B 
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 (LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 SAN DIEGO
 
 
 SREE KRISHNA 
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE 
 
 PART I.
 
 SREE KRISHNA 
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE 
 
 BY 
 
 BABA PREMANAND BHARATI 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE KRISHNA SAMAJ 
 
 NEW YORK
 
 Copyright 1904 
 
 BY 
 BABA PREMANAND BHARATI 
 
 S. L. PA1SONS It CO., PRINTERS, NEW YORK
 
 To 
 
 BRAHMANAND BHARATI 
 MY GOOROO 
 
 To WHOM 
 MY SOUL Mnro AND BODY 
 
 ARE 
 IRREVOCABLY SOLD 
 
 IN PAYMENT OF 
 
 THE GRACE OF HIS ILLUMINATION 
 WHICH LIGHTED MY PATH 
 
 To 
 THE LOTUS FEET 
 
 OF 
 
 KRISHNA MY BELOVED
 
 PREFACE 
 
 I BEG to present this my humble work to the 
 English reader. It is the history of the Uni- 
 verse from its birth to its dissolution. I have 
 explained the science of creation, its making 
 and its mechanism. In doing so I have drawn 
 my information from the recorded facts in 
 the Sacred Books of the Root-Race of man- 
 kind. Some facts and explanations are herein 
 furnished for the first time in any modern 
 language. This book embodies true Hinduism. 
 If read with an open mind, it will serve the 
 reader with illumination and solve many a 
 riddle of life, untie many a tangle of thought. 
 I have spoken throughout from out of the 
 depths of the ages. I have thought absolutely 
 in Sanscrit and expressed myself in English, 
 an imperfect medium for expressing Sanscrit, 
 ideas. My object has been to impress my 
 readers with the substance of Hindoo thought 
 in all its purity. This has not been done before 
 even by Hindoo writers on Hindoo religion
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 and philosophy. They have cared to humor 
 the Western readers, by putting in a mixture 
 of Western thought and dressing it up in West- 
 ern ways of expression. I Rave not done so, 
 because I know that in reading an Eastern 
 book the Western mind wants purely Eastern 
 thought in pure Eastern dress. 
 
 This will afford all soul-hungry readers with 
 enough healthy food and drink. The first 
 part of the book contains the food, the Kernel 
 of the Soul-cocoanut ; the second part, its 
 Sweet Milk. The third part is from Krishna 
 Himself. It is the purest Nectar of Spiritual 
 Love. Let the reader open his heart to it, and 
 I am sure it will fill it with ecstasy. The soul- 
 ful reader will thrill with the joyous vibrations 
 of every sentence of the "Messages and Rev- 
 elations." 
 
 The belief that our life begins with the birth 
 of this physical body and ends with its death 
 is the worst superstition, because it is the 
 worst obstacle in the way of our soul's un- 
 foldment. This life has sprung from Eternity ; 
 it draws its breath in Eternity, and is finally 
 
 ii
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 absorbed by Eternity which is Absolute Love. 
 To know that we, human beings, were never 
 blessed with greater powers than we possess 
 in this age is the saddest of mistakes. To be- 
 lieve that we were once as great and powerful 
 as divine beings and that we can recover that 
 greatness and those powers, is to believe in the 
 actual potentialities of the human mind. This 
 life can be made one long ecstatic song; this 
 life can, if we take the trouble to make it, be 
 made the source of joy to ourselves as well as 
 to all around us forever and ever ; it can even 
 attain to the Essence of Godhood, from which it 
 has sprung, by developing uninterrupted God- 
 Consciousness. 
 
 We all are idolaters. Some of us worship 
 idols of Divinity, others worship idols of 
 Matter. Some of us worship the Spirit 
 through suggestive signs and symbols, others 
 worship Flesh, mere forms of animated flesh. 
 Sinqe our mind wants idols for worship, just 
 as our body wants food for sustenance, let us 
 all worship idols of Spirit in Form., Through 
 its concrete Form-Centre we can enter into 
 
 ni
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the Abstract Spirit of Love Love which is 
 our one object and goal in life. This Love 
 is Krishna and the universe and we, its parts, 
 are the materialized manifestation of that Love. 
 
 PREMANAND BHARATI. 
 
 THE ALPINE, 55 WEST 33o STREET, 
 New York, July 7, 1904. 
 
 IV
 
 CONTENTS OF PART I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. PAGE. 
 
 Life's Source and Search 5 
 
 God is Formless and Has a Form 17 
 
 SECTION I. The Concrete and Abstract God 30 
 
 SECTION II. The Science of Creation 41 
 
 SECTION III. The Steps of Creation 50 
 
 SECTION IV. The Cyclic Motion of Changes. ... 56 
 
 SECTION V. The Golden Age 64 
 
 SECTION VI. The Silver Age 91 
 
 SECTION VII. The Caste System 104 
 
 SECTION VIII. The Four Stages of Life 123 
 
 SECTION IX. The Copper Age 132 
 
 SECTION X. The Iron Age 145 
 
 SECTION XI. Manwantara or the Deluge 170 
 
 SECTION XII. The Kalpa Cycle 180 
 
 SECTION XIII. Natural Dissolution 194 
 
 SECTION XIV. Modern Scientific Testimony. . . . 199 
 
 SECTION XV. Science Upholds Shastras 209 
 
 SECTION XVI. Physical and Astral Bodies 219 
 
 SECTION XVII. Karma 223 
 
 SECTION XVIII. Reincarnation 234 
 
 SECTION XIX. How to Destroy Karma 250 
 
 SECTION XX. The Atom's Return Journey 256 
 
 SECTION XXI. Yoga 272 
 
 SECTION XXII. Bhakti Yoga 272 
 
 SECTION XXIII. Vaishnav, Christian of Christians 285 
 SECTION XXIV. Krishna Leela 295
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 LIFE'S SOURCE AND SEARCH. 
 
 BELOVED! I wish to call you "my beloved," 
 whoever you are who have taken up this 
 my love-messagfe to read, for you are the 
 beloved of my Beloved Krishna. I may not 
 know you, nor you me, and yet we have been 
 together times without number; yet we have 
 loved each other with the truest, the purest, 
 the sweetest love again and again, when we 
 lived in Love, when we had our being in the 
 Ocean of Love, when we were awake in the 
 consciousness of the One Essence which ever 
 pervades us all Love. 
 
 Beloved ! That state, that realm, in which 
 we lived and knew and loved each other, we 
 have forgotten, and this forgetfulness is the 
 cause of our separateness, our non-recogni- 
 tion, our want of sympathy, our troubles and 
 quarrels. Going into the depth of Silence 
 Silence within and without us I have dis-
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 covered its Secret which is also the Secret 
 of our forgotten Love-Existence. And this 
 my message to you is the revelation of that 
 mystery which our strayed soul is trying to 
 solve through every effort of the life we are 
 living now. 
 
 Beloved ! I humbly lay before you this mes- 
 sage to read to help you to recognize your 
 true self, to help you to find your true goal in 
 this life's race. This message is a magic mir- 
 ror in which, maybe, you will catch the reflec- 
 tion of your soul's All-Beautiful Image. 
 
 You are now engaged, my beloved, in read- 
 ing this message with the same object for 
 which every one of us is just now engaged in 
 doing various things. It is life's one common 
 object for us all Pleasure. That is the one 
 all-absorbing quest of humanity, nay, of all 
 living creatures, of all creation. We are ever 
 striving, all of us, every minute, to find that 
 one blessing which ever eludes our grasp, ever 
 misses our ken, ever deludes us like the will-o'- 
 the-wisp the one object of our desire, of 
 predominant, spontaneous, practical, natural 
 interest Unmixed, Unbroken Happiness. 
 6
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Not only is this quest for happiness ever 
 present within mankind, but also in lower ani- 
 mals, and even in every phase of Nature, more 
 or less pronounced or discernible. Every mani- 
 festation of Nature, man or beast, bird or tree 
 or plant, is ever endeavoring to adjust a state 
 of internal disorder and disturbance I mean 
 ever endeavoring to bring about a sense 
 or instinct of that harmonious equilibrium, 
 which we call Full Satisfaction, Complete 
 Contentment, Absolute Happiness. 
 
 Now the question may be asked: Why is 
 this universal quest for happiness? How is 
 it that every man or woman or child is every 
 minute seeking some sort of happiness or 
 other? The Hindoo sages have answered this 
 question to the satisfaction of all intelligent 
 human beings. Why is this eternal search for 
 happiness ? 
 
 That answer is: Because the whole unf- 
 verse, of which we are parts, has come out of 
 that Eternal Abode of Happiness, called Bliss, 
 where it had dwelt before creation, like a tree 
 in a seed, and the memory of which dwells 
 still in the inner consciousness of all created
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 beings, though it has dropped out of their 
 outer consciousness. 
 
 That abode of happiness is called the Abode 
 of Absolute Love ; the Hindoo calls it Krishna. 
 Th 5 > word Krishna, in Sanscrit, comes from 
 the foot "karsha" to draw. Krishna means 
 that which draws us to Itself ; and what in the 
 world draws us all more powerfully than 
 Love? It is the "gravitation" of the modern 
 scientist. It is the one source and substance 
 of all magnetism, of all attraction ; and when 
 that love is absolutely pure, its power to draw 
 is absolute, too. 
 
 In seeking even material pleasure or happi- 
 ness through life we are ever seeking this Ab- 
 solute Bliss, only most of us do not know it. 
 The man who devotes his heart and soul to 
 acquiring wealth is, in fact, but striving to at- 
 tain this blissful state. For what does the 
 would-be millionaire work to make the million 
 but to secure pleasure, the pleasure of good 
 eating, good drinking, good living, good en- 
 joyment to be happy? He makes the mil- 
 lion ; but the happiness which he secures, by 
 securing the means of pleasure and by enjoy-
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 ing the pleasures themselves, is not complete. 
 He still feels some void in that happiness, 
 something still wanting in those pleasures to 
 make him fully happy. He therefore piles up 
 more millions, he plunges into newer pleas- 
 ures, he leaves no stone unturned to find the 
 material objects which will add to his pleas- 
 ure ; and when he has secured all these objects 
 and enjoyed them, he finds himself exactly at 
 the same place where he was before there is 
 something still wanting to make him com- 
 pletely happy. Finding no newer objects 
 which are likely to add to his happiness, he 
 occupies himself by enjoying what he has al- 
 ready enjoyed over and over again ; that is 
 to say, he goes over again the same round of 
 pleasures to delude himself into the belief that 
 that is the best happiness allowed to mortal 
 man. 
 
 But the delusion is temporary and far from 
 complete. The longing, the search for some- 
 thing still wanting, is present all through that 
 delusion something unknown, but which he 
 thinks he might know and recognize, if he 
 once found it. But, alas, he does not ! 
 9
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Poor Man ! He does not know the secret of 
 true happiness, the happiness which is com- 
 plete in itself, which never ends, which, once 
 secured, never falls short or vanishes, which 
 flows from within the heart through all the 
 channels of the body, out through the pores 
 of it in a continual stream of ecstasy. He does 
 not know that this thing, this unending hap- 
 piness, is not to be found in material objects; 
 that it cannot be secured by the means or by 
 the instincts of the physical senses, which 
 cognize only material objects. 
 
 And why? Why is it that material objects 
 fail to give us that true and absolute happi- 
 ness, fail to satisfy the hunger of the yearn- 
 ing human heart for that unknown something 
 which it feels somehow must exist, but which 
 ever eludes its ken and quest, and which, alas ! 
 it does not realize that it once knew, that 
 it once owned by right of heritage? 
 
 The answer is simple, and ought to be 
 convincing to every thoughtful mind. The 
 answer is: Because material objects are 
 changeful in their nature and principle; be- 
 cause, being nothing but forms of changeful- 
 10
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 ness, they do not possess this permanent, this 
 unchangeable happiness, to give it to those who 
 seek to derive it from them. An object whose 
 very principle is changefulness can afford noth- 
 ing which is not changeful in its nature. All 
 the pleasures, therefore, that we derive from 
 material objects must necessarily be change- 
 ful, which means short-lived, pleasures of short 
 duration, broken pleasure, distinguished by the 
 Hindoos from unbroken pleasure, which, be- 
 cause of its unbrokenness and ecstatic taste, 
 ceases to be called pleasure and assumes the 
 name of Bliss. 
 
 The question now arises, where is this true 
 happiness to be found, if it cannot be found 
 in material objects? Some modern scientists 
 call this unbroken happiness a delusion and 
 a snare of credulous humanity. Modern sci- 
 ence has done much, has done wonders in this 
 Western world. None but a fool will deny 
 the glory of its brilliant achievements. But 
 even among those who admire the wonderful 
 progress of modern science, if there be one 
 who fails to find anything in these products 
 of science which is in any way likdy to con- 
 11
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 tribute towards the attainment of contentment 
 by the human mind, that person need not nec- 
 essarily be a fool. Modern science has excited 
 our wonder, but has failed to make us either 
 contented or happy contentment and happi- 
 ness, which are our eternal quest, the one ob- 
 ject of our life, the one goal to which all cre- 
 ation is running in a blindfolded race. It 
 should rather be claimed for modern science 
 that it has made its followers outward-look- 
 ing. It has produced conveniences and com- 
 forts of life, which have made all people 
 hanker for them ; and many, failing to secure 
 them, make themselves discontented and 
 unhappy. Modern science, in a word, has 
 served only to put obstacles in the way of our 
 attempt to realize that one object of our exist- 
 ence contentment, which affords true happi- 
 ness. 
 
 This leads me to repeat what I have just 
 said, that no true or all-satisfying permanent 
 happiness can be found in material objects, 
 and hence the failure of material scientists to 
 make humanity either contented or happy. 
 
 Where is, then, this happiness to be found? 
 
 12
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 The answer is : Within ourselves. It can- 
 not be found in anything outside of ourselves. 
 This continual stream of happiness is flowing 
 at all times from our heart of hearts all 
 through our body, but we cannot perceive it, 
 or feel it, because our mind has been covered 
 by the clouds formed out of our hankerings 
 for material objects. Our desire for material 
 pleasures is the only veil that shrouds this 
 fountain of true happiness from our mental 
 vision. 
 
 But if our desires for material enjoyments 
 be carefully and intelligently analyzed, we can 
 arrive at only one conclusion, and that is 
 that in hankering for material pleasures we are 
 in fact practically hunting for that happiness 
 which, once attained, is ever full, ever satisfy- 
 ing; which, once enjoyed, lays all hankerings 
 for material enjoyments forever at rest. The 
 fact of our material possessions and enjoy- 
 ments ever leaving within us a wish, more or 
 less pronounced, for something still more en- 
 joyable, still more pleasurable, is the most in- 
 directly direct proof that we are in quest of 
 something which material objects cannot sup- 
 
 13
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ply ; and the fact of this quest being present in 
 all human souls, in all their thoughts and 
 actions at all times forces us to the irresistible 
 conclusion that we once knew or had a taste 
 of the thing we all are eternally searching 
 for; and that, having lost it, we are ever 
 endeavoring to regain it, its absence having 
 rendered us as unhappy and restless as a fish 
 out of its element. 
 
 This lost object, this once enjoyed state of 
 the human soul, now absent but ever longed 
 for, is Krishna. 
 
 It is Krishna Perfect State of Love or 
 Bliss that is ever drawing us to Itself. This 
 Krishna was once our home, when this crea- 
 tion, of which we form but atoms, slept for 
 aeons unnumbered in the bosom of Krishna, 
 forming but a part of His will. When those 
 unnumbered aeons were numbered, after these 
 atoms of creation had slept for enough time 
 to rest themselves in that bosom of Absolute 
 Bliss, they were thrust out of that realm into 
 space, to form a universe. 
 
 They first manifested themselves as Uni- 
 versal Consciousness, which, wanting to be 
 
 14
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 conscious of something, developed into Ego, 
 and Ego developed into the Mind, as no Ego 
 is possible without the faculty of thought, which 
 is the Mind's function. And as thoughts are 
 not possible without objects to think upon, the 
 five fine objects, namely : Sound, Touch, Form, 
 Taste and Smell, came into existence, along 
 with their gross counterparts and com- 
 pounds, I mean the five elements, namely, 
 Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth; while 
 the Mind's channels of communication with 
 these fine and gross forms of matter were de- 
 veloped simultaneously, namely, the five Cog- 
 nizing Senses: Power of Seeing, (eye), Power 
 of Hearing (ear), Power of Smelling (nose), 
 Power of Tasting (tongue), Power of Feeling 
 (skin), with the five Working Senses, namely, 
 Power of Speaking (vocal organs), Power of 
 Holding (hands), Power of Moving (feet), 
 Power of Excreting and Power of Generating. 
 Thus from Krishna to earth, Krishna's Will 
 took twenty-four steps to assume the fonr. 
 of the universe, and myriad steps more to 
 divide the universe into earth, heaven, stars, 
 planets, sun and moon, man and beast and 
 15
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 bird ; trees and shrubs and grass ; mountains 
 and rivers, which go to make it up. 
 
 But every particle of this cosmos is con- 
 scious, directly or indirectly, in every point, of 
 the home that it has left, the absolute state of 
 Bliss it once has soaked in, the incomparable 
 nectar which it has once tasted. Yes, that 
 memory endures; the memory of that Love 
 Absolute is the cause of all discontent, of all 
 dissatisfaction, of all strife and effort, of all 
 ambition and achievement. It is the cause as 
 well of every philosophy and transcendental 
 thought, of moral and spiritual uplifting, and 
 of developing the human into the Divine. 
 
 From Krishna have we all come and Krish- 
 naward are we all tending. And all our ac- 
 tions, good, bad or indifferent, are but the 
 feeble steps with which we are all endeavor- 
 ing to cover the journey back to Krishna our 
 Home, Sweet Home! our ever-loved Home, 
 from which we have come away as sorry tru- 
 ants and to which the needle of our soul ever 
 trembles, pointing to us the forgotten path, 
 by which we fled from and by which we are 
 again to return to that Home Sree Krishna ! 
 
 36
 
 INTRODUCTORY, 
 GOD IS FORMLESS AND HAS A FORM. 
 
 Thus Krishna is the object we are all seek- 
 ing through every wish and every act; every 
 moment of our existence we are seeking Krish- 
 na. He is the interest which makes life inter- 
 esting, the one interest which makes life worth 
 living. He is the element of sweetness in the 
 grossest pleasure. He is the highest beatitude 
 which the purest souls attain to. The lover 
 of good eating cannot keep on eating forever 
 to sustain the pleasure that good eating pro- 
 duces ; if he did, he would die. The sensation 
 of eating endures as long as the food is on the 
 palate; but the mind alone is the enjoyer of 
 that sensation. The mind alone, likewise, en- 
 joys the pleasure of intoxication, which the 
 dryest and highest priced champagne can af- 
 ford. A little while and the pleasure of the 
 daintiest of food and the most delicious of 
 drinks is over, giving place to the pain of its 
 loss and the restlessness in the search again 
 for such pleasure! 
 
 The man who has solved the mystery of true 
 pleasure that needs no re-eating and re-drink- 
 17
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ing to keep itself up, does not seek to find it 
 in any food, or in any drink, or in any form or 
 means of material enjoyments, knowing that 
 it is the mind alone, affected by material ob- 
 jects, that cognizes pleasure or pain. The 
 pleasure or pain which the mind feels on being 
 brought into contact with the thought or influ- 
 ence of material objects is derived from those 
 objects themselves ; and so long as the mind is 
 habituated to draw pleasure from such objects 
 it cannot but come in for some sorrow, too, for 
 objective pleasure is short-lived, and its cessa- 
 tion is sorrow in the least pronounced sense. 
 
 But we all want only pleasure or happiness ; 
 we hate pain or sorrow in any shape. If that 
 is true, and nobody can say it is not, then what 
 we practically want is eternal, unending 
 pleasure; but we seek to find it in objects 
 whose very constituents partake of changeful 
 materials born more of pain than of pleasure. 
 
 If we can make the mind dwell upon some 
 object which is eternally lovely and lovable, 
 nay, even if we can imagine such an object, 
 mentally create such an ideal object, and con- 
 centrate our mind exclusively upon it, then we 
 18
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 can have a taste of that unending happiness 
 which we all are seeking in vain to find in 
 material objects. Then, dwelling on this 
 Changeless Idea, the restless mind becomes 
 fixed and calm ; and calmness of mind being 
 happiness, the mind is thus made happy by 
 itself. Then it has known that happiness lies 
 within itself, and within means independent of 
 any concern with outside objects ; then it finds 
 that the coarsest meal gives as much pleasure 
 as the daintiest of dinners, and that Adam's 
 Ale is a more delicious drink than the highest- 
 priced champagne. It has then learned to drink 
 the champagne of the soul, the least taste of 
 which makes one think the taste of the most 
 delicious wine and food to be all tasteless. 
 
 But from such transcendental nonsense, as 
 the materialist would call it, let us come down 
 for awhile to analyze matter, the God of the 
 materialist. Let us for awhile examine the 
 making and the mechanism of the universe, 
 and try to trace in the grossest matter the ex- 
 istence of this Perfect Love or Happiness. 
 
 I have already told you of the making of 
 the universe, that it is made up of twenty-four 
 
 19
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 principles; namely, Love, Universal Con- 
 sciousness, Ego, Mind, the Ten Senses, the 
 Five Objects and the Five Elements. I have 
 also told you very briefly the process of crea- 
 tion from Love to earth. I need now tell you 
 that every succeeding principle, as it is devel- 
 oped, contains the preceding principle or 
 principles. A grain of earth therefore is as 
 good as the whole universe in regard to its 
 composition. There is but this difference be- 
 tween the universe and an atom of it, that in 
 the universe all the passages of its twenty-four 
 principles are fully opened, while in the atom 
 all these passages are closed. But motion Ts 
 the principal law of creation, of all creation, as 
 every particle of it is ever moving in the form 
 of change. The atom of earth, which is the 
 smallest form of moving manifestation of Love 
 through finer and grosser matter, moves back- 
 ward now through grosser and then through 
 finer forms of love-manifestations into the 
 Ocean of Love again, from which it had orig- 
 inally started. 
 
 The process of this backward motion of ma- 
 terial atom is the opening of the passages 
 20
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 of its composing principles through repeated 
 reincarnations. To develop from a grain of 
 earth into a blad of grass is the first step, 
 in which only one passage, that of Feeling, 
 is opened. The blade of grass draws by 
 the opening of this passage juice from the 
 earth for its sustenance. Upward through 
 myriad forms of life shrubs, plants, vege- 
 tables, trees, lower animals, etc. that atom 
 travels, to develop into the first savage man, 
 in whom the principle called Mind is for the 
 first time opened, and along with it are opened 
 the passages of Ego and Intelligence (called 
 Intellect in individual souls) ; for all these 
 three principles are close co-workers. 
 
 The most important stage of evolution is 
 man himself, for in man alone are the pas- 
 sages of all these twenty-four principles more 
 or less open. And hence it is that man is 
 called the miniature universe. From savage 
 man to civilized man, from civilized man to 
 religious man, from religious man to spiritual 
 man, from spiritual man to perfect, all love- 
 ful man, the process involves again innumer- 
 able incarnations. It is the perfect, all-loveful 
 21
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 man, that reaches the original starting point 
 and merges in the Ocean of Love called 
 Krishna. 
 
 I am now about to put before you a proposi- 
 tion which at first sight may perhaps shock 
 you ; but I assure you that, if you can manage 
 to get over the first shock, by the aid of an 
 open mind and calm consideration, you may 
 find that proposition to contain the truth, the 
 whole truth and nothing but the truth. My 
 proposition is this : If this "formful" universe 
 if that word may be allowed formful in 
 every detail, has come out of God, or Krishna, 
 or Love, can it be possible that that Source 
 of the universe is perfectly formless? If 
 formless, whence have these form-manifesta- 
 tions of that formless Deity come? How can 
 forms come out of anything void of all forms ? 
 That is a hard nut to crack for Western the- 
 ologians; while material scientists do not care 
 to call that a nut at all, for they have learned 
 to see nothing beyond matter. 
 
 I want you to think over this question with 
 a view to draw the right deduction. Mean- 
 while, I beg to submit a few suggestions which
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 may be of help in drawing these deductions. 
 Forms coming out of anything formless is as 
 absurd to common sense as it is to higher, 
 otherwise called divine, or spiritual science. 
 Therefore the producing cause of the universe, 
 the first principle, is not formless, but has 
 a Form. It has even a form fike the form 
 of a man, a form most perfect in every feature, 
 a form of which the most exquisitely beauti- 
 ful and divine human form is but a coarse, 
 crude counterpart. Man has been made after 
 the image of his Maker, says the Bible. The 
 idea has been borrowed from the Hindoo 
 scriptures, which in their principles are noth- 
 ing if not scientific in propounding principles. 
 The Veda says that the Supreme Deity is 
 both formless and with form at the same time. 
 Just as the sun in its orb is the concrete cen- 
 tre of its abstract, infinite self in its mani- 
 festation of light and heat, so is the Supreme 
 Deity, of which the sun is but a physical re- 
 flection, the Concrete Centre of His Abstract 
 Infinite Self of His Effulgence, called Love, 
 which pervades the whole universe and all 
 space, as the basic principle of all Existence. 
 
 23
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 As the sun (the orb) taken together with 
 its light and heat should be called the sun, 
 and not the mere orb should be * called 
 the sun; so Krishna, the Supreme Deity, 
 should be taken together with His Central 
 Form and His All-Pervading Effulgence 
 Love to be called Krishna. It will be as 
 wrong to regard the orb only as the sun, that 
 is, the orb minus its effulgence and heat, to 
 be the sun, as to regard this Form of Krishna 
 (tne Centre of Himself) minus the effulgence 
 all-pervading Love to be Krishna. Thus 
 Krishna, like His physical light-reflection, the 
 sun, is Infinite, even though He has a finite- 
 looking Form-Centre. 
 
 The fear entertained by most people in the 
 West, that the form carries with it an idea of 
 finiteness, is not true in regard to Krishna's 
 Form. Not only is Krishna Infinite in His ef- 
 fulgence, but the Image of his Central Form 
 dwells in every particle of that effulgence, 
 called Love. Besides, nothing in this universe 
 is finite. 
 
 I shall, in succeeding pages, try to prove to 
 you the fact that the Supreme Being has a con- 
 
 24
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 crete-looking Form-Centre, for two reasons. 
 One is to support the proposition that no form 
 can come out of anything formless, and the 
 other is that all forms in creation, from a 
 blade of grass to a divine man, are more or 
 less imperfect manifestations of the Central 
 Form from which they have sprung. From 
 the blade of grass upward, the process of evo- 
 lution discovers more and more outward re- 
 semblance and inward affinity to the Form and 
 attributes of the Author of the universe. Hence 
 it is true that man is made in the Image of 
 his Maker. 
 
 In the upward evolution of the man-form, 
 the refinement of mental, moral, intellectual 
 and spiritual attributes contributes more and 
 more towards the man-form being made a 
 more and more perfect image of his Maker, 
 both externally and internally. 
 
 Krishna in Form and in Love-Effulgence is 
 present as much in a grain of earth, in a blade 
 of grass, in a beast, as in man. Only that 
 Form is more or less covered in the lower life- 
 forms, on account of many of the composing 
 principles of their bodies being unopened; 
 25
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 while in the man, all the principles being 
 opened, the man-form looks more like the form 
 of God. Some people refuse to believe that 
 the Supreme Deity has a form like that of 
 man, because God, with a human form would 
 be lowered in their estimation. These devout 
 people forget that the human form is but an 
 imperfect picture of God's form, instead of 
 God's form being a copy of the human form. 
 So God need not take the trouble of assuming 
 an imperfect reflection of His own Perfect 
 Form. 
 
 Dear Reader! Some of you may say that 
 it is foolishness and temerity on my part to 
 try to prove that God has a Form before peo- 
 ple who are in the vanguard of civilization, 
 and many of whom think that the very idea of 
 God is but a diseased fancy of weak humanity. 
 Yet, for all that, I do preach a Form-God 
 along with a Formless God with all the bold- 
 ness my ancient, truly scientific conviction 
 commands, because that boldness is backed by 
 truth, the only Truth. 
 
 You here in this country are all of you great 
 lovers and admirers of science; you want 
 26
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 everything to be scientific in order to be ac- 
 ceptable. The food you eat, the air you 
 breathe, the medicine you use, must be scien- 
 tifically supplied and applied. But if you want 
 science in everything, why do you not de- 
 mand science in religion? Why is your re- 
 ligion so unscientific? Forms coming out of 
 a formless God is the most unscientific asser- 
 tion imaginable. 
 
 The root of this belief in forms coming out 
 of the formless is buried in the conceit which 
 the new civilization has developed in its aver- 
 age votary. People here do not care to bow in 
 reverence to anything that has a form, hence 
 is a formless Deity so readily believed in. If 
 God had a form, they say, He would be human, 
 and therefore not worth worshiping. Nor do 
 they believe in making an image of God or 
 bowing to it. They will bow to man; they 
 will idolize man, but not God. Every man 
 here idolizes his lady-love, and every lady 
 idolizes her lover, with more or less abject 
 worship. They will worship the picture of a 
 lover or a lady-love day and night, but they 
 will not worship the image of God, even in a 
 
 27
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 picture. They will pay homage to a moving 
 form of Wealth or Physical Beauty or Sensu- 
 ality, but hate to think of, much less worship, 
 an Image of God. They are worse idolaters 
 than the Hindoos whom they affect to hate as 
 "heathens." They worship idols of money 
 and human flesh; the Hindoos worship idols 
 of God. They worship material forms of mere 
 matter ; the Hindoos worship Sanctified Forms 
 of the Divine Spirit or Its Attributes. Let 
 them raise their standards of idol-worship 
 first in order to be worthy to talk of the purely 
 transcendental idolatry of the Hindoos. 
 
 The Hindoos rarely paint a picture or carve 
 an image of a human being ; a human being is 
 not worthy of it, except a Saint or a Gooroo 
 (spiritual guide) ; but they paint their God 
 and make His Image, and worship it with all 
 internal and external homage. 
 
 We are all denounced as idolaters ; but we 
 are idolaters to-day, in spite of all the influ- 
 ence of civilization and Christian bigotry 
 brought to bear upon us, as good idolaters to- 
 day as we were ten thousand years ago. The 
 idols and idolatry of ancient Greece, Rome and 
 
 28
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Egypt have been swept away; but the idols 
 of the Hindoo-God still flourish and will flour- 
 ish to the end of time, as they flourished time 
 out of mind. 
 
 What is the reason? Whence is this extra- 
 ordinary vitality of Hindoo idolatry? Be- 
 cause it is not idolatry in the sense it is un- 
 derstood by "civilized" Westerners. We wor- 
 ship the images of the attribute-manifestations 
 of the ONE God, of the ONE Deity, of the 
 ONE Supreme Being, who pervades the uni- 
 verse, who originally is with Form and Form- 
 less at the same time. We worship Krishna, 
 above all, in His Image as He manifested Him- 
 self and walked on earth among men 5,000 
 years ago ; Krishna, whose miraculous deeds of 
 love, power and valor no incarnation, either in 
 the West or in the East, ever could enact or 
 even imitate, before His time or even after His 
 ascension to Heaven, up to to-day. We love 
 this Krishna, the Seed and Soul of the Uni- 
 verse, the Basic Principle of creation ; we be- 
 lieve in Him and in the potency of His Name. 
 
 Love Him, dear Reader, because He loves 
 you more than anyone you meet here on earth. 
 
 My Krishna bless you all! 
 29
 
 SREE KRISHNA 
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 THE CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT GOD. 
 
 SEE you that sun, Beloved Reader, shining 
 radiant in the blue space above? Ancients 
 worshipped it as a god, and the Hindoos, the 
 most ancient of all peoples, worship the sun 
 as a god still. With joined hands filled with 
 flowers and water and trembling with homage, 
 the Hindoos daily pray to this "Outer Eye of 
 the Deity," this parent of all light and Nature. 
 "O Thou Parent of the Three Worlds ! I medi- 
 tate upon thy power divine which directs my 
 intelligence!" prays the Brahman morning, 
 noon and evening, as he bows in all reverence. 
 This sun is the physical expression of the 
 Spiritual Sun, Krishna. As the sun (the 
 orb) is the concrete centre of its abstract self, 
 in its diffused manifestation of light and heat 
 which pervades the universe, so this, the 
 Spiritual Sun, Krishna, the Source of the sun, 
 is the concrete centre of the diffused effulgence 
 31
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 of His Body which pervades even the sunlight 
 and its heat. Krishna has a Form, a Form of 
 which the most exquisite human form is but 
 a crude counterpart. The effulgence of Krish- 
 na's Body is the substance of all space and 
 creation. This Effulgence-Krishna, with 
 Form-Krishna for its centre, from which it 
 radiates is Love. 
 
 As the physical sun's effulgence embodies 
 or is co-existent with heat, so the Spiritual 
 Sun's effulgence embodies and is co-existent 
 with Intelligence. This co-existent Absolute 
 Love and Absolute Intelligence forms the Be- 
 ing of this Creation. Krishna is, therefore, 
 called the embodiment of Being, Intelligence 
 and Bliss, or Life, Truth and Love. Every par- 
 ticle of this radiance of Krishna's Form-Body 
 is not only instinct with these three attributes 
 in one, but has within it the germ of Krishna's 
 Form and Power. 
 
 The belief that the First Cause of the uni- 
 verse has no form, is based partly on error of 
 its conception and upon ignorance of the laws 
 of Nature. It is a delusion to think that all 
 forms are human, material, and finite, and that 
 to acknowledge that this Supreme Being has a 
 32
 
 THE CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT GOD. 
 
 form is to take away from Him His absolute 
 divinity, spirituality and infinity. 
 
 That which is not in the seed cannot appear 
 in the tree which comes out of it, says an 
 aphorism of the Vedanta philosophy. This be- 
 ing an undeniable truth, even from a com- 
 mon sense standpoint, it may be asked: If 
 God is formless, and if that formless, abstract 
 God be the source from which the universe 
 has come, then how can that creation contain 
 any form ? If man's creator is formless, to put 
 the question in another way, wherefrom has 
 He His form? If God has no form, then He 
 can have no idea of form, and having no idea 
 of form, how can He then create form, for 
 creation is but expansion of Idea. 
 
 Creation has sprung from God's will, says 
 the Holy Bible, as also the Veda. These tell 
 us and both the Christians and the Hindoos 
 are agreed on this point that God has a Will. 
 What is will? It is but the function or attri- 
 bute of the mind. Just as where there is 
 no fire there can be no smoke, so where there 
 is no mind there can be no will. Once we 
 admit that God has a will, we cannot escape 
 
 33
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 admitting that He has a mind, the function of 
 which will He exercised in order to create 
 the universe. 
 
 Now then, it being established that God has 
 a mind, the question may be asked: Is that 
 mind encased in a body? If so, what sort of 
 a body is it ? Is it physical ; that is to say, is 
 it formed of the same material of which the 
 human body is made ? Or is it a body made of 
 abstract spirit ? This is not possible, for mind 
 is defined by the Vedas to be that principle 
 within us which has the power of willing and 
 non-willing. Scientists and modern philoso- 
 phers define mind with practically the same 
 purport. This vibration of the mind, willing 
 and non-willing, is brought about or induced 
 by the reflections cast upon it" by external or 
 internal objects, through its channels of com- 
 munication, the five cognizing senses, the phys- 
 ical counterparts of which are the Eye, the 
 Ear, the Nose, the Palate and the Skin, which 
 cognize respectively Form, Sound, Smell, 
 Taste and Touch, under which five heads the 
 Vedas have classified all forms of matter or 
 objects. A mind without these five channels 
 
 34
 
 THE CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT GOD. 
 
 cannot exist, for, having no channels, it re- 
 ceives no impressions of objects, and has there- 
 fore no chance of either willing or non-willing, 
 which is its attribute and its only substance 
 and composition. 
 
 Once we acknowledge that God has a 
 mind, we cannot help acknowledging these 
 channels of that mind, the five senses. God 
 has therefore not only a mind, but the Power 
 of Seeing (eye), the Power of Hearing (ear), 
 the Power of Smelling (nose), the Power of 
 Tasting (palate), and the Power of Feeling 
 (skin). The mind has also five other powers 
 called its working senses; viz., the Power of 
 Speaking, the Power of Holding, the Power of 
 Moving, the Power of Excreting and the 
 Power of Generating, otherwise called the 
 vocal organs, the hands, the feet, the excre- 
 tory organ and the generating organ. Thus 
 God, possessing a mind, is bound to possess 
 the ten senses, without which the mind cannot 
 act, and inaction of the mind is its destruction 
 or non-existence. God, having a mind, has 
 to have an Ego, too, for mind is but a product 
 or channel of the Ego, which means I-ness or 
 
 35
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Self-Consciousness. So that God has all the 
 principles of which man is formed, once it 
 is admitted that God has a mind. And there 
 is no sane man who can deny to God the pos- 
 session of a mind of which the universe is 
 the design and creation of which man is but 
 a tiny part. 
 
 The Christian Bible says that God has made 
 man in His own image, which means that man 
 is the reflection, more or less imperfect, of 
 God. Is it then possible that what is not in 
 the original is present in the reflection ? If the 
 human soul, according to this scriptural say- 
 ing, is a reflection (image) of the Deity, has 
 not that Deity a mind and body, as Its reflec- 
 tion, the human soul, has? 
 
 The answer is : It has, only the Divine 
 Mind, being 4 consummately pure in its state and 
 perfect in its working, is absolutely powerful 
 to create, preserve and destroy; and the Body 
 in which the Divine Mind is encased is com- 
 posed of a substance not of any material 
 make. 
 
 But what does this Body of God look like? 
 Is it like a human body ? The answer is : Yes, 
 36
 
 THE CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT GOD. 
 
 but of a perfection of shape, symmetry and 
 beauty, with which no human body can be 
 compared; it is the Original Body, of which 
 the human body is a poor imitation. 
 
 The question will be asked : Has God then 
 as good a finite body as any of us? The an- 
 swer is: NO, in capital letters. God's Body 
 is no more finite than the human body is. 
 There is nothing in Nature which is finite, not 
 even a blade of grass, or the tiniest speck of 
 earth. 
 
 All is infinite all that you see around you, 
 or perceive within you. There is no such 
 word as finite in the dictionary of Nature, in 
 the lexicon of Creation. All, all that looks 
 ever so small and circumscribed to the fleshly 
 eye of ignorance, is vast and endless to the 
 eye of spiritual wisdom. All that to the phys- 
 ical sight is limited in shape and life is be- 
 fore the vision of the soulful student of Cre- 
 ation's mysterious laws limitless beyond grasp. 
 
 Take a grain of earth, and try to trace its 
 
 origin by the light of the discoveries made 
 
 by sages who probed into the inmost depths 
 
 of Nature with the needle of pure spiritual 
 
 37
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 concentration, and you will find that that grain 
 of earth has sprung from Water, Water from 
 Fire, Fire from Air, Air from Ether, and 
 Ether from Sound, Sound from Mind in its 
 effort to cognize outside of it objects pro- 
 jecting from within itself, Mind from Ego, 
 Ego from Consciousness, and Consciousness 
 from the Infinite Love-ocean, the basic princi- 
 ple of Creation. 
 
 Can you call this grain of earth finite by any 
 means or chance, especially when you come to 
 know the mysterious laws by which that grain 
 of earth develops into a blade of grass, and 
 then, through myriads of reincarnations of dif- 
 ferent life-forms, goes back and merges into 
 the Ocean of Love, from which it had origi- 
 nally sprung? 
 
 From Love to earth and from earth to Love, 
 thus is made up the circle of creation, and 
 every point in its circumference is but a mov- 
 ing phase of the Infinite in manifestation. 
 
 Man being but a stage in the upward evo- 
 lution of the atom or a particle of earth, and 
 his soul being a part of the Universal Soul, 
 a wavelet of the Love-Ocean, he is as im- 
 
 38
 
 THE CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT GOD. 
 
 mense in every way as the universe itself, as 
 infinite as the Essense of Infinity. His form 
 is but the centre of his abstract Self, called 
 Soul. This form is concrete-looking, but it 
 is so only to the circumscribed vision of the 
 fleshly eye of ignorance. 
 
 The body of the Supreme Deity, Krishna's 
 Body, is concrete-looking like man's, but in- 
 finite in the expansion of its Radiance or Real 
 Self, just as, to repeat the simile, the orb of 
 the sun is the concrete-looking centre of its ab- 
 stract Self in the manifestation of its light and 
 heat. The orb, its radiance and its heat must 
 altogether be called the sun, and not the orb 
 alone. Krishna, the spiritual Soul of the sun 
 as well as of the Universe, has likewise a Form- 
 centre, from which radiates to limitless In- 
 finity His effulgence called Absolute Love, 
 which pervades all creation and space. 
 
 This body of Krishna, the Parent Cause of 
 the universe, is made up of concentrated Ab- 
 solute Love, and is the Home of the Very Fin- 
 est Ideas (potencies) of the sense-principles 
 and the Ego, Mind and Intellect, which form 
 the main factors of Creation. 
 
 39
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 The Beauty of the Body of Krishna changes, 
 like the shifting 1 colors in a kaleidoscope, into 
 more and more soul-entrancing loveliness at 
 every second, for it reflects the concentrated 
 Beauty and Sweetness of the whole universe, 
 charms warring with charms for supremacy 
 bubbling foam and froth of the Sweetness of 
 the Nectar of Love. 
 
 40
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 THE SCIENCE OF CREATION. 
 
 IT is an intelligent conclusion to draw that 
 the imperfect form-creations of the Creator 
 reach a perfect stage, or centre, towards which 
 all imperfections converge in order to reach 
 perfection. That centre does exist, that stage 
 is the stage by the standard of which all im- 
 perfections of things and phases in Nature are 
 known and judged. That centre is the Su- 
 preme God Himself Krishna. 
 
 Krishna, both Concrete and Abstract, has 
 three main spiritual attributes: Love, Intelli- 
 gence and Life. Love is the first attribute 
 and the cause of the two others. As the sun 
 (the orb) and its effulgence, to once more re- 
 peat the analogy, are one and the same thing, 
 as the flame and its light are one and the same 
 thing, as without the sun there can be no sun- 
 shine, as without the flame there can be no 
 light; in other words, as light is inseparable 
 from both the sun and the flame, so Krishna, 
 41
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 though He has a form as finite-looking as 
 a human form, is not only infinite in His All- 
 pervading Radiance, but that Radiance is in- 
 separable from his finite-looking Form-Centre. 
 As sunshine, again, is inseparable from heat, 
 so the effulgence of Krishna's Central Self is 
 inseparable from Intelligence. This Universal 
 All-pervading Intelligence, again, is insepara- 
 ble from Existence or Being, otherwise called 
 Life. These three Absolute Spiritual Attri- 
 butes form Krishna's body, both Concrete and 
 Abstract. 
 
 Thus both the Concrete and the Abstract 
 Krishna are the embodiment of Bliss, In- 
 telligence and Being, which are co-existent and 
 inter-penetrating. Before Creation, then, there 
 was nothing but this Krishna the three Abso- 
 lute Spiritual Attributes in one substance, so 
 to speak; for Krishna or Para-Brahm cannot 
 be called substance, and yet there is no word 
 to indicate it. As mosses formed out of water 
 float on the surface of that water, soaking in 
 it, so does Creation, springing out of this Bliss, 
 Intelligence and Being (the All-pervading Ab- 
 stract Self of Krishna), float, soaking in it. 
 42
 
 THE SCIENCE OF CREATION. 
 
 Let us try to understand the mystery of the 
 birth of this ever-changeful, material Creation 
 from its eternally Unchangeable Parent, the 
 Concrete and Infinite Krishna. I have already 
 said how every atom of this Creation is com- 
 posed of all the twenty-four principles, and 
 how in its backward motion to return to the 
 First or Primal Principle that atom opens 
 one by one the passages of these principles; 
 and how, when it develops into man-stage after 
 passing through innumerable life-forms in the 
 course of its evolution, it opens the passages of 
 all the principles more or less. It is the open- 
 ing of these passages of all of its .composing 
 principles, in the man-stage of the atom, that 
 makes it fit to be called a miniature universe; 
 for through these openings it communicates 
 more or less freely with the all-pervading prin- 
 ciples of the universe. The more developed 
 this man-stage becomes (that is to say, the 
 clearer the openings of these passages), the 
 more correct an index it is of the inner laws 
 and workings of the great universe. 
 
 Because man has the whole universe within 
 himself just as an acorn has the whole oak 
 43
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 tree in potency dwelling within it, therefore 
 he can, by diving deep within himself, find out 
 the mysteries of the producing Source, Being 
 and Processes of working of the universe. 
 
 If we think on the process of the development 
 of a tree from a seed, we will find that process 
 as marvelous as the most marvelous phenom- 
 ena of nature. Indeed, this process of the 
 birth of a tree out of a seed is the process, in 
 miniature, of the birth of the universe out of 
 Krishna-Love. This process of Creation is be- 
 ing repeated every moment throughout Crea- 
 tion itself. The laws of production and de- 
 struction, formation and disintegration are the 
 same in scientific exactitude as those which 
 produce and form, and destroy and disinte- 
 grate the universe. The operation of these 
 laws is going on as much in the inner as in 
 this outer world of ours as constantly on the 
 mental plane as on the physical. The law 
 which brings forth a tree out of a seed is ex- 
 actly the same as that which, in a finer mani- 
 festation, operates through the birth of a 
 thought in our mind. The rooting, the shoot- 
 ing, the growing, the flowering and the fruit- 
 44
 
 THE SCIENCE OF CREATION. 
 
 ing of a tree is but a gross reproduction of the 
 process by which a thought awakes, develops 
 and takes shape and action within us. The 
 stages of a thought's birth can be clearly per- 
 ceived when the mind is calm ; at first there is 
 an Unknown Feeling, then an Indefinite Vi- 
 bration, which develops into Abstract Idea. 
 Idea develops into Thought, and Thought be- 
 comes action. 
 
 Out of Krishna (Love) Creation springs 
 into existence like a thought. Thought exists 
 in our mind like a seed, in the shape of previ- 
 ous impressions of objects and ideas ; so the 
 seed of creation lies in the bosom of Krishna, 
 in the shape of impressions of ideas of previ- 
 ous Creations. This seed or germ is made up 
 of three attributes, called Sattwa (Illumina- 
 tion), Raja (Activity or Motion), and Tama 
 (Obscuration or Darkness). So long as these 
 three attributes, forming the essence of the 
 germ, are in equilibrium, that is to say, are of 
 equal degree or force or intensity, Creation 
 remains in the germ-state in the bosom of its 
 First Cause (Krishna). But the moment there 
 is the least tendency of any of these attri- 
 45
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 butes of this germ-essence to fall out of equi- 
 librium with the other two, that is to say, when 
 one becomes more powerful than the others, 
 then they start out of the Central Self Krish- 
 na, encased in another form, almost like unto 
 the Krishna-Form, a state which is analogous 
 to the Unknown-Feeling state in the develop- 
 ment of human thought. 
 
