YATINDRA CHARITAM 
 
 OR 
 
 A SHORT LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 SWAMI BHASKARANANDA SARASW ATI 
 
 OF 
 
 BENARES 
 
 BY 
 
 GOPAL CHANDER CHATTERJEE 
 
 gGlafiabab 
 
 PIONEER PRESS 
 
ski" swami" bhaskaranand saraswatl 
 
•v* 
 
 \ 
 
 .f 
 
 
&S1S2»ic 
 
 DEDICATION, 
 
 THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY 
 DEDICATED TO MY ELDER 
 BROTHER, 
 
 RAKHAL DAS CHATTERJEE 
 
 BY 
 
 Zhc author. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates 
 
 https://archive.org/details/yatindracharitamOOchat 
 

 wvt mvL 5nf?rfif^§fcT: i 
 
 WT?i wit II 
 
 ^TRT TO Wfc TOTTTO ffaWTCt I 
 ^ gro^TTfa i 
 
 TOTft^gtftf stpt 1%toto, TO^ftro? 
 fi^tjH fwr#f €cfpf^rmtf^icf i 
 ^^rRRf^wRf^, fwf 
 n^a^cKfar to cttfti^r^vr^ H 
 
LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 Sri BMaranand Sarasiati Swami. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LOWEST of the low as I am in the world 
 of morality, vicious as i am in all my ten¬ 
 dencies, slave as I am of the passions,— 
 those six great enemies of the human soul,— 
 my heart throbs as I make bold to write 
 a few lines concerning the doings of the 
 venerable sage known by the name of 
 Paribrajakacharya Sri Bhaskaranand Saras- 
 wati Swami. His great life is at once in¬ 
 teresting and instructive, and it is highly 
 desirable for the moral world to get a 
 
( 2 ) 
 
 glimpse of his sublime and incomprehen¬ 
 sible character, to assuage the thirst of those 
 who, having realised the unreality of this 
 world, long for that superior knowledge 
 which explains the relation of this world 
 to the next. 
 
 Swami Bhaskaranand was not the ori¬ 
 ginal name of the sage, who now spends 
 his days in the holy city of Benares, rapt 
 in the contemplation of the Almighty 
 Father. His name was Matiram Misra. 
 He was born in a village called Maithi- 
 lalpur, in the district of Cawnpore, seven 
 miles from Bithur, the last seat of the 
 well-known Nana Sahib. Cawnpore is a 
 very ancient place. It is the seat of San¬ 
 skrit learning from a very ancient time, and 
 the Brahmins of Kanyakubja or Cawnpore 
 are respected throughout India for their 
 learning, their strict observance of the 
 Shastras and their virtuous disposition. 
 
( 3 ) 
 
 Matiram Misra was born of a highly 
 respectable Brahmin family of the Sandi- 
 lya Gotra, His father was a profound 
 Sanskrit scholar, a devout worshipper of 
 God, and a very pious Brahmin, who de¬ 
 lighted in meritorious acts of piety. His 
 name was Misri Lai Misra. 
 
 The Misra family came to Maithilal- 
 pur from Dhatura, a village standing on 
 the banks of the famous Sarayu. The 
 founder of the family was Manorath. 
 Manorath had three sons, Komal, Padma- 
 nava and Devanava. Padmanava had one 
 son only, whose name was Harihar. 
 
 Harihar was a very learned man. He 
 got the title of Upadhyay from the Rajas 
 of the great Raghubansa. Harihar left 
 two sons, Gadadhar and Tripura. Gadad- 
 har was well-known for his piety. He 
 was esteemed by the learned men of his 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 time. He used to spend his days in per¬ 
 forming the ceremonies enjoined by our 
 Shastras. 
 
 Gadadhar had two sons, Ganga Prasad 
 and Sriharsa. Both of them were very 
 learned men. Sriharsa had four sons, Lal- 
 kur, Himkar, Gopi Nath and Farasu. All 
 these four brothers were honoured by the 
 Rajas for their learning and virtue. Him¬ 
 kar had three sons, Sankar, Kshemram and 
 Jai-Bhadra. Bholanath, father of Misri 
 Lai, and grandfather of our Swamiji 
 Matiram, was a lineal descendant of Jai- 
 Bhadra. 
 
 Matiram was born at Maithilalpur on 
 the seventh day of the full moon in the 
 month of Asvin in Sambat 1890, corres¬ 
 ponding to 1833 of the Christian era. His 
 father's joy knew no bounds on the birth 
 of a male child in such an auspicious 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 hour. The Mundun ceremony of the boy 
 was performed in his third year, the Ker- 
 nabed ceremony in his fifth year, and the 
 Upanayan (the investiture with the holy 
 thread) was performed in the 8th year. 
 Misri Lai had only one son and a daugh¬ 
 ter, and Matiram being the only son was 
 very much loved by his parents. After 
 his Upanayan he was sent to the house 
 of his teacher to study Sanskrit. He 
 first began to study Paninibyakaranum , 
 and in a short time was able to finish the 
 Saraswat-chandrika and the Raghu-bansa 
 of Kali Das. He was a very intelligent 
 and well-behaved boy. The progress he 
 made in his studies was wonderfully rapid. 
 He was recognised as a great Sanskrit 
 scholar in his 17th year, when he finished 
 the Panini , the Vartic of Katyayan and 
 the Mahavasya of Sesh . After this he 
 began to study the great Vedanta Shas- 
 
C 6 ) 
 
 tra, the depository of true knowledge 
 which leads to Salvation. He must have 
 been a pious man in his past lives, other¬ 
 wise how could a boy of seventeen realise 
 the great truth of salvation as revealed in 
 the Vedanta Shastra, or how could a boy 
 of such a tender age think of retiring from 
 the world to devote himself entirely to the 
 contemplation of God. 
 
