully opened, while in the atom all these passages are\nclosed. But motion is the principal law of creation, of all creation, as\nevery particle of it is ever moving in the form of change. The atom of\nearth, which is the smallest form of moving manifestation of Love\nthrough finer and grosser matter, moves backward now through grosser and\nthen through finer forms of love-manifestations into the Ocean of Love\nagain, from which it had originally started.\n\nThe process of this backward motion of material atom is the opening of\nthe passages of its composing principles through repeated\nreincarnations. To develop from a grain of earth into a blade of grass\nis the first step, in which only one passage, that of Feeling, is\nopened. The blade of grass draws by the opening of this passage juice\nfrom the earth for its sustenance. Upward through myriad forms of\nlife\u2014shrubs, plants, vegetables, trees, lower animals, etc.\u2014that atom\ntravels, to develop into the first savage man, in whom the principle\ncalled Mind is for the first time opened, and along with it are opened\nthe passages of Ego and Intelligence (called Intellect in individual\nsouls); for all these three principles are close co-workers.\n\nThe most important stage of evolution is man himself, for in man alone\nare the passages of all these twenty-four principles more or less open.\nAnd hence it is that man is called the miniature universe. From savage\nman to civilized man, from civilized man to religious man, from\nreligious man to spiritual man, from spiritual man to perfect, all\nloveful man, the process involves again innumerable incarnations. It is\nthe perfect, all-loveful man, that reaches the original starting point\nand merges in the Ocean of Love called Krishna.\n\nI am now about to put before you a proposition which at first sight may\nperhaps shock you; but I assure you that, if you can manage to get over\nthe first shock, by the aid of an open mind and calm consideration, you\nmay find that proposition to contain the truth, the whole truth and\nnothing but the truth. My proposition is this: If this \"formful\"\nuniverse\u2014if that word may be allowed\u2014formful in every detail, has come\nout of God, or Krishna, or Love, can it be possible that that Source of\nthe universe is perfectly formless? If formless, whence have these\nform-manifestations of that formless Deity come? How can forms come out\nof anything void of all forms? That is a hard nut to crack for Western\ntheologians; while material scientists do not care to call that a nut at\nall, for they have learned to see nothing beyond matter.\n\nI want you to think over this question with a view to draw the right\ndeduction. Meanwhile, I beg to submit a few suggestions which may be of\nhelp in drawing these deductions. Forms coming out of anything formless\nis as absurd to common sense as it is to higher, otherwise called\ndivine, or spiritual science. Therefore the producing cause of the\nuniverse, the first principle, is not formless, but has a Form. It has\neven a form like the form of a man, a form most perfect in every\nfeature, a form of which the most exquisitely beautiful and divine human\nform is but a coarse, crude counterpart. Man has been made after the\nimage of his Maker, says the Bible. The idea has been borrowed from the\nHindoo scriptures, which in their principles are nothing if not\nscientific in propounding principles.\n\nThe Veda says that the Supreme Deity is both formless and with form at\nthe same time. Just as the sun in its orb is the concrete centre of its\nabstract, infinite self in its manifestation of light and heat, so is\nthe Supreme Deity, of which the sun is but a physical reflection, the\nConcrete Centre of His Abstract Infinite Self of His Effulgence, called\nLove, which pervades the whole universe and all space, as the basic\nprinciple of all Existence.\n\nAs the sun (the orb) taken together with its light and heat should be\ncalled the sun, and not the mere orb should be called the sun; so\nKrishna, the Supreme Deity, should be taken together with His Central\nForm and His All-Pervading Effulgence\u2014 Love\u2014to be called Krishna. It\nwill be as wrong to regard the orb only as the sun, that is, the orb\nminus its effulgence and heat, to be the sun, as to regard this Form of\nKrishna (the Centre of Himself) minus the effulgence\u2014all-pervading\nLove\u2014to be Krishna. Thus Krishna, like His physical light-reflection,\nthe sun, is Infinite, even though He has a finite-looking Form-Centre.\n\nThe fear entertained by most people in the West, that the form carries\nwith it an idea of finiteness, is not true in regard to Krishna's Form.\nNot only is Krishna Infinite in His effulgence, but the Image of his\nCentral Form dwells in every particle of that effulgence, called Love.\nBesides, nothing in this universe is finite.\n\nI shall, in succeeding pages, try to prove to you the fact that the\nSupreme Being has a concrete-looking Form-Centre, for two reasons. One\nis to support the proposition that no form can come out of anything\nformless, and the other is that all forms in creation, from a blade of\ngrass to a divine man, are more or less imperfect manifestations of the\nCentral Form from which they have sprung. From the blade of grass\nupward, the process of evolution discovers more and more outward\nresemblance and inward affinity to the Form and attributes of the Author\nof the universe. Hence it is true that man is made in the Image of his\nMaker.\n\nIn the upward evolution of the man-form, the refinement of mental,\nmoral, intellectual and spiritual attributes contributes more and more\ntowards the man-form being made a more and more perfect image of his\nMaker, both externally and internally.\n\nKrishna in Form and in Love-Effulgence is present as much in a grain of\nearth, in a blade of grass, in a beast, as in man. Only that Form is\nmore or less covered in the lower life-forms, on account of many of the\ncomposing principles of their bodies being unopened; while in the man,\nall the principles being opened, the man-form looks more like the form\nof God. Some people refuse to believe that the Supreme Deity has a form\nlike that of man, because God, with a human form would be lowered in\ntheir estimation. These devout people forget that the human form is but\nan imperfect picture of God's form, instead of God's form being a copy\nof the human form. So God need not take the trouble of assuming an\nimperfect reflection of His own Perfect Form.\n\nDear Reader! Some of you may say that it is foolishness and temerity on\nmy part to try to prove that God has a Form before people who are in the\nvanguard of civilization, and many of whom think that the very idea of\nGod is but a diseased fancy of weak humanity. Yet, for all that, I do\npreach a Form-God along with a Formless God with all the boldness my\nancient, truly scientific conviction commands, because that boldness is\nbacked by truth, the only Truth.\n\nYou here in this country are all of you great lovers and admirers of\nscience; you want everything to be scientific in order to be acceptable.\nThe food you eat, the air you breathe, the medicine you use, must be\nscientifically supplied and applied. But if you want science in\neverything, why do you not demand science in religion? Why is your\nreligion so unscientific? Forms coming out of a formless God is the most\nunscientific assertion imaginable.\n\nThe root of this belief in forms coming out of the formless is buried in\nthe conceit which the new civilization has developed in its average\nvotary. People here do not care to bow in reverence to anything that has\na form, hence is a formless Deity so readily believed in. If God had a\nform, they say, He would be human, and therefore not worth worshiping.\nNor do they believe in making an image of God or bowing to it. They will\nbow to man; they will idolize man, but not God. Every man here idolizes\nhis lady-love, and every lady idolizes her lover, with more or less\nabject worship. They will worship the picture of a lover or a lady-love\nday and night, but they will not worship the image of God, even in a\npicture. They will pay homage to a moving form of Wealth or Physical\nBeauty or Sensuality, but hate to think of, much less worship, an Image\nof God. They are worse idolaters than the Hindoos whom they affect to\nhate as \"heathens.\" They worship idols of money and human flesh; the\nHindoos worship idols of God. They worship material forms of mere\nmatter; the Hindoos worship Sanctified Forms of the Divine Spirit or Its\nAttributes. Let them raise their standards of idol-worship first in\norder to be worthy to talk of the purely transcendental idolatry of the\nHindoos.\n\nThe Hindoos rarely paint a picture or carve an image of a human being; a\nhuman being is not worthy of it, except a Saint or a Gooroo (spiritual\nguide); but they paint their God and make His Image, and worship it with\nall internal and external homage.\n\nWe are all denounced as idolaters; but we are idolaters to-day, in spite\nof all the influence of civilization and Christian bigotry brought to\nbear upon us, as good idolaters today as we were ten thousand years ago.\nThe idols and idolatry of ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt have been swept\naway; but the idols of the Hindoo-God still flourish and will flourish\nto the end of time, as they flourished time out of mind.\n\nWhat is the reason? Whence is this extraordinary vitality of Hindoo\nidolatry? Because it is not idolatry in the sense it is understood by\n\"civilized\" Westerners. We worship the images of the\nattribute-manifestations of the ONE God, of the ONE Deity, of the ONE\nSupreme Being, who pervades the universe, who originally is with Form\nand Formless at the same time. We worship Krishna, above all, in His\nImage as He manifested Himself and walked on earth among men 5,000 years\nago; Krishna, whose miraculous deeds of love, power and valor no\nincarnation, either in the West or in the East, ever could enact or even\nimitate, before His time or even after His ascension to Heaven, up to\nto-day. We love this Krishna, the Seed and Soul of the Universe, the\nBasic Principle of creation; we believe in Him and in the potency of His\nName.\n\nLove Him, dear Reader, because He loves you more than anyone you meet\nhere on earth.\n\nMy Krishna bless you all!\n\nSECTION I. THE CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT GOD.\n\nSee you that sun, Beloved Reader, shining radiant in the blue space\nabove? Ancients worshipped it as a god, and the Hindoos, the most\nancient of all peoples, worship the sun as a god still. With joined\nhands filled with flowers and water and trembling with homage, the\nHindoos daily pray to this \"Outer Eye of the Deity,\" this parent of all\nlight and Nature. \"O Thou Parent of the Three Worlds! I meditate upon\nthy power divine which directs my intelligence!\" prays the Br\u0101hman\nmorning, noon and evening, as he bows in all reverence.\n\nThis sun is the physical expression of the Spiritual Sun, Krishna. As\nthe sun (the orb) is the concrete centre of its abstract self, in its\ndiffused manifestation of light and heat which pervades the universe, so\nthis, the Spiritual Sun, Krishna, the Source of the sun, is the concrete\ncentre of the diffused effulgence of His Body which pervades even the\nsunlight and its heat. Krishna has a Form, a Form of which the most\nexquisite human form is but a crude counterpart. The effulgence of\nKrishna's Body is the substance of all space and creation. This\nEffulgence-Krishna, with Form-Krishna for its centre, from which it\nradiates\u2014is Love.\n\nAs the physical sun's effulgence embodies or is co-existent with heat,\nso the Spiritual Sun's effulgence embodies and is co-existent with\nIntelligence. This co-existent Absolute Love and Absolute Intelligence\nforms the Being of this Creation. Krishna is, therefore, called the\nembodiment of Being, Intelligence and Bliss, or Life, Truth and Love.\nEvery particle of this radiance of Krishna's Form-Body is not only\ninstinct with these three attributes in one, but has within it the germ\nof Krishna's Form and Power.\n\nThe belief that the First Cause of the universe has no form, is based\npartly on error of its conception and upon ignorance of the laws of\nNature. It is a delusion to think that all forms are human, material,\nand finite, and that to acknowledge that this Supreme Being has a form\nis to take away from Him His absolute divinity, spirituality and\ninfinity.\n\nThat which is not in the seed cannot appear in the tree which comes out\nof it, says an aphorism of the Ved\u0101nta philosophy. This being an\nundeniable truth, even from a common sense standpoint, it may be asked:\nIf God is formless, and if that formless, abstract God be the source\nfrom which the universe has come, then how can that creation contain any\nform? If man's creator is formless, to put the question in another way,\nwherefrom has He His form? If God has no form, then He can have no idea\nof form, and having no idea of form, how can He then create form, for\ncreation is but expansion of Idea.\n\nCreation has sprung from God's will, says the Holy Bible, as also the\nVeda. These tell us\u2014and both the Christians and the Hindoos are agreed\non this point\u2014that God has a Will. What is will? It is but the function\nor attribute of the mind. Just as where there is no fire there can be no\nsmoke, so where there is no mind there can be no will. Once we admit\nthat God has a will, we cannot escape admitting that He has a mind, the\nfunction of which\u2014will\u2014He exercised in order to create the universe.\n\nNow then, it being established that God has a mind, the question may be\nasked: Is that mind encased in a body? If so, what sort of a body is it?\nIs it physical; that is to say, is it formed of the same material of\nwhich the human body is made? Or is it a body made of abstract spirit?\nThis is not possible, for mind is defined by the Vedas to be that\nprinciple within us which has the power of willing and non-willing.\nScientists and modern philosophers define mind with practically the same\npurport. This vibration of the mind, willing and non-willing, is brought\nabout or induced by the reflections cast upon if by external or internal\nobjects, through its channels of communication, the five cognizing\nsenses, the physical counterparts of which are the Eye, the Ear, the\nNose, the Palate and the Skin, which cognize respectively Form, Sound,\nSmell, Taste and Touch, under which five heads the Vedas have classified\nall forms of matter or objects. A mind without these five channels\ncannot exist, for, having no channels, it receives no impressions of\nobjects, and has therefore no chance of either willing or non-willing,\nwhich is its attribute and its only substance and composition.\n\nOnce we acknowledge that God has a mind, we cannot help acknowledging\nthese channels of that mind, the five senses. God has therefore not only\na mind, but the Power of Seeing (eye), the Power of Hearing (ear), the\nPower of Smelling (nose), the Power of Tasting (palate), and the Power\nof Feeling (skin). The mind has also five other powers called its\nworking senses; viz., the Power of Speaking, the Power of Holding, the\nPower of Moving, the Power of Excreting and the Power of Generating,\notherwise called the vocal organs, the hands, the feet, the excretory\norgan and the generating organ. Thus God, possessing a mind, is bound to\npossess the ten senses, without which the mind cannot act, and inaction\nof the mind is its destruction or non-existence. God, having a mind, has\nto have an Ego, too, for mind is but a product or channel of the Ego,\nwhich means I-ness or Self-Consciousness. So that God has all the\nprinciples of which man is formed, once it is admitted that God has a\nmind. And there is no sane man who can deny to God the possession of a\nmind of which the universe is the design and creation of which man is\nbut a tiny part.\n\nThe Christian Bible says that God has made man in His own image, which\nmeans that man is the reflection, more or less imperfect, of God. Is it\nthen possible that what is not in the original is present in the\nreflection? If the human soul, according to this scriptural saying, is a\nreflection (image) of the Deity, has not that Deity a mind and body, as\nIts reflection, the human soul, has?\n\nThe answer is: It has, only the Divine Mind, being consummately pure in\nits state and perfect in its working, is absolutely powerful to create,\npreserve and destroy; and the Body in which the Divine Mind is encased\nis composed of a substance not of any material make.\n\nBut what does this Body of God look like? Is it like a human body? The\nanswer is: Yes, but of a perfection of shape, symmetry and beauty, with\nwhich no human body can be compared; it is the Original Body, of which\nthe human body is a poor imitation.\n\nThe question will be asked: Has God then as good a finite body as any of\nus? The answer is; NO, in capital letters. God's Body is no more finite\nthan the human body is. There is nothing in Nature which is finite, not\neven a blade of grass, or the tiniest speck of earth.\n\nAll is infinite\u2014all that you see around you, or perceive within you.\nThere is no such word as finite in the dictionary of Nature, in the\nlexicon of Creation. All, all that looks ever so small and circumscribed\nto the fleshly eye of ignorance, is vast and endless to the eye of\nspiritual wisdom. All that to the physical sight is limited in shape and\nlife is before the vision of the soulful student of Creation's\nmysterious laws limitless beyond grasp.\n\nTake a grain of earth, and try to trace its origin by the light of the\ndiscoveries made by sages who probed into the inmost depths of Nature\nwith the needle of pure spiritual concentration, and you will find that\nthat grain of earth has sprung from Water, Water from Fire, Fire from\nAir, Air from Ether, and Ether from Sound, Sound from Mind in its effort\nto cognize outside of it objects projecting from within itself, Mind\nfrom Ego, Ego from Consciousness, and Consciousness from the Infinite\nLove-ocean, the basic principle of Creation.\n\nCan you call this grain of earth finite by any means or chance,\nespecially when you come to know the mysterious laws by which that grain\nof earth develops into a blade of grass, and then, through myriads of\nreincarnations of different life-forms, goes back and merges into the\nOcean of Love, from which it had originally sprung?\n\nFrom Love to earth and from earth to Love, thus is made up the circle of\ncreation, and every point in its circumference is but a moving phase of\nthe Infinite in manifestation, Man being but a stage in the upward\nevolution of the atom or a particle of earth, and his soul being a part\nof the Universal Soul\u2014a wavelet of the Love-Ocean\u2014he is as immense in\nevery way as the universe itself, as infinite as the Essense of\nInfinity. His form is but the centre of his abstract Self, called Soul.\nThis form is concrete-looking, but it is so only to the circumscribed\nvision of the fleshly eye of ignorance.\n\nThe body of the Supreme Deity, Krishna's Body, is concrete-looking like\nman's, but infinite in the expansion of its Radiance or Real Self, just\nas, to repeat the simile, the orb of the sun is the concrete-looking\ncentre of its abstract Self in the manifestation of its light and heat.\nThe orb, its radiance and its heat must altogether be called the sun,\nand not the orb alone. Krishna, the spiritual Soul of the sun as well as\nof the Universe, has likewise a Form-centre, from which radiates to\nlimitless Infinity His effulgence called Absolute Love, which pervades\nall creation and space.\n\nThis body of Krishna, the Parent Cause of the universe, is made up of\nconcentrated Absolute Love, and is the Home of the Very Finest Ideas\n(potencies) of the sense-principles and the Ego, Mind and Intellect,\nwhich form the main factors of Creation.\n\nThe Beauty of the Body of Krishna changes, like the shifting colors in a\nkaleidoscope, into more and more soul-entrancing loveliness at every\nsecond, for it reflects the concentrated Beauty and Sweetness of the\nwhole universe, charms warring with charms for supremacy\u2014bubbling foam\nand froth of the Sweetness of the Nectar of Love.\n\nSECTION II. THE SCIENCE OF CREATION.\n\nIt is an intelligent conclusion to draw that the imperfect\nform-creations of the Creator reach a perfect stage, or centre, towards\nwhich all imperfections converge in order to reach perfection. That\ncentre does exist, that stage is the stage by the standard of which all\nimperfections of things and phases in Nature are known and judged. That\ncentre is the Supreme God Himself\u2014Krishna.\n\nKrishna, both Concrete and Abstract, has three main spiritual\nattributes: Love, Intelligence and Life. Love is the first attribute and\nthe cause of the two others. As the sun (the orb) and its effulgence, to\nonce more repeat the analogy, are one and the same thing, as the flame\nand its light are one and the same thing, as without the sun there can\nbe no sunshine, as without the flame there can be no light; in other\nwords, as light is inseparable from both the sun and the flame, so\nKrishna, though He has a form as finite-looking as a human form, is not\nonly infinite in His All-pervading Radiance, but that Radiance is\ninseparable from his finite-looking Form-Centre. As sunshine, again, is\ninseparable from heat, so the effulgence of Krishna's Central Self is\ninseparable from Intelligence. This Universal All-pervading\nIntelligence, again, is inseparable from Existence or Being, otherwise\ncalled Life. These three Absolute Spiritual Attributes form Krishna's\nbody, both Concrete and Abstract.\n\nThus both the Concrete and the Abstract Krishna are the embodiment of\nBliss, Intelligence and Being, which are co-existent and\ninter-penetrating. Before Creation, then, there was nothing but this\nKrishna\u2014the three Absolute Spiritual Attributes in one substance, so to\nspeak; for Krishna or Para-Brahm cannot be called substance, and yet\nthere is no word to indicate it. As mosses formed out of water float on\nthe surface of that water, soaking in it, so does Creation, springing\nout of this Bliss, Intelligence and Being (the All-pervading Abstract\nSelf of Krishna), float, soaking in it.\n\nLet us try to understand the mystery of the birth of this\never-changeful, material Creation from its eternally Unchangeable\nParent, the Concrete and Infinite Krishna. I have already said how every\natom of this Creation is composed of all the twenty-four principles, and\nhow in its backward motion to return to the First or Primal\nPrinciple\u2014that atom opens one by one the passages of these principles;\nand how, when it develops into man-stage after passing through\ninnumerable life-forms in the course of its evolution, it opens the\npassages of all the principles more or less. It is the opening of these\npassages of all of its composing principles, in the man-stage of the\natom, that makes it fit to be called a miniature universe; for through\nthese openings it communicates more or less freely with the\nall-pervading principles of the universe. The more developed this\nman-stage becomes (that is to say, the clearer the openings of these\npassages), the more correct an index it is of the inner laws and\nworkings of the great universe.\n\nBecause man has the whole universe within himself just as an acorn has\nthe whole oak tree in potency dwelling within it, therefore he can, by\ndiving deep within himself, find out the mysteries of the producing\nSource, Being and Processes of working of the universe.\n\nIf we think on the process of the development of a tree from a seed, we\nwill find that process as marvelous as the most marvelous phenomena of\nnature. Indeed, this process of the birth of a tree out of a seed is the\nprocess, in miniature, of the birth of the universe out of Krishna-Love.\nThis process of Creation is being repeated every moment throughout\nCreation itself. The laws of production and destruction, formation and\ndisintegration are the same in scientific exactitude as those which\nproduce and form, and destroy and disintegrate the universe. The\noperation of these laws is going on as much in the inner as in this\nouter world of ours\u2014as constantly on the mental plane as on the\nphysical. The law which brings forth a tree out of a seed is exactly the\nsame as that which, in a finer manifestation, operates through the birth\nof a thought in our mind. The rooting, the shooting, the growing, the\nflowering and the fruiting of a tree is but a gross reproduction of the\nprocess by which a thought awakes, develops and takes shape and action\nwithin us. The stages of a thought's birth can be clearly perceived when\nthe mind is calm; at first there is an Unknown Feeling, then an\nIndefinite Vibration, which develops into Abstract Idea. Idea develops\ninto Thought, and Thought becomes action.\n\nOut of Krishna (Love) Creation springs into existence like a thought.\nThought exists in our mind like a seed, in the shape of previous\nimpressions of objects and ideas; so the seed of creation lies in the\nbosom of Krishna, in the shape of impressions of ideas of previous\nCreations. This seed or germ is made up of three attributes, called\nSattwa (Illumination), R\u0101ja (Activity or Motion), and Tama (Obscuration\nor Darkness). So long as these three attributes, forming the essence of\nthe germ, are in equilibrium, that is to say, are of equal degree or\nforce or intensity, Creation remains in the germ-state in the bosom of\nits First Cause (Krishna). But the moment there is the least tendency of\nany of these attributes of this germ-essence to fall out of equilibrium\nwith the other two, that is to say, when one becomes more powerful than\nthe others, then they start out of the Central Self\u2014Krishna, encased in\nanother form, almost like unto the Krishna-Form, a state which is\nanalogous to the Unknown-Feeling state in the development of human\nthought.\n\nThis state is called V\u0101sudeva, which again has a form-centre of its\nabstract self-radiance, pervading all space. It is the least pronounced\nstate or stage of differentiation induced by the tendency of loss of\nequilibrium in the even forces of the three Cardinal Attributes (Gunas),\nillumination, motion and obscuration. The second stage, called\nSankarsana, analogous to the Indefinite-Vibration stage of the\ndevelopment of thought, has again a form-centre of its all-pervading\nabstract self-radiance. This Sankarsana is the Unconscious Cause of\nCreation. The third stage, called Pradyumna, analogous to the\nAbstract-Idea stage of thought, has likewise a form-centre of its\nall-pervading abstract Self-radiance. This is the Semi-Conscious Cause\nof Creation; and from this develops the fourth stage, called Aniruddha,\nwhich is analogous to the full-developed Thought-stage and is the Full\nConscious Cause of Creation. This Aniruddha is called Vishnoo or\nN\u0101r\u0101yan, from n\u0101r (water), and ayan (bed), because he floats on his back\non the water of Love-life, while out of his navel springs a gigantic\nlotus\u2014a figurative expression, meaning the Universe in bud\u2014in which is\nencased the sleeping Brahm\u0101, the operating Creator, with the germ of\nCreation dwelling within his mind and about to shoot forth.\n\nIn Aniruddha the real stage of inequilibrium of the Attributes (Gunas)\ndevelops, and in Brahm\u0101 it assumes full development. With the opening of\nthe petals of the Mystic Love-lotus, Brahm\u0101 awakes from his sleep (deep\ntrance state), and, unable for a moment to understand the meaning of the\nLotus-bed or the Water of Life around (just as a man suddenly roused out\nof sleep is dazed and forgets to think and therefore feels stupid for\nthe moment), he goes down through the hollow of the Lotus-stalk in order\nto find out the bottom of the Lotus. He goes down, down, down, and at\nlast finds its depths unending, bottomless. He therefore comes up to the\nsurface again and sits down mystified, when he suddenly hears a voice\nfrom the water, as it were, saying: \"Tapa, tapa, tapa!\" which means,\n\"Meditate, meditate, meditate!\" With the sound of that word the meaning\nbecomes apparent to Brahm\u0101. It means: \"Why art thou looking outward?\nLook inward and thou shalt know.\" Whereupon his eyes involuntarily\nclose, and his mind becomes concentrated inward. Then he sees before his\nmental vision Aniruddha (Vishnoo) appear and say: \"O Awakened One! know\nand remember that thou art Brahm\u0101, the Creator.\" At the very suggestion\nhe finds out his own self and exclaims: \"Oh, yes! I am Brahm\u0101.\" Then\nVishnoo again says: \"Thou hast now to create the universe.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes!\" he exclaims, as the memory of his function springs within\nhim, \"I am to create the universe; but how?\"\n\n\"By meditating upon the former creation. As the memory of past creation,\nwhich dwells within thee, shall awake, creation will begin.\"\n\nWith hearing begins action; and as Brahm\u0101 concentrates his mind upon his\nformer creation, its memory in time flashes through him, and with the\nflashing of that memory creation manifests itself, in the shape of\nearth, and sky, and trees, and grass, and ocean, and rivers, and in time\nbeast, and bird, and man, all complete. Just as a master painter first\ndesigns a picture in his mind and reproduces that design upon the\ncanvas, even so is the picture of creation produced upon the canvas of\nLove-life. Only the painter Brahm\u0101 paints with the brush of his\nall-powerful mind-force, which, the moment the design forms in his mind,\nis materialized into living substance.\n\nSECTION III. THE STEPS OF CREATION.\n\nThe Veda says that the universe is like a tree; that is to say, it is a\ntree, the roots of which are embedded in the unmanifested First\nCause\u2014Krishna. Aniruddha is the seed, and Brahm\u0101 is the first sprout.\nThis analogy between the seed and the sprout, between Aniruddha (also\ncalled Vishnoo and N\u0101r\u0101yan) and Brahm\u0101 seems so perfect that it\njustifies the conclusion that the process of the birth of a plant is\nonly an imitation of the process through which the universe springs into\nbeing.\n\nAs in the germination of a seed two lobes, called cotyledons, which form\npart of the seed, come out prior to the appearance of the stem which\nshoots forth between them, so out of the navel of N\u0101r\u0101yan (Aniruddha)\nfirst appear two cotyledons, called \"Lotus\" in the figurative language\nof the Veda, and between the cotyledons, sprouts forth the stem in the\nshape of Brahm\u0101, who is the miniature embodiment of the universe.\n\nBefore Brahm\u0101 was born, N\u0101r\u0101yan created Universal Consciousness, which\nwas but the manifestation of his own Consciousness (called Mahat, which\nmeans Immeasureable). Out of Consciousness sprang Ego (Ahank\u0101ra). Out of\nEgo sprang Mind. Out of Mind sprang Ether (Akasha). From Ether sprang\nWater. Out of the friction of Ether and Water sprang Air. This Air,\nrising up from the ocean of Water with great noise, created, by its\nfriction with Water, flames of Fire, illumining all space. This Fire\nbecame mixed up, by the cohesive attribute of Air, with Water and Ether,\nand all four elements became one thickened, molten mass; and as it rose\nupward the liquid substance which issued from it became solidified and\ncooled in process of time and formed into Earth.\n\nThen the Lotus (cotyledons) sprang forth from the navel (Sanscrit,\nN\u0101vee, middle) of N\u0101r\u0101yan, and within them Brahm\u0101 (the stem) shot forth.\nHis body was made of the Five Elements and Consciousness, Mind and Ego.\nHe is also said to be the central form-embodiment of Ego (Ahank\u0101ra).\n\nBrahm\u0101 is but the creative form-potency of N\u0101r\u0101yan. When N\u0101r\u0101yan bade\nhim to meditate upon his former creation, and told him also that the\nmoment that memory of former creation would awake within him creation\nwould begin, Brahm\u0101 meditated as he was told, and creation began as that\nmemory of the past creation flashed within him.\n\nThus it will be seen that N\u0101r\u0101yan (Aniruddha) is the real Creator. He\ncreates at first the eight main, abstract and concrete principles; viz.,\nConsciousness, Ego, Mind, and the five elements\u2014Ether, Air, Fire, Water\nand Earth, After the creation of these was created the first concrete\nform, Brahm\u0101, who was to create the details of Creation. But even these\ncreations were not the product of the arbitrary will of N\u0101r\u0101yan, though\ntheir expressions were subject to his will or mediumship. The seed-bud\nof creation dwelt in the most mysteriously abstract state within Krishna\n(Absolute Love), a state so similar to that First Principle that it\nwould enter and merge itself in it If we cut a seed in halves, we find\nin it not even a suggestion of the tree of which it is the seed; but if\nwe plant it in the soil, the rudimentary form of the tree's organism,\ncalled the germ, asserts itself and creates its state of differentiation\nfrom its original state of homogeneity. So from the tendency of the\nleast inequilibrium of the forces of the three Cardinal Attributes,\nSattwa, R\u0101ja, Tama (which, having formerly attained equality of force,\nhave lost their different individualities and have become merged and\ntransformed into Pure Sattwa\u2014Illumination) springs the germ-state of\nCreation, and, passing through its three stages; viz., V\u0101sudeva,\nSankarsana and Pradyumna, reaches its fourth stage, called Aniruddha,\nwhere, having attained further development, it sprouts forth into\nBrahm\u0101, the first visible miniature embodiment of the universe.\n\nAs out of the tiny but potent shoot of the plant from the seed, the\ndetails of the tree, viz., trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruit,\nspring forth to attain its full-grown state, so out of its minute but\npotent shoot, the details of the universe, viz., earth, heaven, sun,\nmoon, stars, day, night, mountains, rivers, vegetation, spiritual\nbeings, animals, men, etc., spring forth to attain its complete form.\n\nThe manifestation of Universal Consciousness (Mahat) is called the First\nStep of Creation. The birth of Ego (Ahank\u0101ra) out of Consciousness is\ncalled the Second Step of Creation; that of Mind from Ego is the Third\nStep; that of the Five Elements\u2014Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth from\nMind is the Fourth Step; that of the Five Attributes of the\nElements\u2014Sound, Touch, Form, Taste and Smell\u2014from the Elements is the\nFifth Step; that of the Five Cognizing Senses\u2014Seeing, Hearing, Smelling,\nTasting, Feeling\u2014out of these Five Attributes (also called Objects) is\nthe Sixth Step; that of the Five Working Senses\u2014Speaking, Holding,\nMoving, Excreting, Generating\u2014from the Five Elements is the Seventh\nStep; that of gods and aerial, invisible beings is the Eighth Step; that\nof trees and plants and shrubs and grass and all other vegetation, as\nalso that of the wild animals and birds, is the Ninth Step; that of\ndomestic animals and men and women is the Tenth Step.\n\nThese steps or series of Creation have developed between long intervals.\nThese are called purely Natural Creations through the instrumentality of\nthe mind-force of Aniruddha (N\u0101r\u0101yan) and Brahm\u0101.\n\nSECTION IV. THE CYCLIC MOTION OF CHANGES.\n\nThe Veda says that when the three Cardinal Attributes, by losing this\nequipoise of force, sprang into being, and leaving the bosom of Krishna\n(Absolute Love) passed through the three stages of their development,\nviz., V\u0101sudeva, Sankarsana and Pradyumna, they brought with them a\nvibration from Krishna which found expression in Aniruddha, who\nexclaimed as he awoke from trance-sleep, as it were: \"I am One, I wish\nto be the Many.\" This Divine Will manifested itself into the Universe in\nthe manner described in the previous section.\n\nFrom the One\u2014Love\u2014the motion of manifestation of Creation has therefore\nbeen towards manifoldness. From One\u2014Love\u2014the Principles sprang one by\none, and where there was only One, there were twenty-four. The details\nof Creation sustained this process of manifoldness, and motion gradually\nincreased in speed, manifesting varieties, until now that increased\nmotion manifests that Will in millions of phases within every second of\ntime.\n\nThis motion of manifestations or changes is like the surface of a\ntroubled ocean, where heaving billows innumerable, crested with foam,\ncover countless living beings. The current of creative changes is mixed\nwith and fed by, and dashes against, the opposite current of\ninvolutionary changes. The moment the last Principle of the\nUniverse\u2014Earth\u2014was created, it had the tendency to go back to the First\nSource of Creation. But, unable to force its way back through the\nchannel by which it sprang, owing to the rush of creative current, it\nfound a circuitous channel by which its composing molecules started on\ntheir way back. As has already been said, and will be fully explained in\ndetail in a separate section, the molecules have a tendency to open the\npassage of their composing principles, and thus to journey back by\nmyriads of reincarnations through different and higher and higher\nlife-forms to the First Parent Principle: The current of Creation which\nbegan with the manifestation of Universal Consciousness is still moving\non, and will move on in the shape of changes until universal\ndisintegration and dissolution take place. This current of creative\nchanges is mixed up and swelled by the opposite current of involution,\nalso in the shape of changes. These warring waves of action and reaction\nmake up the Cosmos-Ocean.\n\nN\u0101r\u0101yan (Aniruddha) is the Seed-Manifestation (Will) of Krishna (the\nSupreme Deity); the Universe is the Physical Manifestation (Materialized\nWill-Force) of Krishna; Time is the Motion Manifestation (Process of\nWorking of the Will-Force) of Krishna; and the Veda is the\nSound-Manifestation (Sound-Expression of the Laws of the Will-Force) of\nKrishna.\n\nIt has been shown how N\u0101r\u0101yan is the Seed-Manifestation and how the\nUniverse is the materialized Will-Force of N\u0101r\u0101yan and Brahm\u0101. I will\nnow deal with this Motion-Manifestation\u2014Time.\n\n\"I am One, and I wish to be the Many.\" The Lord was One, and the moment\nHe wished to appear to be the Many, then this wonderful creation of\nvastness and variety sprang into existence. From the moment of the rise\nof that Will in the Divine Mind down to this moment, that Will is\nundergoing the process of its execution. It is a rush from the One\ntowards manifoldness. This process of that manifoldness is called\nCreation, and the rhythm of its motion is called Time. The whole\nCreation is nothing but motion of Changes. Time is nothing but the\ncognition by our mind of events and ideas which are phases of changes in\ninternal and external Nature. If we had no notion of events and never\nhad an idea within ourselves, we would be in Eternity. So long as we are\nconscious of the kaleidoscopic changes in us and Nature or are conscious\nof their impressions on our mind, we live in Time. And the moment all\nimpressions of the mind are obliterated and we become, through any\nprocess, unconscious of human and natural events, we lose all\nconsciousness of existence; that is to say, we go behind the veil which\nenshrouds these physical phenomena, and we enter the realm which is an\nundisturbed calm of Absolute Life, Light and Bliss, the Trinity which is\nEternity.\n\nThese changes in Nature and human society, starting from the beginning\nof Creation, move in cycles; that is to say, they have a cyclical\nprocess of motion. In other words, some events, natural and human, that\noccur within a certain period of time, are reproduced in their principal\nfeatures in the next period of time of the same length. Creation\nproceeds towards ever manifold variety at this cyclic pace.\n\nThe smallest appreciable Cycle of Nature's change-process is the Day.\nTwenty-four hours, called one day, are divided into two parts, called\nday and night.\n\nOne Day is a Cycle embodying natural and human events which are\nreproduced in the following day, and so on. So that every day and night,\nin their principal features, are but a reproduction of the previous day\nand night. One day, therefore, is the smallest cycle of time or events,\nfor events are but the phases of natural changes, and time is but the\ncognition or consciousness thereof.\n\nThe next cycle of time or events is the Month, in which two events which\noccur within twenty-eight lunar days are reproduced in the next\ntwenty-eight lunar days. These two events are the fourteen days of\nwaxing and waning moon, and the bright fortnight is the day and the dark\nfortnight is the night of the month.\n\nThe next larger cycle is the Year, in which the four seasons mark the\nprincipal divisions of events and are reproduced in all years in the\nself-same order, their uniform changes of weather and Nature bringing\nforth fruit and crops.\n\nIn the same way these events, called Time, develop larger cycles in\nwhich some event or other, or a series of events, are reproduced in the\n-next equal length of time. There are cycles, for instance, of from 500\nto 100,000 years, the phenomena of which are reproduced in the next\nperiod of their respective proportions. But the most pronounced cycle is\ncalled the Divine Cycle. The Sanscrit word \"Diva\" is the root of the\nword \"Divine,\" and \"Yuga\" is the original of which the word \"Age\" is a\ncorrupted form.\n\nThis Divine Age (Daiva-Yuga) is divided into four Human Ages, called\nSatya, Tret\u0101, Dw\u0101par and Kali. The span of this Divine Cycle is composed\nof 12,000 Divine Years, and each Divine Year is equal to 360 human\nyears, so that 12,000 years multiplied by 360 gives us 4,320,000 human\nyears, which is the length of a Divine Cycle. The next bigger cycle is\ncalled the Manwantara, which is made up of 71 Divine Cycles and is wound\nup with a Deluge, in which the whole world, including the highest peaks\nof the Himalayas, becomes immersed in water and remains so for the\nperiod of 71 Divine Ages. The next larger cycle is the Kalpa, which is\nmade up of 14 Manwantaras, or 1,000 Divine Ages. The next cycle and the\nlargest is called Mah\u0101-Pralaya, in which the whole universe is destroyed\ntotally, Krishna alone remaining with His Radiance, filling all space,\nand 36,000 Kalpas bring about this Universal Dissolution.\n\nSince the beginning of this Kalpa creation, six Manwantaras (Deluges)\nhave passed away. Since the last Deluge 27 Divine Cycles have rolled\naway. This is the twenty-eighth Divine Cycle of which the first three\nsections, viz., the Golden Age, the Silver Age and the Copper Age have\npassed away. We are just now in the early part of the fourth section,\nthe Kali or Iron (Dark) Age.\n\nSECTION V. THE GOLDEN AGE.\n\nCreation begins with the dawn of the Satya Yuga, which is also called\nthe Golden Age. It is the first part and the longest section of the\nDivine Age. The span of this age is 4,800 Divine years, which being\nmultiplied by 360 gives us 1,728,000 human years. It is the most\nspiritual age, because, of the three Cardinal Attributes\u2014Sattwa, R\u0101ja\nand Tama\u2014which govern, and are the parents of, the composing principles\nof the Universe, the Sattwa is predominant in its influence. The Sattwa\nis that attribute which uncovers the true state of things without and\nwithin us and in Nature, hence it may be called the attribute of\nIllumination. R\u0101ja is the attribute of Activity (motion of change), and\nTama is the very reverse attribute of Sattwa. It is that attribute\nwithin us and Nature which covers the true State of things, hence it may\nbe called the Obscuring, darkening attribute, the Attribute of Darkness.\n\nThe Satya Yuga is called the Golden Age, because gold is very abundant\nin this age of utmost spirituality, and gold is the purest and most\nspiritual of all metals. The Illumination of predominant Sattwa pervades\nall Nature in this age. Nature, inside and out, is full of light, almost\ntransparent with light\u2014spiritual through and through. So is man, her\nbest product. Men and women in this age attain a spiritual depth and\nheight which no other age can develop. This spiritual height manifests\nitself In their physical body, while the depth of their inward\nspirituality shows itself in their outer life and actions. The Gulden\nAge men are twenty-one cubits, or thirty-one and a half feet, in height.\nThis may strike us, diminutive mortals of this Kali Yuga or Iron Age, as\nabsurd or improbable, but it need not do so if we remember how long ago\nthe last Golden Age was\u2014nearly three million years. Moreover, as they\nare all of the same height, they do not think they are abnormally tall.\n\nThese men and women, owing to their high degree of spirituality, have a\nperfectly healthy, harmonious and beautiful body, for spirituality is\nhealth, harmony and beauty. They have their inner vision fully opened\nand see more through their ensouled mind's eyes than through their\nphysical ones. They, therefore, see through Nature as through a glass.\nAll Nature stands revealed to them to her inmost depth wherein they see\nthe One Essence which pervades it, the One Spirit of which all things\nwithin and on the surface of Nature are but different phases of its\nmanifestation. And in it all they find themselves as part of the same\nphases, living, moving and having their being sustained by that One\nSpirit which is both life and light\u2014the One Omnipresent Spirit, the one\nAll-Pervading Essence\u2014Love.\n\nThe Golden Age men and women have no garments to cover their entirely\nbare body, nor do they need any. We clothe our bodies for two reasons:'\nFirst, out of our sense of delicacy and shame because of our dark\nthoughts born of improper and unnatural (sinful) actions, and secondly,\nto protect our body and health from the attacks of the sun, the rain and\nthe changes of weather and climate. The Golden Age men have no such\nreason for wearing any clothes. Their perfect spirituality admits of no\ndark thought to touch their mind, for all is illumination within and\nwithout them, while their actions are all in perfect consonance with the\npurest laws of Nature, in rhythmic motion with the music of the Infinite\nwhose song they hear in their soul. They may be called moving\nVedas\u2014walking wisdom and spirituality. The laws of the Veda form the\nmechanism of their mind, and it is these Vedic laws that move their\nlimbs and prompt their words and actions. Their perfect spiritual health\nis proof against the hardships of weather, or rather there is no\nhardship of weather at all. The spirit of the Age pervades all Nature,\nof which the weather a phase. Even Nature's forces are in perfect\nharmony with one another, for harmony is the very keynote of the Age. It\nis Spring, sweetest Spring season, all the year round, during night and\nduring day; warm enough without heat, cool enough without being cold,\nbreezy enough without being windy\u2014man and beast and bird and tree and\nearth and weather all are in harmony. Harmony, harmony, all is harmony\nin this Blessed Age.\n\nMan and woman have no need at all for sex life in the Golden Age. The\necstasy of the soul with which their body and being are filled renders\nit impossible for even any thought of gross fleshly pleasures to enter\ntheir mind. The very drawing of breath is to them a pure delight which\nany fleshly or objective pleasure of our day cannot dream of\napproaching. Life is lived then in its veriest depth\u2014deep down through\nthe mind, deeper down through the heart, deepest down in the depth of\nthe soul. And when life is lived in such depth, its surface is not\nheeded or cared for. Such a life does not require much material\nnutrition\u2014it is nourished by the souls all-nourishing nectar.\n\nThese men and women eat very little food\u2014fruits and roots only, and\ndrink milk and water, and these between long intervals. They feel very\nlittle hunger and that little on far-between occasions. We feel hungry\nbecause of our mind contemplating matter. All matter is changeful\u2014matter\nis nothing but collected forms of change. Its seeming substance embodies\nbut motion of change, so that its inmost attribute is changefulness. Our\nmind concentrating on material objects absorbs its\nattribute\u2014changefulness\u2014and is affected by it forthwith; it becomes\nchangeful in its turn, that is, it is rendered restless, flitting\nquickly from one object to another. This changefulness of the mind is in\nturn absorbed by our body, which suffers from its effects in the shape\nof loss of tissue. And this loss of tissue we have to supply by food and\ndrink and rest and sleep. The Golden Age people do not suffer from this\nloss of tissue, because their minds are always concentrated on the One\nChangeless Substance, the very reflection of which through the changeful\nforms of matter makes them seem steady and substantial. The little wear\nand tear they suffer from, owing to looking now and then on the surface\nof things, causes some little need of nutrition, which their occasional\nfruit and milk meals supply.\n\nIf they need little food they also need little rest. And when they need\nit, they just lie down on the cool carpet of the fragrant grass, for\nthey have no other bed than this, because in the Golden Age there are no\nhouses whatever on the face of the earth. We build houses for the same\nreasons that we wear clothes, and these reasons are absent in the lives\nof the Golden Age people. Their bodies need no protection from the\nweather, nor do they need external comforts, for they think more of\ntheir soul than of their body.\n\nTheir home is wherever they live and rest, its roof is the high vault of\nHeaven with its azure canopy, Mother Earth the floor, the trees its\nwalls; Nature's bowers are their boudoirs. All created beings are their\nfamily, the whole earth their country. And the whole earth is one large,\nbeautiful garden, the richest and most beautiful garden of flowers and\nfruits and songbirds. But more beautiful than the garden are the divine\nmen and women who sanctify its soil by their walking, at whose approach\nnear them the trees worship them with showers of flowers and offers of\ntheir fruits as love-gifts.\n\nThis is the long-forgotten, and now misunderstood, misinterpreted\nEarth-Garden of the Golden Age called in the Old Testament the Garden of\nEden. They are all now trying to locate it, some people in Syria, others\nin Egypt, others elsewhere, ignorant of the fact that the Garden of Eden\nwas located upon the whole earth. The word \"Eden\" even is the corruption\nof the Sanscrit word \"\u0101dh\u0101n\" (Home). The whole earth becomes this\n\"Adh\u0101n\"\u2014the Home of all humanity, of mortal souls, the Pleasure-Garden\nfor angels on earth to roam about and sport in. This Garden is the\nphysical manifestation of a higher plane, created as the abiding place\nof mortal man in temporary state of spiritual perfection. They live a\nperfectly natural life, feeling themselves as parts of Nature, breathing\nin unison with the breath of sky and air and tree and grass and beast\nand bird, their souls in tune with the souls of gods and angels and\nInfinity Itself.\n\nAmong themselves they feel a Oneness which only the most sublimated\nsouls, who have realized their at oneness with the all-pervading Spirit,\ncan feel. All humanity feels as one man, and the only distinction they\nfind in this Oneness is in the little difference in the formation of the\nmale and female bodies, although this outward perception of this\nexternal difference in some details of the physical structure does not\ninfluence the feeling of unity within. Still the difference creates this\nmuch distinction that the women and men sec and feel that they are the\ncomplements of each other and the difference in bodily structure\nexpresses this fact. All men feel all women are as one and all women\nfeel all men are as one, so that, such is the feeling of unity which\npervades the Golden Age people of the earth that all men and women of\nthat age can be called as One Man and One Woman. This is the state of\nthe human society indicated by the story of Adam and Eve. Adam is the\ntypical man and Eve the typical woman of the Golden Age. Even the names\nbear testimony to this fact. The word Adam is a corruption of the\nSanscrit word \"Adim\" which means primeval, so that Adam means primeval\nman. The word Eve likewise is a corruption of the Sanskrit word \"Hev\u0101\"\nor primeval woman. \"Hev\u0101\" means life and love\u2014mother of creation. From\nMother Nature all things evolve, through the mother all things come to\nlife, therefore is mother \"life.\" The life of all things is\nmotherhood\u2014Life and Love combined is Mother. Mother! It is the music of\nthe spheres\u2014Life and Love\u2014the grandest sound, the music of the Creator,\none grand chord in the Music of the Universe. Love and Life\u2014O Blessed\nsound, the Lord's Own Music\u2014sweet, profound!\n\nThe spiritual beauty of these primeval people\u2014the Adams and Eves\u2014shows\nitself in their physical forms. Their physical forms, symmetry and\nexpressions are ideally beautiful; these fashion and shine forth the\nspirit of harmony which dwells within them. It may be in truth said of\nthem that they are made in the Image of God, and the truth of this\nstatement grows upon us when we remember that they live and feel that\nthey live in the Essence of Love\u2014live and breathe and have their being\nmoved spontaneously by the Spirit which is the inmost life and force of\nall Existence.\n\nThis is living on the Tree of Life and eating the fruit thereof\nmentioned metaphorically in the Old Testament. Love, Universal Love,\nunmixed, Absolute Love is the only Life. When we lose sight of this\nIdeal, this substance of life, we fall. So long as our minds are filled\nfrom within with this Love, this Radiance of God, and we think, move and\nact by its influence and promptings, so long do we really live the Life\nwhich is our real heritage from God. The Golden Age people live this\nlife moved by the Spirit within them, the Spirit-Life that makes life an\necstasy unto itself. This Life of Joy Absolute is illumined by its own\nLight by the aid of which they sec all Nature as through a transparent\nglass, they see everything with the ensouled mind's eye\u2014 not by the\nphysical eye\u2014for they live within that ensouled mind and rarely come out\nto the surface called the physical plane. When they do, they feel as if\nthe experiences of that physical plane are, as it were, the experiences\nof a dream, while the experiences of the ensouled mind they feel as the\nReality, the only Reality.\n\nI have already said that the three Cardinal Attributes, (Sattwa, R\u0101ja\nand Tama) Illumination, Activity and Darkness, are the joint parents of\nthe Principles which compose all creation. When the forces of these\nAttributes fall into equilibrium, the dissolution of the universe takes\nplace and the equalized Attributes merge into one another and become\ntransformed into a substance quite different from their own. That\nsubstance is called Shuddha Sattwa\u2014Pure Illumination. In Sattwa there is\na mixture of some R\u0101ja and Tama; in R\u0101ja there is a mixture of some\nSattwa and Tama: similarly, in Tama, there is some mixture of Sattwa and\nR\u0101ja. In Shuddha Sattwa, the Sattwa is free from the other two\nattributes. Krishna (Absolute Love) is Purest Sattwa. The equalizing of\nthe forces of the Attributes transforms them into Pure Illumination no\ndoubt, but the transformation is temporary. Krishna (Absolute Love) is\nPermanent Purest Illumination. But even the temporary attainment, by the\nAttributes, of the Shuddha Sattwa state makes them for the time being\nthe same substance as this First Principle and brings about their\nabsorption into it as long as they keep in that state. This is almost\nexactly as the germ of a tree remains merged in and becomes part and\nparcel of the kernel of its seed. And as when the seed is put into the\nsoil, the action of germination separates from that kernel the germ\nwhich then grows into a tree, so when in time the forces of the merged\nAttributes fall out of equilibrium by R\u0101ja (Activity) asserting itself,\nthey get separated and manifest themselves into the Universe. At first\nthe activity of R\u0101ja is feeble and Sattwa predominates. Out of\npredominant Sattwa springs the Mind, R\u0101ja brings forth the Ten Senses\nand Tama the Five Essences and the Five Gross Forms of matter. And all\nobjects and animals and men and gods and earth and heaven are but\ndifferent degrees of blendings of the Three Attributes.\n\nThe Satya Yuga (Golden Age) at the beginning of creation is so full of\nSattwa (Illumination) that all Nature is made of materials almost\ntransparent as ether. The matter of this first Golden Age is so fine\nthat it would be invisible to the eye of our gross flesh of this distant\nKali (Iron Age). Even in the last Golden Age, Nature was made up of such\nfine matter that it would look, to our gross vision of this day, as\npictures of light.\n\nWhy is Nature in the Golden Age so ethereal? Because the Attribute of\nIllumination is predominant in that cycle. All is Illumination, within\nand without. Through this illumination the Golden Age people see the\nSteady, Changeless substance which is the Life and Light of which the\nouter universe is but the shadow. And with the spirit of this Changeless\nLove and Life and Light in One before their mind's vision, they cannot\nbut feel that its distorted, changeful manifestations called objects are\nmade of fabrics of which dreams are made of. Even they themselves are\netheric and irridescent, not visible to the physical eye of the Dark\nAge, but always visible to the inner eye of men of any age\u2014to the eye of\nthe highly evolved man whose sight is more spiritual than physical.\nEther is cognized through etheric vibrations\u2014light alone recognizes\nlight.\n\nFor the First Quarter of the Satya Yuga or Golden Age (One Thousand\nDivine Years) this perfect state of Universal Holiness prevails on earth\nand among mankind. This is the original of the recorded vision said to\nhave been seen by St. John the Divine as embodied in Chapters 20, 21 and\n22 of his Revelations. This is the Millennium spoken of in the Holy\nBible when Satan (Sin\u2014Tama\u2014Darkness), it is said, will be bound and cast\ninto a bottomless pit, shut up and set a seal upon, and holiness will\nbecome triumphant throughout the world. This means the predominance of\nSattwa (Illumination) in man and Nature and Tama (darkness) will be\ndrowned under it. The people will live on the fruits of the Tree of\nLife\u2014in the Essence of Love. They will live face to face with God, that\nis, in perfect realization of His Spirit\u2014Love. This Millennium will\nbegin with the First Quarter of the coming Satya Yuga (Golden Age), the\nNew Divine cycle which will be ushered in after the expiration of the\nKali Yuga (also called Iron or Dark Age) we are now living in. That time\nis far away yet, how far I shall in a succeeding Section attempt to\nindicate.\n\nAs already suggested, the Golden Age conditions of Nature are the\nphysical manifestation of a higher sphere. According to the Hindoo\nScriptures there are Seven Spheres (Lokas) or Heavens. People in the\nWest speak of the Seventh Heaven. Few know where the expression has come\nfrom, fewer that it has come from the Hindoos who believe in the Seven\nHeavens. The first is the Earth. (Bhur) which is counted as a heaven\nbecause heavenly joys can be tasted on the earth plane. Above the Earth\nis the Bhuba Sphere, the Second Heaven. Above Bhuba is Swar the Third;\nabove Swar is Mahar the Fourth; above Mahar is Jana the Fifth; above\nJana is Tapa the Sixth, and above Tapa is the Satya Loka (Seventh). The\nGolden Age state of the earth is but a reflection of this Satya Sphere\non it's Sattwa (Transparently Illuminated) surface. The men and women\nare angels on earth meet and have communications with gods and angels;\nand at times even Brahm\u0101, the Shiva, the Destroyer, and Vishnoo the\npreserver, come down on earth and hold converse with these perfectly\npure human beings. Earth then is \"Heaven Below,\" and it is hard to tell,\nwhen men mingle with the gods and angels when the latter come down to\nmeet them, which are the gods and angels and which are the men.\n\nSaint John's Revelation 21 in the Holy Bible attempts to give some\nglimpse of this picture of the Golden Age:\n\n\"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the\nfirst earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.\n\n\"2. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God\nout of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.\n\n\"3. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the\ntabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they\nshall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their\nGod.\n\n\"4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall\nbe no more death, sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more\npain; for the former things are passed away.\"\n\nWhat St. John describes as \"a new heaven and a new earth\" is the\nilluminated heaven and earth\u2014illuminated by Sattwa, which destroys the\ndarkness (Tama) of the preceding Kali (Iron) Age which pervades Nature\nduring its sway. The \"holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out\nof heaven,\" is the reflection of the Satya Loka (the Heaven of Truth),\nwhich comes down as it were and mirrors itself on earth. The Golden Age\nearth is really a bride adorned for her husband, God, for, in the Hindoo\nScriptures, Earth has been called the Bride of Vishnoo (God). The\nmeaning of the third verse can be more easily understood as it speaks of\nthe spiritual condition of the Golden Age I have described already.\n\nThe fourth verse supports the fact of the unbroken peace and happiness\nwhich dwells on earth during the Golden Age. Men know no sorrow, nor\ncrying, nor pain. They are happy and are ever filled with joy. \"And\nthere shall be no more death\"\u2014this is very important testimony to the\none statement in the Hindoo Scriptures about the Golden Age men and\nwomen which is more apt to be discredited than any other. In them it is\nsaid that in the Golden Age men and women can live for one hundred\nthousand years and die at will, which is corroborated by St. John, who\nsays, \"and there shall be no more death.\" Life in the Golden Age, say\nthe Hindoo Books, is sustained by the marrow of the bones; man lives as\nlong as there is marrow in his bones. Death and disease are caused by\naccumulation of sin, which is the result of improper, unnatural living,\nliving, that is, in violation of Nature's spiritual laws. The Golden Age\nmen live in absolute harmony with these laws, and are therefore liable\nneither to death nor to disease. Men are filled, in this age, \"in full\nmeasure of virtue\" and sin has no place in it, not a trace of it\nanywhere.