 This state is called Vasudeva, which again 
 has a form-centre of its abstract self-radiance, 
 pervading all space. It is the least pronounced 
 state or stage of differentiation induced by the 
 tendency of loss of equilibrium in the even 
 'forces of the three Cardinal Attributes (Gu- 
 nas), illumination, motion and obscuration. 
 The second stage, called Sankarsana, analo- 
 gous to the Indefinite-Vibration stage of the 
 development of thought, has again a form- 
 centre of its all-pervading abstract self-radi- 
 ance. This Sankarsana is the Unconscious 
 Cause of Creation. The third stage, called 
 Pradyumna, analogous to the Abstract-Idea 
 stage of thought, has likewise a form-centre 
 of its all-pervading abstract Self-radiance. 
 
 This is the Semi-Conscious Cause of Creation ; 
 
 \ 
 46
 
 THE SCIENCE OF CREATION. 
 
 and from this develops the fourth stage, called 
 Aniruddha, which is analogous to the full- 
 developed Thought-stage and is the Full Con- 
 scious Cause of Creation. This Aniruddha is 
 called Vishnoo or Narayan, from nar (water), 
 and ayan (bed), because he floats on his back 
 on the water of Love-life, while out of his 
 navel springs a gigantic lotus a figurative 
 expression, meaning the Universe in bud in 
 which is encased the sleeping Brahma, the 
 operating Creator, with the germ of Creation 
 dwelling within his mind and about to shoot 
 forth. 
 
 In Aniruddha the real stage of inequi- 
 librium of the Attributes (Gunas) develops, 
 and in Brahma it assumes full development. 
 With the opening of the petals of the Mystic 
 Love-lotus, Brahma awakes from his sleep 
 (deep trance state), and, unable for a moment 
 to understand the meaning of the Lotus-bed 
 or the Water of Life around (just as a man 
 suddenly roused out of sleep is dazed and 
 forgets to think and therefore feels stupid for 
 the moment), he goes down through the hol- 
 low of the Lotus-stalk in order to find out 
 47
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 the bottom of the Lotus. He goes down, down, 
 down, and at last finds its depths unending, 
 bottomless. He therefore comes up to the 
 surface again and sits down mystified, when 
 he suddenly hears a voice from the water, as 
 it were, saying : "Tapa, tapa, tapa !" which 
 means, "Meditate, meditate, meditate!" With 
 the sound of that word the meaning becomes 
 apparent to Brahma. It means: "Why art 
 thou looking 1 outward ? Look inward and thou 
 shalt know." Whereupon his eyes involuntar- 
 ily close, and his mind becomes concentrated 
 inward. Then he sees before his mental vision 
 Aniruddha (Vishnoo) appear and say: 
 "O Awakened One ! know and remember that 
 thou art Brahma, the Creator." At the very 
 suggestion he finds out his own self and ex- 
 claims: "Oh, yes! I am Brahma." Then 
 Vishnoo again says : "Thou hast now to cre- 
 ate the universe." . 
 
 "Oh, yes!" he exclaims, as the memory 
 of his function springs within him, "I am to 
 create the universe; but how?*' 
 
 "By meditating upon the former creation. 
 As the memory of past creation, which dwells 
 
 48
 
 THE SCIENCE OF CREATION. 
 
 within thee, shall awake, creation will begin." 
 With hearing begins action ; and as Brahma 
 concentrates his mind upon his former cre- 
 ation, its memory in time flashes through him, 
 and with the flashing of that memory creation 
 manifests itself, in the shape of earth, and sky, 
 and trees, and grass, and ocean, and rivers, 
 and in time beast, and bird, and man, all com- 
 plete. Just as a master painter first designs a 
 picture in his mind and reproduces that design 
 upon the canvas, even so is the picture of cre- 
 ation produced upon the canvas of Love-life. 
 Only the painter Brahma paints with the brush 
 of his all-powerful mind-force, which, the mo- 
 ment the design forms in his mind, is material- 
 ized into living substance. 
 
 49
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 THE STEPS OF CREATION. 
 
 THE Veda says that the universe is like a 
 tree; that is to say, it is a tree, the roots of 
 which are embedded in the unmanifested 
 First Cause Krishna. Aniruddha is the 
 seed, and Brahma is the first sprout. This 
 analogy between the seed and the sprout, 
 between Aniruddha (also called Vishnoo and 
 Narayan) and Brahma seems so perfect that 
 it justifies the conclusion that the process of 
 the birth of a plant is only an imitation of the 
 process through which the universe springs 
 into being. 
 
 As in the germination of a seed two lobes, 
 called cotyledons, which form part of the seed, 
 come out prior to the appearance of the stem 
 which shoots forth between them, so out of the 
 navel of Narayan (Aniruddha) first appear 
 two cotyledons, called "Lotus" in the figura- 
 tive language of the Veda, and between the 
 cotyledons, sprouts forth the stem in the shape 
 
 50
 
 THE STEPS OF CREATION. 
 
 of Brahma, who is the miniature embodiment 
 of the universe. 
 
 Before Brahma was born, Narayan created 
 Universal Consciousness, which was but the 
 manifestation of his own Consciousness (called 
 Mahat, which means Immeasureable). Out of 
 Consciousness sprang Ego (Ahankara). Out 
 of Ego sprang Mind. Out of Mind sprang 
 Ether (Akasha). From Ether sprang Water. 
 Out of the friction of Ether and Water sprang 
 Air. This Air, rising up from the ocean of 
 Water with great noise, created, by its fric- 
 tion with Water, flames of Fire, illumining all 
 space. This Fire became mixed up, by the 
 cohesive attribute of Air, with Water and 
 Ether, and all four elements became one thick- 
 ened, molten mass; and as it rose upward 
 the liquid substance which issued from it be- 
 came solidified and cooled in process of time 
 and formed into Earth. 
 
 Then the Lotus (cotyledons) sprang forth 
 from the navel (Sanscrit, Navee, middle) of 
 Narayan, and within them Brahma (the 
 stem) shot forth. His body was made of the 
 Five Elements and Consciousness, Mind and 
 
 51
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Ego. He is also said to be the central form- 
 embodiment of Ego (Ahankara). 
 
 Brahma is but the creative form-potency of 
 Narayan. When Narayan bade him to medi- 
 tate upon his former creation, and told him 
 also that the moment that memory of former 
 creation would awake within him creation 
 would begin, Brahma meditated as he was 
 told, and creation began as that memory of the 
 past creation flashed within him. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that Narayan (Anirud- 
 dha) is the real Creator. He creates at first 
 the eight main, abstract and concrete princi- 
 ples; viz., Consciousness, Ego, Mind, and the 
 ;five elements Ether, Air, Fire, Water and 
 Earth. After the creation of these was cre- 
 ated the first concrete form, Brahma, who was 
 to create the details of Creation. But even 
 these creations were not the product of the 
 arbitrary will of Narayan, though their ex- 
 pressions were subject to his will or medium- 
 ship. The seed-bud of creation dwelt in the 
 most mysteriously abstract state within Krish- 
 na (Absolute Love), a state so similar to that 
 
 First Principle that it would enter and merge 
 52
 
 THE STEPS OF CREATION. 
 
 itself in it. If we cut a seed in halves, we find 
 in it not even a suggestion of the tree of which 
 it is the seed ; but if we plant it in the soil, the 
 rudimentary form of the tree's organism, 
 called the germ, asserts itself and creates its 
 state of differentiation from its original state 
 of homogeneity. So from the tendency of 
 the least inequilibrium of the forces of the 
 three Cardinal Attributes, Sattwa, Raja, Tama 
 (which, having formerly attained equality of 
 force, have lost their different individualities 
 and have become merged and transformed into 
 Pure Sattwa Illumination) springs the germ- 
 state of Creation, and, passing through its 
 three stages; viz., Vasudeva, Sankarsana and 
 Pradyumna, reaches its fourth stage, called 
 Aniruddha, where, having attained further de- 
 velopment, it sprouts forth into Brahma, the 
 first visible miniature embodiment of the uni- 
 verse. 
 
 As out of the tiny but potent shoot of the 
 plant from the seed, the details of the tree, 
 viz., trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruit, 
 spring forth to attain its full-grown state, so 
 out of its minute but potent shoot, the details 
 
 53
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 of the universe, viz., earth, heaven, sun, moon, 
 stars, day, night, mountains, rivers, vegeta- 
 tion, spiritual beings, animals, men, etc., spring 
 forth to attain its complete form. 
 
 The manifestation of Universal Conscious- 
 ness (Mahat) is called the First Step of Crea- 
 tion. The birth of Ego (Ahankara) out of Con- 
 sciousness is called the Second Step of Crea- 
 tion ; that of Mind from Ego is the Third Step ; 
 that of the Five Elements Ether, Air, Fire, 
 Water and Earth from Mind is the Fourth 
 Step; that of the Five Attributes of the Ele- 
 ments Sound, Touch, Form, Taste and 
 Smell from the Elements is the Fifth Step; 
 that of the Five Cognizing Senses Seeing, 
 Hearing, Smelling, Tasting, Feeling out of 
 these Five Attributes (also called Objects) is 
 the Sixth Step; that of the Five Working 
 Senses Speaking, Holding, Moving, Excret- 
 ing, Generating from the Five Elements is 
 the Seventh Step; that of gods and aerial, in- 
 visible beings is the Eighth Step ; tHat of trees 
 and plants and shrubs and grass and all other 
 vegetation, as also that of the wild animals and 
 birds, is the Ninth Step ; that of domestic ani- 
 54
 
 THE STEPS OF CREATION. 
 
 mals and men and women is the Tenth Step. 
 These steps or series of Creation have de- 
 veloped between long intervals. These are 
 called purely Natural Creations through the 
 instrumentality of the mind-force of Aniruddha 
 (Narayan) and Brahma. 
 
 55
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 THE CYCLIC MOTION OF CHANGES. 
 
 THE Veda says that when the three Car- 
 dinal Attributes, by losing this equipoise of 
 force, sprang into being, and leaving the bo- 
 som of Krishna (Absolute Love) passed 
 through the three stages of their development, 
 viz., Vasudeva, Sankarsana and Pradyumna, 
 they brought with them a vibration from 
 Krishna which found expression in Anirud- 
 dha, who exclaimed as he awoke from trance- 
 sleep, as it were : "I am One, I wish to be 
 the Many." This Divine Will manifested it- 
 self into the Universe in the manner described 
 in the previous section. 
 
 From the One Love trie motion of mani- 
 festation of Creation has therefore been to- 
 wards manifoldness. From One Love the 
 Principles sprang one by one, and where there 
 was only One, there were twenty-four. The 
 details of Creation sustained this process of 
 
 manifoldness, and motion gradually increased 
 56
 
 THE CYCLIC MOTION OF CHANGES. 
 
 in speed, manifesting varieties, until now that 
 increased motion manifests that Will in mil- 
 lions of phases within every second of time. 
 
 This motion of manifestations or changes is 
 like the surface of a troubled ocean, where 
 heaving billows innumerable, crested with 
 foam, cover countless living beings. The cur- 
 rent of creative changes is mixed with and fed 
 by, and dashes against, the opposite current of 
 involutionary changes. The moment the last 
 Principle of the Universe Earth was cre- 
 ated, it had the tendency to go back to the 
 First Source of Creation. But, unable to 
 force its way back through the channel by 
 which it sprang, owing to the rush of creative 
 current, it found a circuitous channel by which 
 its composing molecules started on their way 
 back. As has already been said, and will be 
 fully explained in detail in a separate section, 
 the molecules have a tendency to open the 
 passage of their composing principles, and thus 
 to journey back by myriads of reincarnations 
 through different and higher and higher life- 
 forms to the First Parent Principle. The cur- 
 rent of Creation which began with the mani- 
 57
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 festation of Universal Consciousness is still 
 moving on, and will move on in the shape of 
 changes until universal disintegration and 
 dissolution take place. This current of cre- 
 ative changes is mixed up and swelled by the 
 opposite current of involution, also in the shape 
 of changes. These warring waves of action 
 and reaction make up the Cosmos-Ocean. 
 
 Narayan (Aniruddha) is the Seed-Manifes- 
 tation (Will) of Krishna (the Supreme De- 
 ity) ; the Universe is the Physical Manifesta- 
 tion (Materialized Will-Force) of Krishna; 
 Time is the Motion Manifestation (Process of 
 Working of the Will-Force) of Krishna; and 
 the Veda is the Sound- Manifestation (Sound- 
 Expression of the Laws of the Will-Force) of 
 Krishna. 
 
 It has been shown how Narayan is the Seed- 
 Manifestation and how the Universe is the 
 materialized Will-Force of Narayan and Brah- 
 ma. I will now deal with this Motion-Mani- 
 festation Time. 
 
 "I am One, and I wish to be the Many." 
 The Lord was One, and the moment 
 He wished to appear to be the Many, 
 
 58
 
 THE CYCLIC MOTION OF CHANGES. 
 
 then this wonderful creation of vastness 
 and variety sprang into existence. From 
 the moment of the rise of that Will in 
 the Divine Mind down to this moment, that 
 Will is undergoing the process of its execu- 
 tion. It is a rush from the One towards mani- 
 foldness. This process of that manifoldness 
 is called Creation, and the rhythm of its mo- 
 tion is called Time. The whole Creation is 
 nothing but motion of Changes. Time is noth- 
 ing but the cognition by our mind of events 
 and ideas which are phases of changes in in- 
 ternal and external Nature. If we had no 
 notion of events and never had an idea within 
 ourselves, we would be in Eternity. So long 
 as we are conscious of the kaleidoscopic 
 changes in us and Nature, or are conscious of 
 their impressions on our mind, we live in Time. 
 And the moment all impressions of the mind 
 are obliterated and we become, through any 
 process, unconscious of human and natural 
 events, we lose all consciousness of existence; 
 that is to say, we go behind the veil which 
 enshrouds these physical phenomena, and we 
 enter the realm which is an undisturbed calm 
 59
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 of Absolute Life, Light and Bliss, the Trinity 
 which is Eternity. 
 
 These changes in Nature and human society, 
 starting from the beginning of Creation, move 
 in cycles ; that is to say, they have a cyclical 
 process of motion. In other words, some 
 events, natural and human, that occur within a 
 certain period of time, are reproduced in their 
 principal features in the next period of time 
 of the same length. Creation proceeds to- 
 wards ever manifold variety at this cyclic 
 pace. 
 
 The smallest appreciable Cycle of Nature's 
 change-process is the Day. Twenty-four hours, 
 called one day, are divided into two parts, 
 called day and night. 
 
 One Day is a Cycle embodying natural and 
 human events which are reproduced in the 
 following day, and so on. So that every day 
 and night, in their principal features, are but 
 a reproduction of the previous day and night. 
 One day, therefore, is the smallest cycle of 
 time or events, for events are but the pnases 
 of natural changes, and time is but the cog- 
 nition or consciousness thereof.
 
 THE CYCLIC MOTION OF CHANGES. 
 
 The next cycle of time or events is the 
 Month, in which two events which occur with- 
 in twenty-eight lunar days are reproduced in 
 the next twenty-eight lunar days. These two 
 events are the fourteen days of waxing and 
 waning moon, and the bright fortnight is 
 the day and the dark fortnight is the night of 
 the month. 
 
 The next larger cycle is the Year, in which 
 the four seasons mark the principal divisions 
 of events and are reproduced in all years in the 
 self-same order, their uniform changes of 
 weather and Nature bringing forth fruit and 
 crops. 
 
 In the same way these events, called Time, 
 develop larger cycles in which some event or 
 other, or a series of events, are reproduced in 
 the next equal length of time. There are 
 cycles, for instance, of from 500 to 100,000 
 years, the phenomena of which are reproduced 
 in the next period of their respective propor- 
 tions. But the most pronounced cycle is called 
 the Divine Cycle. The Sanscrit word ' r Diva" 
 is the root of the word "Divine," and "Yuga'' 
 61
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 is the original of which the word "Age" is 
 a corrupted form. 
 
 This Divine Age (Daiva-Yuga) is divided 
 into four Human Ages, called Satya, Treta, 
 Dwapar and Kali. The span of this Divine 
 Cycle is composed of 12,000 Divine Years, and 
 each Divine Year is equal to 360 human years, 
 so that 12,000 years multiplied by 360 gives us 
 4,320,000 human years, which is the length of 
 a Divine Cycle. The next bigger cycle is 
 called the Manwantara, which is made up of 
 71 Divine Cycles and is wound up with a 
 Deluge, in which the whole world, including 
 the highest peaks of the Himalayas, becomes 
 immersed in water and remains so for the 
 period of 71 Divine Age's. The next larger 
 cycle is the Kalpa, which is made up of 14 
 Manwantaras, or 1,000 Divine Ages. The next 
 cycle and the largest is called Maha-Pralaya, 
 in which the whole universe is destroyed to- 
 tally, Krishna alone remaining with His Radi- 
 ance, filling all space, and 36,000 Kalpas bring 
 about this Universal Dissolution. 
 
 Since the beginning of this Kalpa creation, 
 six Manwantaras (Deluges) have passed 
 62
 
 THE CYCLIC MOTION OF CHANGES. 
 
 away. Since the last Deluge 27 Divine Cycles 
 have rolled away. This is the twenty-eighth 
 Divine Cycle of which the first three sections, 
 viz., the Golden Age, the Silver Age and the 
 Copper Age have passed away. We are just 
 now in the early part of the fourth section, the 
 Kali or Iron (Dark) Age. 
 
 63
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 CREATION begins with the dawn of the Satya 
 Yuga, which is also called the Golden Age. 
 It is the first part and the longest section of 
 the Divine Age. The span of this age is 4,800 
 Divine years, which being multiplied by 360 
 gives us 1,728,000 human years. It is the most 
 spiritual age, because, of the three Cardinal 
 Attributes Sattwa, Raja and Tama which 
 govern, and are the parents of, the composing 
 principles of the Universe, the Sattwa is pre- 
 dominant in its influence. The Sattwa is that 
 attribute which uncovers the true state of 
 things without and within us and in Nature, 
 hence it may be called the attribute of Illumi- 
 nation. Raja is the attribute of Activity 
 (motion of change), and Tama is the very re- 
 verse attribute of Sattwa. It Is that attribute 
 within us and Nature which covers the true 
 state of things, hence it may be called the 
 64
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 Obscuring, darkening attribute, the Attribute 
 of Darkness. 
 
 The Satya Yuga is called the Golden Age, 
 because gold is very abundant in this age of 
 utmost spirituality, and gold is the purest and 
 most spiritual of all metals. The Illumination 
 of predominant Sattwa pervades all Nature 
 in this age. Nature, inside and out, is full 
 of light, almost transparent witfi light spirit- 
 ual through and through. So is man, her 
 best product. Men and women in this age at- 
 tain a spiritual depth and height which no 
 other age can develop. This spiritual height 
 manifests itself in their physical body, while 
 the depth of their inward spirituality shows 
 itself in their outer life and actions. The 
 Golden Age men are twenty-one cubits, or 
 thirty-one and a half feet, in height. This 
 may strike us, diminutive mortals of this Kali 
 Yuga or Iron Age, as absurd or improbable, 
 but it need not do so if we remember how long 
 ago the last Golden Age was nearly three 
 million years. Moreover, as they are all of 
 the same height, they do not think they are 
 abnormally tall. 
 
 65
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 These men and women, owing to their high 
 degree of spirituality, have a perfectly healthy, 
 harmonious and beautiful body, for spirituality 
 is health, harmony and beauty. They have 
 their inner vision fully opened and see more 
 through their ensouled mind's eyes than 
 through their physical ones. They, therefore, 
 see through Nature as through a glass. All 
 Nature stands revealed to them to her inmost 
 depth wherein they see the One Essence which 
 pervades it, the One Spirit of which all things 
 within and on the surface of Nature are but 
 different phases of its manifestation. And in 
 it all they find themselves as part of the 
 same phases, living, moving and having their 
 being sustained by tHat One Spirit which is 
 both life and light the One Omnipresent 
 Spirit, the one All-Pervading Essence Love. 
 
 The Golden Age men and women Have no 
 garments to cover their entirely bare body, 
 nor do they need any. We clothe our bodies 
 for two reasons: First, out of our sense of 
 delicacy and shame because of our dark 
 thoughts born of improper and unnatural (sin- 
 ful) actions, and secondly, to protect our body 
 
 66
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 and health from the attacks of the sun, the 
 rain and the changes of weather and climate. 
 The Golden Age men have no such reason 
 for wearing any clothes. Their perfect spirit- 
 uality admits of no dark thought to touch 
 their mind, for all is illumination within and 
 without them, while their actions are all in 
 perfect consonance with the purest laws of 
 Nature, in rhythmic motion with the music of 
 the Infinite whose song they hear in their 
 soul. They may be called moving Vedas 
 walking wisdom and spirituality. The laws 
 of the Veda form the mechanism of their mind, 
 and it is these Vedic laws that move their limbs 
 and prompt their words and actions. Their 
 perfect spiritual health is proof against the 
 hardships of weather, or rather there is no 
 hardship of weather at all. The spirit of the 
 Age pervades all Nature, of which the weather 
 is a phase. Even Nature's forces are in per- 
 fect harmony with one another, for harmony is 
 the very keynote of the Age. It is Spring, 
 sweetest Spring season, all the year round, dur- 
 ing night and during day ; warm enough with- 
 out heat, cool enough without being cold, 
 67
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 breezy enough without being windy man and 
 beast and bird and tree and earth and weather 
 all are in harmony. Harmony, harmony, all 
 is harmony in this Blessed Age. 
 
 Man and woman have no need at all for sex 
 life in the Golden Age. The ecstasy of the 
 soul with which their body and being are filled 
 renders it impossible for even any thought of 
 gross fleshly pleasures to enter their mind. The 
 very drawing of breath is to them a pure 
 delight which any fleshly or objective pleasure 
 of our day cannot dream of approaching. Life 
 is lived then in its veriest depth deep down 
 through the mind, deeper down through the 
 heart, deepest down in the deptfi of the soul. 
 And when life is lived in such depth, its sur- 
 face is not heeded or cared for. Such a life 
 does not require much material nutrition it is 
 nourished by the soul's all-nourishing nectar. 
 
 These men and women eat very little food 
 fruits and roots only, and drink milk and water, 
 and these between long intervals. They feel 
 very little hunger and that little on far-be- 
 tween occasions. We feel hungry because of 
 68
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 our mind contemplating matter. All matter 
 is changeful matter is nothing but collected 
 forms of change. Its seeming substance em- 
 bodies but motion of change, so that its inmost 
 attribute is changefulness. Our mind concen- 
 trating on material objects absorbs its attribute 
 changefulness and is affected by it forth- 
 with ; it becomes changeful in its turn, that is, 
 it is rendered restless, flitting quickly from one 
 object to another. This changefulness of the 
 mind is in turn absorbed by our body, which 
 suffers from its effects in the shape of loss of 
 tissue. And this loss of tissue we Have to sup- 
 ply by food and drink and rest and sleep. Trie 
 Golden Age people do not suffer from this 
 loss of tissue, because their minds are always 
 concentrated on the One Changeless Sub- 
 stance, the very reflection of which through 
 the changeful forms of matter makes them 
 seem steady and substantial. Tfie little wear 
 and tear they suffer from, owing to looking 
 now and then on the surface^ of things, causes 
 some little need of nutrition, which their occa- 
 sional fruit and milk meals supply. 
 
 If they need little food they also need little 
 69
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 rest. And when they need it, they just lie 
 down on the cool carpet of the fragrant grass, 
 for they have no other bed than this, because 
 in the Golden Age there are no houses what- 
 ever on the face of the earth. We build houses 
 for the same reasons that we wear clothes, and 
 these reasons are absent in the lives of the 
 Golden Age people. Their bodies need no pro- 
 tection from the weather, nor do they need ex- 
 ternal comforts, for they think more of their 
 soul than of their body. 
 
 Their home is wherever they live and rest, 
 its roof is the high vault of Heaven with its 
 azure canopy, Mother Earth the floor, the 
 trees its walls; Nature's bowers are their 
 boudoirs. All created beings are their family, 
 the whole earth their country. And the whole 
 earth is one large, beautiful garden, the rich- 
 est and most beautiful garden of flowers and 
 fruits and songbirds. But more beautiful than 
 the garden are the divine men and women who 
 sanctify its soil by their walking, at whose ap- 
 proach near them the trees worship them with 
 showers of flowers and offers of their fruits 
 as love-gifts. 
 
 70
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 This is the long-forgotten, and now mis- 
 understood, misinterpreted Earth-Garden of 
 the Golden Age called in the Old Testament 
 ti:e Garden of Eden. They are all now try- 
 ing to locate it, some people in Syria, others 
 in Egypt, others eleswhere, ignorant of the 
 fact that the Garden of Eden was located upon 
 the whole earth. The word "Eden" even is 
 the corruption of the Sanscrit word "adhan" 
 (Home). The whole earth becomes this 
 "Adhan" the Home of all humanity, of 
 mortal souls, the Pleasure-Garden for angels 
 on earth to roam about and sport in. This Gar- 
 den is the physical manifestation of a higher 
 plane, created as the abiding place of mortal 
 man in temporary state of spiritual perfection. 
 They live a perfectly natural life, feeling them- 
 selves as parts of Nature, breathing in unison 
 with the breath of sky and air and tree and 
 grass and beast and bird, their souls in tune 
 with the souls of gods and angels and In- 
 finity Itself. 
 
 Among themselves they feel a Oneness 
 which only the most sublimated souls, who 
 have realized their atoneness with the all- 
 
 71
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 pervading Spirit, can feel. All humanity feels 
 as one man, and the only distinction they find 
 in this Oneness is in the little difference in the 
 formation of the male and female bodies, al- 
 though this outward perception of this external 
 difference in some details of the physical 
 structure does not influence the feeling of 
 unity within. Still the difference creates this 
 much distinction that the women and men see 
 and feel that they are the complements of 
 each other and the difference in bodily 
 structure expresses this fact. All men feel 
 all women are as one and all women feel all 
 men are as one, so that, such is the feeling of 
 unity which pervades the Golden Age people 
 of the earth that all men and women of that 
 age can be called as One Man and One Woman. 
 This is the state of the human society indicated 
 by the story of Adam and Eve. Adam is the 
 typical man and Eve the typical woman of the 
 Golden Age. Even the names bear testimony 
 to this fact. The word Adam is a corruption 
 of the Sanscrit word "Adim" which means 
 primeval, so that Adam means primeval man. 
 The word Eve likewise is a corruption of the 
 72
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 Sanskrit word "Heva" or primeval woman. 
 "Heva" means life and love mother of crea- 
 tion. From Mother Nature all things evolve, 
 through the mother all things come to life, 
 therefore is mother "life." The life of all 
 things is motherhood Life and Love com- 
 bined is Mother. Mother ! It is the music of 
 the spheres Life and Love the grandest 
 sound, the music of the Creator, one grand 
 chord in the Music of the Universe. Love 
 and Life O Blessed sound, the Lord's Own 
 Music sweet, profound ! 
 
 The spiritual beauty of these primeval peo- 
 ple the Adams and Eves shows itself in 
 their physical forms. Their physical forms, 
 symmetry and expressions are ideally beauti- 
 ful ; these fashion and shine forth the spirit of 
 harmony which dwells within them. It may 
 be in truth said of them that they are made in 
 the Image of God, and the truth of this state- 
 ment grows upon us when we remember that 
 they live and feel that they live in the Es- 
 sence of Love live and breathe and have 
 their being moved spontaneously by the Spirit 
 73
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 which is the inmost life and force of all 
 Existence. 
 
 This is living on the Tree of Life and eating 
 the fruit thereof mentioned metaphorically in 
 the Old Testament. Love, Universal Love, 
 unmixed, Absolute Love is the only Life. 
 When we lose sight of this Ideal, this sub- 
 stance of life, we fall. So long as our minds 
 are filled from within with this Love, this 
 Radiance of God, and we think, move and 
 act by its influence and promptings, so long 
 do we really live the Life which is our real 
 heritage from God. The Golden Age people 
 live this life moved by the Spirit within them, 
 the Spirit-Life that makes life an ecstasy unto 
 itself. This Life of Joy Absolute is illumined 
 by its own Light by the aid of which they see 
 all Nature as through a transparent glass, they 
 see everything with the ensouled mind's eye 
 not by the physical eye for they live within 
 that ensouled mind and rarely come out to the 
 surface called the physical plane. When they 
 do, they feel as if the experiences of that physi- 
 cal plane are, as it were, the experiences of a 
 dream, while the experiences of the ensouled 
 
 74
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 mind they feel as the Reality, the only Reality. 
 I have already said that the three Cardinal 
 Attributes, (Sattwa, Raja and Tama) Illu- 
 mination, Activity and Darkness, are the joint 
 parents of the Principles which compose all 
 creation. When the forces of these Attributes 
 fall into equilibrium, the dissolution of the uni- 
 verse takes place and the equalized Attributes 
 merge into one another and become trans- 
 formed into a substance quite different from 
 their own. That substance is called Shuddha 
 Sattwa Pure Illumination. In Sattwa there 
 is a mixture of some Raja and Tama ; in Raja 
 there is a mixture of some Sattwa and Tama ; 
 similarly, in Tama, there is some mixture of 
 Sattwa and Raja. In Shuddha Sattwa, the 
 Sattwa is free from the other two attributes. 
 Krishna (Absolute Love) is Purest Sattwa. 
 The equalizing of the forces of the Attributes 
 transforms them into Pure Illumination no 
 doubt, but the transformation is temporary. 
 Krishna (Absolute Love) is Permanent Pur- 
 est Illumination. But even the temporary 
 attainment, by the Attributes, of the Shuddha 
 Sattwa state makes them for the time being 
 
 75
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 the same substance as this First Principle and 
 brings about their absorption into it as long 
 as they keep in that state. This is almost ex- 
 actly as the germ of a tree remains merged 
 in and becomes part and parcel of the kernel 
 of its seed. And as when the seed is put into 
 the soil, the action of germination separates 
 from that kernel the germ which then grows 
 into a tree, so when in time the forces of the 
 merged Attributes fall out of equilibrium by 
 Raja (Activity) asserting itself, they get sepa- 
 rated and manifest themselves into the Uni- 
 verse. At first the activity of Raja is feeble 
 and Sattwa predominates. Out of predom- 
 inant Sattwa springs the Mind, Raja brings 
 forth the Ten Senses and Tama the Five 
 Essences and the Five Gross Forms of matter. 
 And all objects and animals and men and gods 
 and earth and heaven are but different degrees 
 of blendings of the Three Attributes. 
 
 The Satya Yuga (Golden Age) at the be- 
 ginning of creation is so full of Sattwa (Illu- 
 mination) that all Nature is made of materials 
 almost transparent as ether. The matter of 
 this first Golden Age is so fine that it would be 
 76
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 invisible to the eye of our gross flesh of this 
 distant Kali (Iron Age). Even in the last 
 Golden Age, Nature was made up of such fine 
 matter that it would look, to our gross vision 
 of this day, as pictures of light. 
 
 Why is Nature in the Golden Age so 
 ethereal? Because the Attribute of Illumina- 
 tion is predominant in that cycle. All is Illu- 
 mination, within and without. Through this 
 illumination the Golden Age people see the 
 Steady, Changeless substance which is the 
 Life and Light of which the outer universe is 
 but the shadow. And with the spirit of this 
 Changeless Love and Life and Light in One 
 before their mind's vision, they cannot but 
 feel that its distorted, changeful manifesta- 
 tions called objects are made of fabrics of 
 which dreams are made of. Even they them- 
 selves are etheric and irridescent, not visible 
 to the physical eye of the Dark Age, but 
 always visible to the inner eye of men of any 
 age to the eye of the highly evolved man 
 whose sight is more spiritual than physical. 
 Ether is cognized through etheric vibrations 
 light alone recognizes light. 
 77
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 For the First Quarter of the Satya Yuga or 
 Golden Age (One Thousand Divine Years) 
 this perfect state of Universal Holiness pre- 
 vails on earth and among mankind. This is 
 the original of the recorded vision said to have 
 been seen by St. John the Divine as embodied 
 in Chapters 20, 21 and 22 of his Revelations. 
 This is the Millennium spoken of in the Holy 
 Bible when Satan (Sin Tama Darkness), 
 it is said, will be bound and cast into a bot- 
 tomless pit, shut up and set a seal upon, 
 and holiness will become triumphant through- 
 out the world. This means the predominance 
 of Sattwa (Illumination) in man and Nature 
 and Tama (darkness) will "be drowned under 
 it. The people will live on the fruits of the 
 Tree of Life in the Essence of Love. They 
 will live face to face with God, that is, in per- 
 fect realization of His Spirit Love. This 
 Millennium will begin with the First Quarter 
 of the coming Satya Yuga (Golden Age), the 
 New Divine cycle which will be ushered in 
 after the expiration of the Kali Yuga (also 
 called Iron or Dark Age) we are now living 
 in. That time is far away yet, how far I shall 
 78
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 in a succeeding Section attempt to indicate. 
 As already suggested, the Golden Age condi- 
 tions of Nature are the physical manifestation 
 of a higher sphere. According to the Hindoo 
 Scriptures there are Seven Spheres (Lokas) 
 or Heavens. People in the West speak of the 
 Seventh Heaven. Few know where the ex- 
 pression has come from, fewer that it has come 
 from the Hindoos who believe in the Seven 
 Heavens. The first is the Earth. (Bhur) 
 which is counted as a heaven because heavenly 
 joys can be tasted on the earth plane. Above 
 the Earth is the Bhuba Sphere, the Second 
 Heaven. Above Bhuba is Swar the Third; 
 above Swar is Mahar the Fourth ; above Mahar 
 is Jana the Fifth; above Jana is Tapa the 
 Sixth, and above Tapa is the Satya Loka 
 (Seventh). The Golden Age state of the earth 
 is but a reflection of this Satya Sphere on its 
 Sattwa (Transparently Illuminated) surface. 
 The men and women are angels on earth and 
 meet and have communications with gods and 
 angels ; and at times even Brahma, the Creator, 
 Shiva, the Destroyer, and Vishnoo the Pre- 
 server, come down on earth and hold converse 
 79
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 with these perfectly pure human beings. 
 Earth then is "Heaven Below," and it is hard 
 to tell, when men mingle with the gods and 
 angels when the latter come down to meet 
 them, which are the gods and angels and which 
 are the men. 
 
 Saint John's Revelation 21 in the Holy Bi- 
 ble attempts to give some glimpse of this pic- 
 ture of the Golden Age : 
 
 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; 
 for the first heaven and the first earth were 
 passed away ; and there was no more sea. 
 
 "2. And I, John, saw the holy city, new 
 Jerusalem, coming down from God out of 
 heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her 
 husband. 
 
 "3. And I heard a great voice out of heaven 
 saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with 
 men, and he will dwell with them, and they 
 shall be his people, and God himself shall be 
 with them, and be their God. 
 
 "4. And God shall wipe away all tears from 
 their eyes; and there shall be no more death, 
 nor sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be 
 any more pain ; for the former things are 
 passed away." 
 
 80
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 What St. John describes as "a new heaven 
 and a new earth" is the illuminated heaven 
 and earth illuminated by Sattwa, which de- 
 stroys the darkness (Tama) of the preceding 
 Kali (Iron) Age which pervades Nature dur- 
 ing its sway. The "holy city, new Jerusalem, 
 coming down from God out of heaven," is the 
 reflection of the Satya Loka (the Heaven of 
 Truth), which comes down as it were and mir- 
 rors itself on earth. The Golden Age earth 
 is really a bride adorned for her husband, God, 
 for, in the Hindoo Scriptures, Earth has been 
 called the Bride of Vishnoo (God). The mean- 
 ing of the third verse can be more easily un- 
 derstood as it speaks of the spiritual con- 
 dition of the Golden Age I have described al- 
 ready. 
 
 The fourth verse supports the fact of the 
 unbroken peace and happiness which dwells 
 on earth during the Golden Age. Men know 
 no sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. They are 
 happy and are ever filled with joy. "And 
 there shall be no more death" this is very 
 important testimony to the one statement in 
 
 81
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 the Hindoo Scriptures about the Golden Age 
 men and women which is more apt to be dis- 
 credited than any other. In them it is said 
 that in the Golden Age men and women can 
 live for one hundred thousand years and die 
 at will, which is corroborated by St. John, 
 who says, "and there shall be no more death." 
 Life in the Golden Age, say the Hindoo 
 Books, is sustained by the marrow of the bones ; 
 man lives as long as there is marrow in his 
 bones. Death and disease are caused by ac- 
 cumulation of sin, which is the result of im- 
 proper, unnatural living, living, that is, in vio- 
 lation of Nature's spiritual laws. The Golden 
 Age men live in absolute harmony with these 
 laws, and are therefore liable neither to death 
 nor to disease. Men are filled, in this age, "in 
 full measure of virtue" and sin has no place in 
 it, not a trace of it anywhere. 
 
 This is the state of Nature and human so- 
 ciety which is reproduced in the beginning and 
 first quarter of every Golden Age, which forms 
 the first largest section of every Divine Cycle. 
 This is real Universal Brotherhood, the union 
 of soul to soul being brought about by the 
 82
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 general recognition of the One Spirit which 
 is the root, sustenance and life of all mani- 
 festations in Nature. Spirit only makes man 
 brotherly, and the feeling of the One and the 
 Same spirit is the source of true brotherhood, 
 and until One Love is for all, souls shall be 
 separated and countries will war with coun- 
 tries. Every one in the Golden Age looks upon 
 every one else as himself, as it were. It is 
 more than Ideal Brotherhood in this state of 
 society ; it is real, practical, spontaneous broth- 
 erhood, brought about by the Attribute of Illu- 
 mination having full play within all created 
 matter, objects and beings. They are united 
 from within, not through outside forces, and 
 so close and natural is the union that they do 
 not realize that it is anything unusual at all, 
 even in the deep demonstrations of spontane- 
 ous love which they feel for one another. 
 
 If such is the high state of perfection which 
 men attain in the Golden Age, the animal and 
 the vegetable kingdoms also share the bene- 
 fit of the predominance of illumination in Na- 
 ture, of which men and animals and vege- 
 tation are but different phases of manifesta- 
 
 83
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 tions. *We have read in the so-called fables 
 and fairy-books of a time in which animals 
 were wont to speak, and as in our day they 
 do not speak at all, we regard such statements 
 and stories as myths. But they are not myths, 
 however absurd they may strike us, viewed 
 from our practical experiences of animals in 
 our Kali Age life. If the animals of this 
 Kali (Dark) Age cannot speak, that is no rea- 
 son why animals of an enlightened age should 
 not be able to speak. But this is what forms 
 the chief difficulty in the way of our believing 
 in such stories. We have been hypnotized 
 by our conceit into believing that ours is the 
 most enlightened age and that we are far 
 ahead in enlightenment and advancement of 
 intellect of our remote ancestors of, what we 
 complacently term, the "primitive" ages, mean- 
 ing thereby ages in which men were either 
 savages or half-savages. If this were true, 
 the animals of those ages could be imagined 
 as worse in habits, powers and instincts than 
 those of our "advanced" age. Alas, however, 
 it is not true ! Our remotest ancestors, whom 
 we, in our dense ignorance of facts of that 
 84
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 remote past, love to call savages, were such 
 giants in intellect, spirituality and moral force 
 that our average best spiritual, intellectual and 
 moral men cannot be compared with them. 
 We are indeed fast losing our moral depth 
 which was the sheet-anchor of their character. 
 Why? Because our minds are getting more 
 and more dense than those of even the near 
 past, not to speak of those of the remote ages. 
 "Why? Because Nature herself is getting 
 denser and denser every day with the grow- 
 ing influence of Tama (Darkness) which is 
 the ruling attribute of this Iron Age. We are 
 the products of Nature we all, men and 
 beasts and trees and grass. Our density is to 
 be traced to our parent Dame Nature. This 
 growing density which pervades our minds is 
 daily making us less spiritual and intellectual 
 than our forefathers. No wonder it has af- 
 fected the body and senses of animals as well. 
 Illuminated Nature illuminates animals as 
 well in the Satya Yuga. Animals then have 
 more intelligence, better perception and keener 
 instincts than now, and share the love-spirit 
 of which all earth is full. They talk like man, 
 85
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 although not in the same clear and sweet voice 
 as man. They roam about with men and love 
 one another as men do. There are no domes- 
 tic animals in this part of the Golden Age, 
 for man has no home or house. There are no 
 wild animals, for all animals are tame, tamed 
 by the spirit of harmony within and without 
 them. The cow roams about free, giving milk 
 to whoever will drink it out of her udder. 
 
 The trees in the Satya Yuga are large and 
 tall in proportion to the height of men, which 
 is 21 cubits. They are overladen with sweet- 
 est and juiciest fruits. All kinds of corn grow 
 wild and abundantly without any tending or 
 cultivation. The whole earth is a natural gar- 
 den, orchard and granary for all created beings 
 to enjoy and draw sustenance from when 
 needed. Here I quote a poem written under 
 inspiration after seeing a trance-vision of the 
 Golden Age, by one of my students, Miss Rose 
 R. Anthon : 
 
 Palpitating with love, 
 Like a mother's breast, 
 
 As she views her babe 
 As it sinks to rest. 
 
 86
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 Like a million bees 
 Throbbing with life, 
 
 Each cell a world 
 In the citied hive. 
 
 This was the land 
 
 I slept to see, 
 The land my dream 
 
 Unfolded to me. 
 
 Here Love did reign, 
 Love life did greet, 
 
 Life crowned with love 
 The heart did meet. 
 
 Here wondrous song 
 The birds did sing, 
 
 And oh the echoes 
 The skies did ring! 
 
 And oh the peace 
 
 The heart did know! 
 And oh the lack 
 
 Of haunting woe! 
 
 87
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Here man commune 
 With God did hold, 
 
 The doe ran abreast 
 With the lion bold. 
 
 The hawk and the dove 
 Shared one nest; 
 
 The lamb and leopard 
 Suckled one breast. 
 
 The tender nurslings, 
 The soft young things, 
 
 Eager their minds, 
 Like outspread wings. 
 
 The flowers nodded 
 
 Their faces fair; 
 Sunbeams embraced 
 
 The perfumed air. 
 
 Little children 
 
 With Nature grew; 
 Skies overhead, 
 
 'Neath feet the dew. 
 
 88
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE. 
 
 The happy youth 
 The maid did woo, 
 
 Free as the stars 
 The moon did view. 
 
 With joy I beheld, 
 In this sweet land 
 
 Unspoilt was love 
 By sin's hot hand. 
 
 No knots of guile 
 The heart did bind^ 
 
 No souring doubts 
 Disturbed the mind. 
 
 Here livid hate 
 No place did hold; 
 
 Jackal and calf 
 Entered one fold. 
 
 Nor envy's sneer 
 
 Belined the face, 
 Nor fiery lust 
 
 Filched beauty's grace. 
 
 89
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 But rayed with peace 
 
 Was every eye, 
 And all unknown 
 
 Was panting sigh. 
 
 In every heart 
 
 Was Love enthroned, 
 And every voice 
 
 Had Hope entoned. 
 
 Such was the land 
 
 I slept to see, 
 The land my dream 
 
 Unfolded to me. 
 
 90
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 THE SILVER AGE. 
 
 THUS, during the first quarter of the Golden 
 Age, covering 1,000 divine years, which are 
 equal to 360,000 lunar years, its predominant 
 spirituality sustains itself in its full vigor. 
 The next quarter is almost equally powerful 
 in spirituality. But after the middle is passed, 
 a little decline is perceptible, not so much in 
 spirituality as in the outward habits of the 
 people. During this period the Vedic truths 
 reveal themselves through the mediums of 
 the entranced minds of some of the highly 
 illuminated men. Now, what is a Vedic 
 truth? It is an expression in sound-form of 
 one of the inmost laws of Nature. Before this 
 period the Golden Age people breathe, move 
 and have their being in these laws as sensi- 
 tive embodiments of these laws. They are, as 
 it were, moving Vedas human flesh-vehicles 
 moved and manipulated from within by the 
 basic laws of all Existence. The predominant 
 
 91
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Sattwa in its extreme purity, which is the 
 essence of physical Nature in the Golden Age, 
 blends with these laws so harmoniously that 
 they form the self-acting mechanism of all 
 motion of its materialized counterpart. So 
 long as these people are in perfect unison with 
 these inner laws, vibrating spontaneously with 
 their vibrations, they are quite unconscious of 
 the operations of these laws, or even of the 
 laws themselves within them ; so long they live 
 as unconscious moving manifestations of the 
 laws. But the moment they become conscious 
 of them, then that consciousness expresses 
 itself in the form of thoughts, and these 
 thoughts find expression in words through the 
 medium of some entranced minds. These are 
 called the Eternal Truths of the Veda, truths 
 which are the foundations and sources of all 
 truths promulgated by the illumined sages of 
 all climes and times ever afterwards. 
 
 Just as, so long as we are perfectly healthy, 
 we remain unconscious of our health and enjoy 
 the blessing of health most; but when some 
 disorder creeps into our system, we become 
 conscious of it and feel indisposed and try to 
 
 93
 
 THE SILVER AGE. 
 
 adjust its lost equilibrium. Towards the end 
 of the third quarter of the Golden Age, a slight 
 disorder is felt in the spiritual health of the 
 people. Then a readjustment of the slight 
 loss of the equilibrium is made with the aid of 
 contemplation of the meaning of these Vedic 
 truths which are revealed through the still 
 perfectly spiritual souls. Before this time all 
 of them live the truths unconsciously; now 
 they live the truths consciously. This indi- 
 cates their fall from their absolutely healthy 
 state of spirituality. The degeneration in- 
 creases with time at a very slow rate, however, 
 for Sattwa is still predominant, although Raja 
 (Activity) has begun to assert itself more and 
 more until the end of the Golden Age is 
 reached, when the action of Raja becomes 
 fully perceptible. 
 
 This pronounced assertion of Raja within all 
 Nature is betrayed by outward signs and symp- 
 toms. Distinct changes are observable in the 
 thoughts and actions of men, while there is 
 decrease in the wild natural growth and pro- 
 ducts of edible fruits, roots and corn. These 
 main features of change mark the end of Satya 
 
 93
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Yuga (Golden Age) and the beginning of the 
 Treta Yuga (Silver Age). 
 