 Matiramwas married at the early age 
 of twelve. His wife came from a good 
 family, and was a suitable companion to 
 her husband. She was virtuous. She soon 
 endeared herself to the members of her 
 husband’s family. A son was born to Ma- 
 tiram when he was only eighteen years 
 old. After the study of the Vedanta, 
 Matiram could not induce himself to re¬ 
 main at home and enjoy the transient 
 pleasures of the world. He sought op¬ 
 portunities to leave his home. On then 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 birth of his son he thought he had dis¬ 
 charged his debt to the world and was free 
 to follow his own ways. The spirit of 
 Bairagya got supreme sway in his mind. 
 Young in age though he was, he realised 
 the unreality of this world and its plea¬ 
 sures. He was fully convinced that the 
 world was full of misery, that the world 
 and its pleasures were mere dreams, that 
 it was very difficult to attain real happi¬ 
 ness in following the ways of the world, 
 and that the allurements of the world were 
 great obstacles in the path of salvation. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 People in these days are not inclined 
 to accept the theory of transmigration of 
 the soul. They cannot at all account for 
 the great difference that exists among the 
 human beings, they will not go to account 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 for the life of the vegetable world and of 
 the animal world, and they fail to under¬ 
 stand the great truth that the Jibatma is 
 but one with the Paramatma . It is 
 argued that people would have remembered 
 the state of their former lives to enable 
 them to better their state in the present 
 life if really they had so many lives. Nor 
 has anybody ever cared to realize that 
 really thoughtful people can, from their 
 wisdom, ascertain their former state of life 
 by their present predilection and tenden¬ 
 cies ? More than this, we can know all 
 the particulars of our former life, if we can 
 attain to a high stage in the spiritual world. 
 Matiram was a mere boy, he had a beauti¬ 
 ful young wife, his father and mother were 
 alive, there was nothing to afflict his mind; 
 why did he then resolve to forego all these 
 seeming pleasures of the world to spend 
 his life in search of that which alone is the 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 ultimate goal of humanity. How could 
 Matiram realise the deep principle of the 
 Vedantic philosophy at such an early age ? 
 The fact is that he must have been a great 
 Yogee in his past life. It required only 
 a short time to enable him to remember 
 the principles of the Vedanta with which 
 he must have been acquainted in his past 
 life. He was naturally inclined to take 
 up his former pursuit as opportunity offer¬ 
 ed itself. This happened to Gauranga, 
 this happened to the great Budha Deva, 
 and this happens more or less to all persons 
 following the path of virtue. The well- 
 know slokas of the Gita may be quoted 
 here with advantage :— 
 
 srfPrt #FFcrt h a \\\ 
 
 WW pf^ II 8^ II 
 
 (^ ^r:) 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 Matiram was fortunate in having been 
 born in the family of a Sadhu Brahmin. 
 
 After making up his mind to leave the 
 world in search of Truth, Matiram disap¬ 
 peared one day from his father’s house and 
 went on foot to Ujjaini, the ancient capi¬ 
 tal of Raja Bikramaditya. Here put up 
 in the temple of the great God Mahakales- 
 war Siva. He became an ardent worship¬ 
 per and spent his days in the worship of 
 the great God. Here Matiram began to 
 study very carefully the books relating 
 to the Yoga Shastra and began to practice 
 Yoga, Yoga is an abstruse science which 
 cannot be comprehended by any other than 
 an adept who practises it. 
 
 Suffice it to say that its practice leads 
 to the Union of Jibatma with Paramatma. 
 
 The Atma residing in the body is but 
 a part of the great God-head, as the con- 
 
( It ) 
 
 fined air in a pot is but a part of the at¬ 
 mosphere. The science which enables one 
 to realise this truth is called Yoga. It is all 
 very easy to speak of Yoga, but it is very 
 difficult to become a real Yogee, for it re¬ 
 quires incessant practice continually for 
 many generations to enable one to become 
 a real Yogee. Matiram commenced his 
 life as a Yogee at Ujjaini and had good 
 opportunities to follow his pursuit. Ujjai¬ 
 ni was in all respects a fit place for the 
 exercises of Yoga. 
 
 After spending a considerable time at 
 Ujjaini, Matiram intended to see the sacred 
 places of Malwa and Gujrat. He visit¬ 
 ed several shrines there, spent some time 
 in those sacred places, and then settled in 
 Gujrat. There he began to study the Ve¬ 
 danta philosophy for seven years. It is 
 one thing simply to read the Vedanta, and 
 another thing to realise its truth, by fol- 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 lowing its principles, and so seven years* 
 time was not at all much even for a learned 
 man and devout scholar like Matiram for 
 the purpose of studying Vedanta. He 
 again came back to Ujjaini and there, by 
 constant contemplation, annihilated the 
 Rajas and Tanias qualities of his mind and 
 cultured the Swatika qualities. Here he 
 led a purely Swatika life. 
 
 CHAPER III. 
 