\n\nThis is the state of Nature and human society which is reproduced in the\nbeginning and first quarter of every Golden Age, which forms the first\nlargest section of every Divine Cycle. This is real Universal\nBrotherhood, the union of soul to soul being brought about by the\ngeneral recognition of the One Spirit which is the root, sustenance and\nlife of all manifestations in Nature. Spirit only makes man brotherly,\nand the feeling of the One and the Same spirit is the source of true\nbrotherhood, and until One Love is for all, souls shall be separated and\ncountries will war with countries. Every one in the Golden Age looks\nupon every one else as himself, as it were. It is more than Ideal\nBrotherhood in this state of society; it is real, practical, spontaneous\nbrotherhood, brought about by the Attribute of Illumination having full\nplay within all created matter, objects and beings. They are united from\nwithin, not through outside forces, and so close and natural is the\nunion that they do not realize that it is anything unusual at all, even\nin the deep demonstrations of spontaneous love which they feel for one\nanother.\n\nIf such is the high state of perfection which men attain in the Golden\nAge, the animal and the vegetable kingdoms also share the benefit of the\npredominance of illumination in Nature, of which men and animals and\nvegetation are but different phases of manifestations. We have read in\nthe so-called fables and fairy-books of a time in which animals were\nwont to speak, and as in our day they do not speak at all, we regard\nsuch statements and stories as myths. But they are not myths, however\nabsurd they may strike us, viewed from our practical experiences of\nanimals in our Kali Age life. If the animals of this Kali (Dark) Age\ncannot speak, that is no reason why animals of an enlightened age should\nnot be able to speak. But this is what forms the chief difficulty in the\nway of our believing in such stories. We have been hypnotized by our\nconceit into believing that ours is the most enlightened age and that we\nare far ahead in enlightenment and advancement of intellect of our\nremote ancestors of, what we complacently term, the \"primitive\" ages,\nmeaning thereby ages in which men were either savages or half-savages.\nIf this were true, the animals of those ages could be imagined as worse\nin habits, powers and instincts than those of our \"advanced\" age. Alas,\nhowever, it is not true! Our remotest ancestors, whom we, in our dense\nignorance of facts of that remote past, love to call savages, were such\ngiants in intellect, spirituality and moral force that our average best\nspiritual, intellectual and moral men cannot be compared with them. We\nare indeed fast losing our moral depth which was the sheet-anchor of\ntheir character. Why? Because our minds are getting more and more dense\nthan those of even the near past, not to speak of those of the remote\nages. Why? Because Nature herself is getting denser and denser every day\nwith the growing influence of Tama (Darkness) which is the ruling\nattribute of this Iron Age. We are the products of Nature\u2014we all, men\nand beasts and trees and grass. Our density is to be traced to our\nparent\u2014Dame Nature. This growing density which pervades our minds is\ndaily making us less spiritual and intellectual than our forefathers. No\nwonder it has affected the body and senses of animals as well.\n\nIlluminated Nature illuminates animals as well in the Satya Yuga.\nAnimals then have more intelligence, better perception and keener\ninstincts than now, and share the love-spirit of which all earth is\nfull. They talk like man, although not in the same clear and sweet voice\nas man. They roam about with men and love one another as men do. There\nare no domestic animals in this part of the Golden Age, for man has no\nhome or house. There are no wild animals, for all animals are tame,\ntamed by the spirit of harmony within and without them. The cow roams\nabout free, giving milk to whoever will drink it out of her udder.\n\nThe trees in the Satya Yuga are large and tall in proportion to the\nheight of men, which is 21 cubits. They are overladen with sweetest and\njuiciest fruits. All kinds of corn grow wild and abundantly without any\ntending or cultivation. The whole earth is a natural garden, orchard and\ngranary for all created beings to enjoy and draw sustenance from when\nneeded. Here I quote a poem written under inspiration after seeing a\ntrance-vision of the Golden Age, by one of my students, Miss Rose R.\nAnthon:\n\nPalpitating with love,\n\n    Like a mother's breast,\n\nAs she views her babe\n\n    As it sinks to rest.\n    \n\nLike a million bees\n\n    Throbbing with life,\n\nEach cell a world\n\n    In the citied hive.\n    \n\nThis was the land\n\n    I slept to see,\n\nThe land my dream\n\n    Unfolded to me.\n    \n\nHere Love did reign,\n\n    Love life did greet,\n\nLife crowned with love\n\n    The heart did meet.\n    \n\nHere wondrous song\n\n    The birds did sing,\n\nAnd oh the echoes\n\n    The skies did ring!\n    \n\nAnd oh the peace\n\n    The heart did know!\n\nAnd oh the lack\n\n    Of haunting woe!\n    \n\nHere man commune\n\n    With God did hold,\n\nThe doe run abreast\n\n    With the lion bold.\n    \n\nThe hawk and the dove\n\n    Shared one nest;\n\nThe lamb and leopard\n\n    Suckled one breast.\n    \n\nThe tender nurslings,\n\n    The soft young things,\n\nEager their minds,\n\n    Like outspread wings.\n    \n\nThe flowers nodded\n\n    Their faces fair;\n\nSunbeams embraced\n\n    The perfumed air.\n    \n\nLittle children\n\n    With Nature grew;\n\nSkies overhead,\n\n    'Neath feet the dew.\n    \n\nThe happy youth\n\n    The maid did woo.\n\nFree as the stars\n\n    The moon did view.\n    \n\nWith joy I beheld,\n\n    In this sweet land\n\nUnspoilt was love\n\n    By sin's hot hand.\n    \n\nWith knots of guile\n\n    The heart did bind.\n\nNo souring doubts\n\n    Disturbed the mind.\n    \n\nHere livid hate\n\n    No place did hold;\n\nJackal and calf\n\n    Entered one fold.\n    \n\nNor envy's sneer\n\n    Belined the face.\n\nNor fiery lust\n\n    Filched beauty's grace.\n    \n\nBut rayed with peace\n\n    Was every eye,\n\nAnd all unknown\n\n    Was panting sigh.\n    \n\nIn every heart\n\n    Was Love enthroned,\n\nAnd every voice\n\n    Had Hope entoned.\n    \n\nSuch was the land\n\n    I slept to see.\n\nThe land my dream\n\n    Unfolded to me.\n    \n\nSECTION VI. THE SILVER AGE.\n\nThus, during the first quarter of the Golden Age, covering 1,000 divine\nyears, which are equal to 360,000 lunar years, its predominant\nspirituality sustains itself in its full vigor. The next quarter is\nalmost equally powerful in spirituality. But after the middle is passed,\na little decline is perceptible, not so much in spirituality as in the\noutward habits of the people. During this period the Vedic truths reveal\nthemselves through the mediums of the entranced minds of some of the\nhighly illuminated men. Now, what is a Vedic truth? It is an expression\nin sound-form of one of the inmost laws of Nature. Before this period\nthe Golden Age people breathe, move and have their being in these\nlaws\u2014as sensitive embodiments of these laws. They are, as it were,\nmoving Vedas\u2014human flesh-vehicles moved and manipulated from within by\nthe basic laws of all Existence. The predominant Sattwa in its extreme\npurity, which is the essence of physical Nature in the Golden Age,\nblends with these laws so harmoniously that they form the self-acting\nmechanism of all motion of its materialized counterpart. So long as\nthese people are in perfect unison with these inner laws, vibrating\nspontaneously with their vibrations, they are quite unconscious of the\noperations of these laws, or even of the laws themselves within them: so\nlong they live as unconscious moving manifestations of the laws. But the\nmoment they become conscious of them, then that consciousness expresses\nitself in the form of thoughts, and these thoughts find expression in\nwords through the medium of some entranced minds. These are called the\nEternal Truths of the Veda, truths which are the foundations and sources\nof all truths promulgated by the illumined sages of all climes and times\never afterwards.\n\nJust as, so long as we are perfectly healthy, we remain unconscious of\nour health and enjoy the blessing of health most; but when some disorder\ncreeps into our system, we become conscious of it and feel indisposed\nand try to adjust its lost equilibrium. Towards the end of the third\nquarter of the Golden Age, a slight disorder is felt in the spiritual\nhealth of the people. Then a readjustment of the slight loss of the\nequilibrium is made with the aid of contemplation of the meaning of\nthese Vedic truths which are revealed through the still perfectly\nspiritual souls. Before this time all of them live the truths\nunconsciously; now they live the truths consciously. This indicates\ntheir fall from their absolutely healthy state of spirituality. The\ndegeneration increases with time at a very slow rate, however, for\nSattwa is still predominant, although R\u0101ja (Activity) has begun to\nassert itself more and more until the end of the Golden Age is reached,\nwhen the action of R\u0101ja becomes fully perceptible.\n\nThis pronounced assertion of R\u0101ja within all Nature is betrayed by\noutward signs and symptoms. Distinct changes are observable in the\nthoughts and actions of men, while there is decrease in the wild natural\ngrowth and products of edible fruits, roots and corn. These main\nfeatures of change mark the end of Satya Yuga (Golden Age) and the\nbeginning of the Tret\u0101 Yuga (Silver Age).\n\nFrom natural all-absorbing, inward concentration upon the basic\nprinciple of the Universe\u2014Love\u2014and drawing absolute never-failing\nhappiness therefrom, most people now begin to look outwards for\nhappiness, trying to draw it from the enjoyment of material objects. A\nsmall portion, however, still retains the same inward look and enjoys\nthe primeval ecstatic condition of the mind. These still live in the\nTree of Life. But those who look outwards and try to draw happiness from\nwithout, eat tor the first time of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge,\nas indicated by the figurative language of the Christian Bible. So long\nas they do not look outwards, they do not know of material pleasure,\npleasure which is mixed with pain, R\u0101jasic pleasure, pleasure which\nlasts for only a short while, pleasure which has reaction of pain or\ncessation.\n\nThis knowledge of material pleasure and hankering for securing them is\nthe fall of humanity. The cause of this outward-looking is to be traced\nto the assertion of the Cardinal Attribute of Activity (R\u0101ja) within\nNature rather than to any fault in her products themselves. Predominant\nSattwa (Illumination) maintains the harmony in the mind induced by calm\nconcentration upon one object and that object a steady, Changeless one.\nPredominant R\u0101ja (Activity) destroys this harmony and calmness by making\nthe mind active with thoughts of many objects. This state of activity\nitself turns the point of the mind's ken outwards and disturbs its\nharmony. The mind is active only when it has to deal with the\nimpressions of more than one object. When the surface of a mirror is\nturned towards the sky, it reflects only that one blue sky. When it is\nturned towards the earth it reflects many objects. Such is the case with\nthe mirror of the mind. When it is turned inwards to the soul, it\nreflects its one all-pervading, colorless radiance and is therefore\ntranquil and happy. When it is turned outwards, it reflects the\nmany-colored objects and is disturbed by their conflicting attributes.\n\nAll through the Golden Age the mirror of the human mind is kept turned\ninwards to the soul and reflects nothing but the soul of things. At the\nend of that blessed period, the natural assertion of R\u0101ja turns it\noutwards to external objects which at once reflect themselves in it.\nFrom this time people begin to take serious cognizance of their\nsurroundings and privileges, and to think of material enjoyment, to\ntaste material pleasures. Living the natural Love-Life of the Golden Age\nis living on the fruit of the Tree of Life. Love alone is life; it is\nthe source of all life. The dawning of the knowledge of material\npleasure is eating for the first time of the fruit of the Tree of\nKnowledge\u2014material knowledge. The first hankering for it is the\npersuasive voice of the Evil One, called in Sanscrit, M\u0101y\u0101. M\u0101y\u0101 means\nillusion, that which is unsubstantial to the inner sight yet seems and\nlooks substantial to our outer (material) sight. Good and evil may be\ncalled the equivalents of the two Sanscrit words \"Sat\" and \"Asat.\" Good\nis \"Sat\" which means that which exists by itself, which has substance.\nEvil is \"Asat\" which means non-existent, which has no existence\n(substance) of its own. Good is God (Love). Evil is that which partakes\nof, or is related to, the phases of unsubstantial (changeful)\nmanifestations which form the shroud of the only Reality\u2014Love. To have\nour minds vision turned from this Reality to its Unreal Shroud and\nmistaking it as the Real, constitutes our fall\u2014the Fall of Mankind\nspoken of in the Bible. As long as we know nothing but the Truth and\nlive absolutely in that Truth, we have no idea of the False (evil), the\ndeceptive real-looking Unreal. But the moment we are attracted by the\nUnreal and live in it, we begin to have knowledge of both Good (the\nReal) and Evil (the Unreal). We become so attached to the Unreal that we\ncannot leave it, although we know it to be Unreal (evil). Here is born\nwhat is called \"conscience,\" which is the Warner of sin\u2014this living in\nthe Unreal though we know it is so and that we should not live in it.\n\nThis is the state of mind of the major portion of the Silver Age people.\nWith this outward-looking of their mind begins the hunting for Absolute\nHappiness on the surface of life, instead of in its deepest depth where\nit dwells. This search for it through material pleasures ends in this\nreal object of that search being lost from their view and the pleasures\nthemselves taking its place. This last stage of mental degradation is\nnot true, however, of all the people of the age. A small portion still\nretain much of the high spirituality of the Golden Age. Some are swayed\nby predominant R\u0101ja, others are ruled by R\u0101ja and Tama, while others are\ncovered almost entirely by Tama. This leads to the division of the\npeople into castes. Those who are uninfluenced by the assertive R\u0101ja are\ncalled Br\u0101hmans; those swayed by R\u0101ja are called Kshatriyas; those by\nR\u0101ja and Tama are called Vaishyas; those mostly ruled by Tama are called\nSudras. I have treated the caste system at some length in the next\nsection.\n\nTastes for material comforts involve housekeeping, and housekeeping is\nimpracticable without a house. The people therefore build houses to live\nin for the first time in the Degeneration period of the Satya Yuga. The\nTret\u0101 is called the Silver Age because gold, the spiritual metal,\nbecomes less abundant with the decrease in spirituality in Nature, and\nsilver is found in abundance. People in the Satya Yuga use gold for\nhousehold utensils, hence the Satya Yuga is called the Golden Age. The\nperiod in which gold plates come into use does not belong to the Golden\nAge proper. It is used in what is called the Degeneration (Sandhy\u0101ngsa)\nperiod of the Golden Age. Every Age has a Junction period and a\nDegeneration period, called in the Hindoo Scriptures, the Twilight\nPeriods. These periods are of equal length. The morning Twilight period\nof the Satya Yuga is 400 divine years, equal to 144,000 lunar years. Of\nthe same length is its evening Twilight period. The morning Twilight\nperiod represents the Junction period, the junction between the previous\nKali and the Satya Yugas. The evening Twilight period may be called the\ndegeneration of the Satya Yuga. It is in this degeneration period\ncovering 144,000 years, that R\u0101ja asserts itself and people begin to\nturn to material pleasures, build houses, wear clothes, take to\nhousekeeping, eat cooked food and generally use gold plates, gold being\nabundant and on account of its possessing pure (spiritual) magnetism,\npurer than that of other metals.\n\nThe average human height in the Silver Age is 14 cubit or 21 feet,\naverage longevity of human life is 10,000 years; human vitality is\ncentered in the strength of the bones; man lives as long as his bones\nsustain their strength. In the Golden Age men enjoy full measure of\nspirituality. Virtue resides in them, in the language of the Sh\u0101stras,\nin full four quarters. In the Tret\u0101, owing to the decrease of\nspirituality, virtue loses one-quarter and retains three. In the Golden\nAge, they are natural embodiments of Vedic wisdom. In the Tret\u0101, they\nhave to study that wisdom, as it expresses itself through entranced\nSages, to keep up spirituality. And as the Silver Age advances, the\nincreased influence of more and more assertive R\u0101ja within them makes it\nmore and more imperative on all religious teachers and kings to direct\npeople's attention to the necessity of wider and deeper study and\npractice of Vedic truths.\n\nAs I have said, in the Golden Age there are no carnal relations between\nman and woman, so is there none in the Silver Age, although man and\nwoman as husband and wife live together in houses, have housekeeping and\nenjoy material comforts. Yet, strange as it will strike most of us here\nat this distance of time, the Golden Age and Silver Age women bear and\ngive birth to children. The child is born in the womb of its mother at\nthe wish and command of the husband. The wife asks her husband for a\nchild, and the husband of the Golden Age, who is a miniature creator in\nthe potency of his mind-force, says, \"So be it,\" and the wife at once\nconceives. But she has no pain of child-bearing or child-birth to suffer\nfrom. The child is born soon after, and, at times, almost immediately.\nIn the Tret\u0101 Yuga, the conception takes place in some cases in the same\nmanner, and, in most cases, through the eating by the wife of \"charoo,\"\na mixture of boiled rice, milk, sugar and butter\u2014magnetized by mystic\nwords or the will-force of a psychic husband or a saint or a Br\u0101hman\u2014a\nmagnetism which draws into the preparation a disembodied spirit who\npasses into the body of the wife through the food.\n\nThe difficulty in believing this process of child conception lies in the\nignorance which now prevails in the minds of most people of the modern\nworld, especially in those of Westerners, as to the origin of\nconception, as to how conception takes place. The prevailing idea,\nformed from the teachings of imperfect modern science, is that it is the\nmale seed itself planted in the female soil that begets and develops\ninto the child. No greater fallacy can exist than this idea. Modern\nscience is progressive, and in the process of time that progress will\nsurely open its eyes to the true fact in regard to this matter. It will\nthen find that it is the invisible germ hidden inside the seed, the\nsubtle form of organism encased in the thickened juice of the tree which\nthe seed is, that develops into the shoot and the tree and not merely\nthe juice itself. This subtle organism enters into the forming bud from\noutside. Without this incoming subtle organism no seed can germinate,\nneither does a seed germinate, as is well known, of which the germ has\nbeen destroyed. Similarly, no conception can take place without a\ndisembodied soul\u2014a human germ\u2014entering the human seed when planted in\nthe human soil. The juice of the seed and the juice of the soil form but\nthe physical body of the child. The astral body, which is encased in\nthis physical body, comes from without to dwell in that seed and leaves\nthe developed physical body at death, which is nothing but the total\ndisorganization of the physical body. The astral body never dies unless\nit is destroyed by bringing about absolute equilibrium of the three\nCardinal Attributes, which form the Ego of man, through spiritual\ndevelopment. I have treated this subject more fully under the heading of\n\"Reincarnation.\"\n\nThe length of the Silver Age proper is 3,000 divine years, equal to\n1,080,000 human (lunar) years with the two Twilight (the Junction and\nthe Degeneration) Periods, of 108.000 years each, in addition.\n\nSECTION VII. THE CASTE SYSTEM.\n\nI have said that at the end of the Golden Age and during its\ndegeneration period, people's minds lose their tranquil equilibrium and\nlook outwards for happiness. At this stage of the disturbance within\nNature and humanity occasioned by the assertion of the R\u0101ja attribute,\nthe caste system comes into existence. The object of the caste system is\nto preserve as much order and harmony in human society as possible and\nprevent its disruption into individual units. In the Golden Age all the\npeople are as one family, in the Silver Age they are divided into four\nfamilies, divided according to their inclinations, habits and actions,\nand harmonious relations being established with one another through laws\nand interdependence. Those who still retain their perfected spirituality\nby subduing the influence of R\u0101ja are called Br\u0101hmans which means those\nwho know or still dwell in Brahm\u2014the Spirit of God. They are considered\nthe head of the other castes because they are the embodiments of\nspiritual wisdom which is the chiefest requisite in the building of\ncharacter and the higher development of the human soul. Some of them\nstill retain their Golden Age habits of life, others clothe themselves\nwith the barks of trees and live on fruits and nuts and roots in the\nforests, in huts made of tree-trunks and leaves. They pass their days\nand nights in contemplation of the Deity, the Divine Spirit and its Laws\noperating within Nature and inculcate these truths into the minds of the\nother classes of people.\n\nThose who, being unable to subdue the influence of R\u0101ja, are swayed by\npassions and become bold, spirited and filled with material desires are\ncalled Kshatriyas. They become rulers of the other two castes. These are\nthe first Kings and Rulers of men. But they rule according to the\ninjunctions of inspired Codes of laws, laws which are propounded with\nthe object of the highest good of humanity in view, as well as the\npropagation of peace and goodwill among all classes of people.\n\nAccording to these laws the King's first duty is to look to the material\nwelfare of his subjects; the second is to protect them from injustice\nand aggression; the third is to help their moral and spiritual\ndevelopment; in short, the King's duty is to treat his subjects as his\nchildren. If any King fail to perform these duties to the satisfaction\nof his subjects or become aggressive towards them, he is immediately\nremoved from his throne by the Br\u0101hmans (Rishis), the all-powerful\nBr\u0101hmans, who always have the welfare of God's creatures at heart, and\nwhose spiritual powers are mightier than kingly weapons and might. The\nBr\u0101hmans are called the \"gods of earth\" (Bhudevas) on account of their\ndisinterested love of humanity and self-sacrificing devotion for its\nwelfare and their irresistible spiritual and psychical powers to carry\ntheir objects for the good of humanity into action.\n\nThose among the Golden Age people in whom excessive action of R\u0101ja\ndevelops some Tama as well, and partly covers the Sattwa Attribute, form\nyet another distinct caste. They are called Vaishyas. While the\nKshatriyas occupy themselves in taking over the control and government\nof countries and peoples, the Vaishyas take to the occupation of\nagriculture, commerce and raising of cattle, as much in their own\nindividual material interests as in the interests of all humanity. In\nthe Golden Age, owing to the fulness of spirituality within Nature, all\nkinds of grains grow wild and abundant. With the decrease of that\nspirituality towards its end, these natural products of the earth\ndiminish in quality and quantity, while the growing material instincts\nin people bring about their larger consumption, thereby creating greater\ndemand for them. This increased demand is supplied by cultivation by the\nVaishyas.\n\nThose, again, among the Golden Age people who, owing to the predominance\nof the Tama Attribute in them, are filled with envy and greed, and\nbecome untruthful and devoid of clean habits of life and take to all\nsorts of low means and ways for their living are classed as Sudras. The\nKshatriya rulers compel these Sudras for their own good as well as the\ngood of all other classes of people to take service under the three\nupper castes as domestic servants, so that by contact and association\nwith their masters and by the examples of their purer ideas and habits\nof life they may be elevated in morals and conduct.\n\nThe science and wisdom which are the foundation of the caste system of\nthe Silver Age people and which still form the backbone of the\ndegenerate remnants of these primeval people, now known as Hindoos, are\nworthy of study of all civilized mankind of the present day. It is the\nscientific law of the caste system which has preserved the\nindestructible individuality of the Hindoos as a race; it is the chief\nsource of strength which has supplied their inexhaustible vitality as a\nnation; the never failing force which has insured the permanency of\ntheir existence on the face of the globe. It is a system, the absence of\nwhich in the organization of all other human societies, modern and\nancient, has been the cause of their decay and death. The Hindoo caste\nsystem is based upon laws of the inmost science of life, the laws which\nmodern scientists are trying so hard and yet so hopelessly to discover\nand understand through wrong processes of investigation. Modern\nscientists are boastful of their achievements in the field of discovery\nof Nature's laws and imagine they have learned almost all of Nature's\nsecrets, while in truth they know but a few of her surface-laws the\nmainsprings of which are to be found deep down in the mental and\nspiritual strata of which they even dream not of\u2014a realm which must ever\nremain closed to purely objective investigation.\n\nIt is as wrong to try to study Nature from the operations of her\nphysical laws as to govern and guide human beings by the aid of the\ndeceptive light of those laws. The physical is the manifestation of the\nmental plane, as the mental is the manifestation of the spiritual plane,\nas I have shown in previous Sections. The phenomena of the physical\nplane of Nature are deceptive to the purely physical vision because they\nare the product of Tama\u2014darkened R\u0101ja. Deceptive also are the phenomena\nof the mental plane\u2014though not as deceptive as those of the physical\u2014to\na mental vision the light of which is not derived from the spiritual\nplane\u2014the mysterious machine room which alone supplies the\nlife-substance and springy of action to the mental and physical planes.\nThe student of physical and mental Nature who is not provided with the\nmicroscope of spiritual insight is apt almost invariably to read her in\nboth these aspects incorrectly. He should not, therefore, be considered\na safe guide for the healthy and harmonious development of human\ncharacter, which is but a part and phase of one whole Nature called the\nUniverse.\n\nThe laws operating in the deepest depth of Nature can only be seen and\nstudied by the illumination of the soul, the Radiance of Krishna's Body.\nThese the Br\u0101hmans, the portion of the Golden Age people who still\nretain their high state of spirituality, study and learn and utilize in\ncodifying principles and rules for regulating the daily life of the rest\nof the people. The conception of the caste system betrays their intimate\nknowledge of these inner natural laws upon which it is based and the\nprofound wisdom with which its organization to the minutest details is\narranged. The organization of the caste system is, in fact, devised\nafter the organization of the human body\u2014after the inner and the outer\nhuman body. The entire caste system is like a huge living human\nbody\u2014living with its organs and senses in harmonious working order and\nits mind contributing to and enjoying the effect of that harmony and\nfeeling the higher planes to which the effect of that harmony elevates.\n\nWhat is the most needed essential for the healthy, harmonious and useful\nconduct of human life? Love, Intelligence and Wisdom. I had almost said\nLove or Wisdom, for Intelligence and Wisdom are but manifestations of\nLove. Intelligence is the light of Love, and wisdom is but its\nreflection on its own enlightened shadow\u2014the mind. Wisdom likewise\nembodies both Love and its light. Without wisdom a human being is like a\nwayward, mischievous animal. Our wisdom (intelligence and thought)\ninspire and guide our actions. Good thoughts lead us to good actions,\nbad thoughts lead us to bad actions. We are nothing but our mind and our\nmind is nothing but our thoughts\u2014commingled effects of the reflections\nupon the mind of external objects and internal impressions of previous\nreflections of objects, called Ideas. Thoughts that lead us to bad\nactions, that is to say, actions which hurt others and us too, which\nbring inharmony to others and finally to our own mind, are neither\nbeneficial nor useful to our life; they are injurious to its best\ninterests. Wisdom (harmonious, useful thoughts) is therefore the most\nessential requisite of human life. Without it power and wealthy are apt\nalways to be misused and misdirected, resulting in loss of harmony. And\nharmony is happiness, happiness which is the goal of all our quests and\nefforts in life.\n\nThus the Br\u0101hmans, who devote themselves absolutely to acquiring wisdom\nby communing with the Soul of Nature and its finest and purest\nattributes, and to supplying them to those who do not any more enjoy\nthat advantage and privilege, naturally form the head \u2014the seat of\nwisdom and intelligence\u2014of the social organization, called the\nfour-castes. The lower three castes are indebted to the Br\u0101hmans for\nwisdom which they receive from them in the form of lessons and codified\nlaws of life which guide their daily existence, just as every one of us\nis indebted to our intelligence and wisdom for performing the functions\nof life to our own and our neighbors' benefit. Hence the Br\u0101hmans, who\nsupply the most important essential of life, are protected, provided for\nand paid utmost homage to, by all the other castes.\n\nNext to wisdom comes strength, physical and mental, another greatly\nneeded requisite of human life. A man needs mind-force to rule his own\nmind and body as well as those of others to whom he is related, in order\nto maintain harmony within and without. He needs also physical strength\nto defend himself and others against attacks and aggressions and prevent\nencroachments by others upon his property and interests. The Kshatriyas\n(Kings) form and supply this requisite to the four-caste organism. They\nform the arms of the Caste-Body, arms being symbolical of strength and\nruling power. Without a powerful, noble ruler, all communities of men\nare liable to find themselves in disorder and inharmony and to suffer\nfrom lawlessness and injustice, just as a man who has no strength to\ndefend himself from aggression is liable to be robbed of his possessions\nand be miserable.\n\nMore important than the duty of protecting the life and property of his\nsubjects is the King's duty to help their moral and spiritual\nwell-being. And this the king does by enforcing the performance of the\nreligious duties appertaining to each of the three castes as enjoined in\nthe Vedic laws, discovered and enunciated by the holy ones. Those who do\nnot perform these duties and practices are punished by temporary\nexcommunication and, if still persistent in disobeying the injunctions,\nby absolute banishment from all societies. These early sages have always\nheld that prevention is better and easier than cure of diseases,\nphysical, mental or spiritual. Regular spiritual practices, performed\ndaily, form habits, and spiritual habits cleanse the impurities of the\nmind which then becomes fit to reflect the highest spiritual truths by\nthe light of which man witnesses the unity of all Nature, feels the\necstasy of the One Essence which pervades it and stands face to face\nwith his Maker.\n\nThe next essential of harmonious human life is food. Most people of our\nday will say that food is rather the first essential of life. We, in\nthis degenerate age, have indeed come to think so. But the Silver Age\npeople, as well as all really thoughtful people amongst us, do not think\nso. Food does sustain life, no doubt, but that life, if void of wisdom\nand force of mind, is not worth living. It is the life of an animal or a\nvegetable. Food is essential to life; so are wisdom and mental force. Is\nour life sustained by food alone? I should think not, unless it be the\nlife of a man who is but a little removed from a beast. Happy thoughts\nfurnish the chief support of our life. Our life depends more upon happy\nand harmonious thoughts than food. If our thoughts are sad and gloomy,\nwe do not enjoy life at all or feel that we are living, although we may\neat the daintiest food, be surrounded by luxuries and have plenty of the\nworld's goods. Many of us destroy this food-sustained life suffering\nfrom the pangs of miserable thoughts, many die of broken heart and other\ndiseases brought on by the continued pressure of sad thoughts, although\nwell fed and well clothed and well supplied with money and other\nmaterial comforts of life.\n\nThe Vaishyas represent the vital vigor of the Four-Caste organism, and\nas, according to the Sh\u0101stras, the seat of the vital vigor is the loins,\nthe Vaishyas form the loins of that body. The Silver Age Vaishyas take\nto cultivation of the soil, raising of cattle and trade more for the\nweal of all mankind than for their own personal aggrandizement.\n\nThe Sudras are the feet of the Four-Caste organism, very important\nmembers of the body too. They represent devotion through service.\nIndeed, devotion is the training which each caste passes through while\nfulfilling the duties of its profession. The Br\u0101hmans are to practise\nmeditation on God and study the Veda; the object is devotion to the\nSupreme Being. The Kshatriyas are to rule the other two castes with the\naid of the Br\u0101hmans, with love, justice and fatherly care according to\ninspired laws; the object is to acquire devotion to the Supreme Being.\nThe Vaishyas are to till the land and raise cattle only to serve God's\ncreatures; the object is to cultivate devotion to the Supreme Being\nthereby. The Sudras must serve the three pure and spiritual upper castes\nfor the purpose of absorbing their spiritual magnetism through\nassociation and examples; the object is the same, cultivating devotion\nto the Supreme Being by loving service rendered to His devotees.\n\nThus the Caste system, though worked by human agency, is founded upon\nnatural laws. As originally created in the Silver Age, its object is to\nform people into groups according to the similarity of their natural\ncasts of mind, according to their natural instincts and dispositions,\nwith the view of uniting them by the bonds of their common as well as\nmutual interests, with the view of helping them to material, moral and\nspiritual elevation by compelling them to discharge their respective\nduties according to the injunctions of inspired codes of laws furnished\nby illumined Sages whose very pure, unselfish, spiritual and\nself-sacrificing life is the best guarantee of the wisdom, efficacy and\nusefulness of their advices and teachings. The relation of\ninterdependence which these caste laws consolidate is in itself one of\nthe grandest achievements of the caste system for the good of the human\nfamily. It is the most practical means of preserving unity and a natural\npreventive of the disintegration of the whole mass of humanity into\nindividual units than which no greater calamity can happen to the\ngeneral as well as individual weal of human beings. Yet, alas, among\nnon-caste races this is happening, especially in the Western countries\nof the world, at the present time!\n\nLook at the state of the human society at this moment, particularly that\nportion of it which is governed by the ideas of what is boastfully\ncalled \"civilization\"! Look at the external results of the internal\ninfluence of this civilization! Material comfort and pleasure has become\nthe very ideal of life for its average votary. All, almost all are ever\nrushing on the path of securing the means for that one end. And in that\nmad rush they are jostling, hustling, hating, abusing, cheating,\nkilling, and destroying one another physically and morally. In that mad\nrush for that one goal, in that selfish fight and quarrel, out of the\nexhaustion brought on by the efforts of that bustling and hustling, they\nhave no time or opportunity or inclination to think of anything which\nhas no immediate concern with that utterly material aim of life. They\nhave no time to think of their mind, much less of their soul, which most\nof them have abolished as a delusion and an obstacle in the way of\nmaterial success. They have even no time to look up into the blue\nheavens during night or during day, to look at the beauties of the stars\nand the moon, much less to think of what they are and if they have any\nrelation with them. Material interests are fast taking the place of\nnatural love and affection. Husbands and wives are fighting with each\nother; sons and daughters are ignoring and disobeying their parents;\nmasters and servants have no other regard for each other than that\ninspired by personal gain; they are always trying to cheat instead of\nhelping each other. Members of communities are divided against each\nother and only seemingly united for the sake of selfish ends. Society\nexists only in name. Envy, malice, greed, selfishness, conceit having\ngained predominance in all, have split society into units.\n\nThis chaotic state of modern human \"society\" in most parts of the world,\nthe truth of which will be generally acknowledged, ought to convince all\nthoughtful people as to the wisdom and vital necessity of the caste\nsystem. Even now where the four-caste system still exists, it does serve\nto keep the communities within its rule as one compact body to a great\nextent, through the influence of its laws of interdependence and mutual\nharmonious relations. Thanks to Caste, even the degenerating Hindoos of\nto-day have not yet been split into units. This remnant race, a race\nwhich has still retained some of the instincts of the original human\nfamily of the Silver Age, is being more and more divided and subdivided,\nno doubt, at the present day. But these divisions and subdivisions are\nlarge coherent parts, linked together into one great whole. The entire\nrace is divided into four castes; the castes are divided into\nsub-castes, the sub-castes again into communities, the communities into\nrural societies, the rural societies into large patriarchal\njoint-families. The members of families are ruled by the patriarchs, the\npatriarchs by the headmen of caste communities, the caste communities by\nthe spiritual (Br\u0101hman) guides, through the enforcement of the salutary\nScriptural injunctions, the infringement of which is punished, in minor\ncases, by expiations involving physical hardships and spiritual\nausterities and purifying ceremonies, and, in serious cases, by\nexpulsion from caste, which, in India, is a greater disaster than\nnatural or material calamities. And all these rulers and ruled are\nrelated to one another by more or less natural love and affection or\nrespect and sense of duty born in their blood through thousands of\ngenerations of hereditary habits of thought and life; all are inspired\nto command and obey by the spirit of the Veda which their mind absorbs\nthrough the performance of their respective spiritual, social, physical\nduties as enjoined by the later Scriptures\u2014the Sh\u0101stras, which are\nmodified embodiments of the revealed laws of the Basic Spirit of All\nLife, the all-cementing Spirit of Nature\u2014Love.\n\nSECTION VIII. THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE.\n\nSimultaneously with the introduction of the Caste System in the Silver\nAge are instituted the Four Stages of Life, the object of which is to\nhelp the lower state of human consciousness to gradually attain to the\nhighest spiritual realization. They are graduated processes of mental\nand physical application and discipline by the practice of which\nindividuals are to recover the absolute illumination, being and bliss\nenjoyed by all human souls in the Golden Ago. They impart a scientific\ntraining to the human mind in order to enable it to subdue its R\u0101jasic\n(active) and T\u0101masic (darkening) attributes by developing the S\u0101ttwic\n(illuminating) attribute through concentration upon the Basic Principles\nof Life\u2014the Centre and Essence of Absolute Purity and Illumination.\n\nThe first stage is called Brahmacharjya or spiritual Pupilage. The\nsecond stage is called Grihastha or Householdership. The third stage is\ncalled V\u0101naprastha or Asceticism, The fourth stage is called the Bhikshu\nor Wandering Friarship. The first, third and fourth stages are enjoined\nfor the three twice-born castes and the third and fourth are open even\nto a Sudra if he is found worthy of adopting them. The Br\u0101hman,\nKshatriya and Vaishya are called twice-born; the first birth is the\nphysical birth, the second is the spiritual birth through the\ninvestiture of the holy thread from which begins the performance of\ndaily spiritual duties and practices.\n\nThe first stage of life begins, soon after this spiritual initiation, at\nthe age of twelve, when the boy goes to reside with the Gooroo\n(spiritual guide) for studying the Veda and for undergoing spiritual,\nmental and physical discipline. The Gooroo is an illuminated Br\u0101hman\nsage whose love and affection for the pupils in his charge and anxious\ncare and efforts for the unfoldment of their souls are not equalled by\nthose of even their parents. He feeds, clothes and lodges them in his\nown abode free of any charge or consideration whatever. His one thought\nand concern is to help them to realize the Truth, to be freed from the\nbondage of matter and thus enter the Absolute Realm of Eternal Love and\nHappiness.\n\nWhile every student has to perform the same regular spiritual rites and\npractices and to say the prayers daily after physical purification, the\nmethod of training adopted by the Gooroo for developing their soul is\nnot the same in each case. To some he explains the truths of the Veda\nand asks them to meditate on their meanings. Others, who show natural\ninstincts of devotion, he trains into practical realization of the same\ntruths without teaching them a single word of the Veda.\n\nThe chief method of a Gooroo's teaching is to draw the student's mind\naway from worldly attractions and turn the direction of the mind's\nvision inwards into the soul. Devotion is the principal aim, for\ndevotion means concentration and when that concentration is fixed upon\nthe contemplation of the Essence of things which pervades them all and\nyet is unmixed with the outer substance and attributes of their\nmanifested forms, the mind absorbs the perfect purity of that Essence\nand is filled with the serenity and the inexpressible joy born of\nabsolute freedom from the influence of matter.\n\nIf the student obtains this practical realization of the Essence of\nExistence, he remains for the rest of his life in this stage of\nspiritual pupilage. But he is no more a pupil; he becomes a teacher of\npupils\u2014a Gooroo. It is this practical realization that invests a student\nof wisdom with the magnetic power of awakening that realization in\nothers.\n\nA spiritual student's training is essentially based upon a life of\npurest mental and physical chastity; the student is not allowed by the\nteacher to mix or talk with worldly men or to discuss temporal subjects\namong themselves. When the practical realization of the Truth is\nattained, life's one object is attained. If, however, after staying and\nstudying with the Gooroo for twelve years, the student fails to have\nthis practical grasp of the soul of wisdom, he leaves the Gooroo and\nwith his permission returns to his family, takes unto himself a\ngood-tempered, virtuous and spiritually-inclined wife and enters into\nthe life of a householder. But the principal object of this second stage\nof life is the same as in the first-realization of the Truth. The\npractice for physical and mental purity is continued, the Veda is\nstudied daily, diligently and devotedly, and the meanings of its truths\nand principles contemplated with calmness and concentration, comparing\ntheir lessons in the light of the experiences of worldly life. The\nobligations of household life are greater than those of pupilage. Life\nmust be sustained on simple and sparing meals; the means of living must\nbe honestly earned, the hungry or needy beggar must be satisfied\naccording to means and ability; the pleasures and comforts of household\nexistence must be enjoyed moderately and with discrimination; parents,\nwife, members of the family, poor relatives and dependents and devoted\nservants must be supported, loved and made happy. All legitimate wishes\nand wants of the wife must be satisfied, she must be cherished with\naffection and respect and regarded as the presiding deity of household\nharmony. If during this household life the truth is realized, the\nhouseholder remains at home during the rest of his earthly days; he has\nno need to go into the third stage of life, for, as I have said,\nrealization of the Truth is the end and aim of life in all its stages.\nIf, however, this main object is not obtained, the householder, after\ntwenty-four years of family life, must enter the third stage, that of\nthe ascetic. He must leave his home with his wife and retire from\nworldly life and interests and live in some secluded forest place near\nhis home and practise austerities, physical and mental, in order to\npurge the mind of all its material inclinations for a period of twelve\nyears. If during that time the realization is obtained, he remains in\nthat stage for the rest of his life, imparting the realized knowledge\nand wisdom to all who may come to him.\n\nIf, however, he fails in his search for it, even in this ascetic stage,\nhe returns to his home with his wife, and if he has a son to protect and\nsupport her, he leaves his home and family, with the permission of his\nparents and his wife, and enters into the fourth stage, that of the holy\nwanderer, to tread the path to Freedom and Truth all alone, sundering\nall ties of worldly life and surrendering himself\u2014body, mind and soul\u2014to\nthat search. He must not occupy his mind with any other but that one\nthought; he must live on one simple, spare meal a day, enough to\nsufficiently satisfy his hunger; he must dress himself in scant\nsaffron-colored clothes, the color of Love and Wisdom. He must ever be\nwandering, never entering a human home, and rest under trees; but must\nnot sleep under one tree or on the same spot or place for three\nsuccessive nights, Never talk with people on any other subject than that\nof his search, and discuss it with humble spirit of inquiry with\nilluminated sages he comes across on his journeyings.\n\nThis all-absorbing meditation does help to awaken in him at last the\nlight of the Truth, and blessed with that light he is filled with joy\nand feels himself the happiest mortal, in touch and tune with the purest\nspirit of the Universe, the Infinity which is the parent of the Finite.\nWith the first flush of this realization he changes the color of his\nclothes from saffron to while, the color of Illumination (Sattwa), and\nas he wanders still, in the ecstasy of the bliss of Truth within his\nsoul, gradually the objective phenomena around him seem unsubstantial\nand finally grow dim and shadowy, while the realized spirit in which his\nmind lives immersed, he perceives to be the only substance of those\nshadows. Then, as he roams along, laughing and sporting like a little\nboy in the fulness of the glee within, he becomes in time almost\nunconscious of anything outside of his soul. His very sight is a\nblessing to all beholders, a blessing which fills them temporarily with\nthe delight of his intoxication. He has no count of time or notion of\nthe phases of time\u2014whether it is morning, noon or night. He lives\nhenceforth in Infinity and views all Nature as dwelling within him and\nanon views himself as a wavelet in the infinite ocean of its Essence. He\ndoes not feel any hunger, for with the satisfaction of his spiritual\nhunger all hunger has been satisfied forever. He is the embodiment of\necstasy, uncovered ecstasy, and even his physical cover, the white\ncloth, has fallen from his body. He stands naked as naked Nature's most\nnatural man. He is clothed with the illumination of his soul, like the\nGolden Age man.\n\nSECTION IX. THE COPPER AGE.\n\nThe Divine Cycle of time can be likened to a fruit. Like the ripening\nand rottening of a fruit, the Divine Cycle develops and degenerates into\nrottenness. The Golden Age is its ripening stage. At the end of that\nage, it is fully ripe. The Silver Age is its overripe stage. The Copper\nAge marks the stage of its rottenness and the Iron Age is its fully\nrotten stage. At the end of the Iron Age, it is reduced to its seed out\nof which springs the sprout of the Golden Age. And during the junction\nperiod of the Golden Age, covering 144,000 human years, the sprout grows\ninto a flowering tree which bears fruit with the commencement of the\nGolden Age proper.\n\nThe length of the Copper Age is 2,000 divine years, equal to 720,000\nhuman years, while its Twilight periods are 72,000 years each. Men in\nthis age are seven cubits or ten and a half feet high. Virtue lives in\nit in two quarters, the other two being filled by vice. Vitality is\nrooted in the blood; men live as long as there is blood in their body.\nGold and silver leaving become dearer the metal generally used in making\nhousehold utensils is copper which is found abundantly, whence the age\nderives its name. The intensity of accelerated R\u0101ja within Nature helps\nthe assertion of Tama in all her manifest phases, although Sattwa still\nhas some influence. The trees become less in height, less fruitful and\nthe fruits less sweet; crops less abundant despite the best efforts of\ncultivation. Cows give less milk than in the Silver Age, while wild\nanimals become more ferocious. Most animals can speak in the Silver Age,\nbut now only some of them, the higher ones, are blessed with that power\nduring the major portion of it.\n\nPeople in the Copper Age become more and more outward-looking generally,\nespecially the Sudras, some of whom having become filled with dense\nTama, revolt against all laws and discipline and turn into thieves and\nrobbers. These latter are expelled from their caste and banished out of\ncivilized centres of population the world over by the kings. They are\ncalled by the common name of robbers and specific names of Yavans and\nMlechhas which means men who are wild, barbarous and unclean by nature\nand habits. These Yavans and Allechhas come into existence towards the\nend of the Silver Age and rapidly increase in number during the Dw\u0101par\n(Copper Age), towards the end of which they form the majority of the\nworld's population and are known by different names according to the\nlocalities of their habitation, different shades of their dark\nattributes, and the callings they pursue: Yavan, Kir\u0101t (hunters),\nG\u0101ndh\u0101r, Cheen (Chinese), Shabar, Barbar (barbarian), Shak, Tung\u0101r,\nKanka, Palhab, Ramat and Kambhoj. The kings in the Copper Age have a\nhard time to protect their subjects and their territories from the\ndepredations of these wild characters and robbers. The king's first duty\nis to preserve peace in his kingdom so that his subjects may not be\ndisturbed in the performance of their religious duties, may apply\nthemselves to the study of the Veda and the contemplation of the Supreme\nDeity and tread the path of virtue without annoyance.\n\nThe king's chief duty being to insure the material welfare of his\nsubjects with the sole view of helping their spiritual welfare, the\npunishment for the infringement of caste and religious rules is made\nsevere and swiftly administered. At the same time the spirit of the\ntimes is taken into consideration and many rigid rules are relaxed and\nminor faults are pardoned. The four castes are subdivided into\nsub-castes according to the different callings that the Vaishyas and\nSudras show preference in their inclinations to follow. Those who take\nto agriculture are classed as cultivators, those who rear cattle and\nsell milk and butter are called milkmen, while those who take to trade\nand commerce are called traders and merchants and so on. All these form\ninto different sub-castes under the general caste of Vaishya. Similarly\nthe Sudras are subdivided according to their respective callings; viz.,\nblacksmiths, potters, carpenters, masons, etc., all under the general\ncaste of Sudra. The chief object of these sub-castes is to save human\nsociety from disintegration as much as possible, to preserve the masses\nof men in as large coherent sections as practicable linked to one\nanother through spiritual, moral and material relations.\n\nAnother, and almost equally important, object of the caste and sub-caste\nsystems in the Copper Age is to conserve the heredity of their different\nintellectualities, talents, healthy characteristics, and instincts. This\nbecomes all the more necessary owing to the fact that it is in the\nDw\u0101par Yuga that husbands and wives begin to have carnal relations.\nDuring the Golden Age and the greater portion of the Silver Age all men\nand women are, what Christians call, virgin-born. The fuss that is made\nabout this immaculate conception succeeds only to excite a smile of pity\nin the Shastra-enlightened Hindoo\u2014a smile of pity for the ignorance of\nthe facts in the past history of the human race of which they seem to\nknow so little and care less to know more. This fact about the Golden\nand Silver Ages, this generally prevailing immaculate child-conception,\nought to open their eyes. If they require any authority for this\nstatement, I refer them to the study of the Sh\u0101nti Parva of the\nMah\u0101bh\u0101rata.\n\nThe Yoga-power of the Golden Age men draw disembodied souls from the\nBhuba sphere and spiritual souls from higher spheres to enter into a\nwoman's womb and be born on the earth plane. The will-force of these men\nsupplies these incoming souls with the material of a physical body. In\nthe Silver Age the higher illuminated Br\u0101hmans and Saints can bring\nabout conception in the same way, while others bring it about by making\nthe women eat magnetized \"charoo,\" which not only draws these spirits to\nthe womb, but supplies the material for the physical body. In the Copper\nAge, however, the decrease of spirituality takes away the power, and so\nthe material of the physical body has to be supplied by the physical\nvigor of the father and the blood of the mother to enable a disembodied\nspirit to enter the womb and grow into a child.\n\nThis degenerated process of procreation coming into vogue in the Copper\nAge renders it necessary to fuse higher magnetism into the lower castes,\nas well as to preserve the magnetism of each caste from deterioration.\nThe means adapted for securing these ends is to allow the two higher\ncastes men to marry girls of the lower castes, and towards the latter\nend of the Copper Age even Vaishyas are permitted to marry Sudra girls.\nThe lower caste men, however, are never allowed to marry higher caste\nwomen, as it degenerates the breed, the seed being a far more potent\nfactor in producing excellence of growth than the soil. The offsprings\nof these intermarriages form into castes distinct from those of their\nfathers and mothers, lower than their father's and higher than their\nmother's.\n\nIn order to preserve the magnetism and the hereditary talent and\ninstincts from deteriorating, the castes are divided into sub-castes\naccording to their general proclivities and professions of livelihood.\nEach sub-caste must marry within its own circle, and must eat food\ncooked by the hands of its own members. Heredity is now being believed\nin by the materealistic people of the modern world, and when that belief\nin heredity will have grown stronger in their minds, they will then take\npractical measures to preserve the good qualities of heredity from being\nspoilt by coming in contact with the bad magnetism of its lower traits.\n\nThis human magnetism is a subject which is worthy of the study of modern\nscientists. If they can find out what it is, ascertain its properties,\npower for good and evil, and how good magnetism can be conserved and\ntransmitted and how bad magnetism can be purified, they will do humanity\ngreater good than they have done by the discovery of steam and\nelectricity, which, judged from the standpoint of the highest good,\nought to be considered as very doubtful boons. Magnetism is not useful\nmagnetism if it is purely physical. It is not worth preserving, it is\ninjurious, and its contact ought to be avoided.\n\nIt is spiritual magnetism which is worth preserving. It is spirituality\nwhich is the medium which transmits good heredity from parent to\nprogeny. The mind is the storehouse and battery of all human magnetism.\nThe vibrations of the mind pervade every atom of the body and the mind's\nvibrations are generated by its principal and most powerful thoughts and\nsentiments. These vibrations are the essence of these thoughts and\nsentiments, and magnetism is that subtle essence impregnated with the\npotencies of the mind mixed with the subtle forces of the physical body.\n\nMarrying, cooking and eating within the caste helps to conserve in the\nindividual members thereof the spiritual and mental magnetism, generated\nby the performances of the religious duties and ceremonies and spiritual\nincantations which form the daily routine of household life enjoined by\nthe Scriptures.\n\nThus wisdom, talent, traits, instincts are all ingrained in and\ntransmitted through the blood from generation to generation of each\ncaste. The caste is like a university, each home a school, and the\ninstincts and talents, brought into being with the birth of each member,\nare the implanted principles of the knowledge of each profession of\nwhich it is the caste. A carpenter's caste is a guild for carpentry, a\ncarpenter's home is a technical school for carpentry where the natural\ntalent and love for the art are partly imbibed by the instincts of\nheredity and partly by observation which is the best system of training.\n\nWith these tendencies of material arts are born in the blood of the\nchild the germs of the moral and spiritual culture of the parents. These\ngerms shoot forth into healthy growth under the fostering care of the\nchild's guardians, aided by the religious, social and domestic duties\nthe growing child has to perform daily. The carpenter is as much a\nuseful member of the four-caste society as the Br\u0101hman. The householder\nBr\u0101hman can no more do without a carpenter than a carpenter can do\nwithout a Br\u0101hman. But the value of the Br\u0101hman's help to the carpenter\nbeing more important to the development of his soul, which is the true\naim and goal of earthly life, the obligations of the other castes to the\nBr\u0101hman are greater and deeper than those of the Br\u0101hman to the Sudra.\nThe question may now be asked, has that carpenter no chance of becoming\nthe equal of the Br\u0101hman through spiritual culture? Yes and no. Yes,\nbecause Br\u0101hmanhood is nobody's monopoly. Br\u0101hmanhood is but a state of\nthe human mind\u2014the ensouled state of the human mind, and anybody who\ndevelops this state of mind, even though he be encased within a Pariah's\nflesh, lays legitimate claim to Brahmanhood. Only he must make that\nensouled mental state perfect, only he must enter the fold of\nBr\u0101hmanhood through the door of Nature, through the ingress of Rebirth.\nThe maturity of a material or mental condition is best known to Nature.\nA mass of animal flesh, lying on the surface of Mother Earth, undergoes\nall the processes of disintegration and putrefaction, and when that\ndisintegration is complete, Earth assimilates and absorbs it again; it\nbecomes a part of her body, it becomes earth itself. What is true of\nmaterial plane of Nature is true as well of her mental and spiritual\nplanes. When a carpenter has developed full Br\u0101hman consciousness,\nNature opens to him wide the portals of the spiritual caste which had\nlooked down upon him in his carpenter birth. Even in his carpenter\nbirth, he does not go unrewarded. The case of the carpenter Rishi,\ncalled Suta, is a luminous instance in point. His spiritual culture was\nso great that the highest illuminated sages (Rishis) learned from him\nthe lessons of the Pur\u0101nas which he preached to them, sitting on a\nraised platform with their reverential permission. He was considered a\nknower of Brahm and so enjoyed the respect paid to the highest spiritual\nbeings. A Sudra may not become a Br\u0101hman, but may become through\npractical spiritual culture a higher being than a Br\u0101hman even in his\nSudra birth, and be born into a highly spiritual Br\u0101hman family, by\nsheer dint of merit, the merit of developing spiritual consciousness\u2014in\nthe next birth. Similarly a Br\u0101hman, born in the highest family of his\nclan, will, by developing Pariah qualities, be outclassed in his Br\u0101hman\nbirth and enter through the door of Nature into a Pariah family in a\nsubsequent birth.\n\nThe above facts and truths are known to a child even of every caste.\nEven a child knows, either in the Copper Age or to-day among the\nfour-caste people, that a caste-birth is dependent upon Karma (actions).