 From natural all-absorbing, inward concen- 
 tration upon the basic principle of the Uni- 
 verse Love and drawing absolute never- 
 failing happiness therefrom, most people now 
 begin to look outwards for happiness, trying to 
 draw it from the enjoyment of material objects. 
 A small portion, however, still retains the same 
 inward look and enjoys the primeval ecstatic 
 condition of the mind. These still live on the 
 Tree of Life. But those who look outwards 
 and try to draw happiness from without, eat 
 for the first time of the fruit of the Tree of 
 Knowledge, as indicated by the figurative lan- 
 guage of the Christian Bible. So long as they 
 do not look outwards, they do not know of 
 material pleasure, pleasure which is mixed 
 with .pain, Rajasic pleasure, pleasure which 
 lasts for only a short while, pleasure which has 
 reaction of pain or cessation. 
 
 This knowledge of material pleasure and 
 hankering for securing them is the fall of 
 humanity. The cause of this outward-looking 
 is to be traced to the assertion of the Cardinal 
 
 94
 
 THE SILVER AGE. 
 
 Attribute of Activity (Raja) within Nature 
 rather than to any fault in her products them- 
 selves. Predominant Sattwa (Illumination) 
 maintains the harmony in the mind induced by 
 calm concentration upon one object and that 
 object a steady, Changeless one. Predominant 
 Raja (Activity) destroys this harmony and 
 calmness by making the mind active with 
 thoughts of many objects. This state of activ- 
 ity itself turns the point of the mind's ken out- 
 wards and disturbs its harmony. The mind 
 is active only when it has to deal with the im- 
 pressions of more than one object.. When the 
 surface of a mirror is turned towards the sky, 
 it reflects only that one blue sky. When it is 
 turned towards the earth it reflects many ob- 
 jects. Such is the case with the mirror of the 
 mind. When it is turned inwards to the soul, 
 it reflects its one all-pervading, colorless radi- 
 ance and is therefore tranquil and happy. 
 When it is turned outwards, it reflects the 
 many-colored objects and is disturbed by their 
 conflicting attributes. 
 
 All through the Golden Age the mirror of 
 the human mind is kept turned inwards to 
 
 95
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 the soul and reflects nothing but the soul of 
 things. At the end of that blessed period, the 
 natural assertion of Raja turns it outwards to 
 external objects which at once reflect them- 
 selves in it. From this time people begin to 
 take serious cognizance of their surroundings 
 and privileges, and to think of material enjoy- 
 ment, to taste material pleasures. Living the 
 natural Love-Life of the Golden Age is living 
 on the fruit of the Tree of Life. Love alone 
 is life ; it is the source of all life. The dawn- 
 ing of the knowledge of material pleasure is 
 eating for the first time of the fruit of the 
 Tree of Knowledge material knowledge. The 
 first hankering for it is the persuasive voice of 
 the Evil One, called in Sanscrit, Maya. Maya 
 means illusion, that which is unsubstantial to 
 the inner sight yet seems and looks substantial 
 to our outer (material) sight. Good and evil 
 may be called the equivalents of the two San- 
 scrit words "Sat" and "Asat." Good is "Sat" 
 which means that which exists by itself, which 
 has substance. Evil is "Asat" which means 
 non-existent, which has no existence (sub- 
 stance) of its own. Good is God (Love). 
 
 96
 
 THE SILVER AGE. 
 
 Evil is that which partakes of, or is related to, 
 the phases of unsubstantial (changeful) mani- 
 festations which form the shroud of the only 
 Reality Love. To have our mind's vision 
 turned from this Reality to its Unreal Shroud 
 and mistaking it as the Real, constitutes our 
 fall the Fall of Mankind spoken of in the 
 Bible. As long as we know nothing but the 
 Truth and live absolutely in that Truth, we 
 have no idea of the False (evil), the deceptive 
 real-looking Unreal. But the moment we are 
 attracted by the Unreal and live in it, we begin 
 to have knowledge of both Good (the Real) 
 and Evil (the Unreal). We become so at- 
 tached to the Unreal that we cannot leave it, 
 although we know it to be Unreal (evil). Here 
 is born what is called "conscience," which is 
 the warner of sin this living in the Unreal 
 though we know it is so and that we should 
 not live in it. 
 
 This is the state of mind of the major por- 
 tion of the Silver Age people. With this out- 
 ward-looking of their mind begins the hunting 
 for Absolute Happiness on the surface of life, 
 instead of in its deepest depth where it dwells. 
 
 97
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 This search for it through material pleasures 
 ends in this real object of that search being 
 lost from their view and the pleasures them- 
 selves taking its place. This last stage of 
 mental degradation is not true, however, of 
 all the people of the age. A small portion still 
 retain much of the high spirituality of the 
 Golden Age. Some are swayed by predomi- 
 nant Raja, others are ruled by Raja and Tama, 
 while others are covered almost entirely by 
 Tama. This leads to the division of the 
 people into castes. Those who are uninflu- 
 enced by the assertive Raja are called Brah- 
 mans; those swayed by Raja are called Ksha- 
 triyas; those by Raja and Tama are called 
 Vaishyas; those mostly ruled by Tama are 
 called Sudras. I have treated the caste system 
 at some length in the next section. 
 
 Tastes for material comforts involve house- 
 keeping, and housekeeping is impracticable 
 without a house. The people therefore build 
 houses to live in for the first time in the De- 
 generation period of the Satya Yuga. The 
 Treta is called the Silver Age because gold, 
 the spiritual metal, becomes less abundant with 
 
 98
 
 THE SILVER AGE. 
 
 the decrease in spirituality in Nature, and sil- 
 ver is found in abundance. People in the Satya 
 Yuga use gold for household utensils, hence 
 the Satya Yuga is called the Golden Age. The 
 period in which gold plates come into use does 
 not belong to the Golden Age proper. It is 
 used in what is called the Degeneration (San- 
 dhyangsa) period of the Golden Age. Every 
 Age has a Junction period and a Degeneration 
 period, called in the Hindoo Scriptures, the 
 Twilight Periods. These periods are of equal 
 length. The morning Twilight period of the 
 Satya Yuga is 400 divine years, equal to 144,- 
 ooo lunar years. Of the same length is its 
 evening Twilight period. The morning Twi- 
 light period represents the Junction period, 
 the junction between the previous Kali and 
 the Satya Yugas. The evening Twilight 
 period may be called the .degeneration of the 
 Satya Yuga. It is in this degeneration period 
 covering 144,000 years, that Raja asserts itself 
 and people begin to turn to material pleasures, 
 build houses, wear clothes, take to house- 
 keeping, eat cooked food and generally use 
 gold plates, gold being abundant and on ac- 
 99
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 count of its possessing pure (spiritual) mag- 
 netism, purer than that of other metals. 
 
 The average human height in the Silver 
 Age is 14 cubit or 21 feet, average longevity 
 of human life is 10,000 years ; human vitality 
 is centered in the strength of the bones ; man 
 lives as long as his bones sustain their strength. 
 In the Golden Age men enjoy full measure of 
 spirituality. Virtue resides in them, in the 
 language of the Shastras, in full four quarters. 
 In the Treta, owing to the decrease of spirit- 
 uality, virtue loses one-quarter and retains 
 three. In the Golden Age, they are natural 
 embodiments of Vedic wisdom. In the Treta, 
 they have to study that wisdom, as it ex- 
 presses itself through entranced Sages, to keep 
 up spirituality. And as the Silver Age ad- 
 vances, the increased influence of more and 
 more assertive Raja within them makes it more 
 and more imperative on all religious teachers 
 and kings to direct people's attention to the 
 necessity of wider and deeper study and prac- 
 tice of Vedic truths. 
 
 As I have said, in the Golden Age there are 
 no carnal relations between man and woman, 
 
 100
 
 THE SILVER AGE. 
 
 so is there none in the Silver Age, although 
 man and woman as husband and wife live to- 
 gether in houses, have housekeeping and enjoy 
 material comforts. Yet, strange as it will 
 strike most of us here at this distance of time, 
 the Golden Age and Silver Age women bear 
 and give birth to children. The child is born 
 in the womb of its mother at the wish and 
 command of the husband. The wife asks her 
 husband for a child, and the husband of the 
 Golden Age, who is a miniature creator in the 
 potency of his mind-force, says, "So be it," 
 and the wife at once conceives. But she has no 
 pain of child-bearing or child-birth to suffer 
 from. The child is born soon after, and, at 
 times, almost immediately. In the Treta Yuga, 
 the conception takes place in some cases in 
 the same manner, and, in most cases, through 
 the eating by the wife of "charoo," a mixture 
 of boiled rice, milk, sugar and butter mag- 
 netized by mystic words or the will-force of a 
 psychic husband or a saint or a Brahman 
 a magnetism which draws into the preparation 
 a disembodied spirit who passes into the body 
 of the wife through the food. 
 
 101
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 The difficulty in believing this process of 
 child conception lies in the ignorance which 
 now prevails in the minds of most people of 
 the modern world, especially in those of West- 
 erners, as to the origin of conception, as to 
 how conception takes place. The prevailing 
 idea, formed from the teachings of imperfect 
 modern science, is that it is the male seed 
 itself planted in the female soil that begets 
 and develops into the child. No greater fal- 
 lacy can exist than this idea. Modern science 
 is progressive, and in the process of time that 
 progress will surely open its eyes to the true 
 fact in regard to this matter. It will then find 
 that it is the invisible germ hidden inside the 
 seed, the subtle form of organism encased in 
 the thickened juice of the tree which the 
 seed is, that develops into the shoot and the 
 tree and not merely the juice itself. This 
 subtle organism enters into the forming bud 
 from outside. Without this incoming subtle 
 organism no seed can germinate, neither does 
 a seed germinate, as is well known, of which 
 the germ has been destroyed. Similarly, no 
 conception can take place without a disem- 
 
 102
 
 THE SILVER AGE. 
 
 bodied soul a human germ entering the 
 human seed when planted in the human soil. 
 The juice of the seed and the juice of the soil 
 form but the physical body of the child. The 
 astral body, which is encased in this physical 
 body, comes from without to dwell in that 
 seed and leaves the developed physical body 
 at death, which is nothing but the total dis- 
 organization of the physical body. The astral 
 body never dies unless it is destroyed by bring- 
 ing about absolute equilibrium of the three 
 Cardinal Attributes, which form the Ego of 
 man, through spiritual development. I have 
 treated this subject more fully under the head- 
 ing of "Reincarnation." 
 
 The length of the Silver Age proper is 
 3,000 divine years, equal to 1,080,000 human 
 (lunar) years with the two Twilight (the 
 Junction and the Degeneration) Periods, of 
 108,000 years each, in addition. 
 
 103
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 THE CASTE SYSTEM. 
 
 I HAVE said that at the end of the Golden 
 Age and during its degeneration period, peo- 
 ple's minds lose their tranquil equilibrium and 
 look outwards for happines. At this stage of 
 the disturbance within Nature and humanity 
 occasioned by the assertion of the Raja attri- 
 bute, the caste system comes into existence. 
 The object of the caste system is to preserve 
 as much order and harmony in human society 
 as possible and prevent its disruption into in- 
 dividual units. In the Golden Age all the peo- 
 ple are as one family, in the Silver Age they 
 are divided into four families, divided accord- 
 ing to their inclinations, habits and actions, 
 and harmonious relations being established 
 with one another through laws and inter- 
 dependence. Those who still retain their per- 
 fected spirituality by subduing the influence 
 of Raja are called Brahmans which means 
 those who know or still dwell in Brahm the 
 
 104
 
 THE CASTE SYSTEM. 
 
 Spirit of God. They are considered the head 
 of the other castes because they are the em- 
 bodiments of spiritual wisdom which is the 
 chiefest requisite in the building of character 
 and the higher development of the human 
 soul. Some of them still retain their Golden 
 Age habits of life, others clothe themselves 
 with the barks of trees and live on fruits and 
 nuts and roots in the forests, in huts made of 
 tree-trunks and leaves. They pass their days 
 and nights in contemplation of the Deity, the 
 Divine Spirit and its Laws operating within 
 Nature and inculcate these truths into the 
 minds of the other classes of people. 
 
 Those who, being unable to subdue the influ- 
 ence of Raja, are swayed by passions and be- 
 come bold, spirited and filled with material 
 desires are called Kshatriyas. They become 
 rulers of the other two castes. These are the 
 first Kings and Rulers of men. But they rule 
 according to the injunctions of inspired Codes 
 of laws, laws which are propounded with the 
 object of the highest good of humanity in 
 view, as well as the propagation of peace and 
 goodwill among all classes of people. 
 
 105
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 According to these laws the King's first 
 duty is to look to the material welfare of his 
 subjects; the second is to protect them from 
 injustice and aggression; the third is to help 
 their moral and spiritual development; in 
 short, the King's duty is to treat his subjects 
 as his children. If any King fail to perform 
 these duties to the satisfaction of his subjects 
 or become aggressive towards them, he is im- 
 mediately removed from his throne by the 
 Brahmans (Rishis), the all-powerful Brah- 
 mans, who always have the welfare of God's 
 creatures at heart, and whose spiritual powers 
 are mightier than kingly weapons and might. 
 The Brahmans are called the "gods of earth" 
 (Bhudevas) on account of their disinterested 
 love of humanity and self-sacrificing devotion 
 for its welfare and their irresistible spiritual 
 and psychical powers to carry their objects for 
 the good of humanity into action. 
 
 Those among the Golden Age people in 
 whom excessive action of Raja develops some 
 Tama as well, and partly covers the Sattwa 
 Attribute, form yet another distinct caste. 
 They are called Vaishyas. While the Ksha- 
 
 106
 
 THE CASTE SYSTEM. 
 
 triyas occupy themselves in taking over the 
 control and government of countries and peo- 
 ples, the Vaishyas take to the occupation of 
 agriculture, commerce and raising of cattle, 
 as much in their own individual material in- 
 terests as in the interests of all humanity. In 
 the Golden Age, owing to the fulness of spirit- 
 uality within Nature, all kinds of giains grow 
 wild and abundant. With the decrease of that 
 spirituality towards its end, these natural 
 products of the earth diminish in quality and 
 quantity, while the growing material instincts 
 in people bring about their larger consumption, 
 thereby creating greater demand for them. 
 This increased demand is supplied by cultiva- 
 tion by the Vaishyas. 
 
 Those, again, among the Golden Age people 
 who, owing to the predominance of the Tama 
 Attribute in them, are filled with envy and 
 greed, and become untruthful and devoid of 
 clean habits of life and take to all sorts of low 
 means and ways for their living are classed 
 as Sudras. The Kshatriya rulers compel these 
 Sudras for their own good as well as the good 
 of all other classes of people to take service 
 107
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 under the three upper castes as domestic ser- 
 vants, so that by contact and association with 
 their masters and by the examples of their 
 purer ideas and habits of life they may be 
 elevated in morals and conduct. 
 
 The science and wisdom which are the foun- 
 dation of the caste system of the Silver Age 
 people and which still form the backbone of 
 the degenerate remnants of these primeval 
 people, now known as Hindoos, are worthy 
 of study of all civilized mankind of the pres- 
 ent day. It is the scientific law of the caste 
 system which has preserved the indestructible 
 individuality of the Hindoos as a race ; it is the 
 chief source of strength which has supplied 
 their inexhaustible vitality as a nation ; the 
 never failing force which has insured the per- 
 manency of their existence on the face of the 
 globe. It is a system, the absence of which in 
 the organization of all other human societies, 
 modern and ancient, has been the cause of 
 their decay and death. The Hindoo caste sys- 
 tem is based upon laws of the inmost science 
 of life, the laws which modern scientists are 
 trying so hard and yet so hopelessly to dis- 
 
 108
 
 THE CASTE SYSTEM. 
 
 cover and understand through wrong pro- 
 cesses of investigation. Modern scientists 
 are boastful of their achievements in the field 
 of discovery of Nature's laws and imagine 
 they have learned almost all of Nature's se- 
 crets, while in truth they know but a few of 
 her surface-laws the mainsprings of which 
 are to be found deep down in the mental and 
 spiritual strata of which they even dream not 
 of a realm which must ever remain closed to 
 purely objective investigation. 
 
 It is as wrong to try to study Nature from 
 the operations of her physical laws as to govern 
 and guide human beings by the aid of the de- 
 ceptive light of those laws. The physical is 
 the manifestation of the mental plane, as the 
 mental is the manifestation of the spiritual 
 plane, as I have shown in previous Sections. 
 The phenomena of the physical plane of Na- 
 ture are deceptive to the purely physical vision 
 because they are the product of Tama dark- 
 ened Raja. Deceptive also are the phenomena 
 of the mental plane though not as deceptive 
 as those of the physical to a mental vision the 
 light of which is not derived from the spiritual 
 
 109
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 plane the mysterious machine room which 
 alone supplies the life-substance and spring of 
 action to the mental and physical planes. The 
 student of physical and mental Nature who is 
 not provided with the microscope of spiritual 
 insight is apt almost invariably to read her in 
 both these aspects incorrectly. He should not, 
 therefore, be considered a safe guide for the 
 healthy and harmonious development of hu- 
 man character, which is but a part and phase 
 of one whole Nature called the Universe. 
 
 The laws operating in the deepest depth of 
 Nature can only be seen and studied by the 
 illumination of the soul, the Radiance of 
 Krishna's Body. These the Brahmans, the 
 portion of the Golden Age people who still 
 retain their high state of spirituality, study and 
 learn and utilize in codifying principles and 
 rules for regulating the daily life of the rest of 
 the people. The conception of the caste sys- 
 tem betrays their intimate knowledge of these 
 inner natural laws upon which it is based and 
 the profound wisdom with which its organiza- 
 tion to the minutest details is arranged. The 
 organization of the caste system is, in fact, 
 
 no
 
 THE CASTE SYSTEM. 
 
 devised after the organization of the human 
 body after the inner and the outer human 
 body. The entire caste system is like a huge 
 living human body living with its organs and 
 senses in harmonious working order and its 
 mind contributing to and enjoying the effect 
 of that harmony and feeling the higher planes 
 to which the effect of that harmony elevates. 
 ^* What is the most needed essential for the 
 ' healthy, harmonious and useful conduct of 
 human life? Love, Intelligence and Wisdom. 
 I had almost said Love or Wisdom, for Intelli- 
 gence and Wisdom are but manifestations of 
 Love. Intelligence is the light of Love, and 
 wisdom is but its reflection on its own en- 
 lightened shadow the mind. Wisdom like- 
 wise embodies both Love and its light. With- 
 out wisdom a human being is like a wayward, 
 mischievous animal. Our wisdom (intelli- 
 gence and thought) inspire and guide our 
 actions. Good thoughts lead us to good ac- 
 tions, bad thoughts lead us to bad actions. We 
 are nothing but our mind and our mind is 
 nothing but our thoughts commingled effects 
 of the reflections upon the mind of external 
 
 ill
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 objects and internal impressions of previous 
 reflections of objects, called Ideas. Thoughts 
 that lead us to bad actions, that is to say, ac- 
 tions which hurt others and us too, which 
 bring inharmony to others and finally to our 
 own mind, are neither beneficial nor useful to 
 our life; they are injurious to its best interests. 
 Wisdom (harmonious, useful thoughts) is 
 therefore the most essential requisite of hu- 
 man life. Without it power and wealth are 
 apt always to be misused and misdirected, re- 
 sulting in loss of harmony. And harmony is 
 happiness, happiness which is the goal of all 
 our quests and efforts in life. 
 _.. Thus the Brahmans, who devote them- 
 selves absolutely to acquiring wisdom by com- 
 muning with the Soul of Nature and its finest 
 and purest attributes, and to supplying them 
 to those who do not any more enjoy that ad- 
 vantage and privilege, naturally form the head 
 the seat of wisdom and intelligence of the 
 social organization, called the four-castes. The 
 lower three castes are indebted to the Brah- 
 mans for wisdom which they receive from 
 them in the form of lessons and codified laws 
 
 112
 
 THE CASTE SYSTEM. 
 
 of life which guide their daily existence, just 
 as every one of us is indebted to our intelli- 
 gence and wisdom for performing the func- 
 tions of life to our own and our neighbors' 
 benefit. Hence the Brahmans, who supply the 
 most important essential of life, are protected, 
 provided for and paid utmost homage to, by 
 all the other castes. 
 
 Next to wisdom comes strength, physical 
 and mental, another greatly needed requisite 
 of human life. A man needs mind-force to 
 rule his own mind and body as well as those of 
 others to whom he is related, in order to main- 
 tain harmony within and without. He needs 
 also physical strength to defend himself and 
 others against attacks and aggressions and 
 prevent encroachments by others upon his 
 property and interests. The Kshatriyas 
 (Kings) form and supply this requisite to the 
 four-caste organism. They form the arms of 
 the Caste-Body, arms being symbolical of 
 strength and ruling power. Without a power- 
 ful, noble ruler, all communities of men are 
 liable to find themselves in disorder and inhar- 
 mony and to suffer from lawlessness and in- 
 
 113
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 justice, just as a man who has no strength to 
 defend himself from aggression is liable to be 
 robbed of his possessions and be miserable. 
 
 More important than the duty of protecting 
 the life and property of his subjects is the 
 King's duty to help their moral and spiritual 
 well-being. And this the king does by en- 
 forcing the performance of the religious duties 
 appertaining to each of the three castes as en- 
 joined in the Vedic laws, discovered and enun- 
 ciated by the holy ones. Those who do not 
 perform these duties and practices are pun- 
 ished by temporary excommunication and, if 
 still persistent in disobeying the injunctions, 
 by absolute banishment from all societies. 
 These early sages have always held that pre- 
 vention is better and easier than cure of dis- 
 eases, physical, mental or spiritual. Regular 
 spiritual practices, performed daily, form 
 habits, and spiritual habits cleanse tfi<f impuri- ! 
 ties of the mind which then becomes fit to re- 
 flect the highest spiritual truths by the light of 
 which man witnesses the unity of all Nature,' 
 feels the ecstasy of the One Essence which per- : 
 vades it and stands face to face with his Maker. 
 
 114
 
 THE CASTE SYSTEM. 
 
 The next essential of harmonious human life 
 is food. Most people of our day will say that 
 food is rather the first essential of life. We, 
 in this degenerate age, have indeed come -to 
 think so. But the Silver Age people, as well 
 as all really thoughtful people amongst us, do 
 not think so. Food does sustain life, no doubt, 
 but that life, if void of wisdom and force of 
 mind, is not worth living. It is the life of an 
 
 animal or a vegetable. Food is essential to 
 
 . 
 
 life; so are wisdom and mental force.^ Is our| 
 life sustained by food alone? I should think 
 not, unless it be the life of a man who is but a 
 little removed from a beast. Happy thoughts 
 furnish the chief support of our life. Our life 
 depends more upon happy and harmonious 
 thoughts than food. If our thoughts are sad 
 and gloomy, we do not enjoy life at all or feel 
 that we are living, although we may eat the 
 daintiest food, be surrounded by luxuries and 
 have plenty of the world's goods. Many of 
 us destroy this food-sustained life suffering 
 from the pangs of miserable thoughts, many 
 die of broken heart and other diseases brought 
 on by the continued pressure of sad thoughts, 
 
 - _ _ . 115
 
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 although well fed and well clothed and well 
 
 (supplied with money and other material com- 
 forts of life. 
 
 The Vaishyas represent the vital vigor of 
 the Four-Caste organism, and as, according to 
 the Shastras, the seat of the vital vigor is the 
 loins, the Vaishyas form the loins of that body. 
 The Silver Age Vaishyas take to cultivation of 
 the soil, raising of cattle and trade more for 
 the weal of all mankind than for their own 
 personal aggrandizement. 
 
 The Sudras are the feet of the Four-Caste 
 organism, very important members of the 
 body too. They represent devotion through 
 service. Indeed, devotion is the training 
 which each caste passes through while fulfill- 
 ing the duties of its profession. The Brah- 
 mans are to practise meditation on God and 
 study the Veda; the object is devotion to the 
 Supreme Being. The Kshatriyas are to rule 
 the other two castes with the aid of the Brah- 
 mans, with love, justice and fatherly care ac- 
 cording to inspired laws; the object is to ac- 
 quire devotion to the Supreme Being. The 
 Vaishyas are to till the land and raise cattle 
 
 116
 
 THE CASTE SYSTEM. 
 
 only to serve God's creatures; the object is to 
 cultivate devotion to the Supreme Being 
 thereby. The Sudras must serve the three 
 pure and spiritual upper castes for the purpose 
 of absorbing their spiritual magnetism through 
 association and examples ; the object is the 
 same, cultivating devotion to the Supreme 
 Being by loving service rendered to His de- 
 votees. 
 
 Thus the Caste system, though worked by 
 human agency, is founded upon natural laws. 
 As originally created in the Silver Age, its 
 object is to form people into groups accord- 
 ing to the similarity of their natural casts of 
 mind, according to their natural instincts and 
 dispositions, with the view of uniting them by 
 the .bonds of their common as well as mutual 
 interests, with the view of helping them to 
 material, moral and spiritual elevation by com- 
 pelling them to discharge their respective 
 duties according to the injunctions of inspired 
 codes of laws furnished by illumined Sages 
 whose very pure, unselfish, spiritual and self- 
 sacrificing life is the best guarantee of the wis- 
 dom, efficacy and usefulness of their advices 
 
 117
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 and teachings. The relation of interdepend- 
 ence which these caste laws consolidate is in 
 itself one of the grandest achievements of the 
 caste system for the good of the human family. 
 It is the most practical means of preserving 
 unity and a natural preventive of the disin- 
 tegration of the whole mass of humanity into 
 individual units than which no greater calamity 
 can happen to the general as well as individual 
 weal of human beings. Yet, alas, among non- 
 caste races this is happening, especially in the 
 Western countries of the world, at the present 
 time! 
 
 Look at the state of the human society at 
 this moment, particularly that portion of it 
 which is governed by the ideas of what is boast- 
 fully called "civilization" ! Look at the ex- 
 ternal results of the internal influence of 
 thfs~ civilization ! Material comfort and pleas- 
 ure has become the very ideal of life for its 
 average votary. All, almost all are ever rush- 
 ing on the path of securing the means for that 
 one end. And in that mad rush they are jost- 
 ling, hustling, hating, abusing, cheating, killing 
 and destroying one another physically and 
 
 118
 
 THE CASTE SYSTEM. 
 
 morally. In that mad rush for that one goal, 
 in that selfish fight and quarrel, out of the ex- 
 haustion brought on by the efforts of that 
 bustling and hustling, they have no time or 
 opportunity or inclination to think of anything 
 which has no immediate concern with that 
 utterly material aim of life. They have no 
 time to think of their mind, much less of their 
 soul, which most of them have abolished as 
 a delusion and an obstacle in the way of ma- 
 terial success. They have even no time to 
 look up into the blue heavens during night or 
 during day, to look at the beauties of the stars 
 and the moon, much less to think of what they 
 are and if they have any relation with them. 
 Material interests are fast taking the place of 
 natural love and affection. Husbands and 
 wives are fighting with each other; sons and 
 daughters are ignoring and disobeying their 
 parents ; masters and servants have no other 
 regard for each other than that inspired by 
 personal gain ; they are always trying to cheat 
 instead of helping each other. Members of 
 communities are divided against each other 
 and only seemingly united for the sake of 
 
 119
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 selfish ends. Society exists only in name. 
 Envy, malice, greed, selfishness, conceit having 
 gained predominance in all, have split society 
 into units. 
 
 This chaotic state of modern human "so- 
 ciety" in most parts of the world, the truth of 
 which will be generally acknowledged, ought 
 to convince all thoughtful people as to the 
 wisdom and vital necessity of the caste system. 
 Even now where the four-caste system still 
 exists, it does serve to keep the communities 
 within its rule as one compact body 
 to a great extent, through the influence 
 of its laws of interdependence and mutual 
 harmonious relations. Thanks to Caste, 
 even the degenerating" Hindoos of to-day 
 have not yet been split into units. This 
 remnant race, a race which has still retained 
 some of the instincts of the original human 
 family of the Silver Age, is being more 
 and more divided and subdivided, no doubt, 
 at the present day. But these divisions and 
 subdivisions are large coherent parts, linked 
 together into one great whole. The entire race 
 is divided into four castes ; the castes are divid- 
 120
 
 THE CASTE SYSTEM. 
 
 ed into sub-castes, the sub-castes again into 
 communities, the communities into rural so- 
 cieties, the rural societies into large patriarchal 
 joint-families. The members of families are 
 ruled by the patriarchs, the patriarchs by the 
 headmen of caste communities, the caste 
 communities by the spiritual (Brahman) 
 guides, through the enforcement of the salu- 
 tary Scriptural injunctions, the infringement 
 of which is punished, in minor cases, by ex- 
 piations involving physical hardships and spir- 
 itual austerities and purifying ceremonies, and, 
 in serious cases, by expulsion from caste, 
 which, in India, is a greater disaster than 
 natural or material calamities. And all these 
 rulers and ruled are related to one another by 
 more or less natural love and affection or re- 
 spect and sense of duty born in their blood 
 through thousands of generations of heredi- 
 tary habits of thought and life ; all are inspired 
 to command and obey by the spirit of the 
 Veda which their mind absorbs through the 
 performance of their respective spiritual, social, 
 physical duties as enjoined by the later Script- 
 uresthe Shastras, which are modified em- 
 121
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 bodiments of the revealed laws of the Basic 
 Spirit of All Life, the all-cementing Spirit of 
 Nature Love.
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE. 
 
 SIMULTANEOUSLY with the introduction of the 
 Caste System in the Silver Age are instituted 
 the Four Stages of Life, the object of which 
 is to help the lower state of human conscious- 
 ness to gradually attain to the highest spiritual 
 realization. They are graduated processes of 
 mental and physical application and discipline 
 by the practice of which individuals are to 
 recover the absolute illumination, being and 
 bliss enjoyed by all human souls in the Golden 
 Age. They impart a scientfic training to the 
 human mind in order to enable it to subdue its 
 Rajasic (active) and Tamasic (darkening) 
 attributes by developing the Sattwic (illumi- 
 nating) attribute through concentration upon 
 the Basic Principles of Life the Centre and 
 Essence of Absolute Purity and Illumination. 
 The first stage is called Brahmacharjya or 
 Spiritual Pupilage. The second stage is called 
 Grihastha or Householdership. The third 
 
 123
 
 SREE K-RISHNA. 
 
 stage is called Vanaprastha or Asceticism. The 
 fourth stage is called the Bhikshu or Wander- 
 ing Friarship. The first, third and fourth 
 stages are enjoined for the three twice-born 
 castes and the third and fourth are open even 
 to a Sudra if he is found worthy of adopting 
 them. The Brahman, Kshatriya and Vaishya 
 are called twice-born ; the first birth is the 
 physical birth, the second is the spiritual birth 
 through the investiture of the holy thread 
 from which begins the performance of daily 
 spiritual duties and practices. 
 
 The first stage of life begins, soon after this 
 spiritual initiation, at the age of twelve, when 
 the boy goes to reside with the Gooroo (spir- 
 itual guide) for studying the Veda and for 
 undergoing spiritual, mental and physical dis- 
 cipline. The Gooroo is an illuminated Brah- 
 man sage whose love and affection for the 
 pupils in his charge and anxious care and 
 efforts for the unfoldment of their souls are 
 not equalled by those of even their parents. 
 He feeds, clothes and lodges them in his own 
 abode free of any charge or consideration 
 whatever. His one thought and concern is 
 
 124
 
 - THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE. 
 
 to help them to realize the Truth, to be freed 
 from the bondage of matter and thus enter the 
 Absolute Realm of Eternal Love and Happi- 
 ness. 
 
 While every student has to perform the same 
 regular spiritual rites and pratices and to say 
 the prayers daily after physical purification, 
 the method of training adopted by the Gooroo 
 for developing their soul is not the same in 
 each case. To some he explains the truths 
 of the Veda and asks them to meditate on their 
 meanings. Others, who show natural instincts 
 of devotion, he trains into practical realiza- 
 tion of the same truths without teaching them 
 a single word of the Veda. 
 
 The chief method of a Gooroo's teaching 
 is to draw the student's mind away from 
 worldly attractions and turn the direction of 
 the mind's vision inwards into the soul. De- 
 votion is the principal aim, for devotion means 
 concentration and when that concentration 
 is fixed upon the contemplation of the Essence 
 of things which pervades them all and yet 
 is unmixed with the outer substance and at- 
 tributes of their manifested forms, the mind 
 
 125
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 absorbs the perfect purity of that Essence and 
 is filled with the serenity and the inexpressible 
 joy born of absolute freedom from the in- 
 fluence of matter. 
 
 If the student obtains this practical realiza- 
 tion of the Essence of Existence, he remains 
 for the rest of his life in this stage of spiritual 
 pupilage. But he is no more a pupil ; he be- 
 comes a teacher of pupils a Gooroo. It is 
 this practical realization that invests a student 
 of wisdom with the magnetic power of awaken- 
 ing that realization in others. 
 
 A spiritual student's training is essentially 
 based upon a life of purest mental and physical 
 chastity; the student is not allowed by the 
 teacher to mix or talk with worldly men or to 
 discuss temporal subjects among themselves. 
 When the practical realization of the Truth is 
 attained, life's one object is attained. If, how- 
 ever, after staying and studying with the Goo- 
 roo for twelve years, the student fails to have 
 this practical grasp of the soul of wisdom, he 
 leaves the Gooroo and with his permission 
 returns to his family, takes unto himself a 
 good-tempered, virtuous and spiritually-in- 
 
 126
 
 THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE. 
 
 clined wife and enters into the life of a house- 
 holder. But the principal object of this 
 second stage of life is the same as in the 
 first realization of the Truth. The practice 
 for physical and mental purity is continued, 
 the Veda is studied daily, diligently and de- 
 votedly, and the meanings of its truths and 
 principles contemplated with calmness and con- 
 centration, comparing their lessons in the light 
 of the experiences of worldly life. The obliga- 
 tions of household life are greater than those 
 of pupilage. Life must be sustained on simple 
 and sparing meals ; the means of living must 
 be honestly earned, the hungry or needy beggar 
 must be satisfied according to means and abil- 
 ity; the pleasures and comforts of household 
 existence must be enjoyed moderately and with 
 discrimination ; parents, wife, members of the 
 family, poor relatives and dependents and de- 
 voted servants must be supported, loved and 
 made happy. All legitimate wishes and wants 
 of the wife must be satisfied, she must be cher- 
 ished with affection and respect and regarded 
 as the presiding deity of household harmony. 
 If during this household life the truth is 
 
 121
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 realized, the householder remains at home dur- 
 ing the rest of his earthly days ; he has no need 
 to go into the third stage of life, for, as I have 
 said, realization of the Truth is the end and 
 aim of life in all its stages. If, however, this 
 main object is not obtained, the householder, 
 after twenty-four years of family life, must 
 enter the third stage, that of the ascetic. He 
 must leave his home with his wife and retire 
 from worldly life and interests and live in 
 some secluded forest place near his home and 
 practise austerities, physical and mental, in 
 order to purge the mind of all its material 
 inclinations for a period of twelve years. If 
 during that time the realization is obtained, he 
 remains in that stage for the rest of his life, 
 imparting the realized knowledge and wisdom 
 to all who may come to him. 
 
 If, however, he fails in his search for it, even 
 in this ascetic stage, he returns to his home 
 with his wife, and if he has a son to protect 
 and support her, he leaves his home and family, 
 with the permission of his parents and his wife, 
 and enters into the fourth stage, that of the 
 holy wanderer, to tread the path to Freedom 
 
 128
 
 THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE. 
 
 and Truth all alone, sundering all ties of 
 worldly life and surrendering himself body, 
 mind and soul to that search. He must not 
 occupy his mind with any other but that one 
 thought; he must live on one simple, spare 
 meal a day, enough to sufficiently satisfy his 
 hunger; he must dress himself in scant saf- 
 fron-colored clothes, the color of Love and 
 Wisdom. He must ever be wandering, never 
 entering a human home, and rest under trees ; 
 but must not sleep under one tree or on the 
 same spot or place for three successive nights, 
 never talk with people on any other subject 
 than that of his search, and discuss it with 
 humble spirit of inquiry with illuminated 
 sages he comes across on his journeyings. 
 
 This all-absorbing meditation does help to 
 awaken in him at last the light of the Truth, 
 and blessed with that light he is filled with joy 
 and feels himself the happiest mortal, in touch 
 and tune with the purest spirit of the Universe, 
 the Infinity which is the parent of the Finite. 
 With the first flush of this realization he 
 changes the color of his clothes from saffron 
 to white, the color of Illumination (Sattwa), 
 
 129
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 and as he wanders still, in the ecstasy of the 
 bliss of Truth within his soul, gradually the 
 objective phenomena around him seem unsub- 
 stantial and finally grow dim and shadowy, 
 while the realized spirit in which his mind lives 
 immersed, he perceives to be the only substance 
 of those shadows. Then, as he roams along, 
 laughing and sporting like a little boy in the 
 fulness of the glee within, he becomes in time 
 almost unconscious of anything outside of his 
 soul. His very sight is a blessing to all be- 
 holders, a blessing which fills them tempo- 
 rarily with the delight of his intoxication. He 
 has no count of time or notion of the phases 
 of time whether it is morning, noon or night. 
 He lives henceforth in Infinity and views all 
 Nature as dwelling within him and anon views 
 himself as a wavelet in the infinite ocean of its 
 Essence. He does not feel any hunger, for 
 with the satisfaction of his spiritual hunger 
 all hunger has been satisfied forever. He is 
 the embodiment of ecstasy, uncovered ecstasy, 
 and even his physical cover, the white cloth, 
 has fallen from his body. He stands naked 
 as naked Nature's most natural man. He is 
 
 130
 
 THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE. 
 
 clothed with the illumination of his soul, like 
 the Golden Age man. 
 
 131
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 THE COPPER AGE. 
 
 THE Divine Cycle of time can be likened to 
 a fruit. Like the ripening and rottening of 
 a fruit, the Divine Cycle develops and degener- 
 ates into rottenness. The Golden Age is its 
 ripening stage. At the end of that age, it is 
 fully ripe. The Silver Age is its overripe 
 stage. The Copper Age marks the stage of its 
 rottenness and the Iron Age is its fully rotten 
 stage. At the end of the Iron Age, it is re- 
 duced to its seed out of which springs the 
 sprout of the Golden Age. And during the 
 junction period of the Golden Age, covering 
 144,000 human years, the sprout grows into a 
 flowering tree which bears fruit with the com- 
 mencement of the Golden Age proper. 
 
 The length of the Copper Age is 2,000 
 divine years, equal to 720,000 human years, 
 while its Twilight periods are 72,000 years 
 each. Men in this age are seven cubits or ten 
 and a half feet high. Virtue lives in it in two
 
 THE COPPER AGE. 
 
 quarters, the other two being filled by vice. 
 Vitality is rooted in the blood; men live as 
 long as there is blood in their body. Gold and 
 silver having become dearer the metal gener- 
 ally used in making household utensils is cop- 
 per which is found abundantly, whence the age 
 derives its name. The intensity of accelerated 
 Raja within Nature helps the assertion of 
 Tama in all her manifest phases, although 
 Sattwa still has some influence. The trees 
 become less in height, less fruitful and the 
 fruits less sweet ; crops less abundant despite 
 the best efforts of cultivation. Cows give less 
 milk than in the Silver Age, while wild animals 
 become more ferocious. Most animals can 
 speak in the Silver Age, but now only some 
 of them, the higher ones, are blessed with that 
 power during the major portion of it. 
 
 People in the Copper Age become more and 
 more outward-looking generally, especially the 
 Sudras, some of whom having become filled 
 with dense Tama, revolt against all laws and 
 discipline and turn into thieves and robbers. 
 These latter are expelled from their caste and 
 banished out of civilized centres of population 
 
 133
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 the world over by the kings. They are called 
 by the common name of robbers and specific 
 names of Yavans and Mlechhas which means 
 men who are wild, barbarous and unclean 
 by nature and habits. These Yavans and 
 Mlechhas come into existence towards the end 
 of the Silver Age and rapidly increase in num- 
 ber during the Dwapar (Copper Age), towards 
 the end of which they form the majority of the 
 world's population and are known by different 
 names according to the localities of their habi- 
 tation, different shades of their dark attributes, 
 and the callings they pursue : Yavan, Kirat 
 (hunters), Gandhar, Cheen (Chinese), Shabar, 
 Barbar (barbarian), Shak, Tungar, Kanka, 
 Palhab, Ramat and Kambhoj. The kings in 
 the Copper Age have a hard time to protect 
 their subjects and their territories from the 
 depredations of these wild characters and rob- 
 bers. The king's first duty is to preserve 
 peace in his kingdom so that his subjects may 
 not be disturbed in the performance of their 
 religious duties, may apply themselves to the 
 study of the Veda and the contemplation of the 
 Supreme Deity and tread the path of virtue 
 without annoyance. 
 
 134
 
 THE COPPER AGE. 
 
 The king's chief duty being to insure the 
 material welfare of his subjects with the sole 
 view of helping their spiritual welfare, the 
 punishment for the infringement of caste and 
 religious rules is made severe and swiftly ad- 
 ministered. At the same time the spirit of the 
 times is taken into consideration and many 
 rigid rules are relaxed and minor faults are 
 pardoned. The four castes are subdivided into 
 sub-castes according to the different callings 
 that the Vaishyas and Sudras show preference 
 in their inclinations to follow. Those who take 
 to agriculture are classed as cultivators, those 
 who rear cattle and sell milk and butter are 
 called milkmen, while those who take to trade 
 and commerce are called traders and merchants 
 and so on. All these form into different sub- 
 castes under the general caste of Vaishya. 
 Similarly the Sudras are subdivided according 
 to their respective callings; viz., blacksmiths, 
 potters, carpenters, masons, etc., all under the 
 general caste of Sudra. The chief object of 
 these sub-castes is to save human society from 
 disintegration as much as possible, to preserve 
 the masses of men in as large coherent sec- 
 
 135
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 tions as practicable linked to one another 
 through spiritual, moral and material relations. 
 Another, and almost equally important, ob- 
 ject of the caste and sub-caste systems in the 
 Copper Age is to conserve the heredity of 
 their different intellectualities, talents, healthy 
 characteristics, and instincts. This becomes all 
 the more necessary owing to the fact that it 
 is in the Dwapar Yuga that husbands and 
 wives begin to have carnal relations. During 
 the Golden Age and the greater portion of the 
 Silver Age all men and women are, what 
 Christians call, virgin-born. The fuss that is 
 made about this immaculate conception suc- 
 ceeds only to excite a smile of pity in the 
 Shastra-enlightened Hindoo a smile of pity 
 for the ignorance of the facts in the past his- 
 tory of the human race of which they seem 
 to know so little and care less to know more. 
 This fact about the Golden and Silver Ages, 
 this generally prevailing immaculate child- 
 conception, ought to open their eyes. If they 
 require any authority for this statement, I 
 refer them to the stuly of the Shanti Parva of 
 the Mahabharata. 
 
 136
 
 THE COPPER AGE, 
 
 The Yoga-power of the Golden Age men 
 draw disembodied souls from the Bhuba 
 sphere and spiritual souls from higher spheres 
 to enter into a woman's womb and be born on 
 the earth plane. The will-force of these men 
 supplies these incoming souls with the mate- 
 rial of a physical body. In the Silver Age the 
 higher illuminated Brahmans and Saints can 
 bring about conception in the same way, while 
 others bring it about by making the women eat 
 magnetized "charoo," which not only draws 
 these spirits to the womb, but supplies the 
 material for the physical body. In the Copper 
 Age, however, the decrease of spirituality takes 
 away the power, and so the material of the 
 physical body has to be supplied by the physi- 
 cal vigor of the father and the blood of the 
 mother to enable a disembodied spirit to enter 
 the womb and grow into a child. 
 
 This degenerated process of procreation 
 coming into vogue in the Copper Age renders 
 it necessary to fuse higher magnetism into 
 the lower castes, as well as to preserve the 
 magnetism of each caste from deterioration. 
 The means adopted for securing these ends is 
 137
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 to allow the two higher castes men to marry 
 girls of the lower castes, and towards the lat- 
 ter end of the Copper Age even Vaishyas are 
 permitted to marry Sudra girls. The lower 
 caste men, however, are never allowed to 
 marry higher caste women, as it degenerates 
 the breed, the seed being a far more potent 
 factor in producing excellence of growth than 
 the soil. The offsprings of these intermar- 
 riages form into castes distinct from those of 
 their fathers and mothers, lower than their 
 father's and higher than their mother's. 
 
 In order to preserve the magnetism and the 
 hereditary talent and instincts from deteriorat- 
 ing, the castes are divided into sub-castes ac- 
 cording to their general proclivities and pro- 
 fessions of livelihood. Each sub-caste must 
 marry within its own circle, and must eat food 
 cooked by the hands of its own members. 
 Heredity is now being believed in by the mate- 
 realistic people of the modern world, and when 
 that belief in heredity will have grown stronger 
 in their minds, they will then take practical 
 measures to preserve the good qualities of 
 heredity from being spoilt by coming in con- 
 
 138
 
 THE COPPER AGE. 
 
 tact with the bad magnetism of its lower traits. 
 
 This human magnetism is a subject which is 
 worthy of the study of modern scientists. If 
 they can find out what it is, ascertain its prop- 
 erties, power for good and evil, and how good 
 magnetism can be conserved and transmitted 
 and how bad magnetism can be purified, they 
 will do humanity greater good than they have 
 done by the discovery of steam and electricity, 
 which, judged from the standpoint of the high- 
 est good, ought to be considered as very 
 doubtful boons. Magnetism is not useful mag- 
 netism if it is purely physical. It is not worth 
 preserving, it is injurious, and its contact 
 ought to be avoided. 
 
 It is spiritual magnetism which is worth 
 preserving. It is spirituality which is the 
 medium which transmits good heredity from 
 parent to progeny. The mind is the storehouse 
 and battery of all human magnetism. The 
 vibrations of the mind pervade every atom 
 of the body and the mind's vibrations are 
 generated by its principal and most powerful 
 thoughts and sentiments. These vibrations 
 are the essence of these thoughts and senti- 
 
 139
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ments, and magnetism is that subtle essence 
 impregnated with the potencies of the mind 
 mixed with the subtle forces of the physical 
 body. 
 
 Marrying, cooking and eating within the 
 caste helps to conserve in the individual mem- 
 bers thereof the spiritual and mental mag- 
 netism, generated by the performances of the 
 religious duties and ceremonies and spiritual 
 incantations which form the daily routine of 
 household life enjoined by the Scriptures. 
 
 Thus wisdom, talent, traits, instincts are all 
 ingrained in and transmitted through the blood 
 from generation to generation of each caste. 
 The caste is like a university, each home a 
 school, and the instincts and talents, brought 
 into being with the birth of each member, are 
 the implanted principles of the knowledge of 
 each profession of which it is the caste. A 
 carpenter's caste is a guild for carpentry, a 
 carpenter's home is a technical school for car- 
 pentry where the natural talent and love for the 
 art are partly imbibed by the instincts of hered- 
 ity and partly by observation which is the best 
 system of training. 
 