 A SHORT definition of the three insepar¬ 
 able attributes of the human mind, Satwa, 
 Rajas , and Tamas , should be given here- 
 Satwa enables the mind to discern the 
 right from the wrong, truth from falsehood, 
 and the real from the unreal. A man can 
 acquire true knowledge by discrimination 
 from anything that comes in contact with 
 his senses, when Satwa predominates in his 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 mind. The quality of Rajas stimulates a 
 man to work. It imparts energy to the hu¬ 
 man mind. A man has no definite idea of 
 right and wrong, truth and falsehood, real 
 and unreal, when Rajas predominates in 
 his mind. He will do acts energetically and 
 will long for a name and a fame. The 
 quality of Tamas makes a man dull and 
 idiotic. Such a man considers wrong to 
 be right, and the unreal to be real. All 
 the above three qualities are mixed up 
 more or less in our mind. Fortunate is 
 the man in whose mind the quality of 
 Satvva predominates, for it makes him 
 virtuous and generally leads him to sal¬ 
 vation. Man can, by supreme efforts of 
 his own free will, acquire the quality of 
 Satwa. Matiram, by studying the Yoga, 
 by practising devout worship, freed his 
 soul from the qualities of Rajas and Ta¬ 
 
 mas. 
 
( H ) 
 
 He now thought himself fit to become 
 a Sanyasi. He had already passed 
 through the stages of life preceding that 
 of Sanyas. He passed through the 
 Brahmacharya stage from the time of 
 his investiture with the holy thread to 
 that of his marriage. During all this time 
 he was a Brahmachari studying the Shas- 
 tras and keeping the passions in strict 
 control. From the date of his marriage 
 to that of his leaving home he enjoyed the 
 Garhasthasram. After leaving home up 
 to the time when he resolved to enter 
 the Sanyasasram he observed the Bana- 
 prastha. So, strictly speaking, he had the 
 experience of all the Asrams before his 
 resolution to take up Sanyas, the last of 
 all the Asrams. 
 
 He was only 27 years old when he re¬ 
 solved to enter the austere Asram of San¬ 
 yas. The true knowledge “ Gnan ” had 
 
( l S ) 
 
 dawned in his mind. He saw through the 
 unreal nature of the world, and felt the 
 existence of one Supreme Soul all through 
 the universe. It is an illusion that makes 
 a man take a rope for a snake of which he 
 is afraid, and so long as the illusion lasts 
 the agitation of his mind does not cease. 
 But as soon as the mistake is removed he 
 regains the peace of his mind. We of the 
 grosser earth are fond of the world and its 
 pleasures because we have no true know¬ 
 ledge. We mistake, the shadow for the 
 substance. True knowledge alone can 
 remove our mistake and then we can see 
 through the screen that veils the world, and 
 can feel the all-being and omnipresence of 
 the Almighty. The world is not real. It 
 never existed, it does not exist, and it will 
 not come into existence in future. We all 
 dream, and, while sleeping, we think that 
 the things we see in the dream are real* 
 
( i6 ) 
 
 but as soon as we wake up, we perceive the 
 mistake. In the same way we are sleep¬ 
 ing in the lap of ignorance, and as soon as 
 true knowledge will dawn on us we shall 
 be able to know that the world is but a 
 dream, a shadow, and not the substance* 
 
 Matiram, though young and beautiful, 
 had attained that stage of life when the 
 allurements of the world could not disturb 
 his mind. People who came to see him 
 began to conceive a profound reverence for 
 this young Yogee. The greatest sinner in 
 his presence would feel the existence of the 
 Supreme Essence and would go away more 
 virtuous. He had such a dignified and ven¬ 
 erable look that people could scarcely think 
 of asking him why he had left the world at 
 such an early age. Really, the quality of 
 Satwa alone pervaded his mind at this 
 stage of life, and so this was just the time 
 for him to enter the holy stage of Sanyas. 
 
( 17 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PARAMHANSA Purnanund Saraswati, one 
 of those fortunate men who realised the 
 Great Spirit in this life, and whose attain¬ 
 ments in the religious world were of the 
 very highest order, perceiving Matiram the 
 fit subject for initiation into the holy order 
 of Sanyas, kindly lent his helping hand to 
 Matiram and duly initiated him. Matiram 
 now gave up everything that connected 
 him with this world. He had no more 
 charms for his family,for his friend, and for 
 his home. Sorrow and happiness, honor 
 and dishonor, cold and heat, were borne 
 by him with equal indifference. He realis¬ 
 ed that the soul is not affected by these. 
 He uprooted from his mind all the sensibi¬ 
 lities that are the effects of ignorance, pride 
 and folly. He cast off his holy thread on 
 being initiated as a Sanyasi , gave up his 
 
( i8 ) 
 
 family name, and'assumed the name of Sri 
 Bhaskaranand Saraswati, with which he was 
 dubbed by his spiritual guide. 
 
 Swami Bhaskaranand Saraswati, after 
 being initiated as a Sanyasi , resided for 
 some time more at Ujjaini on the banks of 
 the river Reba. There he spent his days 
 in the contemplation of the Jibatma (or the 
 human soul) as being one with the Para- 
 matma or the Supreme Essence. He then 
 travelled to the banks of the Ganges and 
 spent some time at Sringirampore. Here 
 the sad news of the death of his only son 
 was for the first time heard by him. It 
 should be remembered that Swamiji had 
 left home immediately after the birth of this 
 child. He was not in the least affected by 
 this sad news. It could not draw a single 
 drop of tear or even a solitary sigh from 
 the father who had realised the unreality 
 of this world, its sorrows and its happiness 
 
( 19 ) 
 
 He knew full well that the soul is immortal, 
 and that the debt of nature must be paid 
 as a matter of course, according to one’s 
 own karma . From Sringirampore Swamiji 
 went to the holy city of Benares, walking 
 by the banks of the Ganges. Here he re¬ 
 mained for a few days, and again went on 
 travel to the banks of the holy Ganges. 
 While travelling in this way, he reached 
 the village of Asani in the district of Fateh- 
 pur. Here he threw away into the Ganges 
 his “ danda” the emblem of the order of 
 Sanyas, as he thought it an obstacle to the 
 contemplation of God and the atmatatwa . 
 