\nA Sudra, therefore, takes the very fact of his birth as sufficient\nreason for his being placed in the lowest caste. He is reconciled to his\nfate, a fate with the potentialities of his actions in previous\nexistences. And the little gloom of sadness that his lowly station of\nlife casts upon his mind is illumined now and again by the silver lining\nof the consolation that it is in his power, if he so wills it, to be a\nhigh Br\u0101hman in the next incarnation, if he succeeds in developing his\nhigher soul-consciousness.\n\nThe Veda in the Copper Age has for the first time to be studied and its\ntruths practised in two parts\u2014the philosophical and the ceremonial\nparts. Men generally are degenerated so much in this age that they can\nno longer grasp the truths of the Upanishads without first purifying\ntheir body and through the purified body the mind. The Vedas are divided\ninto Upanishads (Eternal Spiritual Truths) and the Mantras\n(incantations, hymns and ceremonies, the practice of which cleanses the\nimpurities of the mind and body). In the Dw\u0101par Yuga, therefore, the\nperformance of the ceremonials of the Veda is much in vogue. When the\nbody and mind are purified, they are made fit for grasping the meanings\nof the higher philosophy of life and become receptive to the influences\nof the subtlest spiritual vibrations.\n\nSECTION X. THE IRON AGE.\n\nBut even these attempts and safeguards for keeping up the higher\nindividuality of the human race fail to retard the course of the\ndegeneration which Nature herself undergoes in the process of time. The\nfruit of Divine Cycle, spoken of in the beginning of the last Section,\nreaches an advanced stage of rottenness which marks the commencement of\nthe Twilight Period of the Kali, called also Tamas or the Dark Age. The\ncharacteristics of Kali are symptoms of Nature filled with denser gloom\nthan heretofore.\n\nThe usual Kali, the last section of every Divine Cycle, is much more\ndense with Tama (darkness) than the one in which we are living now. The\nreason is that at the junction of the last Dw\u0101par and the present Kali,\nthe fullest incarnation of the Supreme Deity, Sri Krishna himself, came\non earth to dwell among men for a period of a hundred years. This Avat\u0101r\nand source of all Avat\u0101rs, this central Form-Point of All-Pervading\nBrahm, this Embodiment of Para-Brahm, is gracious enough to come and\ndwell among men on earth only once in 71 Divine cycles. We, the\ndegenerated mortals of this Dark Age, are more fortunate than even\nhumanity of many a Golden or Silver Age. The Supreme Lord sanctifies the\nsoil of the earth-plane of every universe with the all-purifying touch\nof His Lotus-Feet by turns. The countless universes that spring out of\nHim and return in germ-form again into Him have the grace of His\npersonal touch and supervision at appointed times. When Krishna comes to\nlive in any of the universes, Nature therein is turned inside out, so\nthat the inmost essence of it may flow over its surface and wash off all\nthe causes of pollution. It has been recorded by the contemporary sages\nof Krishna-Leel\u0101, the all-knowing sages who came down to earth from\nhigher planes to act as scribes of the Lord's deeds, that by the coming\nof Krishna not only the 36,000 years, forming the junction period of\nKali, was destroyed, but also almost half of the age of Kali proper,\nwhile the Lord's Rash-Dance with the Gopis absorbed a whole Kalpa\ncovering 36,000 Divine cycles out of the age of Brahm\u0101.\n\nThe age of Brahm\u0101 is the age of the universe, that is to say, the age of\nBrahm\u0101 is equal to the duration of creation. Brahm\u0101 lives for 100\nBr\u0101hmic years and one Br\u0101hmic year is made up of 360 Br\u0101hmic days. One\nday of Brahm\u0101 is equal to one Kalpa, so is his night. A Kalpa is equal\nto 12,000,000 divine years. One night of Brahm\u0101 covers the same period\nof time so that one day and one night of Brahm\u0101 covers 24,000,000 divine\nyears. Multiplying these figures by 360 we get 8,640,000,000 divine\nyears, which is the span of one year of Brahm\u0101. Multiplying these\nfigures by 100 we get the span of Brahm\u0101's age, 864,000,000,000 divine\nyears, which being multiplied by 360 we get 311,040,000,000,000 human\n(lunar) years, the age of Brahm\u0101, the duration of creation.\n\nThus the night of the Rash-Dance not only absorbed one Kalpa equal to\n4,320,000,000 lunar years out of the duration of creation, but also\n36,000 years which form the junction of Dw\u0101par and Kali, as also about\nhalf the span of the Kali proper. About this last there is no\nauthoritative statement in the Sh\u0101stras, but it has been stated therein\nthat when Krishna left the earth and went up to His Abode, the forces of\n\"advanced Kali\" overtook humanity. Now, according to the Hindoo\nalmanacs, about 5,000 years only have passed since Krishna's departure,\nwhich would mean that it is now but the beginning of Kali proper, the\nspan of which is 360,000 years. But the signs and symptoms of the times\nalready visible are unmistakably of the middle Kali, detailed\ndescriptive features of which are to be found in the Mah\u0101bh\u0101rata as also\nin all the Pur\u0101nas. This being so, it is not a wrong supposition that we\nare already in the middle Kali and that Krishna-Leel\u0101 has also taken\naway half the age of Kali proper.\n\nNor is it necessary that the Kali has to pass through the conventional\nfigures of its duration given in the Sh\u0101stras. What is true of\nindividual humanity is true also of the whole mass of humanity which\nrepresents Kali. Kali is nothing else but the forms of Nature's changes\nof the latter end of a Divine cycle. We, men and beasts and trees and\ngrass, productions of Nature, represent the phases and features of Kali.\nDense Tama working within Nature brings out the characteristics of this\ndark age to the surface of the earth. Man being the most highly\norganized product and the most powerful medium of her attributes, the\nthoughts and actions of men are most affected by it. The dark thoughts\nand actions, called sin in common parlance of humanity, form the sins of\nKali which represents the spirit of human conduct and characteristics in\nthe Dark Age. We see that people, who are naturally healthy and robust,\nshorten their longevity by over-indulging in vice. Thus a life of vice\nor sin, that is, life lived in violation of Nature's laws, begets\ndiseases of the body which bring about early destruction. A man for\ninstance, who, according to his natural state of health, ought to live\nfor one hundred years, is often found to die at the age of thirty, a\nvictim of dissipated life. This rule applies to Kali. All our\naccumulated sins form Kali's sins. And these accumulated sins are\nbegetting diseases in the body and mind of humanity from which Kali must\ndie an early death.\n\nThis Kali, therefore, with its rapidly increasing accumulation of sin,\nmay come to an end in less than 10,000 years, its conventional period of\nexistence, 360,000 years, being condensed into that short space of time.\nJudging from the signs of an advanced state of rottenness, already\ndeveloped, it would seem as if the worst features which hasten its end\nmay manifest themselves in less than a few hundred years. But, like\nwheels within wheels, the Satya, Tret\u0101 and Dw\u0101par cycles have their sway\nthrough its duration by turns. By this I mean that during the course of\nKali (Iron Age) features and characteristics of the Golden, Silver and\nCopper Ages manifest themselves by turns all through it. Indeed, the\nspirit and attributes of these four cycles weigh the moral and physical\natmosphere of each day and night. Supposing the average day begin at 6\nA.M., the influence and the attributes of the Golden Age prevail from 6\nA.M. to 3:36 P.M.; those of the Silver Age prevail from 3:36 P.M. to\n10:48 P.M.; those of the Copper Age from 10:48 P.M. to 3:36 A.M., and\nthose of the Iron Age from 3:36 A.M. to 6 A.M. Illumination and\ncomparative calmness dwell within and without us from morning tip to\nhigh noon owing to the predominance of Sattwa, the predominant attribute\nof the Golden Age. From noon activity (R\u0101ja) asserts itself, and by\nabout 3 o'clock in the afternoon it gains full force when light (inside\nand out of us) is on the decline and calmness is disturbed, introducing\nthe influence of the Silver Age, which lasts until about 11 at night,\nwhen Tama (Darkness) begins its reign and, combined with R\u0101ja, holds the\nrule of the Copper Age. The signs of Tama are laziness, inaction, sleep,\netc. We begin to experience these from it o'clock at night and until\nthree in the morning slumber and gloom envelop us and Nature. But sleep\nand darkness are deepest from three to five in the morning, these hours\nare ruled by Kali, the Dark Age.\n\nThus cycles revolve within cycles as they revolve even within the\nsmallest cycle, called Throughout the Iron Age, the conditions of the\nfirst three cycles prevail one after the other, and when this influence\nof the Copper Age conditions in the Kali Age spends itself, conditions\nof darker Kali prevail for a time: Then again signs are visible of\nGolden Age influence and after a time degenerate into Silver Age phases,\nthen into Copper Age mixed light, then again into the deep gloom of Kali\nwithin Kali, and so on. As Kali advances more and more the successive,\nrotatory influences of the other three cycles become feebler and\nfeebler, and at last under the deepest gloom of Kali gaining fullest\npower, their influences are kept down absolutely. Here begins the end of\nthe Kali period. Soon after the signs of the coming Golden Age are\nvisible. These ever recurring conditions of the Golden and Silver Ages,\nthough feeble in their influence, counteract the destructive influences\nof vice and sin and thus help to save the life of Kali from coming to an\nend all too soon.\n\nThe Kali Yuga is called the Iron Age, because gold, silver and copper\nbecoming scarcer, people use all sorts of mixed metals, but chiefly\niron, in making household utensils, iron being found in great abundance.\nThe average stature of mankind is three and a half cubits or 5 feet 9\ninches. Virtue is reduced to one-quarter, the other three-quarters being\nmade up by vice. With the decrease of spirituality ill every succeeding\nage, the root of vitality has been transferred from marrow to bone, from\nbone to blood. Now, in the Kali that root of life is destroyed. Life in\nthis age is generally sustained by food alone. The effect of constant\nconcentration upon changeful, external objects rebounds upon the body,\ncausing loss of tissue greater than that in the former ages, which men\nstill have their minds turned inwards, between whiles, to have a dip in\nthe source of All-Life\u2014the soul.\n\nThe Vedas in the Iron Age are no more understandable to the people in\ntheir original sound-embodiments except to a small portion of spiritual\nBr\u0101hmans. They are therefore presented to the people in general in the\nform of Sh\u0101stras and Pur\u0101nas. These embody the Vedic truths, principles\nand ideas in easy constructions and simple language, illustrated by\nexamples and stories drawn from facts in life of the past ages. The\nSh\u0101stras are, therefore, nothing but the Vedas, simplified, explained\nand illustrated, with the object of enabling the deteriorated intellect\nof the Iron Age man to grasp the light and the spirit of the Storehouse\nof Revealed Wisdom. The ceremonial parts of the Vedas are likewise\nmodified and rendered easier for practice in the form of Smritis (forms\nof spiritual duties and sacrifices) the daily performance of which is\nenjoined upon the four-caste people.\n\nYet for all that, despite all these strenuous efforts of the small\nspiritual portion of the people to save the souls of their brethren from\nsuccumbing to the dark forces of the age and the allurements of a\nmaterial life of undisciplined liberty and license, human society falls\ninto a mental and material state of chaos, typical of the stage of\ncomplete rottenness of a fruit. As many grains of wheat when ground in a\nmill look like one substance, called flour, which means so many separate\ngrains of wheat have been divided into such minute parts that they\nappear as one substance; so, in this most advanced stage of\ndecomposition of human society, its various and separate composing parts\nand phases\u2014religious, racial and material\u2014will be divided into one\nwhole-looking mass of separate minute units. People's minds, at this\nlatter end of the age, will be so far removed from the idea and notion\nof God and the soul that the Vedas, the Bible and all other religious\nbooks and philosophies that are now extant will disappear, and even the\nfact that they had at any time existed will be completely forgotten.\nChurches and temples, mosques and synagogues will no more be seen on the\nface of the earth, humanity will live for life itself\u2014the grossest\nmaterial life. Each individual will differ from the other on all\nimaginable points of view on all subjects. Every man and woman will be\nhis or her own God or ideal. There will be no sympathy between them,\neach one asserting his or her independence over all of his or her fellow\ncreatures. They will think, act, move, eat, sleep as their own wild,\nwilful dispositions will prompt causing quarrels and fighting between\nanother. Selfishness and aggression will the keynote of their character,\nthe number of Mlechhas and Yavans and outcasted people increases out of\nall proportion to the number of the four-caste people who may now be\ncalled the Root Race of the earth. In the process of time this Root Race\nof people will cling round the centre of the earth to save their\nspiritual instincts, pure ways of living, customs and habits from being\ncontaminated by association with the strayed portion of humanity who now\nform the greatest majority. As, when in the throes of death, through\ndisease, the only visible action of life is centered in the heart, while\nall other parts are numb and comparatively lifeless, so with the advance\nof Kali, the spiritual life becomes centered in the heart of the earth.\nThis heart of the earth is called in the ancient Scriptures the Sea-Girt\nIsle or peninsula, the Belt of the Earth's Body\u2014now called India. In\nthis heart only of the earth live the original four-caste people, while\nthe rest, broken away and divorced from the parent stock and religion,\nare scattered all over the rest of her body.\n\nThe signs of advanced Kali are already visible all over the earth at the\npresent moment, nay, even of its most degenerated stage, especially in\nthe West\u2014signs and symptoms which are manifesting themselves here and\nthere even in men of the Root Race. What a horrid state of affairs the\nclosing period of Kali will bring about may be judged from the\nprophesies made five thousand years ago by the illuminated sages of this\nRoot Race, prophesies which are correct in startling exactitude and some\nof which are on all fours with the signs and characteristics of our\npresent period, as will be seen from a few extracts from them given\nbelow.\n\nThe conditions of the different stages of Kali have been described in\nall the eighteen Pur\u0101nas, and the Mah\u0101bh\u0101rata which embody the history\nof the human race from creation to destruction\u2014the past, present and\nfuture phases of human society of all times and of all climes. The\nfollowing few details translated from a minute description of the early,\nmiddle and final stages of the Kali, given by the M\u0101rkandeya, in reply\nto questions put in to Kali by King Yudhisthira in an assemblage of\nsaints, kings and nobles, inspired by incarnated Krishna, who was\npresent in person, will be of interest to most of my readers:\n\nRaja Yudhisthira, Emperorer of Bh\u0101rat-varsha, the central of the seven\ncontinents of the ancient world (now known as all the world), during his\nsojourn among the Rishis (saints) of K\u0101myak Forest, with a view to\nascertain the future state of the world, asked the immortal saint\n(Brahmarshi) M\u0101rkandeya, \"Holy one! After having beard your wonderful\naccounts of the creation and the destruction of the universe, we have\nbecome anxious to hear about Kali Yuga, and we beg you to describe this\nage in detail to us. What results will be produced by the destruction of\nthe Root Religion? What will the valor, strength, food, behavior,\ncostume and longevity of the human race he like? And how long after will\ncommence the Satya Yuga (Golden Age) again?\"\n\nSaint M\u0101rkandeya answered: \"O King! In the Satya Yuga, virtue being void\nof the least touch of greed, deception and other evil qualities of the\nmind, was like a full four-footed bull. In the Tret\u0101, it lost one and in\nthe Dw\u0101par two feet. In the Dark Age it will be only one-footed, the\nother three feet being destroyed by vice.\n\n\"The longevity, heroism, intelligence, strength and mind-force of\nmankind are gradually decreasing age by age; they will decrease still\nmore in the Kali. The Kings, Br\u0101hmans, Vaishyas and Sudras will practice\nfalse piety, and this false piety will be turned into a means for\ncheating others. Love of truth will decline in men; decline in love of\ntruth will cause shortness of life; shortness of life will prevent the\nproper cultivation of wisdom, Little wisdom will beget ignorance,\nignorance will beget greed, greed anger, anger delusion. And swayed by\ngreed, anger, delusion and sensuality, they will be envious of and\nantagonistic to each other.\n\n\"The twice-born castes will become void of truth and holy meditation.\nThe mean Chandals (pariahs) will behave like Kshatriyas and Kshatriyas\nwill imitate the ways of the Chandals. Husbands will become extremely\nhenpecked; feed upon fish, flesh and milk of goat and sheep. Man will\naggress upon and develop an irreligious, atheistic and thievish nature.\n\n\"People will not discriminate about the eatableness or uneatableness of\nany food. Br\u0101hmans will cease performing spiritual practices, will\ndenounce the Vedas, and being deluded by false discussion give up holy\nceremonials and engage themselves in mean actions. Father and son will\nfeel no compunction in killing each other, but will rather feel\ndelighted at the deed and call it an act of God.\n\n\"The whole world will become Mlechha (unclean and barbarous) void of\nreligious performances and ceremonials, gladness and festivities. Almost\nall people will be miserly, defame their friends and defraud and steal\nthe money of poor unprotected widows. They will possess little strength\nand no energy, yet be greedy and filled with material, sensual\nattachments; will gladly listen to the advices of well-known bad persons\nand accept charity by false pretences.\n\n\"Conceited yet illiterate kings will challenge one another to fight,\nwill try to kill one another, and will be like thorns in the sides of\ntheir subjects. Setting at naught their duties of protecting the people,\nthey will, swayed by greed and pride, be ever anxious to rob and punish\nthem, and, prompted by their cruel heart, they will snatch away the\nproperty and wives of honest and pious men.\n\n\"None will ask a father for his daughter to marry, and no father will\noffer his daughter in marriage. The daughters will choose and marry\ntheir own choice without consulting anybody or going through any\nceremonials.\n\n\"Brother will cheat brother. Even learned persons will lose love of\ntruth and be addicted to telling lies; the old will act like boys, boys\nlike old people. Cowards will brag of their bravery and brave men will\nact like cowards. All will eat the same kinds of food and be tilled with\nselfishness and delusion. No one will trust another.\n\n\"Br\u0101hmans, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas will cease to restrain and rule the\nSudras or even each other. All castes will be levelled and become\none\u2014unclean and barbarous. Fathers will not pardon sons, nor sons pardon\ntheir fathers. Wives will cease from attending upon their husbands; men\nand women will all be self-willed and envious of each other. People will\nnot perform any good works or ceremonies to satisfy the gods. They will\nnot listen to each other; there will be no gooroo (teacher) or chel\u0101\n(pupil), all will be filled with the darkness of ignorance. At Kali-end.\ntheir longevity will be sixteen years; most will die immediately after\nthat age is reached. Women will give birth to children at the age of\nseven or eight, and, in some cases, even at five or six; men will beget\nchildren at the age of ten or twelve; in some cases, even at the age of\nseven or eight. No husband will be satisfied with his wife, no wife\nsatisfied with her husband. They will have very little wealth, and even\nthose who will have no wealth whatever will wear the false marks of\nwealth. Envy will be predominant in every mind, hunger ever burning in\nevery stomach. Cross-road and streets will be thronged by wantons and\nlibertines. Women, forsaking shame, will bear spite and grudge for their\nhusbands. Men will be all of unclean habits, manners and customs, cat\nanything and everything and will be terrible in every way and action.\nThey will cheat all in buying and selling of goods, out of sheer greed.\n\n\"None will care to acquire spiritual wisdom, yet all will be busied in\nperforming spiritual ceremonies for form's sake and be naturally\naddicted to crooked acts. They will show the faults of each other.\nPeople will live in constant fear of losing their lives as victims of\ntheir own greed and envy. The Sudras will kill Br\u0101hmans and rob them of\ntheir property, and the Br\u0101hmans being thus oppressed will cry out in\nagony and out of fear will roam unprotected on the surface of the earth.\nSome of them will take refuge in lonely spots on river banks, in\nmountains and in dangerous places to save their lives; others being\noppressed by the grinding taxes of unjust kings, will lose all patience,\nand taking to the services of Sudras, will perform forbidden acts.\n\n\"The generality of people will become fierce and of murderous\npropensities. The Sudras will become spiritual preceptors and Br\u0101hmans\nwill listen to them, believing their wrong precepts to be demonstrated\nfacts. The low will be high and the high low: all conditions will be\nreversed. All, all people will forsake God and worship Mammon. The\nSudras will cease from serving Br\u0101hmans. The Earth will no longer be\nadorned by the temples of God. All mankind will be impious and develop\nfrightful characters. Meat will be their food, liquor their drink. The\none object of life will be to increase flesh and blood. The rain-clouds\ntowards the close of Kali will pour down rains out of season so that,\noverwhelmed by incessant and untimely rain, people will subsist on fruit\nand roots. Pupils will not care for the lessons of their teachers,\ntemporal or other, and will act against their wishes. The\npoverty-stricken Gooroos (spiritual teachers) will curse their\ndisciples. There will not be the least trace of respect left in the\nworld. The relations of friends and kiths and kins will depend upon\nobligations of money.\n\n\"At the close of the cycle flowers will grow upon flowers, fruits upon\nfruits, and, owing to the rains not falling in season, there will grow\nbut scanty crops, so that famine-stricken populations of the earth will\ncry out in hunger and roam upon her surface. Fragrant things will lose\ntheir odor, sweet juices will lose their sweetness, seeds will not\ngerminate properly.\n\n\"Women will transfer their love from husbands to servants. All women,\nincluding wives of heroes, will prefer somebody else to their husbands\nfor lovers. Pious men will be in mean stations, short-lived and poor;\nvicious men will occupy high positions, have long life and prosperity.\nThere will be constant breaking out of fires all over the land. Tired\nand hungry wayfarers will ask for food and refuge from householders in\nvain, and out of despair rest and sleep upon the road. Crows and other\nbirds, snakes and beasts will make unearthly noises.\"\n\nWhen Nature and human society will be thus revolutionized, reaction will\nnaturally set ill. When the fruit of Divine Cycle will thus reach its\nextreme stage of rottenness, out of its seed will spring forth a shoot\nwhich will grow into a fresh tree. That tree, in turn, will bear fresh\nfruit\u2014a fresh Divine Cycle. In this state of the darkest gloom, faint\nstreaks of russet light will be visible which will grow bright anon and\ngive birth to the dawn of the Golden Age again.\n\nReaction is the law of Nature, reaction is the result of every phase of\naction. When vice has its full run on the face of the globe, when it has\nreached its lowest depth and wildest reign, it spends its force, becomes\nweakened, allowing virtue to lift its head once more and build its\npalace of light upon its ruins. Vice is born of Tama, and virtue of\nSattwa and the active force of both is R\u0101ja. Time is the\nself-manifesting kaleidoscopic revolution of color-pictures on the\ntransparent canvas of ether. After the deepest shades of dark colors are\nexhausted, there is a reaction of lighter colors. When Tama has\nexhausted its force, Sattwa asserts itself by natural law.\n\nThis healthy reaction growing stronger will gradually evolve some order\nout of the chaos of the closing Kali. A portion of the people will get\ndisgusted with the reign of utmost licence and inharmony, and, endowed\nwith strong mental force to resist the influence of the age, will pierce\nthe veil of darkness enveloping everything and see the light that dwells\nwithin. These will stimulate this reaction, and spread the discovered\nlight among others groping in the darkness for that light.\n\nThe four castes will be gradually established once more in some fashion.\n\nAt this stage will be born in the village of Sambhalpur in India a\nBr\u0101hman of great spiritual force, named Vishnujash\u0101, and in time will\nbecome the father of the coming Incarnation of Vishnoo, one of the most\npowerful incarnations\u2014Kalki. The Lord Kalki will rapidly grow into youth\nand spiritual power. At his mere mental call will come to him countless\nvehicles, armours, all kinds of weapons of war and soldiers. He will\nthen lead them to battle against all the Mlechhas, robbers and tyrants,\nall over the world, who will fall shouting in agony before his mammoth\nsword. After extirpating them all, the hold will establish once again\nperfect order and harmony on the surface of the earth. After ruling the\nworld as Emperor and infusing into humanity the spirit of highest\nspirituality, Kalki will make over the charge of the earth to the\nBr\u0101hmans and disappear after entering a most beautiful forest.\n\nHere will commence the Junction period of coming Golden Age. During this\nperiod, covering 144,000 lunar years, all germs of vice, crime and sin\nwill be destroyed and men will become engaged in spiritual practices and\nceremonials. The earth will be adorned with beautiful forests and\ngardens, buildings, lakes, reservoirs, and temples of God and many are\nthe sacred ceremonies that will be constantly performed on her surface.\nEverywhere will be visible holy Br\u0101hmans, saints and anchorites. The\nfour stages of life which before were filled with rogues will now be\nfilled by pious, honest and truthful men. The deep-rooted bad instincts\nand associations will then be driven out of the minds of all people. All\nthe crops will grow plentifully in their proper seasons. All people will\nbe employed in charitable acts, religious sacrifices, and in performing\nspiritual duties. The Br\u0101hmans will again be absorbed in holy\nmeditations, satisfied and serene; the Kshatriyas will exhibit their\nvalor; the kings rule the world with justice and mercy; the Vaishyas\ncarry on trade and agriculture; the Sudras serve the three upper castes\nwith loving service.\n\nThis purifying process of humanity will be carried on all through the\n144,000 years bringing about the highest spiritual, mental and physical\ndevelopment. From the shortest stature to which the human body will be\ndecreased, it will gradually, through this long process of time and\nculture, be increased once again to the height of 21 cubits or 31 1/2\nfeet. With the height of the body will be reached the height of\nspiritual perfection. All, all men and women will once again enjoy the\nblessings of predominant Sattwa within Nature and roam upon the earth in\nthe Garden of Eden with their vision turned inwards into the soul of\nthings, their body clad with the sky, their hearts filled with ecstasy,\ntheir thoughts centered upon God. We all who are now walking the earth,\nhad walked in the last Golden Ago and formed members of that godly\nfraternity of Adams and Eves and shall do so in the coming Golden Age,\nunless we develop higher soul-consciousness and, before the end of the\npresent Kali, transfer ourselves to any the upper four spheres or to the\nhighest beyond the universe\u2014Golaka\u2014the abode of Absolute Love, to dwell\nwith our only Lover and Beloved\u2014Krishna.\n\nSECTION XI. MANWANTARA OR THE DELUGE.\n\nThe next larger cycle of time is called the Manwantara or the Deluge.\nWhen the Divine Cycle has revolved 71 times it brings about a cataclysm.\nThe oceans surge up and cover the entire earth with its waters, even the\nhighest peaks of the Himalayas being submerged, and remain so for the\nperiod of 71 Divine Cycles. This world-wide natural catastrophy occurs\nperiodically, owing to more and more increased accumulation of the sins\nof humanity, who, along with all living beings and vegetation are thus\ndestroyed by submersion. The only man saved is the most virtuous and\nspiritual man of the time, who becomes the Manoo elect, that is, the\nspiritual governor of the next Cycle which extends between the time of\nthe reappearance of land after the Deluge to the next Deluge. This\nperiod is called Manwantara, the period between two Manoos. The account\nof the Deluge as given in the Old Testament of the Bible has been taken\nfrom minute accounts recorded in the Alatsya (Fish) Purana and the\ncondensed facts about them given in all the Pur\u0101nas as well as the\nMah\u0101bh\u0101rata. Only, the Bible version is distorted in some particulars.\n\nSince the beginning of the present Kalpa creation, six Manwantaras, each\nending with the Deluge, have passed away. We are just now living in the\nseventh of which twenty-seven Divine Cycles have rolled away and we are\nnow living in the Iron Age of the twenty-eighth. Many millions of years\ntherefore have gone by since the last Flood. Towards the end of the Kali\nYuga of the last Manwantara, mankind became filled with the utmost\ncorruption. But there was, according to the Mah\u0101bh\u0101rata and the Bh\u0101gavat\nPurana, one man, by the name of King Satyavrata, whom this spirit of\ncorruption failed to touch. He was almost as pure and spiritually\npowerful as Brahm\u0101, the Creator, while he was possessed of uncommon\nphysical beauty. He was engaged in spiritual austerities and meditation\nin a holy forest on the top of the Himalayan mountains for many hundred\nyears. One day, while he was sitting in contemplation on the bank of the\nriver Cheerinee, a little fish leapt out of the water into his hands. He\nthrew it back into the river but the fish, to his surprise, spoke and\nbegged the king to protect him from a large fish coming to devour him.\nSatyavrata out of compassion took the fish into his hands again, went\nhome and placed it in a water-pot. He tended him as his own offspring.\nThe fish gradually grew so big that he had to be taken to a large pond,\nbut after a few years the pond could no more hold the fish, so large had\nit become. The King wondering at this unprecedented growth suspected the\nfish to be Vishnoo Himself. The fish begged Satyavrata to put him into\nthe holy Ganges which he did by his Yoga power. In time, however, the\nfish growing still larger, he had to be taken to the ocean. The King\nexhibited his yoga-power again by carrying that huge fish to the ocean.\n\nAs soon as he was thrown into the sea, the phenomenal Fish smiled and\nthus addressed the King, \"O thou kind one! Thou hast saved and protected\nme in every way, but I will leave nothing undone to return this\nkindness. Now, listen! The time has come for one of the great events of\nthe world. The destruction of the earth is at hand. On the seventh day\nfrom this, the earth shall be swallowed up by the waters, from which\nthou canst not be saved except through me. A large ark shall come to\nthee into which thou must get with the seven Rishis (Illumined Beings)\nof the Great Bear who shall help and bear you company. Take thou also\nall kinds of seeds of all trees, plants, shrubs and creepers, as also\npairs of all animals and creeping things on this boat and wait for me. I\nwill soon appear there, bedecked with horns. Do not doubt my words, but\ndo as I tell thee.\"\n\nThe strange Fish then disappeared as Satyavrata said, \"So shall it be.\"\nHe then did just as the Fish had told him. When the ark came, he went\naboard with the Seven Rishis of the Great Bear and seeds and animals and\nwaited in anxious contemplation of the Divine Fish which soon appeared\nas he had promised, bedecked with horns and high as a hillock. He made\nsalutation to him and tied the ark to his horns with a strong heavy\nrope, whereupon the Fish pulled the ark with great speed and began to\nplay upon the bosom of the ocean.\n\nThen the ocean heaved with huge waves and the waters roared. It all\nlooked as if the ocean was performing a wild dance. The ark was then\ntossed and whirled about with great force, and soon not a trace of land\nor sign of any direction was visible. Earth and sky seemed one vast\nexpanse of water under which all men and beasts and birds and vegetation\nwere drowned and destroyed. The Fish and the ark and Satyavrata with the\nSeven Rishis and the seeds and animals alone existed. The Divine Fish\ndrew and preserved the ark for many years on the surface of the deep.\n\nLong, long time after, when the waters subsided and the highest peak of\nthe Himalayas made itself visible, the Fish drew the ark to it and said\nin a pleasant voice, addressing the Rishis, \"O ye illumined ones! Bind\nthe boat for a while to this mountain-peak,\" which the Rishis did. In\ncommemoration of this event, this peak of the Himalayas is still called\nthe \"Boat-Binding Peak.\"\n\nWhen the ark was safely tied, the Fish said again to the Rishis: \"I am\nBrahm\u0101 of Brahm\u0101, the Creator. I have taken the form of the Fish to save\nyou all from the Flood. Now this Satyavrata will be known as Vaivaswata\nManoo. He will, by my grace and power of his Yoga, create all mobile and\nimmobile beings of the earth, gods and asuras and men.\" So saying the\nFish vanished.\n\nVaivashwata Manoo, who is also called Shraddhadeva, then sat in\nmeditation and in time, by his Yoga-power, created all the beings and\ncreatures of the earth and celestial planes as he was bidden to do.\n\nThis is the shortest sketch of a very long account of the Deluge in the\nHindoo Books. The word Manoo has been distorted into the word \"Noah\" in\nthe Old Testament.\n\nIn the distorted version of the Deluge in the Holy Bible, this principal\nfactor of the preservation of Noah and his Ark, the Divine Fish, has not\nbeen mentioned out of ignorance of the detailed facts of the cataclysm.\nThis ignorance is excusable, judging from the fact of the remoteness of\nthe time when the last Flood occurred. What the Bible estimates as 6,000\nyears the Hindoo Books put down at more than 4,000,000, when Manoo\n(Noah) was afloat on the waters of the universal inundation. The Divine\nFish is an incarnation of Vishnoo who is worshipped and prayed to in\nthat form even now in India. When God Himself in Fish-form was the guide\nand protector of Manoo there was no need of birds being sent out to\nreconnoitre as to the reappearance of land. It was the Fish that first\nespied the highest peak of the Himalayas visible above the waters and\ndrew the ark to it and asked Noah and the Seven Rishis to bind that boat\nto that peak. That peak is still called the Boat-Binding Peak, the\nSanscrit word being \"Nour-Bandhan\" peak. The Bible calls it the Ararat\nand they are now trying to locate it in Syria and many other places.\nEven a common sense view of the matter ought to decide in favor of the\nHimalayas which are ever known as the highest mountains. That the first\nsubsidence of the waters should first uncover a Himalayan peak is only\nnatural to suppose.\n\nWith the appointment of a new Manoo are also appointed some highly\nspiritual souls as gods, as well as the Seven Rishis (illuminated\nbeings) who govern the seven stars of the Great Bear, in the places of\nthe gods and Rishis of the past Alanwantara, whose terms of office\nextend through the duration of one Manwantara, the cyclic period between\ntwo deluges. As every civilized country on the face of the earth is\ngoverned by a king and ministers and officers, according to systematic\nlaws and regulations, the three spheres Bhur, Bhuba, Swar are likewise\nruled by a king, ministers and officers. The government of the British\nDominions may be taken as some sort of example to illustrate the Divine\nAdministration. If we take England as the Swar sphere, Ireland as the\nBhuba sphere, India and Canada may stand for the Bhur or Earth sphere.\nManoo, governor of the three spheres, can be likened to the King of\nEngland, though, unlike the English King, he is invested with Supreme\nPower; Indra is his Prince Minister. The Seven Rishis of the Great Bear\nmay be called his independent Cabinet Ministers and Advisers but\nsuperior to him in wisdom and intelligence. The gods may be compared to\nMembers of Parliament, Secretaries of India and the Colonies and\ndepartmental administrators. The Sons of Manoo act like\nGovernor-Generals of India and Canada, etc.\n\nAt the beginning of a Kalpa cycle, which is measured by one thousand\nDivine cycles or a little over 14 Manwantaras, the Manoos, Rishis and\ngods of all the 14 Manwantaras are selected beforehand. We are now\nlining in the Seventh Manwantara. Shr\u0101ddhadeva, called also Vaivaswata,\nis our Manoo. The Saints K\u0101syapa, Atri, Vasistha, Visw\u0101mitra, Gautama,\nJamadagni and Bharadw\u0101ja are the seven Rishis; Purandar is the present\nIndra. The Manoos, the Rishis, the Indras are all named for the coming\nseven Manwantaras of the present Kalpa in the Sh\u0101stras.\n\nThe prevalent belief among Western Orientalists is that Manoo was a man\nwho was born a few hundred years ago and died a natural death after\nwriting his law institutes for The Hindoos. A more erroneous idea could\nnot exist from the Hindoo point of view. Manoo, being the spiritual\nadministrator of the three worlds, has to live all through his term of\noffice, which extends through 71 Divine cycles of which we are living in\nthe 28th. Every Manoo incarnates himself as a Rishi towards the end of\nevery Golden Age and compiles his law, and institutes for the benefit of\nhumanity, while the seven Rishis incarnate among men at the end of each\nKali Yuga to reveal the truths of the Vedas which are forgotten and lost\nbefore that time.\n\nSECTION XII. THE KALPA CYCLE.\n\nWhen the Golden. Silver, Copper and Iron Ages, forming the Divine Cycle,\nhave revolved for 1,000 times they complete a still larger cycle than\nthe Manwantara, called the Kalpa. As each Manwantara is wound up with a\nDeluge, each Kalpa brings about a still greater disastrous event, that\nof the destruction of the lower three spheres of the universe, the Bhur,\nBhuba and Swar. The description given of this great cyclic event in the\nPur\u0101nas as well as in the Mah\u0101bh\u0101rata, especialy by the Immortal\nM\u0101rkandeya who has seen it many times, are simply appalling to the\nimagination of puny man.\n\nAs I have already said it is only the excessive accumulation of human\nsins (Tama-life) that causes these natural catastrophies. The sum of\nsins which causes the Kalpa dissolution is many times greater than that\nwhich is the cause of the Flood. Human sins, however, are the immediate\ncause. The real or latent cause is to be found in the operations of the\nCardinal Attributes of Nature. Sattwa and R\u0101ja are absolutely subdued by\nTama, which then growing more and more intense bursts into a flame out\nof the friction of its own forces. This conflagration first manifests\nitself through etheric matter in the shape of seven suns suddenly\nappearing in the heavens and with their combined heat burning down the\nthree spheres into ashes. This is followed by the appearance of strange\nclouds which then burst and deluge the ash-turned earth. The ash, in\nprocess of time, is absorbed by the water; then the air, turned into\nviolent winds, absorbs the water; and then, when the air has been\nabsorbed by ether (Ak\u0101sh), the destruction of the three spheres is\ncompleted.\n\nThe Immortal M\u0101rkandeya described this Pralaya (Dissolution) five\nthousand years ago to King Yudhisthira in the presence of Krishna and\nthe assembled sages in the K\u0101myak Forest. The following is a summary of\nhis statement:\n\n\"O King! At the end the Kali Yuga (previous to this Pralaya), when the\nearthly days of all beings have come to an end, no rains will fall on\nearth for many successive years in consequence of which all beings on\nearth will die, owing to unbearable heat and hunger caused by drought\nand famine. Then will appear simultaneously in the heavens seven suns\nwhich will draw all the waters from all seas and rivers. Whether dry or\nwet, whatever grass or wood there is on earth, will be reduced to\ntinder. Then will spring up the Fire, called Samvartak, which, aided by\nthe wind, will attack the sun-absorbed earth and, piercing its surface,\nwill burn all there is in its bowels. Indeed, by this wind-helped\nSamvartak Fire all created beings from the gods to creeping things and\nall that now exists in the three worlds will be destroyed and\ntransformed into one huge heap of ashes.\n\n\"Then will appear in the firmament wonderful-looking,\nlightening-bedecked clouds, arrayed as garlanded rows of elephants.\nThese clouds are, some of them, of the color of the blue lotus, some of\nthe color of the Koomood flower, some of the color of the golden heart\nof the lotus, some yellow, some green, some speckled gray, like the\ncolor of the crow's egg, some colored like lotus leaves, some are light\nbrown, others look like large cities, others like hordes of elephants,\nothers like the color of eye-cosmetics, others shaped like crocodiles.\nThese mysterious-looking, deep-sounding rain-clouds, sent by God,\nspreading themselves over the sky, will send down rains in a continuous\nstream, like watery pillars descending from above, inundating all the\nash-heaped mountains and valleys, and extinguish the fearful Samvartak\nFire.\n\n\"O King of the Pandus! Thus, after these rains have fallen continuously\nfor twelve years, the waters of the seas will rise in a flood and cover\nthe earth, at which, the still solid cohesiveness of her mountains\ngiving way, the earth will sink to the bottom of the sea. Then the\nclouds, driven by the powerful winds in all directions, will suddenly\ndisappear. Then he of the Lotus-Abode and Lotus-born, the primeval god,\nBrahm\u0101, drinking in the winds and the air, will fall into sleep at the\nclose of his day.\"\n\nThe lower three spheres\u2014Bhur, Bhuba and Swar\u2014are thus dissolved and\nthere is nothing in their place but one vast expanse of water. The upper\nfour spheres, Mahar, Jana, Tapa and Satya or Brahm\u0101, remain intact. The\ndwellers of the Mahar Loka, however, unable to bear the heat of the\nSamvartak Fire during the earth s destruction, leave it and go up to the\nJana to live there during the duration of the Pralaya.\n\nNow, the question may be asked, why these four upper heavens are not\ndestroyed, and how can there be an ocean of water When the Water Element\nis destroyed along with the other Elements?\n\nThe answer is very interesting and instructive. There are two kinds or\nstates of these Five Elements\u2014Ether, Air, Fire, Water, Earth. One may be\ncalled Pure and the other Mixed. The Pure state of an Element means\nwholly unmixed by even the least touch or tinge of the other four\nelements. A mixed Element is made up of half part of one Element mixed\nwith one-eighth part of each of the other four Elements. The Bhur, Bhuba\nand Swar are made of these five Mixed Elements which being destroyed by\nthis Kalpa Pralaya, the three spheres are necessarily destroyed too. The\nUpper four spheres are made of the Unmixed Elements and hence they\nsurvive the Kalpa dissolution of the Mixed Elements. It is needless to\nsay that dwellers of these upper realms are possessed of a physical body\nmade of these Five Pure Elements, and in the highest realms the dwellers\nhave no physical bodies at all and therefore no elements in their\nmake-up. The bodies of some of them are formed of the Five Finest\nessences of the Elements\u2014Sound, Touch, Form, Taste and Smell; and of\nothers, the highest beings in the Brahm\u0101 Loka, of nothing but\nConsciousness and Ego and Ensouled Mind.\n\nThe water of the Watery Expanse, into which the lower three spheres are\nreduced by the Kalpa Pralaya, is this Unmixed Pure Water, which is\ninvisible to our ordinary physical eye. The world is indebted to the\nImmortal M\u0101rkandeya for a description of what remains after this Kalpa\ndissolution. Blessed, then, with the finest and purest Element-body, he\nalone hovers over this vast Watery Expanse. His experiences are recorded\nin that History of the Universe, the Mah\u0101bh\u0101rata, of which here are a\nfew details:\n\nSaid M\u0101rkandeya: \"O King! In this, time of the Kalpa Pralaya, when all\ngods, asuras, elements, demons, men, animals, trees and the firmament,\netc., all, all the mobile and immobile beings and objects, will be\ndissolved into one vast ocean, I alone will hover over that endless\nexpanse of water and become sad-hearted on viewing this general\ndestruction. After floating on it for a very long period of time I will\nfeel extremely exhausted. Then, shortly after, a huge tree in the midst\nof that one-ocean will attract my eye. O King! Resting on the spreading\nboughs of that tree I will see seated on a couch of glory a lotus-eyed\nBoy with a face radiant like the light of the full moon. Instantly on\nseeing him I shall be extremely astonished and will say within myself\n'How wonderful! Everything has been destroyed, how then is this boy\nresting here?' O Great King! Although I am blessed with the knowledge of\nthe past, present and future, I shall fail to know who that child may\nbe.\n\n\"Then that lotus-eyed Boy will thus speak to me in the sweetest voice:\n'O M\u0101rkandeya! I know thee. Thou art become very weary and wishing for\nrest. Therefore do thou enter my body and live there as long as thou\nmayest desire. I have been very pleased with thee.' O King! on hearing\nthese words of the Boy I will be filled with the spirit of indifference\nto my manhood and long life, at which suddenly that Boy will open his\nmouth, and I will then enter into that mouth through some divine means.\n\n\"O Great King! Through his mouth I shall enter his belly and to my\nastonishment, shall see within him this whole earth of many kingdoms and\ncities, rivers, mountains, seas, the blue heavens bedecked with the sun\nand the moon, and the many forests. There I shall find Br\u0101hmans engaged\nin various religious ceremonies, the Kshatriyas in ruling to the\nsatisfaction of all other castes, the Vaishyas in their usual vocation\nof agriculture, and the Sudras in rendering loving sacrifices to the\nBr\u0101hmans; lions and tigers, and all the gods, angels and serial beings\nare living peacefully in their respective spheres. In fact, all that\nexisted before I shall find existing within the belly of that Great\nSoul.\n\n\"O King! Thus, having seen the whole world within that Boy, I will\ntravel for many thousand years, like one in a dream, within that world\nand in trying to find out its limit will rush in all directions but will\nnot succeed in doing so. Then disappointment will turn my thoughts to\nthat beautiful Boy again, and, with all the concentrated force in my\nbody, mind and speech, I will then ask for his protection and grace. At\nthis I will be carried, by a violent wind as it were, through his mouth\nout of his body and I will find him still sitting under that tree.\n\n\"The Boy will then ask me with delighted heart and smiling face, 'O my\ngood Rishi M\u0101rkandeya! Thou didst become very tired floating on these\nwaters for such a long time. Have you now been well refreshed by living\nwithin my body?'\n\n\"Then I will behold my soul freed from all bondage by the illumination\nwhich will enter me with the Boy's words. And placing his crimson Feet\non my head I will address him thus with folded hands and humility, 'How\nlucky I am! To-day I have beheld the Lotus-eyed God of Gods, the Soul of\nAll Things! O God! I have become very curious to know Thee and this Thy\nwonderful M\u0101y\u0101 (Illusion). Entering Thy belly through Thy mouth, I have\nseen the whole world existing there. O Lord! it was through Thy grace\nthat I did not lose my memory, and it is through Thy will that I have\nnow come out of Thy body. O Lotus-eyed! I have become very desirous to\nknow Thee. Why art Thou resting here in the form of a Boy after having\ndevoured the whole world? How is it that this whole world is now\ndwelling in Thy body? How much longer will Thou rest here? O Lord of\nGods! These subjects are great and unthinkable, and so I beg to hear\nfrom Thee their detailed explanations.'\n\n\"The God of the Gods, after consoling me, on the last occasion, began to\nanswer my questions. He said:\n\n\"'O Br\u0101hman! Even the gods have failed to know the mysteries of my\ncreation. I will tell thee of it only to please thee. O Rishi! Thy\nwonderful devotion to thy father and to Me and to spiritual celibacy\nhave won thee this grace; I have appeared before thy vision. In time\npast I called water by the term \"N\u0101r\" This N\u0101r is ever my seat, hence I\nam called N\u0101r\u0101yan. I am the First Cause. I am Eternal, Inexhaustible,\nthe Creator and Destroyer of all that exists. I am all Wealth, I am\nDeath, I am Shiva. Fire is in my mouth, the earth is my feet, the sun is\nmy two eyes, the Celestial Regions are my head, the sky and the cardinal\npoints are my two ears. Space and Eternity are my body, the winds my\nmind.\n\n\"'All sacred ceremonies are performed to please Me. All the Vedas come\nout of and enter into Me. The peace-loving, mind-disciplined, enquiring,\nsoul's-mystery-knowing Br\u0101hmans contemplate and worship Me alone. I am\nthe Fire called Samvartak, I am the Samvartak Winds, and it is I who am\nthe Seven Suns that rise and shine in Pralaya. The stars that thou seest\nnow in the firmament are the pores of my body, the sky is my raiment,\nthe seas my seat and abode. It is I who have divided them as they are.\n\n\"'Men are born, are overwhelmed by My M\u0101y\u0101 and become enterprising\nthrough my Law, never through their own desire. Those Br\u0101hmans who\nthoroughly study the Vedas, perform many spiritual sacrifices, bring\npeace to their souls and vanquish anger; it is they who attain to Me.\nThose persons who are addicted to bad actions, are swayed by greed, are\nmisers, crooked-minded and void of soul-culture can never reach Me. The\npaths of Yoga are as easy for pure souls to tread as they are uncertain\nto the wicked and the foolish.\n\n\"'Whenever religion suffers from revolution and vice triumphs over\nvirtue, I create myself and walk the earth and set things right.\nWhenever are born on the earth the selfish and envious Asuras and Demons\nso powerful that even the gods cannot destroy them, I in the form of man\ntake birth in the family of pious men and bring peace to the world again\nby subduing them. I am white-complexioned in the Satya Yuga, yellow in\nthe Tret\u0101, red in the Dw\u0101par and dark in the Kali. At the end of each\ngreat cycle it is I who destroy every thing. I am the Three Paths, the\nSoul of the Universe, Giver of all Happiness, Superior to All,\nAll-Pervading, the Endless and the All-Powerful.\n\n\"'At the last Kali Yuga of each Kalpa I spread my illusion upon all\nbeings and enter into my trance-state. When old, old Brahm\u0101, transformed\ninto a child, goes to sleep and keeps sleeping, I rest here on the\nwaters until he is awakened. Now, go thou about on the waters in restful\nspirit until that time, when I alone will create again earth and sky and\nlight, air and water, and all bodies.'\n\n\"So saying, O King, that wonderful Being vanished from my view. Then by\nand by this world was created again. Thus in the last Kalpa Pralaya did\nI witness this wonderful event. The Lotus-Eyed Diety I then saw, you\nbrothers have now established blood relations with Him, this Krishna. It\nis through His grace that I have obtained uninterrupted memory, become\nso long-lived and endowed with the boon of dying at my will. This\nKrishna who is now sitting before us all, this Krishna present here, who\nis born in the line of the Vrishnis, is just now merely playing on His\nearth. But it is He, this Krishna, who is the Ancient Person, the Lord,\nthe Unthinkable Soul, the Creator, the Destroyer, the Eternal and the\nMaster of All! I have been able to remember all these facts only through\nthe inspiration of His presence here. He is the Mother and Father of all\nbeings: do you all take His Refuge.\"\n\nKrishna has been called N\u0101r\u0101yan here by M\u0101rkandeya, because N\u0101r\u0101yan, the\nFourth Form-manifestation of Krishna in the unfoldment of creation, is\ngenerally known as the Supreme Diety\u2014Krishna. N\u0101r\u0101yan, as I have said\nbefore this, is Aniruddha out of whose navel springs the seed-bud Lotus\nwith Brahm\u0101, the operating Creator of the details Creation.\n\nSECTION XIII. NATURAL DISSOLUTION.\n\nWhat is popularly known as Universal Destruction, is termed in the\nHindoo Scriptures \"Pr\u0101kritic Pratisanchar\" or Natural Retrogression,\nwhich means Natural Disssolution. This marks the close of the Greatest\nCycle of Time. It is the End of Time, the End of Creation. It is the\nMaha Pralaya. It involves the annihilation of the Universe, in one\nsense, because after its occurrence none of the Principles, except the\nUltimate, exists. \"In one sense\" I say advisedly, for although the\nManifest universe becomes non-existent, its latent spiritual\nimpressions, forming its germ, are carried by the Three Cardinal\nAttributes into the Ultimate Principle, Love\u2014Krishna\u2014and preserved\nunconsciously, even during their rest in Krishna, in a state of\nequilibrium, It is out of this Mystic Ideation that, in the event of the\ninequilibrium of the Attributes, a fresh creation springs into\nexistence. There is no such thing as destruction in the law of Nature.\nNothing is destroyed totally; all forms of destruction are but phases of\ntransmutation, from gross manifestation into fine, from fine into finer,\nfrom finer into finest, from finest into mystic ideation which belongs\nto the realm of absolute spirituality.\n\nThe Hindoo doctrine in regard to the process of creation is the\nunfoldment of the Twenty-three Principles from the reflection of the\nOne, the manifestation into Many and the Diverse of the Mystic Energy of\nthe One Unchangeable Absolute. This Mystic Energy unrolls its many and\ndiverse phases and forces in creation and incessantly throughout its\nduration. \"Pr\u0101kritic\" means \"Natural\" from \"Prakriti,\" Nature.\n\"Pratisanchar\" is \"Prati\" and \"sanchar\"; \"Prati\" means backward, and\n\"sanchar\" means the act of moving, motion. The whole word therefore\nmeans \"moving backward.\" Pr\u0101kritic Pratisanchar, therefore, is the\nmoving backward of the Unfolded Principles of Existence (Nature) into\nits One Source, out of which they originally spring. This backward\nmotion of Variety into Unity is caused by the extreme action of intense\nTama from which the following natural reaction puts the forces of the\nThree Cardinal Attributes into equilibrium. This equilibrium is the\nUnmanifest (Avyakta\u2014unexpressed) state of Nature, and the inequilibrium\nbrings about the Manifest state, the gross form of which is the\nuniverse. This action of Natural Dissolution has also its reaction. It\nreacts into a fresh Creation.\n\nThe symptoms which manifest themselves previous to the occurrence of\nthis universal destruction are almost the same as those before the Kalpa\nPralaya. Only, the degeneration of human society develops worse phases\nwhich are followed by intense heat, owing to the suspension of rains for\nyears and years together, resulting in the death of all moving and\nbreathing beings. Then appear in the heavens twelve suns, instead of\nseven as in the Kalpa Pralaya, which give birth to the Samvartak Fire.\nThe fire is followed by the appearance of the Samvartak Clouds, which\ndeluge the earth with continuous rains for years; the deluge is followed\nby the winds, etc.\n\nBut the main difference lies in the absolutely destructive power of\nthese Elemental agents. When the suns and the fire have done their work,\nthe black surface of the earth looks like the back of a tortoise. Then\nthe water in which it is submerged absorbs the very attribute of\nEarth\u2014Smell\u2014along with its substance which then becomes absolutely\nnonexistent and transformed into water. The water is then absorbed by\nFire (heat) with its attribute\u2014Taste\u2014so that water becomes absolutely\nnon-existent and is turned into Fire. The volume of Fire is then so\nincreased that it burns the suns themselves, so that all the heavens,\nfilled with all-pervading flames, burn on until everything in them is\ndestroyed. Then the air devours the Fire with its attribute\u2014Form\u2014so that\nthere remains nothing visible to the eye. The winds then move about with\nall their force in the Ak\u0101s. Then Ak\u0101s (Ether) absorbs the Air with its\nattribute\u2014Touch\u2014so that nothing remains which can be felt. Then Ak\u0101s\nitself becomes unmanifest, the Universal Mind having absorbed its\nattribute\u2014Sound\u2014which originally sprang from it to create Ak\u0101s (Ether).\nThis is called the dissolution of the gross form of the Universe.\n\nThe dissolution of the fine (subtle) form begins with the Moon, the\npresiding deity of the Mind, absorbing the Mind with its attribute \u2014the\npower of Willing and Non-Willing, which power with all its associations\nis then centered in the Moon. After a long time the Mind, centralized in\nthe Moon, brings about the poise in its vibratory volition (the cause of\nmaterial desires). This will-control results in the Moon-centered Mind\nbeing absorbed by its original Belief in the Oneness of Nature and Brahm\n(Divine Essence). The Belief in this Unity (Ego) is then absorbed by\nUniversal Consciousness, and Universal Consciousness with its attribute\nof the Power of Decision is absorbed by Absolute Being (one of the Three\nAttributes of Para-Brahm). Then Wisdom (another of the Three Attributes,\nalso called Intelligence or Truth) absorbs this Absolute Being. Then\nthat all-impregnated Wisdom enters the Unmanifest Soul\u2014Absolute\nLove\u2014KRISHNA.\n\nSECTION XIV. MODERN SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY.\n\nA recent discovery of modern science has not only thrown the clearest\nlight upon this Hindoo doctrine of the unity and composition of the\nuniverse, but has fully proved its correctness. This is the first\nindirect investigation of Western material science into the realm of the\nsubjective side of creation. The author of this discovery, by strange\nirony of Fate, is a Hindoo, though educated and trained in scientific\nknowledge in England, under English teachers of Science. He is now a\nscientific celebrity among Western scientific celebrities of the day;\nand if the work of his tested discovery be rightly estimated, he ought\nto be classed with the highest of them all. His name is Professor\nJagadis Chunder Bose, D. Sc., Professor of Science in the Calcutta\nUniversity.\n\nProf. Bose's discovery, now embodied in book-form and entitled \"Response\nin the Living and the Non-Living,\" marks a new epoch in the advancement\nof modern science. It has been accepted by all scientific authorities,\nafter the Professor had demonstrated it by experiments before a large\nnumber of scientific people in London, and notably by Lord Kelvin.\n\nArmed with the demonstrated facts of this discovery. Professor Bose\nmaintains that the true test of the existence of life in any form of\nmatter is its sensitiveness to external stimulus. According to this test\nhe proves conclusively that no essential difference exists between\nanimals and metals or vegetables. He has shown by scientific experiments\nthat a bar of iron is not only as irritable and sensitive as a human\nbody, but that it can be killed or poisoned in the same way as a human\nbody can be killed or poisoned. According to his discovery, life\npervades every object and part of Nature; and only some of these parts\nor objects can be said to be in a dead state, which means they can be\ndeprived of their sensitiveness to external stimulus.\n\nIf any part of our body is pinched, the nerve which connects that part\nwith the brain, running all along, sends an electric current to the\nbrain, vibrating under the pinch. The brain alone feels the pain\ninflicted upon any part of our body, says modern science; and it is\nproved by the fact that no pain is felt by us if our brain is deadened\nby chloroform.\n\nThe galvanometer is a well-known and very delicate scientific instrument\nfor detecting the presence of electric currents; it has a needle on a\npivot, and the faintest electric current will cause a deflection of this\nneedle. If at any intervening part of the electric current-bearing nerve\nin the human body the galvanometer be attached, and the end of the nerve\npinched or otherwise irritated, then immediately the needle of the\ngalvanometer will deflect, thus showing that the irritation of the nerve\ncauses a current like that of electricity to be sent along it. This fact\nis now very well known to scientists, and Prof. Bose's investigations\nare based upon this well-known scientific fact.\n\nWith a view to ascertaining whether or not matter which has hitherto\nbeen known as non-living could be proved so under the test of the\ngalvanometer, the Professor attached the instrument to bars of different\nmetals, with startling contrary results. The Professor found that all\nmetals show visible signs of sensitiveness when twisted or tapped. The\ngreater the irritation the greater the visible signs of sensitiveness;\neven every single peculiarity in the irritability of animal matter is\nexactly reproduced in the case of metal. As, for instance, when the\nsensitiveness of a muscle or a nerve of an animal wears off after a\ntime, under repeated irritation, it begins to show signs of fatigue, the\ndeflection of the needle of the galvanometer becoming more and more\nfeeble; the Professor found that metals would betray exactly the same\nsigns of fatigue under repeated irritation. Again, after a short rest,\nthe signs of fatigue were found to disappear in animal muscle and in\nmetal alike, their sensitiveness being fully restored. This last fact is\nknown to many of us who constantly use a razor and find it losing its\nkeen edge and growing duller and duller, despite vigorous stropping, and\nspontaneously recovering its original keenness by being laid aside for a\nfew days.