 140
 
 THE COPPER AGE. 
 
 With these tendencies of material arts are 
 born in the blood of the child the germs of the 
 moral and spiritual culture of the parents. 
 These germs shoot forth into healthy growth 
 under the fostering care of the child's guard- 
 ians, aided by the religious, social and domestic 
 duties the growing child has to perform daily. 
 The carpenter is as much a useful member of 
 the four-caste society as the Brahman. The 
 householder Brahman can no more do without 
 a carpenter than a carpenter can do without a 
 Brahman. But the value of the Brahman's help 
 to the carpenter being more important to the 
 development of his soul, which is the true aim 
 and goal of earthly life, the obligations of the 
 other castes to the Brahman are greater and 
 deeper than those of the Brahman to the 
 Sudra. The question may now be asked, has 
 that carpenter no chance of becoming the equal 
 of the Brahman through spiritual culture ? Yes 
 and no. Yes, because Brahmanhood is nobody's 
 monopoly. Brahmanhood is but a state of the 
 human mind the ensouled state of the human 
 mind, and anybody who develops this state of 
 mind, even though he be encased within a 
 
 141
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Pariah's flesh, lays legitimate claim to Brah- 
 manhood. Only he must make that ensouled 
 mental state perfect, only he must enter the 
 fold of Brahmanhood through the door of 
 Nature, through the ingress of Rebirth. The 
 maturity of a material or mental condition is 
 best known to Nature. A mass of animal flesh, 
 lying on the surface of Mother Earth, under- 
 goes all the processes of disintegration and 
 putrefaction, and when that disintegration is 
 complete, Earth assimilates and absorbs it 
 again ; it becomes a part of her body, it be- 
 comes earth itself. What is true of material 
 plane of Nature is true as well of her mental 
 and spiritual planes. When a carpenter has 
 developed full Brahman consciousness, Na- 
 ture opens to him wide the portals of the 
 spiritual caste which had looked down upon 
 him in his carpenter birth. Even in his car- 
 penter birth, he does not go unrewarded. The 
 case of the carpenter Rishi, called Suta, is a 
 luminous instance in point. His spiritual cul- 
 ture was so great that the highest illuminated 
 sages (Rishis) learned from him the lessons 
 of the Puranas which he preached to them, 
 142
 
 THE COPPER AGE. 
 
 sitting on a raised platform with their rev- 
 erential permission. He was considered a 
 knower of Brahm and so enjoyed the respect 
 paid to the highest spiritual beings. A Sudra 
 may not become a Brahman, but may become 
 through practical spiritual culture a higher 
 being than a Brahman even in his Sudra birth, 
 and be born into a highly spiritual Brahman 
 family, by sheer dint of merit, the merit of de- 
 veloping spiritual consciousness in the next 
 birth. Similarly a Brahman, born in the high- 
 est family of his clan, will, by developing Pa- 
 riah qualities, be outclassed in his Brahman 
 birth and .enter through the door of Nature 
 into a Pariah family in a subsequent birth. 
 
 The above facts and truths are known to a 
 child even of every caste. Even a child knows, 
 either in the Copper Age or to-day among the 
 four-caste people, that a caste-birth is depend- 
 ent upon Karma (actions). A Sudra, there- 
 fore, takes the very fact of his birth as suffi- 
 cient reason for his being placed in the low- 
 est caste. He is reconciled to his fate, a fate 
 big with the potentialities of his actions in 
 previous existences. And the little gloom of 
 
 143
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 sadness that his lowly station of life casts upon 
 his mind is illumined now and again by the 
 silver lining of the consolation that it is in his 
 power, if he so wills it, to be a high Brah- 
 man in the next incarnation, if he succeeds in 
 developing his higher soul-consciousness. 
 
 The Veda in the Copper Age has for the 
 first time to be studied and its truths practised 
 in two parts the philosophical and the cere- 
 monial parts. Men generally are degenerated 
 so much in this age that they can no longer 
 grasp the truths of the Upanishads without 
 first purifying their body and through the puri- 
 fied body the mind. The Vedas are divided 
 into Upanishads (Eternal Spiritual Truths) 
 and the Mantras (incantations, hymns and 
 ceremonies, the practice of which cleanses the 
 impurities of the mind and body). In the 
 Dwapar Yuga, therefore, the performance of 
 the ceremonials of the Veda is much in vogue. 
 When the body and mind are purified, they are 
 made fit for grasping the meanings of the 
 higher philosophy of life and become recep- 
 tive to the influences of the subtlest spiritual 
 vibrations. 
 
 144
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 THE IRON AGE. 
 
 BUT even these attempts and safeguards for 
 keeping up the higher individuality of the 
 human race fail to retard the course of the de- 
 generation which Nature herself undergoes in 
 the process of time. The fruit of Divine Cycle, 
 spoken of in the beginning of the last Section, 
 reaches an advanced stage of rottenness which 
 marks the commencement of the Twilight Pe- 
 riod of the Kali, called also Tamas or the Dark 
 Age. The characteristics of Kali are symp- 
 toms of Nature filled with denser gloom than 
 heretofore. 
 
 The usual Kali, the last section of every 
 Divine Cycle, is much more dense with Tama 
 (darkness) than the one in which we are living 
 now. The reason is that at the junction of the 
 last Dwapar and the present Kali, the fullest 
 incarnation of the Supreme Deity, Sri Krishna 
 himself, came on earth to dwell among men 
 for a period of a hundred years. This Avatar 
 and source of all Avatars, this central Form- 
 
 145
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Point of All-Pervading Brahm, this Embodi- 
 ment of Para-Brahm, is gracious enough to 
 come and dwell among men on earth only once 
 in 71 Divine cycles. We, the degenerated 
 mortals of this Dark Age, are more fortunate 
 than even humanity of many a Golden or Silver 
 Age. The Supreme Lord sanctifies the soil of 
 the earth-plane of every universe with the all- 
 purifying touch of His Lotus-Feet by turns, 
 The countless universes that spring out of 
 Him and return in germ-form again into 
 Him have the grace of His personal touch and 
 supervision at appointed times. When Krish- 
 na comes to live in any of the universes, Na- 
 ture therein is turned inside out, so that the 
 inmost essence of it may flow over its surface 
 and wash off all the causes of pollution. It 
 has been recorded by the contemporary sages 
 of Krishna-Leela, the all-knowing sages who 
 came down to earth from higher planes to 
 act as scribes of the Lord's deeds, that by the 
 coming of Krishna not only the 36,000 years, 
 forming the junction period of Kali, was de- 
 stroyed, but also almost half of the age of 
 Kali proper, while the Lord's Rash-Dance 
 146
 
 THE IRON AGE. 
 
 with the Gopis absorbed a whole Kalpa cov- 
 ering 36,000 Divine cycles out of the age of 
 Brahma. 
 
 The age of Brahma is the age of the uni- 
 verse, that is to say, the age of Brahma is 
 equal to the duration of creation. Brahma 
 lives for 100 Brahmic years and one Brahmic 
 year is made up of 360 Brahmic days. One 
 day of Brahma is equal to one Kalpa, so is his 
 night. A Kalpa is equal to 12,000,000 divine 
 years. One night of Brahma covers the same 
 period of time so that one day and one night 
 of Brahma covers 24,000,000 divine years. 
 Multiplying these figures by 360 we get 8,640,- 
 000,000 divine years, which is the span of one 
 year of Brahma. Multiplying these figures by 
 loo we get the span of Brahma's age, 864,- 
 000,000,000 divine years, which being multi- 
 plied by 360 we get 311,040,000,000,000 human 
 (lunar) years, the age of Brahma, the dura- 
 tion of creation. 
 
 Thus the night of the Rash-Dance not only 
 absorbed one Kalpa equal to 4,320,000,000 
 lunar years out of the duration of creation, but 
 also 36,000 years which form the junction of 
 
 147
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Dwapar and Kali, as also about half the span 
 of the Kali proper. About this last there is 
 no authoritative statement in the Shastras, but 
 it has been stated therein that when Krishna 
 left the earth and went up to His Abode, the 
 forces of "advanced Kali" overtook humanity. 
 Now, according to the Hindoo almanacs, about 
 5,000 years only have passed since Krishna's 
 departure, which would mean that it is now but 
 the beginning of Kali proper, the span of 
 which is 360,000 years. But the signs and 
 symptoms of the times already visible are un- 
 mistakably of the middle Kali, detailed de- 
 scriptive features of which are to be found in 
 the Mahabharata as also in all the Puranas. 
 This being so, it is not a wrong supposition 
 that we are already in the middle Kali and 
 that Krishna-Leela has also taken away half the 
 age of Kali proper. 
 
 Nor is it necessary that the Kali has to pass 
 through the conventional figures of its dura- 
 tion given in the Shastras. What is true of 
 individual humanity is true also of the whole 
 mass of humanity which represents Kali. Kali 
 is nothing else but the forms of Nature's 
 
 148
 
 THE IRON AGE. 
 
 changes of the latter end of a Divine cycle. 
 We, men and beasts and trees and grass, pro- 
 ductions of Nature, represent the phases and 
 features of Kali. Dense Tama working with- 
 in Nature brings out the characteristics of 
 this dark age to the surface of the earth. Man 
 being the most highly organized product and 
 the most powerful medium of her attributes, 
 the thoughts and actions of men are most af- 
 fected by it. The dark thoughts and actions, 
 called sin in common parlance of humanity, 
 form the sins of Kali which represents the 
 spirit of human conduct and characteristics 
 in the Dark Age. We see that people, who are 
 naturally healthy and robust, shorten their 
 longevity by over-indulging in vice. Thus a 
 life of vice or sin, that is, life lived in violation 
 of Nature's laws, begets diseases of the body 
 which bring about early destruction. A man 
 for instance, who, according to his natural state 
 of health, ought to live for one hundred years, 
 is often found to die at the age of thirty, a 
 victim of dissipated life. This rule applies to 
 Kali. All our accumulated sins form Kali's 
 sins. And these accumulated sins are beget- 
 149
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ting diseases in the body and mind of human- 
 ity from wEich Kali must die an early death. 
 
 This Kali, therefore, with its rapidly increas- 
 ing accumulation of sin, may come to an end 
 in less than 10,000 years, its conventional 
 period of existence, 360,000 years, being con- 
 densed into that short space of time. Judging 
 from the signs of an advanced state of rotten- 
 ness, already developed, it would seem as if 
 the worst features which hasten its end may 
 manifest themselves in less than a few hun- 
 dred years. But, like wheels within wheels, 
 the Satya, Treta and Dwapar cycles have their 
 sway through its duration by turns. By this 
 I mean that during the course of Kali (Iron 
 Age) features and characteristics of the 
 Golden, Silver and Copper Ages manifest 
 themselves by turns all through it. Indeed, the 
 spirit and attributes of these four cycles weigh 
 the moral and physical atmosphere of each 
 day and night. Supposing the average day 
 begin at 6 A. M., the influence and the attri- 
 butes of the Golden Age prevail from 6 A. M. 
 to 3.36 P. M. ; those of the Silver Age prevail 
 from 3.36 p. M. to 10.48 p. M. ; those of the 
 150
 
 THE IRON AGE. 
 
 Copper Age from 10.48 p. M. to 3.36 A. M., 
 and those of the Iron Age from 3.36 A. M. to 
 6 A. M. Illumination and comparative calm- 
 ness dwell within and without us from morning 
 up to high noon owing to the predominance of 
 Sattwa, the predominant attribute of the 
 Golden Age. From noon activity (Raja) as- 
 serts itself, and by about 3 o'clock in the after- 
 noon it gains full force when light (inside and 
 out of us) is on the decline and calmness is 
 disturbed, introducing the influence of the Sil- 
 ver Age, which lasts until about n at night, 
 when Tama (Darkness) begins its reign and, 
 combined with Raja, holds the rule of the 
 Copper Age. The signs of Tama are lazi- 
 ness, inaction, sleep, etc. We begin to experi- 
 ence these from n o'clock at night and until 
 three in the morning slumber and gloom en- 
 velop us and Nature. But sleep and darkness 
 are deepest from three to five in the morning. 
 These hours are ruled by Kali, the Dark Age. 
 
 Thus cycles revolve within cycles as they 
 revolve even within the smallest cycle, called 
 Day. Throughout the Iron Age, the condi- 
 tions of the first three cycles prevail one after 
 151
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 the other, and when this influence of the 
 Copper Age conditions in the Kali Age spends 
 itself, conditions of darker Kali prevail for a 
 time: Then again signs are visible of Golden 
 Age influence and after a time degenerate into 
 Silver Age phases, then into Copper Age 
 mixed light, then again into the deep gloom of 
 Kali within Kali, and so on. As Kali advances 
 more and more the successive, rotatory influ- 
 ences of the other three cycles become feebler 
 and feebler, and at last under the deepest 
 gloom of Kali gaining fullest power, their in- 
 fluences are kept down absolutely. Here be- 
 gins the end of the Kali period. Soon after 
 the signs of the coming Golden Age are visible. 
 These ever recurring conditions of the Golden 
 and Silver Ages, though feeble in their influ- 
 ence, counteract the destructive influences of 
 vice and sin and thus help to save the life of 
 Kali from coming to an end all too soon. 
 
 The Kali Yuga is called the Iron Age, be- 
 cause gold, silver and copper becoming scarcer, 
 people use all sorts of mixed metals, but 
 chiefly iron, in making household utensils, iron 
 being found in great abundance. The average 
 
 152
 
 THE IRON AGE 
 
 stature of mankind is three and a half cubits 
 or 5 feet 9 inches. Virtue is reduced to one- 
 quarter, the other three-quarters being made 
 up by vice. With the decrease of spirituality 
 in every succeeding age, the root of vitality has 
 been transferred from marrow to bone, from 
 bone to blood. Now, in the Kali that root of 
 life is destroyed. Life in this age is generally 
 sustained by food alone. The effect of con- 
 stant concentration upon changeful, external 
 objects rebounds upon the body, causing loss 
 of tissue greater than that in the former ages, 
 when men still have their minds turned in- 
 wards, between whiles, to have a ,dip in the 
 source of All-Life the soul. 
 
 The Vedas in the Iron Age are no more 
 understandable to the people in their original 
 sound-embodiments except to a small portion 
 of spiritual Brahmans. They are therefore 
 presented to the people in general in the form 
 of Shastras and Puranas. These embody the 
 Vedic truths, principles and ideas in easy con- 
 structions and simple language, illustrated by 
 examples and stories drawn from facts in life 
 of the past ages. The Shastras are, therefore, 
 
 153
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 nothing but the Vedas, simplified, explained 
 and illustrated, with the object of enabling the 
 deteriorated intellect of the Iron Age man to 
 grasp the light and the spirit of the Store- 
 house of Revealed Wisdom. The ceremonial 
 parts of the Vedas are likewise modified and 
 rendered easier for practice in the form of 
 Smritis (forms of spiritual duties and sacri- 
 fices) the daily performance of which is en- 
 joined upon the four-caste people. 
 
 Yet for all that, despite all these strenuous 
 efforts of the small spiritual portion of the 
 people to save the souls of their brethren from 
 succumbing to the dark forces of the age and 
 the allurements of a material life of undisci- 
 plined liberty and license, human society falls 
 into a mental and material state of chaos, typi- 
 cal of the stage of complete rottenness of a 
 fruit. As many grains of wheat when ground 
 in a mill look like one substance, called flour, 
 which means so many separate grains of wheat 
 have been divided into such minute parts that 
 they appear as one substance; so, in this most 
 advanced stage of decomposition of human so- 
 ciety, its various and separate composing parts 
 
 154
 
 THE IRON AGE. 
 
 and phases religious, racial and material 
 will be divided into one whole-looking mass 
 of separate minute units. People's minds, at 
 this latter end of the age, will be so far re- 
 moved from the idea and notion of God and 
 the soul that the Vedas, the Bible and all 
 other religious books and philosophies that are 
 now extant will disappear, and even the fact 
 that they had at any time existed will be com- 
 pletely forgotten. Churches and temples, 
 mosques and synagogues will no more be seen 
 on the face of the earth, humanity will live for 
 life itself the grossest material life. Each 
 individual will differ from the other on all 
 imaginable points of view on all subjects. 
 Every man and woman will be his or her own 
 God or ideal. There will be no sympathy be- 
 tween them, each one asserting his or her in- 
 dependence over all of his or her fellow crea- 
 tures. They will think, act, move, eat, sleep as 
 their own wild, wilful dispositions will prompt 
 them, causing quarrels and fighting between 
 one another. Selfishness and aggression will 
 be the keynote of their character. 
 
 The number of Mlechhas and Yavans and 
 
 155
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 outcasted people increases out of all proportion 
 to the number of the four-caste people who 
 may now be called the Root Race of the earth. 
 In the process of time this Root Race of people 
 will cling- round the centre of the earth to 
 save their spiritual instincts, pure ways of 
 living, customs and habits from being con- 
 taminated by association with the strayed por- 
 tion of humanity who now form the greatest- 
 majority. As, when in the throes of death, 
 through disease, the only visible action of life 
 is centered in the heart, while all other parts 
 are numb and comparatively lifeless, so with 
 the advance of Kali, the spiritual life becomes 
 centered in the heart of the earth. This heart 
 of the earth is called in the ancient Scriptures 
 the Sea-Girt Isle or peninsula, the Belt of the 
 Earth's Body now called India. In this heart 
 only of the earth live the original four-caste 
 people, while the rest, broken away and di- 
 vorced from the parent stock and religion, are 
 scattered all over the rest of her body. 
 
 The signs of advanced Kali are already visi- 
 ble all over the earth at the present moment, 
 nay, even of its most degenerated stage, espe- 
 
 156
 
 THE IRON AGE. 
 
 cially in the West signs and symptoms which 
 are manifesting themselves here and there even 
 in men of the Root Race. What a horrid state 
 of affairs the closing period of Kali will bring 
 about may be judged from the prophesies made 
 five thousand years ago by the illuminated 
 sages of this Root Race, prophesies which are 
 correct in startling exactitude and some of 
 which are on all fours with the signs and char- 
 acteristics of our present period, as will be 
 seen from a few extracts from them given 
 below. 
 
 The conditions of the different stages of 
 Kali have been described in all the eighteen 
 Puranas, and the Mahabharata which embody 
 the history of the human race from creation to 
 destruction the past, present and future 
 phases of human society of all times and of all 
 climes. The following few details translated 
 from a minute description of the early, mid- 
 dle and final stages of the Kali, given by the 
 Sage Markandeya, in reply to questions put in 
 regard to Kali by King Yudhisthira in an 
 assemblage of saints, kings and nobles, inspired 
 by incarnated Krishna, who was present in per- 
 
 157
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 son, will be of interest to most of my readers : 
 Raja Yudhisthira, Emperorer of Bharat- 
 varsha, the central of the seven continents of 
 the ancient world (now known as all the 
 world), during his sojourn among the Rishis 
 (saints) of Kamyak Forest, with a view to 
 ascertain the future state of the world, asked 
 the immortal saint (Brahmarshi) Markandeya, 
 "Holy one! After having heard your wonder- 
 ful accounts of the creation and the destruc- 
 tion of the universe, we have become anxious 
 to hear about Kali Yuga, and we beg you to 
 describe this age in detail to us. What results 
 will be produced by the destruction of the Root 
 Religion? What will the valor, strength, food, 
 behavior, costume and longevity of the human 
 race be like? And how long after will 
 commence the Satya Yuga (Golden Age) 
 again ?" 
 
 Saint Markandeya answered : "O King ! In 
 the Satya Yuga, virtue being void of the least 
 touch of greed, deception and other evil quali- 
 ties of the mind, was like a full four-footed 
 bull. In the Treta, it lost one and in the 
 Dwapar two feet. In the Dark Age it will be 
 
 158
 
 THE IRON AGE. 
 
 only one-footed, the other three feet being 
 destroyed by vice. 
 
 "The longevity, heroism, intelligence, 
 strength and mind-force of mankind are grad- 
 ually decreasing age by age; they will de- 
 crease still more in the Kali. The Kings, 
 Brahmans, Vaishyas and Sudras will practice 
 false piety, and this false piety will be turned 
 into a means for cheating others. Love of 
 truth will decline in men; decline in love of 
 truth will cause shortness of life; shortness of 
 life will prevent the proper cultivation of wis- 
 dom. Little wisdom will beget ignorance, ig- 
 norance will beget greed, greed anger, anger 
 delusion. And swayed by greed, anger, delu- 
 sion and sensuality, they will be envious of and 
 antagonistic to each other. 
 
 "The twice-born castes will become void of 
 truth and holy meditation. The mean Chan- 
 dais (pariahs) will behave like Kshatriyas and 
 Kshatriyas will imitate the ways of the Chan- 
 dais. Husbands will become extremely hen- 
 pecked; feed upon fish, flesh and milk 
 of goat and sheep. Man will aggress upon 
 man and develop an irreligious, atheistic and 
 thievish nature. 
 
 159
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 "People will not discriminate about the eat- 
 ableness or uneatableness of any food. Brah- 
 mans will cease performing spiritual practices, 
 will denounce the Vedas, and being deluded 
 by false discussion give up holy ceremonials 
 and engage themselves in mean actions. Father 
 and son will feel no compunction in killing 
 each other, but will rather feel delighted at 
 the deed and call it an act of God. 
 
 "The whole world will become Mlechha (un- 
 clean and barbarous) void of religious per- 
 formances and ceremonials, gladness and fes- 
 tivities. Almost all people will be miserly, 
 defame their friends and defraud and steal 
 the money of poor unprotected widows. They 
 will possess little strength and no energy, yet 
 be greedy and filled with material, sensual at- 
 tachments ; will gladly listen to the advices of 
 well-known bad persons and accept charity 
 by false pretences. 
 
 "Conceited yet illiterate kings will challenge 
 one another to fight, will try to kill one anoth- 
 er, and will be like thorns in the sides of their 
 subjects. Setting at naught their duties of pro- 
 tecting the people, they will, swayed by greed 
 
 160
 
 THE IRON AGE. 
 
 and pride, be ever anxious to rob and punish 
 them, and, prompted by their cruel heart, they 
 will snatch away the property and wives of 
 honest and pious men. 
 
 "None will ask a father for his daughter to 
 marry, and no father will offer his daughter 
 in marriage. The daughters will choose and 
 marry their own choice without consulting 
 anybody or going through any ceremonials. 
 
 "Brother will cheat brother. Even learned 
 persons will lose love of truth and be addicted 
 to telling lies; the old will act like boys, boys 
 like old people. Cowards will brag of their 
 bravery and brave men will act like cowards. 
 All will eat the same kinds of food and be 
 filled with selfishness and delusion. No one 
 will trust another. 
 
 "Brahmans, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas will 
 cease to restrain and rule the Sudras or even 
 each other. All castes will be levelled and be- 
 come one unclean and barbarous. Fathers 
 will not pardon sons, nor sons pardon their 
 fathers. Wives will cease from attending upon 
 their husbands; men and women will all be 
 self-willed and envious of each other. People 
 
 161
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 will not perform any good works or cere- 
 monies to satisfy the gods. They will not 
 listen to each other; there will be no gooroo 
 (teacher) or chela (pupil), all will be filled 
 with the darkness of ignorance. At Kali-end, 
 their longevity will be sixteen years ; most will 
 die immediately after that age is reached. 
 Women will give birth to children at the age 
 of seven or eight, and, in some cases, even at 
 five or six ; men will beget children at the age 
 of ten or twelve ; in some cases, even at the age 
 of seven or eight. No husband will be satisfied 
 with his wife, no wife satisfied with her hus- 
 band. They will have very little wealth, and 
 even those who will have no wealth whatever 
 will wear the false marks of wealth. Envy 
 will be predominant in every mind, hunger 
 ever burning in every stomach. Cross-roads 
 and streets will be thronged by wantons and 
 libertines. Women, forsaking shame, will 
 bear spite and grudge for their husbands. 
 Men will be all of unclean habits, manners and 
 customs, eat anything and everything and will 
 be terrible in every way and action. They 
 will cheat all in buying and selling of goods, 
 out of sheer greed. 
 
 162
 
 THE IRON AGE. 
 
 "None will care to acquire spiritual wisdom, 
 yet all will be busied in performing- spiritual 
 ceremonies for form's sake and be naturally 
 addicted to crooked acts. They will show the 
 faults of each other. People will live in con- 
 stant fear of losing their lives as victims of 
 their own greed and envy. The Sudras will 
 kill Brahmans and rob them of their property, 
 and the Brahmans being thus oppressed will 
 cry out in agony and out of fear will roam 
 unprotected on the surface of the earth. Some 
 of them will take refuge in lonely spots on 
 river banks, in mountains and in dangerous 
 places to save their lives; others being- 
 oppressed by the grinding taxes of unjust 
 kings, will lose all patience, and taking to the 
 services of Sudras, will perform forbidden acts. 
 
 "The generality of people will become fierce 
 and of murderous propensities. The Sudras 
 will become spiritual preceptors and Brahmans 
 will listen to them, believing their wrong pre- 
 cepts to be demonstrated facts. The low will 
 be high and the high low ; all conditions will 
 be reversed. All, all people will forsake God 
 and worship Mammon. The Sudras will 
 
 163
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 cease from serving Brahmans. The Earth will 
 no longer be adorned by the temples of God. 
 All mankind will be impious and develop 
 frightful characters. Meat will be their food, 
 liquor their drink. The one object of life will 
 be to increase flesh and blood. The rain- 
 clouds towards the close of Kali will pour 
 down rains out of season so that, overwhelmed 
 by incessant and untimely rain, people will 
 subsist on fruit and roots. Pupils will not 
 care for the lessons of their teachers, temporal 
 or other, and will act against their wishes. 
 The poverty-stricken Gooroos (spiritual 
 teachers) will curse their disciples. There 
 will not be the least trace of respect left in the 
 world. The relations of friends and kiths and 
 kins w r ill depend upon obligations of money. 
 
 "At the close of the cycle flowers will grow 
 upon flowers, fruits upon fruits, and, owing 
 to the rains not falling in season, there will 
 grow but scanty crops, so that famine-stricken 
 populations of the earth will cry out in hunger 
 and roam upon her surface. Fragrant things 
 will lose their odor, sweet juices will lose their 
 sweetness, seeds will not germinate properly. 
 
 164
 
 THE IRON AGE. 
 
 Women will transfer their love from husbands 
 to servants. All women, including wives of 
 heroes, will prefer somebody else to their hus- 
 bands for lovers. Pious men will be in mean 
 stations, short-lived and poor; vicious men 
 will occupy high positions, have long life and 
 prosperity. There will be constant breaking 
 out of fires all over the land. Tired and 
 hungry wayfarers will ask for food and refuge 
 from householders in vain, and out of despair 
 rest and sleep upon the road. Crows and other 
 birds, snakes and beasts will make unearthly 
 noises." 
 
 When Nature and human society will be 
 thus revolutionized, reaction will naturally set 
 in. When the fruit of Divine Cycle will thus 
 reach its extreme stage of rottenness, out of 
 its seed will spring forth a shoot which will 
 grow into a fresh. tree. That tree, in turn, 
 will bear fresh fruit a fresh Divine Cycle. 
 In this state of the darkest gloom, faint streaks 
 of russet light will be visible which will grow 
 bright anon and give birth to the dawn of the 
 Golden Age again. 
 
 Reaction is the law of Nature, reaction is 
 
 165
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 the result of every phase of action. When vice 
 has its full run on the face of the globe, when 
 it has reached its lowest depth and wildest 
 reign, it spends its force, becomes weakened, 
 allowing virtue to lift its head once more and 
 build its palace of light upon its ruins. Vice 
 is born of Tama, and virtue of Sattwa and 
 the active force of both is Raja. Time is the 
 self-manifesting kaleidoscopic revolution of 
 color-pictures on the transparent canvas of 
 ether. After the deepest shades of dark colors 
 are exhausted, there is a reaction of lighter 
 colors. When Tama has exhausted its force, 
 Sattwa asserts itself by natural law. 
 
 This healthy reaction growing stronger will 
 gradually evolve some order out of the chaos 
 of the closing Kali. A portion of the people 
 will get disgusted with the reign of utmost 
 licence and inharmony, and, endowed with 
 strong mental force to resist the influence of 
 the age, will pierce the veil of darkness en- 
 veloping everything and see the light that 
 dwells within. These will stimulate this re- 
 action, and spread the discovered light among 
 others groping in the darkness for that light. 
 
 166
 
 THE IRON AGE. 
 
 The four castes will be gradually established 
 once more in some fashion. 
 
 At this stage will be born in the village of 
 Sambhalpur in India a Brahman of great 
 spiritual force, named Vishnujasha, and in 
 time will become the father of the coming In- 
 carnation of Vishnoo, one of the most power- 
 ful incarnations Kalki. The Lord Kalki will 
 rapidly grow into youth and spiritual power. 
 At his mere mental call will come to him 
 countless vehicles, armours, all kinds of 
 weapons of war and soldiers. He will then 
 lead them to battle against all the Mlechhas, 
 robbers and tyrants, all over the world, who 
 will fall shouting in agony before his mam- 
 moth sword. After extirpating them all, the 
 Lord will establish once again perfect order 
 and harmony on the surface of the earth. After 
 ruling the world as Emperor and infusing into 
 humanity the spirit of highest spirituality, 
 Kalki will make over the charge of the earth 
 to the Brahmans and disappear after entering 
 a most beautiful forest. 
 
 Here will commence the Junction period of 
 the coming Golden Age. During this period, 
 167
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 covering 144,000 lunar years, all germs of 
 vice, crime and sin will be destroyed and men 
 will become engaged in spiritual practices and 
 ceremonials. The earth will be adorned with 
 beautiful forests and gardens, buildings, lakes, 
 reservoirs, and temples of God and many are 
 the sacred ceremonies that will be constantly 
 performed on her surface. Everywhere will be 
 visible holy Brahmans, saints and anchorites. 
 The four stages of life which before were rilled 
 with rogues will now be filled by pious, honest 
 and truthful men. The deep-rooted bad in- 
 stincts and associations will then be driven out 
 of the minds of all people. All the crops will 
 grow plentifully in their proper seasons. All 
 people will be employed in charitable acts, 
 religious sacrifices, and in performing spirit- 
 ual duties. The Brahmans will again be ab- 
 sorbed in holy meditations, satisfied and serene ; 
 the Kshatriyas will exhibit their valor; the 
 kings rule the world with justice and mercy; 
 the Vaishyas carry on trade and agriculture ; 
 the Sudras serve the three upper castes with 
 loving service. 
 
 This purifying process of humanity will be 
 
 163
 
 THE IRON AGE. 
 
 carried on all through the 144,000 years 
 bringing about the highest spiritual, mental 
 and physical development. From the shortest 
 stature to which the human body will be de- 
 creased, it will gradually, through this long 
 process of time and culture, be increased once 
 again to the height of 21 cubits or 31^ feet. 
 With the height of the body will be reached 
 the height of spiritual perfection. All, all 
 men and women will once again enjoy the 
 blessings of predominant Sattwa within Na- 
 ture and roam upon the earth in the Garden 
 of Eden with their vision turned inwards into 
 the soul of things, their body clad with the sky, 
 their hearts filled with ecstasy, their thoughts 
 centered upon God. We all who are now walk- 
 ing the earth, had walked in the last Golden 
 Age and formed members of that godly fra- 
 ternity of Adams and Eves and shall do so 
 in the coming Golden Age, unless we develop 
 higher soul-consciousness and, before the end 
 of the present Kali, transfer ourselves to any 
 of the upper four spheres or to the highest 
 beyond the universe Golaka the abode of 
 Absolute Love, to dwell with our only Lover 
 and Beloved Krishna. 
 
 169
 
 SECTION XL 
 
 MANWANTARA OR THE DELUGE. 
 
 THE next larger cycle of time is called the 
 Manwantara or the Deluge. When the Divine 
 Cycle has revolved 71 times it brings about 
 a cataclysm. The oceans surge up and cover 
 the entire earth with its waters, even the 
 highest peaks of the Himalayas being sub- 
 merged, and remain so for the period of 71 
 Divine Cycles. This world-wide natural ca- 
 tastrophy occurs periodically, owing to more 
 and more increased accumulation of the sins 
 of humanity, who, along with all living beings 
 and vegetation are thus destroyed by submer- 
 sion. The only man saved is the most virtuous 
 and spiritual man of the time, who becomes the 
 Manoo elect, fliat is, the spiritual governor of 
 the next Cycle which extends between the 
 time of the reappearance of land after the Del- 
 uge to the next Deluge. This period is called 
 Manwantara, the period between two Manoos. 
 The account of the Deluge as given in the Old 
 Testament of the Bible has been taken from 
 
 170
 
 MANWANTARA OR THE DELUGE. 
 
 minute accounts recorded in the Matsya 
 (Fish) Purana and the condensed facts about 
 them given in all the Puranas as well as the 
 Mahabharata. Only, the Bible version is dis- 
 torted in some particulars. 
 
 Since the beginning of the present Kalpa 
 creation, six Manwantaras, each ending with 
 the Deluge, have passed away. We are just 
 now living in the seventh of which twenty- 
 seven Divine Cycles have rolled away and we 
 are now living in the Iron Age of the twenty- 
 eighth. Many millions of years therefore have 
 gone by since the last Flood. Towards the 
 end of the Kali Yuga of the last Manwantara, 
 mankind became filled with the utmost cor- 
 ruption. But there was, according to the Ma- 
 habharata and the Bhagavat Purana, one man, 
 by the name of King Satyavrata, whom this 
 spirit of corruption failed to touch. He was 
 almost as pure and . spiritually powerful as 
 Brahma, the Creator, while he was possessed 
 of uncommon physical beauty. He was en- 
 gaged in spiritual austerities and meditation 
 in a holy forest on the top of the Himalayan 
 Mountains for many hundred years. One day, 
 171
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 while he was sitting in contemplation on the 
 bank of the river Cheerinee, a little fish lept 
 out of the water into his hands. He threw it 
 back into the river but the fish, to his surprise, 
 spoke and begged the king to protect him from 
 a large fish coming to devour him. Satya- 
 vrata out of compassion took the fish into his 
 hands again, went home and placed it in a 
 water-pot. He tended him as his own off- 
 spring. The fish gradually grew so big that 
 he had to be taken to a large pond, but after a 
 few years the pond could no more hold the 
 fish, so large had it become. The King 
 wondering at this unprecedented growth sus- 
 pected the fish to be Vishnoo Himself. The 
 fish begged Satyavrata to put him into the 
 holy Ganges which he did by his Yoga power. 
 In time, however, the fish growing still larger, 
 he had to be taken to the ocean. The King 
 exhibited his yoga-power again by carrying 
 that huge fish to the ocean. 
 
 As soon as he was thrown into the sea, the 
 
 phenomenal Fish smiled and thus addressed 
 
 the King, "O thou kind one ! Thou hast saved 
 
 and protected me in every way, but I will 
 
 172
 
 MANWANTARA OR THE DELUGE. 
 
 leave nothing undone to return this kindness. 
 Now, listen ! The time has come for one of 
 the great events of the world. The destruction 
 of the earth is at hand. On the seventh day 
 from this, the earth shall be swallowed up by 
 the waters, from which thou canst not be saved 
 except through me. A large ark shall come to 
 thee into which thou must get with the seven 
 Rishis (Illumined Beings) of the Great Bear 
 who shall help and bear you company. Take 
 thou also all kinds of seeds of all trees, plants, 
 shrubs and creepers, as also pairs of all animals 
 and creeping things on this boat and wait for 
 me. I will soon appear there, bedecked with 
 horns. Do not doubt my words, but do as I 
 tell thee." 
 
 The strange Fish then disappeared as Sa- 
 tyavrata said, "So shall it be." He then did 
 just as the Fish had told him. When the ark 
 came, he went aboard with the Seven Rishis of 
 the Great Bear and seeds and animals and 
 waited in anxious contemplation of the Divine 
 Fish which soon appeared as he had promised, 
 bedecked with horns and high as a hillock. He 
 made salutation to him and tied the ark to his 
 173
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 horns with a strong heavy rope, whereupon 
 the Fish pulled the ark with great speed and 
 began to play upon the bosom of the ocean. 
 
 Then the ocean heaved with huge waves and 
 the waters roared. It all looked as if the ocean 
 was performing a wild dance. The ark was 
 then tossed and whirled about with great force, 
 and soon not a trace of land or sign of any 
 direction was visible. Earth and sky seemed 
 one vast expanse of water under which all 
 men and beasts and birds and vegetation were 
 drowned and destroyed. The Fish and the 
 ark and Satyavrata with the Seven Rishis and 
 the seeds and animals alone existed. The 
 Divine Fish drew and preserved the ark for 
 many years on the surface of the deep. 
 
 Long, long time after, when the waters sub- 
 sided and the highest peak of the Himalayas 
 made itself visible, the Fish drew the ark to 
 it and said in a pleasant voice, addressing the 
 Rishis, "O ye illumined ones ! Bind the boat 
 for a while to this mountain-peak," which the 
 Rishis did. In commemoration of this event, 
 this peak of the Himalayas is still called the 
 "Boat-Binding Peak." 
 
 174
 
 MANWANTARA OR THE DELUGE. 
 
 When the ark was safely tied, the Fish said 
 again to the Rishis : "I am Brahma of Brahma, 
 the Creator. I have taken the form of the 
 Fish to save you all from the Flood. Now this 
 Satyavrata will be known as Vaivaswata 
 Manoo. He will, by my grace and power of 
 his Yoga, create all mobile and immobile 
 beings of the earth, gods and asuras and men." 
 So saying the Fish vanished. 
 
 Vaivashwata Manoo, who is also called 
 Shraddhadeva, then sat in meditation and in 
 time, by his Yoga-power, created all the beings 
 and creatures of the earth and celestial planes 
 as he was bidden to do. 
 
 This is the shortest sketch of a very long 
 account of the Deluge in the Hindoo Books. 
 The word Manoo has been distorted into the 
 word "Noah" in the Old Testament. 
 
 In the distorted version of the Deluge in 
 the Holy Bible, this principal factor of the 
 preservation of Noah and his Ark, the Divine 
 Fish, has not been mentioned out of ignorance 
 of the detailed facts of the cataclysm. This 
 ignorance is excusable, judging from the fact 
 of the remoteness of the time when the last 
 
 175
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Flood occurred. What the Bible estimates as 
 6,000 years the Hindoo Books put down at 
 more than 4,000,000, when Manoo (Noah) 
 was afloat on the waters of the universal in- 
 undation. The Divine Fish is an incarnation 
 of Vishnoo who is worshipped and prayed to 
 in that form even now in India. When God 
 Himself in Fish-form was the guide and pro- 
 tector of Manoo there was no need of birds 
 being- sent out to reconnoitre as to the re- 
 appearance of land. It was the Fish that first 
 espied the highest peak of the Himalayas vis- 
 ible above the waters and drew the ark to it 
 and asked Noah and the Seven Rishis to bind 
 that boat to that peak. That peak is still called 
 the Boat-Binding Peak, the Sanscrit word 
 being "Nou-Bandhan" peak. The Bible calls 
 it the Ararat arid they are now trying to locate 
 it in Syria and many other places. Even a 
 common sense view of the matter ought to 
 decide in favor of the Himalayas which are 
 ever known as the highest mountains. That 
 the first subsidence of the waters should first 
 uncover a Himalayan peak is only natural to 
 suppose. 
 
 176
 
 MANWANTARA OR THE DELUGE. 
 
 With the appointment of a new Manoo are 
 also appointed some highly spiritual souls as 
 gods, as well as the Seven Rishis (illuminated 
 beings) who govern the seven stars of the 
 Great Bear, in the places of the gods and 
 Rishis of the past Manwantara, whose terms of 
 office extend through the duration of one Man- 
 wantara, the cyclic period between two deluges. 
 As every civilized country on the face of the 
 Earth is governed by a king and ministers 
 and officers, according to systematic laws and 
 regulations, the three spheres Bhur, Bhuba, 
 Swar are likewise ruled by a king, ministers 
 and officers. The government of the British 
 Dominions may be taken as some sort of ex- 
 ample to illustrate the Divine Administration. 
 If we take England as the Swar sphere, Ire- 
 land as the Bhuba sphere, India and Canada 
 may stand for the Bhur or Earth sphere. 
 Manoo, governor of the three spheres, can be 
 likened to the King of England, though, unlike 
 the English King, he is invested with Supreme 
 power ; Indra is his Prince Minister. The Seven 
 Rishis of the Great Bear may be called his 
 independent Cabinet Ministers and Advisers 
 177
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 but superior to him in wisdom and intelligence. 
 The gods may be compared to Members of 
 Parliament, Secretaries of India and the Col- 
 onies and departmental administrators. The 
 Sons of Manoo act like Governor-Generals of 
 India and Canada, etc. 
 
 At the beginning of a Kalpa cycle, which is 
 measured by one thousand Divine cycles or a 
 little over 14 Manwantaras, the Manoos, Ris- 
 his and gods of all the 14 Manwantaras are 
 selected beforehand. We are now living in 
 the Seventh Manwantara. Shraddhadeva, 
 called also Vaivaswata, is our Manoo. 
 The Saints Kasyapa, Atri, Vasistha, Viswa- 
 mitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Bharadwaja 
 are the seven Rishis; Purandar is the present 
 Indra. The Manoos, the Rishis, the Indras 
 are all named for the coming seven Manwan- 
 taras of the present Kalpa in the Shastras. 
 
 The prevalent belief among Western Orien- 
 talists is that Manoo was a man who was born 
 a few hundred years ago and died a natural 
 death after writing his law institutes for the 
 Hindoos. A more erroneous idea could not 
 exist from the Hindoo point of view. Manoo, 
 178
 
 MANWANTARA OR THE DELUGE. 
 
 being the spiritual administrator of the three 
 worlds, has to live all through his term of 
 office, which extends through 71 Divine cycles 
 of which we are living in the 28th. Every 
 Manoo incarnates himself as a Rishi towards 
 the end of every Golden Age and compiles his 
 law, and institutes for the benefit of humanity, 
 while the seven Rishis incarnate among men 
 at the end of each Kali Yuga to reveal the 
 truths of the Vedas which are forgotten and 
 lost before that time. 
 
 179
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 THE KALPA CYCLE. 
 
 WHEN the Golden, Silver, Copper and Iron 
 Ages, forming the Divine Cycle, have revolved 
 for 1,000 times they complete a still larger 
 cycle than the Manwantara, called the Kalpa. 
 As each Manwantara is wound up with a 
 Deluge, each Kalpa brings about a still great- 
 er disastrous event, that of the destruction 
 of the lower three spheres of the universe, the 
 Bhur, Bhuba and Swar. The description 
 given of this great cyclic event in the Puranas 
 as well as in the Mahabharata, especialy by the 
 Immortal Markandeya who has seen it many 
 times, are simply appalling to the imagination 
 of puny man/ 
 
 As I have already said it is only the exces- 
 sive accumulation of human sins (Tama-life) 
 that causes these natural catastrophies. The 
 sum of sins which causes the Kalpa dissolution 
 is many times greater than that which is the 
 cause of the Flood. Human sins, however, 
 are the immediate cause. The real or latent 
 
 180
 
 THE KALPA CYCLE. 
 
 cause is to be found in the operations of the 
 Cardinal Attributes of Nature. Sattwa and 
 Raja are absolutely subdued by Tama, which 
 then growing more and more intense bursts 
 into a flame out of the friction of its own 
 forces. This conflagration first manifests it- 
 self through etheric matter in the shape of 
 seven suns suddenly appearing in the heavens 
 and with their combined heat burning down 
 the three spheres into ashes. This is followed 
 by the appearance of strange clouds which 
 then burst and deluge the ash-turned earth. 
 The ash, in process of time, is absorbed by 
 the water; then the air, turned into violent 
 winds, absorbs the water; and then, when the 
 air has been absorbed by ether (Akash), the 
 destruction of the three spheres is completed. 
 
 The Immortal Markandeya described this 
 Pralaya (Dissolution) five thousand years ago 
 to King Yudhisthira in the presence of Krish- 
 na and the assembled sages in the Kamyak 
 Forest. The following is a summary of his 
 statement : 
 
 "O King! At the end the Kali Yuga 
 (previous to this Pralaya), when the earthly 
 
 181
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 days of all beings have come to an end, no 
 rains will fall on earth for many successive 
 years in consequence of which all beings on 
 earth will die, owing to unbearable heat and 
 hunger caused by drought and famine. Then 
 will appear simultaneously in the heavens seven 
 suns which will draw all the waters from all 
 seas and rivers. Whether dry or wet, what- 
 ever grass or wood there is on earth, will be 
 reduced to tinder. Then will spring up the 
 Fire, called Samvartak, which, aided by the 
 wind, will attack the sun-absorbed earth and, 
 piercing its surface, will burn all there is in its 
 bowels. Indeed, by this wind-helped Sam- 
 vartak Fire all created beings from the gods to 
 creeping things and all that now exists in the 
 three worlds will be destroyed and trans- 
 formed into one huge heap of ashes. 
 
 "Then will apear in the firmament wonder- 
 ful-looking, liglitening-bedecked clouds, ar- 
 rayed as garlanded rows of elephants. These 
 clouds are, some of them, of the color of the 
 blue lotus, some of the color of the Koomood 
 flower, some of the color of the golden heart 
 of the lotus, some yellow, some green, some 
 182
 
 THE KALPA CYCLE. 
 
 speckled gray, like the color of the crow's 
 egg, some colored like lotus leaves, some are 
 light brown, others look like large cities, 
 others like hordes of elephants, others like the 
 color of eye-cosmetics, others shaped like 
 crocodiles. These mysterious-looking, deep- 
 scunding rain-clouds, sent by God, spreading 
 themselves over the sky, will send down rains 
 in a continuous stream, like watery pillars 
 descending from above, inundating all the ash- 
 heaped mountains and valleys, and extinguish 
 the fearful Samvartak Fire. 
 
 "O King of the Pandus! Thus, after 
 these rains have fallen continuowsly for twelve 
 years, the waters of the seas will rise in a flood 
 and cover the earth, at which, the still solid 
 cohesiveness of her mountains giving way, 
 the earth will sink to the bottom of the sea. 
 Then the clouds, driven by the powerful 
 winds in all directions, will suddenly disap- 
 pear. Then he of the Lotus-Abode and 
 Lotus-born, the primeval god, Brahma, drink- 
 ing in the winds and the air, will fall into 
 sleep at the close of his day." 
 