 From Asani he went to Cawnpore. Here 
 he met with a KanyakubjaBrahmin, named 
 Ram Charan. Ram Charan was a pious 
 man. Having come to know of the great 
 qualites of Swamiji, he threw himself at his 
 feet for salvation and began to seek his 
 
k 20 ) 
 
 favour by his services. Swamiji was obli¬ 
 ged to accept him as his follower, and the 
 fortunate Pundit still spends his fortunate 
 life in administering to the comforts of 
 Swamiji. Another man, a Kshetriya by 
 caste, named Goyadutt, also earned the 
 favour of Swamiji by his devotion. 
 
 While at Cawnpore Swamiji thought of 
 paying a visit to his native village, and 
 taking Ram Charan, Goyadutt, and another 
 man, named Ram Narain Trivedi, he start¬ 
 ed for Maithilalpur. Here he saw his pa¬ 
 rents and his lovelorn wife. The people of 
 the village gathered round him. He had 
 good words for all. He explained to all 
 the utter worthlessness of the world and its 
 pleasures. His fascinating speech instilled 
 a spirit of devotion in the minds of all his 
 hearers. Plis parents and his wife could 
 not induce him to stay at home for a long 
 time. After sowing the seed of God's love 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 in the minds of all who came across him, 
 Swamiji left the place forever. 
 
 He now left the cloth so long worn by 
 him. He kept only a koupin , and regard¬ 
 less of the inclemency of the weather he 
 began to practise the injunctions of the 
 Upanishads on the banks of the Ganges for 
 a long time. 
 
 He then conceived the idea of visiting 
 all the sacred places in India. The advan¬ 
 tages of visiting the sacred places are not 
 apparent to the unbelievers, who do not see 
 the advantages of Tirtha-darshana . Visits 
 to holy places train up the mind. The 
 whole time employed in visiting the tirtha- 
 sthans is spent in the contemplation of the 
 Supreme Being. You also come across 
 with such natural scenery as would rouse 
 the dullest imagination and would call up 
 in the mind the thought of the Creator. 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 The Sadhus and people of pious disposition 
 come together in the tirtlias , and if any one 
 likes to see these holy personages, the 
 tirthas are the best resorts to find such 
 men. Of course it was not necessary for 
 Swamiji to visit the tirthas at this stage. 
 But he was bound by duty to visit the 
 sacred places, for who would go to the 
 tirthas if the Sadhus did not frequent 
 there. The Sadhus are missioned to 
 lead the common people to the ways 
 of God. 
 
 Swamiji at first saw all the sacred places 
 of Bengal and Behar. He then went to 
 Orissa, thence to Madras, and thence to 
 Deccan. He then went to Bombay and 
 Central India, and lastly to the regions 
 of the Himalayas. He visited the 4 
 Dhams and the 7 Purees , so well-known 
 to all. 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 The difficulties of travelling all over 
 India with its fast recesses, its jungles, its 
 hills, dales, seas and rivers by a Sanyast , 
 who does not touch a pice, and who has no 
 thought for the morrow, can better be 
 imagined than described. Alone, without 
 any money, clad with only a koupin , Swami- 
 ji resolved to visit all the sacred places, 
 and then started on his pilgrimage, placing 
 himself entirely in the hands of the Sup¬ 
 reme Being. He could not get his meals in 
 time, and sometimes he had to spend days 
 without any meal. He had to spend night 
 in the wilderness, in caves, and under the 
 shades of trees. Pie had to suffer the in¬ 
 clemency of the weather. But, nothing 
 daunted, he went on from place to place 
 and visited all the sacred tirthas . Piety and 
 devotion to God had such a strong hold on 
 his mind that all these troubles were cheer- 
 
( 24 ) 
 
 fully borne by Swamiji. The mental equil- 
 librium, which is the outcome of the quality 
 of Satwa is acquired by habit, and in 
 the end it makes a man truly blissful 
 
 While on his way to Badarika Asram, in 
 the Himalayas, Swamiji was overtaken by 
 a fall of snow. He was so much exhausted 
 that he lay prostrated, and there was no 
 one to help him. His life was in danger, 
 but such are the ways of God that even in 
 such a place necessary help came in due 
 time to save the life of one who had devot¬ 
 ed his life unreservedly to the worship of 
 the All-merciful A rich merchant, with a 
 large number of followers, came to the spot 
 soon after. He at once brought Swamiji 
 to his resting-place, and by incessant care 
 brought him round. While travelling at 
 Hardwar, Swamiji got no food whatever 
 for two days ; on the third day there was 
 scarcely any chance of getting food. He 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 was weak and exhausted ; but a man visit¬ 
 ed him with all sorts of delicious food. 
 
 One evening Swamiji was passing by the 
 confluence of the Pandy with the Ganges 
 near Hardwar. While he had gone a con¬ 
 siderable distance, the sky became cloudy 
 and a thunderstorm and rain with tremen¬ 
 dous fury soon broke up. It was all dark. 
 The river began to rise. He had to spend 
 the whole night standing in the midst of 
 the stream, and only resumed his way when 
 the day dawned, and the rain and the 
 storm had ceased. It is needless to 
 multiply these instances of hardship and 
 troubles experienced by Swamiji while 
 travelling. 
 