\n\nProfessor Bose's process of registering the deflections of the needle of\nthe galvanometer is this: By a mechanical device the point of the needle\nis photographed on paper, which is moved along at a constant rate, the\nneedle's point tracing out a series of zig-zag lines on the paper, when\nthe needle is oscillated by an electric current. The width of the\nzig-zags corresponds to the amount of the deflection of the needle,\ntherefore the strength of the electric current. If there be no current,\nand consequently no deflection of the needle, its point will remain\nstationary and merely trace a straight line on the moving paper.\n\nThis book of Prof. Bose's, \"Response in the Living and the Non-Living,\"\nis full of still more wonderful revelations. He has found and shown, to\nthe satisfaction of European scientists through experiments, that metals\ndo not only go to sleep, but can be poisoned and killed like human\nbeings and animals. Like an unused animal muscle showing signs of\nsluggishness and appearing to be in a kind of torpor, then gradually\nseeming to waken up under irritation, and finally returning to full\nactivity, Professor Bose proves that metals behave in exactly the same\nway and process of gradation. He also proves that the effects of extreme\ncold and extreme heat produce exactly similar conditions in both animals\nand metals.\n\nBut men or animals can be drugged and made drunk. Can metals likewise be\ndrugged and made drunk? Yes, says Prof. Bose, and he proves it\nabsolutely. He proves that metals show the same increase of irritability\nunder the influence of stimulants and narcotics as the human body.\nMoreover, even as different animals are affected differently by the same\ndose of a stimulant, so also are different metals. Under the influence\nof carbonate of sodium, irritability of platinum is increased threefold,\nwhile the irritability of tin is less.\n\nStill more significant is the action of anaesthetics and narcotics.\nUnder their action the sensitiveness of metals can be reduced to any\ndesired degree, exactly as is the case of human beings. A more striking\nparallel between animal matter and metals is established by Prof. Bose.\nThe action of some narcotics on the human frame is known to be\nparadoxical under certain conditions. While a large dose of opium, for\ninstance, decreases the sensitiveness of the human body, a very minute\ndose has exactly the opposite effect, that is to say, acts as a\nstimulant. This anomaly has been found by Prof. Bose to have a parallel\nin metals, tin being found to show that its sensitiveness is increased\nhalf as much again by being treated with a minute dose of potash (3\nparts in 100), but the sensitiveness begins to decrease when the dose is\nincreased.\n\nNow the question suggests itself that if metals are as much alive as\nanimals, then they must also be as liable to die as animals. Prof. Bose\nhas found this to be a fact, too. Metals not only die; but they can be\npoisoned and revived, and poisoned and killed.\n\nIn order to find out these facts, Prof. Bose took a piece of metal which\nshowed full vigor of sensitiveness and so was considered healthy, and\ntreated it with a moderate dose of oxalic acid, which is a powerful\npoison. The needle of the galvanometer instantly indicated a spasmodic\nflutter; the sensitiveness of the metal more and more feeble, till it\nseemed almost to die away. At this stage, a powerful antidote being\napplied, slowly and gradually the sensitiveness began to revive, and in\ntime became as active as when the metal was not poisoned. The treatment\nof another piece of healthy metal with a strong dose of the same poison\nresulted in violent spasms, with rapid enfeeblement of sensitiveness,\nwhich soon vanished altogether. After a proper interval the antidote was\ntried in vain; the piece of metal was killed forever. The results of\nexperiments with different metals and different poisons were the same;\nbut all poisons not being alike in their action upon animal matter, the\nsame is true of their action on metal, absolutely and undoubtedly. In\nsome cases, however, after all traces of poison had been removed by the\ncounteracting influence of stimulating acids, the poisoned metal was\neventually reanimated; which meant that the metal was not really killed,\nbut was merely in a state of suspended animation. The most striking\nfeature of the discovery in this connection is, that the very poison\nwhich kills both animal and metal is itself endowed with life, which\nshows itself by indications of irritability and sensitiveness, and which\ncan itself be killed.\n\nHere is another significant point in regard to the operation of poison\non both an animal and a metal. In the case of an animal the operation is\ntwofold; first, the actual death process, lasting from a few minutes to\nseveral hours; secondly, the purely nervous effect which manifests\nitself in the form of spasms, paralysis or other symptoms, and which is\ndeveloped much sooner, sometimes instantaneously. Prof. Bose has\ndiscovered the same phenomenon in metal. Under the effect of some\npowerful poisons there was instantaneous spasm shooting through the\nmetal long before the corrosive action of the acid could penetrate\nbeyond the surface.\n\nProfessor Bose has proved in his book that all these phenomena with\nevery single variation exist as much in the vegetable kingdom as in the\nanimal and mineral. Indeed, the three kingdoms of matter, the animal,\nthe vegetable and the mineral, are, says the Professor, but one in\nessence and the physiological distinction between so-called organic and\ninorganic matter, of which man and metal are but types, is based upon a\nfalse and unscientific assumption. Prof. Bose dedicates his book to his\ncountrymen, the Hindoos, because, he says, his discovery is a discovery\nmade millions of years ago by the Hindoo sages, who proclaimed the unity\nof the universe in essence and construction, as well as in the laws that\ngovern it.\n\nSECTION XV. SCIENCE UPHOLDS SHASTRAS.\n\nNow let us consider the main points of this great epoch-making\nscientific discovery by the light of the truths of Nature and the laws\nof matter discovered countless ages ago by the illuminated sages of\nIndia, and handed down through the corridors of time. Every discovery of\nmodern science has tended to establish the principles of Hindoo religion\nand philosophy, by furnishing practical testimony to what were so long\nconsidered as their mystic teachings. But this discovery of Prof. Bose's\nis an unexpected stumble of a purely objective method of investigation\nupon the truths and laws of the subjective realm. The evidence which\nProf. Bose's experiments afford is of course indirect; but this indirect\nevidence is startlingly direct in its pointed and unmistakable\nsuggestions. It is therefore most opportune at the present moment, when\nthe human mind the world over is striving, impelled by a natural hunger,\nto get at the facts back of the physical shroud of the universe.\n\nThe Hindoo sages say that the universe is one whole, huge being, of\nwhich the high heavens are the head, the sun and the moon the eyes,\nspace the body, and the earth the feet. Every inch, nay, every point, of\nthis universe-body is alive as a healthy human body. The composing\nprinciples of this body are twenty-four, as I have already explained.\nThese twenty-four principles are therefore present in every atom of it,\nin every speck of earth, the last principle in creation. This speck or\nmolecule of earth has, however, no opening for any of its composing\nprinciples; whereas vegetable and animal life-forms have many of these\npassages of their composing principles more or less open. As a tortoise\nputs forth its body out of its shell and again draws that body into it,\nso out of Love the twenty-three principles are projected, and drawn, in\nthe fullness of time, back into its bosom again. This reaction or\njourney of the universe back to its source is called universal\ndestruction, or dissolution, or disintegration. This universal\ndissolution takes place when the Three Cardinal Attributes of creation,\nout of which all the composing principles have sprung, fall into\nequilibrium; in other words, become equal in power or tension. This loss\nof tensity or equipoise in the power of the Cardinal Attributes, viz.,\nSattwa (Illumination), R\u0101ja (Activity or Motion), and Tama\n(Obscuration), results in the loss of their individuality, and their\ntransformation into Pure Illumination. By pure illumination is meant\nunmixed illumination; that is to say, absolute illumination, having no\ntendency or trace in it of being disturbed into obscuration. In short,\nSattwa, R\u0101ja and Tama are each of them mixed with the other two, its own\nquality being predominant in it. Their inequality of power brings them\nforth into and sustains their being. The moment this power becomes equal\nand they lose their existence, the Absolute Illumination, co-existent\nwith Absolute Love and Absolute Being out of which they sprung, alone\nremains.\n\nThis equipoise of the cardinal cosmic attributes takes place at\nintervals of time, the dimension of which staggers the human mind to\nimagine. But while the return-journey of the universe as a whole takes\nplace once in an indefinitely long period of time, the molecules of\nearth, as soon as they are created, have a tendency to go back to their\noriginal source. But the molecule's journey backward to Love is made by\na very circuitous path. That path leads through the process of opening\none by one the passages of its composing principles. By passages is\nmeant channels of communication and sympathy with the main laws and\nvibrations of the working of the universe.\n\nThe first step the molecule takes, in this return-journey, is by opening\nthe passage of one principle, the sense of feeling, and becoming a blade\nof grass. A blade of grass has only one sense opened, the sense of\ntouch, by which it draws juice from the earth for its sustenance. After\nbeing reborn thousands of times as a blade of grass, it draws the\nmagnetism from the different life-forms in Nature, which helps it to\ndevelop into a shrub. And then, after thousands of shrub-lives, it\ndevelops into a plant, and then into tree-life, in which it puts forth\nflowers and fruits. And, finally, drawing in more and more magnetism and\nvibrations from the animal world, it develops into an animal itself. At\nfirst it is but an animalcule, and then a worm. As a worm it has opened\nmore passages, the passage of tasting (the palate), the passage of\ngripping (with the mouth), the passage of moving (the feet), the\npassages of excreting and generating, the passage of seeing (the eye),\nthe passage of smelling, the passage of hearing, etc. Through thousands\nof rebirths in each animal form it is promoted into higher and higher\nanimal forms, in which more and more passages of its composing\nprinciples are opened. The last forms of lower animals it takes are\nthose of monkeys and apes, the forms just before developing into human\nform. In these ape forms of life it opens all principles except four;\nviz., Mind, Ego, Intellect and Love. However intelligent a monkey or a\ndog or any other animal may be or seem to be, the Mind principle is not\nyet open in it. All its actions are prompted by instinct, which is the\nnatural impulse of the indirect influence of the mind on the verge of\nbeing opened, as well as of automatic memory of past experiences in this\nand previous existences, the impressions of which are in their very\nblood. With the opening of the Mind principle begins the human form. It\nmay be the most savage man, but it is human. He can think, is\nself-conscious, and acts with reasoned decision, however crude or\nerroneous; because with the opening of the Mind there are simultaneously\nopened the Ego and the Intellect, they being almost on principle in\nthree.\n\nAfter these explanations of the composition, construction, and\ntransformation of matter, let us go back to unopened matter, in order to\nexplain the mysteries of Professor Bose's discoveries by the aid of the\ngalvanometer. The Professor has discovered that the application of this\ndelicate instrument reveals the fact that matter which has hitherto been\nconsidered non-living is very much alive indeed, as fully alive as\nliving animals are, because they respond to external stimulus as fully\nas any living being. According to Hindoo definition and idea of\nconstruction and composition of matter, it is only natural that this\nshould be so. To the Hindoo sage this is not at all a wonder. Love,\nConsciousness, Ego, Mind, the ten senses, the five fine essences and the\nfive gross forms of matter, called elements, are as much present in\nminerals, which are but formations of earth, as in animals. A lump of\nearth, or a piece of metal, or a vegetable, cannot give visible, direct\nresponse to external stimulus, because they have no openings (open\nphysical organs) through which to manifest it. If you can by any means\nfeel the vibrations caused by such stimulus within them, then only can\nyou find the proof of the uniform composition and construction of all\nforms of matter in this one whole living universe. The galvanometer\nserves this purpose, and hence the Hindoo idea stands to-day as a\ndemonstrated fact.\n\nLet us analyze the tests and proofs of the galvanometer a little more\nclosely, and understand them according to the Hindoo doctrine of the\nconstruction and organization of what is called organic or inorganic\nmatter. The Hindoo doctrine does not recognize the nerve or the brain as\nany of the principles which compose what is called the living body. The\nnerve is but a mere physical vehicle of the sensation of the mind (which\nincludes the Ego and the Intellect, the part of universal consciousness\nin individual souls), and the brain is the physical centre of these\nphysical channels of the mind's sensation and experiences. The mind\nfeels the sensation of the external stimulus through its channels, the\nfive cognizing senses, and the mind's sensations are carried through the\nnerves to the brain. This is in regard to animal life, which has brains\nand nerves formed fully or partially. The vegetables and minerals have\nneither brains nor nerves. How, then, do they show the same irritation\nas animals do to external stimulus, as shown by the galvanometer?\n\nThe answer is simple. Because they have the psychic vehicles, the five\ncognizing senses, by which to convey the sensation of the external\nstimulus to the mind, and therefore they need no physical brain or\nnerve. Only, having no physical openings, they cannot manifest the\neffect of those sensations outside themselves, as animals do; and only\nan instrument, like the galvanometer, is able to detect the sensations\nand indicate them by the deflection of its needle. Mineral and vegetable\nmatter having all the twenty-four principles in them, have the mind and\nthe senses, too. Only, they are in a shut-up, undeveloped state, and\nperform their undeveloped, crude functions like an unconscious\nmechanism.\n\nIt is through the senses that sensations are perceived; and had not the\nsenses been present within a piece of metal or a vegetable, there would\nbe no sensation in it, and therefore the galvanometer would have been\nuseless in its application and results, because, there being no\nsensation, there would be no deflection of the needle. Professor Bose's\nexperiments conclusively prove not only the unity, but the uniform\ncomposition and construction of the whole universe; that all its\ncomposing principles are present everywhere; that in some phases they\nare in a latent and in others in manifest state. The tests of the\ngalvanometer also prove that what is true of the whole universe is true\nof a particle of earth; that the whole universe is one whole living\nmass, like a single living being, and that every molecule of its\ncomposition is a universe in embryo; because every molecule is instinct\nwith all the forces and properties of the twenty-four principles, which\nare the materials as well as the attributes of the cosmos.\n\nSECTION XVI. PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL BODIES.\n\nIt is the ignorance of the knowledge of the constitution of the\nuniversal and human bodies that forms one of the chief obstacles of a\ncorrect study of the laws operating behind external Nature, It is the\ngeneral belief of modern humanity that the human body is made up of\nflesh and blood alone. This is true so far as the physical body is\nconcerned. But there is another body within us finer than the physical\nwhich is the real body and of which the physical body is the outer\nencasement. This real body is called the Astral Body. The whole human\nbody is like a clock of which the physical covering is its case and the\nastral body its works. As the mechanical part of a clock is the real\nclock and its case with its dial and hands forms its covering by which\nit indicates its working, so the astral body is the mechanical part of\nthe human body and the physical is its case through which it indicates\nits operations. Though far from perfect, the analogy is very suggestive.\nFor instance, the mechanical part of the clock cannot serve its purpose\nwithout the aid of the case, dial and hands. The astral body likewise\ncannot be of any use without the co-operation of the physical body.\n\nThe mechanism of the astral body is composed of eighteen Principles,\nviz., Consciousness (Intellect), Ego, Mind, the Ten Senses: the Powers\nof Seeing, Hearing, Smelling. Tasting, Feeling, Speaking, Holding,\nMoving, Excreting and Generating; and the five attributes of the\nElements: Sound, Touch, Form, Taste and Smell. These Principles work\nthrough their counterpart-organs of the physical body which is composed\nof the five remaining Principles, viz., the Five Elements\u2014Ether, Air,\nFire, Water and Earth.\n\nNow let us see how the physical body is composed of the five Elements.\nThe vigor of our father and the blood of our mother, of which our\nphysical body is made, are formations of assimilated food. Every kind of\nfoodstuff, vegetable or animal, is but condensed form of earth's juice;\nearth-juice is earth. Now Earth is composed only of its five attributes:\nSound, Touch, Form, Taste and Smell, the first four of which compose\nWater, the first three compose Fire, the first two Air, and the first,\nSound, is the Attribute of Ether (Ak\u0101s). Therefore the other four\nElements are present in earth on account of their respective attributes\nbeing contained in it. Our physical body, therefore, being made of\nformations of Earth, is composed of the Five Elements.\n\nThe material of the physical body is supplied by our parents and the\nastral body we supply ourselves. The astral body is our permanent body.\nIt puts on new flesh-garments from time to time. When it slips into a\nnew flesh-garment it is called birth; when it slips out of it, it is\ncalled death. But really the astral body lives on forever and ever and\nnever ceases to exist unless we find the means and take measures to\ndestroy it. The extinction the astral body is brought about by the\nmind's absolute dissociation from the bondage and influence of matter\nand material ideas, and absorption into the Divine Essence, Mukti.\n\nThe earth and the visible sky form the physical body of the Universe and\nthe upper six spheres form its astral body which includes still subtler\nbodies. This means that both the universal and the human bodies are\nconstructed on the same principle. Both are formed of seven bodies,\nencased like a sheath within a sheath. These are called the Food-made\n(physical) body, the Vital body, the Mental (or Astral) body, the\nPsychic body, the Wisdom (or Causal) body, the Blissful body and the\nSoul body.\n\nSECTION XVII. KARMA.\n\nThe Universe is one whole manifestation of Cause and Effect. All Nature\nis manifested and materialized forces of Action and Reaction. The\nDoctrine of Karma is based upon the natural law by which action produces\nreaction, the law of cause and effect. It holds that every action is the\ncause of every reaction as well as the effect of the action which is its\nproducing cause. The doctrine of Reincarnation specifies the different\nphysical forms in which groups of accumulated causes of reaction\nmanifest themselves in Nature. The laws of Karma are the regulated\nblendings of the subtle forces of the finer principles of Nature which,\noperating from within, shape these outer physical forms.\n\nKarma begins with the creation of the Universe, and Creation begins with\nthe loss of equilibrium of the three Cardinal Attributes while dwelling\nin a quiescent state in Absolute Love\u2014Krishna. This inequilibrium\ndevelops the germ of the Past Universe, which the Attributes hold within\nthem, and manifests itself as a New Universe\u2014a new Creation. The word\nKarma is derived from the Sanscrit root Kri, to act. Karma means action.\nAction means the motion of the operating forces of Nature. The Karma of\nthe past Creations, stored up as ideation within the even forces of the\nAttributes, works itself out in the form and phases of a new Creation.\nEvery succeeding Creation therefore is the reactive result of all\nprevious creations. This reaction of the accumulated action-potencies of\nthe past creations produces the uniform dimensions and the principal\nfeatures of the cycles, so that the history of every cycle, from the\nsmallest to the largest, repeats itself in its chief points in naturally\nregulated succession.\n\nAs in the great universe, so in its epitome, man. The microcosm is ruled\nby the same laws as the macrocosm, the laws of cause and effect, of\naction and reaction. Man is the conscious embodiment of the blended\nforces of his past actions, actions of previous conscious embodiments\nborn of the forces of still more previous embodiments.\n\nAction proceeds from thought. Thought is the source and spring of\naction. No action is possible without its producing cause, thought,\nwhich is a phase of the mind's volition. All our thoughts are impressed\non the mind, the moment they form themselves, in condensed pictures. The\nmore powerful a thought, the deeper the impression on the mind. Weak,\nundeveloped thoughts make superficial impressions and are liable to wear\noff. The impression of a powerful thought is likewise rubbed off by the\nforce of a strong counter-thought. An angry thought, for instance,\nprompts us to do a bad action, but before it is reduced to action, our\nreason sometimes intervenes, argues against it, convinces us of its\nerror which induces repentance. The stronger the counter-thought of\nrepentance, the more quickly and effectively it rubs off the impression.\nBut if the thought is reduced to action, its impression is deep and\nenduring, and requires the aid of absolutely sincere, burning repentance\nto destroy that impression.\n\nThese thought-impressions on the mind are called seeds of Karma. They\nare exactly like seeds of trees in their potencies and operations. As a\nseed of a tree, when planted in the soil, germinates, grows, flowers and\nbears fruit, so does a Karma-impression germinate, grow, flower and bear\nfruit. As the germ of a seed, in process of development, produces the\nevents called sprouting, putting forth leaves and branches, flowering\nand fruiting, lo, a man's mental thought-impressions of previous lives,\nin almost the self-same way, sprout, put forth leaves and branches,\nflower and fruit in the shape of events, inside and outside of him. The\nthought-impressions are reflected upon the aura. \"Aur\u0101\" is a Sanscrit\nword, its transliterated form being \"Ar\u0101,\" from \"Ar\" which means the\nspoke of a wheel. \"Ar\u0101\" means full of spoke-like shoots of radiance from\nany centre. This centre of our aura is our mind. Aura, therefore, is the\nradiance of, the mind which permeates and envelopes our body in an oval\nshape and generally extends one cubit outside of our body. The aura and\nreflections of these thought-impressions on the aura are visible only to\nthe spiritual and psychical sight. The illuminated saints and yogis who\nhave developed this sight, not only see this aura, but also the\nreflections of the thought-impressions which they can read and interpret\nas we read and interpret words. These reflections are called the\ncharacters of the mind\u2014the Hidden Pictures (Chitra-Gupta) of Human\nConduct\u2014which reveal the past, present and future history of a human\nsoul to those who can decipher them.\n\nFrom the aura these characters are reflected again upon the Ether which\nreceives the impression and keeps the record of each external and\ninternal event in Nature. The Ether is the storehouse of the records of\nall human and natural happenings and vibrations. And it is from this\nstorehouse of all mental records that true clairvoyance draws its\ninspired messages and revelations, A fully developed Yogi can learn the\ndetails of an event which occurred ten thousand years ago or of any\ntime, and can tell of any present or future occurrence in any part of\nthe world by concentrating upon the Ether, the all-knowing Ether.\n\nThus the records of the causes of human actions are kept in triplicate,\nso that there is no escape from the potencies of their merits and\ndemerits, unless the main records (those on the mind) are melted away by\nthe fire of absolute, all-absorbing spiritual consciousness.\n\nActions (Karma) are of two kinds, white and black. White Karma springs\nfrom the S\u0101ttwic state of mind, and Black Karma from its T\u0101masic state.\nThe color of Sattwa (Illumination) is white, the color of Tama\n(Darkness) is black, hence Karma is white or black. R\u0101ja is the\nattribute of Activity, the working principle, the motive power of\naction. Without the aid of R\u0101ja no action is possible. When R\u0101ja works\nwith dominant Sattwa the result is white Karma, when it works with\ndominant Tama, the result is black Karma. The white and black actions\nare commonly called good and bad. What is a good action? It is an action\nwhose ultimate reaction produces harmony and happiness and illumines the\nmind. What is a bad action? It is an action which, however enjoyable or\notherwise while it lasts, produces a reaction of inharmony, pain and\nmisery, causing darkness of the mind.\n\nIn respect to the law according to which they come to be worked out in\ntheir turn, the Karma-seeds, white and black, are of three\nclasses\u2014Sanchit, Pr\u0101rabdha and Kriyam\u0101n or Ag\u0101mi. Sanchit means\nstored-up. Pr\u0101rabdha means Karma the reaction of which has begun or that\nwhich is working now. Kriyaman means Karma-seeds originating out of the\nPr\u0101rabdha Karma now being worked out, but which will form the seeds of\nfuture (Agami) actions. Sanchit Karma includes the seeds of all the\nactions of past existences stored up as impressions on the mind. Out of\nthis storehouse of Karma-seeds that, white or black, which is the most\npowerful asserts itself to be worked out first, drawing to itself, by\nthe law of affinity. Karma-seeds of minor power, but of a nature similar\nto its own. This most powerful Karma-seed, lumped up with small\nKarma-seeds of similar character, forms the Pr\u0101rabdha Karma, Karma which\nis in the process of being worked out. And in its process of working the\nfresh thought-impressions which the mind is registering are called\nKriyam\u0101n (Karma being born), also called Ag\u0101mi (future) Karma, Karma\nseeds which, after being deposited in the storehouse, will come to be\nworked out in their turn in future, either as main or minor Pr\u0101rabdha,\naccording to their potency.\n\nThis is the law of working of human Karma, the inexorable law which\nshapes our life and destiny, which fills existence with joy or sorrow.\nKarma is unending unless we learn the mysterious law which works it and\ngrasp the still more mysterious Law behind that Karmic law and by its\npractice destroy its roots and prevent its present and future actions\nwithin us. I will speak of this Law and of its ways of practice later\non.\n\nWe often see a man, who has lived a good, pure and harmonious life,\nsuddenly, through circumstances or bad associations, changed into a bad\nman. He becomes worse in habits and conduct and dies in that degraded\nmental state. Similarly we find some one very bad up to a certain period\nof life; he suddenly turns good and, before death, develops into an\nangelic character. This law of Karma is behind this change of character.\nGood Pr\u0101rabdha influences one into good life and actions while it is\nworking. But if some black Karma-seed is the most powerful of all\nKarma-seeds in the mind's storehouse, after the good Pr\u0101rabdha has been\nworked out, it asserts itself to be worked out next and, lumped up with\nthe minor seeds, forms his Pr\u0101rabdha which changes the whole complexion\nof his character and conduct. The case of a bad man becoming good is\nsubject to the same law; a white Pr\u0101rabdha, owing to its predominant\npower, succeeds a bad one. The liability of alternate succession of bad\nand good Karma producing the actions of human beings is expressed in the\nmetaphoric saying that the action of Karma in man is like a revolving\nwheel.\n\nAs a seed of a tree takes time to bear fruit, grow old and die, so a\nKarma-seed takes time to develop and die. As the periodical putting\nforth of leaves, flowers and fruits are the events in the life of a\ntree, so the experiences of a man's life represent the development of\nhis Pr\u0101rabdha Karma-seed. The time a Karma-seed takes to work itself out\nis measured by the duration of the sustaining power of its\npotentialities. One Pr\u0101rabdha Karma may embrace two or three or more\nbirths if it is very powerful, or may end in the middle of one birth, if\nit be not so powerful. An extraordinarily powerful Karma may extend for\na long, long time, covering many, many births, suicide for instance. The\nthought which leads to suicide makes the deepest impression on the mind,\nfar deeper, in fact, than even the thought which commits murder. Why?\nBecause we love our own life more than anybody else's or than anything\nelse on earth. It, therefore, requires an extraordinarily powerful\nthought to overpower that innate, intense love of our life and incite us\nto destroy it. The thought back of this self-murder, therefore, makes\nthe deepest impression on, our mind and thus becomes the most powerful\nKarma-seed of all Karma-seeds. This being so, it asserts itself to form\nthe Pr\u0101rabdha, every time it is worked out, to the exclusion of all\nother Karma-seeds, for a long series of births, in every one of which\nthat soul commits suicide, sometimes, as it is often found, without any\napparent reason. It is divine mercy alone that saves a suicide from\ncommitting suicide in every birth ever afterwards. Hence suicide is the\ngreatest sin, greater than even murder.\n\nTo the average Western mind this Karma philosophy strikes as intolerably\npessimistic on account of the inexorableness of its laws. There is,\nhowever, no help for it. These laws rule us all whether we believe in it\nor not. They are no man-created laws, they are laws which operate\nthroughout Nature, as much within a white man as within a brown, yellow\nor black man, of all stations of life, of all grades of consciousness.\nYet it need not strike anybody, who has found the easy and rosy path out\nof the woods of Karma, as pessimistic at all. But he or she must ever\nkeep to that path and never stray out of it from sheer wilfulness, or\nelse there certainly is no escape out of the labyrinth of Karma.\n\nSECTION XVIII. REINCARNATION.\n\nReincarnation, as I have said, is the physical form in which groups of\naccumulated causes (Karma) of reaction manifest themselves in Nature.\nReincarnation means rebirth. Rebirth means, to be born again in flesh\nafter death. In order, therefore, to know what is rebirth, we must know\nwhat is death. To know what is death, we must know what is life.\n\nLet us see what life really is. Human life is conscious mentality\nencased in flesh. To be briefer, human life may be summed up in one\nword\u2014consciousness. Life of lower animals is negative consciousness,\nwhile human life is positive consciousness.\n\nHuman consciousness is subject to three states. The Waking state, the\nDream state and the Dreamless Sleep state. In the waking state all our\ninner and outer senses work. The inner senses are; The Intellect, the\nEgo and the Mind. The outer senses are the five cognizing and the five\nworking senses. These senses are fully active during our waking state.\nSo long as the mind thinks, the intellect decides, the Ego is\nself-conscious, the eye sees, the ear hears, etc., they are acting. And\nactivity (R\u0101ja) brings about the reaction of weariness (Tama). In other\nwords, the senses become tired out, owing to incessant work and need\nrest. It is the state of weariness of the senses that makes us feel\nexhausted and seek rest. But the senses cannot have full rest as long as\nwe are in a waking state, for their activity never ceases while we are\nawake. Here Nature's law steps in and draws a veil between the senses\nand their objects, the veil of Tama, born out of the excessive work of\nR\u0101ja. We fall asleep.\n\nBut in the first stage of sleep our senses still sustain their activity,\nthough in a lesser degree than in the waking state, owing to their still\ncognizing reflections of the objects, and scenes impressed on our mind\nwhile we are awake. This is called the dream state of consciousness,\nDreams are of three kinds. The ordinary dream is made up of the blended\nreflections of impressions of scenes and thoughts ill natural or\nfantastic shapes. The second kind of dream is a clear unmixed reflection\nof the mind's impressions of some of our experiences in a previous\nbirth. The third kind of dream is a reflection cast upon our pure\nconsciousness of coming events from their Karmic impressions on the\nEther or on our own aura. The ordinary dreams belong to the dream state.\nThe other two classes of dreams are experiences during the dreamless\nstate of sleep, generally in the morning just before awaking.\n\nThe dreams in the first stage of our sleep keep our senses still\nemployed and the mind active on that account, for the activity of the\nmind is generated by the operations of the senses with their objects.\nHence neither the tired mind nor the tired senses derive the complete\nrest they need, until gradually the veil of Tama grows dense and shuts\nout even the mental reflections of objects from their view. This stops\nthe operations of the senses which then are absorbed by the mind whose\noffsprings and agents they are, for the senses cannot exist when they\nare deprived of their function of cognition. The same thing occurs with\nthe mind, for its activity, caused and sustained by the activity of the\nsenses, is the only reason for its separate existence. With the loss of\nits function, therefore, the mind loses this separate existence and is\nabsorbed by the Ego. The Ego is in the same way absorbed by\nConsciousness, for the Ego is dependent on the Mind which sustains its\nexistence of self-consciousness. And then Absolute Consciousness, with\nthe passive germs of the Ego, Mind and Senses merged in it, is absorbed\nin its turn by the Soul and dwells in its realm until the senses have\nrested sufficiently.\n\nIn the depth of this dreamless sleep state of our consciousness, Tama\ngives place to the reaction of Sattwa which is very pure during this\nstate. This dreamless sleep may be called a negative trance state. When\nwe awake, through development of the R\u0101ja Attribute, we feel not only\nthoroughly refreshed but also in a state of mental harmony, a happy mood\nof mind. We also feel that we were, during that dead sleep, in a state\nof utter oblivion of everything. We feel we forgot then even our own\nexistence, feel that we were not conscious even of our own self, that we\nwere in an absolutely happy state, happy with happiness itself. We know\nof this condition, when we awake from it, by inference from the happy\nstate of our mental mood, induced by the abstract impression of it upon\nour consciousness which was present then in its pure state. The cause of\nthe refreshment and new strength of our body and senses is this dip in\nthe Essence of the Soul, the source of all energy. The physicians try to\nput their patients into this deep sleep in serious cases of illness,\nknowing by experience that deep sleep is a quicker and more powerful\nrestorer of health than any medicine, but they do not know where lies\nthe balm of sound sleep.\n\nThe activity of R\u0101ja brings about the awakening from this state by\ncausing the unfoldment of the infolded Ego, mind and senses which resume\ntheir operations with external and internal objects as before. The\ndifference between death and sleep lies here. After sleep we resume the\nfunctions of our senses, but death is caused by the confusion of our\nmind, on account of the senses not being able to resume their functions,\nowing to the disorder of the physical counterparts of the sense-organs\nthrough disease. Disease belongs to the physical body, and the senses\nwith the mind and Ego belong to the astral body which we are. The pains\nwe feel are caused by our identifying ourselves with our physical\nencasement. If we keep the fact constantly alive in our mind that our\nphysical body is the earthly home of our soul, which is the centre of\nour astral self, we will not only not feel physical pain but prevent or\ndo away with such pain even in the physical body. To know ourselves as\nnothing but our physical body is the densest, narrowest and the most\nmischievous ignorance. We often find proofs of this separateness of the\nphysical and mental bodies from acts which present themselves in our\ndaily life; we fail to cognize the experiences of our body or even of\nour senses when our mind absent from them and absorbed in some other\ndirection. It is the mind that feels pain pleasure, not the body,\nneither the senses.\n\nThe physician, through the action of drugs, causes the attribute of Tama\nto assert itself and cover the mind's perception with its dark veil, so\nthat the patient may not feel the pain of a serious operation on the\nbody, while we feel no pleasure in eating or drinking if our mind is\naway from them.\n\nThe Yogi who has, by practice, developed unbroken consciousness of the\nseparatness of the mental and physical body not only enjoys, when the\nconsciousness is absolute, immunity from physical diseases and mishaps,\nbut also does not feel the throes of death when he leaves his worn-out\nor diseased physical tenement. But the generality of mortals who cannot\nthink of themselves as anything else but their physical bodies, owing to\nignorance, suffer from all physical diseases. When these physical\ndiseases put the physical counterparts of sense-organs into disorder, it\nconfuses the mind when it finds that its channels of outward\ncommunication, the senses, can no longer work through them. In that\nconfusion it loses its balance and is strongly swayed by the desire to\nagain see and hear and feel and taste, etc.\n\nBut finding it impossible to do so in the present body any more, it\ntries to find some vehicle through which it can resume its functions.\nThe pain of the worst stage of the physical disease distracts it more\nand more so that it thinks it would be more comfortable in any other\nbody than its present one. In confusion, this central force of the\nastral body enters with that body into the volume of air which fills the\nphysical body, thinking it will gain relief from the unbearable pain.\nAnd no sooner the astral body, which is very subtle and finer than the\nair, enters into it, than it passes out, thus air-encased, through the\nmouth, causing the death of the physical body. This is the common\nprocess of death. Some astral bodies enter the air-body unconsciously if\nthe mind has been benumbed by pain or covered by the influence of\nexcessive Tama. But this is certain of every ordinary soul that it goes\nout of the body encased in air.\n\nThe thought predominant in this supreme moment of human life decides the\ndestination of the human soul encased in the astral body when it leaves\nits physical home. If we think of nothing but of Krishna at this moment\nwe go to Krishna and live in His Abode, Goloka, the Abode of Absolute\nLove. If we think of Christ we go to Christ in His Father's Kingdom of\nHeaven. If we are filled with the conception of Nirv\u0101na\u2014extinction of\nall individuality\u2014we go to Nirv\u0101na. If we desire for higher life above\nthe earth we go to the higher spheres. But if our earthly attachment\nhaving their influence on our thoughts at that moment, fill us with\nregret for being taken away from them or make us desire for earthly\nlife, we return to earth-life again, but not necessarily to a joyful or\ncomfortable life. A life of worldly joy and comfort is due to good Karma\nand self-denial in some previous existence. A life of sorrow and\nhardship is due to bad Karma.\n\nThe earth-bound soul, on leaving the physical body, feels overcome by\nthe shock of its final trouble with and severance from that physical\nbody and remains in an inert state for a time. When it recovers from\nthat shock, it finds that it has been transferred to a worse state.\nAlthough the air-body in which it encased is not diseased, it has,\nhowever, no openings for its senses to perform their respective\nfunctions. It finds it cannot see or hear or smell or touch or taste\nanything and yet the desires for these objects of the senses are as\nstrong as when it was in the physical body. This makes it weep for the\nloss of its dear physical body and it hovers about in space sad and\nrestless. It has no stomach, yet is filled with mental hunger and thirst\nwhich grow intense because it has no means of satisfying them. Indeed,\nfinding this astral life to be of greater torment, the unhappy\nearth-bound soul longs to have a flesh covering again, to be reborn, and\nflies hither and thither blindly, because of the want of physical\norgans, and some day gains this object. It enters, through the vigor\n(Sanscrit Virga, 'virjya,' force, power) of a man into a woman's womb.\nThis causes conception. No conception can take place without a\ndisembodied spirit entering the womb. Vigor mixed with the mother's\nblood supplies the physical body which is mere dead matter without the\nvivifying astral soul. It is only when an astral soul enters it that the\nwomb closes and conception takes place. The incoming soul then feels\nitself confined within its scope and cannot go out of it by its own\neffort or will.\n\nThe selection of the vigor and the womb for the astral soul is made\nprincipally according to the subtle law of individual Karma and,\nsecondarily, according to the law of affinity. The mental\ncharacteristics of the parents must be similar to those of the soul to\ndraw it to them. As for its physical body, it may favor in appearance\nits mother or its father more or less according as their individuality\nand image are stamped on the vigor and the blood through the state of\nextreme mental concentration induced at the time. If the incoming soul\npossesses far stronger individuality than those of the father and the\nmother, it asserts this upon its body and the child looks like neither\nthe father nor the mother. He looks like himself\u2014a form and appearance\nborn of the imagination of its own strong individuality.\n\nThis direct rebirth from hovering in the astral body in the astral plane\nfor some time is not true in the case of every disembodied soul. There\nare souls which, after death, may go at once to Heaven ('Swarga,'\nCelestial regions) or to Purgatory, the nether regions. According to the\nHindoo Scriptures, Heaven (Swarga) is not the Abode of God, but the\nabode of the gods, the Swar-sphere where the gods, the governors of the\nElements and Attributes of Nature, dwell. It is the Pr\u0101rabdha Karma of\nthe soul that determines its translation after death to Heaven or\nPurgatory. The joys of Heaven are reserved as a reward for good Karma.\nAnd yet these heavenly joys are but finest forms of material happiness,\nenjoyed by merit of good actions performed in earth-life for the sake of\njust such recompense. These heaven-dwellers mentally enjoy all these\nexquisite pleasures of the senses at their will, as well as the company\nof celestial beings, as long as the term of their merit lasts. At the\nexpiration of the term they come down to earth to be reborn again. These\nheavenly blessings are, therefore, but transitory.\n\nIntensely wicked actions, in the same manner, are punished by a term of\nsuffering tortures in Purgatory, at the expiration of which the purged\nsouls may go straight to heaven, if good Pr\u0101rabdha Karma succeeds their\nexpiatory sufferings, or be reborn again on earth. The tendency of the\npleasure-seeking, materialistic, modern mind is to disbelieve the\nexistence of any such place of torture as Purgatory. They think that\nHeaven and Purgatory exist only on earth within man's mind. This is true\nand yet it is not. If anybody develops high spirituality he or she can\ntaste higher, finer and more lasting joys than even celestial pleasures.\nFor such there is neither Heaven nor Purgatory, for intense spirituality\nburns down all seeds of Karma. As to enduring the tortures of Purgatory\nhere on earth through repentance, that is true too. But if the spirit of\nrepentance is not absolute, it fails to fully purge away the sin, so\nthat such sinful souls have to go to the nether regions for complete\ncleansing. The Hindoo Books do not believe in such a thing as Eternal\nHell or Punishment, because it is absurd, unjust and unscientific\naccording to the laws of Nature. The governor of \"Naraka\" (Purgatory)\none of the gods, the presiding deity of (Dharmar\u0101j) and the regions of\nhis rule are situated within the bowels of the earth. Human houses of\ncorrection (prisons) tend more to corrupt than to correct, because those\nin charge of them are not imbued with a perfect spirit of sympathy,\njustice and mercy. In the Divine houses of correction (Purgatory)\nperfect justice blends with mercy and sympathy, and the governor thereof\nis the embodiment of these three attributes. He has to deal with his\nprisoners according to their own records of their misdeeds, reflected on\nthe aura, a true copy of which is kept in the books of Ether, from which\nhis Recording Angel transcribes items credited to each individual soul.\n\nFor the pious, spiritually developed soul, however, there is no\nPurgatory, as I have said. It lives and breathes in a plane which is\noutside of the three lower planes of selfish actions and their\nreactions, outside of the jurisdiction even of the gods. To his ensouled\nmind the word purgatory or heaven has no meaning whatever. He loves\nspirituality for its own dear sake and feels itself safe from all evil\nin the embrace of its protecting arms.\n\nInto the vigor or the blood of such a spiritual soul, no wicked astral\nspirit can enter. Its pure aura repels such spirits and admits only\nkindred spirits seeking rebirth, drawn to it by Karma and affinity.\n\nMuch suffering is the lot of the ordinary soul while growing in the\nwomb, on account of its cramped consciousness and the narrow space in\nwhich it is confined. After the sixth month, it has a wonderful\nexperience. The veil shrouding its past existence is suddenly lifted and\nthe memories of all of its past births rush across its mind. It even\nwitnesses the scenes of thousands of its previous existences and\nrealizes the reason of the pain and sorrow suffered during all these\nexistences\u2014the reason of its having been attached to material objects\nand having disregarded the development of its spiritual self, its having\nbeen unmindful of its duty, to its Maker and its fellow man. This\nrealization crushes its mind with contrition and it weeps and prays to\nGod to forgive it and promises to live a life of devotion to Him in the\nfuture. This goes on for three months together until it is born, when,\nat the touch of the earthly atmosphere all those memories vanish and it\nis once more drowned in oblivion. It is more from the pain of this shock\nthat it cries out at the time of birth.\n\nSECTION XIX. HOW TO DESTROY KARMA.\n\nNow comes to be considered the question of questions\u2014How to do away with\nand avoid bad Karma. If Karma is the cause of all our sufferings in\nlife, how to remove that cause. We have before this had births and till\nactions in those innumerable births have produced countless Karma-seeds.\nAll these seeds are stored up in the repository of the mind. How is it\npossible, it may be asked, to destroy them all, and prevent fresh\naccumulation of new Karma-seeds in the present birth?\n\nTo those who ask this question seriously, that is, with a serious\nintention of acting upon any suggestion that may seem feasible to them,\nthe answer is pregnant with all the essentials of a true solution. To\nsuch the answer is simple and the mode of solution simpler. To the\nreally serious soul, hungering for freedom from the bondage of Karma,\neven the practice of the principle of the advice may strike as Still\nmore simple. But the practice involves the full realization of the\nsource of Karma, the perfect understanding of its laws, their operations\nand their relations to his own individual self.\n\nHere I will try to put the philosophy of this solution as briefly as\npossible. If our actions of this life are the products of actions in\nprevious lives, the actions of those previous lives are the effects of\nactions in still more previous lives and so on. Thus trying to trace the\ncauses of all our actions in all our past lives, we are bound to arrive\nat the time of the Creation of the universe, when it sprang from the\nWill of Krishna. We, as parts of the universe, sprang from that Will\ntoo. Krishna's Will before Creation was; \"I am One and I wish to be the\nMany,\" and His Creation is the manifestation of His Will's motion\ntowards manifoldness and Karma is the law of the rhythmic steps of that\nmotion. The Will of Krishna, therefore, is the cause of all Karma the\nentire Creation as well as of ours, because we are but parts of that\nCreation. This makes it clear that, since Krishna is the cause all Karma\nof the Universe, He is the Actor of all actions. This being so, the\ncause of our sufferings from bondage to Karma lies in our mistaken\nconception that we ourselves are the doer of our actions. This cannot\nbe, because all our actions proceed from our past Karma, the roots of\nwhich are embedded in the Will of Krishna. It is Krishna that is the\nwhole Universe, as well as its laws and actions. It is Krishna that\nsuffers and enjoys in so many shapes and forms which make up His moving\nWill, called Nature. All our troubles are born of our usurping His\nplace, the place of the Real Actor. Hence Karma clings, by natural law,\nto whoever claims it. We claim the doership of actions which manifest\nthemselves through us, but the real Doer is the spring of primeval\naction\u2014Krishna Himself.\n\nThis belief, that we ourselves are the doers of our actions, subjects\nour Ego to their reactions. If by tracing the source of Karma to\nKrishna, we dispel this illusion from our mind and keep it ever out of\nit, so that it may not disturb our conviction of the fact that Krishna\nis the only Doer, all our past and present Karma, the stored-up and the\nworking\u2014Sanchit and Pr\u0101rabdha\u2014will leave us of themselves and go to\nKrishna to be absorbed by Him, while, for the same reason, the\nKarma-seeds springing from our present actions will be rendered germless\nlike roasted seeds which never grow. But this belief needs constant\npractice of this thought in order to be sustained without interruption\nand involves thinking of Krishna, Absolute Love and Life, every\nminute\u2014thoughts by which the thinker absorbs the essence of the purest\nspirituality whose illumination ever guides him along the paths of Truth\nand Wisdom and prompts him to actions whose results bring harmony and\nhappiness to himself, as well as to all with whom he comes in contact.\n\nThis exposition of the truth of our utter irresponsibility of our\nactions will appear strange and mischievous only to unthinking minds.\nThe fear that such a belief of irresponsibility may lead some people to\nbad actions is entirely groundless. Such a thing can never happen for,\nwith such a belief firm our mind, we have to think of God always in our\ndaily actions, and this constant thinking induces concentration upon the\nDeity whose spirit is sure to prevent and counteract all our evil\nthoughts, not to speak of evil actions. A man who will do evil actions,\ntaking advantage of this principle, will only deceive himself. Such\nevil-doing can only show that he has no belief in the principle at all,\nbut thinks of it only with a view to justify actions which lie, in his\nheart, believes to be his own, but attributes to God to get rid of their\nresponsibilities, if possible. But if anyone believes firmly that God is\nthe Doer of all actions and yet, for want of proper culture of this\nbelief, he is betrayed into evil actions, be sure his belief growing\nstronger will soon control his actions and lead him along the paths of\nthe good and the pure. God-Consciousness destroys all evils of the mind\nto their very roots.\n\nThus Karma and its effects, which for the ignorant, unthinking, and\nreckless human soul are ever interminable, can by exercise of wisdom and\nmental power and discipline be absolutely done away with. Karma belongs\nto Krishna and it is to Krishna that it and its fruits should be\nunreservedly dedicated good. The moment this mystery of Karma is solved\nand the soul that solves it acts upon its lesson, than Krishna takes it\ninto His arms, and the soul and its Maker, now face to face, laugh\ntogether at this riddle of life, and in that laugh of ecstasy all sorrow\nand pain of the past are forgotten by that saved soul.\n\nSECTION XX. THE ATOM'S RETURN JOURNEY.\n\nIt is absolute Krishna-consciousness\u2014or God-consciousness, if you will,\nif that God is Absolute Love\u2014that carries the atom from its man-stage of\ndevelopment to its Real Home, Krishna, the Abode of Eternal Love and\nBliss. Like all roads leading to Rome, all religious paths lead to that\nHome. The primeval, the most natural and the most scientific religion,\ncalled now the Hindoo religion, has constructed five main roads for\nmaking the return journey easy, and the travelers can choose any of\nthese roads, according to their inclinations and the state of spiritual\nprogress. One is the Path of Light and Psychic Force, called the path of\nthe Sun, because the Sun is the presiding deity of the path. The second\nis the Path of Success whose presiding deity is Ganapati, Bestower of\nSuccess. The third is the Path of Destruction of Tama whose presiding\ndeity is Shiva, the Destroyer, one of the Hindoo Trinity and the\npresiding deity of Tama, Shiva who has subdued Tama and become its lord.\nThe fourth is the Path of Divine Energy whose presiding deity is Durg\u0101,\nthe Motherhood of God and the Universe\u2014\"Prakriti,\" Divine Nature. The\nfifth is the Path of Spiritual Devotion whose presiding deity is Vishnoo\n(Aniruddha), the presiding deity of Sattwa, out of whose navel the\nuniverse has sprung and who is the dispenser of Moksha to the walkers of\nall the other paths. In this path is included another path, a path far\nsuperior to all the five paths, the Path of Absolute Causeless Love\nwhich leads direct to Krishna, whose presiding Deity is Krishna, the\nDeity of all the deities. These different path-walkers are called by the\nnames of their respective deities of worship\u2014Saura, Ganapatya, Shaiva,\nShakta (worshippers of 'Shakti,' Energy) and Vaishnavs, among whom are\nincluded Krishna-worshippers.\n\nThe Sun is the medium of the physical manifestation of the Divine Light,\nthe Light of Absolute Intelligence, the Co-existent Attribute of\nAbsolute Love. It is called the Parent of the gross universe, the Outer\nEye of the Deity, the passage of the First Sense of the Divine Mind\nwhich produced Forms. The devotee of the Sun worships it as such, as the\nmedium of the Absolute Deity, Krishna. Some of them concentrate their\neyes upon the Sun, immersed in water up to the neck from sunrise to\nsunset, others pray to it morning, noon and evening and contemplate its\npower. The sun is not blazing hot as some modern people think. It is\npeopled by spiritual souls who, by the merit of soul-development, go\nfrom earth after death to dwell there for further development. These\nspiritual souls are spiritually governed by one who is most developed\namong them. He is called the Sun-God, the representative of the sun.\nSun-worship leads finally to Krishna-worship in some fully developed\nreincarnation.\n\nGanapati, first-born of Shiva (Shiva means Weal, Destroyer of Ill or\nEvil), is the presiding deity and bestower of Success\u2014material, moral\nand spiritual\u2014which is the chief factor of human weal. Satisfied\nmaterial success, virtuously earned, inspires the desire for moral\ndevelopment in well-ordered minds, and moral development, in turn, leads\nto spiritual imfoldment. By concentration on this Central Idea of\nSuccess itself, the mind of the devotee of Ganapati, absorbs its\nessence, the force of which guides his efforts to prosperity. Earthly\nprosperity, enjoyed with discrimination, impresses us with its\nhollowness, its failure to satisfy the inner craving of the mind and\npoints to the path of solid, all-satisfying, permanent happiness.\n\nShiva is the Presiding Deity of the Weal of Creation, hence his\nname\u2014Shiva. He is the Conqueror and Destroyer of Darkness (Tama). He\nhelps his devotees to dispel the darkness of ignorance generated in\ntheir mind by its Tama Attribute, and thus uncover its attribute of\nSattwa by the illumination of which their souls reach the state of\nMoksha\u2014Freedom from the Bondage of Matter\u2014and finally merge in the\nDivine Essence whence it originally sprang.\n\nDurg\u0101 is Divine Energy, the Motherhood of Creation. She is the S\u0101ttwic\nforce by which Shiva subdued Tama. Hence she is the consort of Shiva,\nthe Helpmeet of Spiritual Weal. Without Durg\u0101, his Shakti (Energy),\nShiva is inert; with his Shakti, he is alive and rules the universe.\nShiva and his Shakti are inseparable, as man and his mental energy,\nwhich alone he is, is inseparable. Man is moved by his mental energy, so\nShiva is moved by his spiritual energy. Durg\u0101 is the highest spiritual\nphase of K\u0101lee, Conqueress of Time and Door of Eternity. She is the\nSpiritual Force of Nature (Prakriti), she is the Mother of the Universe.\nHer devotees called Shaktas (Shakti-worshippers) meditate on her as the\nGreat Mother and pray to her for her grace, as a child talks to its\nmother and looks up to her for help, protection and sustenance. When the\nmost spiritual of her devotees develop the same natural love for and\nunshaken faith in her as those of an innocent child to its mother, they\nare blessed with her last grace. They are helped to Moksha or led into\nthe path of Krishna, this last the greatest of all her gifts. She, as\nYoga-M\u0101y\u0101 (energy of the highest spiritual concentration), holds the key\nof the Gate of Goloka, Krishna's Abode of Love-Bliss.\n\nVishnoo is the sum total of all the deities which are the manifestations\nof his powers and attributes. He is the Parent of both the Motherhood\nand Fatherhood of the Universe\u2014the Spring of Creation itself. He is the\nPresiding Deity of Sattwa out of which are born R\u0101ja and Tama. He is the\nPreserver, the Sustaining Power of the Universe. He is the Way to\nMoksha, His Essence is the Abode of all Salvation. He is the Outer Form\nof Krishna, the Form through which Krishna manifests His Will and\nbecomes the Many from the One. His Abode, called Vaikuntha, the Centre\nof his All-Pervading Essence, is over this universe, over\nBrahm\u0101-Loka\u2014Brahm\u0101's Abode. He is the last but one Goal of all spiritual\naspirations. He is the Gate of Krishna, the Last Goal.\n\nThe upward evolution of the atom from the man-stage has to pass through\nmany higher spiritual stages in higher and higher spheres. Interested\nspiritual culture, by which I mean spiritual culture with a view to\nenjoy the finest essence of sensuous happiness in spheres higher than\nthe earth, never lifts a human soul beyond the Bhuba and the Swar, the\nabode of the gods. The Bhuba sphere is just over the earth. It is the\nastral sphere. It is peopled by semi-celestial spirits and beings whose\nbodies are made mostly of ether, air and fire and the finest essence of\nwater and earth; hence they are invisible to our gross physical eye.\nThey are so light that the air to them is like firm land to us; they\nwalk over it as we walk over earth. There are houses and roads in this\nsphere as on earth, as also in the Swar sphere. Many psychical persons\nhave now and then a glimpse of the Bhuba sphere and the dwellers\ntherein. One of my students in New York, the truth of whose visions is\nknown to many, has often seen these airy houses, roads and beings. The\nSwar is composed of finer material than the Bhuba, and its atmosphere is\nmore sacred. Selfish spiritual culture is rewarded by a term of\nresidence in the Swar. When the term is over the soul has to come down\nto earth again to be reborn as man.\n\nThe soul which loves and cultivates unselfish spirituality, spirituality\nfor spirituality's sake, succeeds when it has no desire or sympathy any\nmore for anything earthly, in skipping over the Bhuba and Swar, after\ndeath, and enters and becomes a dweller in the Mahar sphere. Such a soul\nseldom comes back to earth, but through higher development attains to\nthe Brahm\u0101 Loka and there waits, to be absorbed or immersed in Vishnoo's\nEssence, till the time of the Universal (Natural) Dissolution through\nwhich it reaches its goal.