Devotion

L'Eveil spirituel n'est pas une illumination ponctuelle, il correspond en fait à l'ouverture du coeur, l'Anandamayi loka!
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Swami Paramananda (1884-1940), de l'ordre monastique de Ramakrishna, naquit au Bengale, où il passa la plus grande partie de son enfance. Vers l'âge de seize ans, attiré par la vocation religieuse, il s'enfuit de chez lui et vint chercher refuge à Calcutta auprès de Swami Vivekananda. En 1909 il partit aux USA où il eut une activité intense. Il fut un grand dévot de la Mère divine.
Il eut quelques proches disciples qu'il accompagna de façon très personnelle.
Il était assurément un maitre en Atma yoga.

 

La beauté de ses écrits témoigne de sa grande dévotion intérieure.

 

   

 

  

     

 

THE PATH OF DEVOTION 



He who with devotion oflFereth to me a 
leaf, a flower, a fruit and water, that love- 
offering I accept, made by the pure-hearted. 

Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, 
whatever thou offerest as oblation, whatever 
thou givest and the austerities thou performest, 
do that as an offering to Me. 

Thus wilt thou be freed from the bonds 
of action that beareth good and evil fruit, 
and thy soul, being engaged in this devotion 
of renunciation — ^liberated thou shalt come 
unto Me. 

Alike am I to all beings, hated or beloved 

there is none to Me. But they who worship 

Me with devotion, in Me are they and in them 

am I. 

Bhagavad Gita. 



DEVOTION 

Blessed are those who have devotion 
in their hearts. It is the only reality 
in this world, other things are false. 
Live a pure, holy life ; be bold and fear- 
less. Never mind if thousands fall be- 
fore you; still stand firmly and never 
give up. Truly what a great thing it 
is to have love and devotion! Devo- 
tion is the only thing that can make 
one happy. 

True devotion has wonderful power. 

Through it a devotee can bring out 

divinity even from a stone. It is a 
living force and can give life to a dead 

body. They are indeed very happy who 

have naturally this devotion for the 



14 Devotion 

Lord. You know what Sri Rama- 
krishna says, — ^that the goal can be at- 
tained very easily through the power of 
faith and devotion, and never through 
the power of reasoning. 



It is the true devotion that brings 
God-vision to us. No one can reach 
Him through mere intellect; nor even 
by the practices of Yoga or different 
kinds of hardships. This is the word of 
the Lord. He is to be attained by true 
and pure love, unselfish and one-pointed 
love. God is free. He is not bound 
by any law. Still He says, "I remain 
bound to my devotees." As a great 
Saviour declared, "God is love and love 
is God." But it is very hard to realize. 
One can realize and feel this only with 
a sincere and pure heart. As long as 
we have the least selfish desire, so long 
we cannot expect to have this. It is 
holy and Divine. 
When this kind of love awakens, 
one becomes free from worldly ties. 
But we must not give up hope be- 
cause it is hard. . However hard it 
may be from the standpoint of the 
world, still it must be realized. With- 
out it the heart is but a barren 
ground. This is our life and this is 
the only reality in this world. And it 
is not at all hard for a sincere and true 
devotee, because his heart is made of 
love and naturally flows towards the 
Lord. 

Have intense faith in Him, then you 
will be free from all anxieties. He will 
bless you and protect you from all 
evils. Always keep your eyes fixed on 
Him and pray with childlike simplicity. 


Do not mind anything. Never be dis- 
couraged or disheartened, but live al- 
ways cheerfully. Then through the 
blessings of the Lord you will rest in 
peace and bliss. 

If you want to be a true devotee, 
you must be above all worldly thoughts 
and deeds. No earthly condition should 
ever disturb your peace. Be pure, spot- 
less, unselfish, with an all-loving broad 
heart. Never claim to be great, but 
look upon yourself as a humble servant 
of the Most High, and stand always 
ready for the service, without thought 
of danger. Remember that to meet 
even a violent and untimely death 
thinking of God and leading a true life 
is blessed ; while to live otherwise even 
in comfort and prosperity will only take 
you away from your Ideal and that is 



the greatest curse. Be always watch- 
ful, and never allow yourself to be 
carried away by any momentary weak- 
ness. Act boldly and fearlessly, and 
never become impatient. 

Depend little on outer things, know- 
ing that external expressions can never 
express the real feelings of the heart. 
Talk little. It is not words or beautiful 
language but character that will bring 
the light. Great Seers spoke in most 
simple language, but their words were 
full of light, of life, of hope and cour- 
age. Let the plant of your devotion 
grow in silence on your heart. Water 
it with the tears of true and sincere 
love. Look not for results; merely 
serve with your whole heart and soul. 

The true devotee works for his Ideal 
and for no one else. His eating, drink- 
ing, sleeping, moving, his every act 
becomes an act of worship. He feels 
that all belongs to the Ideal, even his 
body, so he feeds and cares for it, not 
as his own, but as part of the Ideal. 
If it is hurt or hungry or cold or in 
any way neglected, he thinks that it is 
the Ideal that is suffering, so he takes 
every care of it for the sake of the 
Beloved. Or he may look upon his 
body as a temple in which the Divine 
Ideal dwells, and whatever he does for 
it becomes an offering to the Beloved, 
He is therefore watchful only to give 
to it what is perfectly pure and worthy 
to be offered on that inner altar of the 
heart. This constant thought of the 
Ideal as dwelling within enables one 
to free himself from all physical bon- 
dage. 

Thus true devotion brings you to a 
state where you live with your Ideal 
in every moment of your life. Nothing 
else can exist for you except the Be- 
loved One, and when you live in Him 
and Him alone, all misery ceases. Your 
whole heart flows out at the feet of the 
Beloved and yoii become lost in Him. 
This state is blessed because it leads 
to the ultimate goal, — the true vision 
of God. 

♦ ♦ ♦ 

It is through love that we feel the 
nearness or presence of Divinity. Love 
unites God and man. When whole- 
hearted and one-pointed love for the 
Ideal awakens, it comes like a flood 
and washes off everything, — ignorance, 
narrowness, fear, doubt, selfishness, 
and leaves what? The Ideal. The 
Ideal alone is left shining on the heart. 
Then it becomes easy to renounce 
everything that is earthly, because noth- 
ing has any value except the Beloved. 
He is the Eternal, the Permanent, the 
Unchanging; all other things are tran- 
sitory and changing. He is the Efful- 
gent Spirit, everything else is perisha- 
ble matter. 

This love for the Ideal enables one 
to renounce the things of the world 
without effort. Christ could resist the 
temptations of Satan and give up all 
earthly power because of His intense 
love for His Father in heaven. So 
when we have whole-hearted devotion 
for our Ideal, nothing of this world 
can tempt us and renunciation becomes 
easy. This is the idea given by Christ 
of "taking the burden." It really 
means that we must be devoted to the 
Lord; we must think of Him con- 
stantly. By this we are purified; for 
whenever we meditate on a pure being, 
our impurities are naturally washed off. 
When we take refuge at the feet of the 
Lord, or cast our burden on Him, we 
love Him, our whole heart goes to 
Him and we no longer care for the 
world. Then our burden drops off. 
This is true renunciation and true 
salvation. 