 The lower three spheres Bhur, Bhuba and 
 
 183
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Swar are thus dissolved and there is nothing 
 in their place but one vast expanse of water. 
 The upper four spheres, Mahar, Jana, Tapa 
 and Satya or Brahma, remain intact. The 
 dwellers of the Mahar Loka, however, unable 
 to bear the heat of the Samvartak Fire during 
 the earth's destruction, leave it and go up 
 to the Jana to live there during the duration of 
 the Pralaya. 
 
 Now, the question may be asked, why these 
 four upper heavens are not destroyed, and 
 how can there be an ocean of water when the 
 Water Element is destroyed along with the 
 other Elements? 
 
 The answer is very interesting and instruc- 
 tive. There are two kinds or states of these 
 Five Elements Ether, Air, Fire, Water, 
 Earth. One may be called Pure and the 
 other Mixed. The Pure state of an Element 
 means wholly unmixed by even the least touch 
 or tinge of the other four elements. A mixed 
 Element is made up of half part of one Ele- 
 ment mixed with one-eighth part of each of 
 the other four Elements. The Bhur, Bhuba 
 and Swar are made of these five Mixed Ele- 
 
 184
 
 THE KALPA CYCLE. 
 
 ments which being destroyed by this Kalpa 
 Pralaya, the three spheres are necessarily 
 destroyed too. The Upper four spheres are 
 made of the Unmixed Elements and hence 
 they survive the Kalpa dissolution of the 
 Mixed Elements. It is needless to say that 
 dwellers of these upper realms are possessed 
 of a physical body made of these Five Pure 
 Elements, and in the highest realms the 
 dwellers have no physical bodies at all and 
 therefore no elements in their make-up. The 
 bodies of some of them are formed of the 
 Five Finest Essences of the Elements Sound, 
 Touch, Form, Taste and Smell; and of 
 others, the highest beings in the Brahma 
 Loka, of nothing but Consciousness and Ego 
 and Ensouled Mind. 
 
 The water of the Watery Expanse, into 
 which the lower three spheres are reduced 
 by the Kalpa Pralaya, is this Unmixed Pure 
 Water, which is invisible to our ordinary 
 physical eye. The world is indebted to the 
 Immortal Markandeya for a description of 
 what remains after this Kalpa dissolution. 
 Blessed, then, with the finest and purest Ele- 
 185
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ment-body, he alone hovers over this vast 
 Watery Expanse. His experiences are record- 
 ed in that History of the Universe, the Mahab- 
 harata, of which here are a few details : 
 
 Said Markandeya: "O King! In this time 
 of the Kalpa Pralaya, when all gods, asuras, 
 elements, demons, men, animals, trees and the 
 firmament, etc., all, all the mobile and immobile 
 beings and objects, will be dissolved into one 
 vast ocean, I alone will hover over that endless 
 expanse of water and become sad-hearted on 
 viewing this general destruction. After float- 
 ing on it for a very long period of time I will 
 feel extremely exhausted. Then, shortly 
 after, a huge tree in the midst of that one- 
 ocean will attract my eye. O King! Rest- 
 ing on the spreading boughs of that tree I 
 will see seated on a couch of glory a lotus- 
 eyed Boy with a face radiant like the light of 
 the full moon. Instantly on seeing him I shall 
 be extremely astonished and will say within 
 myself 'How wonderful! Everything has 
 been destroyed, how then is this boy resting 
 here?' O Great King! Although I am 
 blessed with the knowledge of the past, pres- 
 186
 
 THE KALPA CYCLE. 
 
 ent and future, I shall fail to know who 
 that child may be. 
 
 "Then that lotus-eyed Boy will thus speak 
 to me in the sweetest voice: 'O Markandeya! 
 I know thee. Thous art become very weary 
 and wishing for rest. Therefore do thou 
 enter my body and live there as long as thou 
 mayest desire. I have been very pleased with 
 thee.' O King! on hearing these words of 
 the Boy I will be filled with the spirit of in- 
 difference to my manhood and long life, at 
 which suddenly that Boy will open his mouth, 
 and I will then enter into that mouth through 
 some divine means. 
 
 "O Great King! Through his mouth I 
 shall enter his belly and to my astonishment, 
 shall see within him this whole earth of many 
 kingdoms and cities, rivers, mountains, seas, 
 the blue heavens bedecked with the sun and 
 the moon, and the many forests. There I 
 shall find Brahmans engaged in various relig- 
 ious ceremonies, the Kshatriyas in ruling to 
 the satisfaction of all other castes, the Vaish- 
 yas in their usual vocation of agriculture, and 
 the Sudras in rendering loving sacrifices to 
 
 187
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 the Brahmans ; lions and tigers, and all the 
 gods, angels and serial beings are living peace- 
 fully in their respective spheres. In fact, all 
 that existed before I shall find existing within 
 the belly of that Great Soul. 
 
 "O King! Thus, having seen the whole 
 world within that Boy, I will travel for many 
 thousand years, like one in a dream, within 
 that world and in trying to find out its limit 
 will rush in all directions but will not succeed 
 in doing so. Then disappointment will turn my 
 thoughts to that beautiful Boy again, and, 
 with all the concentrated force in my body r 
 mind and speech, I will then ask for his pro' 
 tection and grace. At this I will be carried, 
 by a violent wind as it were, through hi? 
 mouth out of his body and I will find him still 
 sitting under that tree. 
 
 "The Boy will then ask me with delighted 
 heart and smiling face, 'O my good Rishi 
 Markandeya! Thou didst become very tired 
 floating on these waters for such a long time. 
 Have you now been well refreshed by living 
 within my body?' 
 
 "Then I will behold my soul freed from all 
 
 188
 
 THE KALPA CYCLE. 
 
 bondage by the illumination which will enter 
 me with the Boy's words. And placing his 
 crimson Feet on my head I will address him 
 thus with folded hands and humility, 'How 
 lucky I am ! To-day I have beheld the 
 Lotus-eyed God of Gods, the Soul of All 
 Things ! O God ! I have become very 
 curious to know Thee and this Thy wonder- 
 ful Maya (Illusion). Entering Thy belly 
 through Thy mouth, I have seen the whole 
 world existing there. O Lord ! it was through 
 Thy grace that I did not lose my memory, and 
 it is through Thy will that I have now come out 
 of Thy body. O Lotus-eyed! I have become 
 very desirous to know Thee. Why art Thou 
 resting here in the form of a Boy after hav- 
 ing devoured the whole world ? How is it that 
 this whole world is now dwelling in Thy body ? 
 How much longer wilt Thou rest here? O 
 Lord of Gods ! These subjects are great and 
 unthinkable, and so I beg to hear from Thee 
 their detailed explanations.' 
 
 "The God of the Gods, after consoling me, 
 on the last occasion, began to answer my 
 questions. He said : 
 
 189
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 " 'O Brahman ! Even the gods have failed 
 to know the mysteries of my creation. I will 
 tell thee of it only to please thee. O Rishi! 
 Thy wonderful devotion to thy father and to 
 Me and to spiritual celibacy have won thee 
 this grace; I have appeared before thy vision. 
 In time past I called water by the term "Nar" 
 This Nar is ever my seat, hence I am called 
 Narayan. I am the First Cause. I am 
 Eternal, Inexhaustible, the Creator and De- 
 stroyer of all that exists. I am all Wealth, I 
 am Death, I am Shiva. Fire is in my mouth, 
 the earth is my feet, the sun is my two eyes, 
 the Celestial Regions are my head, the sky and 
 the cardinal points are my two ears. Space 
 and EterniJy are my body, the winds my 
 mind. 
 
 " 'All sacred ceremonies are performed to 
 please Me. All the Vedas come out of and 
 enter into Me. The peace-loving, mind- 
 disciplined, enquiring, soul's-mystery-knowing 
 Brahmans contemplate and worship Me alone. 
 I am the Fire called Samvartak, I am the 
 Samvartak Winds, and it is I who am the 
 Seven Suns that rise and shine in Pralaya. 
 
 190
 
 THE KALPA CYCLE. 
 
 The stars that thou seest now in the firmament 
 are the pores of my body, the sky is my rai- 
 ment, the seas my seat and abode. It is I 
 who have divided them as they are. 
 
 " 'Men are born, are overwhelmed by My 
 Maya and become enterprising through my 
 Law, never through their own desire. Those 
 Brahmans who thoroughly study the Vedas, 
 perform many spiritual sacrifices, bring peace 
 to their souls and vanquish anger; it is they 
 who attain to Me. Those persons who are 
 addicted to bad actions, are swayed by greed, 
 are misers, crooked-minded and void of 
 soul-culture can never reach Me. The paths 
 of Yoga are as easy for pure souls to tread 
 as they are uncertain to the wicked and the 
 foolish. 
 
 " 'Whenever religion suffers from revolu- 
 tion and vice triumphs over virtue, I create 
 myself and walk the earth and set things 
 right. Whenever are born on the earth the 
 selfish and envious Asuras and Demons so 
 powerful that even the gods cannot destroy 
 them, I in the form of man take birth in the 
 family of pious men and bring peace to the 
 191
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 world again by subduing- them. I am white- 
 complexioned in the Satya Yuga, yellow in 
 the Treta, red in the Dwapar and dark in the 
 Kali. At the end of each great cycle it is I 
 who destroy every thing. I am the Three 
 Paths, the Soul of the Universe, Giver 
 of all Happiness, Superior to All, All-Per- 
 vading, the Endless and the All-Powerful. 
 
 " 'At the last Kali Yuga of each Kalpa I 
 spread my illusion upon all beings and enter 
 into my trance-state. When old, old Brahma, 
 transformed into a child, goes to sleep and 
 keeps sleeping, I rest here on the waters until 
 he is awakened. Now, go thou about on the 
 waters in restful spirit until that time, when 
 I alone will create again earth and sky and 
 light, air and water, and all bodies.' 
 
 "So saying, O King, that wonderful Being 
 vanished from my view. Then by and by this 
 world was created again. Thus in the last 
 Kalpa Pralaya did I witness this wonderful 
 event. The Lotus-Eyed Diety I then saw, 
 you brothers have now established blood rela- 
 tions with Him, this Krishna. It is through 
 His grace that I have obtained uninterrupted 
 
 192
 
 THE KALPA CYCLE. 
 
 memory, become so long-lived and endowed 
 with the boon of dying at my will. This 
 Krishna who is now sitting before us all", 
 this Krishna present here, who is born in the 
 line of the Vrishnis, is just now merely playing 
 on His earth. But it is He, this Krishna, 
 who is the Ancient Person, the Lord, the 
 Unthinkable Soul, the Creator, the Destroyer, 
 the Eternal and the Master of All! I have 
 been able to remember all these facts only 
 through the inspiration of His presence here. 
 He is the Mother and Father of all beings : 
 do you all take His Refuge." 
 
 Krishna has been called Narayan here by 
 Markandeya, because Narayan, the Fourth 
 Form-manifestation of Krishna in the unfold- 
 ment of creation, is generally known as the 
 Supreme Diety Krishna. Narayan, as I 
 have said before this, is Aniruddha out of 
 whose navel springs the seed-bud Lotus with 
 Brahma, the operating Creator of the details 
 of Creation. 
 
 193
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 NATURAL DISSOLUTION. 
 
 WHAT is popularly known as Universal De- 
 struction, is termed in the Hindoo Scriptures 
 "Prakritic Pratisanchar" or Natural Retro- 
 gression, which means Natural Disssolution. 
 This marks the close of the Greatest Cycle of 
 Time. It is the End of Time, the End of 
 Creation. It is the Maha Pralaya. It in- 
 volves the annihilation of the Universe, in one 
 sense, because after its occurrence none of the 
 Principles, except the Ultimate, exists. "In 
 one sense" I say advisedly, for although the 
 Manifest universe becomes non-existent, its 
 latent spiritual impressions, forming its germ, 
 are carried by the Three Cardinal Attributes 
 into the Ultimate Principle, Love Krishna 
 and preserved unconsciously, even during their 
 rest in Krishna, in a state of equilibrium. It 
 is out of this Mystic Ideation that, in the 
 event of the inequilibrium of the Attributes, 
 a fresh creation springs into existence. There 
 is no such thing as destruction in the law of 
 
 194
 
 NATURAL DISSOLUTION. 
 
 Nature. Nothing is destroyed totally; all 
 forms of destruction are but phases of trans- 
 mutation, from gross manifestation into fine, 
 from fine into finer, from finer into finest, 
 from finest into mystic ideation which belongs 
 to the realm of absolute spirituality. 
 
 The Hindoo docTfifreTn Tegard~to-the "pro- 
 cess of creation is the unfoldment of the 
 Twenty-three Principles from the reflection 
 of the One, the manifestation into Many and 
 the Diverse of the Mystic Energy of the One 
 Unchangeable Absolute. This Mystic Energy 
 unrolls its many and diverse phases and forces 
 in creation and incessantly throughout its 
 duration. "Prakritic" means "Natural" from 
 "Prakriti," Nature. "Pratisanchar" is "Prati" 
 and "sanchar"; "Prati" means backward, and 
 "sanchar" means the act of moving, motion. 
 The whole word therefore means "moving 
 backward." Prakritic Pratisanchar, therefore, 
 is the moving backward of the Unfolded 
 Principles of Existence (Nature) into its One 
 Source, out of which they originally spring. 
 This backward motion of Variety into Unity 
 is caused by the extreme action of intense
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Tama from which the following natural re- 
 action puts the forces of the Three Cardinal 
 Attributes into equilibrium. This equilibrium 
 is the Unmanifest (Avyakta unexpressed) 
 state of Nature, and the inequilibrium brings 
 about the Manifest state, the gross form of 
 which is the universe. This action of Nat- 
 ural Dissolution has also its reaction. It re- 
 acts into a fresh Creation. 
 
 The symptoms which manifest themselves 
 previous to the occurrence of this universal de- 
 struction are almost the same as those before 
 the Kalpa Pralaya. Only, the degeneration 
 of human society develops worse phases which 
 are followed by intense heat, owing to the 
 suspension of rains for years and years to- 
 gether, resulting in the death of all moving 
 and breathing beings. Then appear in the 
 heavens twelve suns, instead of seven as in 
 the Kalpa Pralaya, which give birth to the 
 Samvartak Fire. The fire is followed by the 
 appearance of the Samvartak Clouds, which 
 deluge the earth with continuous rains for 
 years ; the deluge is followed by the winds, 
 etc. 
 
 196
 
 NATURAL DISSOLUTION. 
 
 But the main difference lies in the absolutely 
 destructive power of these Elemental agents. 
 When the suns and the fire have done their 
 work, the black surface of the earth looks like 
 the back of a tortoise. Then the water in 
 which it is submerged absorbs the very attri- 
 bute of Earth Smell along with its sub- 
 stance which then becomes absolutely non- 
 existent and transformed into water. The 
 water is then absorbed by Fire (heat) with its 
 attribute Taste so that water becomes abso- 
 lutely non-existent and is turned into Fire. 
 The volume of Fire is then so increased that 
 it burns the suns themselves, so that all the 
 heavens, filled with all-pervading flames, burn 
 on until everything in them is destroyed. Then 
 the air devours the Fire with its attribute 
 Form so that there remains nothing visible 
 to the eye. The winds then move about with 
 all their force in the Akas. Then Akas 
 (Ether) absorbs the Air with its attribute 
 Touch so that nothing remains which can 
 be felt. Then Akas itself becomes unmani- 
 fest, the Universal Mind having absorbed its 
 attribute Sound which originally sprang 
 
 197
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 from it to create Akas (Ether). This is 
 called the dissolution of the gross form of the 
 Universe. 
 
 The dissolution of the fine (subtle) form 
 begins with the Moon, the presiding deity of 
 the Mind, absorbing the Mind with its attribute 
 the power of Willing and Non-Willing, 
 which, power with all its associations is then 
 centered in the Moon. After a long time the 
 Mind, centralized in the Moon, brings about 
 the poise in its vibratory volition (the cause 
 of material desires). This will-control re- 
 sults in the Moon-centered Mind being ab- 
 sorbed by its original Belief in the Oneness 
 of Nature and Brahm (Divine Esssence). 
 The Belief in this Unity (Ego) is then ab- 
 sorbed by Universal Consciousness, and Uni- 
 versal Consciousness with its attribute of the 
 Power of Decision, is absorbed by Absolute 
 Being (one of the Three Attributes of Para- 
 Brahm). Then Wisdom (another of the 
 Three Attributes, also called Intelligence or 
 Truth) absorbs this Absolute Being. Then 
 that all-impregnated Wisdom enters the Un- 
 manifest Soul Absolute Love KRISHNA. 
 
 198
 
 SECTION XIV. 
 
 MODERN SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY. 
 
 A RECENT discovery of modern science has 
 not only thrown the clearest light upon this 
 Hindoo doctrine of the unity and composition 
 of the universe, but has fully proved its cor- 
 rectness. This is the first indirect investiga- 
 tion of Western material science into the realm 
 of the subjective side of creation. The autfior 
 of this discovery, by strange irony of Fate, is 
 
 a Hindoo, though educated and trained in 
 
 _ 
 
 scientific knowledge in England, under Eng- 
 lish teachers of Science. He is now a scien- 
 tific celebrity among Western scientific celeb- 
 rities of the day; and if the work of his 
 tested discovery be rightly estimated, he ought 
 to be classed with the highest of them all. 
 His name is Professor Jagadis Chunder Bose, 
 D. Sc., Professor of Science in the Calcutta 
 University. 
 
 Prof. Bose's discovery, now embodied in 
 book-form and entitled "Response in tfie Liv- 
 ing and the Non-Living," marks a new epoch 
 
 199
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 in the advancement of modern science. It has 
 been accepted by all scientific authorities, after 
 the Professor had demonstrated it by experi- 
 ments before a large number of scientific peo- 
 ple in London, and notably by Lord Kelvin. 
 
 Armed with the demonstrated facts of this 
 discovery, Professor Bose maintains that the 
 true test of the existence of life in any form 
 of matter is its sensitiveness to external stimu- 
 lus. According to this test he proves conclu- 
 sively that no essential difference exists be- 
 tween animals and metals or vegetables. He 
 has shown by scientific experiments that a bar 
 of iron is not only as irritable and sensitive 
 as a human body, but that it can be killed or 
 poisoned in the same way as a human body 
 can be killed or poisoned. According to his 
 discovery, life pervades every object and part 
 of Nature ; and only some of these parts or ob- 
 jects can be said to be in a dead state, which 
 means they can be deprived of their sensi- 
 tiveness to external stimulus. 
 
 If any part of our body is pinched, the nerve 
 which connects that part with the brain, run- 
 ning all along, sends an electric current to the 
 200
 
 MODERN SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY. 
 
 brain, vibrating under the pinch. The brain 
 alone feels the pain inflicted upon any part of 
 our body, says modern science ; and it is proved 
 by the fact that no pain is felt by us if our 
 brain is deadened by chloroform. 
 
 The galvanometer is a well-known and very 
 delicate scientific instrument for detecting the 
 presence of electric currents; it has a needle 
 on a pivot, and the faintest electric current 
 will cause a deflection of this needle. If at any 
 intervening part of the electric current-bearing 
 nerve in the human body the galvanometer be 
 attached, and the end of the nerve pinched or 
 otherwise irritated, then immediately the needle 
 of the galvanometer will deflect, thus showing 
 that the irritation of the nerve causes a cur- 
 rent like that of electricity to be sent along 
 it. This fact is now very well known to scien- 
 tists, and Prof. Bose's investigations are based 
 upon this well-known scientific fact. 
 
 With a view to ascertaining whether or not 
 matter which has hitherto been known as non- 
 living could be proved so under the test of the 
 galvanometer, the Professor attached the in- 
 strument to bars of different metals, with 
 201
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 startling contrary results. The Professor 
 found that all metals show visible signs of 
 sensitiveness when twisted or tapped. The 
 greater the irritation the greater the visible 
 signs of sensitiveness; even every single pe- 
 culiarity in the irritability of animal matter is 
 exactly reproduced in the case of metal. As, 
 for instance, when the sensitiveness of a mus- 
 cle or a nerve of an animal wears off after 
 a time, under repeated irritation, it begins 
 to show signs of fatigue, the deflection of the 
 needle of the galvanometer becoming more 
 and more feeble; the Professor found that 
 metals would betray exactly the same signs of 
 fatigue under repeated irritation. Again, after 
 a short rest, the signs of fatigue were found 
 to disappear in animal muscle and in metal 
 alike, their sensitiveness being fully restored. 
 This last fact is known to many of us who 
 constantly use a razor and find it losing its 
 keen edge and growing duller and duller, de- 
 spite vigorous stropping, and spontaneously 
 recovering its original keenness by being laid 
 aside for a few days. 
 
 Professor Bose's process of registering the 
 
 202
 
 MODERN SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY. 
 
 deflections of the needle of the galvanometer 
 is this: By a mechanical device the point of 
 the needle is photographed on paper, which is 
 moved along at a constant rate, the needle's 
 point tracing out a series of zig-zag lines on 
 the paper, when the needle is oscillated by an 
 electric current. The width of the zig-zags 
 corresponds to the amount of the deflection of 
 the needle, therefore the strength of the elec- 
 tric current. If there be no current, and con- 
 sequently no deflection of the needle, its point 
 will remain stationary and merely trace a 
 straight line on the moving paper. 
 
 This book of Prof. Bose's, "Response in the 
 Living and the Non-Living," is full of still 
 more wonderful revelations. He has found and 
 shown, to the satisfaction of European scien- 
 tists through experiments, that metals do not 
 only go to sleep, but can be poisoned and 
 killed like human beings and animals. Like an 
 unused animal muscle showing signs of slug- 
 gishness and appearing to be in a kind of tor- 
 por, then gradually seeming to waken up un- 
 der irritation, and finally returning to full ac- 
 tivity, Professor Bose proves that metals be- 
 
 203
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 have in exactly the same way and process of 
 gradation. He also proves that the effects of 
 extreme cold and extreme heat produce ex- 
 actly similar conditions in both animals and 
 metals. 
 
 But men or animals can be drugged and 
 made drunk. Can metals likewise be drugged 
 and made drunk? Yes, says Prof. Bose, and 
 he proves it absolutely. He proves that met- 
 als show the same increase of irritability un- 
 der the influence of stimulants and narcotics 
 as the human body. Moreover, even as differ- 
 ent animals are affected differently by the 
 same dose of a stimulant, so also are different 
 metals. Under the influence of carbonate of 
 sodium, irritability of platinum is increased 
 threefold, while the irritability of tin is less. 
 
 Still more significant is the action of anaes- 
 thetics and narcotics. Under their action the 
 sensitiveness of metals can be reduced to any 
 desired degree, exactly as is the case of human 
 beings. A more striking parallel between ani- 
 mal matter and metals is established by Prof. 
 Bose. The action of some narcotics on the 
 human frame is known to be paradoxical un- 
 204
 
 MODERN SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY. 
 
 der certain conditions. While a large dose of 
 opium, for instance, decreases the sensitiveness 
 of the human body, a very minute dose has 
 exactly the opposite effect, that is to say, acts 
 as a stimulant. This anomaly has been found 
 by Prof. Bose to have a parallel in metals, tin 
 being found to show that its sensitiveness is 
 increased half as much again by being treated 
 with a minute dose of potash (3 parts in 100), 
 but the sensitiveness begins to decrease when 
 the dose is increased. 
 
 Now the question suggests itself that if 
 metals are as much alive as animals, then they 
 must also be as liable to die as animals. Prof. 
 Bose has found this to be a fact, too. Metals 
 not only die; but they can be poisoned and 
 revived, and poisoned and killed. 
 
 In order to find out these facts, Prof. Bose 
 took a piece of metal which showed full vigor 
 of sensitiveness and so was considered healthy, 
 and treated it with a moderate dose of oxalic 
 acid, which is a powerful poison. The needle 
 of the galvanometer instantly indicated a spas- 
 modic flutter; the sensitiveness of the metal 
 grew more and more feeble, till it seemed al- 
 205
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 most to die away. At this stage, a powerful 
 antidote being applied, slowly and gradually 
 the sensitiveness began to revive, and in time 
 became as active as when the metal was not 
 poisoned. The treatment of another piece of 
 healthy metal with a strong dose of the same 
 poison resulted in violent spasms, with rapid 
 enfeeblement of sensitiveness, which soon van- 
 ished altogether. After a proper interval the 
 antidote was tried in vain; the piece of metal 
 was killed forever. The results of experiments 
 with different metals and different poisons 
 were the same ; but all poisons not being alike 
 in their action upon animal matter, the same 
 is true of their action on metal, absolutely and 
 undoubtedly. In some cases, however, after 
 all traces of poison had been removed by the 
 counteracting 1 influence of stimulating acids, 
 the poisoned metal was eventually reanimated ; 
 which meant that the metal was not really 
 killed, but was merely in a state of suspended 
 animation. The most striking feature of the 
 discovery in this connection is, that the very 
 poison which kills both animal and metal is 
 itself endowed with life, which shows itself by 
 206
 
 MODERN SCIENTIFIC TESTIMONY. 
 
 indications of irritability and sensitiveness, and 
 which can itself be killed. 
 
 Here is another significant point in regard 
 to the operation of poison on both an animal 
 and a metal. In the case of an animal the 
 operation is twofold; first, the actual death 
 process, lasting from a few minutes to several 
 hours; secondly, the purely nervous effect 
 which manifests itself in the form of spasms, 
 paralysis or other symptoms, and which is de- 
 veloped much sooner, sometimes instantane- 
 ously. Prof. Bose has discovered the same 
 phenomenon in metal. Under the effect of 
 some powerful poisons there was instantaneous 
 spasm shooting through the metal long before 
 the corrosive action of the acid could pene- 
 trate beyond the surface. 
 
 Professor Bose has proved in his book that 
 all these phenomena with every single variation 
 exist as much in the vegetable kingdom as In 
 the animal and mineral. Indeed, the three 
 kingdoms of matter, the animal, the vegetable 
 and the mineral, are, says the Professor, but 
 one in essence and the physiological distinction 
 between so-called organic and inorganic mat- 
 
 207
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ter, of which man and metal are but types, 
 is based upon a false and unscientific assump 1 
 tion. Prof. Bose dedicates his book to his 
 countrymen, the Hindoos, because, he says, his 
 discovery is a discovery made millions of years 
 ago by the Hindoo sages, who proclaimed the 
 unity of the universe in essence and construc- 
 tion, as well as in the laws that govern it. 
 
 208
 
 SECTION XV. 
 
 SCIENCE UPHOLDS SHASTRAS. 
 
 Now let us consider the main points of this 
 great epoch-making scientific discovery by the 
 light of the truths of Nature and the laws of 
 matter discovered countless ages ago by the 
 illuminated sages of India, and handed down 
 through the corridors of time. Every discov- 
 ery of modern science has tended to establish 
 the principles of Hindoo religion and philos- 
 ophy, by furnishing practical testimony to 
 what were so long considered as their mystic 
 teachings. But this discovery of Prof. Bose's 
 is an unexpected stumble of a purely ob- 
 jective method of investigation upon the 
 truths and laws of the subjective realm. The 
 evidence which Prof. Bose's experiments af- 
 ford is of course indirect; but this indirect 
 evidence is startlingly direct in its pointed and 
 unmistakable suggestions. It is therefore most 
 opportune at the present moment, when' the 
 human mind the world over is striving, im- 
 pelled by a natural hunger, to get at the facts 
 
 209
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 back of the physical shroud of the universe. 
 The Hindoo sages say that the universe is 
 one whole, huge being, of which the high 
 heavens are the head, the sun and the moon 
 the eyes, space the body, and the earth the 
 feet. Every inch, nay, every point, of this 
 universe-body is alive as a healthy human 
 body. The composing principles of this body 
 are twenty-four, as I have already explained. 
 These twenty-four principles are therefore 
 present in every atom of it, in every speck of 
 earth, the last principle in creation. This speck 
 or molecule of earth has, however, no opening 
 for any of its composing principles; whereas 
 vegetable and animal life-forms have many of 
 these passages of their composing principles 
 more or less open. As a tortoise puts forth 
 its body out of its shell and again draws that 
 body into it, so out of Love the twenty-three 
 principles are projected, and drawn, in the 
 fullness of time, back into its bosom again. 
 This reaction or journey of the universe back 
 to its source is called universal destruction, 
 or dissolution, or disintegration. This uni- 
 versal dissolution takes place when the 
 210
 
 SCIENCE UPHOLDS SHASTRAS. 
 
 Three Cardinal Attributes of creation, out of 
 which all the composing principles have 
 sprung, fall into equilibrium; in other words, 
 become equal in power or tension. This loss 
 of tensity or equipoise in the power of the 
 Cardinal Attributes, viz., Sattwa (Illumina- 
 tion), Raja (Activity or Motion), and Tama 
 (Obscuration), results in the loss of their in- 
 dividuality, and their transformation into Pure 
 Illumination. By pure illumination is meant 
 unmixed illumination; that is to say, absolute 
 illumination, having no tendency or trace in 
 it of being disturbed into obscuration. In 
 short, Sattwa, Raja and Tama are each of them 
 mixed with the other two, its own quality being 
 predominant in it. Their inequality of power 
 brings them forth into and sustains their being. 
 The moment this power becomes equal and 
 they lose their existence, the Absolute Illu- 
 mination, co-existent with Absolute Love and 
 Absolute Being out of which they sprung, 
 alone remains. 
 
 This equipoise of the cardinal cosmic attri- 
 butes takes place at intervals of time, the di- 
 mension of which staggers the human mind to 
 
 211
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 imagine. But while the return-journey of the 
 universe as a whole takes place once in an in- 
 definitely long period of time, the molecules 
 of earth, as soon as they are created, have 
 a tendency to go back to their original source. 
 But the molecule's journey backward to Love 
 is made by a very circuitous path. That path 
 leads through the process of opening one by 
 one the passages of its composing principles. 
 By passages is meant channels of communica- 
 tion and sympathy with the main laws and 
 vibrations of the working of the universe. 
 
 The first step the molecule takes, in this 
 return- journey, is by opening the passage of 
 one principle, the sense of feeling, and becom- 
 ing a blade of grass. A blade of grass has 
 only one sense opened, the sense of touch, by 
 which it draws juice from the earth for its 
 sustenance. After being reborn thousands of 
 times as a blade of grass, it draws the mag- 
 netism from the different life-forms in Nature, 
 which helps it to develop into a shrub. And 
 then, after thousands of shrub-lives, it deve- 
 lops into a plant, and then into tree-life, in 
 which it puts forth flowers and fruits. And, 
 
 212
 
 SCIENCE UPHOLDS SHASTRAS. 
 
 finally, drawing in more and more magnetism 
 and vibrations from the animal world, it de- 
 velops into an animal itself. At first it is but 
 an animalcule, and then a worm. As a worm 
 it has opened more passages, the passage of 
 tasting (the palate), the passage of gripping 
 (with the mouth), the passage of moving (the 
 feet), the passages of excreting and generat- 
 ing, the passage of seeing (the eye), the pass- 
 age of smelling, the passage of hearing, etc. 
 Through thousands of rebirths in each animal 
 form it is promoted into higher and higher 
 animal forms, in which more and more pass- 
 ages of its composing principles are opened. 
 The last forms of lower animals it takes are 
 those of monkeys and apes, the forms just 
 before developing into human form. In these 
 ape forms of life it opens all principles except 
 four; viz., Mind, Ego, Intellect and Love. 
 However intelligent a monkey or a dog or any 
 other animal may be or seem to be, the Mind 
 principle is not yet open in it. All its actions 
 are prompted by instinct, which is the natural 
 impulse of the indirect influence of the mind 
 on the verge of being opened, as well as of 
 
 213
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 automatic memory of past experiences in this 
 and previous existences, the impressions of 
 which are in their very blood. With the open- 
 ing of the Mind principle begins the human 
 form. It may be the most savage man, but it 
 is human. He can think, is self-conscious, and 
 acts with reasoned decision, however crude or 
 erroneous ; because with the opening of the 
 Mind there are simultaneously opened the Ego 
 and the Intellect, they being almost one prin- 
 ciple in three. 
 
 After these explanations of the composition, 
 construction, and transformation of matter, let 
 us go back to unopened matter, in order to 
 explain the mysteries of Professor Bose's dis- 
 coveries by the aid of the galvanometer. The 
 Professor has discovered that the application 
 of this delicate instrument reveals the fact that 
 matter which has hitherto been considered non- 
 living is very much alive indeed, as fully alive 
 as living animals are, because they respond to 
 external stimulus as fully as any living being. 
 According to Hindoo definition and idea of 
 construction and composition of matter, it is 
 only natural that this should be so. To the 
 
 214
 
 SCIENCE UPHOLDS SHASTRAS. 
 
 iiindoo sage this is not at all a wonder. Love, 
 Consciousness, Ego, Mind, the ten senses, the 
 five fine essences and the five gross forms of 
 matter, called elements, are as much present 
 in minerals, which are but formations of earth, 
 as in animals. A lump of earth, or a piece 
 of metal, or a vegetable, cannot give visible, 
 direct response to external stimulus, because 
 they have no openings (open physical organs) 
 through which to manifest it. If you can by 
 any means feel the vibrations caused by such 
 stimulus within them, then only can you find 
 the proof of the uniform composition and con- 
 struction of all forms of matter in this one 
 whole living universe. The galvanometer 
 serves this purpose, and hence the Hindoo idea 
 stands to-day as a demonstrated fact. 
 
 Let us analyze the tests and proofs of the 
 galvanometer a little more closely, and under- 
 stand them according to the Hindoo doctrine 
 of the construction and organization of what 
 is called organic or inorganic matter. The 
 Hindoo doctrine does not recognize the nerve 
 or the brain as any of the principles which 
 compose what is called the living body. The 
 
 215
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 nerve is but a mere physical vehicle of the sen- 
 sation of the mind (which includes the Ego 
 and the Intellect, the part of universal con- 
 sciousness in individual souls), and the brain 
 is the physical centre of these physical chan- 
 nels of the mind's sensation and experiences. 
 The mind feels the sensation of the external 
 stimulus through its channels, the five cog- 
 nizing senses, and the mind's sensations are 
 carried through the nerves to the brain. This 
 is in regard to animal life, which has brains 
 and nerves formed fully or partially. The 
 vegetables and minerals have neither brains 
 nor nerves. How, then, do they show the 
 same irritation as animals do to external stim- 
 ulus, as shown by the galvanometer? 
 
 The answer is simple. Because they Have 
 the psychic vehicles, the five cognizing senses, 
 by which to convey the sensation of the ex- 
 ternal stimulus to the mind, and therefore they 
 need no physical brain or nerve. Only, having 
 no physical openings, they cannot manifest 
 the effect of those sensations outside them- 
 selves, as animals do; and only an instrument, 
 like the galvanometer, is able to detect the 
 
 216
 
 SCIENCE UPHOLDS SUASTRAS. 
 
 sensations and indicate them by the deflection 
 of its needle. Mineral and vegetable matter 
 having all the twenty-four principles in 
 them, have the mind and the senses, too. 
 Only, they are in a shut-up, undeveloped state, 
 and perform their undeveloped, crude func- 
 tions like an unconscious mechanism. 
 
 It is through the senses that sensations are 
 perceived ; and had not the senses been pres- 
 ent within a piece of metal or a vegetable, 
 there would be no sensation in it, and there- 
 fore the galvanometer would have been useless 
 in its application and results, because, there 
 being no sensation, there would be no deflec- 
 tion of the needle. Professor Bose's experi- 
 ments conclusively prove not only the unity, 
 but the uniform composition and con- 
 struction of the whole universe ; that all 
 its composing principles are present every- 
 where; that in some phases they are in a 
 latent and in others in manifest state. The 
 tests of the galvanometer also prove that what 
 is true of the whole universe is true of a par- 
 ticle of earth ; that the whole universe is one 
 whole living mass, like a single living being, 
 
 217
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 and that every molecule of its composition is a 
 universe in embryo ; because every molecule is 
 instinct with all the forces and properties of 
 the twenty-four principles, which are the ma- 
 terials as well as the attributes of the cosmos. 
 
 218
 
 SECTION XVI. 
 
 PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL BODIES. 
 
 IT is the ignorance of the knowledge of the 
 constitution of the universal and human bodies 
 that forms one of the chief obstacles of a cor- 
 rect study of the laws operating behind exter- 
 nal Nature. It is the general belief of modern 
 humanity that the human body is made up of 
 flesh and blood alone. This is true so far as 
 the physical body is concerned. But there is 
 another body within us finer than the physical 
 which is the real body and of which the physi- 
 cal body is the outer encasement. This real 
 body is called the Astral Body. The whole 
 human body is like a clock of which the physi- 
 cal covering is its case and the astral body its 
 works. As the mechanical part of a clock is 
 the real clock and its case with its dial and 
 hands forms its covering by which it indicates 
 its working, so the astral body is the mechani- 
 cal part of the human body and the physical 
 body is its case through which it indicates its 
 
 219
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 operations. Though far from perfect, the 
 analogy is very suggestive. For instance, the 
 mechanical part of the clock cannot serve its 
 purpose without the aid of the case, dial and 
 hands. The astral body likewise cannot be of 
 any use without the co-operation of the physi- 
 cal body. 
 
 The mechanism of the astral body is com- 
 posed of eighteen Principles, viz., Conscious- 
 ness (Intellect), Ego, Mind, the Ten Senses: 
 the Powers of Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, 
 Tasting, Feeling, Speaking, Holding, Moving, 
 Excreting and Generating; and the five attri- 
 butes of the Elements : Sound, Touch, Form, 
 Taste and Smell. These Principles work 
 through their counterpart-organs of the physi- 
 cal body which is composed of the five remain- 
 ing Principles, viz., the Five Elements Ether, 
 Air, Fire, Water and Earth. 
 
 Now let us see how the physical body is 
 composed of the five Elements. The vigor 
 of our father and the blood of our mother, 
 of which our physical body is made, are for- 
 mations of assimilated food. Every kind of 
 foodstuff, vegetable or animal, is but con- 
 
 220
 
 PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL BODIES. 
 
 densed form of earth's juice ; earth-juice is 
 earth. Now Earth is composed only of its 
 five attributes: Sound, Touch, Form, Taste 
 and Smell, the first four of which compose 
 Water, the first three compose Fire, the first 
 two Air, and the first, Sound, is the Attribute 
 of Ether (Akas). Therefore the other four 
 Elements are present in earth on account of 
 their respective attributes being contained in 
 it. Our physical body, therefore, being made 
 of formations of Earth, is composed of the 
 Five Elements. 
 
 The material of the physical body is supplied 
 by our parents and the astral body we supply 
 ourselves. The astral body is our perma- 
 nent body. It puts on new flesh-garments 
 from time, to time. When it slips into a new 
 flesh-garment it is called birth; when it slips 
 out of it, it is called death. But really the 
 astral body lives on forever and ever and never 
 ceases to exist unless we find the means and 
 take measures to destroy it. The extinction 
 of the astral body is brought about by the 
 mind's absolute dissociation from the bondage 
 and influence of matter and material ideas, 
 221
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 and absorption into the Divine Essence, Mukti. 
 The earth and the visible sky form the physi- 
 cal body of the Universe and the upper six 
 spheres form its astral body which includes still 
 subtler bodies. This means that both the uni- 
 versal and the human bodies are constructed on 
 the same principle. Both are formed of seven 
 bodies, encased like a sheath within a sheath. 
 These are called the Food-made (physical) 
 body, the Vital body, the Mental (or Astral) 
 body, the Psychic body, the Wisdom (or Cau- 
 sal) body, the Blissful body and the Soul body. 
 
 222
 
 SECTION XVII. 
 
 KARMA. 
 
 THE Universe is one whole manifestation of 
 Cause and Effect. All Nature is manifested 
 and materialized forces of Action and Re- 
 action. The Doctrine of Karma is based upon 
 the natural law by which action produces re- 
 action, the law of cause and effect. It holds 
 that every action is the cause of every reaction 
 as well as the effect of the action which is its 
 producing cause. The doctrine of Reincar- 
 nation specifies the different physical forms 
 in which groups of accumulated causes of re- 
 action manifest themselves in Nature. The 
 laws of Karma are the regulated blendings of 
 the subtle forces of the finer principles of Na- 
 ture which, operating from within, shape 
 these outer physical forms. 
 
 Karma begins with the creation of the Uni- 
 verse, and Creation begins with the loss of 
 equilibrium of the three Cardinal Attributes 
 while dwelling in a quiescent state in Absolute 
 Love Krishna. This inequilibrium develops 
 223
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 the germ of the Past Universe, which the At- 
 tributes hold within them, and manifests itself 
 as a New Universe a new Creation. The 
 word Karma is derived from the Sanscrit root 
 Kri, to act. Karma means action. Action 
 means the motion of the operating forces of 
 Nature. The Karma of the past Creations, 
 stored up as ideation within the even forces of 
 the Attributes, works itself out in the form 
 and phases of a new Creation. Every suc- 
 ceeding Creation therefore is the reactive re- 
 sult of all previous creations. This reaction of 
 the accumulated action-potencies of the past 
 creations produces the uniform dimensions 
 and the principal features of the cycles, so that 
 the history of every cycle, from the smallest 
 to the largest, repeats itself in its chief points 
 in naturally regulated succession. 
 
 As in the great universe, so in its epitome, 
 man. The microcosm is ruled by the same 
 laws as the macrocosm, the laws of cause and 
 effect, of action and reaction. Man is the 
 conscious embodiment of the blended forces 
 of his past actions, actions of previous con- 
 
 224
 
 KARMA, 
 
 scious embodiments born of the forces of still 
 more previous embodiments. 
 
 Action proceeds from thought. Thought 
 is the source and spring of action. No action 
 is possible without its producing cause, 
 thought, which is a phase of the mind's voli- 
 tion. All our thoughts are impressed on the 
 mind, the moment they form themselves, in 
 condensed pictures. The more powerful a 
 thought, the deeper the impression on the 
 mind. Weak, undeveloped thoughts make 
 superficial impressions and are liable to wear 
 off. The impression of a powerful thought is 
 likewise rubbed off by the force of a strong 
 counter-thought. An angry thought, for in- 
 stance, prompts us to do a bad action, but be- 
 fore it is reduced to action, our reason some- 
 times intervenes, argues against it, convinces 
 us of its error which induces repentance. The 
 stronger the counter-thought of repentance, 
 the more quickly and effectively it rubs off the 
 impression. But if the thought is reduced to 
 action, its impression is deep and enduring, 
 and requires the aid of absolutely sincere, 
 burning repentance to destroy that impression. 
 
 225
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 These thought-impressions on the mind are 
 called seeds of Karma. They are exactly like 
 seeds of trees in their potencies and operations. 
 As a seed of a tree, when planted in the soil, 
 germinates, grows, flowers and bears fruit, 
 so does a Karma-impression germinate, grow, 
 flower and- bear fruit. As the germ of a 
 seed, in process of development, produces the 
 events called sprouting, putting forth leaves 
 and branches, flowering and fruiting, so, a 
 man's mental thought-impressions of previous 
 lives, in almost the self-same way, sprout, 
 put forth leaves and branches, flower and fruit 
 in the shape of events, inside and outside of 
 him. The thought-impressions are reflected 
 upon the aura. "Aura" is a Sanscrit word, 
 its transliterated form being "Ara," from 
 "Ar" which means the spoke of a wheel. 
 "Ara" means full of spoke-like shoots of ra- 
 diance from any centre. This centre of our 
 aura is our mind. Aura, therefore, is the 
 radiance of the mind which permeates and en- 
 velopes our body in an oval shape and gener- 
 ally extends one cubit outside of our body. 
 The aura and reflections of these thought- 
 
 226
 
 KARMA. 
 
 t 
 
 impressions on the aura are visible only to the 
 spiritual and psychical sight. The illuminated 
 saints and yogis who have developed this 
 sight, not only see this aura, but also the re- 
 flections of the thought-impressions which they 
 can read and interpret as we read and interpret 
 words. These reflections are called the char- 
 acters of the mind the Hidden Pictures 
 (Chitra-Gupta) of Human Conduct which 
 reveal the past, present and future history of 
 a human soul to those who can decipher them. 
 From the aura these characters are reflected 
 again upon the Ether which receives the im- 
 pression and keeps the record of each external 
 and internal event in Nature. The Ether is 
 the storehouse of the records of all human 
 and natural happenings and vibrations. And 
 it is from this storehouse of all mental records 
 that true clairvoyance draws its inspired mes- 
 sages and revelations. A fully developed 
 Yogi can learn the details of an event which 
 occurred ten thousand years ago or of any 
 time, and can tell of any present or future oc- 
 currence in any part of the world by concen- 
 trating upon the Ether, the all-knowing Ether. 
 
 227
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Thus the records of the causes of human 
 actions are kept in triplicate, so that there 
 is no escape from the potencies of their merits 
 and demerits, unless the main records (those 
 on the mind) are melted away by the fire of 
 absolute, all-absorbing spiritual consciousness. 
 Actions (Karma) are of two kinds, white 
 and black. White Karma springs from the 
 Sattwic state of mind, and Black Karma from 
 its Tamasic state. The color of Sattwa 
 (Illumination) is white, the color of Tama 
 (Darkness) is black, hence Karma is white or 
 black. Raja is the attribute of Activity, the 
 working principle, the motive power of action. 
 Without the aid of Raja no action is possible. 
 When Raja works with dominant Sattwa 
 the result is white Karma, when it works with 
 dominant Tama, the result is black Karma. 
 The white and black actions are commonly 
 called good and bad. What is a good action? 
 It is an action whose ultimate reaction pro- 
 duces harmony and happiness and illumines 
 the mind. What is a bad action? It is an 
 action which, however enjoyable or otherwise 
 while it lasts, produces a reaction of inhar- 
 
 228
 
 KARMA. 
 
 mony, pain and misery, causing darkness of 
 the mind. 
 
 In respect to the law according to which 
 they come to be worked out in their turn, the 
 Karma-seeds, white and black, are of three 
 classes Sanchit, Prarabdha and Kriyaman or 
 Agami. Sanchit means stored-up. Prarab- 
 dha means Karma the reaction of which has 
 begun or that which is working now. Kri- 
 yaman means Karma-seeds originating out of 
 the Prarabdha Karma now being worked out, 
 but which will form the seeds of future 
 (Agami) actions. Sanchit Karma includes the 
 seeds of all the actions of past existences 
 stored up as impressions on the mind. Out of 
 this storehouse of Karma-seeds that, white 
 or black, which is the most powerful asserts 
 itself to be worked out first, drawing to itself, 
 by the law of affinity, Karma-seeds of minor 
 power, but of a nature similar to its own. This 
 most powerful Karma-seed, lumped up with 
 small Karma-seeds of similar character, forms 
 the Prarabdha Karma, Karma which is in the 
 process of being worked out. And in its pro- 
 cess of working the fresh thought-impressions 
 
 229
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 which the mind is registering are called Kri- 
 yaman (Karma being born), also called Agami 
 (future) Karma, Karma seeds which, after 
 being deposited in the storehouse, will come to 
 be worked out in their turn in future, either as 
 main or minor Prarabdha, according to their 
 potency. 
 