 After visiting other sacred places of India 5 
 Swamiji lastly came to Hardwar, Here 
 he met with another great scholar and San - 
 yasi , named Sadhu Anuntaram. Anunta- 
 ram, after becoming a Sanyasi , was spend- 
 
( 26 ) 
 
 ing his days in the contemplation of God in 
 a secluded place at Hardwar. His original 
 home was in the district of Patna. He was 
 a Sekadwip Brahmin, and a very learned 
 Vedantist. He had attained a very high 
 stage, and was said to have realised the 
 oneness of the Jibatma with the Para- 
 matma. 
 
 Swamiji was much pleased with his new 
 acquaintance. Both were ardent lovers of 
 God, and they spent their days very happi¬ 
 ly in the contemplation of the Great One. 
 Swamiji also studied many treatises on 
 Vedanta with Anantaram. To please 
 Anuntaram, he professed himself a student 
 under him, though there was very little for 
 him to learn at the time. Great men always 
 try to oblige others by professions of hu¬ 
 mility. 
 
( 27 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AFTER being initiated into the holy order 
 of Sanayas, Swamiji spent full thirteen 
 years in practising penance or tapasya • 
 Days and nights, in all weathers, he follow¬ 
 ed this difficult practice with perfect ala¬ 
 crity. His mind became so concentrated, 
 that at times he was wholly absorbed in the 
 contemplation of God; so much so that he 
 could not feel that he had a separate exis¬ 
 tence from the Supreme Being. 
 
 Swamiji now returned to Benares. He 
 had seen all the sacred places. He had 
 travelled all over India. He had observed 
 the rituals, and had made austere penances. 
 Now that he had acquired the true know¬ 
 ledge, realised the oneness of the Jibatma 
 a nd Paramatma and conquered the desires, 
 he felt it unnecessary to travel any further, 
 and thought of spending the rest of his life 
 in the holy city of Benares. 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 Swamiji was 40 years old when he came 
 to Benares, The fine garden near the Dur- 
 gabari, known by the name of Anandbag , or 
 garden of happiness, was placed at his dis¬ 
 posal* Here he left off his koupin , the last- 
 vestige of the worldly things he had, and 
 lived, as though nothing of the world could 
 touch his holy person. The garden of 
 Anandbag is a very charming place. Here 
 in seclusion he found ample opportunity to 
 spend his whole time in the contemplation 
 of God. For over 20 years Swamiji has 
 been residing in this garden. Ram Charan 
 Pundit came to Benares with him. He 
 now and then ministers to his comforts, but 
 comforts Swamiji has very little to care for. 
 He needs no cloth to cover his person. 
 The earth is his bed. He has no inclina¬ 
 tion for food, and is satisfied with whatever 
 the visitors bring with them for him at the 
 time of his meal. 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 After Swamiji had come to Benares, 
 people flocked to see him, and every day 
 thousands came to see the emaciated form 
 sitting in a naked state on earth under the 
 shade of a tree. He had good words for 
 all. His very sight inspired religious feel¬ 
 ing in the minds of the visitors. Religious 
 people were much benefitted by the lucid 
 manner in which he explained the subtle 
 points of moral philosophy. He met and 
 removed the doubts of those who sought 
 his help. 
 
 The learned Pundits of Benares often 
 came to him for explanation of the difficult 
 points of our Shastras. Those who were 
 bent upon following the path of religion for 
 the benefit of their souls were much benefit¬ 
 ted with the advice and explanations given 
 by Swamiji. 
 
 For years Swamiji spent his whole day 
 and part of the night in helping people to 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 form the true idea of the great God. He 
 incessantly laboured for the people. He is 
 of a happy temperament. He is a lover of 
 humanity without any distinction. His 
 face indicates that he does not know what 
 sorrow is. He is like the model human 
 being of the Vedant. He is love personi¬ 
 fied. The poor and the rich, the illiterate 
 and the learned, all were looked upon by 
 him with equal kindness. 
 
 Thus at great sacrifice Swamiji imparted 
 a religious zeal in the minds of many who 
 flocked around him. People from the re¬ 
 motest part of India came to see him. He 
 was so much engrossed in imparting reli¬ 
 gious teaching to these people that he had 
 scarcely any time to devote to his own wel¬ 
 fare. It became difficult for him to find 
 time for the contemplation of God. 
 
 He found that his mission was fulfilled. 
 He had given people an idea of how to fol- 
 
( 3i ) 
 
 low the paths of God. He now thought of 
 spending his time in contemplation, and 
 with this view remained aloof from the 
 people, and only saw those who really de¬ 
 sired his audience. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PEOPLE from distant places of India came 
 to see him. The crowned heads of India 
 often illumined the bare feet of the emaci¬ 
 ated Jogee with the lustre of the jewels of 
 their crown. Often did these rich men 
 offer valuable presents to him, but he never 
 accepted anything from them. He who 
 had left his hearth and home in his youth 
 in quest of truth, who cared not even for 
 the rank of an Indra, who cared for nothing 
 but God, could not be attracted by the 
 charms of wealth at a time when even the 
 koupin was left off by him. 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 Once upon a time the Pundits and the 
 gentry of Benares implored Swamiji to 
 make use of some clothes to protect his 
 body from the rigours of winter, and Swa¬ 
 miji calmly replied that a man of mature 
 understanding, who, after careful consider¬ 
 ation, gives up a thing, should not again 
 use the same. No one could induce him to 
 use clothes. 
 