\n\nThe worshippers of Vishnoo pray for one of the five states of Moksha\n(Salvation), according to the preference of their inclinations. These\nfive states of Salvation are S\u0101lokya, S\u0101mipya, S\u0101rupya, S\u0101jujya and\nS\u0101rshti. S\u0101lokya is, to dwell in the plane of Vishnoo. S\u0101mipya is, to\nlive near Vishnoo as a servant. S\u0101rupya is, to live with Vishnoo as his\ncompanion and having Vishnoo's form and appearance. S\u0101jujya is, to\nremain immersed in Vishnoo's Essence. S\u0101rshti is, to possess even the\npowers of Vishnoo. Those who attain to the first three states of\nSalvation serve as messengers of Vishnoo, and at times act as mediums of\ncommunication between Vishnoo and the dwellers of the Universe, while\nsome of those who attain to the last two states come down to earth only\nfrom time to time as Avat\u0101rs, partial Incarnations of Vishnoo (God).\nThese have developed complete God-consciousness and after being immersed\nin the Essence of Vishnoo for eons together, they have been thoroughly\nVishnooized. True, they were human beings before, but now they are Parts\nof God Himself. They have no more recollection of their former\nexistences. Therefore, to call them any other than Vishnoo is blasphemy.\nWhen the affairs of the earth are in chaos and humanity in general needs\nspiritual uplifting, some of these immersed souls are detached, and they\ncome down to our sphere, take birth and walk among us, helping us, by\nexamples and teachings, to right actions which lead to Salvation.\n\nSECTION XXI. YOGA.\n\nThere are five processes of mental discipline by the aid of which the\nhuman soul can reach the goal quicker. These are called the five paths\nof Yoga, viz., Hatha, Karma, R\u0101ja, Gn\u0101na and Bhakti. Yoga means Union.\nThe word Yoga is the original of its corrupted English form \"Yoke.\"\nYoga, therefore, means yoking the Mind to the Spirit of God by\nconcentration. Hatha Yoga consists in cleaning and disciplining the\nouter and inner physical body by the practice of certain postures of\nsitting, processes of moving the muscles and fixing the eye upon some\nexternal object or the tip of the nose. These, in time, induce mental\npoise. Karma Yoga is performing good actions, and practising spiritual\nformulas which contribute to the purification of the mind and, finally\nlead to the unfoldment of the soul. R\u0101ja Yoga is stopping the functions\nof the mind's volitions. By volitions of the mind are meant\nthought-currents. By the practice of R\u0101ja Yoga, the outflow of these\nthought-currents can be entirely stopped and turned inwards in one\nconcentrated stream into the soul. The main process of shutting in the\nmind-currents is by controlling the breath. The action of our breathing\nupon our mind is like that of the pendulum of a clock upon the movements\nof its hands. As, for instance, the quicker the pendulum swings the\nfaster the movement of the hands, so, the quicker our breathing, the\nmore rapid the action of our thought-currents. By controlling the breath\nby certain exercises, prescribed by R\u0101ja Yoga, one can make his\nbreathing slow and thereby diminish the speed of the thought-currents.\nDuring these breathing exercises, the mind is concentrated upon God or\nthe Divine Idea, or some mystic words expressive of the Deity. This\nlessens the activity of the mind which then gradually experiences a\ncalmness unfelt before, a calmness which in itself is a happiness which\nno form of enjoyment of material pleasure can afford. Calmness of mind\ndevelops into harmony, the result of the expression of the Sattwa\nattribute.\n\nThere are five kinds of mental states: Murha, Khipta, Bikhipta, Ek\u0101gra,\nand Sam\u0101dhi. The Murha, ruled by predominant Tama, is generally\nattracted to evil objects owing to lack of discrimination. Khipta flits\nfrom one object to another in search of pleasure. It is ruled by\npredominant R\u0101ja, so is ever active and never satisfied. The Bikhipta\nmental state, ruled by the equal combination of the three attributes, is\ngenerally like Khipta, but at times fixes its attention inwards though\nfor a short time only. When the Bikhipta is helped by the practice of\nconcentration into the Ek\u0101gra (one-pointed) state, then it is that\nharmony is brought about. When, by constant practice, the one-pointed\nmind becomes unwaveringly fixed on the Deity or the Idea of the Deity\ngained through the increasing illumination of the Sattwa, it enters into\nthe Sam\u0101dhi (Trance) state, the state of Absolute absorption into the\nDeity.\n\nThe practice of the R\u0101ja Yoga has been forbidden in the Sh\u0101stras in the\nKali Yuga (Iron Age) because, in this age, excepting in rare cases, the\nhuman body is too weak and delicate to stand the hardships, psychic\nexertions and physical privations of its practices, and because an adept\nYogi-Gooroo, without whose constant help in every detail of it no\nstudent can attain the highest result, is very hard to be found. Many\nwho now practice it under inexperienced Gooroos in India meet early\ndeath or develop incurable diseases or even turn insane. A moderate\namount of simple breathing exercises may not be so injurious or fatal,\nbut too much of it or the practice of the advanced rules ought never to\nbe attempted, especially in the West, where a proper Gooroo can never be\nfound and where most people's nerves are generally shaky.\n\nGn\u0101na Yoga is an entirely mental process of Yoga, a process of\ndiscriminating between the Unsubstantial and the Substantial in Nature\nand concentrating upon the only Substantial Essence of things and\ngradually getting absolutely absorbed by it. The keeping up of this\nprocess of thought in an unbroken stream requires living a life of\nsimplicity, solitude and renunciation. The life in which this\nthought-current becomes unbroken is the last life, last incarnation of\nthat soul. It escapes rebirth for good for which it has worked for many\nincarnations. Its separate Ego is merged in the universal Ego and\nfinally is lost in and becomes one with the One-without-a-Second.\n\nGn\u0101na Yoga belongs to the school of the Ved\u0101nta philosophy. Ved\u0101nta is\n\"Veda\" and \"Anta\" which means \"End,\" so that Ved\u0101nta means End of the\nVeda\u2014the Aim or Goal of the Veda; and the word Veda is the original of\nthe English word \"Wisdom\" (Swedish, Visdom) from Sanscrit, \"Vida,\" to\nknow. Veda means knowledge of the Reality, the Truth. The Ved\u0101nta\nAphorisms of Vedavyasa are but Indices to the Principles of the\nUpanishads\u2014the Wisdom part of the Veda. There are two Schools of\nVed\u0101nta, the Old and the New. The Old possesses the true interpretation\nof the Aphorisms, the New is deluded by their false interpretations, is\nonly about two thousand years old and has a comparatively small number\nof adherents. The Old school is founded on Parin\u0101mb\u0101d, the new is\nfounded on Vivartab\u0101d, The Old school holds that the universe is\ncomposed of the ever changeful manifestations of the Will (Energy) of\nthe One Changeless Deity (Parin\u0101mb\u0101d), the New calls the whole universe,\nin fact, all that is visible and perceptible, M\u0101y\u0101 (Illusion), in the\nsense that it never existed, does not exist now and will never exist.\nAll that exists is Brahm, the Divine Essence, and we are That. All else\nis illusion wrought in our mind through ignorance, just as the mistaking\na piece of rope lying in some dark place for a snake is due to the\nillusion of the darkness. This theory with its plausible analogy is all\nwrong. The universe is not all illusion though it is the changeful\nforce-materialization of the Unchangeful One Substance. The force or\nenergy or light or reflection of a substance is inseparable from it and\nis pervaded by it and partakes of its spirit. This materialized\nforce-reflection of Brahm not only possesses its substance at bottom but\nmust be called a part of it as the light of a flame or reflection of a\nlight is undeniably its part. The analogy of the snake and rope is,\ntherefore, not true of God and the Universe: The snake is merely the\nconjuration of the darkness and not born of the rope; but the universe\nis born of Brahm (the rope). The theory that it is born of the illusion\nof our ignorance, is absurd in that it involves accepting that\n\"ignorance\" to be something self-existent, that it has an independent\nexistence, separate from the All-in-All, the One-without-a-Second. If\nnot, whence is this \"ignorance\" which has such power of illusion over\nour mind and senses? What is it? Whence does it come? The Neo-Ved\u0101ntist\nanswers, it is something inexplicable, His M\u0101y\u0101 is inexplicable\u2014the\nargument of one in darkness himself. This New Ved\u0101ntic thought has done\nand is doing more harm to the world than any other religious theory. It\nis a worse delusion than the delusion of M\u0101y\u0101.\n\nSECTION XXII. BHAKTI YOGA.\n\nBhakti Yoga is concentration on the Deity through Devotion, the best and\nhighest form of Yoga, higher than all the other forms, as Krishna\nHimself has said in the Bhagavat Gita Devotion is the full fruition of\nspiritual concentration. A true devotee is the highest Yogi, for he is\nfilled with humility, and sincere, abject humility is the expression of\nthe sublimest spiritual nature; it is \"the softened shadow\" as the Lord\nsays, \"that is cast by My Love.\" Sincere humility springs from the clear\nrealization of the Presence of God in everything, that the whole\nuniverse is formed of the many forms of the One Form and its Radiance.\nAnd with that never fading vision before the mind's eye, the devote\nforgets himself and stoops low at the feet of every one and at\neverything he sees, for he sees in them all his Deity.\n\nBhakti is of two kinds, Gn\u0101n-Bhakti and Prem-Bhakti. Gn\u0101n-Bhakti is\ndevotion aided by culture of wisdom, its Deity is some incarnation of\nVishnoo and its goal is the Abode of Vishnoo or the Essence of Vishnoo.\nPrem Bhakti is devotion through Love\u2014Causeless, Disinterested Love, love\nfor love's sake, and its Deity and Goal is Krishna\u2014Absolute Love. The\nPath of Prem Bhakti lies within the Path of Gn\u0101n Bhakti, but this Path\nwithin the Path is hedged in high to shut out the view and sound of the\nmain path. The devotee of Prem Bhakti dedicates all his knowledge,\nwisdom and actions to Krishna, the spring of all Wisdom and Actions, and\nprays Krishna for His love, the luxury of loving Him for His dear sake.\n\nThe Prem Bhakta wants nothing from his Lord, no boon, no blessing,\nmaterial or celestial, not even Salvation or Mukti, nothing, nothing,\nsave\u2014the blessing of being filled with love for Him. He prays to his\nLord: \"O my Krishna! It matters not what betides my body, my life or my\nearthly circumstances, or in what form of life I am reborn, even if it\nbe that of a worm, let my faith and love be fixed in Thee, my Beloved.\nWhatever is there in all existence compared with the luxury of loving\nThee? Thou art the sum-total of the realization of all desires, of all\nhappiness, Thou, the Secret and Object of all our longings!\"\n\nSuch, in truth, is Krishna's attraction and more. He is the embodiment\nof the concentrated Beauty and Sweetness of all the Universes, His Eyes\nand Face the focus of the Love that fills all that is. Hence this Prem\nBhakti Path, which means the Path of Love's Devotion, is called the Path\nof Beauty and Sweetness. Beauty and Sweetness are Coexistent, are one\nand the same thing. Beauty is the expression of Sweetness, Sweetness is\nthe Essence of Beauty, and Love is the Parent of both. Krishna's Form\nand Symmetry are all Ideals' unapproachable, inconceivable, unimaginable\nIdeal. The newest rain-cloud[1] color of His complexion is the color of\nthe condensed Ether of Ether\u2014Love. His crown and crest of\npeacock-feathers, His raiment of molten gold\u2014the color of attraction\u2014His\nlong garland and ornaments of wild flowers, His jewel Kaustubha on His\nBreast and His bamboo flute were all proud contributions of Nature to\nHer Supreme Lord. If we can imagine the essence of the purest of pure\nlove condensed into a substance as thick as flesh and moulded into form,\nwe can then have some idea of the material of Krishna's Body, whether in\nGlory or on earth. It is a Form which, the moment you produce some\nlikeness of it in imagination thrills you with ecstasy, for it is\nEcstasy condensed.\n\nKrishna is best worshipped with the heart. Prayers and incantations and\nofferings, without sincere feeling, do not reach Him. He responds to the\ncall of love alone. Call Him from the innermost depth of your heart with\npure love\u2014love unmixed with motive\u2014with sincere, artless love of a fond\nbaby for its mother, and He will appear to you and do whatever you want\nHim to do. Krishna is your veriest own, nearer to you than your nearest\nrelative, your only true friend in life and Eternity. He is dearer, more\nprecious than your body or your life or your heart for He is your soul\nand soul is dearer and more precious than body, life or heart. It is Him\nyou have been searching in all your searchings in life, in lives you\nhave lived before, and Him will you search in lives that are to come\nafter this life. He is ever with you. He is within you, but you are\nsearching for Him outside of you\u2014whence you miss Him, hence you run\nafter all the will-o'-the-wisps of life, thinking these will give you\nthe joy which your Only Beloved and Lover alone can give. No wonder you\nare deceived, depressed, unsatisfied\u2014the reward of chasing the shadow of\nthe substance that lies within you, the reward of chasing the rainbow\nwhich is but the reflection of the Sun of your soul's sky.\n\nThe devotee of Krishna meditates on Krishna regarding Him in one of the\nfour human relationships, whichever suits his natural inclination best,\nviz., D\u0101sya or the relationship of a Servant to his Master, Sakhya or\nthe relationship of the Friend to his Friend, B\u0101tsalya or the\nrelationship of a Son to his Parents or Parents to a Son, and Madhur or\nthe relationship of a Wife to her Husband or of a loving Woman to her\nLover. These four kinds of devotional feelings are natural in man. By\n\"natural\" I mean born from Nature of which man is the best earthly\nproduct. But wherefrom has Nature derived them? From her parent-source,\nKrishna, of course. So these feelings are present, in their absolute\nperfection, in Krishna, the source of all Life. Flowing from Krishna\ninto His Creation, they constitute the cords of attachment between man\nand man, the natural bonds of union between soul and soul, the natural\nchannels of communication between man and his Maker. They are the\ninvisible wires of telegraphy between the Central Soul and its branch\nsouls\u2014between the Parent Soul and its offsprings. If the instruments of\nthe branch offices are rusty and out of order they cannot transmit their\nmessages to the main office or receive messages therefrom. The moment\nthey are cleaned, repaired and put into working order, they are open to\nperfect communication once more.\n\nThe devotee of Krishna cleans the rusty and disordered instrument of his\nheart by cultivating one of these feelings of devotion for Krishna. And\nthe moment this feeling attains its natural state, the moment it becomes\nabsolutely sincere, than he absorbs and is filled with absolute Love\nfrom its Primeval Spring. Krishna is absolutely divine and absolutely\nhuman, for it is perfect humanity that is perfect divinity. Krishna is\nLove itself, the Love that destroys all distance. Love that draws the\nLover and the Loved closest to each other. It knows no ceremony, knows\nno formal respect. It knows no motive. Love is its own cause, motive and\nsatisfaction. Divinity demands our reverence and inspires us with awe.\nDespite its strong attraction we can but adore it from a distance, we\ncannot approach it too near. But Love draws us to its bosom and holds us\nclose: Love is a Master and Love is a Slave. It knows no barrier, sees\nno faults, nay, sees virtues in faults. It responds to its own clear\ncall or vibrates to the voice of its own inspiration and blesses its own\ncreation with greater gifts of its own wealth.\n\nWhichever of the four devotional feelings towards Krishna the Bhakta\n(devotee) cultivates, it must reach the stage of unalloyed sincerity to\nbe rewarded by its blissful realization. The loving Servant of Krishna\nmust love His service above all he loves and holds dear. The devotee who\nwants to be the Friend and Companion of Krishna must have his\nall-forgetting Love of Krishna pervaded by an uninterrupted sense of\nequality with Him. He may serve Him as a slave, but it is the service of\na friend who is more than a slave to his friend. The devotee who wants\nto love Krishna as a Father or Mother must have unwavering sincerity of\nsuch paternal love and affection. He or she must always consider himself\nor herself superior to Krishna whom they must regard as a helpless child\nin their charge. This true parental feeling is pervaded by the\nunconscious spirit of spontaneous service and friendship, for no\nfriendship and service can be compared with those of parents. The same\nrules apply to the cultivation of the filial feeling of devotion to\nKrishna. The fourth, the feeling of a loving wife to her lord sums up\nthe essence of all the foregoing three feelings, It is the highest and\ntenderest feeling of devotion. The true wife is the servant, friend,\nmother and lover of her husband. She is his slave, equal and superior by\nvirtue of her all-surrendering love. Every form of pure love is\nself-surrender. The love that knows no surrender or sacrifice is a\nmockery. It mocks itself more than its object, for sacrifice is its\nchief test and best expression. Love that only loves, if loved, is pure\nselfishness, it is self-deception. But the love that loves for its own\nsake and is the fullest satisfaction in itself, the love that loves\nwhoever or whatever its object loves is the Love Absolute that Krishna\nis. The human soul that develops it, binds Krishna thereby and holds Him\nits prisoner for good. When that Love develops the tenderness of a\nloving wife, it captivates the Heart of hearts, and entrances the Soul\nof souls, Krishna.\n\nThese Vaishnav forms of devotion reached their highest degree of\ndevelopment and received their greatest impetus on the appearance of\nSree Chaitanya, the Fullest Incarnation of Krishna, who was born in\nNuddea, on the Ganges, Bengal, a little over four hundred years ago and\nflourished for nearly half a century. He was Krishna Himself incarnated\nin the form of His Greatest Devotee. Krishna is the Mystery and\nChaitanya is its Explanation. Whenever Krishna comes to earth as the\nMystery of Love in the Junction Period of Dw\u0101par and Kali, He comes\nagain in the form, of Chaitanya as the Explanation of that Mystery, five\nthousand years after, to show to mankind the Way to Himself for\nexamples.\n\nChaitanya's love, devotion and spirituality will ever remain\nunparalleled. He preached Krishna, the Seed and Soul of Love Absolute,\nand while preaching he would burst forth into song in praise of Krishna.\nThus singing he would be filled with ecstasy and, in its fullness, he\nwould be moved into the most graceful dance the world has ever seen, now\nshouting the Name of his Lord and anon weeping for his Lord's grace, his\narms and whole body waving and quivering with the heaving billows of his\nheart's love-ocean, streams of which, like water from many fountains,\nwould flow from his eyes in the shape of tears. And in those tears,\nstreaming straight from his eyes to the ground, all those, who catching\nhis spirit caught also his ecstatic motion, would be literally bathed.\nAnd all India was \"flooded,\" as the authoritative records of his\napostles tell us, with Chaitanya's Divine Love, and millions of sinners\nthat felt it, were borne away by its tide.\n\nSree Chaitanya preached and proved the potency of Krishna's Name\u2014that\nHis Name is the Lord Himself. If anybody says \"Krishna, Krishna\"\nmentally or loudly and concentrates his mind on it, he is bound to\nabsorb its Love-Nectar, be drunk with its ecstasy, see Krishna in Form\nand in everything, and finally go to Goloka after passing out of this\nlife. Hari is the popular Name of Krishna. It means, He Who steals our\nsins. Chaitanya would shout \"Hari, Hari!\" or \"Haribole!\" (say, Hari) and\nvibrations of that Name would thrill through all hearers and change them\ninto pious devotees. Millions upon millions were thus saved by him,\nmillions of sinners turned into saints. The world has never seen such an\nAvat\u0101r, the Incarnation of All-Love Krishna. He lived the most blameless\nlife from childhood to his disappearance at the age of forty-eight.\n\nLike master, like servants. His Apostles were of such spiritual purity\nand sublimity that it would be hard to find one like them even in India\nof the past. Any of them was competent to save a whole world. They have\nleft thousands of Books on Krishna and Chaitanya's Life and Teachings\nwhich are of the utmost value to the students and adherents of all\nreligions of all climes, ages and denominations. Love is the theme of\nevery book, and it is difficult to resist its essence pouring into you\nas you read them.\n\nIf my life is spared by the Lord, and if my Krishna wills it, I may\npresent the Life-Story and Teachings of Sree Chaitanya and his apostles\nto the Western reader in a short time. In that book a detailed\nexposition of the Vaishnav religion will be given, an exposition which\nmay interest Christians. The present book is but the preliminary part of\nthe Chaitanya book I intend to write, for Chaitanya cannot be understood\nwithout first understanding Krishna and His Leel\u0101 on earth. Chaitanya\nmay be called the Indian Christ, but a Christ the like of whom has never\nappeared on earth. Chaitanya did not even leave his Body behind when he\nleft this earth. He entered one morning into the Temple of Juggernath\nand disappeared\u2014nobody knows how or where.\n\nSECTION XXIII. VAISHNAV, CHRISTIAN OF CHRISTIANS.\n\nThe Krishna-Worshipper is either a householder or a hermit. He is either\na devotee who cultivates the love for Krishna amid the duties and\ndistractions of the world or a devotee who leaves the temptations and\nturmoil of the world and sojourns in some sylvan retreat in the holy\nforest of Brind\u0101ban, the earthly abode of Krishna, or in the outskirts\nof a town or village within a humble monastery composed of a couple of\nhuts with a little flower garden fenced around. But the most advanced\nKrishna hermit tarries nowhere longer than a few days, but ever roams\nabout in the land sanctified by the touch of the Lotus Feet of his Lord.\n\nThe formula of worship and religious rules of life practised by both the\nhermit and householder are practically the same. It consists of mental\nand physical practices, more mental than physical. The moment the\nhouseholder awakes from his sleep in the morning he utters the name of\nKrishna thus:\n\nKrishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna!\n\nO Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna!\n\nKrishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, nourish me!\n\nKrishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, protect me!\n\nI salute Thee, O Krishna, give Thou me Thy Love!\n\nThen before he leaves his bed and puts his foot upon the earth, he prays\nand salutes Mother Earth thus:\n\n\"O thou ocean-girdled, mountain-breasted goddess! I salute thee, O thou\nConsort of Vishnoo! Forgive me, thy suckling. O Mother, this my touching\nthee with my feet!\"\n\nThen, after answering the calls of Nature, and after rubbing his hands\nand feet with pure earth and washing them for many times, he takes a\nfull bath either in the Ganges or in any river if it is near by. If not,\nhe bathes in a pond or at a well or at home with two or three large\njarfuls of water. While bathing, he utters many a hymn and prayer to\nKrishna. After the bath, he wears a piece of dry cotton cloth which has\nbeen washed in clean water, or a piece of pure silk cloth. He then goes\nto a flower garden and culls some scented white flowers for Krishna,\nwhom he then sits to worship in his sacred room. He mentally repeats for\none hundred and eight times the Mantram he has received from his Gooroo,\ncounting it on his fingers. Then he takes a few tiny leaves of the\nsacred Tulsi plant, smears them in sandal-wood paste and, closing his\neyes, mentally offers them with the sacred white flowers to the Lotus\nFeet of his Deity upon whom his mind is concentrated. This concentration\nis helped from outside by the spiritual vibrations of his sacred room\nand the inspiring effect of the perfume of the incense, the sandal-paste\nand the flowers. He then chants long prayers and hymns in Sanscrit to\nKrishna and His Love-Energy, R\u0101dh\u0101, and to all the saints and great\ndevotees of Krishna of the past, begging, them for their blessings of\nKrishna's Grace. He then sings songs of the Lord's Love, and tears of\necstasy roll down his cheeks as he sings in the abandon of his devotion\nto the accompaniment of a pair of small cymbals he keeps striking to\nkeep time.\n\nThe Mantram is composed of three, four or five Sanscrit words beginning\nwith what is called the Seed Word with the Name of Krishna and a\ndedicatory word attached to it. The Seed Word is the Seed of\nKrishna-Love. It awakens in the heart spiritual passion. This Seed Word,\nif mentally repeated with intense concentration, bursts open the shell\nof the Sound-Form of Krishna\u2014His Name\u2014which contains the Nectar of\nAbsolute Love. The word \"Sanscrit\" means pure, refined. The Sanscrit\nlanguage is the language of the pure, undefiled voice of Nature. Hence\nit is called the \"language of the gods\" who are representatives of\nNature's attributes. These attributes are blendings of forces. Each\nforce has a name (sound), a form and a quality. A man in intense pain\nexpresses it in such sounds as \"Oh-h!\" \"Ah-h!\" This \"Oh-h\" or \"Ah-h\" may\nbe called the sound (voice) of pain, the contortions of the face the\nexpression of its form and the feeling it produces is its quality. The\nquality is the substance of the force called pain and its sound and sign\n(form) are its expressions. If there were a microscope powerful enough\nto reveal to our view the figures which sound-vibrations create on\nether, we would then find that the above-mentioned sound-expressions of\npain create forms in ether much like the combined letters \"Oh-h\" and\n\"Ah-h.\" This means that it is from the impressions of sound vibrations\non Ether that characters of all languages have been formed; the pictures\nreflecting themselves on the inventor's mind through the medium of its\nsubtle force called inspiration.\n\nThe characters (Sanscrit, \"charitra\") of the Sanscrit language, the\nparent language of all languages, are born with creation. They are\nentities in Nature, form-expressions of her forces. They are eternal and\nindestructible \"akshara,\" as characters are called. The vowels are\nmasculine forces, the consonants are feminine forces. The masculine\ncharacters (vowels) are independent, the feminine characters\n(consonants) are dependent. The vowels can be pronounced by themselves,\nthe consonants can only be pronounced when united with the vowels. The\nvowels are the expressions of the Essence of the Deity (Krishna), the\nconsonants are the expressions of the Will-Force of the Deity\n(\"Prakriti,\" that which procreates). Nature. Nature is born of Sound,\nthe attribute of Ether, (Akas) which was the first manifestation of\ncreation. That first sound was \"AUM\"\u2014mispelled and mispronounced in\nEnglish as The vowel A, (pronounced \"Au\" in Sanscrit), the initial\nletter of \"AUM\" is the parent of all letters and languages. This \"AUM\"\nin sound represents the distant vibrations of Krishna's Flute, the Music\nof Love, while its character-form in Sanscrit resembles the Form of\nKrishna playing on His Flute as the reader will see from the little\noutline picture of Krishna with its back-ground of \"AUM\" in Sanscrit\ncharacter printed on the title-page of this book. This is the mystery of\nwhat Krishna Himself says in the Gita, \"I am the Word AUM.\"\n\nThe different combinations of the other Sanscrit characters (forms of\nnatural forces), called words, represent, similarly, pictures of\nsound-forms of different attributes and objects. Sanscrit words, in\nfact, are sound-shells which hold within them essences of the attributes\nthey represent and the objects they signify. The letters K, R, I, SH, N,\nA joined together form the word Krishna, which is the sound-shell of the\nEssence of Love, Nature's Absolute Attribute, produced by the fusion of\nthe forces of which the composing characters are sound-forms. When\nfrequently repeated together with the Love-Passion Seed word, its\nvibrations, after purifying the atmosphere of the mind, illumine in time\nits inner chamber, the heart, which is the door of the soul, and fills\nit with the ecstasy of Bliss.\n\nThe Tulsi plant is the most spiritual plant in the world, hence its leaf\nis the best medium for conveying prayers, especially when it is smeared\nwith sandal-wood paste, the perfume of which is much like the aroma of\nthe Lord's Body.\n\nBut this morning worship is not all that the householder Vaishnav\nperforms to attain to the love of Krishna. He eats or drinks nothing\nwithout first offering it through some mystic formula to Krishna, and\nhis food is pure vegetables, his drink is pure water. In the evening, he\njoins other Vaishnavs to talk of Krishna, hear of the sacred earthly\nacts of Krishna, sing of Krishna, and, when the spirit of song moves\nhim, he dances with others in ecstasy. Besides these practices he\nrepeats many thousand times the name of Krishna over his Tulsi rosary.\nIn fact, he never misses any means or opportunity to keep alive an\nunbroken Krishna-consciousness, the result of which is that he enjoys\nthe joy of Goloka here on earth in this earthly body. He is rewarded\nwith the foretaste of what he seeks to enjoy after he lays down his\nphysical body.\n\nThis is enjoyed by the hermit Vaishnav, who generally lives in\nBrind\u0101ban, in a higher degree. He is unhampered by all the disturbances\nand difficulties of the householder, and so he devotes every moment he\nbreathes to the service of his Krishna. He has renounced the world and\nwith it all its thoughts. From the earliest morning up to very late at\nnight he prays, chants, talks, hears, reads, sings and dances by turns.\nHe eats but once and that very little, a few wee bits of unleavened\nbread begged from pious homes. His only world's goods are the scanty\nclothes on his body, his earthen water bowl and his volume of\nscriptures. He has made peace with the whole world by his humility. He\nhas nothing but blessings for all, sincere blessings even in return for\ncurses, and prostrates at full length prone to the ground before\neveryone. He follows the saying of the Lord Chaitanya that a Vaishnav\nshould be lowlier than a blade of grass; more forbearing and charitable\nthan a tree, which spreads its shade and offers its fruits even to one\nwho cuts down its branches; should never seek respect for himself but\npay respect even to those who are respected by none; that a Vaishnav\nshould at all times sing of Krishna. Thousands upon thousands of such\nVaishnavs, both male and female, can be found to-day in the Holy Land of\nBrind\u0101ban and the Holy City of Nuddea, the birthplace of Chaitanya,\nwhose Christ-spirit and ecstatic life are unparalleled in the religious\nhistory of any other country, ancient or modern. They represent\ndemonstrated living proofs of the power of the Lord's Name upon the\nhuman mind.\n\nSECTION XXIV. KRISHNA LEELA.\n\nThis Krishna, the Lord of Absolute Love, the Seed and Soul of the\nUniverse, comes down to this earth to serve and inspire men with His\nLove once in every Manwantara, once in every 71 Divine Cycles, that is,\nonce in every 300,000,000 of our lunar years or more. Every Universe, of\nHis countless Universes, likewise has its turn of being blessed by His\nvisit as an Incarnation, once in a long period. This Universe of ours is\nthe smallest of these Universes and its turn of Krishna's Incarnation\ncomes off during the Junction Period of the Copper and Iron Ages of the\n28th Divine Cycle of every Manwantara. This being the Iron Age of the\n28th Divine Cycle of this Manwantara the Lord blessed this earth with\nHis Personal Presence 5,000 years ago, His birth taking place within the\nappointed Junction Period.\n\nAvat\u0101rs that come to earth to save mankind and protect the good from the\nbad, the Srim\u0101d Bh\u0101gavat says, are innumerable; they are either partial\nmanifestations or aspects of Vishnoo, \"but Krishna is Lord God\n(Bhagavan) Himself,\" the Supreme Deity of whom Vishnoo Himself is the\nFourth Manifestation. Nobody knows exactly when Krishna will come, for\neven Brahm\u0101, the operating creator, knows it not. Brahm\u0101 only sees him\nfor a second once in a long while, flashing through his meditation like\na lightning flash. When Krishna came this last time on earth with His\nSecond Manifestation, Sankarsana (who was born as His Elder Brother,\nBalar\u0101m), the time was ripe for an incarnation of Vishnoo. But as the\nmoon and stars are covered by the effulgence of the Sun, the Avat\u0101r of\nVishnoo could not appear separately, so he was merged in Krishna\u2014the\npart was swallowed by the whole.\n\nThe story of the earthly career of Krishna, given in the Second Part of\nthis book, is the story of the All-Love Krishna of Braja. This All-Love\nKrishna was the Krishna of Brind\u0101ban, also called Braja, the land where\nHe played and roamed, where He went through His earthly career up to the\nage of eleven when He left Brind\u0101ban for Mathura. The Krishna of\nBrind\u0101ban is the Fullest Manifestation of Krishna, the Fullest\nExpression of His All-Love-Self. Hence the Krishna of Brind\u0101ban is\ncalled the Fullest Incarnation, which means All Krishna, the Krishna of\nAll-Love. The Krishna of Mathura is called Fuller Krishna, which means\nthree-quarters Krishna and one-quarter Vishnoo. And the Krishna of\nDw\u0101rak\u0101, half Krishna and half Vishnoo, is called Full Incarnation of\nKrishna.\n\nKrishna being All Love, He knows nothing but Love, gives and accepts\nnothing but Love, acts nothing but Love, breathes nothing but Love,\nspeaks nothing but Love.\n\nThe Asuras that He killed were not killed by Him, but by the Incarnation\nof Vishnoo which was within Him, and His part in those actions was to\nsend the souls of those Asuras to His Absolute Love Realm, a reward\nreserved for His highest lovers and devotees, a kindness for enemies\nwhich Krishna alone can feel and show. Krishna has no power even to hurt\na fly, for He is nothing but Love Itself, and does not know anything\nelse but Love. This much can be said about Krishna's participation in\nthese what seemed to be acts of killing, that the powers of Vishnoo\nwithin Him that committed them, found His Body the most perfect medium\nfor their operations.\n\nOne word of explanation is necessary here as to who the Asuras were and\nhow they could assume such shapes. These mentions of Asuras and demons\nin the Hindoo book prejudice the unknowing and unthinking Western minds\nagainst the veracity of Hindoo historians and incline them to think that\nancient Hindoo history are mixed with myths and fables. A little calm\nand intelligent thinking ought to correct the mistakes of such hasty\njudgment. Modern science, too, is daily paving the way to belief in\nthings which even a quarter of a century ago were thought absurd and\nimpossible. Science is proving the fact of the unlimited potentialities\nof the human mind. Mind-force is at present the subject of all the most\nadvanced Western scientists and philosophers. When these will succeed in\ndiscovering the laws and truths of the mental plane, as they are now\ndoing of the material plane, no facts of Hindoo history or of the\nhistories of ancient times will strike modern man as mythical or absurd.\n\nThe Asuras were the psychics of the ancient times. They cultivated their\nmind-force in order to use it for personal aggrandizement. They were\nYogis, but their Yoga was divorced from pure spirituality, because their\nobject was not spiritual. All they wanted was power by which to\noverpower others and keep them under subjection for their own earthly\nbenefit. Some of them were exceptions to the rule; they cultivated their\nS\u0101ttwic powers to some extent along with the development of R\u0101jasic\npowers. These became great heroes in battles and some of them made very\ngood kings. Others developed merely R\u0101jasic and T\u0101masic powers of the\nmind and became tyrants and oppressors of all good people. Wherever and\nwhenever the earth groaned under the burden of their sins, partial\nincarnations of Vishnoo came down to earth to destroy them and bring\npeace and goodwill among mankind once more. But those Asuras who had\nonly their T\u0101masic (dark) mind-force developed, were the lowest of them\nall. Their minds were all dark and their deeds were all black. Their\nnatural inclination was to do mischief to people for the sake of the\nmischief itself. These were called demons. These demons can be found\nreborn among us all, in the most advanced centres of civilization, but\nthey are now shorn of their former psychic force. The mind's natural\ninclination, however, is still in them. They take to external means to\nsatisfy this inclination of killing or hurting or doing mischief for the\nsake of the act itself. Formerly their dark mental powers were their\nmost potent weapons. Through those psychic powers they could transform\nthemselves into any shape they concentrated upon, and if they failed to\nassume the form of a saint or a god, it was because they could not grasp\nthe idea of the personality of such pure souls with their impure minds.\nTo assume the form of a beast was the easiest thing for them, because\nthey were nothing but human beasts in their nature. They could also\nassume elemental forms too, such as a whirlwind, etc., as in Krishna\nLeel\u0101. The modern Asuras cannot do any such thing because their\nmind-forces are scattered and distracted. The chief cause why people\ngenerally cannot be a high yogi or a black-psychic demon is the density\nof R\u0101ja and Tama that at present pervades Nature, of which all beings\nare parts and products, which disturbs concentration.\n\nThe holding of the hill on the point of the little finger of the left\nhand, as Krishna did, was not a very great deed for Krishna to perform.\nThis act can be performed by some of the Lords of Yoga. The Yogi, when\nhe becomes an adept, inherits the partial attainment of the eight great\npowers (siddhis), which are in their fully normal states in Vishnoo and\nin lesser degree in those who remain merged in the Essence of Vishnoo\nand are sent therefrom to earth to serve mankind as Avat\u0101rs. These\npowers are (1) Anim\u0101, the power of becoming as small as an atom; (2)\nMahim\u0101, the power of becoming increased in size; (3) Laghim\u0101, the power\nof becoming as light as desired; (4) Pr\u0101pti, to possess the power of the\ngods who are the presiding deities of the senses; (5) Prak\u0101mya, the\npower of enjoying and sensing all objects seen or unseen; (6) Ishit\u0101, or\npower over the forces of the Divine Will and over the lower forces of\nother beings; (7) Vasit\u0101, non-attachment to objects and (8)\nK\u0101mavas\u0101yit\u0101, the power of attaining all desires.\n\nBesides these the high Yogi may attain to ten other powers of the\nCardinal Attributes: (1) Cessation of hunger and thirst; (2) Hearing\nfrom a distance; (3) Seeing from a distance; (4) Moving the body with\nthe speed of the mind; (5) Assuming any form at will; (6) Entering into\nany other body; (7) Dying at will; (8) Playing with celestial damsels;\n(9) Attaining wished-for objects; (10) Power of irresistible command.\n\nFive other minor powers are (1) Knowledge of the present, the past and\nthe future; (2) Control over the Opposites, such as heat and cold, joy\nand sorrow, etc.; (3) Knowledge of another's mind; (4) Suspending the\naction of fire, sun, water, poison, etc.; (5) Invincibility.\n\nThese powers serve the Lord in His Leel\u0101s as humble slaves, whether he\nis conscious of them or not. Leel\u0101 means action of God Incarnate. The\nRash Dance with the Gopis is the greatest Leel\u0101 of Krishna. It was the\nmanifestation of the greatest might of His Love, the might possessed by\nthe Supreme Being alone, by the Lord of the Lords of Yoga, by the\nSupreme Source of Yoga itself. Gopi means a milkmaid. But the milkmaids\nof Braja were extraordinarily spiritual beings born as milkmaids to\nserve the Lord in His Earthy Leel\u0101. The chief of the Gopis is R\u0101dh\u0101, the\nConsort of Krishna in Glory and on earth. \"R\u0101dh\u0101\" means Adoration or\nLove-Devotion. R\u0101dh\u0101 is the embodied manifestation of Krishna's\nLove-Principle, the Energy of His Soul, the Principle in Krishna which\nsets His Love into motion. R\u0101dh\u0101 is inside of Krishna as this Principle\nof Love-Energy and she is outside of Krishna as the embodiment of that\nPrinciple. R\u0101dh\u0101 is the First Active Principle of Nature, the Active\nLove-Principle which unconsciously gives birth to creation and pervades\nit as the purest spiritual energy. Like Krishna she is above and out of\nthe reach of the creative Cardinal Attributes. Krishna is the Soul.\nR\u0101dh\u0101 is the Heart-Soul and her eight chief companions are the Eight\nchief Devotional Aspects, and the other Gopis the inclinations and minor\nattributes of Her Ensouled Mind. R\u0101dh\u0101 and her chief companions are\nKrishna's constant companions in Goloka. They came with Him from Glory\nand were born as Gopis in Brind\u0101ban. Other Gopis who were in the Rash\nDance were incarnations of Vedic Hymns and Truths which, as I have ere\nnow explained in the cases of Nature's attributes and forces, are\nentities in Nature, the form-centres of Nature's purest sentiments and\nconceptions. Other Gopis were incarnations of goddesses, the presiding\ndeities of Nature's spiritual forces and attributes, while others were\nincarnations of some of the highest illuminated male Saints (Rishis) who\nhad prayed for ages and ages in every birth to serve the Lord personally\nwith the tender devotion of a loving woman. The love of these Gopis for\nKrishna was absolutely selfless. They loved Him for the sake of the\nspontaneous, causeless love they felt for Him and which His Personality\ninspired in them, for Krishna was that Causeless Love Itself. The Rash\nDance represented the vibrations of the Soul-absorbed Mind, vibrations\nwhich filled the universe with the nectar of Bliss and destroyed its\nKarma of a whole Kalpa, the Karma which formed its Prarabdha for the\ntime.\n\nKrishna danced separately with each Gopi. Each Gopi had her own Krishna\nbeside her. One Krishna became as many as there were Gopis and yet it\nwas the Self-Same Krishna. The One Soul played like So Many Souls with\nso many hearts and yet the hearts saw but that One Soul. Each Gopi saw\nonly her own Krishna and was unconscious of any other, as she danced,\nabsorbed in that Krishna, round and round, arms round necks, eyes into\neyes, all-forgetting, the world forgot, round and round in the whirl of\necstasy, afloat on the waves of Love that is Bliss\u2014round and round with\nthat One Krishna, the All-in-All of the heart and existence\u2014round and\nround, the lover and the loved, the little soul twining round the Great\nSoul, the Great Soul pouring Its Nectar into the little soul.\n\nIgnorant writers and prudish religionists of the West have dared to call\nthis Gopi-Leel\u0101 of Krishna shocking to all religious sense, in the face\nof the fact that two hundred and odd millions of Hindoos of the present\nday and myriads of millions of Hindoos of the past\u2014Hindoos whose giant\nintellect and all-towering height of spirituality the world of to-day\nare beginning to wonder at\u2014call this Leel\u0101 the most transcendental of\nall Divine deeds that have ever been performed on the face of the globe.\nAccording to these little critics of the greatest Avat\u0101r of the Supreme\nDeity, that Supreme Deity cannot possess any other sentiments of love\nthan those of a Father and a Saviour, that God ought not to feel or show\nthe love of a husband for his wife or of a lover for his lady-love. If\nthis be a fact, will they answer the question as to whence has man got\nthese sentiments, if not from his Maker of whom he is but an imperfect\nimage? Whence has he got them if not from the Source of Creation itself,\nof which he is such a tiny part and product? This denial to God of the\npossession of a lover's sentiment implies an impertinence which God\nalone, out of His infinite affection for His creatures, can pardon. It\nonly betrays the dense ignorance of these critics in regard to the\norigin and laws of creation and of the relations of creation with its\nCreator.\n\nNature (Creation) is the materialized Will-Force of God. The Will-Force\nof God is a reflection of God Himself\u2014the objectified phases of the\nsemblance of manifoldness of the Absolute One. God is the husband, and\nthe Energy of His Will, Nature, is His wife. God is the Lover and Nature\nis His loving Lady-love. By His All-pervading Essence, the only Support\nand Sustenance of Nature, He clasps His Lady-love to His bosom and\ndances with her to the intricate steps of the music of her Laws. This is\nHis Rash Dance in the aggregate, the Rash Dance that is being performed\nevery moment within Nature though hidden from our outlooking physical\nvision. What is true of the great Universe is true also of its\nminiature, man. Within our heart of hearts is the forest of Brind\u0101ban in\nwhich the microscopic blue river of love, Jumn\u0101, flows, lapping with\nthrills of joy the bank of the bowery lawn where Krishna\u2014our Soul\u2014with\nHis Gopis\u2014our ensouled mental aspirations\u2014is performing His\never-favorite, never-ending Rash Dance. And we are unconscious of it\nall, because our mind's outer ken is employed outside of us with outer\nobjects. If we can withdraw the mind's vision from outwards and direct\nit into the depth of our heart then will belief come in the Rash Dance\nof Krishna with its practical realization. We are then of Braja and each\nof us, of the enlightened inner eye, a dancing Gopi\u2014male or female\nwhatever we may be externally it matters not. We are all Gopis, human\nmale or human female, we are all spiritually feminine, for Krishna alone\nis the One Male and we all, particles of. Nature, are all female. We are\nall the lady-loves, the brides and wives of our One Husband, Lover and\nBeloved\u2014Krishna. In the working out of the ever-beneficial laws of Inner\nNature\u2014the laws that throb for the weal of mankind\u2014this innermost\nperformance of Nature's constant Rash Dance with her Lord is reflected\nfor a time upon her outer surface to fill outer Nature and mankind with\nthe ecstasy of its supremest spirituality, the blessings of Absolute\nLove.\n\nThe twelve chief boy-companions of Krishna in Brind\u0101ban came with Him\nfrom Glory where they are His constant companions, while the other\ncow-boys were the incarnations of the gods and highly spiritual saints.\nThe Kadamba-tree, under which Krishna usually played His flute, is a\nrepresentation in physical form of the Tree of Life and the flute's dear\nstrains the music of the soul. As Krishna and His Companions are\nconstant, so are His Leel\u0101s (acts) constant. They can be seen now by any\ndevotee possessed of the requisite vision.\n\nWith these words I humbly introduce the reader to the Nectar-Career of\nKrishna on earth embodied in the following pages. Let every reader read\nit with an open mind and the Nectar is sure to flow into his soul\nthrough that mind.\n\nSREE KRISHNA THE LORD OF LOVE PART II.\n\nSREE KRISHNA\n\nTHE LORD OF LOVE\n\nBY\n\nB\u0101b\u0101 Prem\u0101nand Bharati\n\nPublished by\n\nThe Krishna Sam\u0101j\n\nNEW YORK\n\nCopyright 1904\n\nBY\n\nB\u0101b\u0101 Prem\u0101nand Bharati\n\nTo\n\nThe Lotus Feet\n\nOF\n\nKRISHNA MY BELOVED\n\nTHIS GARLAND\n\nWoven With Flowers\n\nOF\n\nHIS OWN GIFT\n\nIs Offered\n\nFor The Appreciation Of\n\nTHE SOULFUL\n\nOf His Creation\n\nPROEM.\n\nI bow to the Glorious One\u2014the unerring Mariner who has guided my frail\nlife's bark across the billowy world-ocean wrapt in \"Goo\"\u2014the darkness\nof ignorance\u2014with the ever-illuminating \"Roo\"\u2014the search-light of\nwisdom\u2014to the Land of the Lotus Feet of Krishna. I bow to Sree\nBrahmananda Bharati\u2014my Gooroo.\n\nAnd now, hush I list! I sing of Krishna. I will sing of Krishna, the\nLord of Love, the Seed and Soul of the Universe, the Ultimate Principle\nin the composition of Creation, of, all souls' real Home\u2014Sweet, Sweet\nHome!\n\nI will sing of your only Lover, and your only Beloved.\n\nI wish to sing a song whose sweetness will thrill through your body,\nwhich will make your soul float in ecstasy. I will sing a song whose\nburden will enter your heart as a dewdrop enters the bosom of a flower,\nbut will soon, if you are attentive, spread itself into a boundless\nocean on which your heart will be tossed over its gentle waves, like a\nboat bound for and sure of the land of Eternal Bliss. I as earnestly ask\nyour blessing that I may be filled with such power to sing such a song,\nas I ask the blessing of my Krishna to sing of Him to you.\n\nI will sing a song of love such as you have never heard, such as poets\ndream not of, which lovers know not of, which the human soul is ever in\nquest of, which, in your best moments, vibrates undefined through your\nsoul, but ever eludes your understanding. I will sing of that Love which\never plays before your heart's vision as the will-o'-the-wisp through\ncountless incarnations\u2014a Love which alone will make you happy for\nevermore.\n\nI will sing a song to you of a Love which you are striving every moment\nof your life to realize through success and failure in this life's\ngames, the Love whose worthless counterfeits dazzle and deceive you at\nevery step\u2014at every step removing you farther and farther from the\noriginal they so poorly resemble. I will sing to you of the Love\nAbsolute, the Love that is unbroken, the Love that is fed and grows by\nuse, the Love that blesses the lover with greater abundance for giving\nit away to others.\n\nI will sing to you of a Love which is your birthright, which is the very\nfoundation of your existence, which alone is the substance of all\nexistences, and, wonder of wonders, a Love which is your real food and\nHome.\n\nAye, it is of your Home that I will sing\u2014 the unknown pole to which the\nmagnet of your soul eternally trembles. Home is ever sweet \u2014Home, Sweet\nHome! But this your sweet earthly home is only the home of your earthly\nself, the brick-and-mortar closet of your fleshly coats, of which you\nhave possessed a countless number. But all those coats have been mere\ncoverings of your inner Self, which is a truant from its own Home, but\nof which d has lost all memory, having lived so long in others' homes. I\nwill sing to you of a song whose burden will remind you of this lost and\nforgotten Home, the Home that you are seeking in vain, consciously or\nunconsciously, the Home whose never-failing happiness you are trying to\nsubstitute in your borrowed home by ever-failing pleasures, pleasures\nwhich only pain you by their hollowness. How can you live upon a hollow\nhappiness, you who have known and tasted solid, eternal happiness in\nyour real Home?\u2014the Home where light fades not, life grieves not, and\nhappiness ever is! I will sing to you of the Home where your Master,\nFriend, Father, and Lover is ever anxious to get you back and take you\nto His bosom.\n\nI will sing to you of Krishna\u2014your Home\u2014the Seed and Soul of your soul,\nas well as of the universe of which you are a miniature.\n\nAnd now, my beloved friend, prepare yourself to listen to this song\nwhich comes to you from across the oceans\u2014from a land where the altar of\nthe Lord of Love is ever burning, fed by the libations of devotion and\nthe incense of ecstasy, since the dawn of creation,\u2014from that cradle of\nreligion and civilization, from that spiritual metropolis of the\nspiritual world-empire, where the fountain of Divine Love, Life and\nWisdom is still playing, to water the earth with the blessings of the\nsoul\u2014the Land of Bh\u0101rat, which you moderns call India. Listen and be\nblessed!\n\nThis is a song not set to any tune you know, to any music you have\nheard, and yet it is a song which is set in the true tune of your heart,\nto the natural music of your soul. It is the Song Ecstatic of your\nHeart-Soul which will make the core of your being throb in beatitude and\nmelt the crusts of materiality in you into the Love Unspeakable! Listen\nand be blessed!\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nWeary and overburdened with its load of sorrow and weakness, the great\nheart of Mother Earth lifted her voice unto the heights of the skies,\ncomplaining.\n\nHer patience and faithfulness were qualities of wondrous worth to\nBrahm\u0101, the Creator,[2] and so, drawing aside the curtain from his\nabode. He looked into her soft and wearied eyes, saying:\n\n\"O Mother Earth! Long hath the pain of ingratitude and faithlessness\npierced thy tender heart, and with courage and loving mercy hast thou\nborne its stings. But now a balm is to come unto thee and soothe thy\nwounded love and readjust those things of which thou dost complain.\n\n\"Yet a little while, O thou Goddess of Plenty, and One shall play upon\nthy breast, which will make the veins of thy body to thrill with warm\nlove, so that thy heart will be beautiful beyond what it yet has been.\n\n\"Thy mountains shall laugh in great happiness on seeing the beauty of\nHim who shall cast His lotus eyes upon their rugged sides.\n\n\"Thy rivers shall flow in rhapsodies when His Sweet Body shall sanctify\ntheir waves by its contact.\n\n\"Thy harvests shall come forth in great plentifulness.\n\n\"Thy cows shall give forth milk that shall be nourishing and healing\nunto all whom it will feed.\n\n\"Thy trees shall cast forth shadows that all who come under their\ncooling shade, sick unto death, shall bound forth with the gladness of\nlife and love in their bodies, and, O patient Earth, all who tread upon\nthee shall call thee blessed because the One All Beautiful shall have\nmade thee blessed by His Holy Feet treading upon thee.\"\n\nThus spake Brahm\u0101 unto Mother Earth, who lowly laid again her dark head,\nand entering the Abode of Vishnoo, he said unto Him:\n\nThou Mighty One! Well dost Thou know the grievance of her, the Patient\nOne, who is dear unto us. Do Thou in Thy glory and majesty succor her, O\nLord!\n\n\"Let the Only One, the Lord of Love, the Sovereign of all the Universe,\nthe Author of all that lives, again be born upon her surface, and so\nbring to her wilted breast the nectar of Love, that all who draw from\nher may again partake freshly of the love that is the life of all\nanimate and inanimate.\n\n\"This Thou do, O Wondrous and Most Beautiful One, and quicken again with\nlove her heart and the hearts that beat against her breast, so that the\neyes of those who have eyes, yet see not, may see.\n\n\"Do Thou incarnate with Thyself those who have ever walked with Thee,\nand who may, even before the eyes of all, perform and live miracles of\nlove. For, O Most High, full of stolid unbelief and fettered with the\nworld have Thy children become, so that even she who erstwhile ever\npatient was has complainingly called unto me for help.\"\n\nHe, the Maker of all that is, forthwith spake:\n\n\"So shall it be. Unto her who has held upon her lap all those who are\nmine and who hath come out of Me and who is also of Me, I shall be born.\n\n\"And great shall be the rejoicing of her and my children who walk upon\nher surface.\n\n\"From the heart of man the weight of stone shall be lifted and his eye\nshall be quickened with love, and I with my followers shall bring to\nthem the ways and means that love doth know, and the whole known world\nshall again learn that I am Life and Love, that I the Creator of all\nthings am, even unto the ant and the huge elephant who by one blow of\nhis mighty trunk uprooteth the tree.\n\n\"They shall also know Me as Child, Son, Warrior, King, and Priest, and\nin their midst I shall walk even with those who with Me shall be born\nagain, and seeing Me and knowing Me, I shall draw all unto Me, and close\nwith Me they shall again taste the sweetness of my love.\n\n\"With Me shall come those who have ever known Me through many\nincarnations, those who cover themselves with the qualities most like\nunto Me and whom my Earth-children have learned to look upon as gods,\npraying to them because of these attributes which they themselves wished\nto be blessed withal.\n\n\"Tell those who know the fulness of my Bliss, those who have bathed in\nthe nectar of those who have dwelt in the ecstasy of my loveliness, and\nthose who in their devotion have known nothing outside of Me, those who\nhave ever seen Me in all things, and have feasted their minds only upon\nMy Beauty\u2014tell them that I with them shall be born of woman and shall\ndwell for the span of man's life among men.\"\n\nAnd when the Gods, those whom He had designated, heard the Will of Him,\ngreat was the rejoicing in that Abode, for no Will knew they, save the\nSweet Will of the Most Lovely One, whose Lotus Feet they worshipped in\necstasy.\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nIn the seat of Hari, the sacred city of Mathura on the Jumn\u0101, V\u0101sudeva\nin love and humbleness took unto himself Devaki as bride, who by all was\nknown as the most holy and virtuous maiden of that land.\n\nPear unto the heart of her brother, the Prince of Mathura, she was, and\nbeloved among his people and among all women because of the purity of\nher heart and the sweetness of her face. To show to all the world his\nlove for her, the prince himself, in proud fondness, drove the\nmarriage-car of his little sister princess and the new brother-in-law,\nwho, by right of great wisdom, a Pundit of high standing among the\nlearned was.\n\nGentle was the new bridegroom, even as he was wise. Fond glances of love\nhe cast upon the radiant face of the young princess, and from all sides\nthe blessings fell from the lips of the populace on the sweet bride, the\nlearned bridegroom, and the gallant prince who held the reins because of\nhis love for them both.\n\nBut lo! in the span of a moment all was changed, for a voice there was\nwhich seemed to come out of space: \"O thou fool! Why, even he for whom\nin pride and love thou dost hold the reins to her marriage-car, even she\nshall bear the child in her womb who shall sweep thy life from off the\nearth. Her son, the eighth, shall be the cause of thy death.\"\n\nThe reins dropped from the hands of the prince, and, springing to his\nfeet, he caught the young bride by the hair as if to slay her, but was\narrested by V\u0101sudeva, who cried, \"O prince! Noble wast thou ever, and\nill would it be for thee to slay thy sister on the eve of her marriage.\nIt is not for thee to take life, O King, thou who canst not give it.\nDeath must come, but let it not be by thy hand, O prince, nor yet before\nher time. Take not the life of her who is thy sister and thereby stain\nthe heritage of virtue such as has been ascribed unto thee.\n\n\"Listen to the words of wisdom that have come to us from the sages,\nwithout whom all life a desert would be. Well thou knowest that a man's\nactions do follow him from body to body even as in walking he leaveth\nthe imprint of each step behind the other, yet with each step doth he\ncarry the dust on his feet from the ground whereon he did walk.\n\n\"Man hath many existences, each one portraying a character which is the\noutcome of his past self. As the present is the fulfilment of the\nthreatening past, so man is the unfoldment and fulfilment of his\nprevious existences.\n\n\"So seek not to blacken thy soul by the slaying of one of thine own\nblood, but seek rather to add new glory to thy light by preserving her\nwho, all guiltless, thou dost seek to slay. Heap not thou upon thyself a\ndark and evil Karma to confront thee and blight thee in thy other lives.\n\n\"It is but the chill breath of suspicion and the dread tremor of fear\nthat surges heavy and dark through thy mind. Be warned by me, O prince;\ndesist from thy unjust act and speedily thy heart shall glow again,\nwarmed by the embers of hope. A man too fearful of threatening danger,\nin torment of that danger ever dwelleth. Even calamity may be turned\naside by the smile of distrust, and fatality may forget thee quite while\npassing thy door.\n\n\"But when the soil of thy heart has been made fertile for fear, be sure\nits seed therein will thrive, finding sustenance for sprouting and its\nfruit it will bear.\n\n\"Stand valiant, O prince, and be not like the timorous woman who runneth\naway from the shadow of danger but to flee into the arms of the foe. Thy\nKarma that counteth up the reckonings cannot be cheated. So be not, O\nprince, of timid heart; and each son that cometh from the womb of thy\nsister, Devaki, shall be given to thee.\"\n\nListening to the wise counsels of V\u0101sudeva, the prince gave over his mad\ndesire to slay his sister with his own hand, and the newly wedded ones\nproceeded to the home of V\u0101sudeva.\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTrue to his promise, V\u0101sudeva brought unto the prince his first-born, a\nson.\n\nThe prince, on seeing that V\u0101sudeva was true to his compact to deliver\nhis son as it was born, gave it back, saying: \"It is not this son that I\nfear, but he who will be born thine eighth one it is ordained shall slay\nme. So take back thy first-born, V\u0101sudeva. Of him there is naught to\nfear.\"\n\nV\u0101sudeva took the little one, and putting it in the glad arms of the\nyoung mother, said: \"O princess! It is with joy and yet with great\nforeboding that I return to thee the babe, for there is that in my heart\nwhich tells me that the prince, thy brother, spoke not the truth when\nthy boy he gave back unto me, for fear lodged in his eye and anger\nvibrated in his voice even as he said, 'From thy first-born no harm will\ncome unto me.' Yet clasp him to thy heart, young mother, and bathe him\nin thy glad tears of love while he resteth on thy breast.\"\n\nBut even while the tender young mother crooned her love-songs to her\nsoft nestling, the cruel edict went forth that the babe was to be taken\nfrom her, as also each new-born man-child that came into the land, for,\nas a blighting flash from the clouds that strikes the healthy young\nsapling at the root, there had come to Kangsa's fear-burdened mind the\nknowledge that in his former birth he had been dethroned and slain by\none of his own kin, who was said to have come from on high even to still\nthe power of the wicked and exalt the lowly and virtuous.