 This is the law of working of human Karma, 
 the inexorable law which shapes our life and 
 destiny, which fills existence with joy or sor- 
 row. Karma is unending unless we learn the 
 mysterious law which works it and grasp the 
 still more mysterious Law behind that Karmic 
 law and by its practice destroy its roots and 
 prevent its present and future actions within 
 us. I will speak of this Law and of its ways 
 of practice later on. 
 
 We often see a man, who has lived a good, 
 pure and harmonious life, suddenly, through 
 circumstances or bad associations, changed in- 
 to a bad man. He becomes worse in habits 
 and conduct and dies in that degraded mental 
 state. Similarly we find some one very bad 
 up to a certain period of life; he suddenly 
 turns good and, before death, develops into an 
 
 230
 
 KARMA. 
 
 angelic character. This law of Karma is be- 
 hind this change of character. Good Pra- 
 rabdha influences one into good life and 
 actions while it is working. But if some 
 black Karma-seed is the most powerful of all 
 Karma-seeds in the mind's storehouse, after 
 the good Prarabdha has been worked out, it 
 asserts itself to be worked out next and, 
 lumped up with the minor seeds, forms his 
 Prarabdha which changes the whole complex- 
 ion of his character and conduct. The case of 
 a bad man becoming good is subject to the 
 same law; a white Prarabdha, owing to its 
 predominant power, succeeds a bad one. The 
 liability of alternate succession of bad and 
 good Karma producing the actions of human 
 beings is expressed in the metaphoric saying 
 that the action of Karma in man is like a re- 
 volving wheel. 
 
 As a seed of a tree takes time to bear fruit, 
 grow old and die, so a Karma-seed takes time 
 to develop and die. As the periodical putting 
 forth of leaves, flowers and fruits are the 
 events in the life of a tree, so the experiences 
 of a man's life represent the development of 
 
 231
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 his Prarabdha Karma-seed. The time a Kar- 
 ma-seed takes to work itself out is measured by 
 the duration of the sustaining power of its 
 potentialities. One Prarabdha Karma may 
 embrace two or three or more births if it is 
 very powerful, or may end in the middle of one 
 birth, if it be not so powerful. An extra- 
 ordinarily powerful Karma may extend for a 
 long, long time, covering many, many births, 
 suicide for instance. The thought which leads 
 to suicide makes the deepest impression on the 
 mind, far deeper, in fact, than even the thought 
 which commits murder. Why? Because we 
 love our own life more than anybody else's or 
 than anything else on earth. It, therefore, re- 
 quires an extraordinarily powerful thought 
 to overpower that innate, intense love of our 
 life and incite us to destroy it. The thought 
 back of this self-murder, therefore, makes the 
 deepest impression on our mind and thus be- 
 comes the most powerful Karma-seed of all 
 Karma-seeds. This being so, it asserts itself 
 to form the Prarabdha, every time it is worked 
 out, to the exclusion of all other Karma-seeds, 
 for a long series of births, in every one of
 
 KARMA. 
 
 which that soul commits suicide, sometimes, 
 as it is often found, without any apparent rea- 
 son. It is divine mercy alone that saves a 
 suicide from committing suicide in even- 
 birth ever afterwards. Hence suicide is the 
 greatest sin, greater than even murder. 
 
 To the average Western mind this Karma 
 philosophy strikes as intolerably pessimistic 
 on account of the inexorableness of its laws. 
 There is, however, no help for it. These laws 
 rule us all whether we believe in it or not. 
 They are no man-created laws, they are laws 
 which operate throughout Nature, as much 
 within a white man as within a brown, yellow 
 or black man, of all stations of life, of all grades 
 of consciousness. Yet it need not strike any- 
 body, who has found the easy and rosy path 
 out of the woods of Karma, as pessimistic at 
 all. But he or she must ever keep to that path 
 and never stray out of it from sheer wilful- 
 ness, or else there certainly is no escape out 
 of the labyrinth of Karma. 
 
 233
 
 SECTION XVIII. 
 
 REINCARNATION. 
 
 REINCARNATION, as I have said, is the physi- 
 cal form in which groups of accumulated 
 causes (Karma) of reaction manifest them- 
 selves in Nature. Reincarnation means re- 
 birth. Rebirth means, to be born again in flesh 
 after death. In order, therefore, to know 
 what is rebirth, we must know what is death. 
 To know what is death, we must know what 
 is life. 
 
 Let us see what life really is. Human life 
 is conscious mentality encased in flesh. To 
 be briefer, human life may be summed up in 
 one word consciousness. Life of lower ani- 
 mals is negative consciousness, while human 
 life is positive consciousness. 
 
 Human consciousness is subject to three 
 states. The Waking state, the Dream state and 
 the Dreamless Sleep state. In the waking state 
 all our inner and outer senses work. The 
 inner senses are: The Intellect, the Ego and 
 the Mind. The outer senses are the five cog- 
 234
 
 REINCARNATION. 
 
 nizing and the five working senses. These 
 senses are fully active during our waking 
 state. So long as the mind thinks, the intel- 
 lect decides, the Ego is self-conscious, the eye 
 sees, the ear hears, etc., they are acting. And 
 activity (Raja) brings about the reaction of 
 weariness (Tarrt'a). In other words, the 
 senses become tired out, owing to incessant 
 work and need rest. It is the state of weari- 
 ness of the senses that makes us feel exhausted 
 and seek rest. But the senses cannot have 
 full rest as long as we are in a waking state, 
 for their activity never ceases while we are 
 awake. Here Nature's law steps in and draws 
 a veil between the senses and their objects, 
 the veil of Tama, born out of the excessive 
 work of Raja. We fall asleep. 
 
 But in the first stage of sleep our senses 
 still sustain their activity, though in a lesser 
 degree than in the waking state, owing to their 
 still cognizing reflections of the objects and 
 scenes impressed on our mind while we are 
 awake. This is called the dream state of con- 
 sciousness. Dreams are of three kinds. The 
 ordinary dream is made up of the blended re- 
 
 235
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 flections of impressions of scenes and thoughts 
 in natural or fantastic shapes. The second 
 kind of dream is a clear unmixed reflection of 
 the mind's impressions of some of our ex- 
 periences in a previous birth. The third kind 
 of dream is a reflection cast upon our pure 
 consciousness of coming events from their 
 Karmic impressions on the Ether or on our 
 own aura. The ordinary dreams belong to 
 the dream state. The other two classes of 
 dreams are experiences during the dreamless 
 state of sleep, generally in the morning just 
 before awaking. 
 
 The dreams in the first stage of our sleep 
 keep our senses still employed and the mind 
 active on that account, for the activity of the 
 mind is generated by the operations of the 
 senses with their objects. Hence neither the 
 tired mind nor the tired senses derive the com- 
 plete rest they need, until gradually the veil of 
 Tama grows dense and shuts out even the 
 mental reflections of objects from their view. 
 This stops the operations of the senses which 
 then are absorbed by the mind whose off- 
 springs and agents they are, for the senses can- 
 
 236
 
 REINCARNATION. 
 
 not exist when they are deprived of their func- 
 tion of cognition. The same thing occurs with 
 the mind, for its activity, caused and sustained 
 by the activity of the senses, is the only reason 
 for its separate existence. With the loss of its 
 function, therefore, the mind loses this sepa- 
 rate existence and is absorbed by the Ego. The 
 Ego is in the same way absorbed by Conscious- 
 ness, for the Ego is dependent on the Mind 
 which sustains its existence of self-conscious- 
 ness. And then Absolute Consciousness, 
 with the passive germs of the Ego, Mind and 
 Senses merged in it, is absorbed in its turn by 
 the Soul and dwells in its realm until the senses 
 have rested sufficiently. 
 
 In the depth of this dreamless sleep state 
 of our consciousness, Tama gives place to the 
 reaction of Sattwa which is very pure during 
 this state. This dreamless sleep may be called 
 a negative trance state. When we awake, 
 through development of the Raja Attribute, 
 we feel not only thoroughly refreshed but a!so 
 in a state of mental harmony, a happy mood of 
 mind. We also feel that we were, during 
 that dead sleep, in a state of utter oblivion of 
 
 237
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 everything. We feel we forgot then even our 
 own existence, feel that we were not conscious 
 even of our own self, that we were in an ab- 
 solutely happy state, happy with happiness it- 
 self. We know of this condition, when we 
 awake from it, by inference from the happy 
 state of our mental mood, induced by the ab- 
 stract impression of it upon our consciousness 
 which was present then in its pure state. The 
 cause of the refreshment and new strength of 
 our body and senses is this dip in the Essence 
 of the Soul, the source of all energy. The 
 physicians try to put their patients into this 
 deep sleep in serious cases of illness, knowing 
 by experience that deep sleep is a quicker and 
 more powerful restorer of health than any 
 medicine, but they do not know where lies the 
 balm of sound sleep. 
 
 The activity of Raja brings about the awak- 
 ening from this state by causing the unfold- 
 ment of the infolded Ego, mind and senses 
 which resume their operations with external 
 and internal objects as before. The difference 
 between death and sleep lies here. After sleep 
 we resume the functions of our senses, but 
 
 238
 
 REINCARNATION. 
 
 death is caused by the confusion of our mind, 
 on account of the senses not being able to re- 
 sume their functions, owing to the disorder of 
 the physical counterparts of the sense-organs 
 through disease. Disease belongs to the physi- 
 cal body, and the senses with the mind and Ego 
 belong to the astral body which we are. The 
 pains we feel are caused by our identifying 
 ourselves with our physical encasement. If 
 we keep the fact constantly alive in our mind 
 that our physical body is the earthly home of 
 our soul, which is the centre of our astral 
 self, we will not only not feel physical pain 
 but prevent or do away with such pain even 
 in the physical body. To know ourselves as 
 nothing but our physical body is the densest, 
 narrowest and the most mischievous igno- 
 rance. We often find proofs of this separate- 
 ness of the physical and mental bodies from 
 facts which present themselves in our daily 
 life; we fail to cognize the experiences of our 
 body or even of our senses when our mind 
 is absent from them and absorbed in some 
 other direction. It is the mind that feels pain 
 or pleasure, not the body, neither the senses. 
 
 239
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 The physician, through the action of drugs, 
 causes the attribute of Tama to assert itself 
 and cover the mind's perception with its dark 
 veil, so that the patient may not feel the pain 
 of a serious operation on the body, while we 
 feel no pleasure in eating or drinking if our 
 mind is away from them. 
 
 The Yogi who has, by practice, developed 
 unbroken consciousness of the separateness of 
 the mental and physical body not only enjoys, 
 when the consciousness is absolute, immunity 
 from physical diseases and mishaps, but also 
 does not feel the throes of death when he leaves 
 his worn-out or diseased physical tenement. 
 But the generality of mortals who cannot 
 think of themselves as anything else but their 
 physical bodies, owing to ignorance, suffer 
 from all physical diseases. When these physi- 
 cal diseases put the physical counterparts of 
 sense-organs into disorder, it confuses the 
 mind when it finds that its channels of outward 
 communication, the senses, can no longer work 
 through them. In that confusion it loses its 
 balance and is strongly swayed by the desire to 
 again see and hear and feel and taste, etc. 
 
 340
 
 REINCARNATFON. 
 
 But finding it impossible to do so in the pres- 
 ent body any more, it tries to find some vehicle 
 through which it can resume its functions. The 
 pain of the worst stage of the physical disease 
 distracts it more and more so that it thinks it 
 would be more comfortable in any other body 
 than its present one. In confusion, this central 
 force of the astral body enters with that body 
 into the volume of air which fills the physical 
 body, thinking it will gain relief from the un- 
 bearable pain. And no sooner the astral 
 body, which is very subtle and finer than the 
 air, enters into it, than it passes out, thus air- 
 encased, through the mouth, causing the death 
 of the physical body. This is the common 
 process of death. Some astral bodies enter the 
 air-body unconsciously if the mind has been 
 benumbed by pain or covered by the influence 
 of excessive Tama. But this is certain of 
 every ordinary soul that it goes out of the 
 body encased iri air. 
 
 The thought predominant in this supreme 
 
 moment of human life decides the destination 
 
 of the human soul encased in the astral body 
 
 when it leaves its physical home. If we think 
 
 241
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 of nothing but of Krishna at this moment we 
 go to Krishna and live in His Abode, Goloka, 
 the Abode of Absolute Love. If we think of 
 Christ we go to Christ in His Father's King- 
 dom of Heaven. If we are filled with the con- 
 ception of Nirvana extinction of all individu- 
 ality we go to Nirvana. If we desire for 
 higher life above the earth we go to the higher 
 spheres. But if our earthly attachments, hav- 
 ing their influence on our thoughts at that 
 moment, fill us with regret for being taken 
 away from them or make us desire for earthly 
 life, we return to earth-life again, but not 
 necessarily to a joyful or comfortable life. A 
 life of worldly joy and comfort is due to good 
 Karma and self-denial in some previous ex- 
 istence. A life of sorrow and hardship is due 
 to bad Karma. 
 
 The earth-bound soul, on leaving the physi- 
 cal body, feels overcome by the shock of its 
 final trouble with and severance from that 
 physical body and remains in an inert state 
 for a time. When it recovers from that shock, 
 it finds that it has been transferred to a worse 
 state. Although the air-body in which it is 
 
 242
 
 REINCARNATION. 
 
 encased is not diseased, it has, however, no 
 openings for its senses to perform their re- 
 spective functions. It finds it cannot see or 
 hear or smell or touch or taste anything and 
 yet the desires for these objects of the senses 
 are as strong as when it was in the physical 
 body. This makes it weep for the loss of its 
 dear physical body and it hovers about in space 
 sad and restless. It has no stomach, yet is 
 filled with mental hunger and thirst which 
 grow intense because it has no means of 
 satisfying them. Indeed, finding this astral 
 life to be of greater torment, the unhappy 
 earth-bound soul longs to have a flesh cover- 
 ing again, to be reborn, and flies hither and 
 thither blindly, because of the want of physical 
 organs, and some day gains this object. It 
 enters, through the vigor (Sanscrit 'virga/ 
 'virjya,' force, power) of a man into a woman's 
 womb. This causes conception. No concep- 
 tion can take place without a disembodied 
 spirit entering the womb. Vigor mixed with 
 the mother's blood supplies the physical body 
 which is mere dead matter without the vivify- 
 ing astral soul. It is only when an astral soul 
 
 243
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 enters it that the womb closes and conception 
 takes place. The incoming soul then feels it- 
 self confined within its scope and cannot go 
 out of it by its own effort or will. 
 
 The selection of the vigor and the womb 
 for the astral soul is made principally accord- 
 ing to the subtle law of individual Karma and, 
 secondarily, according to the law of affinity. 
 The mental characteristics of the parents must 
 be similar to those of the soul to draw it to 
 them. As for its physical body, it may favor 
 in appearance its mother or its father more 
 or less according as their individuality and 
 image are stamped on the vigor and the blood 
 through the state of extreme mental concentra- 
 tion induced at the time. If the incoming soul 
 possesses far stronger individuality than those 
 of the father and the mother, it asserts this 
 upon its body and the child looks like neither 
 the father nor the mother. He looks like him- 
 self a form and appearance born of the im- 
 agination of its own strong individuality. 
 
 This direct rebirth from hovering in the 
 astral body in the astral plane for some time is 
 not true in the case of every disembodied soul. 
 
 244
 
 REINCARNATION. 
 
 There are souls which, after death, may go at 
 once to Heaven ('Swarga,' Celestial regions) 
 or to Purgatory, the nether regions. Accord- 
 ing to the Hindoo Scriptures, Heaven (Swar- 
 ga) is not the Abode of God, but the abode of 
 the gods, the Swar-sphere where the gods, the 
 governors of the Elements and Attributes of 
 Nature, dwell. It is the Prarabdha Karma of 
 the soul that determines its translation after 
 death to Heaven or Purgatory. The joys of 
 Heaven are reserved as a reward for good 
 Karma. And yet these heavenly joys are but 
 finest forms of material happiness, enjoyed by 
 merit of good actions performed in earth-life 
 for the sake of just such recompense. These 
 heaven-dwellers mentally enjoy all these ex- 
 quisite pleasures of the senses at their will, as 
 well as the company of celestial beings, as 
 long as the term of their merit lasts. At the 
 expiration of the term they come down to 
 earth to be reborn again. These heavenly 
 blessings are, therefore, but transitory. 
 
 Intensely wicked actions, in the same man- 
 ner, are punished by a term of suffering tor- 
 tures in Purgatory, at the expiration of which 
 245
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 the purged souls may go straight to heaven, 
 if good Prarabdha Karma succeeds their ex- 
 piatory sufferings, or be reborn again on 
 earth. The tendency of the pleasure-seeking, 
 materialistic, modern mind is to disbelieve the 
 existence of any such place of torture as Pur- 
 gatory. They think that Heaven and Purgatory 
 exist only on earth within man's mind. This 
 is true and yet it is not. If anybody develops 
 high spirituality he or she can taste higher, 
 finer and more lasting joys than even celestial 
 pleasures. For such there is neither Heaven 
 nor Purgatory, for intense spirituality burns 
 down all seeds of Karma. As to enduring 
 the tortures of Purgatory here on earth 
 through repentance, that is true too. But if 
 the spirit of repentance is not absolute, it fails 
 to fully purge away the sin, so that such sinful 
 souls have to go to the nether regions for 
 complete cleansing. The Hindoo Books do not 
 believe in such a thing as Eternal Hell or 
 Punishment, because it is absurd, unjust and 
 unscientific according to the laws of Nature. 
 The governor of "Naraka" (Purgatory) is 
 one of the gods, the presiding deity of Justice 
 
 246
 
 REINCARNATION. 
 
 (Dharmaraj) and the regions of his rule are 
 situated within the bowels of the earth. Hu- 
 man houses of correction (prisons) tend more 
 to corrupt than to correct, because those in 
 charge of them are not imbued with a perfect 
 spirit of sympathy, justice and mercy. In the 
 Divine houses of correction (Purgatory) per- 
 fect justice blends with mercy and sympathy, 
 and the governor thereof is the embodiment 
 of these three attributes. He has to deal with 
 his prisoners according to their own records 
 of their misdeeds, reflected on the aura, a true 
 copy of which is kept in the books of Ether, 
 from which his Recording Angel transcribes 
 items credited to each individual soul. 
 
 For the pious, spiritually developed soul, 
 however, there is no Purgatory, as I have said. 
 It lives and breathes in a plane which is out- 
 side of the three lower planes of selfish actions 
 and their reactions, outside of the jurisdiction 
 even of the gods. To his ensouled mind the 
 word purgatory or heaven has no meaning 
 whatever. He loves spirituality for its own 
 dear sake and feels itself safe from all evil 
 in the embrace of its protecting arms. 
 247
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Into the vigor or the blood of such a spiritual 
 soul, no wicked astral spirit can enter. Its 
 pure aura repels such spirits and admits only 
 kindred spirits seeking rebirth, drawn to it by 
 Karma and affinity. 
 
 Much suffering is the lot of the ordinary 
 soul while growing in the womb, on account of 
 its cramped consciousness and the narrow 
 space in which it is confined. After the sixth 
 month, it has a wonderful experience. The 
 veil shrouding its past existence is suddenly 
 lifted and the memories of all of its past births 
 rush across its mind. It even witnesses the 
 scenes of thousands of its previous existences 
 and realizes the reason of the pain and sorrow 
 suffered during all these existences the rea- 
 son of its having been attached to material 
 objects and having disregarded the develop- 
 ment of its spiritual self, its having been un- 
 mindful of its duty to its Maker and its fellow 
 man. This realization crushes its mind with 
 contrition and it weeps and prays to God to 
 forgive it and promises to live a life of devo- 
 tion to Him in the future. This goes on for 
 three months together until it is born, when, 
 
 248
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 at the touch of the earthly atmosphere all 
 those memories vanish and it is once more 
 drowned in oblivion. It is more from the pain 
 of this shock that it cries out at the time of 
 birth. 
 
 249
 
 SECTION XIX. 
 
 HOW TO DESTROY KARMA. 
 
 Now comes to be considered the question of 
 questions How to do away with and avoid 
 bad Karma. If Karma is the cause of all our 
 sufferings in life, how to remove that cause. 
 We have before this had births and the actions 
 in those innumerable births have produced 
 countless Karma-seeds. All these seeds are 
 stored up in the repository of the mind. How 
 is it possible, it may be asked, to destroy them 
 all, and prevent fresh accumulation of new 
 Karma-seeds in the present birth ? 
 
 To those who ask this question seriously, 
 that is, with a serious intention of acting upon 
 any suggestion that may seem feasible to them, 
 the answer is pregnant with all the essentials 
 of a true solution. To such the answer is 
 simple and the mode of solution simpler. To 
 the really serious soul, hungering for freedom 
 from the bondage of Karma, even the practice 
 of the principle of the advice may strike as 
 still more simple. But the practice involves the
 
 HOW TO DESTROY KARMA. 
 
 full realization of the source of Karma, the 
 perfect understanding of its laws, their opera- 
 tions and their relations to his own individual 
 self. 
 
 Here I will try to put the philosophy of 
 this solution as briefly as possible. If our ac- 
 tions of this life are the products of actions 
 in previous lives, the actions of those previous 
 lives are the effects of actions in still more 
 previous lives and so on. Thus trying to trace 
 the causes of all our actions in all our past 
 lives, we are bound to arrive at the time of the 
 Creation of the universe, when it sprang from 
 the Will of Krishna. We, as parts of the uni- 
 verse, sprang from that Will too. Krishna's 
 Will before Creation was : "I am One and I 
 wish to be the Many," and His Creation is the 
 manifestation of His Will's motion towards 
 manifoldness and Karma is the law of the 
 rhythmic steps of that motion. The Will of 
 Krishna, therefore, is the cause of all Karma 
 of the entire Creation as well as of ours, be- 
 cause we are but parts of that Creation. This 
 makes it clear that, since Krishna is the cause 
 of all Karma of the Universe, He is the Actor 
 251
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 of all actions. This being so, the cause of 
 our sufferings from bondage to Karma lies in 
 our mistaken conception that we ourselves are 
 the doer of our actions. This cannot be, be- 
 cause all our actions proceed from our past 
 Karma, the roots of which are embedded in 
 the Will of Krishna. It is Krishna that is the 
 whole Universe, as well as its laws and actions. 
 It is Krishna that suffers and enjoys in so 
 many shapes and forms which make up His 
 moving Will, called Nature. All our troubles 
 are born of our usurping His place, the place 
 of the Real Actor. Hence Karma clings, by 
 natural law, to whoever claims it. We claim 
 the doership of actions which manifest them- 
 selves through us, but the real Doer is the 
 spring of primeval action Krishna Himself. 
 This belief, that we ourselves are the doers 
 of our actions, subjects our Ego to their re- 
 actions. If by tracing the source of Karma to 
 Krishna, we dispel this illusion from our mind 
 and keep it ever out of it, so that it may not 
 disturb our conviction of the fact that Krishna 
 is the only Doer, all our past and present 
 Karma, the stored-up and the working San- 
 252
 
 HOW TO DESTROY KARMA. 
 
 chit and Prarabdha will leave us of them- 
 selves and go to Krishna to be absorbed by 
 Him, while, for the same reason, the Karma- 
 seeds springing from our present actions will 
 be rendered germless like roasted seeds which 
 never grow. But this belief needs constant 
 practice of this thought in order to be sus- 
 tained without interruption and involves think- 
 ing of Krishna, Absolute Love and Life, every 
 minute thoughts by which the thinker ab- 
 sorbs the essence of the purest spirituality 
 whose illumination ever guides him along the 
 paths of Truth and Wisdom and prompts him 
 to actions whose results bring harmony and 
 happiness to himself, as well as to all with 
 whom he comes in contact. 
 
 This exposition of the truth of our utter 
 irresponsibility of our actions will appear 
 strange and mischievous only to unthinking 
 minds. The fear that such a belief of ir- 
 responsibility may lead some people to bad 
 actions is entirely groundless. Such a thing 
 can never happen for, with such a belief firm 
 in our mind, we have to think of God always 
 in all our daily actions, and this constant think- 
 253
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ing induces concentration upon the Deity whose 
 spirit is sure to prevent and counteract all our 
 evil thoughts, not to speak of evil actions. A 
 man who will do evil actions, taking advantage 
 of this principle, will only deceive himself. 
 Such evil-doing can only show that he has no 
 belief in the principle at all, but thinks of it 
 only with a view to justify actions which he, 
 in his heart, believes to be his own, but at- 
 tributes to God to get rid of their responsi- 
 bilities, if possible. \ But if anyone believes 
 firmly that God is the Doer of all actions and ' 
 yet, for want of proper culture of this belief, 
 he is betrayed into evil actions, be sure his 
 belief growing stronger will soon control his 
 actions and lead him along the paths of the 
 good and the pure. God-Consciousness de- 
 stroys all evils of the mind to their very roots. 
 Thus Karma and its effects, which for the 
 ignorant, unthinking, and reckless human soul 
 are ever interminable, can by exercise of wis- 
 dom and mental power and discipline be ab- 
 solutely done away with. Karma belongs to 
 Krishna and it is to Krishna that it and its 
 fruits should be unreservedly dedicated for 
 good. The moment this mystery of Karma is 
 254
 
 HOW TO DESTROY KARMA. 
 
 solved and the soul that solves it acts upon its 
 lesson, than Krishna takes it into His arms, 
 and the soul and its Maker, now face to face, 
 laugh together at this riddle of life, and in that 
 laugh of ecstasy all sorrow and pain of the 
 past are forgotten by that saved soul. 
 
 255
 
 SECTION XX. 
 
 THE ATOM'S RETURN JOURNEY. 
 
 IT is absolute Krishna-consciousness or God- 
 consciousness, if you will, if that God is Ab- 
 solute Love that carries the atom from its 
 man-stage of development to its Real Home, 
 Krishna, the Abode of Eternal Love and Bliss. 
 Like all roads leading to Rome, all religious 
 paths lead to that Home. The primeval, the 
 most natural and the most scientific religion, 
 called now the Hindoo religion, has construct- 
 ed five main roads for making the return 
 journey easy, and the travelers can choose any 
 of these roads, according to their inclinations 
 and the state of spiritual progress. One is the 
 Path of Light and Psychic Force, called the 
 path of the Sun, because the Sun is the presid- 
 ing deity of the path. The second is the Path 
 of Success whose presiding deity is Ganapati, 
 Bestower of Success. The third is the Path 
 of Destruction of Tama whose presiding deity 
 is Shiva, the Destroyer, one of the Hindoo 
 Trinity and the presiding deity of Tama, Shiva 
 
 256
 
 THE ATOM'S RETURN JOURNEY. 
 
 who has subdued Tama and become its lord. 
 The fourth is the Path of Divine Energy whose 
 presiding deity is Durga, the Motherhood of 
 God and the Universe "Prakriti," Divine 
 Nature. The fifth is the Path of Spiritual De- 
 votion whose presiding deity is Vishnoo (Ani- 
 ruddha), the presiding deity of Sattwa, out of 
 whose navel the universe has sprung and who 
 is the dispenser of Moksha to the walkers 
 of all the other paths. In this path is in- 
 cluded another path, a path far superior to all 
 the five paths, the Path of Absolute Causeless 
 Love which leads direct to Krishna, whose pre- 
 siding Deity is Krishna, the Deity of all the 
 deities. These different path-walkers are 
 called by the names of their respective deities 
 of worship Saura, Ganapatya, Shaiva, Shakta 
 (worshippers of 'Shakti,' Energy) and Vaish- 
 navs, among whom are included Krishna- 
 worshippers. 
 
 The Sun is the medium of the physical 
 manifestation of the Divine Light, the Light 
 of Absolute Intelligence, the Co-existent Attri- 
 bute of Absolute Love. It is called the Par- 
 ent of the gross universe, the Outer Eye of the 
 257
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Deity, the passage of the First Sense of the 
 Divine Mind which produced Forms. The de- 
 votee of the Sun worships it as such, as 
 the medium of the Absolute Deity, Krishna. 
 Some of them concentrate their eyes upon the 
 Sun, immersed in water up to the neck from 
 sunrise to sunset, others pray to it morning, 
 noon and evening and contemplate its power. 
 The sun is not blazing hot as some modern 
 people think. It is peopled by spiritual souls 
 who, by the merit of soul-development, go from 
 earth after death to dwell there for further 
 development. These spiritual souls are spir- 
 itually governed by one who is most developed 
 among them. He is called the Sun-God, the 
 representative of the sun. Sun-worship 
 leads finally to Krishna-worship in some fully 
 developed reincarnation. 
 
 Ganapati, first-born of Shiva (Shiva means 
 Weal, Destroyer of 111 or Evil), is the pre- 
 siding deity and bestower of Success mate- 
 rial, moral and spiritual which is the chief 
 factor of human weal. Satisfied material suc- 
 cess, virtuously earned, inspires the desire for 
 moral development in well-ordered minds, and 
 258
 
 THE ATOM'S RETURN JOURNEY. 
 
 moral development, in turn, leads to spiritual 
 unfoldment. By concentration on this Central 
 Idea of Success itself, the mind of the devotee 
 or Ganapati, absorbs its essence, the force of 
 which guides his efforts to prosperity. Earth- 
 ly prosperity, enjoyed with discrimination, 
 impresses us with its hollowness, its failure 
 to satisfy the inner craving of the mind and 
 points to the path of solid, all-satisfying, per- 
 manent happiness. 
 
 Shiva is the Presiding Deity of the Weal of 
 Creation, hence his name Shiva. He is the 
 Conqueror and Destroyer of Darkness 
 (Tama). He helps his devotees to dispel the 
 darkness of ignorance generated in their mind 
 by its Tama Attribute, and thus uncover its 
 attribute of Sattwa by the illumination of 
 which their souls reach the state of Moksha 
 Freedom from the Bondage of Matter and 
 finally merge in the Divine Essence whence it 
 originally sprang. 
 
 Durga is Divine Energy, the Motherhood 
 or Creation. She is the Sattwic force by 
 which Shiva subdued Tama. Hence she is 
 the consort of Shiva, the Helpmeet of Spirit-
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ual Weal. Without Durga, his Shakti 
 (Energy), Shiva is inert; with his Shakti, he 
 is alive and rules the universe. Shiva and 
 his Shakti are inseparable, as man and his 
 mental energy, which alone he is, is insepa- 
 rable. Man is moved by his mental energy, 
 so Shiva is moved by his spiritual energy. 
 Durga is the highest spiritual phase of Kalee, 
 Conqueress of Time and Door of Eternity. 
 She is the Spiritual Force of Nature (Pra- 
 kriti), she is the Mother of the Universe. 
 Her devotees called Shaktas (Shakti-wor- 
 shippers) meditate on her as the Great Mother 
 and pray to her for her grace, as a child talks 
 to its mother and looks up to her for help, pro- 
 tection and sustenance. When the most spir- 
 itual of her devotees develop the same natural 
 love for and unshaken faith in her as those of 
 an innocent child to its mother, they are 
 blessed with her last grace. They are helped 
 to Moksha or led into the path of Krishna, 
 this last the greatest of all her gifts. She, as 
 Yoga-Maya (energy of the highest spiritual 
 concentration), holds the key of the Gate of 
 Goloka, Krishna's Abode of Love-Bliss. 
 
 260
 
 THE ATOM'S RETURN JOURNEY. 
 
 Vishnoo is the sum total of all the deities 
 which are the manifestations of his powers 
 and attributes. He is the Parent of both the 
 Motherhood and Fatherhood of the Universe 
 the Spring of Creation itself. He is the 
 Presiding Deity of Sattwa out of which are 
 born Raja and Tama. He is the Preserver, 
 the Sustaining Power of the Universe. He is 
 the Way to Moksha, His Essence is the Abode 
 of all Salvation. He is the Outer Form of 
 Krishna, the Form through w r hich Krishna 
 manifests His Will and becomes the Many 
 from the One. His Abode, called Vaikuntha, 
 the Centre of his All-Pervading Essence, is 
 over this universe, over Brahma-Loka Brah- 
 ma's Abode. He is the last but one Goal of all 
 spiritual aspirations. He is the Gate of 
 Krishna, the Last Goal. 
 
 The upward evolution of the atom from the 
 man-stage has to pass through many higher 
 spiritual stages in higher and higher spheres. 
 Interested spiritual culture, by which I mean 
 spiritual culture with a view to enjoy the fin- 
 est essence of sensuous happiness in spheres 
 higher than the earth, never lifts a human 
 
 261
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 soul beyond the Bhuba and the Swar, the 
 abode of the gods. The Bhuba sphere is just 
 over the earth. It is the astral sphere. It 
 is peopled by semi-celestial spirits and beings 
 whose bodies are made mostly of ether, air and 
 fire and the finest essence of water and earth ; 
 hence they are invisible to our gross physical 
 eye. They are so light that the air to them 
 is like firm land to us ; they walk over it as we 
 walk over earth. There are houses and roads 
 in this sphere as on earth, as also in the Swar 
 sphere. Many psychical persons have now 
 and then a glimpse of the Bhuba sphere and 
 the dwellers therein. One of my students in 
 New York, the truth of whose visions is 
 known to many, has often seen these airy 
 houses, roads and beings. The Swar is com- 
 posed of finer material than the Bhuba, and its 
 atmosphere is more sacred. Selfish spiritual 
 culture is rewarded by a term of residence in 
 the Swar. When the term is over the soul 
 has to come down to earth again to be reborn 
 as man. 
 
 The sonl which loves and cultivates unsel- 
 
 262
 
 THE ATOM'S RETURN JOURNEY. 
 
 fish spirituality, spirituality for spirituality's 
 sake, succeeds when it has no desire or sym- 
 pathy any more for anything earthly, in skip- 
 ping over the Bhuba and Swar, after death, 
 and enters and becomes a dweller in the Mahar 
 sphere. Such a soul seldom comes back to 
 earth, but through higher development attains 
 to the Brahma Loka and there waits, to be ab- 
 sorbed or immersed in Vishnoo's Essence, till 
 the time of the Universal (Natural) Dissolu- 
 tion through which it reaches its goal. 
 
 The worshippers of Vishnoo pray for one of 
 the five states of Moksha (Salvation), accord- 
 ing to the preference of their inclinations. 
 These five states of Salvation are Salokya, 
 Samipya, Sarupya, Sajujya and Sarshti. 
 Salokya is, to dwell in the plane of Vishnoo. 
 Samipya is, to live near Vishnoo as a servant. 
 Sarupya is, to live with Vishnoo as his com- 
 panion and having Vishnoo's form and appear- 
 ance. Sajujya is, to remain immersed in 
 Vishnoo's Essence. Sarshti is, to possess even 
 the powers of Vishnoo. Those who attain to 
 the first three states of Salvation serve as mes- 
 sengers of Vishnoo, and at times act as me- 
 263
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 diums of communication between Vishnoo and 
 the dwellers of the Universe, while some of 
 those who attain to the last two states come 
 down to earth only from time to time as Ava- 
 tars, partial Incarnations of Vishnoo (God). 
 These have developed complete God-conscious- 
 ness and after being immersed in the Essence 
 of Vishnoo for eons together, they have 
 been thoroughly Vishnooized. True, they were 
 human beings before, but now they are 
 Parts of God Himself. They have no more 
 recollection of their former existences. There- 
 fore, to call them any other than Vish- 
 noo is blasphemy. When the affairs of the 
 earth are in chaos and humanity in general 
 needs spiritual uplifting, some of these im- 
 mersed souls are detached, and they come 
 down to our sphere, take birth and walk 
 among us, helping us, by examples and 
 teachings, to right actions which lead to Sal- 
 vation. 
 
 264
 
 SECTION XXI. 
 
 YOGA. 
 
 THERE are five processes of mental discipline 
 by the aid of which the human soul can reach 
 its goal quicker. These are called the five 
 paths of Yoga, viz., Hatha, Karma, Raja, 
 Gnana and Bhakti. Yoga means Union. The 
 word Yoga is the original of its corrupted 
 English form "Yoke." Yoga, therefore, means 
 yoking the Mind to the Spirit of God by con- 
 centration. Hatha Yoga consists in cleaning 
 and disciplining the outer and inner physical 
 body by the practice of certain postures of 
 sitting, processes of moving the muscles and 
 fixing the eye upon some external object or 
 the tip of the nose. These, in time, induce 
 mental poise. Karma Yoga is performing 
 good actions, and practising spiritual form- 
 ulas which contribute to the purification of the 
 mind and, finally lead to the unfoldment of the 
 soul. Raja Yoga is stopping the functions of 
 the mind's volitions. By volitions of the mind 
 are meant thought-currents. By the practice 
 265
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 of Raja Yoga, the outflow of these thought- 
 currents can be entirely stopped and turned 
 inwards in one concentrated stream into the 
 soul. The main process of shutting in the 
 mind-currents is by controlling the breath. 
 The action of our breathing upon our mind is 
 like that of the pendulum of a clock upon the 
 movements of its hands. As, for instance, 
 the quicker the pendulum swings the faster 
 the movement of the hands, so, the quicker 
 our breathing, the more rapid the action of 
 our thought-currents. By controlling the 
 breath by certain exercises, prescribed by Raja 
 Yoga, one can make his breathing slow and 
 thereby diminish the speed of the thought- 
 currents. During these breathing exercises, 
 the mind is concentrated upon God or the 
 Divine Idea, or some mystic words expressive 
 of the Deity. This lessens the activity of the 
 mind which then gradually experiences a calm- 
 ness unfelt before, a calmness which in itself 
 is a happiness which no form of enjoyment of 
 material pleasure can afford. Calmness of 
 mind develops into harmony, the result of the 
 expression of the Sattwa attribute. 
 266
 
 YOGA. 
 
 There are five kinds of mental states : 
 Murha, Khipta, Bikhipta, Ekagra, and Samad- 
 hi. The Murha, ruled by predominant Tama, 
 is generally attracted to evil objects owing to 
 lack of discrimination. Khipta flits from one 
 object to another in search of pleasure. It is 
 ruled by predominant Raja, so is ever 
 active and never satisfied. The Bikhipta 
 mental state, ruled by the equal combination of 
 the three attributes, is generally like Khipta, 
 but at times fixes its attention inwards though 
 for a short time only. When the Bikhipta 
 is helped by the practice of concentration into 
 the Ekagra (one-pointed) state, then it is that 
 harmony is brought about. When, by con- 
 stant practice, the one-pointed mind becomes 
 unwaveringly fixed on the Deity or the Idea 
 of the Deity gained through the increasing 
 illumination of the Sattwa, it enters into the 
 Samadhi (Trance) state, the state of Absolute 
 absorption into the Deity. 
 
 The practice of the Raja Yoga has been for- 
 bidden in the Shastras in the Kali Yuga (Iron 
 Age) because, in this age, excepting in rare 
 cases, the human body is too weak and delicate 
 267
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 to stand the hardships, psychic exertions and 
 physical privations of its practices, and be- 
 cause an adept Yogi-Gooroo, without whose 
 constant help in every detail of it no student 
 can attain the highest result, is very hard to 
 be found. Many who now practice it under 
 inexperienced Gooroos in India meet early 
 death or develop incurable diseases or even 
 turn insane. A moderate amount of simple 
 breathing exercises may not be so injurious or 
 fatal, but too much of it or the practice of 
 the advanced rules ought never to be at- 
 tempted, especially in the West, where a 
 proper Gooroo can never be found and where 
 most people's nerves are generally shaky. 
 
 Gnana Yoga is an entirely mental process 
 of Yoga, a process of discriminating between 
 the Unsubstantial and the Substantial in Na- 
 ture and concentrating upon the only Sub- 
 stantial Essence of things and gradually get- 
 ting absolutely absorbed by it. The keeping 
 up of this process of thought in an unbroken 
 stream requires living a life of simplicity, soli- 
 tude and renunciation. The life in which this 
 thought-current becomes unbroken is the last 
 268
 
 YOGA. 
 
 life, last incarnation of that soul. It escapes 
 rebirth for good for which it has worked for 
 many incarnations. Its separate Ego is 
 merged in the universal Ego and finally is lost 
 in and becomes one with the One-without-a- 
 Second. 
 
 Gnana Yoga belongs to the school of the 
 Vedanta philosophy. Vedanta is "Veda" and 
 "Anta" which means "End," so that Vedanta 
 means End of the Veda the Aim or Goal of 
 the Veda; and the word Veda is the original 
 of the English word "Wisdom" (Swedish, Vis- 
 dom) from Sanscrit, "Vida," to know. Veda 
 means knowledge of the Reality, the Truth. 
 The Vedanta Aphorisms of Vedavyasa are but 
 Indices to the Principles of the Upanishads 
 the Wisdom part of the Veda. There are two 
 Schools of Vedanta, the Old and the New. 
 The Old possesses the true interpretation of 
 the Aphorisms, the New is deluded by their 
 false interpretations, is only about two thou- 
 sand years old and has a comparatively small 
 number of adherents. The Old school is 
 founded on Parinambad, the new is founded 
 on Vivartabad. The Old school holds that 
 
 269
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 the universe is composed of the ever change- 
 ful manifestations of the Will (Energy) of the 
 One Changeless Deity (Parinambad), the 
 New calls the whole universe, in fact, all that 
 is visible and perceptible, Maya (Illusion), in 
 the sense that it never existed, does not exist 
 now and will never exist. All that exists is 
 Brahm, the Divine Essence, and we are That. 
 All else is illusion wrought in our mind 
 through ignorance, just as the mistaking a 
 piece of rope lying in some dark place for a 
 snake is due to the illusion of the darkness. 
 This theory with its plausible analogy is all 
 wrong. The universe is not all illusion though 
 it is the changeful force-materialization of the 
 Unchangeful One Substance. The force or 
 energy or light or reflection of a substance is 
 inseparable from it and is pervaded by it and 
 partakes of its spirit. This materialized force- 
 reflection of Brahm not only possesses its sub- 
 stance at bottom but must be called a part of it 
 as the light of a flame or reflection of a light 
 is undeniably its part. The analogy of the 
 snake and rope is, therefore, not true of God 
 and the Universe : The snake is merely the 
 
 270
 
 YOGA. 
 
 conjuration of the darkness and not born of the 
 rope; but the universe is born of Brahm (the 
 rope). The theory that it is born of the illu- 
 sion of our ignorance, is absurd in that it in- 
 volves accepting that "ignorance" to be some- 
 thing self-existent, that it has an independent 
 existence, separate from the All-in-Ail, the 
 One-without-a-Second. If not, whence is this 
 "ignorance" which has such power of illusion 
 over our mind and senses? What is it? 
 Whence does it come? The Neo-Vedantist 
 answers, it is something inexplicable, His Maya 
 is inexplicable the argument of one in dark- 
 ness himself. This New Vedantic thought has 
 done and is doing more harm to the world than 
 any other religious theory. It is a worse delu- 
 sion than the delusion of Maya. 
 
 271
 
 SECTION XXII. 
 
 BHAKTI YOGA. 
 
 BHAKTI Yoga is concentration on the Deity 
 through Devotion, the best and highest form of 
 Yoga, higher than all the other forms, as 
 Krishna Himself has said in the Bhagazrat 
 Gita. Devotion is the full fruition of spiritual 
 concentration. A true devotee is the highest 
 Yogi, for he is filled with humility, and sin- 
 cere, abject humility is the expression of the 
 sublimest spiritual nature; it is "the softened 
 shadow" as the Lord says, "that is cast by My 
 Love." Sincere humility springs from the 
 clear realization of the Presence of God in 
 everything, that the whole universe is formed 
 of the many forms of the One Form and its 
 Radiance. And with that never fading vision 
 before the mind's eye, the devotee forgets him- 
 self and stoops low at the feet of every one 
 and at everything he sees, for he sees in them 
 all his Deity. 
 
 Bhakti is of two kinds, Gnan-Bhakti and 
 Prem-Bhakti. Gnan-Bhakti is devotion aided 
 272
 
 BHAKT1 YOGA. 
 
 by culture of wisdom, its Deity is some in- 
 carnation of Vishnoo and its goal is the Abode 
 of Vishnoo or the Essence of Vishnoo. Prem 
 Bhakti is devotion through Love Causeless, 
 Disinterested Love, love for love's sake, and its 
 Deity and Goal is Krishna Absolute Love. 
 The Path of Prem Bhakti lies within the Path 
 of Gnan Bhakti, but this Path within the Path 
 is hedged in high to shut out the view and 
 sound of the main path. The devotee of 
 Prem Bhakti dedicates all his knowledge, wis- 
 dom and actions to Krishna, the spring of all 
 Wisdom and Actions, and prays Krishna for 
 His love, the luxury of loving Him for His 
 dear sake. 
 
 The Prem Bhakta wants nothing from his 
 Lord, no boon, no blessing, material or celes- 
 tial, not even Salvation or Mukti, nothing, noth- 
 ing, save the blessing of being filled with love 
 for Him. He prays to his Lord : "O my Krish- 
 na ! It matters not what betides my body, my 
 life or my earthly circumstances, or in what 
 form of life I am reborn, even if it be that of a 
 worm, let my faith and love be fixed in Thee, 
 my Beloved. Whatever is there in all exist- 
 
 273
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ence compared with the luxury of loving 
 Thee? Thou art the sum-total of the realiz- 
 ation of all desires, of all happiness, Thou, the 
 Secret and Object of all our longings !" 
 
 Such, in truth, is Krishna's attraction and 
 more. He is the embodiment of the concen- 
 trated Beauty and Sweetness of all the Uni- 
 verses, His Eyes and Face the focus of the 
 Love that fills all that is. Hence this Prem 
 Bhakti Path, which means the Path of Love's 
 Devotion, is called the Path of Beauty and 
 Sweetness. Beauty and Sweetness are co- 
 existent, are one and the same thing. Beauty 
 is the expression of Sweetness, Sweetness is 
 the Essence of Beauty, and Love is the Parent 
 of both. Krishna's Form and Symmetry are 
 all Ideals' unapproachable, inconceivable, un- 
 imaginable Ideal. The newest rain-cloud* 
 color of His complexion is the color of the con- 
 densed Ether of Ether Love. His crown 
 and crest of peacock-feathers, His raiment of 
 molten gold the color of attraction His long 
 
 *The color of the newest rain-cloud of India, color 
 of the sapphire or marine blue, are vain attempts to 
 indicate Krishna's color and complexion. 
 274
 
 BHAKTI YOGA. 
 
 garland and ornaments of wild flowers, His 
 jewel Kaustubha on His Breast and His bam- 
 boo flute were all proud contributions of Na- 
 ture to Her Supreme Lord. If we can imag- 
 ine the essence of the purest of pure love con- 
 densed into a substance as thick as flesh and 
 moulded into form, we can then have some 
 idea of the material of Krishna's Body, 
 whether in Glory or on earth. It is a Form 
 which, the moment you produce some likeness 
 of it in imagination thrills you with ecstasy, 
 for it is Ecstasy condensed. 
 