When real devotion comes to the de- 
votee, he grows humble and all-loving. 
The Beloved is all in all, he is nothing. 
Everywhere he sees his Beloved, there- 
fore he becomes the servant of all ; and 
through every living creature he serves 
his Ideal. "Lower than a blade of 
grass, having endurance like a tree, 
seeking not honor for himself, but 
giving honor to all, such a soul is fit 
to take the Name of the Blessed Lord." 

A tree fulfills its nature, no matter 
how we treat it. If we cut its branches, 
still it continues to grow and give us 
shade. So the true devotee worships 
his Ideal, not because he desires any- 
thing from Him, but because He is 
dear to him, because He is his Beloved 
whom he loves for the sake of love. So 
long as we expect anything, we do not 
love truly and the Ideal remains far 
from us. Only when we have begun 
to love for the sake of love do we get 
true devotion. Then we serve silently 
and quietly. He who talks of himself 
is not a true devotee or a true worker. 
Swami Vivekananda declares: 

"The true workers work in silence 
and pass away in silence. Those who 
actually give up their lives for human- 
ity are oftentimes not known by many. 

"Where there is none to admire 
your work, not even a single person to 
encourage, where everyone hates you, 
there lives infinite patience, eternal 
contentment and absolute fearlessness 
in works. 

"When a great work comes before 
us, where there are thousands of people 
to admire, there a mean coward, a most 
selfish man also can give up his life 
in order to prove himself as a great 
hero. 

"But he who can do a very little 
without letting anyone know, he is a 
true hero, an unselfish lover of hu- 
manity. He is really blessed." 


Choose that relation to your Ideal 
which gives the greatest sense of near- 
ness. Trying to serve Him in an 
aspect contrary to your natural ten- 
dency makes the path of devotion te- 
dious and often leads to failure. Does 
He seem to you a loving Father ? Then 
make Him your real Father, infinitely 
closer than your earthly parent and look 
to Him for all support and guidance. 
If He is dearer as the Mother, then 
even more can you take Him close to 
you ; for with the idea of mother comes 
a feeling of nearness that no other re- 
lation brings. With the father there is 
sometimes fear, but the child can al- 
ways go freely to the mother; even if 
he has done wrong, he knows that she 
will not really punish, but will always 
love and forgive and protect. 

Perhaps it will be more natural for 
you, as many do in India, to look upon 
the Ideal as your little child, like the 
Baby Krishna or the Christ Child. No 
relation is more uplifting or purifying 
than this, for there is great depth in 
sincere and unselfish mother love. The 
deeper you dive in that ocean of love, 
the higher you rise in \visdom. Sur- 
round your Divine Child with true 
mother love, then nothing, no evil, will 
ever dare approach you. Look upon 
Him as your own child. Be like De- 
vaki, the mother of Sri Krishna, who 
never cared for the glory or power of 
her son, but regarded Him as only her 
little child, who needed her care and 
protection. 

When true devotion in any of these 
aspects arises, the relation becomes so* 
real that love and worship flow natur- 
ally from the heart to the Ideal. But 
there can be true devotion without serv- 
ing the Personal God in any form. If 
you seek the truth within yourself, with 
earnestness and sincerity, you are also 
a devotee. Have true love for yoiu* 
Ideal, whatever you may call Him. 
 

Serve Him faithfully, with unselfish- 
ness and purity, and you will get true 
devotion. 



II 



PURITY 

Purity is real strength, purity is 
real health. Gather your strength from 
that source. Never forget this; then 
you will become immortal. Purity will 
make you fearless, purity will make 
you cheerful. Have strength. Have 
courage, no matter what may come be- 
fore you. Overcome all weakness by 
the strength of purity. Move onward 
boldly, having real faith in the Lord. 
He will always protect you. 

With purity, whatever you do, that 
will shine. So there is nothing to fear. 
This is the secret. One learns it 
through the blessings of the Lord. His 
power is great and His manifestation 

Purity 

will be seen in a pure soul. He will 
always guide you through the right 
path. But work in strength, not in 
weakness. March on! March on! 
The path lies before you and the goal 
must be reached. No sleep, no rest. 
Awake ! Arise ! 

* * ♦ 

You must not be disheartened if 
sometimes the pure surface of your 
mind becomes dim and clouded. It 
will not last. After a great storm 
comes the calmness. After restlessness 
comes peace. One must follow the 
other ; this is the law of nature. With- 
out suffering we cannot realize what 
happiness means. So we must always 
remember that whatever happens in our 
lives has some deep meaning to give 
us only better understanding. It is 
natural that after the exercise of great 
strength there should come a reaction, 
exhaustion, weakness. Such moments 
are tests for the true devotee. He who 
can keep the balance and stand firmly 
in both conditions, holding to his faith 
and purity of purpose, is a perfect char- 
acter. Others are like babies. Any 
one can remain happy when every- 
thing goes well, but he is a real de- 
votee who can remain undisturbed 
when everything goes wrong and 
against him. Stand firm on purity and 
faith, then strength is sure to come and 
the path will become clear to you. 

A sincere devotee is never at rest, 
but is constantly trying to be a little 
unselfish and to get a glimpse of purity, 
which is the foundation of every true 
character. It is indeed very great to 
be unselfish. Pray with your whole 
heart and soul to become unselfish and 
pure, because this is the only way to 
freedom. AH other ways lead to 
bondage. 

* ♦ * 

Unselfishness and purity are insep- 
arable. One follows the other. Through 
unselfish work the heart becomes pure, 
and in pure heart remains nothing but 
love. Love, unbounded love, that love 
comes like a. flood and sweeps away 
everjrthing. Anything that is earthly 
finds no room in that heart. Sorrow, 
pain, misery, jealousy, hatred and 
whatever is worldly can no more exist 
there. This is what I understand by 
"Divine Love." This is the only thing 
I understand and take as religion. 

Be absorbed in this love and forget 
everything else. Do not care what 
others say. Care for Him and Him 
alone. Let this outward world vanish 
from you entirely. It is time for you 
to become mad in that love. "AH are 
mad, some for money, some for name, 
fame, etc.," says Sri Ramakrishna. 
You be mad for your Ideal. Be steady, 
be firm in faith and move onward and 
onward. Why should you fear ? Fear 
must not have any room in your heart. 
Be fearless, cheerful, pure and divine. 
Let the world see that you are the child 
of Divinity. Remember that infinite 
strength is behind you. So be strong, 
knowing that nothing can shake you. 
No matter what happens, you must al- 
ways remain undisturbed. In the pure 
heart there is no anxiety or sadness. 
Let your face be always cheerful, like 
a child who rests happily in his moth- 
er's arms. 

♦ * * 

It is only when the heart is abso- 
-lutely pure that real devotion comes, 
and you know how devotion makes us 
unselfish. Take for instance mother's 
devotion towards her child. She for- 
gets everything about herself, but re- 
mains always busy for the welfare of 
her child. The mother is ready to meet 
any danger for the sake of the child. 
She is ever anxious to keep him on 
the safe side even at the cost of her 
own happiness. This way, forgetting 
one's own self and self-interest for the 
sake of the Ideal, is the only way to 
become unselfish. This is what real 
devotion means. 