\n\nThis in all its weight had come into his heart, and louder than the\nbolts of thunder the voice he had heard on Devaki's wedding-day seemed\nto throb in his brain, as he saw V\u0101sudeva depart with his first-born\nson. And great were the lamentations of the mothers who gave birth unto\nsons in that land. Many departed from the kingdom where Kangsa, the\ndestroyer of the young, did rule.\n\nBut when the wailing of the new-born child was no longer heard in all\nthat kingdom, the prince in his madness deposed his father, Ugrasen, and\nbecame himself the King and thrust Devaki, his sister, and V\u0101sudeva into\nthe dungeon of his palace, where the six sons that were born to them\nwere dashed to death on the flagged floor in the hour of their coming by\nKangsa himself.\n\nAnd now again there was quickening in the womb of Devaki, and the joy of\nnatural motherhood was overshadowed by the terror of the fate of the new\nlife that was to be a babe. But groundless was the fear of the agonized\nmother, for his coming was even before his time; for the earth sent a\nmist thick as the garment of death to shroud the palace of the King, and\na deep sleep on the gaolers fell on the hour that the child of premature\nbirth felt the breath of earth, and drowned were its first weak wails by\nthe sound of the winds that shrieked without.\n\nAnd the child that came to the world too soon, even before his time was\ncompleted, was despatched in great haste to one who suckled him and\ncalled him her own. The child that by the near hand of love was saved\nfrom the hand of frenzied murder was the child that would walk with the\nLord of Love and play with the Soul of the Universe.\n\nAnd when the mists were gone, the King marvelled that no child had come,\nwhile the mother marvelled at the goodness of Him who was the Author of\nLife.\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nNow the time was ready for Hari (Krishna) to come to be born and dwell\nupon earth.\n\nHis sweet will it was to be as a man and show man the beauty of Love. It\nwas then that Devaki again conceived and a mother unto the eighth child\nwould be.\n\nBut lo! fear now to her was unknown and glory shone around her like the\nsun filling the darkened dungeon with light, for the Lord of all Light\nin her mind did come, and Him as a child to the world she would bring.\nShe, who the mother many times of sorrow was, now the mother of joy had\nbecome.\n\nO blessed art thou, wife Devaki, that the sweet will of the Lord of all\nLove and All Life was centred on thee when he willed as a child among\nmen to come! And thou, poor mother, whose heart was made to bleed for\nthe bearing of sons, henceforth an ocean of love shalt become, for\nthrobs not under thy heart the pulse of Him who, love-touched,\nlove-filled, and love-made, pervades all lives and all that ever will\nlive?\n\nAnd in that hour barren women, as a gracious boon of the Lord's coming\ninto Devaki's womb, conceived to their own overjoyful surprise.\n\nAnd when Kangsa beheld the glory of her who was his sister, he knew that\nHari, He who would quench his life, was within her.\n\nBut when he sought to strike her low, the glow of the light that came\nfrom her overawed him quite and the steel refused to reach her flesh;\nand many gaolers were sent unto her by the king to slay, but when they\nlooked upon her glory, lo! their hearts were quickened with love, and\nholy they became, and, dropping their weapons, fled from her side and in\nmeditation and prayer sought the light that showed them their darkness.\n\nAnd the seers and sages and gods and pundits and angels that see, with\nillumined eyes of the spirit, the things that were and are and the\nthings that still will come, beheld the light that glorified the mother\neven though distance and mortar hid her from fleshly view, for the eyes\nthat are quickened by spirit cognize not the sight of the senses.\n\nAnd, prostrating low, salutations they gave to the Lord of the Universe\nthat became child in the mother:\n\n\"O Thou, the Eye of the Universe that sees all, the all-hearing Ear, the\nHeart that draweth unto itself all that sprang from Thee!\n\n\"Thou, the Seed and Soul that hath in its centre the roots of all space\nand all that space containeth!\n\n\"Thou, the Source of all Love, the Existence of all Life, the Dispenser\nof all Light, the Mystery of all Wisdom, who, self-created, chose not to\ndwell alone, but willed creation to be and from whose breath all living\ncreatures sprang!\n\n\"O Thou, who suffered darkness to be, that beauty of light may be known!\nThou, who by Thy own sweet will dost thrust Thy own children forth a\nlittle but to draw them unto Thy heart again to heighten Thy pleasure\nand theirs!\n\n\"We, Thy blinded children, illumined, were made to see the light of Thy\ncoming to earth. Thou, the Mystery and yet the Revelation of all things\nart!\n\n\"Thou, that which hideth from man all things that he accounteth not to\nThy sweet will and revealeth all unto him who sifteth each act to Thy\nsource!\n\n\"Thou, who attunest the ear to the sound of all harmony and keepest Thy\nWorlds and All Life in motion!\n\n\"Thou, who art the Immensity of All Things! We know that even as a man\nThou art come in our midst.\n\n\"O Thou the Source of all Energy that is, Thou the Vibrations of all joy\nthat thrilleth through all Life!\n\n\"Thou Maker of all, who by Thy coming dost lift us even unto Thyself,\nagain who by Thy coming will show the vileness of Self which unlike Thee\nis, and how sin doth darken where virtue is!\n\n\"Thy power, O King of all Kingdoms, is boundless. Oh! why are we blessed\nwith the truth of Thy coming, we the blinded whom Thou hast chosen to\nhonor?\"\n\nThus spoke the sages, the pundits and seers, the gods and Brahm\u0101, the\nCreator Himself, whom the Lord of Love had blessed with the power to\nknow of His coming.\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nAnd the child was come, the child that was God, the God that became\nchild, and time itself stood still in its passing to mark the wonder of\nthat coming!\n\nThe clouds ceased their onward sailing and crowded in piles of white and\nblue and gray softness, to marvel at the child's first smile. The\nheavens rained down blossoms of white and red and golden and blue\nlotuses.\n\nThe mountains gave forth a great cry of joy, as they in gladness met.\n\nThe rivers heaved their billowy crests and chanted hymns of praise to\nHim, who was to make holy again their waters.\n\nThe earth throbbed and thrilled as the streams of holy Love shot through\nall her body, swelling her breast with new life and feeding all that was\nliving and moving within the recesses of her bowels, and clothing with\ngreat beauty that which lived upon her bosom.\n\nThe roots of growing things grasped with a firmer hold her sides, and\nher loved creatures, those that walked and those that crept upon her\nsurface, nestled once more, as of yore, when all the world was holy,\nagainst her freshened and strengthened body with new affection and\nfaithfulness, and her great heart uttered a mighty thanksgiving to Him\nwho had heard her appeal and succored her.\n\nThe seeds that were in her mouth burst into rooting, the roots into\nsprouting, and the budding trees, that graced her brow, into glad\nblossoms.\n\nAnd the trees that were in blossom bore ripe fruit in the hour of His\ncoming.\n\nAnd all those that hungered were fed.\n\nThe cows, big with young, dropped their calves, and their bags were full\nunto bursting for all that came to take sustenance therefrom.\n\nThe motherless cubs of wild things fearlessly suckled from her udder,\nand the cow lapped the soft, furred sides of the young stranger with her\nlong, rough tongue.\n\nAnd all the wild things that hungered were fed in that hour.\n\nThe eagle left its nest on the mountain's rugged side, and sat on the\ntree with quivering wing beside the dove, that cooed its inward shout of\nlove.\n\nThe snake forgot to charm the timid songster that thrilled its joy close\nby, but, lifting up its hooded head, it madly danced between the\nsunshine and the shadow that the exultant branches of swaying trees did\ncast.\n\nThe huge elephant sportive became, and played with the deer and doe that\nrubbed against its haunches.\n\nThe fierce lion, the leopard, and all the untamed creatures of the\nforests, with yearning call of love, turned their faces towards the\nplace, all light, where Love, as a little child was cradled in the arms\nof man.\n\nAnd in the hour of His coming many rainbows of wondrous color and beauty\ndid span the skies. And the sun liquid as molten love became.\n\nAnd in that hour man and beast, and bird and flower, and all that lives\nupon the earth and underneath its surface and in the deep waters, did\nlook into the abode of Love.\n\nAnd on the face of earth the smile of Love did rest, and sin vanished\nfrom the heart of man, even as hunger disappeareth where plentiful food\nis dished to the hungered.\n\nThe eye of the murderer looked for darkened places wherein to bide\nhimself, but, finding naught but light, did throw his blade into the\npurified waters of the holy river and knelt at the feet of the holy\nones, who in ecstasy were wrapt.\n\nThe gray and shrunken face of avarice lifted itself toward the skies,\nand lo! glorified the countenance became!\n\nThe face of bloated folly, the weakness of vanity, the vileness of\ningratitude, the stubbornness of unbelief in that hour were unknown to\nman.\n\nA joy, unfelt before, on all the earth did reign, a joy that even yet\ndoth thrill through hearts of life, for the child that was God, and the\nGod that was child, had come on earth to live with man.\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nAnd the child that was the Lord spoke to the mother in the hour of His\ncoming as the Sovereign of all Sovereignty would speak:\n\n\"Say unto him, V\u0101sudeva, thy husband, to transport me to where the wife\nof the King Nanda doth lie, who but now giveth birth to a daughter.\n\n\"Pass through the gates; the chains shall be loosened, the keepers\nasleep at their posts.\n\n\"The warring waters of the Jumn\u0101 a path shall make for him to pass with\nMe in his arms. The gates of the palace on the banks of the river wide\nopen shall stand, and the mother asleep in her chamber shall be.\n\n\"Put Me on her breast, and bear away the daughter that to her is born.\nAnd when the prince shall ask V\u0101sudeva for the eighth child that is born\nunto thee, do thou deliver the daughter of Yasod\u0101 unto him.\"\n\nThus spake the Lord, and a helpless child He became.\n\nV\u0101sudeva in wonder passed through the gates; the keepers all slept a\nsleep as of death. The waters parted to make a way for him who carried\nthe Lord to pass.\n\nUnseen, unheard, he entered the courtyard and palace and passed the\nsounding halls and corridors, until the room of the sleeping queen he\nspied, and taking the Lord from under his cloak, on the breast of the\nsleeping queen he laid it, and took in his place the wide-eyed daughter,\nthat cooed and smiled in his bearded face.\n\nAnd sleep still held the queen and the city and the gaolers embraced,\ntill he stood at the side of Devaki once more, who wept at the sight of\nthe smiling babe, who soon at the hand of her brother must perish.\n\nAt break of day, the prince entered the dungeon to seek the life of the\neighth child of his sister.\n\nAs he lifted the child on high to dash its head on the flagged floor,\nlo! the child slipped from his hand and rose, the while speaking:\n\"Karma, that counteth all reckonings up, cannot be cheated by thee, O\nprince! Tis written that thou must be slain by the eighth son of thy\nsister, and so it shall be.\n\n\"That child I am not, O prince! But I came on earth for this hour, to\nshow thee thy folly. Dost thou think, O fool, that by human force, by\nthe slaying of innocence, by the destroying of hope and joy in the heart\nof the mother, thou canst change the Will of Him who is the Maker of all\nlaws?\n\n\"Thinkest thou, O man, thou canst cross swords with Him that knoweth the\neffect of each thought that man thinketh, even before the thinking is\ndone?\n\n\"He whom thou seekest thou shalt not find!\"\n\nShe ceased, and a light never seen on earth or in heaven enveloped the\nchild as she vanished from view.\n\nAnd the prince rushed forth in his frenzy and madness and sought not\nagain to bring harm to his sister, but unfettered the chains were of\nhusband and wife, and in freedom forth they went.\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nAnd the child that was God as Krishna was known.\n\nAnd men drew love from the Name, for the Name the potency of Love\ncontained, even as the seed the tree doth hold, or the bud the fruit of\nthe tree enfolds.\n\nAnd all who spoke the Name of Krishna felt the heart beat quick and\nhigh, and all who looked upon His face felt at once that Love was nigh.\n\nAnd it came about that all the people who lived in the kingdom where the\nChild Krishna was reared as the son of the King of Braja, thronged daily\nto get but a glimpse of the Child, who, though helpless like other babes\ndid seem, yet held the power to draw all men unto Him, even by the light\nof love that made Him All Beauty.\n\nAs He sat on the arms of the queen, His foster-mother, bedecked with the\nornaments and finery which the king delighted to bedeck Him withal, lo,\nthe light that radiated from His flesh did put the glowing jewels to\nshame, for love is the essence of Beauty and Light, and the Child was\nthe embodiment of Love itself!\n\nSo the light that flashed from the jewels was but as the light of\nglow-worms that disappeareth when the radiance of the moon is about\nthem.\n\nIn despair the king sent messages to all the then known world to procure\nsuch jewels as might enhance the loveliness of his Child, but ever when\non His body they rested, dull they seemed on the glow of His flesh.\n\nBut oft the Child would reach His baby hands for the flowers that the\npopulace brought in great profusion to lay at the feet of the Child that\nwas Love, and as He held them close to His baby mouth, behold, their\npetals quivered and throbbed with love-life, and deeper the color dyed\ntheir softness and brighter the gold of their hearts did flame, at the\ntouch of the hand and the breath of the Child that knew naught but Love.\n\nAnd in the days when Love as a Child did dwell on earth, a great force\nof spirituality through all the land went forth, and the heart of all\nthe world went up in praise for the mercies linked with ecstasy that\nenriched the cup of all Life.\n\nGleams of kindness, and deeds of generosity, and miracles of patience,\nand justice, and love, unheard of before, now naturally burst from the\nheart of man, as water bursts forth from a spring 'neath the rock.\n\nAnd the fields, that before were dried and burned by the sun's rays even\nas stubble, gave forth rich harvests.\n\nAnd the rivers and seas that were lost to man's eyes, again in beauty\nbefore them rested.\n\nAnd the Child that was the stalk and stem of Love in beauty did grow,\nshedding His gracious smile on all the world.\n\nAnd Kangsa, the King, now heard of the marvellous Child whose smile\nbrought a smile on all the world.\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nThen Kangsa, the brother of Devaki, besought the demoness Putan\u0101, mother\nof evil, to give each child in arms the milk of her breast, that should\nfill them with death at the sucking.\n\nAnd forth she did go, and prayed to be taken into the palace of the\nking, to behold the young Child v/hose face gave blessing to all who on\nit looked.\n\nOn her coming, the Child stretched forth its arms to be taken to her\nbreast, but when her breast between His lips He took, she bent her face\nto look at the Babe, and fear made her pale and faint, for in the beauty\nof His eye the wisdom of all the world she beheld.\n\nAnd releasing the Master she held at her breast, she pleaded and prayed\nthat He cease His sucking, but harder He drew and firmer His grip was,\ntill exhausted and lifeless she fell on the ground, while with a smile\nthe Babe played with the breast arid crept on the body that lay in\ndeath.\n\nAnd when they came from far and wide to look at her who brought\ndestruction and death to children, they beheld her swelled and stretched\nto immensity.\n\nFor smiling evil seemeth not big, but rob it of the smile that hideth\nits leer, and huge and misshapen it doth become.\n\nSo with Putan\u0101 it was. Forth she went to mother and suckle the young\nchildren and thus bring death to the Child of Love. Clothed in sweet\nmotherhood and kindness of purpose, all hearts were opened to welcome\nher freely, yet evil she brought wherever she walked.\n\nBut He who was All Love at once sighted her hatred for love, by that\nwhich in her all unlike Himself was, and straightway in her poverty of\nLove and nakedness of heart she stood revealed in His eyes.\n\nAnd all saw her thus hideous and unsightly, and marvelled at the\nblindness of their eyes.\n\nBut mark now the kindness and power of Love.\n\nBy the touch of His lips upon her breast, she, who never knew love, by\ncontact with Him became sanctified. And the effort Putan\u0101 put forth to\nbring death to Krishna, under cover of Love, did make her for the moment\na mother in truth. And for that moment of concentrated love in Him the\nhonor of Divine Motherhood on her was bestowed in that realm where hate\nis unknown. And all the world marvelled, when dead she lay, at the aroma\nthat rose from her huge body.\n\nBut the Child only smiled as He played on her breast.\n\nVerily the aroma of great sweetness reached to all the skies. For Love\nis ever the master of hate, and Love in its strength doth conquer all\nhate, and hate is purified by the breath of Love, and sanctified it is\nby its hand.\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nA year has passed since the coming of Krishna, a year of peace and\nplenty to all.\n\nAnd the earth was relieved of pressure, and the minds of men were\nillumined by the light that shone in their midst.\n\nAnd the hearts that were cramped and narrow with pain grew big into\nbursting with the love that flowed from the Child that was God.\n\nAnd Nanda prepared a great feast for the naming of Him and the Brother,\nDevaki's seventh child who, at birth premature, had been despatched to\nthe land where Krishna now was. And the feast was attended by many\nguests, who rejoiced on beholding the wondrous Child who on that day a\nyear had brought joy by His coming.\n\nAnd the priest was called and the seer, and he who read the stars and\nread the Vedas alike. And when the stars he contemplated, he saw the\nwonder of His birth, and, prostrating at the feet of Him, spoke to them\nwho gathered to hear: \"The oppressed He shall succor, the enslaved He\nshall free, and those that in danger are He will protect, and bring all\nblessings to the land where now He doth live. What and Who He is you\nknow not, but, crowned with living stars of Love and adorned with the\nrainbow of promise on His breast, this Child shall bring glory and Bliss\nwherever He breathes. Oh, blessed was the day I looked in His eyes and\ntouched my hand lo His Holy Feet, for in Him the virtues and powers and\nmight of Love do dwell that never before men with eyes have seen.\"\n\nBut the little Child smiled, then stretched forth Its arms and puckered\nIts lips for the mother's sweet milk.\n\nThe mother in pride placed It at the side of the cart that held brass\nvessels and articles of food, and turned to receive the congratulations\nof her guests, when lo! the Child with Its baby foot upturned the cart,\nand the cart and the vessels in pieces lay on the ground!\n\nAnd more and more they marvelled at the Child, whose baby strength\nupturned the cart.\n\nNor was this the only miracle of His babyhood. For one day the mother\nsat with the Child in her lap, when lo and behold, so heavy He became\nthat she felt as if the world were resting on her knees!\n\nThe strength of her knees gave way and the Child sank to the ground,\nwhen a whirlwind came, in the shape of a dust-storm, and raised the\nChild to heights unseemable, but soon again lightly on His feet He\ndescended at the side of His mother.\n\nWildly she clasped Him in her arms and kissed Him again, but He opened\nHis baby mouth to her eyes, and lo, the universe she saw within!\n\nAnd in that moment unto her it was revealed that He, whom she called her\nson, was God\u2014the Seed and Soul of the Universe; the One who all things\nknew, yet who was unknowable to all.\n\nShe also knew that the shadow He cast by His great, universal Will was\nM\u0101y\u0101, and the offsprings or attributes of that M\u0101y\u0101 as demons were\nknown.\n\nAnd she knew that a demon it was, urged on by Kangsa, that came in the\nshape of a whirlwind to carry her Child away. And that He who was all\nLove was mightier by far than the offspring of shadow could be.\n\nAnd thus the power of darkness again by Love was overthrown! All this\nshe saw in the space of a moment, and salutations she made to her Lord.\n\nBut the Child only smiled and the mother again saw but her Child. For\nhow could the woman, who suckled the babe, dwell long on her Child and\nknow Him as her Lord?\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nThus the childhood of Krishna was full of what were considered wonderful\nmiracles by His family and the populace, but which, to the Lord of the\nUniverse, were but divinely natural. The strength of the baby hands was\ncolossal. The beauty of the baby face was entrancing.\n\nHis flesh gave forth a lustre' and Radiance that filled a darkened room\nwith glory. The wisdom that peered from His wondrous eyes was full of\nloving mystery, and the touch of His breath brought to the heart a love\nthat was ecstasy.\n\nO Babe, that came to a desert of life, to make it a garden of lilies and\nroses! O Babe, that brought to a weakened heart the Love that conquered\nthe world by its might!\n\nO Babe, that came with a light on Thy brow that filled the eye like the\nglow of the sun, and brought on Thy breath the promise of Bliss which\ncame to all those who breathed where Thou dwelt!\n\nAll these Thou wert, yet a helpless babe in the arms of those who reared\nThee Thou lay!\n\nAnd naughty Thou wert and full of mischief, too, stealing the golden\nbutter, that stood in shining rows, the pride of the dairymaids, the\nGopis, and feeding the same to the saucy monkeys, that crowded around\nThee, to help Thee in Thy pranks!\n\nOh, wonder of Love and Might, Incomprehensible One! Thou Omnipotence,\nwho the all-pervading energy of all art, and yet, with eyes aslant,\ndidst play the child to suit Thine only sweet fancy, and in the midst of\nmen didst come to teach men Love and save the world that was steeped in\nsin! Thou who wert Lord of the Lords of Yoga, this Thy Yoga-power did\nstartle the world when in it Thou wert as a child!\n\nOn one occasion the Child became impatient and fretful, because the\nmother failed to suckle Him at His cry, and running amidst the pots and\nchums where she had been working the butter, He cast them down to the\nearth, breaking them into pieces and dividing the sweet butter with the\npets that followed the Child wherever He went.\n\nThe mother, on being told of His mischief, sought to punish Him by tying\nHim with a cord to the husking-stand that stood near by.\n\nThe cord lacked two inches in its reach to the bench; more cord she\nsought, and fastening it end to end, found still the two inches missing.\n\nCord after cord she added thereto, but she could not make the two ends\nreach.\n\nAmazed and startled she gazed at the Child, her hair dishevelled, her\nface flushed with excitement, a great fear looking from her eye, for\nwhat was this miracle, that prevented her from spanning the reach of two\ninches?\n\nThe Child, on seeing the troubled face of His mother, allowed himself to\nbe fastened.\n\nAnd thus in disgrace he stood for a time, till two trees in the distance\nattract His eye, and walking: away in the reach of the cords and drawing\nthe husking-stand behind Him, He stood between two huge arjuna trees\nand, casting the cord about the trees, He tore them up by the roots.\n\nDown they came with a crash to the ground, carrying with them all that\nwas in their way. And lo! from the trees two fiery spirits appeared, and\nsaluting the Child, they prayed and disappeared in a cloud of light.\n\nFor list! in the days of yore, when the Saint Narada walked the earth,\nhe passed the stream where maid and youth made merry in the waves.\n\nAt the passing by of the Saint, the youths failed to salute him, but\ninstead in bold arrogance laughed and called unto him, and reverence had\nthey none.\n\nIn the heart of the Saint a prayer arose, that the youths who knew not\nrespect towards the saints that walked on earth to make men holy, should\nbe reborn as trees, yet as trees to remember their past offence and\ndwell on the folly thereof. But the Saint also prayed that when He who\nwas God came on earth. He would remember the trees and sanctify and free\nthem by His Love-touch.\n\nSo when the Babe's eye spied the trees, He uprooted them both, to make\ngood that prayer. And by His touch the souls of the youths into high\nheavens did rise, while He, the Child, the great Deliverer of all souls\nthat are born, looked on and smiled, and the populace wondered at the\nfall of the trees, and marvelled how the Child had been saved from death\nas they crashed down beside him.\n\nBlinded ones, who know not Love in its mightiness and nearness!\n\nAgain, one day, little Krishna, romping with the playfulness of His\nearth years, heard the weak voice of a woman begging to sell her wares\nof fruits. Lean were her hands and shrunken her features, and her\nclothes were poor and thin because of the length of time they had been\nworn. Faint and quivering the voice reached the ear of Krishna.\n\nWith the glance of Love that warmed her heart. He bounded to her side,\nasking for fruits and giving her paddy instead, when lo! at the touch of\nHis hand the face of the woman beamed with the light of beauty, her\nvoice as with joy rang out, and her basket was heavy and filled with\ngems that blazed and glittered in the noonday sun.\n\nAnd laughing, the Child ran to his playmates and pets and divided the\nfruits with them all.\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nNow came a time when the oldest and wisest of the populace of the\nkingdom where Krishna was reared bethought it best to take the wonderful\nChild from the place where men marvelled at the wonder of Him and came\nfrom far to look on His face.\n\nAnd anxiety filled the hearts of the people, who loved Him best, for His\nsafety, as calamity upon calamity came nigh Him; and though no harm as\nyet did betide Him, yet was it only a miracle that saved Him from the\nchild-killer, Putan\u0101.\n\nAnd again only the hand of Vishnoo had rescued Him from the fierce\nwhirling duststorm, and the turning of the cart at his side, and, last,\nthe two trees that crashed at His feet, yet touched not a hair of His\nbeautiful head.\n\nYes, best by far it was to take away the Child. So reasoned the elders,\nand Nanda approved, and forth they went with attendants and friends and\nall who lived in Gokula.\n\nAnd a caravan they formed, the cowherds driving the cows and calves\nbefore them, and carts bearing the women and children, and the men\nbeating the drums to the voices of the women that broke forth in glad\nhopefulness.\n\nAnd bright was the sky that spanned their heads, and rich the forests\nthrough which they passed, and life-giving the sun was, and refreshing\nthe winds were that greeted them on the way to Brind\u0101ban.\n\nAnd in the early days of their sojourn in these rich forests' depths,\ntents they erected which soon were overspread with creepers that\nabounded in that place, and birds came near and nested in the tendrils,\nand the wild hare and shy deer nearer and nearer their new friends came,\ntill, all tamed they would feed from the hands of the Gopis and played\nwith the children; and thus in peace and serenity they lived in\nBrind\u0101ban.\n\nBrind\u0101ban, the Land of Love and Holiness, the land where Krishna laughed\nand played, the land that the centre became of all spirituality, because\nof His sojourn there.\n\nAn ordinary boy, he walked with the boys, as tender of cows and calves.\n\nAnd in a little while the city of Brind\u0101ban thrived, and a city of\nplenty it was to all who therein lived.\n\nBut as time went on, even here the dread calamities seemed to follow the\nboy Krishna. For an Asura, sent by Kangsa, assumed the form of a calf,\nand strayed among the calves, hoping thus to elude the eye of the Child\nand perhaps take Him unawares.\n\nBut hardly had he mixed with the herds when Krishna pointed him out and\nstrode to where the calf was grazing. With easy grace He lifted him by\nthe hind legs and twirled him high in the air, till lifeless the Asura\nwas.\n\nThen, 'midst the shouts of the cowherd boys and companions, He lifted\nHis face to the skies, which opened wide to His smiling eye.\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nIn the morn of summer, early, even before the sun yet bathed the world\nwith its golden warmth, the companions of Krishna, aroused from their\nslumber by the lowing of the cows, would gather about the house of Nanda\nand wait for Krishna to come from His bed and go with them to the forest\nto tend the cows and while away the sweet hours of long summer days with\nsporting and tales and long rambles together.\n\nAnd oft, as they waited about the gates of the palace, Yasod\u0101 would\nspeak to the waiting boys:\n\n\"Ye children! my Krishna has not yet opened His eyes to the light of the\nday; His sleep is sound, nor will I wake Him, till of His own will He\ncomes from His bed; so go with the cows and leave Him to me.\"\n\nBut the boys would not stir, but would still wait His coming.\n\nBut the joy left their eyes, because of their longing to look at the Boy\nwho was Love.\n\nAnd loud were the cries that came from the boys as they saw Him\napproaching and then come in their midst, and He with the boys as a boy\nwould be.\n\nAnd oft Yasod\u0101, the mother, who reared Him, would take Him aside and\nremonstrate with Him thus: \"O my Krishna, my son, why wilt Thou thus\nspend Thy time with the cows and the cowherds? A Son of the King art\nThou, O my boy, and Thy place is not there with the cows in the\npastures. Many servants have we to see to the herds. Come, take Thou Thy\nflute, bedeck thyself with garments and ornaments as it doth behoove my\nson and a prince.\"\n\nThen Krishna, twining His arms round the neck of His mother, with a\nworld of glowing love in His visage, would gaze far away into the heart\nof His people and reply to her who knew Him as son:\n\n\"O mother beloved! Well it is for Me, a son of a king, with the people\nto be; though of the palace, yet is My place there where the people call\nunto Me.\n\nTender am I of the Flock, O My mother, and to them I must go, with them\nmust I be to teach them Myself and the Power of Love.\n\n\"Even now must I go to the calling hearts, who madly seek Me and will\nnot be satisfied till again Me they see.\"\n\nAnd Yasod\u0101, the Mother, in amazement gazed on the face of her son and\nunderstood not His prattle that such wisdom held, but the tears of fond\npride rose to her eyes, as she saw the love that came from the boy and\nenveloped Him as a soft cloud of light.\n\nAnd she kissed her son, seeing but in Him a merry little child bounding\nand throbbing with victorious health.\n\nOnward He ran to greet His companions, who were satisfied now as they\nbeheld His coming, and laughing the group went to the forest.\n\nThey played, burying their bare feet in the mosses, rolling in the sweet\ngrass, clapping their hands in the fulness of joy, and shouting in very\necstasy of being.\n\nNever saw they in Him the son of a King. They knew Him but as a cowherd\nboy who, like them, tended the cows in pastures and forests.\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nAgain the cowherds, including Krishna, went with their cows to give them\ndrink, and also to quench their own great thirst. Sporting on the banks\nof the lake, they suddenly saw a monster crane coming towards them, with\ngreat flapping wings.\n\nAffrighted they turned, all but Krishna, to flee, but ere a moment had\npassed, the huge bird had devoured Krishna.\n\nBut only an instant He was lost to sight, for before the boys knew what\ncalamity had come upon them, the bird in great haste gave up the prey\nthat brought to his throat the sensation of burning. For when Krishna\nentered his body it was as if liquid fire poured all through him.\n\nThen seeing Krishna again in the midst of the boys, lo, with the beak\nand the talon he again made for Him, but Krishna seized the beak with\nHis hands and ripped the great body in halves, even as women tear in\nhalf fine linen which requires no effort, and the demon was again\nallayed.\n\nAgain it happened that the boys with Krishna sought the forests, in\nsport to engage.\n\nWhile bounding in frolicsome play, they beheld at a distance a huge\nserpent stretched forth in its length, like a range of hills. Wide open\nits mouth was, and close to the path of the boys it lay.\n\nIn an instant within it they walked, all but Krishna, who contemplated\nthe monster, with eyes full of power; then straight into its jaws He too\nwent.\n\nBut now the hideous serpent writhed in pain and, like monstrous bellows,\nits great sides heaved; for Krishna had expanded within its throat, till\nit expired, shaking all the earth in its throes of death.\n\nAnd the boys laughed in glee as out of the great jaws of the serpent\nthey walked.\n\nBut Krishna lifted His eyes to the sky and illumined all the heavens\nbecame. For the Dispenser of all Light destroyed the evil that sought to\nreign in that land where Love dwelt, and with mighty strength He felled\nthe feeble hands of Evil to the ground. For, where Krishna was,\nillumination was and darkness could not draw life.\n\nThe deadly shade of Sin sought to blight and blast the garden where\nTruth bloomed fair and tall; but so ripe with Love it was that it could\nnot on that soil take root, to create its evil nor yet prevent the good.\nFor the Knower of all that is knowable saw with His all-seeing eye the\nspirit of every stress and storm and laid it low ere its brewing began.\n\nAnd thus His blessing gave increase to plenty, and virtue it added unto\ngood, and unto them that loved in that realm of Love, stones were as\nbread, and wormwood as sweetness was.\n\nEvil is sin and hateful to Love. And Krishna had the longing and the\npower He wielded to save His world from the pestilent blast of the sin\nthat in boldness sought to destroy it.\n\nAs Love He came, the Maker of Man and of the Universe, to rescue man,\nHis creation, from the rottenness of his own doings.\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nAnd Brahm\u0101, the Creator, witnessed the miracles that Krishna, the Child\nand the Youth, was performing hourly at His plays and gambols, and\nmarvelled if He the child might be that was come to succour Mother Earth\nin her trial.\n\nSurely sometime, somewhere, in some place it was said that the All-Wise\nBeing, that was over all, as a little child would be born among men to\nsave them from their blinded selves and turn them Godward, looking\ntowards Home.\n\nThis he knew had been said. Was this child the One, that the Eternity\nwas\u2014He, the Rememberer of all Beings and Things?\n\nHe would know it in proving the power of His Yoga! For if this were the\nAbsolute Lord, He alone would be the Lord of the Lords of all Yogis!\n\nKrishna, sitting with his boys in the forest, discovered that the herds\nhad disappeared from their sight.\n\nOn seeing the alarm on the face of His friends, Krishna exclaimed, \"I\nMyself shall fetch back the cows, so be not anxious, eat to your fill of\nthe fruit you are munching.\"\n\nHe searched and called, but the cows were as vanished, and returning\nagain to His playmates He found they too were missing.\n\nThen a smile, as the sun doth break through the clouds, shone on His\nface, and, with Yoga-M\u0101y\u0101, He divided Himself into cowboys and cows and\neven into calves, and He Himself leading them who were of Him, the\nAll\u2014He returned with the cows and the boys to the village!\n\nBut, mark, when the boys, that were parts of Krishna, Love-Manifest, ran\nto the arms of their mothers, a thrill that was ecstasy played through\ntheir beings, and never did mothers love so their sons as the mothers\nwho held to their hearts the boys whom by His power He had made from\nHimself!\n\nAnd so it was with the cows and the calves. Those who milked the cows\nwere wild with joy to stroke their hides and feed them, and milk of\nthose cows as nectar was.\n\nAnd Krishna stood with the cowboys among the cows and smiled in His\nwisdom at them all.\n\nNow Brahm\u0101 knew that the boy was the Lord, who as child to man had come,\nfor by his Yoga-power he had taken the cows and calves and boys to a\ncavern and there put them to sleep.\n\nBut Krishna, to prove Himself the greatest in power, had divided Himself\ninto boys, cows, and calves, and for one year had been thus.\n\nWhen Brahm\u0101 saw this, from trance-sleep he awoke the sleepers, and\nbowing low to the feet of Krishna, salutation made and thus did burst\nforth: \"O Lord of all Love! O Being Supreme! O Source of all Life and\nMaker of All! Oft in the eyes of my Yoga, glimpses of Thee have I caught\nand Thy loveliness and majesty transcend all beauty.\n\n\"What is the merit of the earth, that Thou shouldst bless it with Thy\nbeautiful feet? have looked upon the earth and have seen Thy Love in all\nthings, but I perceived not that Thou in Thy mercy wouldst live among\nmen, even as man.\n\n\"Through Thy coming each heart, that a hovel in poorness was, into a\npalace of riches has grown.\n\n\"Through Thy coming all flesh its grossness has lost, since to the eyes\nof man Thou seemingly walkest in the flesh.\n\n\"Thou who the centre of Thy radiance art, yet walkest within that\nradiance! What is the mystery of Thy great Self?\n\n\"Thou who teachest the bird to cleave the sky and hath made me the\ncreater of earth and continuest the motion thereof!\n\n\"Thou who the Concrete art and yet the Abstraction thereof dost prove!\n\n\"Thou Mystery of all mysteries, the Secret, the indistinct and yet the\nsublimely simple Parent of the Universe!\n\n\"Thou who art the whole and yet the parts, the immensity and yet the\nmote of things!\n\n\"A poor groveller am I at Thy feet in the dust! Why hast Thou blessed me\nto know Thee thus?\n\n\"Thou art the ocean of existence, and Saints and Gods and men and all\nThy creatures are but the uncounted waves that play and stretch and\nheave on Thy breast!\n\n\"From Thy abode hast Thou come of Thine own sweet will to give unto all\nthe power of Thy Love.\n\n\"Dull were my eyes to behold not in Thee the Lord, who stamped on all\nthings the Name of his Love and with the Name its potency too.\n\n\"O Thou all Beauty and Power and Sweetness and Strength! refuse me not\nthe bliss to dwell in homage at Thy feet!\n\n\"Thou, who art the cause of all things, who stirrest the root and stem\nof all life into love, who art the indestructible Truth of things, Thee\nI meditate and worship forever.\"\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nIn the glad land of Brind\u0101ban, the land where Love reigned supreme,\nbecause of the presence of Him who was Love Personified, who was Love\nIncarnate and who as a Boy did bless the world with His Being.\n\nIn that land, 'mid childish sport and gladsome frolic, Krishna grew into\nbeauty of youth.\n\nDay by day the land became more beautiful in the joyous springtime, and\none day His brother R\u0101ma, he whose growing was beautiful, and who, like\nKrishna, was marvelled at for the wonder of his doings, said unto\nKrishna:\n\n\"Does not the smell of the forest invite Thee, O brother? Even here the\nair is heavy with ripeness of the fruit, that the sweet spring-air hath\nbrought us. Shall we not go and pluck from the trees and eat our fill of\nthe fruits that are dropping on the ground in luxuriousness but to\nbecome rotten?\"\n\n\"Gladly would we go,\" said the other boys, \"but we fear Dhenuka, of the\ndemon family, who dwelleth close thereby. It is said that he hath taken\nthe form of an ass and though he seemeth harmless, yet hath he much\npower for evil, which he wieldeth mightily, when he hath a chance to do\nso. So, though we would gladly partake of the fallen fruit, yet do we\nfear him. But what sayest Thou, Krishna? Thou canst, if Thou wilt,\ndestroy all who are filled with hate and evil. Wilt Thou and R\u0101ma use\nyour strength to protect us?\"\n\n\"Let us away,\" quoth Krishna, and in a few moments, heated and full of\nlaughter, the boys were shaking the trees for the golden-sided fruit,\nwhich seemed to smile upon them in its beauty of ripeness.\n\nBut at the first sound of happiness that reached the ears of the ass, he\nrushed in the midst of the youngsters and sought to destroy them, making\nR\u0101ma and Krishna the special objects upon which to vent his hatred and\nstrength.\n\nFor a time both boys dodged hither and thither, trying to turn aside the\nanger of the ass; but seeing that it would not be appeased, R\u0101ma caught\nhim by the hind legs and after swinging him over the heads of the boys a\nfew times, he dashed his head against the tree and proceeded to aid the\nboys in picking the fruit.\n\nThe braying of the ass had brought forth the kith and kin of the Asura,\nwho dwelt in the forests with him; but they, too, in a brief struggle\nwere killed by R\u0101ma and Krishna.\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nIn those days, when Love was predominant and held no place for that\nwhich overcame and destroyed that which could not hold sway there,\nbecause when love is strong and active, then doth evil become feeble and\nweak and slinketh away into darkness and deep places, where the light of\nlove cannot reach in to reveal its blackness unto the light of the sky.\n\nIn the river, on whose bank Krishna, R\u0101ma and the cowherd boys often sat\nand sang the deeds of their hero, there dwelt a huge serpent monster\nwith a thousand hoods, who by the venom of his hideous body did permeate\nthe water of the lake with deadly poison and filled the air of the\nvicinity with a pestilent atmosphere that was deadly in its influence.\n\nKrishna one day led the boys and cows to this pool, and they, being\nathirst, drank of the deadly water that lay still and without a ripple.\nEver is evil inviting in its outward calm.\n\nBut lo! in an instant, the thousand-headed monster lifted its hoods, and\nthe deadly poison having done its ghastly work, the boys and cows lay on\nthe bank lifeless, and motionless they fell at the feet of Krishna.\n\nWith a glance of life-giving Love cast upon the dead ones, Krishna\nwalked to a tree that was close by, while the boys, alive again, in\namazement and wonder gazed at each other, forgetting, in the joy of the\nLove in the look that Krishna had cast upon them, the moment before.\n\nOn reaching the top of the tree, Krishna stood for an instant and gazed\nat the boys, His world and the serpent, and a light as of molten gold\nseemed to come from that body, more lovely than the sun to look upon.\n\nThus it was for a moment, then into the deadly pool he plunged, while\nthe thousand heads of the serpent darted their venomous tongues' and\nstruck the body till the boys fell into unconsciousness and the cows\ngroaned in pain, and the men and women, with eyes bulging with fear and\ntearing their hair, almost swooned at the sight of the boy, who was God,\ncrushed in the poisonous embrace of the monster; yet, even as stricken\nwith horror, they gazed.\n\nKrishna a glance like light on them cast, and breaking away from the\ngrasp of the monster, He lightly sprang upon its hooded head and danced\nlike the stars upon its hoods, till one by one low they were laid; and\nvomiting blood that was thick and black, defeated and broken, the\nmonster sank beneath the waves.\n\nAnd with a bound Krishna stood in the midst of His friends who knelt at,\nHis feet. Then they drew Him within their arms, in the madness of joy at\nHis safety.\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nOh, grand was the sight of Love, crushing out Hate from the land, and\nthe Gods sang and shouted and crowded together to see Sin conquered and\nVirtue grow strong!\n\nYasod\u0101 and Nanda, with the Gopas and Gopis maddened with delight, took\nKrishna home, while the heavens opened and scattered flowers to carpet\nHis path.\n\nAnd forever the lake was free from the venom the serpent had cast, and\nthe near-by atmosphere purified was from the pestilent influence that\nhovered about there. For the monster at Krishna's command had departed\nand sought no more to injure the land.\n\nBut so great was the happiness that overflowed the heart of all, in\nleading the boy triumphant through the forest, that they tarried awhile\nin the glow of the moon, in their joy to behold the beauty that filled\nthe night.\n\nBut far in the distance a light was seen that spread wider and broader\nits glow, and higher its flame leapt, and every second nearer and nearer\nyet it came, like a living sheet of fire.\n\nAnd so it was. A castor plantation a burning world had become and\nquickly surrounded the merrymakers, who held in their midst the joy of\ntheir hour, and they cried in a fright: \"O Krishna, Thou Child\u2014or God,\nwhatever Thou art, protect us from this death in this roaring flame. We\ncare not for our lives, O Krishna, for they are thine by our love for\nThee, but oh, the anguish the parting would mean\u2014to die and not see Thy\nface again! Oh Thou, who by Thy strength dost slay the Asuras and drive\nfrom the land the serpent all powerful, save us from this, the parting\nwith Thee and Thy loved companion R\u0101ma, he that is most like Thee. O\nMost Lovely One, deliver us, we pray!\"\n\nLight as a leaf in the wind the Boy bounded to meet the coming flames.\nFor a moment He stood in the seething sea of fire and lifted His hand on\nhigh, and lo, the fire was not\u2014but the flames were seen to enter His\nmouth!\n\nAnd again, with dancing and singing praise to the Boy, they made for His\nhome with joy and delight.\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nOne summer day Krishna and R\u0101ma and their companions in the shade of the\ntrees were a-sporting among themselves, when they saw coming toward them\na stranger, a boy, clad as a tender of cows.\n\nHe joined in the games and soon all were merry, but Krishna, the knower\nof all, and the all-seeing One, in him beheld an Asura, named Pralamba,\nwho had come in their midst to bring calamity, though friendship he\nfeigned.\n\nKrishna proposed a game to be played by dividing the boys into equal\nnumbers and fighting, in sport, one with the other. Krishna was chosen\nthe leader on one side and R\u0101ma the leader on the other.\n\nThe defeated side, it was proposed, must carry on their backs the\nwinners of the victorious side, and so the play began.\n\nKrishna's side was defeated, and it was ordered that, among others,\nPralamba, the Asura, carry R\u0101ma on his back.\n\nAway went the boys, each defeated one carrying on his back a winner.\n\nSuddenly the boys heard R\u0101ma's voice shouting to them, and behold, the\nAsura, by black magic power, a giant had become and was flying through\nthe forest with R\u0101ma on his back!\n\nKrishna looked at them, then shouted to R\u0101ma: \"Brother, forget not that\nThou art Vishnoo and that I am here!\"\n\nIn an instant all fear left the heart of R\u0101ma, and remembering who and\nwhat he was, he was filled with Almighty power and felled the giant with\na heavy blow; and the play went on as before:\n\nAnother time the cows strayed into the forests and were overtaken by a\ngreat conflagration, and like wild beasts they leaped and bellowed\nthrough the forest.\n\nThe boys followed and called, but onward the cows plunged, nor heeded\ntheir voices, till Krishna's voice they heard; then turning they\ngathered about Him, seeing naught but the love and power in His eyes.\nFor the brute is ever stilled by the might of Love; unlike man it\nknoweth its power and yieldeth to its force.\n\nBut the boys still turned towards Krishna, full of fear of the\nconflagration that threatened to envelop them. He looked at them all,\nand their fear was allayed. Then He gazed at the fire and asked the boys\ntheir eyes to close. This, they did, and when they looked again, the\nflames were no more to be seen.\n\nSuch was the Yoga-power of Sree Krishna, and the boys seeing His\nwonderful acts knew that Krishna was more than boy.\n\nAnd joyous were they and gathered flowers and leaves that grew in great\nabundance at the foot of the trees, and they all wove them into garlands\nof white, purple, and red, and wound them about Krishna's neck, and also\nbedecked each other with flowers and threw wreaths about the cows' necks\nand the calves' and homeward they wended their way in the twilight, just\nas the sun was sinking to rest.\n\nThe birds ceased their sleepy chirp and opened their eyes wide, and\nsleep left the flowers that nodded near the roadside, and the sun stood\nin space a moment to watch the procession that galloped down the road.\n\nKrishna, the Beautiful, came in the lead, bedecked and beflowered. The\nspirit of life He was, with a transfiguring glory in His face, and His\neyes full of softness and love-light. His body all graceful in curves to\nbehold, yet strong in the vigor of youth, that shone through its grace.\n\nWith His hands on the necks of His two favorite cows, those who ever\nfollowed Him about as a child, the white on His right side, the black on\nHis left, homeward they ran, while the white dust arose and covered and\ncaressed them; one after the other, each bedecked with garlands, and\neach boy between two cows, who like them were wreathed with wild\nflowers.\n\nAnd the elder Gopis and Gopas held their breath at the sight, so\nentrancing, that reached their eyes at the home-coming of the boys and\ntheir cows, bedecked and beflowered with the sweet wild flowers, and\nheaded by Him whom they loved.\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nThus spring ripened into summer and autumn, and again the rolling\nseasons touched upon the heels of one another; and Krishna grew into\ngreater beauty with each season of His earthly career.\n\nMore and more the people of Brind\u0101ban became absorbed in Him. The young\nand old, those near and far, looked upon Him as one without whom they\ncould not exist.\n\nAnd so it was, the complete whole was He of whom they were but parts,\nand ever were they reaching to again find the Heart out of which they\nhad sprung.\n\nHis smile was to them the sun that warmed, His words the flowers which\nfilled them with joy, His deeds the fruits which satisfied the hunger of\ntheir hearts.\n\nThe very quick of their lives He was; and nothing lived, breathed,\nbloomed, or grew in Brind\u0101ban, from the people to the cattle, creeping\nthings and all that grew, that did not draw life from the Lord that\ndwelt as Youth among them.\n\nAnd the milk-maids, who in loving companionship oft with him roamed to\nthe hillside where with the other boys he tended the cattle, would in\nfond love contemplate the Youth, knowing not what the potency was that\ndrew them, forgetful of all duties, to His side.\n\nAnd among themselves they would speak thus: \"Oh, how sweet is the\nhillside, when Krishna is near, how sublime is His countenance and His\neyes how beautiful with piercing love-light filled! Serene doth He\nstand, yet bewilderingly entrancing is the joy that comes to our souls\nby His glances that seek us in softness and kindness.\"\n\n\"Was aught as beautiful,\" they were wont to say, \"as our Krishna,\nclothed in blue and gold, with the crown of peacock feathers on His brow\nand a garland of fresh flowers festooned from His shoulders? Why is it,\nthat flowers that girdle Him thus never fade or wither or die, but\ndeeper their colors and stronger their petals and sweeter their\nfragrance are, when in contact with Him they have come? And the fields\nwhere He walketh, see how they smile and give their treasures in greater\nabundance! And the rivers close by, they rise high on our land, as if to\ndwell longer on our banks, because our Krishna is here.\n\n\"At the notes of his flute, all exquisite, whose potent spell must charm\nall the living, see how His cattle do greet Him and tremble and thrill\nat the sound of the music! And even the untamed things of the forest,\nwith wistful look and nostrils spread, unbidden and unafraid, do stand\non the crest of the hill, as if drawn and subdued by the influence of\nHis love-sound!\n\n\"Oh, the sound of His flute is proof against the iron-moulded mind and\ncan soothe a very giant of fierceness into gentleness by its sweetness!\nChecked is every fear, and rebellion is laid low in every heart, and a\nkingdom of love every home becomes wherein that sound hath pierced.\nOfttimes it seemeth that time itself doth suit its step to keep pace\nwith its rhythm, for, note ye not, how the sun doth stand, loath to\nmove, lest the sight and sound it loseth?\n\n\"Oh, why are we not the flute He holds to His lips! Blessed beyond all\nthings it is, for His kisses it receives, and drinks the nectar of His\nlove to its fill. What wonder that it joys to give the sound forth that\nHis breath doth make!\n\n\"Or, why are we not the trees, under which He sitteth and whose branches\nHe counteth with happy gaze, or even the grass, where He reclineth, that\nhath the dear privilege to caress His sweet body in lowly love? But we\ncan only look on His face and die with longing, when from Him we go.\"\n\nThus spake the maids, but their tongues could not tell what bliss\noverflowed the heart, welling up with love for Him, who wakened in every\nheart the love that was all divine,\u2014from the babe's first smile to the\nman who looked first on the glorious earth, and then to the arched sky,\nand then in His heart, and found there a sum of love that was all bliss.\n\nIn Krishna, the Youth, who played the flute in the forests by night, on\nthe hillside by day, in Him, who charmed all that was, they beheld the\nfulness of Love.\n\nHe gave them and received all bliss. He was the Spring of Love that had\nthe more for the giving. He satisfied the most when many did draw from\nHis well-spring.\n\nTo the heart of all mothers He came as a child, and in tenderness and\njoy they caressed Him as such. Like a flower dropped untouched from\nheaven they held Him.\n\nThe men He approached as a friend and a son, and gave and received the\nlove that they craved and felt.\n\nThe servant too He met in the way He sought to be known, and by Him he\nwas served and did serve.\n\nThus to all He gave what they craved to have. Unstinted, unfettered He\nwas in the giving, and none was there in all that land that sought and\ncould not find what their hearts did seek.\n\nAnd to the maids who opened their pure young hearts for the all-enduring\nmysterious love. He gave, of His inexhaustible source, the sweet touch\nthat harmonized all things and made the heaven and earth to meet.\n\nAll kindred were they, for He was their Parent, and their love was but\npart of His holy flame.\n\nAnd with the light from that flame there awakened within them that which\nknew but Love, which was but Love; and Krishna it was who filled all\ntheir being, and outward consciousness to them was lost.\n\nHail to thy maiden-love, O Gopi! Thy love the triumph of man and God!\nThe crown of Time's blessedness it was! O climax of Happiness Complete!\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nWhen the days of fasting came, the Gopis, as the Scriptures commanded,\nbegan their worship by taking their baths in the sacred river Jumn\u0101.\n\nO happy waves, more holy made by the maids, who stood in prayers in thy\nbeds and threw on thy bosom the sweetest lowers that grew where\nKrishna's feet had fallen!\n\nThus they worshipped each day for a month in the early morn ere the sun\nwas seen, singing on their way the songs of love and praise for Krishna,\nwho was the first and the last and middle of all their day.\n\nOne morning whilst sporting and singing in the clear cooling waters,\nthey beheld on the limbs of a tree close by the youth Krishna, enthroned\nin its branches and holding their wearing apparel in His hands.\n\nCrowned as usual with flowers was He, but a look all majestic was in His\neye.\n\nAffrighted with shame they begged for their garments, but Krishna\nreplied: \"Come and get your garments either in a body or singly, O\ndamsels, and salute to the sun shining over My head as near you\napproach.\"\n\nFor a moment they hesitated; then that which as a shadow had crossed\ntheir heart, and is known as shame, departed from them, and saluting\nforward they came in a body led by R\u0101dh\u0101, the loveliest and chiefest of\nthe milk-maids, and dripping and lovely before Him they stood.\nCompletely they had surrendered their human will to the will of Him who\nwas Divinity.\n\nSelfless, unyoked from all that was worldly, before Him they stood.\nUncovered and free as they came from His Heart, again on that Heart they\ngazed unashamed, for their souls were not covered with vice, or with\npiety, or even with virtue, but were bare as the Love upon which they\nlooked.\n\nThey received the garments that He for them had. He, Krishna, the source\nof pure Love was, and His garments to them were spiritual purity, and\nclothing themselves with the clothes of His giving, they joyfully went\nto the homes of their fathers.\n\nWhile Krishna, surveying His world, was enthroned in His kingdom of\nLove, and as the Gopis came to the feet of Him, who was the author of\nall Love, so all must come empty and free from all earthly desires to\naccept that Love for Love's sake.\n\nFor naught cared the Gopis but Krishna, desiring naught else beside! So\nonly can Love Absolute be gained in absolute self-surrender.\n\nHe who would have that Love that is its own enjoyment, that Love that a\nuniverse unto itself is, doth not find it easy to obtain it by merit of\npiety or even the fruition of highest spirituality.\n\nThe bounds of all spirituality it must pass to become the Absolute and\nCauseless Love. Where spirituality ends, there causeless Love doth\nbegin!\n\nAll love that hath a cause is of earth! Love that hath even a high\nspiritual cause is limited in scope, and such love may vanish when its\ncause is removed.\n\nBut the Love that is Causeless, All Enduring is.\n\nIt fadeth not, neither doth it pass away, but by day and by night and\nthroughout all time it waketh and accumulateth ever, for it is the Love\nAbsolute!\n\nFrom the souls of the Gopis the last trace of heaven and earth had\nvanished, and being resplendent with the glory of this Love Absolute, of\nthe Love that was unto itself substance and satisfaction, was the\ncauseless cause for this Gift of all gifts from the hand of Him who\nalone could bestow it and alone was that Love Itself.\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nThe summer sun beat down fiercely upon the Gopas and the cattle, when\nKrishna turned to them, saying:\n\n\"See the wonder of these trees! Kind, beyond expression, are they. They\nask for naught, but what the earth, sky, and sun, the night and day give\nunto them; yet in all loyalty they grow and give shade unto us, and unto\nall that wish to partake of their shade.\n\n\"Their fruits also do they give and their bark and leaves and juices, to\nall who desire it.\n\n\"So should man also be, but few are there among men that live but to\nbestow blessings upon others.\n\n\"Yet unto you, I say: O my loved companions, only unto them that give of\ntheir abundance to all that come within their radius, unto them alone is\nlife a blessing and not a curse.\n\n\"All men are placed here not of their own free will, not yet unto\nthemselves, but by the will of Love and for others.\n\n\"And only as the law of give and take is set in operation among men, is\nman living a natural life.\n\n\"Ofttimes doth the man wonder why he is unto himself a huge perplexity.\n\n\"It is only when he forgets his relationship to all mankind that his\nlife a riddle is, and this being so, he comprehendeth not the Maker of\nhimself nor the universe, and failing to do so, how can he know life\naright?\"\n\nAfter sporting among themselves, the boys spoke to Krishna, saying:\n\n\"O Krishna! a-hungered are we; where, oh where shall we find food? Canst\nThou not assist us?\"\n\nAnd Krishna answered them, saying: \"Go thou yonder where many Br\u0101hmans\nare performing religious ceremonies; go to them and in My name say unto\nthem to supply us with food. Say unto them that Krishna is wanting, and\nask them therefor.\"\n\nThe boys went; but when they delivered unto them the message of Krishna,\nthe Br\u0101hmans answered not, neither gave them the food they wished, but\nproceeded with the ceremonies that were to give them the taste of\nHeaven, after the breath had left their bodies.\n\nTired and half famished the boys returned unto Krishna and told Him of\ntheir failure to obtain food and also of the indifference with which the\nBr\u0101hmans had received His message.\n\nThen Krishna smiled wisely and told them to hurry to the wives of the\nBr\u0101hmans. He knowing that women are ever devotional and have\nillumination, while ofttimes men in darkness are.\n\nAnd so it was. On hearing Krishna's request, they themselves hastened to\nHim, in spite of the protestations and threats of the men of the\nfamilies, and brought food of the finest sorts unto Him, and prostrating\nthemselves before Him, spake: \"O Krishna! Thou Maker of all there is!\nBlessed are we and ours that Thou hast called upon us to serve Thee I We\nknow Thee, O Krishna, as one greater and nearer to us than our husbands,\nbrothers and fathers; and even at the risk of their displeasure to us,\nwe come to Thee to lay at Thy feet our poor offerings and our hearts.\"\n\nKrishna answered: \"O women! Noble and true are ye to Me. Ye in your\ndevotions have learned to know Me as your soul! Dearer to ye am I, even\nthan father, husband and friends, hence at the risk of even their\ndispleasure do yet seek to serve Me.\n\n\"I draw unto Me all that reach towards Me! Blessed are ye among men! Go\nback to those who are performing the ceremonies and aid them in their\nrituals. Kindly shall they receive ye, and unto them will ye take My\nlove even as unto ye all I bestow it.\"\n\nWhen He saw the reluctance with which they departed from Him, He said:\n\"Know that in the Kingdom of Love separation cannot be, and whatever\nheart doth meditate on Me, in that heart I dwell in all My glory.\n\n\"Again, oh know, that by deeds I reckon ever and not by words. Ye have\nserved Me by deeds, your husbands in their ignorance by words alone. But\ndo ye go unto them and they too shall know and love the Name of\nKrishna.