 Krishna is best worshipped with the heart. 
 Prayers and incantations and offerings, with- 
 out sincere feeling, do not reach Him. He 
 responds to the call of love alone. Call Him 
 from the innermost depth of your heart with 
 pure love love unmixed with motive with 
 sincere, artless love of a fond baby for its 
 mother, and He will appear to you and do 
 whatever you want Him to do. Krishna is 
 your veriest own, nearer to you than your 
 nearest relative, your only true friend in life 
 and Eternity. He is dearer, more precious 
 than your body or your life or your heart for 
 
 275
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 He is your soul and soul is dearer and more 
 precious than body, life or heart. It is Him 
 you have been searching in all your searchings 
 in life, in lives you have lived before, and Him 
 will you search in lives that are to come after 
 this life. He is ever with you. He is within 
 you, but you are searching for Him outside of 
 you hence you miss Him, hence you run 
 after all the will-o'-the-wisps of life, thinking 
 these will give you the joy which your Only 
 Beloved and Lover alone can give. No 
 wonder you are deceived, depressed, unsatis- 
 fied the reward of chasing the shadow of the 
 substance that lies within you, the reward of 
 chasing the rainbow which is but the reflection 
 of the Sun of your soul's sky. 
 
 The devotee of Krishna meditates on Krish- 
 na regarding Him in one of the four human 
 relationships, whichever suits his natural in- 
 clination best, viz., Dasya or the relationship 
 of a Servant to his Master, Sakhya or the rela- 
 tionship of the Friend to his Friend, Batsalya 
 or the relationship of a Son to his Parents or 
 Parents to a Son, and Madhur or the relation- 
 ship of a Wife to her Husband or of a loving 
 
 276
 
 BHAKTI YOGA, 
 
 Woman to her Lover. These four kinds of 
 devotional feelings are natural in man. By 
 "natural" I mean born from Nature of which 
 man is the best earthly product. But where- 
 from has Nature derived them? From her 
 parent-source, Krishna, of course. So these 
 feelings are present, in their absolute perfec- 
 tion, in Krishna, the source of all Life. Flow- 
 ing from Krishna into His Creation, they con- 
 stitute the cords of attachment between man 
 and man, the natural bonds of union between 
 soul and soul, the natural channels of com- 
 munication between man and his Maker. 
 They are the invisible wires of telegraphy be- 
 tween the Central Soul and its branch souls 
 between the Parent Soul and its offsprings. 
 If the instruments of the branch offices are 
 rusty and out of order they cannot transmit 
 their messages to the main office or receive 
 messages therefrom. The moment they are 
 cleaned, repaired and put into working order, 
 they are open to perfect communication once 
 more. 
 
 The devotee of Krishna cleans the rusty 
 and disordered instrument of his heart by cul- 
 277
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 tivating one of these feelings of devotion for 
 Krishna. And the moment this feeling attains 
 its natural state, the moment it becomes ab- 
 solutely sincere, than he absorbs and is filled 
 with absolute Love from its Primeval Spring. 
 Krishna is absolutely divine and absolutely 
 human, for it is perfect humanity that is per- 
 fect divinity. Krishna is Love itself, the Love 
 that destroys all distance, Love that draws the 
 Lover and the Loved closest to each other. It 
 knows no ceremony, knows no formal respect. 
 It knows no motive. Love is its own cause, 
 motive and satisfaction. Divinity demands our 
 reverence and inspires us with awe. Despite 
 its strong attraction we can but adore it from 
 a distance, we cannot approach it too near. 
 But Love draws us to its bosom and holds us 
 close: Love is a Master and Love is a Slave. 
 It knows no barrier, sees no faults, nay, sees 
 virtues in faults. It responds to its own clear 
 call or vibrates to the voice of its own in- 
 spiration and blesses its own creation with 
 greater gifts of its own wealth. 
 
 Whichever of the four devotional feelings 
 towards Krishna the Bhakta (devotee) culti- 
 278
 
 BHAKTI YOGA. 
 
 vates, it must reach the stage of unalloyed 
 sincerity to be rewarded by its blissful realiza- 
 tion. The loving Servant of Krishna must 
 love His service above all he loves and holds 
 dear. The devotee who wants to be the Friend 
 and Companion of Krishna must have his all- 
 forgetting Love of Krishna pervaded by an 
 uninterrupted sense of equality with Him. He 
 may serve Him as a slave, but it is the service 
 of a friend who is more than a slave to his 
 friend. The devotee who wants to love Krish- 
 na as a Father or Mother must have unwaver- 
 ing sincerity of such paternal love and affec- 
 tion. He or she must always consider him- 
 self or herself superior to Krishna whom they 
 must regard as a helpless child in their charge. 
 This true parental feeling is pervaded by the 
 unconscious spirit of spontaneous service and 
 friendship, for no friendship and service can 
 be compared with those of parents. The same 
 rules apply to the cultivation of the filial feel- 
 ing of devotion to Krishna. The fourth, the 
 feeling of a loving wife to her lord sums up 
 the essence of all the foregoing three feel- 
 ings. It is the highest and tenderest feeling 
 
 279
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 of devotion. The true wife is the servant, 
 friend, mother and lover of her husband. She 
 is his slave, equal and superior by virtue 
 of her all-surrendering love. Every form of 
 pure love is self-surrender. The love that 
 knows no surrender or sacrifice is a mockery. 
 It mocks itself more than its object, for sacri- 
 fice is its chief test and best expression. Love 
 that only loves, if loved, is pure selfishness, it 
 is self-deception. But the love that loves for 
 its own sake and is the fullest satisfaction in 
 itself, the love that loves whoever or what- 
 ever its object loves is the Love Absolute that 
 Krishna is. The human soul that develops it, 
 binds Krishna thereby and holds Him its 
 prisoner for good. When that Love develops 
 the tenderness of a loving wife, it captivates 
 the Heart of hearts, and entrances the Soul of 
 souls, Krishna. 
 
 These Vaishnav forms of devotion reached 
 their highest degree of development and re- 
 ceived their greatest impetus on the appear- 
 ance of Sree Chaitanya, the Fullest Incarna- 
 tion of Krishna, who was born in Nuddea, on 
 the Ganges, Bengal, a little over four hundred 
 
 280
 
 BHAKT1 YOGA. 
 
 years ago and flourished for nearly half a 
 century. He was Krishna Himself incarnated 
 in the form of His Greatest Devotee. Krishna 
 is the Mystery and Chaitanya is its Explana- 
 tion. Whenever Krishna comes to earth as 
 the Mystery of Love in the Junction Period 
 of Dwapar and Kali, He comes again in the 
 form of Chaitanya as the Explanation of that 
 Mystery, five thousand years after, to show 
 to mankind the Way to Himself for examples. 
 Chaitanya's love, devotion and spirit- 
 uality will ever remain unparalleled. He 
 preached Krishna, the Seed and Soul 
 of Love Absolute, and while preaching he 
 would burst forth into song in praise of Krish- 
 na. Thus singing he would be filled with 
 ecstasy and, in its fullness, he would be moved 
 into the most graceful dance the world has 
 ever seen, now shouting the Name of his Lord 
 and anon weeping for his Lord's grace, his 
 arms and whole body waving and qivering 
 with the heaving billows of his heart's love- 
 ocean, streams of which, like water from 
 many fountains, would flow from his eyes in 
 the shape of tears. And in those tears, stream- 
 
 281
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ing straight from his eyes to the ground, all 
 those, who catching his spirit caught also his 
 ecstatic motion, would be literally bathed. And 
 all India was "flooded," as the authoritative 
 records of his apostles tell us, with Chaitanya's 
 Divine Love, and millions of sinners that felt 
 it, were borne away by its tide. 
 
 Sree Chaitanya preached and proved the 
 potency of Krishna's Name that His Name 
 is the Lord Himself. If anybody says "Krish- 
 na, Krishna" mentally or loudly and con- 
 centrates his mind on it, he is bound to ab- 
 sorb its Love-Nectar, be drunk with its ecstasv, 
 see Krishna in Form and in everything, and 
 finally go to Goloka after passing out of this 
 life. Hari is the popular Name of Krishna. 
 It means, He Who steals our sins. Chaitanya 
 would shout "Hari, Hari!" or "Haribole!" 
 (say, Hari) and vibrations of that Name would 
 thrill through all hearers and change them 
 into pious devotees. Millions upon millions 
 were thus saved by him, millions of sinners 
 turned into saints. The world has never seen 
 such an Avatar, the Incarnation of All-Love 
 Krishna. He lived the most blameless life 
 
 282
 
 BHAKT1 YOGA. 
 
 from childhood to his disappearance at the 
 age of forty-eight. 
 
 Like master, like servants. His Apostles 
 were of such spiritual purity and sublimity 
 that it would be hard to find one like them 
 even in India of the past. Any of them 
 was competent to save a whole world. 
 They have left thousands of Books on Krishna 
 and Chaitanya's Life and Teachings which 
 are of the utmost value to the students and 
 adherents of all religions of all climes, ages 
 and denominations. Love is the theme of 
 every book, and it is difficult to resist its es- 
 sence pouring into you as you read them. 
 
 If my life is spared by the Lord, and if my 
 Krishna wills it, I may present the Life- 
 Story and Teachings of Sree Chaitanya and 
 his apostles to the Western reader in a short 
 time. In that book a detailed exposition of 
 the Vaishnav religion will be given, an ex- 
 position which may interest Christians. The 
 present book is but the preliminary part of 
 the Chaitanya book I intend to write, for 
 Chaitanya cannot be understood without first 
 understanding Krishna and His Leela on 
 
 283
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 earth. Chaitanya may be called the Indian 
 Christ, but a Christ the like of whom has 
 never appeared on earth. Chaitanya did not 
 even leave his Body behind when he left this 
 earth. He entered one morning into the 
 Temple of Juggernath and disappeared no- 
 body knows how or where. 
 
 2S4
 
 SECTION XXIII. 
 
 VAISHNAV, CHRISTIAN OF CHRISTIANS. 
 
 THE Krishna-Worshipper is either a house- 
 holder or a hermit. He is either a devotee 
 who cultivates the love for Krishna amid 
 the duties and distractions of the world or 
 a devotee who leaves the temptations and tur- 
 moil of the world and sojourns in some sylvan 
 retreat in the holy forest of Brindaban, the 
 earthly abode of Krishna, or in the outskirts 
 of a town or village within a humble mon- 
 astry composed of a couple of huts with a 
 little flower garden fenced around. But the 
 most advanced Krishna hermit tarries nowhere 
 longer than a few days, but ever roams about 
 in the land sanctified by the touch of the Lotus 
 Feet of his Lord. 
 
 The formula of worship and religious rules 
 of life practised by both the hermit and House- 
 holder are practically the same. It consists 
 of mental and physical practices, more mental 
 than physical. The moment the householder 
 
 285 .
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 awakes from his sleep in the morning he utters 
 the name of Krishna thus : 
 "O Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, 
 Krishna, Krishna, Krishna ! 
 
 Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krish- 
 na, Krishna, Krishna! 
 
 Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, 
 
 Krishna, nourish me! 
 Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, 
 
 Krishna, protect me! 
 
 1 salute Thee, O Krishna, give Thou me Thy 
 Love !" 
 
 Then before he leaves his bed and puts his 
 foot upon the earth, he prays and salutes 
 Mother Earth thus: 
 
 "O thou ocean-girdled, mountain-breasted 
 goddess! I salute thee, O thou Consort of 
 Vishnoo! Forgive me, thy suckling. O 
 Mother, this my touching thee with my feet !" 
 
 Then, after answering the calls of Nature, 
 and after rubbing his hands and feet with 
 pure earth and washing them for many times, 
 he takes a full bath either in the Ganges or in 
 any river if it is near by. If not, he bathes 
 in a pond or at a well or at home with two or 
 
 286
 
 CHRISTIAN OF CHRISTIANS. 
 
 three large jarfuls of water. While bathing, 
 he utters many a hymn and prayer to Krishna. 
 After the bath, he wears a piece of dry cotton 
 cloth which has been washed in clean water, 
 or a piece of pure silk cloth. He then goes 
 to a flower garden and culls some scented 
 white flowers for Krishna, whom he then sits 
 to worship in his sacred room. He mentally 
 repeats for one hundred and eight times the 
 Mantram he has received from his Gooroo, 
 counting it on his fingers. Then he takes a 
 few tiny leaves of the sacred Tulsi plant, 
 smears them in sandal-wood paste and, clos- 
 ing his eyes, mentally offers them with the 
 sacred white flowers to the Lotus Feet of his 
 Deity upon whom his mind is concentrated. 
 This concentration is helped from outside by 
 the spiritual vibrations of his sacred room and 
 the inspiring effect of the perfume of the in- 
 cense, the sandal-paste and the flowers. He 
 then chants long prayers and hymns in Sans- 
 crit to Krishna and His Love-Energy, Radha, 
 and to all the saints and great devotees of 
 Krishna of the past, begging, them for their 
 blessings of Krishna's Grace. He then sings 
 
 287
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 songs of the Lord's Love, and tears of ecstasy 
 roll down his cheeks as he sings in the aban- 
 don of his devotion to the accompaniment of 
 a pair of small cymbals he keeps striking to 
 keep time. 
 
 The Mantram is composed of three, four or 
 five Sanscrit words beginning with what is 
 called the Seed Word with the Name of 
 Krishna and a dedicatory word attached to it. 
 The Seed Word is the Seed of Krishna-Love. 
 It awakens in the heart spiritual passion. This 
 Seed Word, if mentally repeated with intense 
 concentration, bursts open the shell of the 
 Sound-Form of Krishna His Name which 
 contains the Nectar of Absolute Love. The 
 word "Sanscrit" means pure, refined. The 
 Sanscrit language is the language of the pure, 
 undefiled voice of Nature. Hence it is called 
 the "language of the gods" who are repre- 
 sentatives of Nature's attributes. These at- 
 tributes are blendings of forces. Each force 
 has a name (sound), a form and a quality. 
 A man in intense pain expresses it in such 
 sounds as "Oh-h!" "Ah-h!" This "Oh-h" 
 or "Ah-h" may be called the sound (voice) 
 288
 
 CHRISTIAN OF CHRISTIANS. 
 
 of pain, the contortions of the face the ex- 
 pression of its form and the feeling it pro- 
 duces is its quality. The quality is the sub- 
 stance of the force called pain and its sound 
 and sign (form) are its expressions. If there 
 were a miscroscope powerful enough to reveal 
 to our view the figures which sound-vibra- 
 tions create on ether, we would then find that 
 the above-mentioned sound-expressions of 
 pain create forms in ether much like the com- 
 bined letters "Oh-h" and "Ah-h." This 
 means that it is from the impressions of sound 
 vibrations on Ether that characters of all lan- 
 guages have been formed ; the pictures reflect- 
 ing themselves on the inventor's mind through 
 the medium of its subtle force called inspir- 
 ation. 
 
 The characters (Sanscrit, "charitra") of the 
 Sanscrit language, the parent language of all 
 languages, are born with creation. They are 
 entities in Nature, form-expressions of her 
 forces. They are eternal and indestructible 
 "akshara," as characters are called. The 
 vowels are masculine forces, the consonants 
 are feminine forces. The masculine charac- 
 
 289
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ters (vowels) are independent, the feminine 
 characters (consonants) are dependent. The 
 vowels can be pronounced by themselves, the 
 consonants can only be pronounced when 
 united with the vowels. The vowels are the 
 expressions of the Essence of the Deity 
 (Krishna), the consonants are the expressions 
 of the Will-Force of the Deity ("Prakriti," 
 that which procreates), Nature. Nature is 
 born of Sound, the attribute of Ether, (Akas) 
 which was the first manifestation of creation. 
 That first sound was "AUM" mispelled and 
 mispronounced in English as "Om." The vowel 
 A,, (pronounced "Au" in Sanscrit), the initial 
 letter of "AUM" is the parent of all letters 
 and languages. This "AUM" in sound repre- 
 sents the distant vibrations of Krishna's Flute, 
 the Music of Love, while its character-form in 
 Sanscrit resembles the Form of Krishna play- 
 ing on His Flute as the reader will see from 
 the little outline picture of Krishna with its 
 back-ground of "AUM" in Sanscrit character 
 printed on the title-page of this book. This 
 is the mystery of what Krishna Himself says 
 in the Gita, "I am the Word AUM." 
 
 290
 
 CHRISTIAN OF CHRISTIANS. 
 
 The different combinations of the other 
 Sanscrit characters (forms of natural forces), 
 called words, represent, similarly, pictures of 
 sound-forms of different attributes and ob- 
 jects. Sanscrit words, in fact, are sound- 
 shells which hold within them essences of the 
 attributes they represent and the objects they 
 signify. The letters K, R, I, SH, N, A joined 
 together form the word Krishna, which is the 
 sound-shell of the Essence of Love, Nature's 
 Absolute Attribute, produced by the fusion 
 of the forces of which the composing char- 
 acters are sound-forms. When frequently re- 
 peated together with the Love-Passion Seed 
 word, its vibrations, after purifying the at- 
 mosphere of the mind, illumine in time its 
 inner chamber, the heart, which is the door of 
 the soul, and fills it with the ecstasy of Bliss. 
 
 The Tulsi plant is the most spiritual plant 
 in the world, hence its leaf is the best medium 
 for conveying prayers, especially when it is 
 smeared with sandal-wood paste, the perfume 
 of which is much like the aroma of the Lord's 
 Body. 
 
 But this morning worship is not all that the 
 291
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 householder Vaishnav performs to attain to 
 the love of Krishna. He eats or drinks noth- 
 ing without first offering- it through some 
 mystic formula to Krishna, and his food is 
 pure vegetables, his drink is pure water. In 
 the evening, he joins other Vaishnavs to talk 
 of Krishna, hear of the sacred earthly acts of 
 Krishna, sing of Krishna, and, when the spirit 
 of song moves him, he dances with others in 
 ecstasy. Besides these practices he repeats 
 many thousand times the name of Krishna 
 over his Tulsi rosary. In fact, he never 
 misses any means or opportunity to keep alive 
 an unbroken Krishna-consciousness, the result 
 of which is that he enjoys the joy of Goloka 
 here on earth in this earthly body. He is re- 
 warded with the foretaste of what he seeks 
 to enjoy after he lays down his physical body. 
 This is enjoyed by the hermit Vaishnav, 
 who generally lives in Brindaban, in a higher 
 degree. He is unhampered by all the disturb- 
 ances and difficulties of the householder, and 
 so he devotes every moment he breathes to 
 the service of his Krishna. He has renounced 
 the world and with it all its thoughts. From 
 
 292
 
 CHRISTIAN OF CHRISTIANS. 
 
 the earliest morning up to very late at night 
 he prays, chants, talks, hears, reads, sings and 
 dances by turns. He eats but once and that 
 very little, a few wee bits of unleavened 
 bread begged from pious homes. His only 
 world's goods are the scanty clothes on his 
 body, his earthen water bowl and his volume of 
 scriptures. He has made peace with the 
 whole world by his humility. He has nothing 
 but blessings for all, sincere blessings even in 
 return for curses, and prostrates at full length 
 prone to the ground before everyone. He 
 follows the saying of the Lord Chaitanya that 
 a Vaishnav should be lowlier than a blade of 
 grass ; more forbearing and charitable than 
 a tree, which spreads its shade and offers its 
 fruits even to one who cuts down its branches ; 
 should never seek respect for himself but pay 
 respect even to those who are respected by 
 none ; that a Vaishnav should' at all times sing 
 of Krishna. Thousands upon thousands of 
 such Vaishnavs, both male and female, can 
 be found to-day in the Holy Land of Brinda- 
 ban and the Holy City of Nuddea, the birth- 
 place of Chaitanya, whose Christ-spirit and 
 
 293
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ecstatic life are unparalleled in the religious 
 history of any other country, ancient or mod- 
 ern. They represent demonstrated living 
 proofs of the power of the Lord's Name upon 
 the human mind. 
 
 294
 
 SECTION XXIV. 
 
 KRISHNA LEELA. 
 
 THIS Krishna, the Lord of Absolute Love, the 
 Seed and Soul of the Universe, comes down 
 to this earth to serve and inspire men with 
 His Love once in every Manwantara, once in 
 every 71 Divine Cycles, that is, once in every 
 300,000,000 of our lunar years or more. Every 
 Universe, of His countless Universes, likewise 
 has its turn of being blessed by His visit as 
 an Incarnation, once in a long period. This 
 Universe of ours is the smallest of these Uni- 
 verses and its turn of Krishna's Incarnation 
 comes off during the Junction Period of the 
 Copper and Iron Ages of the 28th Divine 
 Cycle of every Manwantara. This being the 
 Iron Age of the 28th Divine Cycle of this 
 Manwantara the Lord blessed this earth with 
 His Personal Presence 5,000 years ago, His 
 birth taking place within the appointed Junc- 
 tion Period. 
 
 Avatars that come to earth to save man-
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 kind and protect the good from the bad, the 
 Srimdd Bhdgavat says, are innumerable ; they 
 are either partial manifestations or aspects of 
 Vishnoo, "but Krishna is Lord God (Bha- 
 gavan) Himself," the Supreme Deity of whom 
 Vishnoo Himself is the Fourth Manifestation. 
 Nobody knows exactly when Krishna will 
 come, for even Brahma, the operating creator, 
 knows it not. Brahma only sees him for a 
 second once in a long while, flashing through 
 his meditation like a lightning flash. When 
 Krishna came this last time on earth with His 
 Second Manifestation, Sankarsana (who was 
 born as His Elder Brother, Balaram), the time 
 was ripe for an incarnation of Vishnoo. But 
 as the moon and stars are covered by the efful- 
 gence of the Sun, the Avatar of Vishnoo could 
 not appear separately, so he was merged in 
 Krish'na the part was swallowed by the 
 whole. 
 
 The story of the earthly career of Krishna, 
 given in the Second Part of this book, is the 
 story of the All-Love Krishna of Braja. This 
 All-Love Krishna was the Krishna of Brinda- 
 ban, also called Braja, the land where He 
 
 296
 
 KRISHNA LEELA. 
 
 played and roamed, where He went through 
 His earthly career up to the age of eleven 
 when He left Brindaban for Mathura. The 
 Krishna of Brindaban is the Fullest Mani- 
 festation of Krishna, the Fullest Expression of 
 His All-Love-Self. Hence the Krishna of 
 Brindaban is called the Fullest Incarnation, 
 which means All Krishna, the Krishna of All- 
 Love. The Krishna of Mathura is called 
 Fuller Krishna, which means three-quarters 
 Krishna and one-quarter Vishnoo. And the 
 Krishna of Dwaraka, half Krishna and half 
 Vishnoo, is called Full Incarnation of Krishna. 
 
 Krishna being All Love, He knows nothing 
 but Love, gives and accepts nothing but Love, 
 acts nothing but Love, breathes nothing but 
 Love, speaks nothing but Love. 
 
 The Asuras that He killed were not killed 
 by Him, but by the Incarnation of Vishnoo 
 which was within Him, and His part in those 
 actions was to send the souls of those Asuras 
 to His Absolute Love Realm, a reward re- 
 served for His highest lovers and devotees, 
 a kindness for enemies which Krishna alone 
 can feel and show. Krishna has no power 
 297
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 even to hurt a fly, for He is nothing but Love 
 Itself, and does not know anything else but 
 Love. This much can be said about Krishna's 
 participation in these what seemed to be acts 
 of killing, that the powers of Vishnoo within 
 Him that committed them, found His Body 
 the most perfect medium for their operations. 
 One word of explanation is necessary here 
 as to who the Asuras were and how they could 
 assume such shapes. These mentions of 
 Asuras and demons in the Hindoo books preju- 
 dice the unknowing and unthinking Western 
 minds against the veracity of Hindoo histo- 
 rians and incline them to think that ancient 
 Hindoo history are mixed with myths and 
 fables. A little calm and intelligent thinking 
 ought to correct the mistakes of such hasty 
 judgment. Modern science, too, is daily pav- 
 ing the way to belief in things which even a 
 quarter of a century ago were thought absurd 
 and impossible. Science is proving the fact 
 of the unlimited potentialities of the human 
 mind. Mind-force is at present the subject of 
 all the most advanced Western scientists and 
 philosophers. When these will succeed in dis- 
 298
 
 KRISHNA LEELA. 
 
 covering the laws and truths of the mental 
 plane, as they are now doing of the material 
 plane, no facts of Hindoo history or of the 
 histories of ancient times will strike modern 
 man as mythical or absurd. 
 
 The Asuras were the psychics of the ancient 
 times. They cultivated their mind-force in 
 order to use it for personal aggrandizement. 
 They were Yogis, but their Yoga was divorced 
 from pure spirituality, because their object was 
 not spiritual. All they wanted was power by 
 which to overpower others and keep them 
 under subjection for their own earthly benefit. 
 Some of them were exceptions to the rule; 
 they cultivated their Sattwic powers to some 
 extent along with the development of Rajasic 
 powers. These became great heroes in battles 
 and some of them made very good kings. 
 Others developed merely Rajasic and Tamasic 
 powers of the mind and became tyrants and 
 oppressors of all good people. Wherever 
 and whenever the earth groaned under the 
 burden of their sins, partial incarnations of 
 Yishnoo came down to earth to destroy them 
 and bring peace and goodwill among mankind 
 
 299
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 once more. But those Asuras who had only 
 their Tamasic (dark) mind-force developed, 
 were the lowest of them all. Their minds 
 were all dark and their deeds were all black. 
 f Their natural inclination was to do mischief 
 to people for the sake of the mischief itself. 
 These were called demons. These demons can 
 be found reborn among us all, in the most 
 advanced centres of civilization, but they are 
 now shorn of their former psychic force. The 
 mind's natural inclination, however, is still in 
 them. They take to external means to satisfy 
 this inclination of killing or hurting or doing 
 mischief for the sake of the act itself. For- 
 merly their dark mental powers were their most 
 potent weapons. Through those psychic 
 powers they could transform themselves into 
 any shape they concentrated upon, and if they 
 failed to assume the form of a saint or a god, 
 it was because they could not grasp the idea 
 of the personality of such pure souls with 
 their impure minds. To assume the form of 
 a beast was the easiest thing for them, because 
 they were nothing but human beasts in their 
 nature. They could also assume elemental 
 
 300
 
 KRISHNA LEELA. 
 
 forms too, such as a whirlwind, etc., as in 
 Krishna Leela. The modern Asuras cannot 
 do any such thing because their mind-forces 
 are scattered and distracted. The chief cause 
 why people generally cannot be a high yogi or 
 a black-psychic demon is the density of Raja 
 and Tama that at present pervades Nature, of 
 which all beings are parts and products, which 
 disturbs concentration. 
 
 The holding of the hill on the point of the 
 little finger of the left hand, as Krishna did, 
 was not a very great deed for Krishna to per- 
 form. This act can be performed by some 
 of the Lords of Yoga. The Yogi, when he 
 becomes an adept, inherits the partial attain- 
 ment of the eight great powers (siddhis), 
 which are in their fully normal states in Vish- 
 noo and in lesser degree in those who remain 
 merged in the Essence of Vishnoo and are 
 sent therefrom to earth to serve mankind as 
 Avatars. These powers are (i) Anima, the 
 power of becoming as small as an atom; (2) 
 Mahima, the power of becoming increased in 
 size; (3) Laghima, the power of becoming as 
 light as desired; (4) Prapti, to possess the 
 
 301
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 power of the gods who are the presiding deities 
 of the senses ; (5) Prakamya, the power of en- 
 joying and sensing all objects seen or unseen; 
 (6) Ishita, or power over the forces of the 
 Divine Will and over the lower forces of other 
 beings; (7) Vasita, non-attachment to objects 
 and (8) Kamavasayita, the power of attain- 
 ing all desires. 
 
 Besides these the high Yogi may attain to 
 ten other powers of the Cardinal Attributes, 
 
 (1) Cessation of hunger and thirst; (2) Hear- 
 ing from a distance; (3) Seeing from a dis- 
 tance; (4) Moving the body with the speed 
 of the mind; (5) Assuming any form at will; 
 (6) Entering into any other body; (7) Dying 
 at will; (8) Playing with celestial damsels; 
 (9) Attaining wished-f or objects; (10) Power 
 of irresistible command. 
 
 Five other minor powers are (i) Know- 
 ledge of the present, the past and the future ; 
 
 (2) Control over the Opposites, such as heat 
 and cold, joy and sorrow, etc. ; (3) Knowledge 
 of another's mind ; (4) Suspending the action 
 of fire, sun, water, poison, etc. ; (5) Invincibil- 
 ity. 
 
 302
 
 KRISHNA LEELA. 
 
 These powers serve the Lord in His Leelas 
 as humble slaves, whether he is conscious of 
 them or not. Leela means action of God In- 
 carnate. The Rash Dance with the Gopis is 
 the greatest Leela of Krishna. It was the 
 manifestation of the greatest might of His 
 Love, the might possessed by the Supreme 
 Being alone, by the Lord of the Lords of 
 Yoga, by the Supreme Source of Yoga itself. 
 Gopi means a milkmaid. But the milkmaids 
 of Braja were extraordinarily spiritual beings 
 born as milkmaids to serve the Lord in His 
 Earthy Leela. The chief of the Gopis is 
 Radha, the Consort of Krishna in Glory and 
 on earth. "Radha" means Adoration or Love- 
 Devotion. Radha is the embodied manifesta- 
 tion of Krishna's Love-Principle, the Energy 
 of His Soul, the Principle in Krishna which 
 sets His Love into motion. Radha is inside 
 of Krishna as this Principle of Love-Energy 
 and she is outside of Krishna as the embodi- 
 ment of that Principle. Radha is the First 
 Active Principle of Naure, the Active Love- 
 Principle which unconsciously gives birth to 
 creation and pervades it as the purest spirit- 
 
 303
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ual energy. Like Krishna she is above and 
 out of the reach of the creative Cardinal At- 
 tributes. Krishna is the Soul. Radha is the 
 Heart-Soul and her eight chief companions 
 are the Eight chief Devotional Aspects, and 
 the other Gopis the inclinations and minor 
 attributes of Her Ensouled Mind. Radha and 
 her chief companions are Krishna's constant 
 companions in Goloka. They came with Him 
 from Glory and were born as Gopis in Brinda- 
 ban. Other Gopis who were in the Rash 
 Dance were incarnations of Vedic Hymns and 
 Truths which, as I have ere now explained 
 in the cases of Nature's attributes and forces, 
 are entities in Nature, the form-centres of 
 Nature's purest sentiments and conceptions. 
 Other Gopis were incarnations of goddesses, 
 the presiding deities of Nature's spiritual 
 forces and attributes, while others were in- 
 carnations of some of the highest illuminated 
 male Saints (Rishis) who had prayed for agt 
 and ages in every birth to serve the Lord per- 
 sonally with the tender devotion of a loving 
 woman. The love of these Gopis for Krishna 
 was absolutely selfless. They loved Him for 
 
 304
 
 KRISHNA LEELA. 
 
 the sake of the spontaneous, causeless love they 
 felt for Him and which His Personality in- 
 spired in them, for Krishna was that Causeless 
 Love Itself. The Rash Dance represented the 
 vibrations of the Soul-absorbed Mind, vibra- 
 tions which filled the universe with the nectar 
 of Bliss and destroyed its Karma of a whole 
 Kalpa, the Karma which formed its Prarabhda 
 for the time. 
 
 Krishna danced separately with each Gopi. 
 Each Gopi had her own Krishna beside her. 
 One Krishna became as many as there were 
 Gopis and yet it was the Self-Same Krishna. 
 The One Soul played like So Many Souls 
 with so many hearts and yet the hearts saw 
 but that One Soul. Each Gopi saw only her 
 own Krishna and was unconscious of any other, 
 as she danced, absorbed in that Krishna, round 
 and round, arms round necks, eyes into eyes, 
 all-forgetting-, the world forgot, round and 
 round in the whirl of ecstasy, afloat on the 
 waves of Love that is Bliss round and round 
 with that One Krishna, the All-in-All of the 
 heart and existence round and round, the 
 lover and the loved, the little soul twining 
 
 305
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 round the Great Soul, the Great Soul pouring 
 Its Nectar into the little soul. 
 
 Ignorant writers and prudish religionists of 
 the West have dared to call this Gopi-Leela 
 of Krishna shocking to all religious sense, in 
 the face of the fact that two hundred and odd 
 millions of Hindoos of the present day and 
 myriads of millions of Hindoos of the past 
 Hindoos whose giant intellect and all-towering 
 height of spirituality the world of to-day are 
 beginning to wonder at call this Leela the 
 most transcendental of all Divine deeds that 
 have ever been performed on the face of the 
 globe. According to these little critics of the 
 greatest Avatar of the Supreme Deity, that 
 Supreme Deity cannot possess any other senti- 
 ments of love than those of a Father and a 
 Saviour, that God ought not to feel or show 
 the love of a husband for his wife or of a 
 lover for his lady-love. If this be a fact, will 
 they answer the question as to whence has 
 man got these sentiments, if not from his 
 Maker of whom he is but an imperfect image ? 
 Whence has he got them if not from the Source 
 of Creation itself, of which he is such a, tiny 
 
 306
 
 KRISHNA LEELA. 
 
 part and product? This denial to God of the 
 possession of a lover's sentiment implies an 
 impertinence which God alone, out of His in- 
 finite affection for His creatures, can pardon. 
 It only betrays the dense ignorance of these 
 critics in regard to the origin and laws of 
 creation and of the relations of creation with 
 its Creator. 
 
 Nature (Creation) is the materialized Will- 
 Force of God. The Will-Force of God is a 
 reflection of God Himself the objectified 
 phases of the semblance of manifoldness of the 
 Absolute One. God is the husband, and the 
 Energy of His Will, Nature, is His wife. God 
 is the Lover and Nature is His loving Lady- 
 love. By His All-pervading Essence, the only 
 Support and Sustenance of Nature, He clasps 
 His Lady-love to His bosom and dances with 
 her to the intricate steps of the music of her 
 Laws. This is His Rash Dance in the aggre- 
 gate, the Rash Dance that is being performed 
 every moment within Nature though hidden 
 from our outlooking physical vision. What is 
 true of the great Universe is true also of its 
 miniature, man. Within our heart of heart 
 307
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 is the forest of Brindaban in which the micro- 
 scopic blue river of love, Jumna, flows, lap- 
 ping with thrills of joy the bank of the bow- 
 ery lawn where Krishna our Soul with His 
 Gopis our ensouled mental aspirations is 
 performing His ever-favorite, never-ending 
 Rash Dance. And we are unconscious of it all, 
 because our mind's outer ken is employed out- 
 side of us with outer objects. If we can with- 
 draw the mind's vision from outwards and 
 direct it into the depth of our heart then will 
 belief come in the Rash Dance of Krishna with 
 its practical realization. We are then of Braja 
 and each of us, of the enlightened inner eye, 
 a dancing Gopi male or female whatever we 
 may be externallv. it matters not. We are all 
 Gopis, human male or human female, we are 
 all spiritually feminine, for Krishna alone is 
 the One Male and we all, particles of. Nature, 
 are all female. We are all the lady-loves, the 
 brides and wives of our One Husband, Lover 
 and Beloved Krishna. In the working out 
 of the ever-beneficial laws of Inner Nature 
 the laws that throb for the weal of mankind 
 this innermost performance of Nature's 
 308
 
 KRISHNA LEELA. 
 
 constant Rash Dance with her Lord is re- 
 flected for a time upon her outer surface to fill 
 outer Nature and mankind with the ecstasy 
 of its supremest spirituality, the blessings of 
 Absolute Love. 
 
 The twelve chief boy-companions of Krish- 
 na in Brindaban came with Him from Glory 
 where they are His constant companions, 
 while the other cow-boys were the incarnations 
 of the gods and highly spiritual saints. The 
 Kadamba-tree, under which Krishna usually 
 played His flute, is a representation in physical 
 form of the Tree of Life and the flute's dear 
 strains the music of the soul. As Krishna and 
 His Companions are constant, so are His Lee- 
 las (acts) constant. They can be seen now by 
 any devotee possessed of the requisite vision. 
 
 With these words I humbly introduce the 
 reader to the Nectar-Career of Krishna on 
 earth embodied in the following pages. Let 
 every reader read it with an open mind and the 
 Nectar is sure to flow into his soul through 
 that mind. 
 
 309
 
 SREE KRISHNA 
 THE LORD OF LOVE 
 
 PART II.
 
 SREE KRISHNA 
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE 
 
 BABA PREMANAND BHARATI 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE KRISHNA SAMAJ 
 
 NEW YORK
 
 Copyright 1 904 
 BV 
 
 BABA PREMANAND BHARAT1 
 
 S. L. PARSONS fc CO., PRINTERS, NEW YORK
 
 KRISHNA.
 
 To 
 
 THE LOTUS FEET 
 
 OF 
 KRISHNA MY BELOVED 
 
 THIS GARLAND 
 WOVEN WITH FLOWERS 
 
 OF 
 HIS OWN GIFT 
 
 Is OFFERED 
 
 FOR THE APPRECIATION OF 
 THE SOULFUL 
 OF His CREATION
 
 PROEM. 
 
 I BOW to the Glorious One the unerring 
 Mariner who has guided my frail life's bark 
 across the billowy world-ocean wrapt in 
 "Goo" the darkness of ignorance with 
 the ever-illuminating-. "Roo" the search-light 
 of wisdom to the Land of the Lotus Feet 
 of Krishna. I bow to Sree Brahmananda 
 Bharati my Gooroo. 
 
 And now, hush ! list ! I sing of Krishna. I 
 will sing of Krishna, the Lord of Love, the 
 Seed and Soul of the Universe, the Ultimate 
 Principle in the composition of Creation, of 
 all souls' real Home Sweet, Sweet Home! 
 I will sing of your only Lover, and your only 
 Beloved. 
 
 I wish to sing a song whose sweetness will 
 thrill through your body, which will make 
 your soul float in ecstasy. I will sing a song 
 whose burden will enter your heart as a dew- 
 drop enters the bosom of a flower, but will 
 3
 
 PROEM. 
 
 soon, if you are attentive, spread itself into 
 a boundless ocean on which your heart will 
 be tossed over its gentle waves, like a boat 
 bound for and sure of the land of Eternal 
 Bliss. I as earnestly ask your blessing that 
 I may be filled with such power to sing such 
 a song, as I ask the blessing of my Krishna 
 to sing of Him to you. 
 
 I will sing a song of love such as you have 
 never heard, such as poets dream not of, 
 which lovers know not of, which the human 
 soul is ever in quest of, which, in your best 
 moments, vibrates undefined through your 
 soul, but ever eludes your understanding. 1 
 will sing of that Love which ever plays before 
 your heart's vision as the will-o'-the-wisp 
 through countless incarnations a Love which 
 alone will make you happy for evermore. 
 
 I will sing a song to you of a Love which 
 you are striving every moment of your life 
 to realize through success and failure in this 
 life's games, the Love whose worthless coun- 
 terfeits dazzle and deceive you at every step 
 at every step removing you farther and far- 
 ther from the original they so poorly resemble. 
 
 4
 
 PROEM. 
 
 I will sing to you of the Love Absolute, the 
 Love that is unbroken, the Love that is fed and 
 "TOWS by use, the Love that blesses the lover 
 with greater abundance for giving it away to 
 others. 
 
 I will sing to you of a Love which is your 
 birthright, which is the very foundation of 
 your existence, which alone is the substance of 
 all existences, and, wonder of wonders, a Love 
 which is your real food and Home. 
 
 Aye, it is of your Home that I will sing 
 the unknown pole to which the magnet of your 
 soul eternally trembles. Home is ever sweet 
 Home, Sweet Home ! But this your sweet 
 earthly home is only the home of your earthly 
 self, the brick-and-mortar closet of your 
 fleshly coats, of which you have possessed a 
 countless number. But all those coats have 
 been mere coverings of your inner Self, which 
 is a truant from its own Home, but of which 
 it has lost all memory, having lived so long 
 in others' homes. I will sing to you of a 
 song whose burden will remind you of this 
 lost and forgotten Home, the Home that you 
 are seeking in vain, consciously or uncon- 
 
 5
 
 PROEM. 
 
 sciously, the Home whose never-failing happi- 
 ness you are trying to substitute in your 
 borrowed home by ever-failing pleasures, 
 pleasures which only pain you by their hollow- 
 ness. How can you live upon a hollow happi- 
 ness, you who have known and tasted solid, 
 eternal happiness in your real Home? the 
 Home where light fades not, life grieves not, 
 and happiness ever is ! I will sing to you of 
 the Home where your Master, Friend, Father, 
 and Lover is ever anxious to get you back 
 and take you to His bosom. 
 
 I will sing to you of Krishna your Home 
 the Seed and Soul of your soul, as well as 
 of the universe of which you are a miniature. 
 
 And now, my beloved friend, prepare your- 
 self to listen to this song which comes to you 
 from across the oceans from a land where 
 the altar of the Lord of Love is ever burning, 
 fed by the libations of devotion and the in- 
 cense of ecstasy, since the dawn of creation, 
 from that cradle of religion and civilization, 
 from that spiritual metropolis of the spiritual 
 world-empire, where the fountain of Divine 
 Love, Life and Wisdom is still playing, to 
 6
 
 PROEM. 
 
 water the earth with the blessings of the soul 
 the Land of Bharat, which you moderns 
 call India. Listen and be blessed! 
 
 This is a song not set to any tune you 
 know, to any music you have heard, and yet 
 it is a song which is set in the true tune of 
 your heart, to the natural music of your soul. 
 It is the Song Ecstatic of your Heart-Soul 
 which will make the core of your being throb 
 in beatitude and melt the crusts of materiality 
 in you into the Love Unspeakable! Listen 
 and be blessed!
 
 SREE KRISHNA 
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 WEARY and overburdened with its load of 
 sorrow and weakness, the great heart of 
 Mother Earth lifted her voice unto the heights 
 of the skies, complaining. 
 
 Her patience and faithfulness were qualities 
 of wondrous worth to Brahma, the Creator,* 
 and so, drawing aside the curtain from his 
 abode, he looked into her soft and wearied 
 eyes, saying: 
 
 "O Mother Earth ! Long hath the pain of 
 ingratitude and faithlessness pierced thy ten- 
 der heart, and with courage and loving mercy 
 
 *Brahma is the Creator of the details of the Uni- 
 verse. The Supreme Creator is the Supreme Deity, 
 Krishna. Fie creates by His Will. The inequi- 
 librium of the three Cardinal Attributes (Sattwa, 
 Raja, Tama, or Illumination, Activity and Obscura- 
 tion) embodies the Creative Will of Krishna, a? 
 explained in the foregoing part of this book. This 
 inequilibrium starts the current and force of Cre- 
 ation. Vasudeva, as the manifestation and centre of 
 
 9
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 hast thou borne its stings. But now a balm is 
 to come unto thee and soothe thy wounded 
 love and readjust those things of which thou 
 dost complain. 
 
 "Yet a little while, O thou Goddess of 
 Plenty, and One shall play upon thy breast, 
 which will make the veins of thy body to 
 
 the first flush of Creation, springing from Krishna as 
 a result of this loss of poise, is the Second Creator 
 in whom the seed of Creation (unpoise of Attri- 
 butes) dwells as an Unknown Feeling of differentia- 
 tion. Sankarsana, who springs from Vasudeva, is 
 the Third Creator, but acts only as the Unconscious 
 Cause of Creation. Pradyumna, who springs from 
 Sankarsana, carrying the Abstract Idea of Creation, 
 is the Fourth Creator, the Semi-Conscious Cause of 
 Creation. Aniruddha, born of Pradyumna as the 
 Full-Conscious Cause, is the Fifth Creator. This 
 Aniruddha is called Narayan and Vishnoo. From 
 Him springs Brahma, the first sprout of Creation. 
 He is the Sixth and the Operating Creator, called in 
 the Hindoo Books the "Father of Creation," the 
 "Grandfather of all God's creatures." Brahma's 
 Abode is the Brahma Loka, otherwise called the 
 Satya Loka or the Seventh Heaven, the Seventh 
 from the Earth Sphere (First Heaven). 
 
 Just over the Brahma Loka is the Vaikuntha 
 Loka, the Abode of Vishnoo, the Abode of Salva- 
 tion (Mukti), where souls freed from the last bond- 
 age of matter and its influence go for Rest and Re- 
 ward. This Abode of Vishnoo is unapproachable 
 even by the gods and the illumined souls who dwell 
 on earth or in the Four Upper Heavens. Brahma 
 alone by mediation can communicate with Vishnoo 
 on any subject bearing on the _ welfare _of Creation 
 and receive a response from Him who is the Outer 
 Form of Krishna. 
 
 10
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 thrill with warm love, so that thy heart will 
 be beautiful beyond what it yet has been. 
 
 "Thy mountains shall laugh in great happi- 
 ness on seeing the beauty of Him who shall 
 cast His lotus eyes upon their rugged sides. 
 
 "Thy rivers shall flow in rhapsodies when 
 His Sweet Body shall sanctify their waves 
 by its contact. 
 
 "Thy harvests shall come forth in great 
 plentifulness. 
 
 "Thy cows shall give forth milk that shall 
 be nourishing and healing unto all whom it 
 will feed. 
 
 "Thy trees shall cast forth shadows that 
 all who come under their cooling shade, sick 
 unto death, shall bound forth with the glad- 
 ness of life and love in their bodies, and, O 
 patient Earth, all who tread upon thee shall 
 call thee blessed because the One All Beauti- 
 ful shall have made thee blessed by His Holy 
 Feet treading upon thee." 
 
 Thus spake Brahma unto Mother Earth, 
 who lowly laid again her dark head, and 
 entering the Abode of Vishnoo, he said unto 
 Him: 
 
 11
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 "O Thou Mighty One! Well dost Thou 
 know the grievance of her, the Patient One, 
 who is dear unto us. Do Thou in Thy glory 
 and majesty succor her, O Lord ! 
 
 "Let the Only One, the Lord of Love, the 
 Sovereign of all the Universe, the Author of 
 all that lives, again be born upon her surface, 
 and so bring to her wilted breast the nectar of 
 Love, that all who draw from her may again 
 partake freshly of the love that is the life of 
 all animate and inanimate. 
 
 "This Thou do, O Wondrous and Most 
 Beautiful One, and quicken again with love 
 her heart and the hearts that beat against her 
 breast, so that the eyes of those who have 
 eyes, yet see not, may see. 
 