 He is now free from all passions, free 
 even from the very wants of life. The bare 
 ground is his seat and bed, the ten corners 
 of the world are his coverings, the blue sky 
 is his canopy, and the precarious food 
 brought by the people is his daily meal. 
 There is nothing for which he has any, 
 cravings. 
 
 Learned and religious people from all 
 parts of the world came to see Swamiji 
 from such distant places as America, Rus- 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 sia, Kabul and Central Asia. The nobili¬ 
 ties of Russia and Germany also paid their 
 respects to this Indian Jogee . 
 
 The number of his European visitors is 
 daily increasing. They sit at his feet on 
 the bare ground and discuss questions of 
 moral philosophy, with him and always go 
 satisfied with the explanations given by 
 him. It is a matter of surprise that Hindus 
 and Mahomedans, Jains and Christians, all 
 find ample explanations from him on mat¬ 
 ters relating to the subtle points of religion. 
 People of atheistic tendencies, who, from 
 their nature, are indifferent in religious 
 matters, visit him and return true believers. 
 He has surely saved many soulsand brought 
 round many wicked people to the true path 
 of religion. 
 
 His very existence is an encouragement 
 to those who are desirous of knowing Him, 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 who alone is the end of all knowledge. 
 His life is full of advice and consolation for 
 those who are truly religious and have suf¬ 
 fered many reverses in the battle of life. 
 He is kind alike to all, and whoever sees 
 him comes with an elevated heart. May 
 he live long for the good of the world. 
 
 In this iron age of Kaliyug people are 
 generally of weak mind, and the span of 
 life is also very short. The passions have 
 great influence over men. The peculiar 
 constitution of society all round the world 
 leads even good people to wicked and sin¬ 
 ful acts. At such an age the presence of a 
 true Sanyasi like Swamiji is of great value 
 to all. Those who think that a recluse, 
 who has forsaken the world, is of no earth¬ 
 ly use to society, can see for themselves 
 what immense good is being done to the 
 religious world by the existence of a pious 
 man like Swami Bhaskaranand Saraswati. 
 
( 35 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Advancement in religious pursuits and 
 the attainment of the ends of the practice of 
 Yoga are so much fraught with good prac¬ 
 tical results that one is astounded with the 
 superhuman power of a Yogee. The good 
 wishes of such a man have often been seen 
 to have effect. That Swami Bhaskaranand 
 Saraswati has many miraculous powers are 
 well-known to many who constantly pay 
 visits to him. Of course Swamiji very 
 rarely makes a display of his supernatural 
 powers" but there are occasions when, in 
 spite of his wishes, the powers are made 
 visible. 
 
 One day the son of one Sital Prosad, a 
 follower and admirer of Swamiji, fell to the 
 ground from a roof, the height of which 
 was 135 feet. The boy became insensible, 
 and there was very little hope for life. Si¬ 
 tal Prosad ran to Swamiji and informed him 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 of what had happened. Swamiji touched a 
 pot of water with his feet and made it over 
 to Sital Prosad, who ran home with the 
 same, and applied some water to the face of 
 the boy, who thereupon regained conscious¬ 
 ness. The rest of the water was then drunk 
 by the boy and he became all right. The 
 boy and the father are still alive to tell this 
 wonderful story. They reside in Brahman 
 Mahalla in Benares. 
 
 One Bissumber, a brother-in-law of Mo- 
 habir Prasad, a pious zemindar, was suffer¬ 
 ing from dropsy, and everyone despaired 
 of his life, though medical help of all sorts 
 was resorted to. The European Civil Sur¬ 
 geon and the native Kabiraj all gave up 
 hope for his life. Mohabir Prasad implored 
 Swamiji to save the life of Bissumber, and 
 he has fully recovered now through the 
 kindness of Swamiji. This man is still 
 alive, and is now in good health. 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 Another man, a Brahmin, was dying, as 
 he could not retain anything in his stomach. 
 Seeing the miraculous.recovery of Sital Pro- 
 sad’s son, he came to Swamiji and implored 
 him to save his life. The man was a Brah¬ 
 min by caste, and Swamiji told him to 
 prepare some food for him. The man in des¬ 
 pair told Swamiji that he could not retain 
 anything in his stomach, and that it was 
 useless to cook. Swamiji still pressed the 
 man to cook some food. He then prepared 
 some food as best he could. Swamiji 
 partook of it, and told the man to eat, 
 Thenceforward the man began to recover, 
 and now he is as strong a man as ever. 
 
 Instances can be multiplied of such won¬ 
 derful recoveries, but it is unnecessary to 
 recount them. 
 
 One day a man, who was living at the 
 time at Benares, went to see Swamiji. He 
 
( 38 ) 
 
 used to see him now and then. Swamiji, 
 seeing his face, told him that there was some 
 coming danger staring him in the face. The 
 man could not imagine what danger could 
 possibly overtake him, but within a week 
 news of the death of his only sen came to 
 him by post. The writer heard the story 
 from the gentleman who, having lost his 
 only son, travelled from place to place to 
 seek relief from sorrow. 
 
 These stories related above can scarcely 
 be believed by the materialistic people of 
 this unfortunate age. There are many 
 more wonderful stories, but the common 
 world in quite unfit to accept them. 
 
 Those who doubted the supernatural acts 
 of poor Madam Balvatsky should know 
 that as nothing is impossible with God, so 
 nothing is impossible for his devoted fol¬ 
 lowers. If a man can believe the superna- 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 tural powers of Christ or Moses, he has no 
 reason to disbelieve the powers attained by 
 others, and by practice the unbeliever him¬ 
 self can realize the truth of these statements, 
 if he will only try with his whole heart. 
 