We must always move onward hold- 
ing this great ideal before us. Never 
mind whether body goes or remains. 
Never mind what others say. We 
must worship the Ideal, the Lord, the 
Master. Worshipping Him with whole- 
hearted devotion will bring peace and 
happiness. Nothing else can bring 
peace, neither name, fame, nor im- 
mense wealth. So we must serve our 
Ideal with determination, without car- 
ing for the results. This is true re- 
ligion. 

* * * 

Purity, strength, fearlessness and 
peace of mind, these are what religion 
gives. Religion is realization, is build- 
ing up one's own character. Belonging 
to any society or church cannot make 
anybody's life happy. See everything 
in the true light. Whom to fear ? God 
is our most loving Mother. Can that 
Mother do any harm to Her child ? Be 
true, practise purity and patience. 

To practise purity, you must first 
learn to control your senses ; then keep 
your mind fixed on the Ideal. Without 
self-control glimpses of the Truth may 
occasionally come to you, but they slip 
away again. Only through the con- 
stant control of the senses can you keep 
the vision of the Truth. The mind that 
yields to the senses loses all its wisdom. 
So long as it tries to gratify them, it is 
restless and unhappy. But when it real- 
izes that only through the influence of 
the outside world all disturbances come, 
while in control of the senses alone 
true peace is to be found, then it turns 
away from outer things and the heart 
is gradually purified. 

When the heart becomes pure, we get 
the vision of our true Self or the Ideal. 
Our heart is like a mirror. As long as 
it is covered with the dust of impurity, 
so long it cannot take the reflection of 
the true Self, which dwells within all 
living beings. So the purification of 
the heart is the most essential thing 
for spiritual attainment. 



Purification of the heart is indeed 
the essence of all religion. The ob- 
servance of outer cleanliness without 
inner cleanliness cannot ever bring a 
sense of purity; so do not make too 
much of external practices. Know that 
you are pure, you are clean, whether 
you touch water or not. Everything 
becomes pure and clean in His Name. 
Repeat the Holy Name of the Lord 
with sincere faith and earnestness and 
all impurities will be washed off. Keep 
your mind always in a pure environ- 
ment, that is, think holy thoughts and 
seek holy company; then purity will 
shine in your heart. 

Above all give up all egotism. There 
is no greater impurity than this. Noth- 
ing so quickly covers the mirror of 
the heart with the dust of delusion 
and selfishness. If you wish to be 
a true devotee, you must resign the 
little "I," which always leads to 
darkness and bondage. When you 
have resigned this little '%" then 
the great "I" will shine for you 
and cover the whole universe. You 
must give up the idea that you are 
something. That you do or do not do, 
both must be given up. Give up taking 
the credit for anything; root out this 
idea, then you will become unselfish. 
Root out all selfish desires and you will 
reach the goal. 

If you serve your Ideal without 
selfish desires, you work freely, and 
that work is the only real work. One 
can attain perfection through it. Such 
unselfish service to the Ideal will re- 
move all bondages from the heart and 
give purity. 



STEADFASTNESS 

Stand firm like a rock in your own 
faith. Be always watchful, cheerful 
and faithful to your Ideal. Be brave 
and true and unselfish. Never fear and 
never look back, but move on. There 
is no greater lesson than to learn to 
remain steady and strong under all con- 
ditions. Do not seek for human help, 
but look only to the grace of the Lord. 
He will protect you. Pray to Him 
and depend on Him alone. Human 
help is so uncertain. Human friends 
are selfish and they betray; but He 
is the Divine Friend, who loves for 
the sake of love. Swami Vivekananda 
says in one of his letters : 

"He the Lord knows best. Let ig- 
norant men talk nonsense. We neither 
seek aid nor avoid it. We are the 
servants of the Most High. The petty 
attempts of small men should be be- 
neath our notice. Onward! Upon 
ages of struggle a character is built. 
Be not discouraged. One word of 
truth can never be lost ; for ages it may 
be hidden under rubbish, but it will 
show itself sooner or later. Truth is 
indestructible, virtue is indestructible, 
purity is indestructible. Give me a gen- 
uine man ; I do not want masses of con- 
verts. My son, hold fast ! Do not care 
for anybody to help you. Is not the 
Lord infinitely greater than all human 
help? Be holy, trust in the Lord, de- 
pend on Him always, and you are on 
the right track; nothing can prevail 
against you." 



Misery and difficulties come at times 
to strengthen our character. They are 
like examinations. We must prepare 
and pass them. Know that they are 
very good for the formation of char- 
acter. The more we meet with diffi- 
culties, the more we remember our 
Mother for protection ; and that was the 
reason why one of the greatest devo- 
tees, the mother of the five Pandavas, 
prayed to the blessed Lord to give 
her always misery and sorrow so that 
she might never forget Him. Gener- 
ally we forget the Lord when we find 
everything easy and enjoyable. So it 
IS a blessing when this teacher, in the 
form of misery, comes and reminds us 
of our duties. 

One must be bold enough to face 
everything in order to serve the Ideal. 
Remember what Swami Vivekananda 
says in "My Master" : "Are you really 
sure that you can stand to your ideals 
and work on even if the whole world 
wants to crush you down ?" That kind 
of courage and self-sacrificing spirit is 
necessary. Truth can never be realized 
by weak-minded people. Our task in 
life must be done boldly. Fear none. 
Divinity and purity are your birthright. 
Have faith and struggle on. 

Why should anyone fear who is un- 
selfish? Selfishness is the cause of all 
misery and fear. There is no sin for 
him who is unselfish. Know this and 
be free from all fear and care. Fear- 
lessness is what religion teaches, and 
one can become fearless only through 
purity of thoughts and deeds. Past is 
dead and gone, but present is alive. 
So do everything with unselfishness in 
the present moments. 



The path of Karma is so hard and 
so crooked, even wise men are often 
deluded. Depression sometimes comes, 
but we must try to remain quiet and 
steady. God's ways are mysterious. 
We must struggle as long as we live. 
No matter if we fail thousands of 
times; we must still get up with fresh 
vigor and courage. Life is a struggle; 
one must be bold enough to stand 
everything. Let us try to follow the 
teaching of the Master. Strength, 
Strength! No weeping in a corner. 
Stand up, shake off all weakness. The 
soul is immortal; there is no sin for 
the soul. Whom to fear? Move on 
with strength. Fear not, but move on. 
You are free, you are immortal. Let 
no one call you weak, wicked, a sinner. 
You are not. You are pure, you are 
perfect. 




This is a very good song : 

mind ! Where can be the fear when I have 

taken shelter at His feet? 

He is Almighty and His grace is infinite. 
What can enemies do by insulting and tor- 
turing? 

At the most I may die, but I will die sing- 
ing His victory. 

1 have heard the words of great hope that 

even if I die, I shall always live with 
Him in eternal happiness. This is His 
promise. 
In the lonely cottage of my heart I will place 
Him (my Ideal), who is the Lord of 
my heart and soul, and will spend this 
life with Him in happiness and Divine 
bliss. 

So no fear after taking shelter at 
His feet, but happiness and bliss. That 
one indeed is fortunate, very, very for- 
tunate who has devotion. The Lord 
says, "I can give salvation very easily, 
but I do not give Bhakti (devotion). 