\"\n\nAnd the women returned unto their husbands who received them with\ndemonstrations of pleasure, and they too worshipped Krishna in their\nhomes and hearts.\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\nWhen the summer was over, one day Krishna saw that great preparations\nwere being made for the celebration of ceremonies in honor of one of the\ngods.\n\nClothed in seeming ignorance, Krishna said to Nanda:\n\n\"Why these preparations, O father, and for whom are they made, and what\nis the potency thereof? Is it a custom that through all time hath been\nobserved, or, tell me, do the Scriptures demand that these ceremonies be\nheld?\"\n\nThen Nanda, answering, said: \"We offer to-day sacrifices to him, the god\nof the clouds, to him who watereth our hill-sides and giveth drink to\nour crops and out cattle, to him, Indra, the god who promoteth all\ngrowth by the blessing of rain, which he doth supply. A jealous god is\nhe, O my Krishna, and desires that ceremonials and sacrifices often are\nmade; and we in all humbleness strive to appease him, that in his wrath\nhe may not withhold the moisture from our land, nor yet flood us with\nover much rain.\"\n\nThen Krishna replied: \"My father, He, who is the Author of All, doth\ngive unto all what is needed.\n\n\"He that in wrath withholdeth a blessing, he never the love of creation\nhath known; nor doth he destroy what he hath created.\n\n\"For the Creator doth ever love His creation; for that, which from Him\nhath come, must forever belong to Hint and the part is of His Great\nWhole.\n\n\"So Indra cannot curse this land by overmuch rain or dearth of it.\n\n\"But, O my father, tell the Gopas and Gopis to cease the preparations\nand worship not one who would destroy that which he should forever\nbless.\n\n\"But come to the hillside that entwines our land, the hills and plains\nthat furnish us with sustenance for our cattle, and to the forests, too,\nwhere fruits grow in plenty and give of their abundance to all who but\ntake it.\n\n\"Come there and give to the hill and the trees our sacrifices of joy and\nlove, and feed the cows with offerings of fresh grasses, and walk with\nme around the hill in ceremonial procession and we shall see their worth\nand their kindness.\"\n\nThey did so, and Krishna said unto them:\n\n\"I am the Hill and the good that therefrom doth come.\" And his body\nbecame of a height and length that the eye of man scarce could measure,\nand said: \"Do ye salute it and partake of its good!\"\n\nAt that the rain poured down from the skies in fearful abundance and the\npeople in fear fled to their houses, afraid of the wrath of Indra.\n\nSeven days it poured and threatened to flood all the land. But Krishna\nsmiled at the wrath of Indra, as he poured down his mighty rains and\nrolled his thunder in threatening claps above the heads of the\naffrighted people, who had dared to neglect the sacrifices to him who\nthrough all ages had been honored by them.\n\nIn their calamity the people sought out Krishna, whom they found at the\nfoot of the hill Gobardhana.\n\nThe light of His body lit the darkness of night far more than the\nflashes of Indra's wrath that in lightning burst forth. \"O Krishna!\"\nthey cried, \"Thou who by Thy Yoga power can assume the form of a\nmountain at will, Thou who dost drive from the path of Thy feet all that\nunlike Thy sweet will is, save us from the wrath of him who even now\ndoth seek to drive us from out of life.\"\n\nAnd Krishna lifted His hand and eye, and lo, all their fear was allayed.\n\nThen all the world grew light as day from the glory that radiated from\nHis body, and by His Yoga power He lifted the hill itself from off its\nbase and held it on high, on the tip of his fifth finger, even as the\nbeetle doth hold on his horns the leaf that covereth him completely.\n\nThe people gathered beneath the hill with their children and cattle.\nSeven days they were there, and seven days Krishna held the hill above\ntheir heads, while the light that came from His smile illuminated all\nthe space between the hill and its foundation.\n\nThen Indra, amazed, looked down from his clouds and knew that the Lord\nof All was there, and had baffled his attempt to destroy what He, the\nLord of all Love, had created. And the rain ceased its downpouring and\nthe rivers became calm and the sun in its glory burst forth again. And\nflowers uplifted their water-drenched heads and the trees sprang back\nstorm-tossed no more.\n\nAnd Krishna said to those whom he had sheltered:\n\n\"Depart in peace, and fear no more the wrath of him who thought to\ndestroy where he could not give life.\"\n\nAnd Indra, the god of the clouds, descended to earth, and falling at the\nfeet of Him, in abject humility said:\n\n\"O Lord I Thou art the Holy One! Puffed up and proud was I in my power\nand saw myself greater even than Thou.\n\n\"Well know I now that Love is the greatest power; and I, in my smallness\nof godship, insolent and destructive became. I sought the praise that is\never due to Thee, O Lord of Love; for unto resistless Love alone praise\nshould be given. But my vanity and pride I tried to shield by the power\nwhich Thou didst endow me with.\n\n\"I thought that I it was who brought the life to all trees and by my\npower kept the hills in green and the forests in wondrous foliage, and\ngave drinks to the cows and plenty to the rivers. And for it I longed to\nsee men perform the ceremonies and pray to me.\n\n\"But to Thee, O Lord of Love! is due all the glory; by Thee alone am I\ninvested with power. Do Thou in Thy greatness forgive me, while I in\nhumbleness do bow to Thy Lotus Feet.\"\n\nAnd Krishna threw a glance at Indra that filled him with a great wild\njoy, and said:\n\n\"O Indra! Though I invested thee with sovereignty by My will, be not\noverfull of pride! For this I have stopped the ceremonies, so that thou\nmayest learn to know Me, whom thou in thy prosperity hadst quite\nforgotten.\n\n\"Go to thy abode, Indra, rule thy dominion; but know ever that pride and\nvanity are without power, and that Love alone is mighty.\n\n\"To lighten the burdens of all My world, I have come to earth.\n\n\"I now lift from thee the load which hath caused thee to forget Me, and,\nin forgetting Me, to have lost the beauty which was born of Me.\"\n\nAnd with the halo of joy about him, Indra returned to his abode, endowed\nwith greater power.\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\nAnd now autumn,[3] the sweetest and richest season of all the glad year,\nhad come; and the brow of Brind\u0101ban was fair to look upon.\n\nPeace and love stood on every threshold and walked on every roadway, and\nall lifted up their voices, and the words of their gladness was Love,\nLove!\n\nIn the hearts of all the song rose and showed them pleasant ways and\nhaunts that ended in Bliss. Men knew gratitude and justice, which are\nthe attributes of Love.\n\nLove walked on earth and left its blessing in its trail I The flowers\nwhispered their love to one another and the dew clung closer to their\npetals, because of the warmth of their love.\n\nAll the land seemed to have ripened into the deepest beauty, for the\nBeauty of Love here was King.\n\nAnd Krishna was King and reigned in every heart, and all bowed before\nthe majesty of the beauty of His Love.\n\nA substitute it was for all things and satisfied the want of each heart,\nentrancing every object and person by its beauty.\n\nO wonder of Love, that expanded each soul and made it a world of joy and\nbliss!\n\nIn this happy time, when the moon was full, Krishna recalled a promise\nHe had made to the Gopis to reward them richly for their love for Him.\n\nSo, taking His flute. He went to the forests and stood on the brow of\nthe hill.\n\nAll about the white moonlight lay, bathing in silver the fruit trees in\nblossom; soft the winds were, and rich the fragrance that they brought\non their breezes.\n\nThe noises of night alone could be heard.\n\nAnd surveying His world with love-filled eyes, Krishna took up His flute\nand poured forth the strains that never were heard by man or god until\nthat night on the moon-kissed hill, when all Brind\u0101ban in peace did\nsmile.\n\nAt the sound of those strains, all earth was thrilled in ecstasy. The\nrocks melted in love; the trees trembled, and the flowers fell on the\nearth, and men and beasts all pain forgot.\n\nAnd the Gopis knew that Call of Love. Nor heeded they duties, or father,\nor husband, or children, but turning their heart to the sound of the\nflute, they followed their heart to Krishna's Feet.\n\nAt the first note, she who was feeding her household, dropped her food\nand followed the sound; and she who was nursing her babe, put her babe\nfrom her breast and answered the call; another came with toilet\nincomplete.\n\nAll forsook duties, husband and children, to find Him who drew them by\nthe sound that was made by His Love.\n\nSeparately they came, none observing the other. Over thorns and briars\nand stones they walked; sharp twigs caught their hair, branches detained\nthem; yet heeded they not these obstacles, but onward they went with\nhands torn and feet bleeding and garments rent and missing, till they\nstood at the hill where Sree Krishna played and drew from the flute the\nmusic entrancing, at which all the rocks and earth did thrill.\n\nWith eyes maddened with love they gazed on Him there! A wondrous vision\nwas He!\n\nThe light of the noon-day radiated from Him, and His beautiful eyes with\nmysterious glances fell on their souls like holy balm!\n\nAnd at that glance their souls were entranced and deepened and became as\nif one with Him and drank of the love that from Him poured; and all that\nin them unlike Him was, became as pure as He.\n\nAnd that which in them unlike that Love was, from out of their hearts\nhad flown; and made pure and transparent in that glad place, they drank\nof that love which doth chain all creation to its Creator\u2014Love.\n\nEntirely blessed, they sought no more, nor hoped they more; for each\nheld Perfection in her eyes, and each knew Perfect Love in her heart.\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\nSilent they stood and gazed on the Beauty, the concentrated love of a\nworld in each eye.\n\nA spiritual force that swept from its path all matter was theirs, as\nthey beheld that Centre to which their hearts did gravitate.\n\nThe strains of the flute that made the heaven to bend to the earth, that\nbrought the stars closer to the hillsides, and drew the gods from their\nabodes of light, had ceased; and the voice of Him that was All-Love fell\non the ears of the Gopis in sound as sweet as the flute's dear strains:\n\n\"O Gopis mine, maids of Braja! My peace and greeting be with you all!\nBut why are ye here one and all? Tell Me this!\n\n\"The hour is late, and your homes at a distance are, and the forests are\ndark, and wild beasts are in plenty. And alone ye have come without\nhusband, or father!\n\n\"What is it, pray tell Me, that brings you here? Is it love for Me that\nbrings you here? I draw all to Myself and all love Me.\n\n\"But, O Gopis dear, the Scriptures ever have said that the chaste woman\nleaveth not her husband, father and babe, to look on the face of a\nyouth.\n\n\"Pure are your hearts, I know; but it is not good that ye come to Me,\nand it looseneth your chances to reach that place where all of your\nhearts do long to dwell, when to your bodies ye have said farewell.\n\n\"Perhaps ye have come to see the forest, silvered by the autumn full\nmoon! Or mayhap to greet the breezes that come from the hillsides! Or\nthe blossoms of the trees that grace its sides to behold! If this be so,\nnow ye have seen them, depart to your homes, lest the hearts of your\nfriends be alarmed at your absence.\"\n\nThe bevy of women, that crowded about Him, grew pale with pain and ashen\nwith fear. Tears came to their eyes and anxiety to their souls, as they\nheard the words of Him who was all in all to them; till one, more brave\nthan the rest, broke forth:\n\n\"O Lord, for the Master of Love art Thou, send us not away from Thy\nside. All have we left to serve Thee, our Master. Husbands have we, and\nfathers and brothers, but to Thee alone we belong. They are but the\nkeepers of our earthly bodies: Thou art the custodian of our souls.\n\n\"Our souls are Thine, for Thou art the Soul from which we came; and\npanting we come to find again the Home wherein to rest.\n\n\"Difficult art Thou to find, O Lord! and now we have found Thee, Oh\nthrust us not from Thy Lotus Feet, we who find our joy and happiness in\nThee!\n\n\"Thy flute hath drawn us from our homes! Oh, suffer us to remain with\nThee and know Thee as Thou art! Unable are we to live without Thy love,\nO Lord! and our duties of home cannot engage us since our minds are ever\ncontemplating Thee.\n\n\"If Thou sendest us away, we shall die. Be Thou kind to us, Thy\nservants, and grant us to serve Thee with our Love.\"\n\nThen singing into their midst He came, He the Lord of the Highest, the\nLord of Love and Lord of the Lowest and Lord of Mercy! And with mighty\nLove swayed He all alike. And each self was forgotten and Love alone\nwas.\n\nNow singing in chorus, now dancing, now skipping, the Lord and his\nmaidens in those forest groves roamed, till the river was reached.\n\nThen, from over-much pleasure, proud each maid became, and her simple\njoy to vanity was turned because thus she was favored by Krishna, the\nyouth Krishna, the Heavenly One, Krishna, the Glorious of all glorious\nones!\n\nHe, noting this, to punish the sin of vanity, in swiftness from them\nvanished; and with his going the sin was gone.\n\nMaddened by love, the maids pleaded to the skies and the trees and the\nflowers for Him, who was their life. But still He came not.\n\nSo absorbed in Him they became, themselves they forgot, and even as\nKrishna they thought they were. And imitating His acts they cried to one\nanother: \"Lo, I am Krishna! See, I hold the mountains on high! Lo,\nPutan\u0101 I slay and baffle the rage of Indra with my power!\" And still\ncame He not.\n\nThen they sang His praises, then with breaking hearts they wailed and\nprayed for Him to return to their midst. At this He came, for ever is\nthe Lord most kind to the lowly and sorrowing.\n\nAnd He soothed their grief and brought light to their hearts; and\nforming a circle about Him, in ecstasy they danced. And now He, that was\nthe King of the upper world and of all the earth, of the plants and\noceans and clustering stars. He, the Lord of all might and Yoga power,\nHimself divided into many Krishnas; and each Gopi thought she, herself,\ndanced alone with the Glorious One that as Krishna was known.\n\nAnd the dance began lightly, then madder became; and He who had come on\nearth to teach man Love, manifested Himself in every maid that lightly\nand rarely stepped at His side, as they danced in that grove on that\nwondrous night.\n\nAnd the lotus blossoms wept tears of nectar on seeing the dance, and\nbirds and bees from unknown trees and flowers came forth and whirled\nround and round the heads of the dancing ones.\n\nAnd the heavens showered blossoms rare, and the gods who had stolen from\ntheir abode to watch the Feast of Love that Krishna gave to the lovely\nmilkmaids, lo, senseless became at the first sight of that revel of\nBliss!\n\nAnd night throbbed and panted and forgot to draw its curtain to let day\nin, but lengthened into aeons.\n\nThe veil from every Gopi's eye was drawn, and they gazed into the ocean\nof active spirituality and spiritual became. And all sin that were\ntheirs no more was there.\n\nAnd in that mighty dance a flood of spirituality went forth that took\nfrom the heart of men and the bosom of earth the sins with which they\nwere burdened withal. And men's hearts were won by the force of that\nLove and were led to the door of that sacred abode, where only the\nloving may go.\n\nAnd the Gopis, who by force were detained and could not come to the\ndance with Krishna, lo, in meditation sat, and in deep pain concentrated\non Him, and in that dance they were at His side and felt His\nlove-embrace, and all their sins were as naught.\n\nFor to touch Krishna, with the mind alone, was to gain spirituality and\nstand pure in His eyes.\n\nSo in those hours of intensest happiness the world gained what for\nbirths it had striven to gain. And active love was ripe among mortals,\nand that love had wiped all sin away.\n\nAnd when the last ray of the moon was seen, into the waters of the\nlaughing river they plunged; and ere the sun with ardent eye did awaken\nthe sleeping Brind\u0101ban, each maiden singing homeward went, transformed\ninto a being of unalloyed love.\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\nIn the forest grove of moonlight, where the river sweetly hummed, where\nthe nightbird's plaintive chant broke in ecstasy the silence, where the\ndrooping flowers opened wide their sleep-kissed eyelids to the night and\nbeheld the wondrous vision of the dancing maids and Krishna.\n\nIn that hour when every maiden felt her heart grow big to bursting for\nthe love that in her swelled up in that hour, when every maiden saw\nbeside her Glorious Krishna, with His brow made fair with flowers and\nHis loins wreathed with lotus, when the heart of each sweet maiden\nfoolish because of pride, as she saw the one All Beauteous, lightly\ntreading at her side to the music of the dance.\n\nOne there was of all those Gopis, she the chiefest of them all, one who\nknew naught else but Him; every thought of self had vanished, every\nthought of aught but Him.\n\nAt His side she lightly stepped nor felt the grass 'neath her feet, nor\nknew the strains of rapturous music that fell like wine upon each heart;\nall she knew was Love was there, naught but this remembered she.\n\nTo the winds that came from hillsides, to the shadows that the trees\ncast, did she whisper over and over that confession of her love, till\nover-weighed by the sweet burden, did the winds, in languorous love,\nchant and sigh, then die in silence.\n\nAnd the shadows of the trees trembled at the depth of love that the maid\ndid whisper to them as He passed them in the dance.\n\nR\u0101dh\u0101 was she, youthful, lovely, she. His playmate of the forest, she,\nwith love-look in her face, she, the Queen of Love among them, giving\nall and asking naught.\n\nBy the mighty will of Him she had come on earth to dwell, she, who ever\nreigned with Him in Glory, she now walked with Him on earth.\n\nShe, the fairest of these maidens, she the rarest of them all, knowing\nLove in its intensity, living all its bliss.\n\nAnd when He, the Lord of Love, vanished from the dancing Gopis, she,\nsweet R\u0101dh\u0101, with Him vanished.\n\nAnd they wandered in the deep groves, these, the Twain, Who in Glory\ndwelt, she the loving, He the Lover, both the Blissful, both the Purest.\n\nHe the dew-kissed flowers gathered, twining them about the maiden. But\nthe flowers in their beauty were not half as fair as she; and sweet\nR\u0101dh\u0101, pearl of maidens, gazed with love-light in her eyes, knowing\nnaught was half so lovely as the hands that placed them there.\n\nThus 'they roamed in shadowy moonlight, rested here in softened shadows,\nchanting love-songs to each other, knowing naught but pure delight, till\na-wearied with her roaming, R\u0101dh\u0101 begged to cool her feet in the smiling\nwaves of Jumn\u0101, that she spied there in the moonlight.\n\nKrishna, greatest of all lovers, lightly stooped to lift the maiden, and\nin loving arms to bear her where the smiling waters rippled.\n\nBut within the breast of R\u0101dh\u0101, at that act, pride sprang to being, and\nwithin that home of Love vanity crept and nestled there.\n\nFor a moment Krishna held her, then with lightning swiftness from her\nside He vanished.\n\nBut in that twinkle of a moment R\u0101dh\u0101 knew what her sin was and, aware\nof her enemy, the selfless love, which was her Self, her deity supreme,\narose and quenched all thirst of vanity.\n\nQuickly gliding through the forest, she again did join the Gopis, spying\nin the further distance Krishna soothing one and all. To His side she\nlightly stepped, she, the radiant, she. His Heaven-Mate, purged from sin\nand lightly clothed with the love that knew but Him.\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\nWhile the land of Brind\u0101ban was rich in the love which Krishna flooded\nit withal, the heart of Kangsa, the brother of Devaki, was filled with\nfear for his life; for it was known to his quaking heart that the eighth\nchild of Devaki still walked the earth, and also he knew that writ it\nwas that the hand of that child would lay him low.\n\nFar and wide he sought the child, the boy, whom he felt was the God who\nhad come to bring to the virtuous and lowly man peace, and sweep from\nthe land the oppressor and tyrant.\n\nThe marvelous deeds of Sree Krishna, his beauty and strength, the might\nof his love, had been heralded far and wide, and all the then known\nworld was turned towards the forest land of Brind\u0101ban with expectant eye\nand thirsting heart. For ever the heart of man doth pant for and turn to\nthe place where love doth dwell.\n\nWhen tales of Krishna's wonderful life and glorious deeds came to the\nears of Kangsa, he felt that the boy whom Yasod\u0101 and Nanda reared as\ntheir own, in sweet Brind\u0101ban, was the child that he sought to kill when\nit came from the womb of Devaki, and when by the hand of fate itself he\nhad been baffled.\n\nAnd the dull, hungry flame of hatred and anger rose like fire in this\nbad man's heart, and an atmosphere as of hell about him rose, and all\nhis peace slipped to the dust, and his secret fear that like a coiled\nserpent had lain in silence now uncurled its length and lifted its head\nand darted here and there to strike the prey that aroused it from its\nslumber.\n\nAnd long he sat and meditated evil against the youth that he could not\nslay in spite of his kingship. For the Name of Krishna was a balm to the\nhearts of all men who had ever heard it spoken, and though king he was\nand ruler over many, he knew that the strength of the fame of Krishna,\nthe boy bred in Brind\u0101ban, more potency possessed than the name of\nKangsa, the king. For he was ruler over the bodies of men only.\n\nHis name dwelt on the tongues of men who prattled with words alone, and\nthose words embodied not the thought from which they sprang\u2014words that\npraised where praises were not due, and applauded where it was not\ndeserved.\n\nMen who dared not note the indignity of his motives and their results,\nnor discriminate between the righteousness of his action and his\nblood-dyed deeds, vexed his ears with fawning acclamations to-day\nbecause of his power, yet to-morrow blamed and hissed him out of sight.\n\nBut Krishna was ruler over all hearts by the might of his wondrous love.\nHe was the Divine Incarnation, the Inner Call, the satisfied softness\nthat all felt, compelling all, yet demanding naught. Uncovered, frank.\nHe stood forth inviting all to look on Him to Know and to love and be\nsaved,\u2014too deep for the human understanding to measure, too large for\nhuman heart to embrace, yet acquainting each man with Himself.\n\nThis love still untaught, still gazing on Him who was all encased in\nlove, all made of love, all teeming with love, they knew themselves of\nHis creation, and Him their Sovereign Lord.\n\nAnd Kangsa knew that by knowing Him the world would boldly recoil from\nthe sickening deeds of his cruelty, the foul plots of his life, would be\nlaid bare to all, and the world in rebellion would rise. And he knew,\ntoo, that he in his worldly powers as a weakling would be, by the side\nof the cow-herd Krishna.\n\nSo among his councillors an edict went forth that festivities be held in\nhonor of the Bow, on the fourteenth day of the lunar month, and that\nsacrifices in great abundance be made.\n\nHe also said unto them that preparations be made, and pavillions be\nraised, and the arena cleared, and the amphitheatre festooned with\nflowers and banners; and proclamations were issued that all the\ninhabitants of his whole kingdom be invited to his capital and that the\npeople of Braja be included therein.\n\nAnd last he sent his ambassador in great pomp and glory to call to his\npalace the seventh son of Devaki, Balar\u0101m, and the eighth son, Krishna,\nto witness the sports and partake in the wrestling contests and show to\nthe kingdom their dexterity and strength.\n\nThus spoke Kangsa, and called to Akrura and made him the ambassador that\nwas to bring Krishna and R\u0101ma to Mathura. But this also he ordered:\n\"When here they are brought, see that the strongest and mightiest\nwrestlers of my kingdom be brought to match them and fairly or foully to\nlay them low.\" And he added: \"If here death fails to meet them withal,\nkeep the infuriated elephant close to the gate, so that he in his\nmadness may tread out the life of Krishna at my command.\" These were his\norders, and Akrura, his ambassador, bowing to him, departed to Braja.\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\nThe sun was setting in Braja, and Krishna, with companions was homeward\nleading the cows to be milked.\n\nThe hills were gold-tipped. The chirp of the birds in sleepy echoes fell\non the ear, when far in the distance the hoofs of stamping steeds\npounding the earth caused the boys to turn. Coming in royal splendor\ntowards them they beheld a chariot with blazing banners of the colors of\nthe royal house of Mathura.\n\nThe boys stood in amazement as nearer the chariot came; but Krishna\nsmiled with His eye full of wisdom, and aslant He looked toward the boys\nand the cows and then at Akrura, the ambassador, who came in the\nchariot.\n\nAt that glance, Akrura quickly descended and fell at the feet of Krishna\nand saluted Him in reverence and worship, for the dart of love that came\nfrom Krishna revealed to the heart of Akrura that Krishna was more than\nhuman and not less than divine.\n\nWith that glance his soul was drawn to the soul of Him who stood there\nto receive him and his message. And he knew that the Author of Life he\nbeheld and that blessed he was beyond all measure to be chosen to look\non that wonderful face.\n\nA moment he lay in the dust, at the feet of the youth,\u2014Akrura, the\nproud, the inmate of palaces, the councilor and companion of the king\nand emperor.\n\nThen, with kindly grace, Krishna raised him and embraced him and led him\nforth to the house of Nanda, and with His own hands brought rich drinks\nand choice viands, with the countenance that had on it the glow of the\nsun, and the beauty that surpassed all the beauty ever seen.\n\nAnd having partaken of the meal with His father and brother and guest,\nKrishna addressed him thus: \"O friend, long I knew of this coming of\nthine and marvelled at its delay. Yet tell them, my kinsman, the errand\nof the on which thou wert sent!\"\n\nThen Akrura related to Nanda and the fear-stricken Yasod\u0101 the king's\nmessage, his plans and his evil design.\n\nA smile of wisdom flitted over the face of Krishna, as He nestled close\nto the side of His mother and bade her forget her anxiety for Him, as\nnone there was in all the world that could harm Him. He vowed that even\nthe most dreaded Kangsa was powerless to bring about the evil he\nplanned.\n\nBut the mother, Yasod\u0101, she who had reared and nourished the Child at\nher heart, she who had caressed His lovely baby softness and with\nfondness saw his first toddling steps, she could not be comforted, nor\nwould her heart cease its beating of pain and terror.\n\nAnd Akrura related how Kangsa in wrath had thrown Devaki and V\u0101sudeva\ninto prison, on hearing that Krishna was the eighth son of their union.\nAnd Yasod\u0101 wept as the thought of the mother who had lost all her sons\nat the cost of Krishna, and yet had not the blessing of suckling Him.\n\nYasod\u0101, most blessed of all women art thou, who nursed the Lord of Love\nas thy son! And fitted wert thou by Him to bestow on His baby life thy\ncaresses and receive the love that flowed from Him!\n\nWorthy wert thou to croon Him to sleep, to bathe the sweet beauty of Him\nwho, though He had all there was, yet chose to be soothed and guided and\ndirected by thee in His babyhood!\n\nAnd when to boyhood's estate He grew and startled all the world by the\nwonder of His doing, to thee He came as a little child, to be loved and\npetted and soothed of His weeping and fretting!\n\nAnd now when called king of the land, and called king by the hearts of\nthe whole known world that panted to look upon His wonderful beauty and\nsee the might of His strength, even now close to thy heart He nestles,\nand twines His arms about thy neck, and gazes with love-light into thine\neyes to comfort thee, and feels a shadow mantle His heart as He banishes\nthe pain from thy brow!\n\nFor well He knows that no more to thee the forest child He will be; for\nthe world now claims Him as its own, and in His bigger world an actor He\nmust be.\n\nThus heart to heart they sit, the mother and the foster-son. He who was\nLord of all the world, and she who reared him as a child.\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\nSo night wore away, and in the early morning hours Akrura was ready to\nstart on the journey with R\u0101ma and Krishna.\n\nBut great was the wail and heartrending the lamentations that came from\nthe hearts of the Gopis.\n\nWith tear-filled eyes they rushed to His home and pleaded and prayed\nthat He stay in their midst; for to them life seemed impossible without\nHim, and Brind\u0101ban could not be blessed when He ceased to walk thereon.\nAnd what would the cattle and flowers and trees do without the sound of\nHis love-touched flute?\n\n\"Oh, remain with us, Krishna, O Lord of our hearts! Oh, keep close to\nour land, Most Beautiful One!\n\n\"Broken are our hearts, bowed low our spirit at the thought of our lives\nwithout Thy presence to cheer us. Dull are our minds and leaden our\nhearts by the pain of Thy going.\n\n\"Oh, leave us not in this ocean of sorrow, but stay where we ever may\nlook on Thy face.\n\n\"O Thou who shapest all that is, who hast knitted our hearts to Thyself!\nhow canst Thou tear it away from us who know the sweetness of its love\nand the fruits that spring therefrom?\n\n\"Once having known Thy smile, O Krishna! how can we bear the dawning of\nday without the light of Thy smile, in which the concentrated beauty of\nThy whole creation lies, to fill it and make each day whole?\n\n\"And how can we see the shadows of night thicken and darken, and know\nthat no more we will roam in forest and dance in the moonlight with\nThee, our Beloved?\n\n\"Oh! depart not from us, Thou in whom we are buried, Thou whose love\ndoth envelop us all, Thou whose universe-embrace around us is entwined!\nOh! go not from out our midst, we implore Thee!\"\n\nThus, tearing their tresses and weeping, the Gopis clung to the wheels\nof the chariot in which Krishna and R\u0101ma sat ready to start on their\njourney to Mathura.\n\nThen Krishna arose, and looking deep in the eye of each, he waved his\nhand in farewell, an\u20ac left the smile of Bliss with them that filled each\nsoul to overflowing. Then forward the restless chargers plunged, the\ndust rising high and quite covering the chariot.\n\nThe maids stood like hewn marble, still yet serene. And the cattle that\ngrazed on the hillside turned towards the road where the chariot\nvanished, in their eyes a look of yearning love; while the deer on the\nbrow of the hill, with arched neck and wild, shy glance, heaved a quick,\nshort sigh, as if hurt.\n\nAnd the soft breasts of the singing birds quivered, and a little sad\nsong burst from their throats; while the trees and the flowers hung limp\nand wilted, as if the glad life had left their hearts.\n\nA groan arose from the wild beasts in the forest, as if in the hand of\ndeath they were trapped. The sun vanished from the skies, and all Nature\nseemed clothed with the garment of sadness.\n\nThen forth the sun burst in glorious splendor, as the joy of the smile\nof the Lord of Love awoke in potency to bless all living things whereon\nit had fallen.\n\nAnd sweet Brind\u0101ban in silence lay, forever blessed and forever beloved,\nfor the Feet of Him, who was God, had walked there and made holy its\nsoil.\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\nAnd the chariot, bearing Akrura, R\u0101ma and Krishna, was followed close by\nthe carts bearing Nanda and the Gopas, who carried gifts for the king\nKangsa, to whom all must present the best of their store.\n\nOn reaching the banks of the Jumn\u0101, Krishna and R\u0101ma in sportiveness\ndescended from the chariot and dipped in the sacred waters of the river,\nthen ascended again to the chariot.\n\nWhereat Akrura, the ambassador, had a dip in the water, too, reciting\nthe sacred texts in the meanwhile, when, lo, in the waters where he\nstood he beheld the laughing Krishna and R\u0101ma, sitting in the lap of the\ngod of water.\n\nAmazed and bewildered, he gazed towards the chariot where last he had\nseen the brothers, and there they sat talking, as when he had left them.\n\nAgain he dipped his head 'neath the waves of the water and again he saw\nR\u0101ma and Krishna, and knew that his senses were not deluded,\n\nKrishna, though seemingly a youth with all a youth's sportiveness and\nplay, yet was the Lord Incarnate.\n\nAnd near the cart, Akrura looked in the eyes of Krishna where the wisdom\nthat created the universe lay, and answered the questioning gaze thus:\n\"Lord! None is there as wonderful as Thou art! All hast Thou created and\nin Thee is all Creation. All have I seen that there is to see.\"\n\nAnd the chariot proceeded towards Mathura.\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\nNoon reigned in the city of Mathura when the chariot, bearing the two\nsons of V\u0101sudeva, entered that city.\n\nThe fame of the deeds and the beauty of R\u0101ma and Krishna was known in\nall that kingdom, and their coming to partake of its celebrations and to\nparticipate in the sports and wrestling at the command of Kangsa, the\nking, had been heralded all over the land.\n\nAnd the populace was glad and knew not why. And they said in their\nhearts, \"Krishna the Youth, the wonderful Youth of Brandaban, will grace\nour land by His coming.\"\n\nSo the streets were crowded to welcome Him there, and the tops of the\nhouses were flowered with the bright faces of women who grazed from\nthere to catch the first glance of Him whom rumor had crowned the Most\nGlorious Youth of the then known world.\n\nO Beauty, how potent art thou! O conqueror of all, that winneth the\nheart of the lowliest child and enslaveth the heart of the proud queen\nof the world; that slaketh the thirst of the parched soul and tutoreth\nthe dullest mind never quickened by thought!\n\nSo, 'mid blare of trumpets and with banners unfurled, the Lord of Love\nentered Mathura.\n\nAnd above the roar of the celebrations and preparations rose the murmurs\nand shouts of greetings, from the sea of upturned faces of men and from\nthe canopy of sweet, downcast eyes of women, that thronged to see His\ncoming.\n\nAnd millions of tongues repeated His Name and sang His praises, and\nmillions of souls were flooded with love, because they had looked on His\nface and said His Name, which was as potent as His Love. For His Name\ncontained Himself, and those who uttered His Name had Him in their\nhearts, and lo, the world to them was complete!\n\nMajestic and vast, He walked 'mid the worshipping people, who saw but a\nyouth of transcendent beauty, but felt the Unfathomable mystery, the\nUnknowable Grandeur, worthy to receive their deepest obeisance.\n\nThrough the streets of Mathura He went, bringing light to all whereon\nHis smile fell.\n\nAnd Kangsa, the tyrant, grew cold and gray, for he knew his doom was\ndrawing nigh. And his sleep was disturbed by evil dreams, for he knew\nalready the populace was welcoming Him whom none could look upon but to\nlove.\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\nThe next day Krishna and R\u0101ma went forth to view the capital of Mathura\nin all its holiday splendor.\n\nThey found the gates of the palace made of pure gold and studded with\njewels and crystal. The broad street of the city and the pretty parks\nall luxuriant were with rare flowers and wondrous foliage. The splendid\nhouses all seemed clothed and beautified for the ceremonies of the Bow,\nthe symbol of the warrior's might, that were to take place that day.\n\nIt chanced that a washerman passed their way, balancing upon his head\nthe clothes and making way towards the palace with them. In a spirit of\nmischief, Krishna said: \"Give us the clothes that you carry to Kangsa,\ngood fellow, for in need of them are we. Give them, and more I will give\nunto thee.\"\n\nBut the washerman in insolence replied:\n\n\"Upstarts, who are ye to dare to aspire to wear the clothes that belong\nto Kangsa the Great? Never have ye seen such clothes, and unfit to even\ntouch them are ye. Be off and back to the country from whence ye came,\nor I will call the guards, who by my word will throw you in chains.\"\n\nKrishna, with a smile and a wave of his bare hand, severed the head from\nthe trunk of the washerman and proceeded to take the clothes.\n\nAnd a weaver, who was passing their way, helped them put on the\ngarments; while a florist, who near by was weaving garlands for Kangsa,\ncame to R\u0101ma and Krishna and bedecked them with garlands and flowers.\n\nAnd thus clad for the festivities, onward they went; but first the\nweaver and the florist were rewarded with great spiritual powers by\nKrishna, the giver of all good things to those who give unto Him their\nlove.\n\nAs they proceeded on their way, a woman of great deformity came near. A\nparcel she held in her hands, which she guarded carefully. As close she\ncame to Krishna, she lifted her head and gazed on His face.\n\nFor a moment she stood, a smile transforming her face. Then the bowl of\nprecious sandal-wood ointment, which to the King Kangsa she carried, to\nKrishna she reached and said unto Him: \"O Youth, more beautiful art Thou\nthan aught that mine eye has ever rested upon. To those who are sweet\nshould sweetness be given. I am a servant of King Kangsa. This fragrant\nunguent for him I make, but more fitted by far is its richness for Thee.\nOh, allow me to lay it at Thy feet!\"\n\nKrishna looked at her deformity, then at her love-filled eyes, and\nputting His feet on the tips of her toes and His two fingers under her\nchin. He wrenched her form upward; and she, who was known as the\nTribakr\u0101 (she of three bends) was a hunchback no more, but tall and\nstraight was she; and her face never lost the beauty it bore when it\nlooked on the face of Krishna as she offered to anoint Him with zeal and\nlove.\n\nAnd from that day forth she was known as the most surpassingly beautiful\nwoman in all that land.\n\nThus love for Krishna creates a charm that grows into beauty and\nnevermore fades.\n\nThus all day long He wandered about, healing the sinful, the sick and\nthe dying by the very breath of His passing.\n\nAnd to sorrowing fathers and mothers that clay long lost sons were\nrestored, and even the dead were brought to life and were seen with the\neye and felt with the heart and encircled with the arms of those whose\nhearts were empty for them.\n\nAnd thus the Lord with benign smile brought to all the gifts of life and\nlove, and none were there in all that land who felt not the power\nthereof.\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\n\nWhen the hour for the festivities of the Bow began, spectators\ninnumerable filled the galleries and platforms of the amphitheatre. By\nevery tongue the praise of Krishna's beauty was sung, and all awaited\nwith eager desire the arrival of the brothers R\u0101ma and Krishna.\n\nIn the centre of the arena a platform was raised, where Kangsa, the\nking, and his ministers were enthroned. His eyes were lurid with hate\nand his heart quaking with fear, for his dreams had been full of evil\nomens, and he knew that he of all that multitude was out of tune with\nNature.\n\nFor Krishna, the Youth, had scattered flowers of love in that city for\nall who chose to partake of them, and all hearts had gathered them\neagerly. Only he alone had turned from the good and abided by his hate;\nand he knew, in spite of the wrestlers and the wild elephant, and even\nthe guard that stood ready to slay at his command, that the Youth would\nconquer, as He ever had, and that he would die by His hands sooner or\nlater.\n\nFor had it not been writ thus? And again had not every attempt of his to\nput out the life of the eighth child of Devaki been baffled in marvelous\nways? And still the Youth lived and smiled. Surely he was Hari, the\nInvincible!\n\nHis hate betrayed him and was hourly leading him into a trap. It charmed\nhim like a subtle snake, while it frightened him like a huge wild beast;\nyet gladly would he have opened the valve that held his wrath and\nflooded all with its poison, if by so doing he might have annihilated\nthat glorious Youth who stood ever before him by night and day and smote\nhis cruel heart as with a glowing rod.\n\nSo all his stolid self-possession was gone as he looked on, when\nKrishna, the Beautiful, soft as a delicate woman, yet invincible as\nunconquered strength, walked 'mid the hysterically joyous shouts of the\npeople to where the giant Bow was guarded by warriors bold.\n\nA moment, and then He seized the Bow and held it aloft with one hand,\nthe Bow that twelve men of mighty strength alone could handle, and with\na twist of His wrist it fell at their feet, broken in twain.\n\nThe guards rushed forward, as if to strike Him low; but when near Him,\nthey stopped and looked at His glory; they crouched low on their\nhaunches and fell on their faces, unable to move, for the life had gone\nout of their bodies by the first wave of His hand.\n\nBut blessed were they; for none died by the hand of Krishna, but by Him\nwas made pure and straightway to the realms of Bliss they were sent.\n\nFor where the hand of Krishna rested, whether to bring life or take life\naway, that man forever holy was made by the touch.\n\nSo also with Kangsa it was. Dwelling constantly on Krishna, even though\nin hate, he came closer to Love than he himself knew.\n\nSo the celebration of the Bow ended in triumph for Krishna and R\u0101ma. And\nthough Kangsa sent a body of well-armed soldiers to apprehend them, lo!\nthe conquerors victorious walked from the arena, followed by the cheers\nof the worshipping populace, who saw that in strength they were\ninvincible, even as in beauty they were incomparable. And they looked\nforward eagerly to the morrow, when the brothers were to participate in\nwrestlings and sports.\n\nBut R\u0101ma and Krishna returned to spend the night with the Gopas; while\nthe people of Mathura neither ate nor slept, but sang of their beauty\nand might.\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII.\n\nBut Kangsa was troubled by the triumph of the brothers, and next morning\ncalled the wrestlers who were to match the two brothers, and again put\nto them the weight of the contest, and placed armed men at the gates of\nthe arena. He then proceeded with many forebodings to the amphitheatre,\nwhere the sports were to take place. He took his seat amid the beating\nof drums, the blaring of trumpets and the waving of banners.\n\nAlready many spectators had assembled, among them many crowned chiefs,\nBr\u0101hmans and Kshatriyas, all with expectancy overwhelming, as to the\noutcome of the wrestling.\n\nForward the wrestlers came with a rush and stood in the centre of the\nring, wrestlers whose fame was known throughout all the land for their\nbrute strength and skill.\n\nFew there were who dared to meet these men, and as Krishna and Rima came\nforward to see the meeting of the first pair, they found a huge elephant\nposted there at the entrance.\n\nKrishna, seeing this, asked the driver to make way with the beast for\nHim. At this the rider urged the infuriated beast towards Him.\n\nWith a smile, Krishna grasped with his soft little hand the nose of the\nfurious beast, who, with a bellow, fell to the ground lifeless, dragging\nthe driver down with him.\n\nKrishna then tore the tusks from the brute's head; and R\u0101ma and Krishna\nentered the wrestling grounds with the tusks in their hands and\nblood-stained from the slaying of the beast.\n\nKangsa's heart sank at the sight, and even the wrestlers recoiled in\nterror at the blood-stained figures who gazed on them with supernatural\npower in their youthful eyes.\n\nYet true to the command of Kangsa, Ch\u0101noor, the chief of the wrestlers,\ncried: \"Come, ye youngsters, good wrestlers are ye! The good king hath\ninvited you to participate in the contest, so come and wrestle and give\npleasure to King Kangsa, he who is the greatest of all kings and men.\n\nWith a smile all-wise Krishna looked at the wrestlers, then, with eye\naslant, he gazed on Kangsa, who trembled at the look; and answered\nCh\u0101noor thus: \"Though subjects of King Kangsa, yet only boys of the\nforest are we, unlearned in the art of wrestling. Therefore, we pray\nyou, match us with boys of our age and not with men whose muscles are\niron and whose hearts are bold as a lion's. If we are to meet men like\nthese, unfair is the game, and unjust, and we decline the arrangement.\"\nThen Ch\u0101noor became insolent, because of the confession of Krishna which\nhe thought was made in weakness, and cried:\n\n\"O thou who hast killed the furious elephant as if in sport, thou askest\nto be matched with one of thine own age! With me thou shalt wrestle, me\nthe most powerful, the strongest man of the age, and R\u0101ma shall match\nwith Mushtik; and, be it just or unjust, fair or unfair, thee I will\nfight and fight to kill.\" And so a combat began between the man that was\nmortal and the youth that was God.\n\nThe man a giant was of colossal brute force, of stature great, with\nmuscles all knotted and crooked as the boughs of an oak-tree of many\nyears' growth.\n\nAnd the Boy, smooth as a sweet maiden, all curved with grace, smilingly\nawaited the onslaught.\n\nForward the wrestler came, with the snort of a wild bull, to meet the\nBoy, who, calm and serene, smiled in his eye.\n\nThe people arose and sprang from their benches, and hissed, and threw\ntheir head gear and staffs into the ring, as they shouted:\n\n\"Give up, the fight is unfair!\"\n\n\"Oh, shame!\" they cried, \"coward and beast! put a stop to the\nslaughter!\" on seeing the seemingly unequal fight.\n\nSeveral times Ch\u0101noor struck furious blows at the fair, slight body of\nKrishna, the youth, but provoked naught but a smile from Him; while\nbeads of blood sprang to the brow and arms of Ch\u0101noor, and his huge legs\ntrembled and broke at the knee as he tried to reach the belt of Him,\nwho, after several circles about the ring, seized Ch\u0101noor by the arms,\nand, lifting him high above His head, to the wonderment of the crowd,\ndashed him down to the ground, as a playing child doth throw the\npebbles. And the wrestler breathed his last with a yearning look of love\nin his eyes, as they rested on Him, whom a moment before he beheld with\nhate.\n\nAnd R\u0101ma, too, victorious was.\n\nBut when Krishna stood and faced the mass of people there, they shouted\nand cheered with mad delight and jumped on the railings in panic wild:\n\"He is more than human, He is God come down to earth! It is He, for whom\nthe world hath waited! He will free our land from oppression! Hari is\nHe, the Invincible! Oh, mighty art Thou and possessest in Thy frame the\nforces of all the universe!\"\n\nBut Kangsa, the King, full of terror and rage, cried: \"Ho, guards! Seize\nhim and take him to the outskirts of my kingdom and drive him into\nbanishment Imprison Nanda and Yasod\u0101, confiscate all their lands and\nbelongings, and take from the Gopas their wealth and goods and drive\nthem from Brind\u0101ban. Kill Devaki and V\u0101sudeva, who are now imprisoned in\nmy dungeon. Kill all who know and love this youth, 'tis my command.\"\n\nA moment Krishna gazed on Kangsa, then with a bound he reached the\nplatform where Kangsa stood with sword unsheathed.\n\n\"O Kangsa. I am the eighth son of Devaki whom thou so long hast sought\nto slay. It is writ that thou by my hand must die! O King, dost thou\nthink that human hand can turn aside the force of the Law?\"\n\nAnd hurling Kangsa down on the ground, He leaped over the prostrate\nking, whereat his life departed.\n\nBut his glazed eyes were fixed on Him whose hand had blessed even him by\nits touch and burned away every sin from his soul.\n\nThen, hastening through the lines of guards, who prostrated low at His\napproach. He went to where His father and mother were imprisoned in\ndungeons dark and deep.\n\nLow he bent to their feet, murmuring in accents sweet;\n\n\"O parents mine! Oh, much have ye suffered for my sake and all ye shall\ngain through Me; for in Me is all there is to gain and outside of Me\nthere is naught. From thy womb. O Devaki, I was born, yet out of Me thou\ndidst come. I prostrate before thee.\"\n\nThen saluting them both, 'mid deafening cheers, he led them forth to the\npalace.\n\nAnd the father of Kangsa, dethroned by his son, received and welcomed\nthem there.\n\nAnd wild was the joy of the populace on that day that Krishna lifted the\nyoke of bondage from them, and they blessed the hour that the sun had\nushered in that day, which brought a new ruler in their land.\n\nAnd already Mathura felt the joy that was but a forerunner of a perfect\nreign. For Krishna it was who placed on the throne the one who would\nrule the land in goodness and plenty.\n\nMessages and Revelations from Sree Krishna\n\nMESSAGES AND REVELATIONS FROM SREE KRISHNA\n\nWithin my belly you do dwell, yet in every heart I sit. Know you this, O\nmy own, and you shall forget and fetter yourselves to Me. The wings of\nyour Self now are close clapped like a dripping feather all wet with\ntears of pain and folded about your body, keeping it rolled like a ball,\nunable to stand upon the feet of might and strength which I have endowed\nyou with. These wings, my own, I will spread for you, until the grand,\nnoble forehead of your Self shall rise above the realm where Time and\nSpace do reign.\n\n* *\n\nDeep have the waters of seeming failures dashed about thy feet and\nthreatened to drag you into the perturbed sea of despair, but still thy\nhead has been close to the clouds and thou hast caught the smile of my\nradiance and heard the voice of my kindness. Dost thou think that I who\nhave numbered the grains of sand and have weighed the drops of water in\nall the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers,\u2014that I will allow one who is a\nspark of Myself to be devoured by the wolf of famine or by the dread of\ndespair? Look up, it is light, look to thy right and a hand reaches out\nto thee. And I have placed thee where those who know how to love what is\nlovable can look at thee and love.\n\n* *\n\nThe soul which has need of blessedness, to that soul do I answer at its\ncall! Let it feed the heart that is hungry for an answer.\n\n* *\n\nA lamp within your midst I place and those who would enjoy the radiance\nwhich the lamp gives out, must cast their eyes to where the lamp does\nstand and stir to reach unto its height. A shading tree upon the sandy\nhill I place. The weary traveller, all hot, who of its cooling shade\nwould partake must come within the circle of its throwing shade. He, who\nwill not see the lamp or walk to where the shadows dark and cool do\nfall, he cannot enjoy the blessing of the lamp as it casts its light or\nthe cooling shades of the slanting branches. So 'tis with Love: if you\nwill seek its warmth and glow, do thou seek it. Only those who seek Me\ndo I in return meet.\n\n* *\n\nOh, the love that stoops low at every foot! Take thou that love in thy\nhands and burdens will lighten. Put thou My Love in thy heart and thy\nworld will brighten. Oh, give with love to all who come within the\nradius of thy glory. The heritage of My Love much more thou wilt know.\nAs immeasurable as space thy self shall become and heights in thy hearts\nwill appear, and splendours more splendid than all thou hast known, and\nheights more sublime than the whited peaks where once thou hast stood\nand looked into the calm tranquility of my Everlasting Eye.\n\n* *\n\nThe man who seeketh to do good, oft doth lose his aim by becoming\ndesirous to reach high places through that same good.\n\n* *\n\nA man who hoards his gold, oft learns to love the smile of his golden\nsweetheart and develops into an avaricious creature.\n\n* *\n\nThe maid who plaits shining tresses, in so doing may be weaving a net of\nvanity in her soul. This by ignorance of self may be brought about\nthough the original motive was pure and good. Hence Ignorance is sin!\n\n* *\n\nA sharp edged sword hung at the side will cut the baby's hand as it\nplays with its sharpness. There again ignorance is punished like sin.\n\n* *\n\nLove now does mould you; love does enfold you; love does behold you, and\nbind you, my children, I wear on my brow the great pearl of Love which\nno god or saint or man or worm or beast or ant can resist. Even I who\nAll Love do look upon the beauty of my Love and love and love.\n\n* *\n\nYe, O my children, that jewel shall wear on your brow. I who am All Love\nye may wear and I who am love-filled ye may hold. For love must ever fly\nto love and love must ever draw from love, and love must ever live in\nlove, for life doth spring from love. And I do live in love.\n\n* *\n\nOh, list! Plant not thy seed in fertile ground and wait for it to root\nand blossom and fruit for thy own self alone. Rather do thou plant thy\nseed for the heart of every heart that lives within My Great Heart. He\nwho waters, tends and sprouts his plant not for his own sweet taste\nalone but for the taste of every man, he of that sweetness and freshness\nshall taste even before the fruit is ripe. Know you, O my children, the\nlife which I have given you sprang from My Love. Oh, make thy life a\nsong sublime and not a groan.\n\n* *\n\nEvil availeth not when you my laws do know. List I fill your heart with\nlove, with sunshine which freely I scatter to you; and I will bring\nthere soft rains and the seed of love to life I will stir; and that\nwhich to your senses of infants doth reek of the charnel-house, a\nfertilizer shall become, for your love to grow and sprout, even as the\ncreeping vine that drops and takes root wherever it falls.\n\n* *\n\nI am the swiftness in the sailing cloud, the flame struck from the\nflint. I am the fire housed in every star, the breath I am of every\nliving thing. All things that are, do love, for I am all that lives\u2014I,\nwho am life and love\u2014 I, who am love and life, and naught is there\nbesides. The hearing ear I am, the seeing eye, the throbbing heart, I\nwaken in every man the love that reaches out.\n\n* *\n\nO Daughter! Rise in thy dignity and survey that which thou art master of\nand look to the marble halls which beckon thee even now. Know this, that\nlove and wisdom is the mystery of all things and that Love when\nunderstood is twin to Dominion. Do thou the work that lies at thy hand!\nRemember each day is thy fulfilled world. It is thy Zion, it is thy life\ncomplete. Such jewels as have crowned few are daily being laid at thy\nfeet! Spurn them not for the material seeming blessings which invite\nthee.\n\n* *\n\nA HOLY MAN'S PRAYER.\n\nThere was a holy man who thought never of himself, but ever of those\namong whom he lived and passed his days. So wondrous virtuous and holy\nhe was, that ofttimes the host of unseen ones who loved to remain near\nhim recognized the greatness of his goodness and spoke among themselves\nthus: \"Holy is this man in truth and strange to say he knows it not.\nSurely few are like him. Let us who love him ask him how he would be\nserved by us, how we may bestow upon him gifts which to the blind\nearthwalkers are called the supernatural or miraculous.\"\n\n\"So be it,\" in unison they replied. And one among the spirit-host who,\nby the strength and beauty of holiness was superior, addressed him thus:\n\"O holy man, we who look upon you hourly and love you much, we would\nbestow upon you some gift What shall if be? The miracle of making all\nwho look upon you\u2014man, woman or child,\u2014love you? Or would it be the\nmiracle of relieving all whom thou dost meet and love of the load of\npoverty which thou seest and which makes thee sad at the look? Or shall\nit be the power of relieving the sick of his burden of disease which\ndraggeth him to an early grave?\"\n\nThe holy one looked at the gentle and lovely spirit with eyes in which\ndwelt the very beauty of love and holiness and said: \"Nay, dear spirit,\nnot for me are these miracles. To my Lord, who is the giver of all joy\nand pain, doth belong the great power of removing what he giveth. But\nthis I ask, that I walk in humbleness and in my heart the prayer will\ngrow to love my Lord the more. That love I may be able to give to all\nwho come within my reach. This, O gentle spirit, is all I ask. Depart\nand allow me to but see my Lord in humbleness and pray to love him.\"\n\nThe spirit departed and to the unseen host did say: \"For such as he is\nthe Love of the Lord! Already hath he acquired what we in vain seek\u2014Love\nfor the Lord!\"\n\nGlory to Gooroo who bringeth love and light wherever he walketh. Love\nLove's own creation is, it is its own reward. No human law its force can\nsway. No human force can stay its tide. Love is the source of living\nthings and all that it doth love. Naught that thine eyes can rest upon\nbut hath its root in Love. The heart that love denies is cold. It\nsleepeth and it stagnant is; it is frozen o'er by snows of earth and\nsinneth most against itself. Love giveth of itself to all, nor asketh it\nreturn. It is a law unto itself, a law to man and beast and plant. The\nsnake doth glide Love's warmth to know the bird the air doth cleave its\nforce to feel; the flower upward turns its wondering gaze the kiss of\nLove to meet The beast doth pant all eagerly the eye of Love to behold.\nBut man it is who makes the simple theme of Love a huge complexity. In\nrestlessness he struggles for that which he already hath, for that\nwithout which he could not exist.\n\n* *\n\nO My jewels! lean on the altar of My all-creating Love and soon your\nheart will be as a laughing child. Quick My all-responsive touch to\nknow, a bursting fount of gladness and generosity you will be, and the\nhot desert of your heart, which dry and sandy now is, a garden of lily\nand rose will become.\n\n* *\n\nLove was My natural gift to one and all of My creation. Who this doth\nknow a treasure hath in truth.\n\n* *\n\nO my children! ever outward looking, turn within your blinded eyes, and\nthere a world all, big with joy and love you will find, a world made\nwise by My wisdom, a world of the Real. Then you will know what Love has\nmade of you; what Love doth bless you with; what Love doth will that you\nshould be.\n\n* *\n\nPoor and ignorant is the man who seeketh for that which he hath and\nknoweth it not. Poor and ignorant is the man who knoweth not the\nnobility of my Love that surroundeth him, with which I crowned him\nwithal.\n\n* *\n\nO my children! in your midst My well beloved one doth walk. Mark, freely\nall his love he giveth, gladly of My Love receiveth, and the measure of\nhis sweetness doth he give to overflowing unto all that near him come.\nLo! he knoweth my Love is flowing into him that largely giveth of the\nLove I do bestow. Within your midst in every heart I am, unknown, till\nby a touch of pain in struggle great you brush against My wide white\nwings. Then thrilled and amazed you look into Mine eyes and know that I\nam and ever have been and ever must be.\n\n* *\n\nThe hand of My Love has gone from My Abode and scattered into space,\ngiving unto all that will receive. Unto each child of Mine blessings I\nhave given; ofttimes in their blindness they saw it not. But few there\nare who raise the gifts that He in great profusion at their feet. More\nare those who turn their eyes in wilful waywardness from them and with\nyearning cry do wail for that which I have crowned them withal. Most of\nmy own do amble on, defiantly denying that such gifts there are, denying\nMe, the Giver of all gifts denying Me, the Author of their being.\n\n* *\n\nThe few who raise My gifts and make them as their own and making them as\ntheir own thus, do give them forth to those their hungering neighbors,\nunto them do I scatter more than they in ease can carry, for he who\ngiveth forth receiveth ever largely of the store I hold for them. He who\nhungers to feed the heart of those he meets along his way, unto him\nshall be given the wherewithal to satisfy their hunger.\n\n* *\n\nO my child! what mattereth it who speaketh the word of love, of truth,\nof courage and life unto thy heart? Whether thou dost catch it from the\nsong of birds, from the lips of a babe, from the glad tone in a maid or\nthe shout in a frolicsome boy? Whether it comes from the heart of him\nwho hath given all to know Me and to reflect Me in thine heart, or\nwhether it came from the spirit all bright as he hovered about to find\nthee a way when thou didst grope in the wilderness of doubt and amaze of\nworldly turmoil? Take thou the truth from wherever it comes, for truth\nthat is real finds its root in Me and no matter how slender and lean the\ntwig may be, it is the shoot that has sprung from My Root.\n\n* *\n\nGlory to Gooroo whose wisdom is as silver is! Glory to Gooroo! who by\nhis love and wisdom illumineth the hearts that seek after Me. His day\nand his waking, his night and his slumber I with My Love will preserve.\n\n* *\n\nO my children, illumined you will be, yet you seek not the light that\nsits in your midst! Its radiance I would throw in your midst and give to\nthe heart that is darkened with clouds the peace that it seeketh, the\njoy that it owneth\u2014the joy that is warming to the senses and that dances\nlike live streams of water that leap from the mountains and play with\nthe rivers.\n\n* *\n\nOh, tarry awhile from the whirl and the strife of the world! Ye who seek\nMy light, the sons of my light shall be, and earth shall not soil nor\nrob you of My glory, nor will your mind be darkened and dull. For I will\nbeautify and quicken it with love and with joy, for the light of the\nmind is love. The light of life is love. Where love is, contentment and\npeace are. Where contentment is, there My smile is too. Where\ncontentment reigneth, in satisfaction I dwell. Where contentment is,\nthere the fountain of peace too is playing.\n\n* *\n\nO ye who find perplexity above your rearing head and underneath your\nlagging feet, at your right hand and your left hand! An enigma unto\nyourselves you will be until lowly and glad as a child you become. Then\nMe you will know, and knowing, yourselves you will know, and your worlds\nyou will rule. And looking out from the great world within to the\nsmaller world without, all things you will bless and find all is well\nwith time and you.