 These powers are nothing but allurements 
 to lead men astray. These are severe tests 
 of a man’s devotion, and Sanyasis like Swa- 
 miji regard them as useless and as unreal 
 as the world itself. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 UNFORTUNATE men, who have gone far 
 away from the true path of salvation, 
 should remember that this is Kaliyuga, 
 that every day the tide of vice is gathering 
 new force, that in the guise of civiliza¬ 
 tion it is undermining the fabric of reli¬ 
 gion, and that immense mischief is being 
 done even in the name of religion. We 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 should therefore be careful in accepting 
 new principles or new doctrines, fascinat¬ 
 ing to the unguarded eye ; we should care¬ 
 fully examine their claims to our consider¬ 
 ation* We should beware of the baneful 
 influence of godless Western education 
 and civilization. Truly unfortunate are 
 those who, being born as Hindus, have 
 failed to learn the tenets of their great 
 religion. A careful perusal of the Shastras y 
 so kindly prepared by our disinterested 
 and truth-seeing (cFe^Jt*) Rishis, will show 
 what a vast amount of religious wealth 
 and what precious gems have been left 
 for us. The tenets of other religions will 
 be found on the very threshold of the great 
 fabric of Hindu religion. The Hindu is 
 loath to enjoy even heaven, the aim and 
 ambition of ail other religions. He regards 
 heaven as an improved edition of the 
 worldly life, as unreal as this world itself. 
 
( 4i ) 
 
 The Hindu alone knows that the great 
 Paramatma is visible in animal life as Ji- 
 batma, that Maya alone has enchained 
 men to the so-called pleasures of this 
 world, that the heaven is also ruled by 
 Maya, and that the unknown is above 
 Maya, and can only be known if one can 
 free himself from Maya. Mukti is a thing 
 unknown to the other religions. 
 
 The aim of the Hindu Shastras has been 
 to humanize the world. It has taken 
 steps to purify the life from the very con¬ 
 ception to the day of death. The husband 
 and wife are not permitted to meet except 
 on auspicious days, and when the mind 
 and the body both are pure. The child in 
 the womb is kept purified by various prac¬ 
 tices. After birth the child is purified by 
 undergoing the various ceremonies in which 
 the help of God is invoked. In the eighth 
 year the child is invested with the holy 
 
( 42 ) 
 
 thread, and sent over to the house of his 
 Guru , where he would be educated in the 
 Shastras } practically and theoetically, 
 From this time till marriage he is to lead 
 the austere life of a Brahmachari. After 
 marriage he enters the world, where he must 
 earn his livelihood by legitimate means, 
 and spend a part of it in religious purposes. 
 He is to marry not to satisfy his lust, 
 but to give birth to male children, and his 
 wife is to help him in his observance of 
 religious practices. The wife, who is re¬ 
 garded as half part of her husband, is his 
 shahadharminiy or fellow in religious acts. 
 The marriage is a holy union for ever, 
 and not a contract to be thrown up at will. 
 After enjoying the Grihasthasram, the 
 husband and wife are to make over every¬ 
 thing to the grown-up son and to retire to 
 a secluded place, where they are to spend 
 their entire time in religious pursuits, aud 
 
( 43 ) 
 
 if any of them is so fortunate as to become 
 a strong devotee, he would become a San- 
 yasi and die at a time when Satwa alone 
 would hold supreme sway in his mind. 
 
 Such are the high ideas of a religion 
 left to the unfortunate descendants of the 
 holy Aryans ; but we have so far lost our 
 heads by the study of Western literature 
 and science that we fail to see the truths 
 in the holy religion of the Hindus, and 
 regard worship by symbols as worship of 
 idols, Shradhas as useless ceremo¬ 
 
 nies and pujahs as so much waste of time. 
 
 For us, men with godless Western edu¬ 
 cation, visits to Mahatmas like Bhaskara- 
 nand Swamiji are highly beneficial, if only 
 we can bend our proud head puffed up 
 with egotism to his feet. These powerful 
 favourite sons of God look upon us with 
 pity, and if we are truly repentant, they 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 point out our mistakes and grant us protec¬ 
 tion to save our souls from further mis¬ 
 chief. Thousands of this sort have been 
 saved by Swamiji, and may he live long to 
 save many others. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Five years after Swamiji had come to 
 reside in the garden of Anundabag, in the 
 city of Benares (that is in the year 1930 
 Sambat, corresponding to 1873 of the Chris¬ 
 tian era) Misri Lai, father of the Swamiji, 
 thought of renouncing the world, and of 
 spending the rest of his life as a Sanaysi . 
 One night, while in his bed, the thought 
 of the unknowable God passed in his mind, 
 and he began to discuss the Parusa and 
 Prakriti nature of God. His mind be¬ 
 came extremely agitated, and he rose in 
 the morning from his bed fully determined 
 to leave his house for good. 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 Misri Lai was a pious mao from the be¬ 
 ginning. His idea of religion was natur¬ 
 ally of a very high standard. It got an 
 impetus when his worthy son visited home 
 after having taken up Sanyas. The 
 thought of his son’s career had a great 
 influence over him. He saw that Maya 
 was the root of all evil, and that it is 
 very difficult to cultivate the high principle 
 of religion in the temporal world. He 
 thought that by devotion to Mahamaya, 
 Mohadeb and Bisnu only could save a 
 man from the clutches of the all-powerful 
 Maya. 
 