By giving Bhakti I become bound to 
my devotee." It is extremely hard to 
get true devotion. He who has it and 
can work on steadily and quietly, with- 
out caring for praise or blame, is 
blessed. 


In every man's life there come mo- 
ments of weariness and struggle, when 
everything appears gloomy and hard. 
But know that no true character was 
ever formed without passing through 
these stages. So we must be brave and 
patient. This world is no lovely flower 
garden, as some foolish people regard 
it. It is full of thorns, and we must be 
very, very careful as we walk in it. To 
be watchful is not only good, but abso- 
lutely necessary for spiritual progress. 
You know that thieves cannot enter 
your room when you are wide awake. 


So try to remain always watchful and 
awake; then you will never lose your 
precious treasure. Above all have 
steadfast faith in yourself and in your 
Ideal. 

Shake off all weakness and come out 
into the broad sunshine of truth ; every- 
thing will look different then. Remem- 
ber this, that we must not take up the 
true path for anybody's sake or give 
it up for anybody's sake, but must 
follow it for the sake of itself; and 
must stick to it as long as we live. Pray 
to the Lord to give us strength and 
light, so that we may always serve 
Him by following the right path. 
Never mind if we die in the path ; but 
never, never shall we give it up through 
weakness. 

* * * 

Know that there are ups and downs 
in both mind and body. We must not 
get depressed in any way because of 
that, but must remain firm and steady. 
You remember the parable of Sri Ra- 
makrishna on the two peasants, one a 
farmer by birth, the other a weaver 
by birth. The weaver, not getting 
much profit in his own profession, takes 
up farming in the hope of gaining 
more; but if it does not rain for one 
or two years, he grows discouraged 
and goes back to his own trade; while 
the farmer by birth, knowing no other 
profession, will go to the field with 
plough in hand even if it does not rain 
for twelve years. 

Similarly there are two classes of 
devotees. One is born with that Divine 
love and knows nothing else; while the 
other is simply trying to gain it. The 
first does not give up his devotion to 
the Lord even if he meets with hun- 
dreds of difficulties and by his life-long 
struggle fails to realize Him; while 
the second wavers in his devotion and 
turns again to the world when he meets 
with the slightest obstacle in the path. 
The first one's love is pure love, — ^love 
for love's sake; while the other one 
worships the Lord for selfish ends, and 
when his desires are not fulfilled he 
falls back from the path of devotion. 

* * * 

A steady mind is absolutely neces- 
sary. Without that no progress is pos- 
sible. Always try to depend as little as 
you can on the external side of life; 
then you will gain more and more 
internal strength. Never mind praise 
or blame, never mind what others say 
or do ; move on, walk on steadily, being 
unmoved by either praise or blame. 



Remember always what the Blessed 
Lord says in the Gita: "Udharet At- 
manatmanam, natmanam abhasadaet" 
(In order to make yourself free, no 
depression should be allowed). 

Never under any circumstances 
should you yield to weakness or de- 
pression. Be watchful and steady 
and a true hero. Stand up and say 
boldly, "I am strong, I am pure, 
I am holy." All the weaknesses will 
at once drop off, all limitations will 
vanish and you will become blissful, 
peaceful and happy. 

Do not expect anything from outside. 

Turn your whole thought within; see 

Him within. Place your Ideal on the 

altar of your heart and worship Him 

day and night. That is the greatest 

thing one can do in this life. 

* * * 



There is no real happiness in earthly- 
things. How can there be when noth- 
ing is permanent in this ^orld ? Pleas- 
ure is transitory, and so is pain; they 
come and go, and cannot last long, 
so endure them, knowing that it is only 
for a few days. He is a true hero who 
remains undisturbed in both pleasure 
and pain. Have patience; patience will 
conquer everything in long run. We 
must stand like brave soldiers, firm in 
faith. Body does not last long but 
spirit will remain, character will re- 
main. So pay all your attention to 
building up the character. 

You are pure and free; weakness 
does not befit you. Have faith in 
yourself. Have such faith that you 
can command every atom of your be- 
ing. No doubting person can reach the 
goal. "He who does not believe in 
himself is an atheist," says Swami 
Vivekananda. Know that you cannot 
have faith in the Lord unless you have 
faith in yourself first. 

What the Master wants us to do we 
may not understand. But we know that 
we are His children and we may be 
sure that He will guide us and protect 
us. That is all we need. Let the whole 
world stand against us ; we should not 
care. We must be brave soldiers, faith- 
ful, true soldiers. The path of Karma 
is very crooked; but no great work 
was ever performed without the su- 
preme sacrifice. 

Arise, awake, and turn away from 
this outside world. Go deeper and 
deeper within yourself. There you will 
find real peace and rest. Know that 
peace can be had only within your 
own self and nowhere else. No place 
can give us peace unless we are our- 
selves peaceful. So try to gain that 
peace within yourself, then you shall 
become free and no outward disturb- 
ance will ever break your calmness. 
Fear not. Believe in yourself. Move 
onward ! Die like a hero fighting for 
the truth. That will bring peace to 
your soul. 



IV 



FEARLESSNESS 

Nothing can drive you from the 
path if you stand fearlessly, with de- 
termination and purity of purpose. 
Why should we give up our ideal life 
only because some people say that it 
is bad or rise in opposition ? No ! We 
must not do that. Let the whole world 
go against us, still we must remain 
unmoved, true to our own Ideal. For 
this we need strength and determina- 
tion. Anyone can be a hero when every- 
thing goes on smoothly. But he is a 
true hero who can stand firmly on his 
own feet even when the whole world 
acts against him. That is the test of 
life. 


In order to mould a perfect character 
we need many things. We must go 
through both good smd bad, happiness 
and misery, pleasure and pain. And 
when we are unshaken by either happi- 
ness or misery, then we have reached 
perfection. Then we can have no more 
fear from the outside world. 

What is there in the world? We 
know there is no real happiness. How 
can there be when it is so transitory? 
Never mind ; even if we cannot realize 
God in this life, still we should never 
think of going back to the wretched 
world which we have renounced as 
poison. Always remember this ; it will 
give you great strength. He who has 
renounced the world, or in other words, 
has vomited the world out of his sys- 
tem, if he wants to taste that filthy 
stuff again, how foolish, how unwise, 
how wretched, bow shameless should 
he be regarded! There is some real 
happiness in living a pure and true life. 
In no other way can it be found. 

Take courage and have infinite pa- 
tience. Patience will conquer every- 
thing. Have wonderful determination 
and say boldly, "I must live a true life !" 
Show your strength and say fearlessly 
to the world, "Get thee off, proud 
world ! I do not want thee. I do not 
need thy help." Bring out all your 
strength and repeat again and again, 
"I am strong ! I am pure ! I am true !" 
You will see how quickly the clouds of 
Ignorance will vanish and how soon 
your pure heart will be filled with 
Divine love and light. 

Fear ? Whom to fear ? What is there 
for us to fear ? Shall we show our back 
to the enemy? No, never! Let us 
die on the battlefield like heroes rather 
than live a life of slavery. He can 
fight boldly who has a sword of wisdom 
and a shield of purity. 