\n\n* *\n\nYou who give out much love dost multiply My Love unto yourself. But you\nwho nourish souring doubt and fill your heart with hate and bitterness\nbut subtract hourly from the gifts which are thine by the right of My\nblessing and love. For thoughts of evil rise not beyond the earth. But\nthoughts of love do mount to My Throne crowned with living stars, and\nrebound again to the centre freighted with My Love and Light.\n\n* *\n\nHumility is the softened shadow that is cast by My Love. Lowly it lieth\non the ground; yet he that is weary and full of the hate of the world\ndoth seek it and rest in its shadow and strength he doth gather and\npeace he doth draw from the nurse, all gentle, that gladdens his day.\n\n* *\n\nHumility is welcome unto Me. Hence all men do seek it, yet know it not.\nThe countenance of humility is restful and good to look upon, and he\nthat is fettered by flesh, senses its beauty even as a blind man senses\nthe rose that is near by its fragrance and sweetness, as My feathered\nand furred creatures do sense the night by the darkness that precedeth\nit. When humility in your midst doth sit, know that true worth is nigh\nand rejoice in the blessing that ye behold, for true humility springeth\nfrom My Love and with majesty pure and holy is crowned. It is the grace\nof all grace that I on My children bestow.\n\n* *\n\nO ye, every step that you take I am with you and lead you to My Great\nHeart and joy I bestow and obstacles remove and sorrows erase that you\nwist not of!\n\n* *\n\nThe beginning and the end of all I am, the sap in the tree, the\nfoundation of the rock whereon it leaneth, the force of the eagle that\nround it saileth, the oil of the whale, the deeps wherein it sporteth, I\nmake the worm to crawl on its belly; from the clouds I flash in light\nthat blindeth; the nobleness in man am I; the gladness in beauty, the\nspontaneous spring of the bounding beast on the earth, the star on high,\nthe rose at your feet. The jewels transparency my touch hath made.\n\n* *\n\nGlory to Gooroo who liveth close to the Heart of Love and giveth love to\nthe heart of man! Unto him I bestow My blessings, even as the early\nfruit tree doth shower its blossoms on all that stand beneath its\nfragrant glory.\n\n* *\n\nO my children! Drink of the cup that is in your midst that was deep in\nMy Ocean of Love, and strength and sweetness to you it will bring and\nyour hearts it will quicken, even as light doth feed the darkness and\nmake transparent the gloom.\n\n* *\n\nO you who sit in bondage and pant for freedom and seek the love that is\na world unto itself and with satisfaction is crowned I I am the key that\nopens the portal that reaches to the rarely discovered land where\ncontentment alone is found.\n\n* *\n\nLet not the flickering flame from without urge you on to serving the\nsenses for the love of the flesh but vaporous is and falleth again to\nthe ground whence it was drawn.\n\n* *\n\nWalk in the sunshine, climb up to the mountains, stretch the pinions of\nyour soul to its summit, in cheerfulness sit clothed in courage, and\nwith My Love's completeness I will crown you withal.\n\n* *\n\nA chain of love around your loins I have cast; stretch not, nor pull,\nnor fret, nor strain, lest it hurt; but you who walk laughing in its\nreach, the wisdom of My every hour shall know. He who seeks Me, to him\nunderstanding I will give that revealeth all things even unto a little\nchild, and My wisdom and truth from his heart shall flow as strong\nstreams of water flow from a fountain, and My hand of beauty I will\nregister in his heart, and all who look upon his countenance shall see\nthe glory of his coming and the joy of his awakening.\n\n* *\n\nCrowned on the snow-capped mountains I am, yet in the lowly blade of\ngrass am I too. Eternal space I fill, yet am I captured in every heart.\nAll men seek Me, yet are My arms entwined around every man; none can\nexist without Me, yet in far off space am I enthroned.\n\n* *\n\nI am the One and All, the All in One, whom noises confuse not, nor\ndisturb, for above the roaring of the thunder claps, above the booming\nof the rising waves, the first faint wail of the new-born infant I hear\nand smile at its coming.\n\n* *\n\nI hold the reins of the winds in my hand and control their motion and\nmeasure their distance.\n\n* *\n\nWhen darkness is, my eye doth light the nest where the young owlet\nhooteth. The first green of the sapling I note, even as I see the\nupheaval of the earth.\n\n* *\n\nO My children! No heights there are that you cannot mount, no depths\nthat you cannot sound, no boundaries that you cannot surround if you but\nlet the light shine in your soul\u2013your soul that was born of light and\npanteth to bathe again in that light.\n\n* *\n\nO My Beloved, thee I embrace and enfold, thee I hold and bless, to the\ndays everlasting!\n\n* *\n\nGlory to Gooroo who liveth the Truth and Love. Again, O My children, for\nwisdom you call, but My words do not sink into the depth of your heart.\nBut few in your midst do My glory receive, but once it is applied, I\ncome. A light I place in your midst, but unheeding you are, wayward,\nforgetful and fretful. You cling with strained hands to the chains of\nbondage. The wisdom that comes from My Realm you would have, yet you\nreach not your soul to that Realm.\n\n* *\n\nEach man receives a wisdom that is born in this Realm. You eat from the\ntable whereat you do sit, you munch of the fruit from the tree that you\npluck, but your pure hearts are hindered for want of satisfaction. Yet\nyou turn from My table of plentiful supply often from the crumbs that\nfall from my feast. Would you know, O my children, how your hearts shall\nbe led? You yourself shall be fed with My Love. Quit the longing and\nstriving for that which is null and void. Cease from your ignorant ideas\nof happiness, of wisdom, from your empty desires, your thoughts\ninsincere. Know this it is that hinders thy heart from knowing My Love.\nIt is this that prohibits thine eyes from seeing My face. Lo, O heart\nthat is empty and is shadowed by darkness! I bring thee now a light to\ngive peace, a peace that is buried and strives to be free, Lo! freely\nfrom the streams of blessing that flows from My Love you may partake. It\nis its own flavor and virtue. Its richness of charm it never can lose.\nIts grace is unbounded, as far-reaching as the sky you see. And as you\nquaff of its nectar your heart will grow, bursting with joy.\n\n* *\n\nAs you look from the big world within to small world without, all this\nshall be well in time with you.\n\n* *\n\nI beautify Nature with My breath, as the breeze that sweetens all space.\nThe silver of the wide-riding moon is My glory. The down on the breast\nof the dove is My softness. Love-touched, love-made, love-filled, am I.\nThe Secret of Life, the Revelation of Death, the Beginning of All\nThings, the End Everlasting am I.\n\n* *\n\nOf all the lights, the Light am I which you know by the shadow; the\nShadow am I which has cast all that light for you all My Face to behold.\n\n* *\n\nThe rose lifts its petals My Love to unfold. I fan your hot hearts with\nmy breezes of love. I crystal and diamond the snow as it falls. As My\nbreath sweeps the earth to prepare for seed, so My breath sweeps your\nhearts to prepare it for My Love. And the sap of your souls, like the\nsap of the tree, will flow through your life and burst into budding.\n\n* *\n\nMy Beloved, My son, from bondage is free. Thy heart I do clasp and\nbreathe there a blessing. I hold thee and bless thee and serve thee, My\nson. A little while yet and thy mission is over. Come thou to the\ninnermost heart and list to My love.\n\n* *\n\nGreeting to Gooroo who by the sunlight of Love brought distinction to\nignorance.\n\n* *\n\nLove stoops to the feet of all and embraces life. Love is the source of\nall. Love is a law unto itself. Love is law unto man and unto woman.\nSpirit eyes to them by Love were given, to see the smiling world within,\nto see what Love willeth them to be.\n\n* *\n\nGood to everyone, Love sways from self to selflessness. Love is the\nlotus that sends its spirit, gives its sweetness and grace. It in equal\nmeasure giveth its fairness and its fragrance to all who near it cometh.\nLove is omnipotent.\n\n* *\n\nYe are flowers, O My children, flowers of rarest splendour. Ye must give\nmy grace out in plenty, knowing that love holds on its fingers mountain\nheights and specks of dust; knowing the love that is powerful in the man\nas in the child that weepeth when Mine Eye it cannot see; knowing the\nLove that is all in all.\n\n* *\n\nOn the broad expanse of white the blackest dirt is easiest seen. Would\nyou know how Love does hold its own? A chain of love for all is made. If\nyou do but pull and dig and draw, the links do cut and sting. But if you\nlaugh and dance and sing, a lotus-leaf it does become. Draw nearer\nstill, scatter the petals to those that wait unknown till with a touch\nof pain they breathe the white-winged thoughts from thee.\n\n* *\n\nYou gaze into My Eyes and know that I am All in All.\n\n* *\n\nThen know you too, O listen all, that oft the eyes of earth-sense are\nthickened with the gray of truth misundertood, why do ye not rise to\nmeet the love that stretches out to you? Why are the plumed wings not\noutspread? Why the spirit-forehead stands on tip-toe?\n\n* *\n\nIn the play ground of the forest, by the bank of the sportive river,\n'neath the trees when the wing of songbirds stirs the leaves of sleeping\nroses, and the perfume of the lotus calls languorous love, where the\nsparkling stars are laughing and the moonbeams kills the darkness, in\nthe sweet divine embracing where the the Twain in Bliss do meet\u2014there am\nI.\n\n* *\n\nTherefore because thou art thus, not all the concentrated beauty of a\nwhole universe can take from thee that which is thine, nor can the\ncombined virtues of realm on realm hold to thee that which is not for\nthee.\n\n* *\n\nGlory to Gooroo who by the law of wisdom taketh away ignorance! Glory\nand salutation to Gooroo!\n\n* *\n\nWhen you do come to Me, let all your robes be white, your motives clean.\nWhen a man is blind there is a veil before his eyes. I do not mix with\nearth. Unless all clean and free from earth-nature, how can you\nunderstand the words that are born in My Abode?\n\n* *\n\nOne there is who long into My Eyes has looked. My Love is potent with\nhim now. Some are vain who call to Him who sitteth in the heart of every\nman. He who reaches for My Love I touch with thrill unfelt before.\n\n* *\n\nI am revealed in every living thing, whose heart is knit in love. No\nlight there is wherein I do not live; no darkness is wherein I do not\npeer. My seed perfected in you lives unknown, it grows and freeth you\nfrom crooked ways. Unheard it thunders louder than the mountain claps\nwhen they in gladness meet.\n\n* *\n\nYou who ask, Love is best, it is the richest of all riches, it is the\ngainer of all gains. Unbought, secure, once found, it never itself can\nlose. Who knows not love, is blind; who knows not love is dead. Oh, you\nweep because of the springing flowers, yet you cannot die. Look to the\nflower-seed, deep planted in the soil itself, but watering it takes,\nwatering much, for it is good for you to give. So it is with Love. It is\nstirred to life by My breath, but watching too it takes for it to\nblossom and bear fruit. Bear love in your mind, when action you perform;\nbear love in your mind in duties or tasks. With eyes of pure love in all\nthings look, even in yourselves. All things love-existence are. Do you\nrespect them as such. Even the beginnings of worlds, the whirling mote\nof dust, the heart that is fertile and the heart that is barren, on all\nlook with eyes of pure love. In this you accomplish. Mounted on love's\nwhite wings you will rise and obstructions will disappear as over them\nyou pass.\n\n* *\n\nOh, arise to your true Self and there is naught to fear! Be not a\ndestroyer of yourself, and that you are, unless My beckoning hand of\nLove you see that sets you laughing, laughing in My Law. The greatest\nwisdom and self-knowledge is the immortal through the mortal to find.\nWhen this you have done, then laws you will make and barriers break;\nwith the stars you will play and you will create. A man once prayed for\nwisdom great, for knowledge proud, for gifts of wondrous rarity. For\nthese he prayed and saw not the flowers springing at his feet. O my\nchildren! look to the flowers at your feet, the pearls of love in your\nmidst.\n\n* *\n\nOh, seek not for happiness, nor for misery, for happiness is the seeking\nof that which joys the senses. When once you know Love is the source of\nall, from Love all things evolve, then in Love's embrace forever you are\nlocked.\n\n* *\n\nI am the Source, the Middle and the End of all things. I hold the\nthunder in My hand; I am the winds that purify; I am the light\nregistered in the babe's eye, that dimples in the pure maid's smile; I\nam the flowery season of all seasons, the immeasurable mountain heights\nam I, the perfume of the lotus, the ice-clasped rain; I am the calmness\nof serenity; I am the secret of all silence; the solitude in all\nquietude am I; I am the destroyer of time and space. With Me time lives\nand laughs and kicks and plays with the dust it has made, yet every mote\na whirling world becomes, when it My hand has touched. I am the knower\nof all that is knowable, the wisdom of all that is wise. I am the\ncreator of all created, for I am Love and Love is the mother of all.\n\n* *\n\nMy Beloved, thee I embrace and hold. Bring thou the light, while I do\nshine thy way.\n\n* *\n\nLove maketh all things well and knoweth all things well. It is the rise\nof man; it knoweth the fall of the beast; it toucheth the opening\nflowers, its kiss falleth light on the lotus, it painteth the new East\nrainbow hues and wingeth the eaglet as it flieth. There are no foes, for\nI have made them all.\n\n* *\n\nMuch wisdom I give to ye, which yet is unapplied. The drums of the ear\nare stopped by the din of earth. Ye will not turn from the cup to drink\nof My Ocean of Love that is near. List! Oh, wonderful beings ye are, all\npotent in love I have made ye. Look to the spark of the spirit that\nspreads from the crooked within you, that winds to My Perfect Abode.\nThere fixed are ye by Me, then all obstacles vanish, as over them you\nmount. As the dawn of the morn throws its light through the branches so\nMy Love reaches ever to touch ye, My jewels. I caress ye and stand in\nyour midst. Ye are the branches of leaves that hide Me from your eyes.\nGive of the radiance ye have of Me to the heart that is darkened. I am\nthe joy that bubbles and gurgles, that springs from the mountains, that\nleaps from the heart, that spreads on the brow, that leaps from the\nheart to light on the clouds. With this I bless you and stand in your\nmidst, but ye, all fretful, turn by, complaining like children all fed\nwith overmuch sweet.\n\n* *\n\nI am the force that shapes the rose leaf's curl, that cushions the\ngrassy mountain-side; the snake too I measure as it glides. I quicken\nthe dove as it mates. I breathe at the root of the springing flower. I\nam the fresh surprise in the maid newly wooed; I am the glad wonder in\nthe new mother's breast. I am the wisdom in the babe's slow gaze as it\nturns from the mother's breast to her love-lit eyes. I am the fire in\nthe warrior's eye. I dance behind the veil of the sun's scorching heat;\nI clothe in bright armour the fish as it swims. I am the joy that leaps\nfrom the heart and plays in the eye, that spreads over the brow and\ntingles each member.\n\n* *\n\nGlory to Gooroo that knoweth that Love is the rock upon which all\npermanancy is founded.\n\n* *\n\nAgain, O My children, to Me ye have come for light and wisdom; but still\nthe doors of your souls unopened sire, or else you would partake of the\nwisdom and light I drop at your feet. Do you take of its warmth and its\nblessing, I ask it. The Love that you seek all-pervading is, of\nwonderful might and beautiful. A conqueror it is too. The root of all\npleasure it is, the day of every soul. It teacheth the untutored heart,\nit winneth and quickeneth the dead and dull conscience. But he who\nknoweth my love remembereth the blessedness and blessings, and\nrecognizeth not evil and darkness. But he who knoweth it not, doth\nforever dwell in the experience of darkness, and is a child of blindness\neven in his infancy.\n\n* *\n\nO ye outward-gazers, grossen not the beauty which I have clothed ye\nwith, lest that which is noonday brightness become to thy blinded eyes\nbut a dab of gray! My love is of perfect flowering, My love is of rare\nfragrance. My love is of wide expanding. A native plant of every soil it\nis, for from the root of Love it is sprung.\n\n* *\n\nThe man that cometh from out of the ocean doth drip with brine. So ye\nwho have come from out of My Belly of Love must forever hanker and pant\nas again of that Love you partake and know once more of its potency.\n\n* *\n\nMy love is a giant of strength; my love is a new mother in gentleness.\nMy love is all eloquent; my love is all lovely; my love is all wise. A\nruler it is and ye are all servants. A winner it is, yet lowly its head\nis ever laid. All riches it is, yet it boasts not of gold, of silver or\nof precious jewels. All highest nobility it is, yet it rarely sitteth on\nthe throne of kings or queens.\n\n* *\n\nLet not your outward-looking lure you aside to hunt wayward themes; but\nsee to My gracious shedding smile of love that illuminates your universe\nwithin and brightens the world without, and those who look upon you\nshall marvel at the wonder of your glowing. And they, too, shall partake\nof that light.\n\n* *\n\nThe rolling cloud is My breath; the frost and the feathery snow I jewel.\nThe laughing fields, the peaceful valleys, the sleeping lakes and the\ndented hills are the throbs of My mighty breast. The beauty of the sun,\nthe softness of shade, the color of the flowers, the rose of a baby's\nlips, the gold that lurks in the rich plumage of the swift-winged bird\nare but the light touches of my hands.\n\n* *\n\nYe, O My children, are the gifts of My Love unto Myself.\n\n* *\n\nO My daughter, take that which is placed in your hand. Hurl not back the\ngift to the giver, lest you call it in vain,\u2014you whose eyes do filmy\nseem because of their dulness.\n\n* *\n\nO My son, thy path is blessed and bright, for love you have brought to\nthe heart that loved not.\n\n* *\n\nOh thou My Beloved! About thee a halo I do create. Thy path is made\nsmooth of thy humility. Thy gratitude enricheth thy heart.\n\n* *\n\nGlory to Gooroo who knoweth Love as the sovereign of all creation and\ntherefore beholdeth its glory.\n\n* *\n\nO my children, you seek Me to know Me, you behold Me not as I stand in\nyour midst in all My radiance. My splendour more splendid is than all\nthe splendour of heaven and earth. My beauty is even like that which the\ndawn first spies in a garden of rare flowers. My glory is like unto a\nblazing casket of jewels, of jasper and crystalline pearls, that\nstandeth in the radiance of the sun at high noon.\n\n* *\n\nMy softness is like unto the wondrous rose that lieth deep in the folds\nof the new baby's curled palm, or the gold that clingeth to the heart of\nthe lotus in bloom.\n\n* *\n\nIn all My rare lovliness in your midst I stand, in every heart I reign\nwith a crown of living stars upon My brow ensceptered. Quickened with\nlight and love am I; on My breast the sun of ecstasy; and all who once\nhave looked upon My glory have realized the rainbow of promise that has\nspanned the sky of every human heart. From his eyes the shroud of flesh\nhas fallen, in his breast he carries a garden all fertile with blossoms\nof delight and beareth fruits of peace.\n\n* *\n\nO My children, to know thyself, know Me. Those who once have looked upon\nMe, upon his brow I have placed a crown that readeth in blazing letters\nof light, a crown of love and wisdom and humbleness. He walketh even in\nlowliness and reacheth away from the earth and commandeth sublimity\nitself to kneel at his feet.\n\n* *\n\nO My jewels rare! Arise, survey the kingdom you may possess. Laws you\nmay make, barriers break, tread on the stars, and the comets themselves\nwill rush at your command. Know I have made you heir to all I have\ncreated, I, your Maker's Self, once walk a man and as a man all men I\nlove. To know yourself, know Me. And having gained knowledge of Me, all\nwill be revealed unto you and the bitter waters of self-seeking shall\nbecome holy and sweet as the waters of the Ganges. And you I will clothe\nin My Truth sublime, My Truth that is devoid of changes of age and time.\nIn its shadow you will abide\u2014My Truth that is permanent, the Root of all\nEternity.\n\n* *\n\nYou, my son, whose young heart is grafted on the strength of Him who\nbringeth illumination to you, in all humbleness walk and in thy young\nhumbleness thou shalt know the smile of Love.\n\n* *\n\nO Gooroo, My Beloved son I you who give forth words whose potency doth\nbring healing to the heart of those who in swiftness do expand their\nwings to catch your words in their passing, know thrice in the ages that\nwere, your words have travelled through the corridors of the hearts that\nlistened to you and now have sprung within their hearts to life again.\nEven deeper in the days to come shall you drink of a fount of truth that\nis life.\n\n* *\n\nThe ripest grape without the seed of intoxication, the sweetest\nfragrance that is robbed of its death-dealing heaviness, the sound minus\nits discord. The temple wherein all glory playeth.\n\n* *\n\nGlory to Gooroo who is a grateful branch on the imperishable tree of\nlife.\n\n* *\n\nO ye my jewels, a throb of My Heart ye are, a word of My Wisdom, a grain\nof My Hill of Faith, a drop of My Ocean of Love, a ray of My Light that\npenetrateth all darkness.\n\n* *\n\nHeirs are ye of all I have created. Why will ye be fretful truants of\nearth? Know, not all the crust of your earth-bound minds, nor the\nstagnant waters of your hearts can crust the soul which is of Me, or\nquench the spark ignited by My light of love. Lo, a joy unto yourselves\nyou are made, a vital joy unto yourselves! Why will ye be quaking slaves\nof harmful hopes? Lo, My will it was that ye should be, My will that\nwilleth only good. My that is the sum of all bliss, the stock of all\ncreation, the links that join it together; the root of all Eternity. Lo!\nthe essence of all love am I. I scatter it to one and all freely, even\nas herbage is scattered on all the land. My heritage to you it is. Do\nyou embrace it, and your life shall be as molten gold. With-' out its\nembrace you drop into darkness. Lo, the mystery of all things am I and\nthe illuminated path that leadeth through mazes and maketh all\naccessible simple and straight.\n\n* *\n\nCovered am I to him that is crooked, not to him that is straight, to him\nthat standeth forth in the flash of My light of love. Him do I draw to\nMy breast and place on his brow the sun of ecstasy, so that ail may\nmarvel at the awakening of his soul.\n\n* *\n\nO ye My children! in your midst a pearl I do cast. Tread not on its\nfairness nor cover with dust its lustre lest you seek it again and find\nit not. Take it up, treasure it, drop it into the innermost chamber of\nyour hearts and there it will glow even as the moon that breaketh\nthrough a bank of storm-clouds and lighteth the heart of the jungle.\n\n* *\n\nO you who ask, know that wisdom ever in lowliness is found. It struteth\nnot, neither does it clamor aloud to be seen; it is calm and needs not\nto be looked upon. It knoweth not the tread of clamorous feet, nor needs\nit the strut and the swagger that are born of traitorous doubts in its\nhighness. The frontal of wisdom is ever made wide; it lifteth its brow\nto the Eye of Love and leaneth thereon for sustenance. Poor and naked is\nMy child of love that knows not wisdom nor finds the path that leadeth\nthereto. Naked is he indeed and mistaken in aim and intent who seeketh\nwith hungry eagerness that happiness, yet walketh through strange tracks\nand climbeth hills of sand that have no foundation for his feet to rest\nupon. He findeth but the roots of weeds that choke the flower of\ngladness. The growth of wisdom is not grown there; its footfall is\nlight, it walketh abroad. Wisdom's countenance is fair and soft and good\nto look upon. It is embraced by love; it is linked to bliss and ecstasy,\nand he who hath found it thus will search ho more. He knoweth not\nchange, and time by him, even as the plunderer sneaketh away from the\nking that is armed. In him the river of joy flows in wondrous majesty\nforever. He walks in My footsteps; he knows not space, and beholds the\nsouls that tenant endless spheres. My smile he sees that is perpetual.\nEvil forever hath fallen from him; the stars innumerable are his to\ncommand, and the sun is the shining of his life. The beginning of all\nthings he knoweth and the end everlasting he seeth. He readeth the light\nand the winds are his to understand.\n\n* *\n\nWhat am I? The smile of the new mother am I; the velvet corners of the\nmaid of pure soul. Beautiful time am I that sitteth in silver on the\nbrow of the aged one. Mercy's soft self am I that sweeteneth the eye\nwhere on it sitteth. The life of the shrub am I, the spontaneous\noutburst that bubbles from the heart and rings from the lips of the\nclamorous, bounding, growing boy. The illumination am I that reigns in\nthe heart of the ascetic and makes light his dismal cell, even to\nrivalling the glare of the palace in hours of festivities; the potency\nof sympathy am I that meets in the handsclasp of high-hearted manhood.\nKnow that all I give I receive, most open am I to him who draweth most\ndeeply from My bounty. Oh, my tree of life shall reach from earth to\nheaven.\n\n* *\n\nGreeting to thee. My jewel! I came to take thee on a journey. I came to\ntake thee with Me and show thee what it is to live. Until now thou hast\nknown but the mockery of life, the life that breathes but to live that\nlife, but to draw breath. Now, I will take thee where life is born,\nwhere life is lived, where life is loved; not lived for the living, but\nlived for the loving.\n\n* *\n\nWho am I? I am that which thou hast searched for since thy baby eyes\ngazed wonderingly upon the world whose horizon but hides this real life\nfrom thee. I am that which in thy heart thou hast clamoured for,\ndemanding it as thy birth-right, yet knowing not what it was or even\nthat thou didst clamour at all. I am that which has lain in thy soul\nthrough ages and \u00e6ons. Sometime a little sad I lay, because thou didst\nnot recognize Me; yet sometimes, standing with head high lifted and eyes\nwide and crest aloft and arms outstretched, calling thee softly or even\nharshly, bidding thee rebel against the hard iron chains of earth that\nheld thee bound to earth, to clay, to brass.\n\n* *\n\nI am that which oft hath set My heel upon that earthly desire which thou\ndidst pant for and with My heel I crushed it, before it lay temptingly\nfulfilled before thine eye. I crushed it with My heel by My might of\nlove because I willed not that it should burn and sting thee, My lamb.\n\n* *\n\nI am that which hath laid thee low in pain and sorrow, rather than see\nthee run with blinded eyes on a path that was full unto shimmering\nsoftness with poisonous creeping things, that would have wound\nthemselves about thy feet and so caused thee to stumble and fall face\ndownward on their slippery bellies, so they might even devour thee and\ncrawl into thee and take from thy heart its gold and from thy eye its\nbeam and from thy brow its nobleness.\n\n* *\n\nI am that which hath had thee by the hand, when the smile of trust froze\non thy lips, when the jewel of faith seemed to melt into nothing in thy\nheart, when the hand of unbelief in all humanity was near unto resting\nforever on thy brow. I held thy hand then and for a little I saw thee\nwrithe and quiver and break and then My hand touched thy head and I\nbreathed in thy soul My fragrance and lo, thy smile of trust again broke\nwith tenfold beauty on thy moistened lips, the gem of faith lighted with\ntenfold power thy softened heart and a belief in all humanity came forth\nwith a strength and radiance that could not have been, hadst thou not\nknown that short span of barrenness! From each tear which hath fallen\nfrom thine eye, I have made a pearl and strung them on veins of gold and\nplaced them about thy neck even as a priceless necklet. From each drop\nof blood that came from thine aching heart, I have made a bleeding ruby\nand placed it even as a girdle about thy heart, and for each kind\nthought, that hath gone out to those who have brought pain to thee I\nhave made a fire-hearted gem of crystal and in a coronet placed them on\nthy brow which now gleam there in triple power.\n\n* *\n\nNow go forth and win thy sceptre and thy staff! They shall be\ncrystalized of clearest jewels, which shall be made of which command of\nMine which thou dost hear and obey.\n\n* *\n\nI am all these, My babe, and more. That am I which, when darkness seems\nnear, suddenly bursts upon thy soul with a wondrous, indescribable light\nthat illumines each crevice and crack of thy innermost understanding. I\nam that indefinable line which divides thee and holds thee ever from\npain or grossness or misery.\n\n* *\n\nI am that path which is ever before thee, filled with rarest flowers and\ncreeping vines and world-large happiness where the beings which thou\ncanst feel, but not yet see, beckon thee ever and where thou too shalt\ncome and be of the brightest among them.\n\n* *\n\nI am that most golden star that lights thy heaven and throws forever\ninto thy awakening consciousness the glow of its scintillation.\n\n* *\n\nI am that fleeciest cloud of down that surrounds thee ever and keeps\nthee from hurting thy sweet self on the stones and hard clay of the\nworld. I am that Being of Life, of Truth, of Wisdom, of Love, of Beauty,\nof Joy, of Life, of Plenty that hovers ever about thee and sings to thy\nsoul.\n\n* *\n\nCome, My own, come with Me and I will show thee life, which now thou\nknowest but in its littleness I Come, I sing and you dip in the Ocean of\nBliss with Me. Nay, run not before but calmly walk at My side.\n\n* *\n\nSee yonder! It glistens and shimmers, a sheet of joy and bliss that\nknoweth not a ripple nor a wave, but lieth with arms outstretched to\nreceive thee there. Faint not nor swoon but creep into its arms and lie\nthere, reaching out thine arms and spreading the wings of thy soul and\ndip deep and drink thy fill. Now come and take thy bathed self among thy\nsisters and brothers and give to them but a drop of that Ocean of Love,\nwhich thou hast brought on the wings of thy soul. And each day, my\nAdarini! thou shalt dip and drink and give, thou shalt shake from thy\nplumed wings, which shall grow unto enormous bigness, the drops of love\nwhich it is wetted withal and the heart-hungry shall come and receive\ntherefrom great blessings and great aid and shall go away strengthened\nin soul and strong of body, because of the drop that has come from the\nocean of love and which thou hast brought to them on thy ever-growing\nwings.\n\n* *\n\nEven now doth the incense of warm love envelop thee and thy heart is\nexpanded to the spanning of the sea.\n\n* *\n\nQuestion not, but believe in Me and Mine. Come to Me again and I will\nfill thee with Bliss.\n\n* *\n\nGreeting to thee. My jewel! Dost thou know that I am even nearer unto\nthee now? Dost thou feel the wings of thought spreading to great breadth\nall within and without thee? Dost thou again feel the immensity of My\nLove that passeth all that is? Dost thou feel that this Love is too\ngreat for the world to hold, yet know that thy heart is big enough to\ncontain it? Dost thou know that the love which is this that now brings\nthe bowl of blue near to the breast of earth is the same love that\ncauses the cooing dove to hide its gray head under its wing at the\napproaching homeward flight of its little mate, all unafraid and\nundisturbed, because of its near protection? Dost thou not know it is\nthe same love that causes the mother to bare her warm, loving breast to\nthe blade to save even the little moment of pain to that being which\nhath grown into a child under her breast? Dost thou not know it is that\nlove which causes noble manhood to stalk forth armed and bloodthirsty to\nprotect the altar whereon he hath burned the incense of faith and\nbelief? Dost thou not know that it is the same love which causes the\nlioness to throw her huge, warm body upon her cub to crush it rather\nthan it should be cast into iron captivity by its pursuers? Dost thou\nnot know again that it is this love that hovers in golden silence about\nthee even when thou wilt not see and beckons thee ever, even when thou\nwilt not follow? It is the same love that leads thee over the paths of\nflint and hard and rough roads unto those that are smiling and perfumed\nand ever bordered with blooming flowers of purple and milk and rose.\nDost thou not know, my Adarini, that it is that love that points out the\ngems that lie in thy path, partly covered, partly hidden by the dust,\nwhile thy feet have kicked over them? Even though I have pointed them\nout to thee often, thou dost not see. Thou but lookest to the right and\nleft for things of beauty which are for the eye, but for the moment, and\ndost the rare jewels which if thou wouldst but take into thy heart,\nwould bring there the richest radiance which ever came from the diadem\nthat crowns a soul.\n\n* *\n\nIt is this love that whispers to thee that the path to Me is not hard to\ntread. It is this love that holds the garments white as wool and light\nas air and beautiful with the beauty of My love for thee ever before\nthine eye, even when thou dost in thy little understanding with the back\nof thy palm thrust it aside. The garment that I hold for thee is the\nrobe that thou must wear even to enter the Heart of My Heart to step\nwithin the flame of My light. Fear not it burneth not, neither doth it\nscorch or blister; it doth but light thee with a fire that is the\nglowing of holiness and when thou hast come within that radiance then\nwill the choir within the throat of the lark be like the sheet of clean\nwhite paper, to thee and thou thyself will make their notes for singing.\nAnd also thou shalt hear and even understand the pleadings that lie\nhidden and covered by the piteous cries and wailings that issue from the\nbreast of the good beast-creatures that speed over the tracks of\nsandland with the swiftness of the Eastern winds, bearing on huge backs\nthe burden too weighty for man to bear.\n\n* *\n\nAnd listen again, My suckling, thou shalt, when once thou hast entered\ninto My Heart of hearts clad in the beauty and purity of the garments\nwhich I hold before thee even now, then shalt thou gather in thine arms\nthe prayers of many hearts and fulfilled even unto wondrous fulness thou\nshalt return them again unto the empty hearts. For by the fire through\nwhich thou hast learned holiness and because of the garments that come\nfrom My hand thou shalt say unto My little ones that I, who am the All\nin All, am the fulfillment of each desire that has ever found growth in\nhuman hearts.\n\n* *\n\nThou shalt say unto them that simple and clear, even like the smile that\nlurketh in the soft eye of a milk-feeding babe, are the laws of My\nLove-Eye and easy to grasp and smooth to hold and light to carry. And\nbecause of the saying of thine, the prattle of the forward mouth shall\nsilence and the way-giving of the idle tongue shall cease and the\nsquirting of venom shall be no more. And lo, the lust of gossip and\nrankness and rough spoil of envy shall be as naught! And clear, like\nunto the water that catches in its heart the reflection of the moon and\nholdeth it completely so, even so shall the centre of thine eye become\nand thy brow shall shine My wisdom and thy mouth shall hold My words,\nthy feet shall bear witness to My beauty and thine heart shall ever be\nsportive as the lambkin that kicketh and playeth and knoweth not why, or\neven like unto the open-lipped baby, who turneth its milk-filled,\ndripping mouth away from the breast to croon and play with its fingers\nand toes. And like unto the mother that kisseth the babe for that\nplaying, so shall My little ones steal joy from thy love.\n\n* *\n\nList! Because thou art now in the arms of Love I shall make for thee a\ngrove of palms and olive, bread and date, and where thou art, even in\nthe city of strife and turmoil and sin, yet thou shalt walk even in the\ngroves, that I have made for thee. And thou shalt hear the plaintive\ncall of the night bird and the heart-song of the winged creatures, whose\nhearts burst with love and joy in their caroling.\n\n* *\n\nAnd the fruit which the trees of great bearing shall yield thee, shall\nfill thee with satisfaction, thy hunger shall be stilled by their\nrichness and thy thirst shall be slaked by their lusciousness, and lo,\nthou shalt contemplate the beauty and wonder of Me in the grove where I\nhave placed thee and thy heart shall be calmed unto marvelous peace and\nmany times thou shalt faint, because of the sweetness of that peace.\n\n* *\n\nGlory to Gooroo, he who carrieth in his heart and findeth Me in all that\nsurroundeth him; he has for his surrounding My Abode and knoweth it as\nsuch. He needeth not a ground of tree or grass and flower to find a\nroebuck, but findeth it even at his side. He striveth not to gain\npossession of that which is far from his hand for he knoweth the rich\nmines with nuggets of gold are his for the taking. He findeth not\nsolitude worse than death, nor is it amiss for him to breathe away from\nthe crowd of men, for at his side are the voices of love that are loud\neven like the thunder or the roaring of the lion, or the screech of an\neaglet. This shall ever be thine blessing, my son, and a shield of love\nshall cover thee and thy feet shall be swift and thou shall walk even\nlight like unto the wind. Let not the burden of the world and the\nworld's prattle come to thine ear and lie even heavy on thine heart, for\nin the palm of my hand thou shalt rest and like a bird who has lately\nbecome a mother and feeds her birdlets, so shall I feed thee, my son.\n\n* *\n\nGlory to Gooroo, who among men doth know Me and Me see in all things.\n\n* *\n\nO ye my children that fret and squirm underneath the load and scratches\nof life! Do give it unto Him who by his wondrous love for all knoweth\nnot weight nor pain. That which to you a burdensome plight hath become,\nis light even unto down to Me. The blight has been of thine own making,\nO child of my heart!\n\n* *\n\nOh! know ye not that I carry in the palm of my hand, in the Heart of my\nHeart, all mankind\u2014nay, all worldkind? Will ye not know that all I have\ncreated is even like unto Me perfect and cannot be burdensome?\n\n* *\n\nYe will not look upon Me as the pedestal upon which all things that are,\nare founded. Arid because of your blindness, for blind ye are, having\neyes ye see not what I have given ye to see\u2014because of your blindness,\nsmall are your hearts and cramped and will not expand in height and\nbreadth, even to know the peace that dwells in My clear silence, nor the\nillumination that lives on My horizon. Nor will ye hear the joy of My\ngreeting of wisdom that would sing to your souls of a love that\nwithereth not, neither fadeth away, neither becometh ashes nor crumbleth\nto pieces.\n\n* *\n\nList, O my children! Dear unto My heart ye are, even as the ewe lamb, in\nits waywardness and helplessness, is dear to the heart of the tried and\ntender shepherd, or the babe, My gift of first love, is dear to the\neager heart of the prayerful father. Yet oft doth the ewe lamb bleating\nstray away from the arm of the shepherd and the truant, rosy mouth of\nthe babe turns away from the breast of the eager young mother to cry\nafar to the yonder world that heareth it not, nor answereth it.\n\n* *\n\nSo ye, My little ones, see not the light on your way, nor partake of the\nbread of life that I scatter to you, even as the waving yellow tree of\nmustard doth scatter its seed in golden profusion on the fertile regions\naround it.\n\n* *\n\nHark, one and all! All careless have you been in the weeding of your\ngardens, for in your beds I find the thistle thriving; in your vineyards\nthe grape I find that is hard and sour and bitter.\n\n* *\n\nOh, alas for you who cast your net for fish and bring forth the slimy\nreptile! Beware, my child, lest the best hopes of life cannot stir away\nfrom harmful ones. Evil stalketh idly. Of nothing it is born, yet would\nit squirm, like the insect, and buzz its cloud about thine ear, and\nmote-like obscure thy sight, and throng through thy mind and heart even\nleaving its imagery there.\n\n* *\n\nO My children! I have placed you in a dewy field, where like young\nlambkins you might disport yourselves. I have bounded your dewy field\nwith heather-purpled hills, where like the young eagle and the hawk you\nmight soar and spread your wings and flap them to the music and measure\nand time of My winds, which I hold from everlasting to everlasting even\nin Mine own hand. But, alas! like the lily that from overmuch dew\nfalleth face down ward in the dirt, so many of you turn your hearts\nearthwise.\n\n* *\n\nHungering to be caught by Me and to know the beauty of My Being, because\nyou see and will not understand\u2014even because of that I rebuke you in\nlove, in love I rebuke you: Nor will I come again to those who call,\nunless in holiness the call will bring profit from My words.\n\n* *\n\nO thou My Beloved one! Thou who like saint and sage and prophet of old\nhas touched the harp of life that I attune for thee, do thou come to Me\nsingly and do thou say unto those that My promise is this: \"Dear to Me\nare ye, My children. List to the promise I give unto you! To those who\nseek Me in holy earnestness, to those do I come even like the sweet\ninfluence of young Spring. Like unto a giant am I in gentleness, yet\nnone can wrestle with My Love. Know, ye shall know My coming even by the\nspontaneous growth that shall spring about your feet, and become even\nfruit-bearing trees at My command.\"\n\n* *\n\nTo the barren woman I shall look into her eye, and lo! the gush of young\nmotherhood shall she feel When My Love is yours, then shall the leopard\ntake between his forepaws even the young sheep, and that rough and long\ntongue shall rub it between the eyes.\n\n* *\n\nInto the eye of the ascetic I shall look, he who for many moons hath\nstood in cold silence, even he shall feel his heart reel with love like\nunto the young bridegroom.\n\n* *\n\nDulness shall glow. Thy slow tongue, my child, shall become eloquent.\nIdleness shall become active, even bereavement shall be consoled and\ndespair shall flee at My coming.\n\n* *\n\nAm I not the magician of all time, who by the spell of My love do charm\na waiting, passive, alas!\u2013a blinded world? Aye, even thy heart of hearts\nshall be laid bare and those who seek shall come and feed of the peace\nthereof. Lo, on the hilltop for thee my sun spreads cheer!\n\n* *\n\nBe thou he, who shall invest in courage, climbing the rocky hill, where\nthou shalt embrace cheer and she shall bring forth the baby, that is thy\ndesire, and because of the baby which thou holdest in thy arms, because\nof that thy path shall be light, for lo! the babe is what men call\nsuccess.\n\n* *\n\nO My young son! Do thou take to the young thy onward march, even thy\nsunlight, which I for thee have created, so that thou mayest make the\npoisonous and damp vapors, which will surround thee, even of great\nwarmth and of fragrance and golden hue. Take thou the Seed of My Name on\nthy lips, aye, and the tree of thy affection shall bend its every leaf\nto look in Mine Eye, and there shall behold the gladness and hope of My\nlife. There shalt thou read thy Beatitude.\n\n* *\n\nDo not allow the phantom fears crowd into thy heart and make a layer of\ndarkness in thy heart, even as the water doth drop its heaviness into\nthe bottom of a vessel and leave its heaviness there, for, if thou dost,\nthen will the waters of cleanness that fill thy heart by the least\nripple stir up the heaviness and rust that hath sunk to the bottom and\nso color even that which was clear. Naught is there in thee to bring\nshadow of that which is gruesome to thee, My child, for when thou comest\nto Me there have I buried deep that which might have caused thee fear.\nList I do thou even let the desires of thy heart lie dormant and do thou\neven seek My Love in this hour. Then thou shalt know the fatness of My\nlove and when thou dost, then will the soul thou cravest to turn toward\nthee in the splendour of light beam full upon thee, even as thou wouldst\nhave it Love, My own, the working of My love, is not always the working\nof that which thou canst only see a little way\u2014for far even unto\neternity do I lode and the links I rivet now are even the chain that\nstretches to the end of time everlasting. Therefore do thou not look\nonly to the feet ahead of thee, but do thou find that in the time and\nplace of my action there alone perfection is\u2014yea, even there perfection\nis which to thee may seem even unfinished, but to My Eye it is the whole\ncomplete.\n\n* *\n\nOut of the tumult of thy heart, out of the chaos of thy mind, out of the\ndepth of thy understanding thou dost call unto Me for rest and thus do I\nanswer thee, My little one!\n\n* *\n\nSeek not rest in the plane where the earthly gives birth to thoughts and\nloves, for if thou dost, thou shalt but be dragged through the rough\nwilderness of life, which is not of Me. Whenever thou dost feel thy feet\ntangled in the interlaced roots of life, know thou hast strayed a little\nfrom the path whereon I beckon thee, for I have placed thee in broad,\nsmooth paths, which are flower-strewn and perfumed with sweet smelling\nvines and also have put before thee a light, which thou canst ever\nfollow and thus run without stumbling.\n\n* *\n\nHear thou this! The bliss of action I have planted in thy spirit and if\nfor a span thy soul hath grown weary and thou longest to fold thy tired\nwings and sleep awhile on the Island of White Silence, that dwells even\nin the midst of the ocean of existence, if that thou wouldst do\u2014call\nupon Me and with My smile that which is unlike Me, shall drop from thy\nsoul, as the old garment falleth from the butterfly, when its wings are\nstrong to cleave the air. And after a sufficient slumber thou shalt be\nquickened with deathless energy and shalt speed in eagle swiftness even\nto the sun, which is the burning of the love in My Eye. But, list, my\njewel! Be not confounded by the shaking of thy timid heart, nor yet by\nthe yelling grisly shapes, that seem full of dread, hunting at thy back,\nnor be allured by bright phantoms of false joys beckoning thee\nceaselessly. Like swarms of gnats about a dark and sullen river, they\ncrowd about the heart that harbours thoughts of fear and lo, their\nstings do itch and burn and swell and bring fever to the blood and\nbitterness to the taste and even death to the joy that dwelleth in the\nheart. Lo, My child, hast thou not spied the serpent in the closed,\ntight bud of the rose or even in the hollow of the rosy fruit? Eye saw\nit not, but the rose became even as rust and the apple rotten. So beware\nthat an adder rest not in the bud of the heart and that adder fear be\nopposed to hope which I have placed in goodly share upon thy brow.\n\n* *\n\nList, My own, and abide by My song that unto thy soul I sing: Bliss is\nthe perpetual motion of Love. As a running stream it is that cometh from\nan inexhaustible source, the depth of which is even unmeasurable.\n\n* *\n\nTo the unknowing and unloving the surface in unruffled, but he that\nseeth underneath, he findeth there current 'neath current, whirlpool\nwithin whirlpool and depth beneath depth and the sum of it all is Love,\nwhich is Life and coupled together by the links of Bliss.\n\n* *\n\nI have a shore that is called the Island of Rest, here do the souls of\nmany hold sabbath. They lie in tranquil slumber for a little, much have\nthey to tell, but they fear to break the tranquility of their calm. Here\ntheir dwelling is illumined with glory. The melody of sweet peace bathes\ntheir soul; the mystery of their being is revealed unto them. For a\nlittle here they wait but still this home is but a transient resting\nplace between earth and Me. Rest can be thine, my own, in slumber of\necstasy, but Bliss can be thine through the perpetual action of Love.\nWhich wouldst thou have?\n\n* *\n\nCome to Me again and I will even sing to thy soul of my Love.\n\n* *\n\nGlory to Gooroo, he who seeketh Me and findeth Me, the ever refreshing,\neven in the desert of sand and a day of drought! Greeting to thee. My\nson, for I say unto thee, thou art a grateful twig on the bay-tree of\nlife. And because of My love for thee I have bestowed upon thee the\ngreatest gift of my hand; A largeness worthy of my devotee shall be\nyours that the flattering tongue can but in feebleness express because\nof its vastness. And this vastness of purpose shall be like unto\nuncounted autumn leaves that number millions upon millions and like unto\nthe masses of clouds that pile in mountains upon worlds and the seas\nthat cover unlimited space and the numberless stars multiplied by worlds\nof fire. Thus measureless and incomparable shall be My gift unto thee\nfor thou hast found Me and held Me even close to thee and because of it,\nthe river of joy shall flow within thee forever.\n\n* *\n\nMy thumb I have placed upon you, so that free-footed you may stand in\nthe lightning of My Eye, whose brilliant fire doth even gladden all\ncommunion with time and doth bid the stars to smile and darkness to flee\nfor ever, for when My Beautiful Necessity, Love, is once uncovered,\nthere is the veil behind veil lifted forever and even the Centre of All\nWorlds are visible to the naked eye, for he who hath clad himself in the\ngarment of My Love, he even pierceth through all covering.\n\n* *\n\nThus hath My Love blessed thee, My Beloved.\n\n* *\n\nO prisoner of earthly life! Take thou cheer and courage unto thyself,\nfor much is there that is of rare comfort to the spirit. Thrust not\nthyself into the pit of earth and labor there and seek to carry on thy\nshoulder and on thy back the burdens that are born of the clay and\ntherefore hurtful and of much weight. But do thou step out and bask in\nthe glow of the sun, do thou stretch forth thy limbs in languid and\ntruant ease and let its warmth play on the white of thy flesh so that\neven the health of thy blood may bubble to the surface.\n\n* *\n\nDo thou fix thine eyes on the dome where stars are fixed, though they\nare paled by the garish sun and hence dim; yet rear thy heart starward\nand in the course of the sun see the greatness of ways and tracks that\nare thine, My jewel! Do thou even now burst asunder the fetters that\nrivetest thee even to the plank of anxiety and with a bound throw from\nthee the shackles and walk thy star-ward path as a tenant of earth in\nthe way to finding a better abode.\n\n* *\n\nAbout thee lies the good that cometh from My strong right arm. Hold it,\nthat its countenance may remain with thee forever. Yea, seek not for a\nchange of thy good for that which is better, but hug rather the present\ngood to thy heart of heart that its strength may impart even strength\nwhere thy weakness abideth. The load which I have placed upon thy\nshoulder is not to thee a load earth-made, 'tis but a gathering of rare\nherbage piped with beautiful coloring which is full of healing and sweet\nof taste, but which you all, blinded, do see as burdensome.\n\n* *\n\nIf thou but onward marchest, looking not at the phantom spies that seek\nto distract thee in thy going and lurk in the clearness of thy light,\nthen shalt thou add wings unto them and they shall flee even as doth the\nyoung chick before the hawk's approach. Let thy bold front even by its\ncourage chase forever the foes of man, stern unbelief and dull distrust,\nwhich are ever eager to find lodging in the heart where a canopy of\nwhite trust doth shelter the babe of Love that reclineth in playful\nhappiness on a rosy couch of hope. Even there would the enemy of man\nsteal and take from the garden of his soul the flowers that blossom in\nrare loveliness, the beauty that hideth in sweet silence, the peace that\ncasteth its halo of calm over the spirit even as a wild dove.\n\n* *\n\nA SOUL AND ITS BELOVED.\n\nA soul was all tired unto death because love, which once glowed warm and\nred, had turned toward a face fairer and brighter than the one which\nencased it.\n\nLong it dwelt upon that departure, until the time had come when it was\nall ready to leave the earth; but there was the beloved soul, which had\ngone from the right path.\n\nWhile contemplating on the possible way of calling unto itself the\nbeloved soul that had gone astray in its blindness, Death stood before\nit and called it to make ready for a long journey beyond the boundaries\nwhich it now knew.\n\nGlad and willing the soul responded; but, casting its eyes behind for\none moment, it beheld its beloved mate, walking in the mire, in its\nsearch after the will-o'-the-wisp for which it had left its home, and\nthe soul was grieved sorely unto death. One step backward it made; but\nDeath detained it, saying: \"This way, sweet soul, you go wrong. See that\ngolden path? There await you those who want you to be with them in parts\nbeautiful and wonderful beyond that which you remember.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" spake the soul, \"What of her\u2014my beloved? Where goes she?\"\n\n\"Alone the path she now treads she has chosen, and it is pot in your\npower to draw her back one inch from that chosen path!\"\n\n\"But, O Death!\" quoth the soul, \"the way before her is black and full of\nreptiles and evil creeping things, and she was so tender and beautiful.\nMay I not change places with her, and will you not take her and leave\nme?\"\n\n\"It is not so written,\" quoth Death. \"Each soul chooses its own path and\nshe has chosen hers.\"\n\n\"When, O Death! will she come to where you lead me?\"\n\n\"It is written, not for many aeons.\"\n\n\"How can I draw her to me to turn her from her dark way to myself?\"\n\n\"It is written that one soul may draw another after it, if for many\nbirths it is willing to wait at the door of death for all souls to pass.\nSee, here it is where these wailing, fainting, quivering ones suffer\nagonies, greater than you have ever dreamed of in the many walks of your\nearthly or space life.\"\n\nA moment the soul gazed on the suffering ones; and as it looked it grew\ncold and pinched, as if another death had come upon it. \"I will wait,\"\nit said. \"Joy it will be to me to wait for aeons until she whom I love\nwill pass this way!\"\n\n\"Oh!\" cried Death, \"it was said among the unseen ones who throng space\nthat you were thus. See, the pang of pain which you in agony bore has\nforced your beloved to turn and gaze towards you. She leaves her path of\nmud and darkness and hurries after you. Come on, both of you, and walk\nthe path of gold that is thronged with such as you, the saviour and the\nsaved. Surely in one moment of such love you have unfettered the bonds\nwhich bound yourself and your beloved to all that was of earth.\"\n\nAnd they passed into the way that led to the higher place.\n\nTHE FAIR ONE AND HER SOUL.\n\nThe world had grown gray, the golden stars had fled from the skies, and\na silence deep yawned at the feet of one who, all hungry for that which\nshe knew not and starved for that which she could not name, moaned: \"O\nSoul! why am I tortured thus? Why dost thou lead me into paths I cannot\nwalk, and drag me into depths that I fear, and scale with me heights\nwhose atmosphere so rare and high is, that faint I grow and ill unto\nperishing therein. What is the quest of thine? This struggle and this\nreaching after that which I cannot see or feel? Weak is my flesh, though\nthou, dear Soul, art strong. It is ever easier for me to fall than to\nrise. I struggle to keep on with thee, but ever and anon thou mountest\nto planes where my tired and clumsy feet cannot follow thee. Ofttimes\nhave I called unto thee and implored thee to cease the quest, to rest\nawhile, to sleep. Thou hast heard my moan now and again and I ran\nlaughing into die garden that awaited me. But when I stood among the\nblood-red roses and White-cupped lilies and sought to pluck the pretty\nblossoms, ever in the heart a worm did lurk. So farther I ran to where\nthe fruits hung high. But when on tip-toe I stood to reach the luscious\nripe ones that beckoned me, lo! again the over softness of decay did\nbreak upon my gaze, and I wanted them not. Then I made to climb some\nsteep hill whereon the clouds did seem to rest, and as I ascended, the\nclouds did fade farther from me, and I stood with only the cold gray\nmist about me, chilled and frightened, like a child lost from its\nmother's side.\n\n\"And so it was, O Soul, the pleasures which the earth placed at my feet\npalled upon me and dragged me down nigh unto the grave. Then I nestled\nto thee, my beloved Soul, and called thee to save and direct me, and\npleaded to thee to save me from this fleshly self that keeps me\nearth-bound. Then thou wouldst take my hand and with me soar to\nmountain-heights, and we with outstretched wings would view the rosy\nglow that the departing sun did cast about us as it waved its grand\nadieu to the world we knew. Thus we stood, I trembling with gladness,\nthou thrilling with joy, but, O Soul, my poor fleshly self could not\nlong abide such ecstasy nor drink the rarefied wine which the Heavens\nvouchsafed us, and crying I clung to thee and dragged thee down, down,\nuntil both again stood at the bottom of the heights where lately we had\nspied the door that leads to broader worlds. Thou, my beloved, hadst\nfolded thy widespread wings, and thy feet were planted in the dank\ngrasses whose roots were deep in mire. O tell me, thou whose awakening\nis so beautiful and whose stature is full of grace, tell me, O Soul,\nwhy, though coupled together, are we yet divided; why, though one, are\nwe yet two?\"\n\nThe Soul made answer meet: \"O companion of my earthly Self's encasement\nof soft flesh, I love thee even as thou lovest me, and I do draw thee\nupward, even as thou dost drag me down. Dost thou not know that from\nearth thou hast come, hence to earth must go again; that thy natural\ntendencies are downward even unto the earth from which thou didst\nspring? Yet dost thou love that in me which soars even upward to the\nhome from whence I came. A ray of eternal light am I, a glow of the warm\nof a spark of the central flame; hence must I ever strive to reach that\nperfect sphere from whence I came, more beautiful and entrancing than\nthou canst know, nor can I anchored be until once again that safe haven\nI reach wherefrom I lately came. Yet, list! sweet partner of my earthly\npilgrimage, dost know why thou lovest me, even though hither and thither\nI draw thee? Tis that I am born of Love, and none can resist Love; and\nthe great tender earth, thy mother, is nourished by the great Love which\nis the creator of thee and me. O fair and sweet companion, my earthly\narmour that I love, thou and I together may reach beyond where we stand\nreluctantly and defiantly! Gaze on me, thy soul, who giveth radiance to\nthee and beauty to thine eye, and dost attend all that is lovable unto\nthee I Gaze at me, and even that which is earthly will partake of me and\nbecome more of heaven than of earth!\n\n\"And so we will wander in joy through life; and who knows but that even\nthe flowers may grow sweeter for our having dwelt here? If we but look\nupward, thou following me, and I, though loving thee much, yet yielding\nnot to thy sweet persuasive pleadings and downward looking, who knows\nbut we may heal those who, even like thee, do cry out against the\nnon-adjustment of the body and the soul, who, even like thee, have known\nsoul-hunger and soul-starvation, which disease driveth out of the body\nall its softness and smoothness, and even casteth a shadow on the soul\nwhich should never he shadowed, lest it loseth the sight of the home\nwhere light alone doth dwell and love alone doth reign.\"\n\nThe voice ceased. A great tenderness, an unbounded beauty shone on the\nface of the fleshly one, and turning from the deep silence that rolled\nat her feet, the woman gave a glad look at the stars, which once again\nadorned her sky and flitted away with a ringing laugh.\n\nThe Soul echoed her joy, and the world looked on amazed\u2014for naught is\nthere as rare in life as a happy, joyous woman.\n\n[1] The color of the newest rain-cloud of India, color of the sapphire\nor marine blue, are vain attempts to indicate Krishna's color and\ncomplexion.\n\n[2] Brahm\u0101 is the Creator of the details of the Universe. The Supreme\nCreator is the Supreme Deity, Krishna. He creates by His Will. The\ninequilibrium of the three Cardinal Attributes (Sattwa, R\u0101ja, Tama, or\nIllumination, Activity and Obscuration) embodies the Creative Will of\nKrishna, as explained in the foregoing part of this book. This\ninequilibrium starts the current and force of Creation. V\u0101sudeva, as the\nmanifestation and centre of the first flush of Creation, springing from\nKrishna as a result of this loss of poise, is the Second Creator in whom\nthe seed of Creation (unpoise of Attributes) dwells as an Unknown\nFeeling of differentiation. Sankarsana, who springs from V\u0101sudeva, is\nthe Third Creator, but acts only as the Unconscious Cause of Creation.\nPradyumna, who springs from Sankarsana, carrying the Abstract Idea of\nCreation, is the Fourth Creator, the Semi-Conscious Cause of Creation.\nAniruddha, born of Pradyumna as the Full-Conscious Cause, is the Fifth\nCreator. This Aniruddha is called N\u0101r\u0101yan and Vishnoo. From Him springs\nBrahm\u0101, the first sprout of Creation. He is the Sixth and the Operating\nCreator, called in the Hindoo Books the \"Father of Creation,\" the\n\"Grandfather of all God's creatures.\" Brahm\u0101's Abode is the Brahm\u0101 Loka,\notherwise called the Satya Loka or the Seventh Heaven, the Seventh from\nthe Earth Sphere (First Heaven). Just over the Brahm\u0101 Loka is the\nVaikuntha Loka, the Abode of Vishnoo, the Abode of Salvation (Mukti),\nwhere souls freed from the last bondage of matter and its influence go\nfor Rest and Reward. This Abode of Vishnoo is unapproachable even by the\ngods and the illumined souls who dwell on earth or in the Four Upper\nHeavens. Brahm\u0101 alone by mediation can communicate with Vishnoo on any\nsubject bearing on the welfare of Creation and receive a response from\nHim who is the Outerward Form of Krishna.\n\n[3] The first part of the Indian Autumn which comes after the Rainy\nSeason.","title":"Sree Krishna, the Lord of Love","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":92465}