 He went direct to Benares. After resid¬ 
 ing there for some time, he was initiated 
 as a Sanyasi . He breathed his last in the 
 holy city of Benares, after residing there 
 as a Sanyasi for two years. Thus ended 
 the life of one whose son had attained the 
 stage of an ideal Mukta in his lifetime. 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 The mother of Swamiji was equally 
 pious. Seeing that her son and her consort 
 had left the world in quest of God, this 
 virtuous lady also thought of following 
 their path, and with this resolution she 
 attempted the difficult task of visiting Bad- 
 rinarayan in the heart of the Himalayas. 
 There she worshipped the great god and 
 lay the bones at his feet. 
 
 Swamqi’s wife also followed the same 
 path. She went to the holy city of Benares, 
 and there she breathed her last. 
 
 What a happy family these Misras of Mai- 
 thilalpur were. They all were devoted to 
 the work of God, and all earned his favour. 
 The son, the father, the mother, the wife, all 
 vied with each other in seeking the Lord. 
 
 Swamiji has only a sister living ; she is 
 also a very pious lady ; she has been 
 spending her days in visiting sacred places 
 and doing meritorious woiksof piety. 
 
( 47 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Rani Bedsaram Kumari of Barhar 
 was once foretold of some good event. 
 After the happening of the same, she offer¬ 
 ed over a lakh of rupees as a present to 
 Swamiji. As a matter of course, the offer 
 was rejected. She then spent the same in 
 building a large temple of Siva, where poor 
 people are daily fed. And in one room 
 of the said temple she placed a marble 
 statue of Swamiji. This statue is worship¬ 
 ped with great veneration by the said Rani. 
 
 Maharajah Prosad Narayan Singh of 
 Benares has also kept a statue in his 
 palace as a token of honour to Swamiji, 
 for whom he has great respect, and so has 
 also the Maharajah Pratab Narain Sing, of 
 Ajodia, kept a statue of Sri Swamiji in his 
 palace for the sake of worship. 
 
 Anundabag garden belongs to the Rajah 
 of Amity. Rajah Sree Lai Madhab Singh 
 
( 48 ) 
 
 of Amity has placed a marble statue of 
 Swamiji in the said garden. 
 
 The Maharajah of Nagadh has also 
 kept a marble statue of Swamiji in his 
 palace, and worships the same with great 
 honor. 
 
 Mahadev Prasad, the scion of the Chow- 
 dry family of Besulalpore, district Muzaffer- 
 pur, has erected a temple in the village 
 Nanpara, district Muzafferpur, at a cost 
 of Rs. 50,000, and has placed the statue of 
 Swamiji in it in Sarnbat 1849. 
 
 Lala Gaya Prasad, Khattri of Cawnpore, 
 has constructed a temple, a charity house 
 and a tank in the birthplace of Sri Swa¬ 
 miji as a token of honor to him for whom 
 he has great respect. 
 
 The Rajahs and zemindars who can 
 afford to spend money have all erected 
 statues to the honor of one who regards 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 honor and dishonor in the same light. The 
 learned pundits of all parts of India have 
 composed Sanskrit poetical pieces extolling 
 the qualities of Swamiji; the pious visitor 
 always worships him with flowers and food 
 and people of all creeds and nationalities 
 look upon him with profound respect. The 
 German and American philosophers who 
 know Sanskrit find pleasure in discussing 
 with him the higher theories of religion in 
 the Sanskrit language. 
 
 Of late Swamiji has written notes and 
 commentaries of a hitherto unpublished 
 valuable book on Vedanta, called Saraj- 
 yasidhhi. The lucid manner in which he 
 has explained the difficult theories will at 
 once show the depth of his learning. He 
 dictates the notes, and others write down 
 the same. Notes on other valuable books 
 are in course of preparation. 
 
( 5o ) 
 
 S.wamiji now spends his spare moments 
 in dictating notes on valuable books on 
 Vedanta. He has also of late allowed all 
 persons to have free access to him at all 
 times of the day. Thousands now flock 
 to see him every day in the Anundabag 
 garden ; all come away satisfied with his 
 kind treatment. He teaches universal 
 love to all who see him. 
 
 Pioneer Press, Allahabad .—No. 610—25-6-95. 
 
The following are the names of a few 
 of the visitors to Swami Bhaskarananda 
 Saraswati during 1894 :— 
 
 England. 
 
 Robert Walker, F.R.C.S, 
 
 R. H. Crunden, LL.D. 
 
 Lord & Lady Manners. 
 Lt.-Col. G. H. Percy. 
 
 Mrs. Alfred Barry. 
 
 Bishop Barry. 
 
 A. P. Barry. 
 
 H. G. Barry. 
 
 Earl & Countess Brownlow. 
 
 Scotland. 
 
 William Dick, M.A, 
 
 Dr. Corbett. 
 
 India. 
 
 J. C. T. Reelfs. 
 
 F. C. Changing, C.S, 
 W. PorteaA, C.S. 
 
 America. 
 
 Dr. H. S. Oppenheimer. 
 Annie Besant. 
 
 C. Wachtmeister. 
 
 S. Ryden. 
 
 Col. H. S. Olcott. 
 
 James Cressy, R.N. 
 
 Rev. I. S. Wynkup. 
 Maxwell Sommerville. 
 Dr. & Mrs. G. R. F. Bell. 
 W. L, Shaw. 
 
 Annie E. Shaw. 
 
 General & Mrs. Barnes. 
 Governor of Chicago, Ill. 
 
 Germany. 
 
 Dr, Schultrim Hope. 
 
 Dr. A. Goldzicher. 
 
 Prof. Dr. Ferdinand. 
 
 Le Baron Henning 
 Winckel. 
 
 Dr. H. Schroder Azh.