* * * 

The spiritual life, the life of renunci- 
ation, is very hard for those who have 
a tendency to fulfill selfish desires; 
otherwise it brings great happiness and 
peace. There is some real joy in re- 
nunciation. Give up, give up and be 
free. As long as we have something 
to depend on, so long we are not 
free. Freedom comes when we no 
longer depend on any external help, 
when we get everyhing within our- 
selves and remain satisfied with our 
own self. What good is there in sense 
enjoyments? They bring only misery 
and darkness. One moment's sense 
enjoyment will perhaps bring misery 
for the whole life. What is the use of 
having such momentary happiness to 
create only suffering in the end? It 
is better never to run after such pleasure 
even if we do not get a single glimpse 
of spirituality by our life-long struggle. 
Self-control, at least, will make 
us more independent. Never mind 
whether we realize God or not in this 
life, but there is no reason why we 
should live like slaves or live in the 
world and create more and more bond- 
age around us by blindly following our 
selfish desires. The more we try to 
satisfy them, the stronger they become ; 
just as the flame rises higher when 
we pour oil on the fire. We know 
the world is full of misery, why should 
we be tempted again by that ? No, by 
no means should we think of going 
back to it. That kind of determination 
we must have. Renunciation means 
giving up never to take back. 

Strength is necessary, firmness is 
necessary. Before strength everything 
is subdued. Even Devas are afraid of 
him who has a pure unselfish character. 
The strength of character is very great. 

* * * 

Be bold! Move on and iEear none. 
Learn to say that you are true and 
pure and strong; then you will be free 
from all fear. Fear comes from sel- 
fishness. So become thoroughly unsel- 
fish. Take courage! Take courage! 
Take courage ! Truth can never be at- 
tained by the weak. Take the essence 
of all that you have heard and studie:! 
and seen and try to realize that in yc: 
life. Let the whole world turn again. . 
you, still never fail to serve your Ideal. 

It is better to die in the battle instead 
of living a life of defeat. We must 
fight boldly with our enemies as long 
as we live. There is no enemy outside. 
Our passions and desires are the real 
enemies. So conquer them and you 
shall be free. Strength and patience, 
have them both. What is the use of 
that life which cannot stand for Truth ! 
Be bold, be fearless and see everything 
through purity. Life is a constant 
struggle; here we must not expect to 
get any rest. Move on. Yield to no 
depression or weakness. Suffering is 
good ; it is a great teacher. 

* * * 

Remember always what the Lord 
says in the Gita: "That which is like 
poison in the beginning and nectar 
in the end, that happiness is declared 
to have the quality of goodness, being 
born of the pure knowledge of the 
spirit. But the pleasure that conies 
from the connection of senses and sense 
objects, which is pleasant in the begin- 
ning but like poison in the end, is de- 
clared to come from passion," We 
must use the power of discrimination 
and distinguish right from wrong. It 
is very easy to be carried away by our 
desires ; but he is a true hero who can 
overcome them by exercising the power 
of discrimination. 

Weakness is death. My own experi- 
ence tells me that strength only is re- 
ligion, strength is truth. Anything 
that makes us weak is sinful. With 
all our power we must avoid that. 
We make mistakes to learn. But after 
learning once, we must work with de- 
termination and never allow any weak- 
ness. This is the greatest of all works. 
This is the best of all Yogas. How 
can we expect to get rest till we have 
conquered all our weak desires and 
have become masters of ourselves? 
Shall we obey our senses? No; we 
must not. Let children follow them 
to get some experience of the world. 
But never shall we obey them. We 
must command them at our will. When 
we have become masters of ourselves 
we shall have no more bondage, no 
more fear, but peace and bliss. Now 
no more talking, no more reading, no 
more theorizing ; the time has come for 
"being and becoming." On! On! Let 
the world remain busy with its own 
concerns, but let us walk steadily on- 
ward without looking at it even. 

♦ ♦ ♦ 

We have no right to trouble our 
minds about anything. Things will take 
take care of themselves. "To work 
we have the right and not to the fruits/' 
Work means building up our own char- 
acter. Let us try to do that and not 
spend our energies in vain talking. 
Great teachers taught not by mere 
words but by force of character. If we 
can build up such characters, then only 
we shall have the right to do good to 
others. Know that a beggar cannot 
help another beggar. Have something 
to give first, then you will be able to 
help others. 

Be free from all fears, all anxieties, 
and work steadily. The Lord is taking 
care of His children. **Ours is to do 
and die." Do what is right, do what 
is strengthening, do what is purifying, 
do what is uplifting, and die quietly. 
No use of talking big things. The 
world may not recognize you; the 
world may not give you credit. That 
matters not. Your character will make 
you happy and blissful. 

* * * 

The Master only knows what He 
has in His mind. If we trust in Him, 
He will give us strength enough to 
stand all conditions. Good, evil, happi- 
ness, misery, praise and blame will have 
no influence on us. Whether He puts 
us in heaven or hell will make no differ- 
ence to us. He who is free, he who is 
master of himself will remain the same 
even in hell. Therefore we must not 
give way to anxiety if trouble comes, 
but only pray, pray with great earnest- 
ness. So much we have the right to 
do. We can only live an unselfish, pure 
life and take the Name of the Lord. 
To the results we have no right. 

The world is one thing and God 
is another thing. So we should not 
judge the path of the Lord from the 
worldly standpoint. We know very 
well that great men, Saviours, never 
got justice from the world. Only a 
few appreciated them, and they were 
those who had given up the world and 
were cursed by it. World and God 
cannot go hand in hand. It is impos- 
sible. If we w^ant to worship the Lord, 
then we must run away from worldly 
comforts, praise, name and fame. 
Know that these are like poison for a 
soul who is striving for spiritual reali- 
zation. "Child, if you want to be free 
from bondage, then give up all worldly 
thoughts. As one shudders at the sight 
of a cup of poison and is delighted to 
drink nectar, so do you regard all the 
objects of the senses as poison and run 
away from them; but know the path 
gf Divinity to be forgiveness, sim- 
plicity, contentment, kindness and 
truthfulness and take them as nectar." 
The Sannyasin's life is a very, very 
strict life. Even the sight of a worldly 
man is injurious for one who is prac- 
tising renunciation. We may think we 
are strong enough to stand worldly 
vibrations ; but gradually in the course 
of time the world enters into our sys- 
tem even without our knowledge and 
spoils the whole life. Our senses are 
like thieves, ever trying to find our 
weak moments. So always remain 
awake on the spiritual plane ; then you 
will have no fear from the thieves. 
They cannot steal while you are awake. 

* * * 

So long as life remains in the body, 
our whole life must be a struggle to 
serve our Ideal with pure and unselfish 
love. Never mind what others say. 



Infinite strength is behind us. We are 
the children of the Divine Mother and 
there lies our strength. We must live 
boldly, work boldly, and die boldly. 
Fear is weakness, fear is sin. We 
must have nothing to do with that. 

Shake off all impurities from the 
system and say, "I am pure, I am free ! 
No sin, no death and no fear for me. 
Shivoham! Shivoham! I am a child 
of God, I am immortal. There is no 
difference between an immortal father 
and an immortal child. Both are one 
and the same." Strength, strength, 
strength is necessary. No weak person 
can attain freedom. So be strong and 
shake off all weakness. Say day and 
night, think day and night, "I am pure, 
I am blissful, I am free." 

May He who is the eternal Lord of 
the universe, may He who comes in 
different forms for the good of hu- 
manity, make us strong, steady, pure 
and fearless, so that we may live in 
Him and Him alone  





SELF-SURRENDER 

The true devotee is always con- 
scious of the power that works through 
him. Otherwise he is nothing ; he does 
not want to be an3rthing independent 
of that Divine power. He knows that 
the Mother does Her own work, that he 
has no right to take any credit or blame 
upon himself. Ever3rthing is all right 
as long as we do not forget Her. 
Egotism makes us forget Her ; it is our 
worst enemy. So we must fight and 
kill it. Let us pray that we may do a 
little service to Her children, remain- 
ing always a true instrument in Her 
hands. Otherwise this life has no 
value. We have only the right to live 
a true and pure life and serve as much 
as we can all Her children. 

Sometimes the task appears very 
hard, as if there were no way out of it. 
But nothing can remain permanent in 
this -world ; the clouds vanish and again 
life becomes hopeful. We must there- 
fore stand like a rock under all cir- 
cumstances. Let everything come and 
go, but try to remain always unmoved. 
Be bold and face the truth. If you 
have an Ideal, give your life for the 
realization of it. We must sacrifice 
our lives for our Ideal. That is the 
only way to worship the Ideal. Not 
weakness, not hypocrisy, but sincere 
love and strength will make us wor- 
ship Him truly. 

Move on and do not look back to 
see what happens to anyone. Thou- 



Self^Surrender 6g^x 

sands like me may die in this moment, . 

but that will not do any harm to this 

vast world. Truth is deathless and that 

will shine forever. Worship the truth 

and die for it. Remember always that 

the present life is the result of past 

thoughts and deeds ; the future is going 

to be according to the present. So 

our future depends entirely upon us. 

Past will be washed off by the present 

life, 

* * * 

That which has been offered to the 
Ideal, at the feet of the Master, we 
have no right to use for our personal 
satisfaction or happiness. He who has 
truly given his life, soul and body, 
to the service of the Master must not 
think of his own will, but should sacri- 
fice his own will at the command of the 
Master. This is called true sdf-sacri- 
fice. Otherwise as long as we can ful- 
fill our own desires by serving the 
Master, we serve him ; but the moment 
it interferes with our selfishness, we do 
not; this is not self-resignation. On 
the contrary, it is mean selfishness. 
One must be bold and determined 
enough to conquer this unworthy weak- 
ness, and must use the power of dis- 
crimination. 

The path of renunciation is very 
hard. Complete self-surrender at the 
feet of the Master is a very hard thing, 
but without that spiritual growth is im- 
possible. The disciple should always 
be ready to go to the mouth of a cannon 
or before a tiger at the command of 
the Master without asking why. This 
is what is called true devotion. 

Another thing necessary is to have no 
attachment for earthly things. The 
mind must be free from lust and greed. 
"He who, even here, before he is sepa- 
rated from the body, can resist the force 
of lust and anger, that man is really 
wakeful, that man is happy." Try to 
realize this and you will be free at once. 
Crush down egotism and say "I am 
lower than even a blade of grass." 
Then you will see that all impurities 
will vanish, you will become divine. 
Then you will have the right to take 
the Blessed Name of the Lord. Ego- 
tism stands between us and the Lord, 
our true Self; so destroy it and say 
"Not I, but Thou." Bring out the 
real strength and destroy all weakness. 
Know that Atman (the true Self) is 
never realized by a weak person. 

Let us therefore conquer all weak- 
ness. People take advantage when we 
are weak. We must know how to 
preserve our dignity, especially when 
we are among the people of the world. 
We must "hiss" in order to protect 
ourselves from the wicked, but we 
must never try to do any actual harm. 
When we try to do harm we drop to 
the level of the evil-doers whom we 
oppose and really hurt ourselves. In 
order to remain true to our principle, 
however, we must sometimes show a 
spirit of resistance in tjie form of a 
hiss, but never should we be actuated 
by a desire to injure anyone. 

Stand like a rock in your faith and 
devotion and let the Divine Mother 
hold your hand. When we hold Her 
hand there is some danger of our loos- 
ening our hold, but when She holds 
there is no more fear of falling down. 
So we must make ourselves free from 
every danger by always trusting in Her 
Divine will. Do not allow any other 
thing but Herself to occupy your pure 
heart. Do not be depressed by any 
foolish thought, fear, or anxiety. Know 
that nothing is impossible for Her. 
Have intense faith and feel free. 

Let her will be done in ever3rthing, 
then all must come right. We must 
not question why or what, but must 
follow Her will patiently and quietly. 
If misery comes, accept it as a blessing 
from Mother, who knows in which way 
She forms our characters. One thing 
we should always remember, that 
worldliness and holiness are two differ- 
ent things. If one goes towards the 
north, the other goes towards the south. 
So you cannot expect justice from the 
world. 

We must be bold, strong and fearless 
in our every action. When miseries 
or difficulties come, say "All right, 
come on,'* and stand up like a hero. 
They will run away from you at once; 
that is the only way to conquer them. 
Be bold. Be bold and fearless. Even 
one word of boldness brings strength ; 
6o try always to keep your mind bold 
and cheerful. 

It is a great and unselfish work to 
be happy, strong and cheerful for the 
sake of your Ideal. By working with 
such unselfishness you will gain every 
day more and more purity and strength. 
But this can be done only through con- 
stant thought of the Ideal and earnest 
prayer. The Mother will not fail to 
fulfill the prayers which are said from 
the heart with unselfishness. She will 
always protect you and give strength 
and guide you. Will She make you 
unhappy when you try to serve Her 
always with whole heart and soul ? She 
will not, for She is an ocean of mercy 
and cannot make Her children un- 
happy. No fear ; if any misery comes, 
Her heart will always be ready to share 
it with you. 

♦ ♦ ♦ 

Then why so often do our prayers 
remain unanswered, you ask ? We can- 
not know. We are only children. We 
should not wish to know much. She 
knows, the Divine Mother knows. This 
is Her world. She will take care of 
Her children. We should hold the 
thought, "I am only a child, a simple 
child ; I am the servant of all Her chil- 
dren." There is some happiness in 
serving Her children unselfishly, so let 
us always try to serve them. But here 
also we find difficulty because we do 
not'know what real servicemcansi Out 
of our foolishness we hurt those whom 
we intend to serve. In this way we 
make mistakes and cause unhappiness 
to others. Life is very hard without 
the power of proper understan^jingf. 

But still let us try to depend upon 
Her entirely. Although clouds some- 
times gather so darkly about us, we 
must stand and be patient. Let us walk- 
on steadily without being afraid of 
an3rthing. Never mind for the results. 
Know that good will always produce 
good, it cannot be otherwise. It may 
not sho.w outwardly ; still this is the 
only true and desirable path to follow. 

Her Divine will, we are all guided 
by Her will. Let us fully depend 
upon Her and say sincerely *l-et Thy 
will be done." We remember this, yet 

still sometimes a , little sense of -anxi- 
ety comes in the mind. But we must 
shake it off. We must live here toldly, 
have purity and strength of character, 
then face everything fearlessly, all the 
difficulties and dangers. Whom to 
fear? We are the children of Divine 
Mother ; our Mother is the Ruler of 
the universe, the whole world belongs 
to us. Have that kind of Ufergiving 
faith. 

Bring out the life, the strength, the 
purity and unseUish love which you 
possess within yourself ; they are your 
birthright. Come up, come up bravely. 
There is no death for you. Throw off 
all impurities ; old superstitions. They 
do not belong and never belonged to 
you. Know that you are free, free 
from all bondage. The little feelings 
of jealousy, hatred, anger, envy, name, 
fame, are all mere superstitions. What 
are you to do with them ? Drown them 
all in the ocean of wisdom without 
having any mercy. Do it quickly and 
realize that you are free. Free ! Wher- 
ever you go, you are free. No more 
bondage! No more fear! Let fools 
talk nonsense. Pity them, they do not 
know any better. Move on and never 
look back to see what is going on be- 
hind you. Let them talk, let them 
do whatever they want. Say nothing, 
but walk on silently and steadily. 

♦ ♦ ♦ 

"Mother, everjrthing is Thy will ; Thou art the 

embodiment of all will. 
Thy work Thou performest, O Mother ! 
People say, *I am doing/ *I am doing/ 
Thou canst capture even an elephant in a little 
muddy hole, 
Thou canst make a lame man to cross a 
mountain. 




Thou canst raise one up to be even tHe bead 
of the Devas, 
And Thou canst throw one down to the lowest 
state. 
Thou art the agent, we are the instruments. 
As Thou dost guide us, so do we act. 
As Thou makest us speak, so do we speak." 

O Mother everything is done by Thy 
will. Not I, not I. 

This is the true wisdom. One be- 
comes free after realizing this. Vanity 
is ruinous, is the worst enemy of man- 
kind. Kill it, kill it forever. Then will 
shine the sun of wisdom. Think "Who 
am I? Why should I quarrel or dis- 
pute with anyone? I am a child of 
God. I am free from praise, blame, 
sorrow, misery, pleasure, pain." That 
is freedom. Only foolish people wish 
to be regarded as great by others, try 
to get praise from others. If they do 
not get it, they are unhappy and miser- 
aWe. Nonsense ! Do you care for such 
nonsense ? A foolish play of five min- 
utes. What is the reality in this world ? 
We must use the power of discrimina- 
tion. No use in living like slaves. 

Why should we be guided by our 
senses and desires ? We must fight and 
conquer them. We have plenty of 
work before us. The work is hard, 
but it must be done. It must be worked 
out before we can be free. If we 
neglect it or do not do it out of fear, 
then it will take more lives and cause 
more siiffering. Through the blessings 
of the Lord the path lies open. Walk 
steadily, being fearless and cheerful. 
It is a very hard task to carry a burden, 
and «till harder for the one who re- 
moves it. How can one repay his debt ? 
Only by living a pure and true life 
according to his teachings. There is 
no other way, there is no other way. 
Material help and service are nothing. 
Cast off all slothfulness, therefore, 
and move on. Know that you are not 
the body, you are not matter, but you 
are Spirit, the pure, divine, holy and 
spotless soul. Hold this great ideal 
always in your mind ; then nothing will 
ever dare to disturb your peace. 



Mother will always protect you. 
Without Her grace no one can do 
any good work. Let us not for- 
get that, then we shall always be 
on the safe side. Man is in dan- 
ger when he forgets his Mother 
and runs after earthly things, regard- 
ing them as great and substantial. It 
is through Her grace that one gets light 
and non-attachment to worldly pleas- 
ures. Let us sing Her Divine glory 
as long as we live, never mind whether 
we are in happiness or in the midst of 
misery. Let us be absorbed in Her 
thoughts; let us become mad in Her 
Divine love. The world will at once 
drop off from our minds naturally. 
What is there in human praise or 
blame, love or hatred, jealousy and 
other narrow things of the world ? Let 
us forget everything and worship Her 
and Her alone with all our heart's love 
and devotion. 

Mother will scatter all around us 
peace and blessings. We are Her lov- 
ing children and She will never fail in 
giving Her mother care. The waves 
come and go, the waves of pleasure 
and pain; they are very good for our 
spiritual growth. Stand firm. Let 
everything come and go, but stand like 
a rock and have always faith in your- 
self and in your Ideal. It is through 
faith and self-surrender that one real- 
izes the truth, and never through use- 
less arguments or power of human 
intellect. 

* * * 

Human friends and foes are noth- 
ing. Mother is ever3rthing. She is all 
in all. Every moment must be spent in 
Her worship ; all else is false, whether 
good or bad, all illusion, Maya, ig- 
norance. Truth is one without a 
second, and it is She. She is the 
foundation of the whole universe. 
Without Her will nothing can be done. 
She is our Mother, Mother of all. 
When Mother is near no evil can 
touch us. Have faith, strength and 
courage. Know that Mother can make 
everything possible. No one can harm 
him who takes shelter at Her Divine 
feet. Fearless child he becomes. 

Pray to Mother and take shelter at 
Her feet sincerely, then fear, care and 
all weakening thoughts will cease to 
exist. Say *7ai Ma Anandamair "All- 
Blissful Mother, victory to Thee!" Re- 
peat with force, all evil will vanish. 
She is the only destroyer of evil and 
She is ever the Protector of Her good 
and innocent little children, who know 
none but Mother. What else is there 
in this world to talk of? Everything 
is useless and unreal except the glory 
of Divine Mother, who is the source 
of our existence, the source of eternal 
peace and bliss. 

Let us always rest in peace in Her 
arms. Mother knows how to take care 
of Her child best. There is no fear 
for a little child so long as he is in 
his mother's arms. She is all in all, 
one without a second. Whc«n shall 
we worship if we do not worship Her 
Divine blessed feet? Let the rest go. 
Let all other things drop from our 
minds. Where will evil exist then? 
Where will be the fear or care or anxi- 
ety to disturb us when every room of 
our hearts is occupied by Her? 

You know that beautiful song in 
which it is said that in this world he 
is supremely blissful who knows the 
Supreme Blissful Mother. Ceremonies 
and rituals are nothing to him. He 
does not go on pilgrimage to purify 
himself; he does not even hear any 
other word than the name of All-Bliss- 
ful Mother, and does not believe in any- 
thing except the will of the Divine 
Mother. In this way he who has made 
the Mother's feet all in all, forgets the 
world very easily and naturally, and 
he alone will reach the other side of 
the ocean of Samsdra (worldliness). 
There cannot be any fear for him. He 
does not listen to the praise or blame 
of the world, but he remains ever in- 
toxicated by drinking the nectar of the 
Mother's name. 

* * * 

Mother is the goal. She is the 
only place of rest and peace. Pray 
to Her. Pray to Her and think 
of Her and Her alone. She is the 
real protection. She is the source of 
all happiness and bliss. Let us dive 
deep in the ocean of Her divine love 
and be mad. This world will drop off 
from our minds at once. Everything 
that is unworthy of Her will be for- 
gotten in a minute, "/ae Ma Anan- 
damai!" "All-Blissful Mother, victory 
to Thee!" All fear will vanish, every- 
thing will become blissful in Her pres- 
ence. 

Pray to Her like a little child and 
She will protect you. We are all Her 
children. Why should we fear any- 
thing? Mother will take care of us. 
Our duty is not to forget Her in the 
turmoil of this miserable world. What 
else can I say except that we must 
worship the Mother Divine always, 
under all circumstances ; that is all one 
must do in this life. There is no 
higher or greater duty than this. 

Pray to Her: "O Mother! give me 
true love at Thy feet. I do not want 
anything else. Take everything else 
from me, only give me pure love at 
Thy feet." Pray day and night, and 
weep for pure devotion and piu^e love. 


This is called the true worship. Be 
absorbed in this grand worship; then 
the world will slip away from you 
and you will always live in peace and 
bliss. 

Remember that everything is done 
through Her will. She can do what- 
ever She likes. She can make the most 
impossible possible. Who knows Her 
glory? Who can sing Her glory? 
Ours is to give up all egotism and say 
^'Naham! Naham! Tuhu! TuhuT 
"Not I, Mother, Not I. It is all Thou. 
Give me only true love at Thy feet, 
so that I may never forget Thee. O 
Mother! Thy name is so sweet; give 
me intense love and faith in Thy name. 
Mother, O Mother, take me in Thy 
arms. I do not want to stay here; 
this is not my home. Thou art 
my home, my refuge; Oh let me 
come to Thee! Thy work must be 
don'* Let me do it truly and faith- 
fully, with unselfishness and purity. 
Let Thy will be done! Give us 
strength and give us light, and may 
we say truly and sincerely, Let Thy 
will be done. 

"Mother, grant unto us peace and 
blessings." 



APPENDIX 



91 



/ 



SANSKRIT SALUTATIONS 

Twameva mata cha pita twapieva, 
Twameva bandhul" cha sakha twameva, 
Twameva vidya, dravmam twameva, 
Twameva sarvSm mamadevadeva. 



(Thou art my Mother, Thou art my 

Father, 
Thou art my Friend, Thou art my 

Companion, 
Thou art my learning, Thou art my 

Wealth, 
Thou art my all in all, Thou art my 

One Lord.) 

♦ ♦ ♦ 

93 



94 Sanskrit Salutations 

Mukum karoti bachalam 
Pangum langha ate girim 
Jatkripa tarn aham bande 
Paramananda madhabam. 

(Through whose Grace the dumb be- 
comes eloquent, 
The lame crosses the mountain, 
I bow down to that supremely-blissful 
Lord. ) 

♦ 3|e 4c 

A j nana timirandhasya 
Jnanaitjana salakaya 
Chakshurunmilitam jena 
Tasmai sri gurube nama. 

(He who brings light to one blinded 
by the darkness of ignorance 

And opens his spiritual eye. 

We bow down to that Guru, the spirit- 
ual teacher.) 

♦ ?|e 3|e 



Sanskrit Salutations 95 

Nityam, sudham, nirabhasam, 
Nirakaram, niranjanam, 
Nityabodham, chidanandam, 
Gurum Brahma namamyaham. 

(Eternal, Pure, Unlimited, 
Formless, Spotless, 
Omniscient, Blissful, 
We bow down to the Supreme Lord 
in the form of Guru.) 



Nityo nityanam chetanarchetananam 
Eko bahunam jo bidadhati kaman. 

(He is the Eternal among all eternals. 
The consciousness among all conscious 

beings, 
Who though One fulfills the desires of 

many. ) 

* * * 



9^ Sanskrit Salutations 



Saranagata idinarta paritrana parayane 
Saravasyartihare devi narayani namas- 
tute. 

(Mother, do Thou protect those who, 
being overpowered by the misery of 
the world, take refuge at Thy feet. 

Thou art the destroyer of all evil. 

I bow down to Thee.) 



SANSKRIT PRAYERS 

Sahana babatu sahanou bhunaktu 
Saha biryam karababahai 
Tejasvinam abadhitam astu 
Ma bidysa bahai, 
Om! Santi, Santi, Santi! 

(May He protect us from all evils. 
May both the teacher and the taught 

enjoy together the blessings of the 

Lord. 
May whatever we study be well studied 

and strengthening to us, 
May we never hate each other ! 
Om! Peace, Peace, Peace!) 

* * * 

97 



98 Sanskrit Prayers 

Asato ma sat gamaya 
Tamaso ma jotir gamaya 
Mrityor ma amritam gamaya. 

(O Light of the universe 
From unreal to the Real lead us. 
From darkness to light lead us, 
From death to immortality lead us.)' 



"• * 



LITANY TO THE DIVINE 
MOTHER 

(As mother is the most sacred of all 
human relations, so in India Divine 
Motherhood is regarded as the highest 
manifestation of the Personal God. No 
love is so tender and watchful, so en- 
during and all-forgiving as mother 
love; and when God becomes our 
Mother, then have we a sure refuge in 
all the varying conditions of life. 
Realizing this, the Hindus prefer to 
worship the Supreme Being as Mother 
and it is at Her feet that they pour 
out their most eloquent and touching 
hymns of praise and supplication. 
They see and bow down to Her in 
every form. Good and bad both are 



100 Litany to the Divine Mother 

manifestations of Her glory. No- 
where is She absent. Her Divine 
power pervades the universe as the 
earthly mother's influence pervades the 
household ; and in whatever aspect She 
appears, whether good or evil, always 
is She to be worshipped as the loving 

Mother. This feeling is strikingly set 
forth in the following Litany, taken 

from the Sanskrit.) 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of con- 
sciousness, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of intellect, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 



- -'^ . 



i> 



Litany to the Divine Mother loi 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of sleep, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 



The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of hunger, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 



The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of shadow, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 



The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of power. 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 



102 Litany to the Divine Mother 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of thirst, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of forgive- 
ness, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of shyness, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 

The Divine Mother who 'dwells in all 
living beings in the form of peace, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 



Litany to the Divine Mother 103 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of faith, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 

The Diving Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of beauty, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of all ten- 
dencies, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of memory, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 



104 Litany to the Divine* Mother 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of kind- 
ness, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of con- 
tentment, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of mother, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of mis- 
takes. 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 



Litany to the Divine Mother 105 

The Divine Mother who dwells in all 
living beings in the form of the All- 
pervading, 

We bow down to that Mother again 
and again and again. 



He who takes shelter at Thy feet never 

meets with any danger. 
But becomes the shelter for other souls. 

 

 

 "La perle de grand prix est profondément cachée. Comme un pécheur de perles, O mon âme plonge ! Plonge profond ! Plonge encore et toujours plus profond et cherche ! Peut-être ne trouveras-tu rien dès la première fois ? O mon âme, sans te lasser, Persiste et persiste encore. Plonge profond, toujours plus profond, et cherche ! Ceux qui ne savent pas le secret se moqueront de toi, Et tu en seras tout attristé; Mais ne perds pas courage, Pêcher de perles, O mon âme ! La perle de grand prix est bien là Cachée, cachée tout au fond ! C'est la foi qui t'aidera à trouver le trésor Et c'est elle qui permettra Que ce qui était caché soit enfin révélé. Plonge, plonge profondément Comme un pécheur de perles, ô mon âme Et cherche, cherche sans te lasser !"