 "Do Thoti incarnate with Thyself those 
 who have ever walked with Thee, and who 
 may, even before the eyes of all, perform and 
 live miracles of love. For, O Most High, full 
 of stolid unbelief and fettered with the world 
 have Thy children become, so that even she 
 who erstwhile ever patient was has complain- 
 ingly called unto me for help." 
 
 12
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 He, the Maker of all that is, forthwith 
 spake : 
 
 "So shall it be. Unto her who has held 
 upon her lap all those who are mine and who 
 hath come out of Me and who is also of Me, 
 I shall be born. 
 
 "And great shall be the rejoicing of her 
 and my children who walk upon her surface. 
 
 "From the heart of man the weight of stone 
 shall be lifted and his eye shall be quickened 
 with love, and I with my followers shall bring 
 to them the ways and means that love doth 
 know, and the whole known world shall again 
 learn that I am Life and Love, that I the 
 Creator of all things am, even unto the ant 
 and the huge elephant who by one blow of 
 his mighty trunk uprooteth the tree. 
 
 "They shall also know Me as Child, Son, 
 Warrior, King, and Priest, and in their midst 
 I shall walk even with those who with Me 
 shall be born again, and seeing Me and know- 
 ing Me, I shall draw all unto Me, and close 
 with Me they shall again taste the sweetness 
 of my love. 
 
 13
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 "With Me shall come those who have ever 
 known Me through many incarnations, those 
 who cover themselves with the qualities most 
 like unto Me and whom my Earth-children 
 have learned to look upon as gods, praying 
 to them because of these attributes which 
 they themselves wished to be blessed withal. 
 
 "Tell those who know the fulness of my 
 Bliss, those who have bathed in the nectar of 
 my Love, those who have dwelt in the ecstasy 
 of my loveliness, and those who in their 
 devotion have known nothing outside of Me, 
 those who have ever seen Me in all things, 
 and have feasted their minds only upon My 
 Beauty tell them that I with them shall 
 be born of woman and shall dwell for the 
 span of man's life among men." 
 
 And when the Gods, those whom He had 
 designated, heard the Will of Him, great was 
 the rejoicing in that Abode, for no Will knew 
 they, save the Sweet Will of the Most Lovely 
 One, whose Lotus Feet they worshipped in 
 ecstasy. 
 
 14
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IN the seat of Hari, the sacred city of 
 Mathura on the Jumna, Vasudeva in love and 
 humbleness took unto himself Devaki as bride, 
 who by all was known as the most holy and 
 virtuous maiden of that land. 
 
 Dear unto the heart of her brother, the 
 Prince of Mathura, she was, and beloved 
 among his people and among all women be- 
 cause of the purity of her heart and the sweet- 
 ness of her face. To show to all the world 
 his love for her, the prince himself, in proud 
 fondness, drove the marriage-car of his little 
 sister princess and the new brother-in-law, 
 who, by right of great wisdom, a Pundit of 
 high standing among the learned was. 
 
 Gentle was the new bridegroom, even as he 
 was wise. Fond glances of love he cast upon 
 the radiant face of the young princess, and 
 from all sides the blessings fell from the lips 
 of the populace on the sweet bride, the learned 
 
 1-7
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 bridegroom, and the gallant prince who held 
 the reins because of his love for them both. 
 
 Put lo! in the span of a moment all was 
 changed, for a voice there was which seemed 
 to come out of space : "O thou fool ! Why, 
 even she for whom in pride and love thou 
 dost hold the reins to her marriage-car, even 
 she shall bear the child in her womb who 
 shall sweep thy life from off the earth. Her 
 son, the eighth, shall be the cause of thy 
 death." 
 
 The reins dropped from the hands of the 
 prince, and, springing to his feet, he caught 
 the young bride by the hair as if to slay her, 
 but was arrested by Vasudeva, who cried, 
 "O prince ! Noble wast thou ever, and ill would 
 it be for thee to slay thy sister on the eve of 
 her marriage. It is not for thee to take life, 
 O King, thou who canst not give it. Death 
 must come, but let it not be by thy hand, 
 O prince, nor yet before her time. Take not 
 the life of her who is thy sister and thereby 
 stain the heritage of virtue such as has been 
 ascribed unto thee. 
 
 W
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 "Listen to the words of wisdom that have 
 come to us from the sages, without whom 
 all life a desert would be. Well thou knowest 
 that a man's actions do follow him from 
 body to body even as in walking he leaveth 
 the imprint of each step behind the other, 
 yet with each step doth he carry the dust on 
 his feet from the ground whereon he did walk. 
 
 "Man hath many existences, each one por- 
 traying a character which is the outcome of 
 his past self. As the present is the fulfilment 
 of the threatening past, so man is the unfold- 
 ment and fulfilment of his previous existences. 
 
 "So seek not to blacken thy soul by the 
 slaying of one of thine own blood, but seek 
 rather to add new glory to thy light by pre- 
 serving her who, all guiltless, thou dost seek 
 to slay. Heap not thou upon thyself a dark 
 and evil Karma to confront thee and blight 
 thee in thy other lives. 
 
 "It is but the chill breath of suspicion and 
 the dread tremor of fear that surges heavy 
 and dark through thy mind. Be warned by 
 me, O prince ; desist from thy unjust act and 
 speedily thy heart shall glow again, warmed 
 17
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 by the embers of hope. A man too fearful 
 of threatening danger, in torment of that dan- 
 ger ever dwelleth. Even calamity may be 
 turned aside by the smile of distrust, and 
 fatality may forget thee quite while passing 
 thy door. 
 
 "But when the soil of thy heart has been 
 made fertile for fear, be sure its seed therein 
 will thrive, finding sustenance for sprouting 
 and its fruit it will bear. 
 
 "Stand valiant, O prince, and be not like 
 the timorous woman who runneth away from 
 the shadow of danger but to flee into the arms 
 of the foe. Thy Karma that counteth up the 
 reckonings cannot be cheated. So be not, 
 O prince, of timid heart ; and each son that 
 cometh from the womb of thy sister, Devaki, 
 shall be given to thee/' 
 
 Listening to the wise counsels of Vasudeva, 
 the prince gave over his mad desire to. slay his 
 sister with his own hand, and the newly 
 wedded ones proceeded to the home of Vasu- 
 deva. 
 
 18
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TRUE to his promise, Vasudeva brought unto 
 the prince his first-born, a son. 
 
 The prince, on seeing that Vasudeva was 
 true to his compact to deliver his son as it was 
 born, gave it back, saying: "It is not this 
 son that I fear, but he who will be born thine 
 eighth one it is ordained shall slay me. So 
 take back thy first-born, Vasudeva. Of him 
 there is naught to fear." 
 
 Vasudeva took the little one, and putting it 
 in the glad arms of the young mother, said: 
 "O princess! It is with joy and yet with 
 great foreboding that I return to thee the 
 babe, for there is that in my heart which tells 
 me that the prince, thy brother, spoke not 
 the truth when thy boy he gave back unto 
 me, for fear lodged in his eye and anger 
 vibrated in his voice even as he said, 'From 
 thy first-born no harm will come unto me.' 
 19
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 Yet clasp him to thy heart, young mother, and 
 bathe him in thy glad tears of love while he 
 resteth on thy breast." 
 
 But even while the tender young mother 
 crooned her love-songs to her soft nestling, 
 the cruel edict went forth that the babe was 
 to be taken from her, as also each new-born 
 man-child that came into the land, for, as a 
 blighting flash from the clouds that strikes 
 the healthy young sapling at the root, there had 
 come to Kangsa's fear-burdened mind the 
 knowledge that in his former birth he had 
 been dethroned and slain by one of his own 
 kin, who was said to have come from on high 
 even to still the power of the wicked and exalt 
 the lowly and virtuous. 
 
 This in all its weight had come into his 
 heart, and louder than the bolts of thunder 
 the voice he had heard on Devaki's wedding- 
 day seemed to throb in his brain, as he saw 
 Vasudeva depart with his first-born son. And 
 great were the lamentations of the mothers 
 who gave birth unto sons in that land. Many 
 departed from the kingdom where Kangsa, 
 the destroyer of the young, did rule. 
 20
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 But when the wailing" of the new-born child 
 was no longer heard in all that kingdom, the 
 prince in his madness deposed his father, 
 Ugrasen, and became himself the King- and 
 thrust Devaki, his sister, and Vasudeva into 
 the dungeon of his palace, where the six sons 
 that were born to them were dashed to death 
 on the flagged floor in the hour of their com- 
 ing by Kangsa himself. 
 
 And now again there was quickening in the 
 womb of Devaki, and the joy of natural 
 motherhood was overshadowed by the terror 
 of the fate of the new life that was to be a 
 babe. But groundless was the fear of the 
 agonized mother, for his coming was even 
 before his time ; for the earth sent a mist 
 thick as the garment of death to shroud the 
 palace of the King, and a deep sleep on the 
 gaolers fell on the hour that the child of 
 premature birth felt the breath of earth, and 
 drowned were its first weak wails by the sound 
 of the winds that shrieked without. 
 
 And the child that came to the v/orld too 
 soon, even before his time was completed, 
 was despatched in great haste to one who 
 21
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 suckled him and called him her own. The 
 child that by the near hand of love was saved 
 from the hand of frenzied murder was the 
 child that would walk with the Lord of Love 
 and play with the Soul of the Universe. 
 
 And when the mists were gone, the King 
 marvelled that no child had come, while the 
 mother marvelled at the goodness of Him who 
 was the Author of Life. 
 
 22
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Now the time was ready for Hari (Krishna) 
 to come to be born and dwell upon earth. 
 
 His sweet will it was to be as a man and 
 show man the beauty of Love. It was then 
 that Devaki again conceived and a mother 
 unto the eighth child would be. 
 
 But lo ! fear now to her was unknown and 
 glory shone around her like the sun rilling 
 the darkened dungeon with light, for the 
 Lord of all Light in her mind did come, 
 and Him as a child to the world she would 
 bring. She, who the mother many times of 
 sorrow was, now the mother of joy had 
 become. 
 
 O blessed art thou, wife Devaki, that the 
 sweet will of the Lord of all Love and All 
 Life was centred on thee when he willed as a 
 child among men to come ! And thou, poor 
 mother, whose heart was made to bleed for 
 
 23
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 the bearing of sons, henceforth an ocean of 
 love shalt become, for throbs not under thy 
 heart the pulse of Him who, love-touched, 
 love-filled, and love-made, pervades all lives 
 and all that ever will live ? 
 
 And in that hour barren women, as a gra- 
 cious boon of the Lord's coming into Devaki's 
 womb, conceived to their own over joyful 
 surprise. 
 
 And when Kangsa beheld the glory of her 
 who was his sister, he knew that Hari, He 
 who would quench his life, was within her. 
 
 But when he sought to strike her low, the 
 glow of the light that came from her over- 
 awed him quite and the steel refused to reach 
 her flesh ; and many gaolers were sent unto 
 her by the king to slay, but when they looked 
 upon her glory, lo ! their hearts were quick- 
 ened with love, and holy they became, and, 
 dropping their weapons, fled from her side 
 and in meditation and prayer sought the light 
 that showed them their darkness. 
 
 And the seers and sages and gods and pun- 
 dits and angels that see, with illumined eyes of 
 the spirit, the things that were and are and 
 24
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 the things that still will come, beheld the 
 light that glorified the mother even though 
 distance and mortar hid her from fleshly view, 
 for the eyes that are quickened by spirit cog- 
 nize not the sight of the senses. 
 
 And, prostrating low, salutations they gave 
 to the Lord of the Universe that became child 
 in the mother : 
 
 "O Thou, the Eye of the Universe that sees 
 all, the all-hearing Ear, the Heart that draweth 
 unto itself all that sprang* from Thee! 
 
 "Thou, the Seed and Soul that hath in its 
 centre the roots of all space and all that space 
 containeth ! 
 
 "Thou, the Source of all Love, the Exist- 
 ence of all Life, the Dispenser of all Light, the 
 Mystery of all Wisdom, who, self-created, 
 chose not to dwell alone, but willed creation 
 to be and from whose breath all living crea- 
 tures sprang! 
 
 "O Thou, who suffered darkness to be, that 
 beauty of light may be known! Thou, who 
 by Thy own sweet will dost thrust Thy own 
 children forth a little but to draw them unto
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 Thy heart again to heighten Thy pleasure and 
 theirs ! 
 
 "We, Thy blinded children, illumined, were 
 made to see the light of Thy coming to earth. 
 Thou, the Mystery and yet the Revelation of 
 all things art! 
 
 "Thou, that which hideth from man all 
 things that he accounteth not to Thy sweet 
 will and revealeth all unto him who sifteth 
 each act to Thy source ! 
 
 "Thou, who attunest the ear to the sound 
 of all harmony and keepest Thy Worlds and 
 All Lift in motion ! 
 
 "Thou, who art the Immensity of All 
 Things! We know that even as a man Thou 
 art come in our midst. 
 
 "O Thou the Source of all Energy that is, 
 Thou the Vibrations of all joy that thrilleth 
 through all Life! 
 
 "Thou Maker of all, who by Thy coming 
 dost lift us even unto Thyself, again who by 
 Thy coming will show the vileness of Self 
 which unlike Thee is, and how sin doth darken 
 where virtue is ! 
 
 "Thy power, O King of all Kingdoms, is 
 
 26
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 boundless. Oh ! why are we blessed with the 
 truth of Thy coming, we the blinded whom 
 Thou hast chosen to honor?" 
 
 Thus spoke the 'sages, the pundits and seers, 
 the gods and Brahma, the Creator Himself, 
 whom the Lord of Love had blessed with the 
 power to know of His coming. 
 
 27
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AND the child was come, the child that was 
 God, the God that became child, and time 
 itself stood still in its passing to mark the 
 wonder of that coming! 
 
 The clouds ceased their onward sailing and 
 crowded in piles of white and blue and gray 
 softness, to marvel at the child's first smile. 
 
 The heavens rained down blossoms of white 
 and red and golden and blue lotuses. 
 
 The mountains gave forth a great cry of 
 joy, as they in gladness met. 
 
 The rivers heaved their billowy crests and 
 chanted hymns of praise to Him, who was 
 to make holy again their waters. 
 
 The earth throbbed and thrilled as the 
 streams of holy Love shot through all her 
 body, swelling 'her breast with new life and 
 feeding all that was living and moving within 
 the recesses of her bowels, and clothing with 
 38
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 great beauty that which lived upon her 
 bosom. 
 
 The roots of growing 1 , things grasped with 
 a firmer hold her sides, and her loved crea- 
 tures, those that walked and those that crept 
 upon her surface, nestled once more, as of 
 yore, when all the world was holy, against her 
 freshened and strengthened body with new 
 affection and faithfulness, and her great heart 
 uttered a mighty thanksgiving to Him who 
 had heard her appeal and svfccored her. 
 
 The seeds that were in her mouth burst into 
 rooting, the roots into sprouting, and the 
 budding trees, that graced her brow, linto glad 
 blossoms. 
 
 And the trees that were in blossom bore ripe 
 fruit in the hour of His coming. 
 
 And all those that hungered were fed. 
 
 The cows, big with young, dropped their 
 calves, and their bags were full unto bursting 
 for all that came to take sustenance there- 
 from. 
 
 The motherless cubs of wild things fear- 
 lessly suckled from her udder, and the cow 
 29
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 lapped the soft, furred sides of the young 
 stranger with her long, rough tongue. 
 
 And all the wild things that hungered were 
 fed in that hour. 
 
 The eagle left its nest on the mountain's 
 rugged side, and sat on the tree with quivering 
 wing beside the dove, that cooed its inward 
 shout of love. 
 
 The snake forgot to charm the timid song- 
 ster that thrilled its joy close by, but, lifting 
 up its hooded head, it madly danced between 
 the sunshine and the shadow that the exultant 
 branches of swaying trees did cast. 
 
 The huge elephant sportive became, and 
 played with the deer and doe that rubbed 
 against its haunches. 
 
 The fierce lion, the leopard, and all the un- 
 tamed creatures of the forests, with yearning 
 call of love, turned their faces towards the 
 place, all light, where Love, as a little child 
 was cradled in the arms of man. 
 
 And in the hour of His coming many rain- 
 bows of wondrous color and beauty did span 
 the skies. And the sun liquid as molten love 
 became. 
 
 30
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 And in that hour man and beast, and bird 
 and flower, and all that lives upon the earth 
 and underneath its surface and in the deep 
 waters, did look into the abode of Love. 
 
 And on the face of earth the smile of Love 
 did rest, and sin vanished from the heart of 
 man, even as hunger disappeareth where plen- 
 tiful food is dished to the hungered. 
 
 The eye of the murderer looked for dark- 
 ened places wherein to hide himself, but, find- 
 ing naught but light, did throw his blade into 
 the purified waters of the holy river and knelt 
 at the feet of the holy ones, who in ecstasy 
 were wrapt. 
 
 The gray and shrunken face of avarice 
 lifted itself toward the skies, and lo! glorified 
 the countenance became! 
 
 The face of bloated folly, the weakness of 
 vanity, the vileness of ingratitude, the stub- 
 bornness of unbelief in that hour were un? 
 known to man. 
 
 A joy, unfelt before, on all the earth did 
 reign, a joy that even yet doth thrill through 
 hearts of life, for the child that was God, and 
 
 31
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 the God that was child, had come on earth to 
 live with man. 
 
 32
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AND the child that was the Lord spoke to 
 the mother in the hour of His coming as the 
 Sovereign of all Sovereignty would speak: 
 
 "Say unto him, Vasudeva, thy husband, to 
 transport me to where the wife of the King 
 Nanda doth lie, who but now giveth birth to 
 a daughter. 
 
 "Pass through the gates; the chains shall 
 be loosened, the keepers asleep at their posts. 
 
 "The warring waters of the Jumna a path 
 shall make for him to pass with Me in his 
 arms. The gates of the palace on the banks of 
 the river wide open shall stand, and the 
 mother asleep in her chamber shall be. 
 
 "Put Me on her breast, and bear away the 
 daughter that to her is born. And when the 
 prince shall ask Vasudeva for the eighth child 
 that is born unto thee, do thou deliver the 
 daughter of Yasoda unto him." 
 
 33
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 Thus spake the Lord, and a helpless child 
 lie became. 
 
 Vasudeva in wonder passed through the 
 gates ; the keepers all slept a sleep as of death. 
 The waters parted to make a way for him 
 who carried the Lord to pass. 
 
 Unseen, unheard, he entered the courtyard 
 and palace and passed the sounding halls and 
 corridors, until the room of the sleeping queen 
 he spied, and taking the Lord from under his 
 cloak, on the breast of the sleeping queen he 
 laid it, and took in his place the wide-eyed 
 daughter, that cooed and smiled in his bearded 
 face. 
 
 And sleep still held the queen and the city 
 and the gaolers embraced, till he stood at the 
 side of Devaki once more, who wept at the 
 sight of the smiling babe, who soon at the 
 hand of her brother must perish. 
 
 At break of day, the prince entered the 
 dungeon to seek the life of the eighth child of 
 his sister. 
 
 As he lifted the child on high to dash its 
 head on the flagged floor, lo ! the child slipped 
 from his hand and rose, the while speaking: 
 
 34
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 "Karma, that counteth all reckonings up, 
 cannot be cheated by thee, O prince ! 'Tis 
 written that thou must be slain by the eighth 
 son of thy sister, and so it shall be. 
 
 "That child I am not, O prince! But I 
 came on earth for this hour, to show thee thy 
 folly. Dost thou think, O fool, that by human 
 force, by the slaying of innocence, by the 
 destroying of hope and joy in the heart of 
 the mother, thou canst change the Will of Him 
 who is the Maker of all laws ? 
 
 "Thinkest thou, O man, thou canst cross 
 swords with Him that knoweth the effect of 
 each thought that man thinketh, even before 
 the thinking is done? 
 
 "He whom thou seekest thou shalt not 
 find!" 
 
 She ceased, and a light never seen on earth 
 or in heaven enveloped the child as she van- 
 ished from view. 
 
 And the prince rushed forth in his frenzy 
 and madness and sought not again to bring 
 harm to his sister, but unfettered the chains 
 were of husband and wife, and in freedom 
 forth they went. 
 
 35
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AND the child that was God as Krishna was 
 known. 
 
 And men drew love from the Name, for 
 the Name the potency of Love contained, even 
 as the seed the tree doth hold, or the bud the 
 fruit of the tree enfolds. 
 
 And all who spoke the Name of Krishna 
 felt the heart beat quick and high, and all who 
 looked upon His face felt at once that Love 
 was nigh. 
 
 And it came about that all the people who 
 lived in the kingdom where the Child Krishna 
 was reared as the son of the King of Braja, 
 thronged daily to get but a glimpse of the 
 Child, who, though helpless like other babes 
 did seem, yet held the power to draw all men 
 unto Him, even by the light of love that 
 made Him All Beauty. 
 
 As He sat on the arms of the queen, His 
 foster-mother, bedecked with the ornaments
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 and finery which the king delighted to bedeck 
 Him withal, lo, the light that radiated from 
 His flesh did put the glowing jewels to shame, 
 for love is the essence of Beauty and Light, 
 and the Child was the embodiment of Love 
 itself ! 
 
 So the light that flashed from the jewels 
 was but as the light of glow-worms that dis- 
 appeareth when the radiance of the moon is 
 about them. 
 
 In despair the king sent messages to all the 
 then known world to procure such jewels as 
 might enhance the loveliness of his Child, 
 but ever when on His body they rested, dull 
 they seemed on the glow of His flesh. 
 
 But oft the Child would reach His baby 
 hands for the flowers that the populace brought 
 in great profusion to lay at the feet of the 
 Child that was Love, and as He held them 
 close to His baby mouth, behold, their petals 
 quivered and throbbed with love-life, and 
 deeper the color dyed their softness and 
 brighter the gold of their hearts did flame, 
 nt the touch of the hand and the breath of the 
 Child that knew naught but Love.
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 And in the days when Love as a Child did 
 dwell on earth, a great force of spirituality 
 through all the land went forth, and the 
 heart of all the world went up in praise for 
 the mercies linked with ecstasy that enriched 
 the cup of all Life. 
 
 Gleams of kindness, and deeds of generosity, 
 and miracles of patience, and justice, and love, 
 unheard of before, now naturally burst from 
 the heart of man, as water bursts forth from 
 a spring 'neath the rock. 
 
 And the fields, that before were dried and 
 burned by the sun's rays even as stubble, 
 gave forth rich harvests. 
 
 And the rivers and seas that were lost to 
 man's eyes, again in beauty before them 
 rested. 
 
 And the Child that was the stalk and stem 
 of Love in beauty did grow, shedding His 
 gracious smile on all the world. 
 
 And Kangsa, the King, now heard of the 
 marvellous Child whose smile brought a 
 smile on all the world. 
 
 38
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THEN Kangsa, the brother of Devaki, besought 
 the demoness Ptitana, mother of evil, to give 
 each child in arms the milk of her breast, 
 that should fill them with death at the sucking. 
 
 And forth she did go, and prayed to be taken 
 into the palace of the king, to behold the 
 young Child whose face gave blessing to all 
 who on it looked. 
 
 On her coming, the Child stretched forth 
 its arms to be taken to her breast, but when 
 her breast between His lips He took, she bent 
 her face to look at the Babe, and fear made 
 her pale and faint, for in the beauty of His eye 
 the wisdom of all the world she beheld. 
 
 And releasing the Master she held at her 
 breast, she pleaded and prayed that' He cease 
 His sucking, but harder He drew and firmer 
 His grip was, till exhausted and lifeless she 
 fell on the ground, while with a smile the Babe 
 
 39
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 
 
 played with the breast and crept on the body 
 that lay in death. 
 
 And when they came from far and wide to 
 look at her who brought destruction and 
 death to children, they beheld her swelled and 
 stretched to immensity. 
 
 For smiling evil seemeth not big, but rob 
 it of the smile that hideth its leer, and huge 
 and misshapen it doth become. 
 
 So with Putana it was. Forth she went to 
 mother and suckle the young children and 
 thus bring death to the Child of Love. Clothed 
 in sweet motherhood and kindness of purpose, 
 all hearts were opened to welcome her freely, 
 yet evil she brought wherever she walked. 
 
 But He who was All Love at once sighted 
 her hatred for love, by that which in her all 
 unlike Himself was, and straightway in her 
 poverty of Love and nakedness of heart she 
 stood revealed in His eyes. 
 
 And all saw her thus hideous and unsightly, 
 and marvelled at the blindness of their eyes. 
 
 But mark now the kindness and power of 
 Love. 
 
 By the touch_pf His lips upon her breast, 
 
 40
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 she, who never knew love, by contact with 
 Him became sanctified. And the effort Putana 
 put forth to bring death to Krishna, under 
 cover of Love, did make her for the moment 
 a mother in truth. And for that moment of 
 concentrated love in Him the honor of Divine 
 Motherhood on her was bestowed in that realm 
 where hate is unknown. And all the world 
 marvelled, when dead she lay, at the aroma 
 that rose from her huge body. 
 
 But the Child only smiled as He played on 
 her breast. 
 
 Verily the aroma of great sweetness reached 
 to all the skies. For Love is ever the master 
 of hate, and Love in its strength doth conquer 
 all hate, and hate is purified by the breath of 
 Love, and sanctified it is by its hand.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A YEAR has passed since the coming of 
 Krishna, a year of peace and plenty to all. 
 
 And the earth was relieved of pressure, and 
 the minds of men were illumined by the light 
 that shone in their midst. 
 
 And the hearts that were cramped and nar- 
 row with pain grew big into bursting with 
 the love that flowed from the Child that was 
 God. 
 
 And Nanda prepared a great feast for the 
 naming of Him and the Brother, Devaki's sev- 
 enth child who, at birth premature, had been 
 despatched to the land where Krishna now 
 was. And the feast was attended by many 
 guests, who rejoiced on beholding the won- 
 drous Child who on that day a year had 
 brought joy by His coming. 
 
 And the priest was called and the seer, and 
 he who read the stars and read the Vedas 
 alike. And when the stars he contemplated, 
 
 18
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 he saw the wonder of His birth, and, pros- 
 trating at the feet of Him, spoke to them who 
 gathered to hear: "The oppressed He shall 
 succor, the enslaved He shall free, and those 
 that in danger are He will protect, and bring 
 all blessings to the land where now He doth 
 live. What and Who He is you know not, 
 but, crowned with living stars of Love and 
 adorned with the rainbow of promise' on His 
 breast, this Child shall bring glory and Bliss 
 wherever He breathes. Oh, blessed was the 
 day I looked in His eyes and touched my hand 
 to His Holy Feet, for in Him the virtues and 
 powers and might of Love do dwell that never 
 before men with* eyes have seen." 
 
 But the little Child smiled, then stretched 
 forth Its arms and puckered Its lips for the 
 mother's sweet milk. 
 
 The mother in pride placed It at the side 
 of the cart that held brass vessels and articles 
 of food, and turned to receive the congratu- 
 lations of her guests, when lo! the Child with 
 Its baby foot upturned the cart, and the cart 
 and the vessels in pieces lay on the ground! 
 And more and more they marvelled at the 
 
 43
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 Child, whose baby strength upturned the cart. 
 
 Nor was this the only miracle of His baby- 
 hood. For one day the mother sat with the 
 Child in her lap, when lo and behold, so 
 heavy He became that she felt as if the world 
 were resting on her knees ! 
 
 The strength of her knees gave way and 
 the Child sank to the ground, when a whirl- 
 wind came, in the shape of a dust-storm, and 
 raised the Child to heights unseemable, but 
 soon again lightly on His feet He descended 
 at the side of His mother. 
 
 Wildly she clasped Him in her arms and 
 kissed Him again, but He opened His baby 
 mouth to her eyes, and lo, the universe she 
 saw within! 
 
 And in that moment unto her it was revealed 
 that He, whom she called her son, was God 
 the Seed and Soul of the Universe ; the One 
 who all things knew, yet who was unknow- 
 able to all. 
 
 She also knew that the shadow He cast by 
 His great, universal Will was Maya, and the 
 offsprings or attributes of that Maya as de- 
 mons were known. 
 
 44
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 And she knew that a demon it was, urged 
 on by Kangsa, that came in the shape of a 
 whirlwind to carry her Child away. And 
 that He who was all Love was mightier by 
 far than the offspring of shadow could be. 
 
 And thus the power of darkness again by 
 Love was overthrown ! All this she saw in 
 the space of a moment, and salutations she 
 made to her Lord. 
 
 But the Child only smiled and the mother 
 again saw but her Child. For how could the 
 woman, who suckled the babe, dwell long on 
 her Child and know Him as her Lord?
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THUS the childhood of Krishna was full of 
 what were considered wonderful miracles by 
 His family and the populace, but which, to 
 the Lord of the Universe, were but divinely 
 natural. The strength of the baby hands was 
 colossal. The" beauty' of the baby face was 
 entrancing/ 
 
 His flesr "gaVe forth a lustre~and radiance 
 that rilled a darkened room with glory. The 
 wisdom that peered from His wondrous eyes 
 was full of loving mystery, and the touch of 
 His breath brought to the heart a love that 
 was ecstasy. 
 
 O Babe, that came to a desert of life, to 
 make it a garden of lilies and roses ! O Babe, 
 that brought to a weakened heart the Love 
 that conquered the world by its might ! 
 
 O Babe, that came with a light on Thy 
 brow that filled the eye like the glow of the 
 sun, and brought on Thy breath the promise 
 
 46
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 of Bliss which came to all those who breathed 
 where Thou dwelt! 
 
 All these Thou wert, yet a helpless babe in 
 the arms of those who reared Thee Thou 
 lay! 
 
 And naughty Thou wert and full of mis- 
 chief, too, stealing the golden butter, that stood 
 in shining rows, the pride of the dairymaids, 
 the Gopis, and feeding the same to the saucy 
 monkeys, that crowded around Thee, to help 
 Thee in Thy pranks ! 
 
 Oh, wonder of Love and Might, Incom- 
 prehensible One ! Thou Omnipotence, who 
 the all-pervading energy of all art, and yet, 
 with eyes aslant, didst play the child to suit 
 Thine only sweet fancy, and in the midst of 
 men didst come to teach men Love and save 
 the world that was steeped in sin ! Thou who 
 wert Lord of the Lords of Yoga, this Thy 
 Yoga-power did startle the world when in it 
 Thou wert as a child ! 
 
 On one occasion the Child became impatient 
 and fretful, because the mother failed to 
 suckle Him at His cry, and running amidst the 
 pots and churns where she had been working 
 
 47
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 the butter, He cast them down to the earth, 
 breaking them into pieces and dividing the 
 sweet butter with the pets that followed the 
 Child wherever He went. 
 
 The mother, on being told of His mischief, 
 sought to punish Him by tying Him with a 
 cord to the husking-stand that stood near by. 
 
 The cord lacked two inches in its reach to 
 the bench; more cord she sought, and fasten- 
 ing it end to end, found still the two inches 
 missing. 
 
 Cord after cord she added thereto, but she 
 could not make the two ends reach. 
 
 Amazed and startled she gazed at the Child, 
 her hair dishevelled, her face flushed with 
 excitement, a great fear looking from her eye, 
 for what was this miracle, that prevented her 
 from spanning the reach of two inches ? 
 
 The Child, on seeing the troubled face of 
 His mother, allowed himself to be fastened. 
 
 And thus in disgrace he stood for a time, 
 till two trees in the distance attracted His 
 eye, and walking away in the reach of the 
 cords and drawing the husking-stand behind 
 Him, He stood between two huge arjuna 
 
 -18
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 trees and, casting the cord about the trees, 
 He tore them up by the roots. 
 
 Down they came with a crash to the ground, 
 carrying with them all that was in their way. 
 And lo ! from the trees two fiery spirits ap- 
 peared, and saluting the Child, they prayed 
 and disappeared in a cloud of light. 
 
 For list! in the days of yore, when the 
 Saint Narada walked the earth, he passed the 
 stream where maid and youth made merry in 
 the waves. 
 
 At the passing by of the Saint, the youths 
 failed to salute him, but instead in bold arro- 
 gance laughed and called unto him, and rev- 
 erence had they none. 
 
 In the heart of the Saint a prayer arose, 
 that the youths who knew not respect towards 
 the saints that walked on earth to make men 
 holy, should be reborn as trees, yet as trees 
 to remember their past offence and dwell on 
 the folly thereof. But the Saint also prayed 
 that when He who was God came on earth, 
 He would remember the trees and sanctify 
 and free them by His Love-touch. 
 
 So when the Babe's eye spied the trees, He 
 
 49
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 uprooted them both, to make good that prayer. 
 And by His touch the souls of the youths into 
 high heavens did rise, while He, the Child, 
 the great Deliverer of all souls that are born, 
 looked on and smiled, and the populace won- 
 dered at the fall of the trees, and marvelled 
 how the Child had been saved from death as 
 they crashed down beside him. 
 
 Blinded ones, who know not Love in its 
 mightiness and nearness! 
 
 Again, one day, little Krishna, romping 
 with the playfulness of His earth years, heard 
 the weak voice of a woman begging to sell her 
 wares of fruits. Lean were her hands and 
 shrunken her features, and her clothes were 
 poor and thin because of the length of time 
 they had been worn. Faint and quivering 
 the voice reached the ear of Krishna. 
 
 With the glance of Love that warmed her 
 heart, He bounded to her side, asking for 
 fruits and giving her paddy instead, when lo! 
 at the touch of His hand the face of the woman 
 beamed with the light of beauty, her voice as 
 with joy rang out, and her basket was heavy 
 
 50
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 and filled with gems that blazed and glittered 
 in the noonday sun. 
 
 And laughing, the Child ran to his play- 
 mates and pets and divided the fruits with 
 them all. 
 
 51
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Now came a time when the oldest and wisest 
 of the populace of the kingdom where Krishna 
 was reared bethought it best to take the won- 
 derful Child from the place where men mar- 
 velled at the wonder of Him and came from 
 far to look on His face. 
 
 And anxiety filled the hearts of the people, 
 who loved Him best, for His safety, as calam- 
 ity upon calamity came nigh Him; and 
 though no harm as yet did betide Him, yet was 
 it only a miracle that saved Him from the 
 child-killer, Putana. 
 
 And again only the hand of Vishnoo had 
 rescued Him from the fierce whirling dust- 
 storm, and the turning of the cart at his side, 
 and, last, the two trees that crashed at His 
 feet, yet touched not a hair of His beautiful 
 head. 
 
 52
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 Yes, best by far it was to take away the 
 Child. So reasoned the elders, and Nanda 
 approved, and forth they went with attendants 
 and friends and all who lived in Gokula. 
 
 And a caravan they formed, the cowherds 
 driving the cows and calves before them, and 
 carts bearing- the women and children, and 
 the men beating the drums to the voices of the 
 women that broke forth in glad hopefulness. 
 
 And bright was the sky that spanned their 
 heads, and rich the forests through which 
 they passed, and life-giving the sun was, and 
 refreshing the winds were that greeted them 
 on the way to Brindaban. 
 
 And in the early days of their sojourn in 
 these rich forests' depths, tents they erected 
 which soon were overspread with creepers 
 that abounded in that place, and birds came 
 near and nested in the tendrils, and the wild 
 hare and shy deer nearer and nearer their new 
 friends came, till, all tamed they would feed 
 from the hands of the Gopis and played with 
 the children; and thus in peace and serenity 
 they lived in Brindaban. 
 
 Brindaban, the Land of Love and Holiness, 
 
 53
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 the land where Krishna laughed and played, 
 the land that the centre became of all spirit- 
 uality, because of His sojourn there. 
 
 An ordinary boy, he walked with the boys, 
 as tender of cows and calves. 
 
 And in a little while the city of Brindaban 
 thrived, and a city of plenty it was to all who 
 therein lived. 
 
 But as time went on, even here the dread 
 calamities seemed to follow the boy Krishna. 
 For an Asura, sent by Kangsa, assumed the 
 form of a calf, and strayed among the calves, 
 hoping thus to elude the eye of the Child and 
 perhaps take Him unawares. 
 
 But hardly had he mixed with the herds 
 when Krishna pointed him out and strode to 
 where the calf was grazing. With easy grace 
 He lifted him by the hind legs and twirled him 
 high in the air, till lifeless the Asura was. 
 
 Then, 'midst the shouts of the cowherd boys 
 and companions, He lifted His face to the 
 skies, which opened wide to His smiling, eye. 
 
 54
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 IN the morn of summer, early, even before the 
 sun yet bathed the world with its golden 
 warmth, the companions of Krishna, aroused 
 from their slumber by the lowing of the cows, 
 would gather about the house of Nanda and 
 wait for Krishna to come from His bed and 
 go with them to the forest to tend the cows 
 and while away the sweet hours of long sum- 
 mer days with sporting and tales and long 
 rambles together. 
 
 And oft, as they waited about the gates of 
 the palace, Yasoda would speak to the waiting 
 boys: 
 
 "Ye children! my Krishna has not yet 
 opened His eyes to the light of the day; His 
 sleep is sound, nor will 1 4 wake Him, till of 
 His own will He comes from His bed; so go 
 with the cows and leave Him to me." 
 
 But the boys would not stir, but would still 
 wait His coming. 
 
 55
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 But the joy left their eyes, because of their 
 longing to look at the Boy who was Love. 
 
 And loud were the cries that came from the 
 boys as they saw Him approaching and then 
 come in their midst, and He with the boys as 
 a boy would be. 
 
 And oft Yasoda, the mother, who reared 
 Him, would take Him aside and remonstrate 
 with Him thus : "O my Krishna, my son, 
 why wilt Thou thus spend Thy time with the 
 cows and the cowherds? A Son of the King 
 art Thou, O my boy, and Thy place is not there 
 with the cows in the pastures. Many servants 
 have we to see to the herds. Come, take Thou 
 Thy flute, bedeck thyself with garments and 
 ornaments as it doth behoove my son and a 
 prince." 
 
 Then Krishna, twining His arms round the 
 neck of His mother, with a world of glowing 
 love in His visage, would gaze far away into 
 the heart of His people and reply to her who 
 knew Him as son : 
 
 "O mother beloved! Well it is for Me, a 
 son of a king, with the people to be; though 
 
 55
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 of the palace, yet is My place there where the 
 people call unto Me. 
 
 "A Tender am I of the Flock. O My mother, 
 and to them I must go, with them must I be 
 to teach them Myself and the Power of Love. 
 
 "Even now must I go to the calling hearts, 
 who madly seek Me and will not be satisfied 
 till again Me they see." 
 
 And Yasoda, the Mother, in amazement 
 gazed on the face of her son and understood 
 not His prattle that such wisdom held, but the 
 tears of fond pride rose to her eyes, as she saw 
 the love that came from the boy and enveloped 
 Him as a soft cloud of light. 
 
 And she kissed her son, seeing but in Him 
 a merry little child bounding and throbbing 
 with victorious health. 
 
 Onward He ran to greet His companions, 
 who were satisfied now as they beheld His 
 coming, and laughing the group went to the 
 forest. 
 
 They played, burying their bare feet in the 
 mosses, rolling in the sweet grass, clapping 
 their hands in the fulness of joy, and shout- 
 ing in very ecstasy of being. 
 
 57
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 Never saw they in Him the son of a King. 
 They knew Him but as a cowherd boy who, 
 like them, tended the cows in pastures and 
 forests. 
 
 58
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 AGAIN the cowherds, including Krishna, went 
 with their cows to give them drink, and also 
 to quench their own great thirst. Sporting on 
 the banks of the lake, they suddenly saw a 
 monster crane coming towards them, with 
 great flapping wings. 
 
 Affrighted they turned, all but Krishna, to 
 flee, but ere a moment had passed, the huge 
 bird had devoured Krishna. 
 
 But only an instant "He was lost to sight, 
 for before the boys knew what calamity had 
 come upon them, the bird in great haste gave 
 up the prey that brought to his throat the sen- 
 sation of burning. For when Krishna entered 
 his body it was as if liquid fire poured all 
 through him. 
 
 Then seeing Krishna again in the midst of 
 the boys, lo, with the beak and the talon he 
 again made for Him, but Krishna seized the 
 59
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 beak with His hands and ripped the great body 
 in halves, even as women tear in half fine linen 
 which requires no effort, and the demon was 
 again allayed. 
 
 Again it happened that the boys with 
 Krishna sought the forests, in sport to engage. 
 
 While bounding in frolicsome play, they 
 beheld at a distance a huge serpent stretched 
 forth in its length, like a range of hills. Wide 
 open its mouth was, and close to the path of 
 the boys it lay. 
 
 In an instant within it they walked, all but 
 Krishna, who contemplated the monster, with 
 eyes full of power ; then straight into its jaws 
 He too went. 
 
 But now the hideous serpent writhed in pain 
 and, like monstrous bellows, its great sides 
 heaved; for Krishna had expanded within its 
 throat, till it expired, shaking all the earth in 
 its throes of death. 
 
 And the boys laughed in glee as out of the 
 great jaws of the serpent they walked. 
 
 But Krishna lifted His eyes to the sky and 
 illumined all the heavens became. For the 
 Dispenser of all Light destroyed the evil that 
 r,o
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 sought to reign in that land where Love dwelt, 
 and with mighty strength He felled the feeble 
 hands of Evil to the ground. For, where 
 Krishna was, illumination was and darkness 
 could not draw life. 
 
 The deadly shade of Sin sought to blight 
 and blast the garden where Truth bloomed fair 
 and tall; but so ripe with Love it was that it 
 could not on that soil take root, to create its 
 evil nor yet prevent the good. For the 
 Knower of all that is knowable saw with His 
 all-seeing eye the spirit of every stress and 
 storm and laid it low ere its brewing began. 
 
 And thus His blessing gave increase to 
 plenty, and virtue it added unto good, and unto 
 them that loved in that realm of Love, stones 
 were as bread, and wormwood as sweetness 
 was. 
 
 Evil is sin and hateful to Love. And 
 Krishna had the longing and the power He 
 wielded to save His world from the pestilent 
 blast of the sin that in boldness sought to 
 destroy it. 
 
 As Love He came, the Maker of Man and 
 of the Universe, to rescue man, His creation, 
 from the rottenness of his own doings. 
 
 61
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 AND Brahma, the Creator, witnessed the 
 miracles that Krishna, the Child and the 
 Youth, was performing hourly at His plays 
 and gambols, and marvelled if He the child 
 might be that was come to succour Mother 
 Earth in her trial. 
 
 Surely sometime, somewhere, in some place 
 it was said that the All-Wise Being, that was 
 over all, as a little child would be born among 
 men to save them from their blinded selves 
 and turn them Godward, looking towards 
 Home. 
 
 This he knew had been said. Was this 
 child the One, that the Eternity was He, 
 the Rememberer of all Beings and Things? 
 
 He would know it in proving the power of 
 His Yoga! For if this were the Absolute 
 Lord, He alone would be the Lord of the 
 
 Lords of all Yogis ! 
 
 i 
 
 62
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 Krishna, sitting with his boys in the forest, 
 discovered that the herds had disappeared from 
 their sight. 
 
 On seeing the alarm on the face of His 
 friends, Krishna exclaimed, "I Myself shall 
 fetch back the cows, so be not anxious, eat to 
 your fill of the fruit you are munching." 
 
 He searched and called, but the cows were 
 as vanished, and returning again to His play- 
 mates He found they too were missing. 
 
 Then a smile, as the sun doth break through 
 the clouds, shone on His face, and, with Yoga- 
 Maya, He divided Himself into cowboys and 
 cows and even into calves, and He Himself 
 leading them who were of Him, the All He 
 returned with the cows and the boys to the 
 village ! 
 
 But, mark, when the boys, that were parts 
 of Krishna, Love-Manifest, ran to the arms of 
 their mothers, a thrill that was ecstasy played 
 through their beings, and never did mothers 
 love so their sons as the mothers who held to 
 their hearts the boys whom by His power He 
 had made from Himself! 
 
 63
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 And so it was with the cows and the calves. 
 Those who milked the cows were wild with joy 
 to stroke their hides and feed them, and milk 
 of those cows as nectar was. 
 
 And Krishna stood with the cowboys among 
 the cows and smiled in His wisdom at them all. 
 
 Now Brahma knew that the boy was the 
 Lord, who as child to man had come, for by 
 his Yoga-power he had taken the cows and 
 calves and boys to a cavern and there put them 
 to sleep. 
 
 But Krishna, to prove Himself the greatest 
 in power, had divided Himself into boys, 
 cows, and calves, and for one year had been 
 'thus. 
 
 When Brahma saw this, from trance-sleep 
 he awoke the sleepers, and bowing low to the 
 feet of Krishna, salutation made and thus did 
 burst forth : "O Lord of all Love ! O Being 
 Supreme! O Source of all Life and Maker 
 of All ! Oft in the eyes of my Yoga, glimpses 
 of Thee have I caught and Thy loveliness and 
 majesty transcend all beauty. 
 
 "What is the merit of the earth, that Thou 
 shouldst bless it with Thy beautiful feet? 
 64
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 "I have looked upon the earth and have seen 
 Thy Love in all things, but I perceived not 
 that Thou in Thy mercy wouldst live among 
 men, even as man. 
 
 "Through Thy coming each heart, that a 
 hovel in poorness was, into a palace of riches 
 has grown. 
 
 "Through Thy coming all flesh its grossness 
 has lost, since to the eyes of man Thou seem- 
 ingly walkest in the flesh. 
 
 "Thou who the centre of Thy radiance art, 
 yet walkest within that radiance! What is 
 the mystery of Thy great Self? 
 
 "Thou who teachest the bird to cleave the 
 sky and .hath made me the creater of earth and 
 continuest the motion thereof ! 
 
 "Thou who the Concrete art and yet the 
 Abstraction thereof dost prove! 
 
 "Thou Mystery of all mysteries, the Secret, 
 the indistinct and yet the sublimely simple 
 Parent of the Universe ! 
 
 "Thou who art the whole and yet the parts, 
 the immensity and yet the mote of things ! 
 
 "A poor groveller am I at Thy feet in the 
 
 65
 
 dust! Why hast Thou blessed me to know 
 Thee thus? 
 
 "Thou art the ocean of existence, and 
 Saints and Gods and men and all Thy crea- 
 tures are but the uncounted waves that play 
 and stretch and heave on Thy breast ! 
 
 "From Thy abode hast Thou come of Thine 
 own sweet will to give unto all the power of 
 Thy Love. 
 
 "Dull were my eyes to behold not in Thee 
 the Lord, who stamped on all things the Name 
 of his Love and with the Name its potency too. 
 
 "O Thou all Beauty and Power and Sweet- 
 ness and Strength ! refuse me not the bliss to 
 dwell in homage at Thy feet ! 
 
 "Thou, who art the cause of all things, who 
 stirrest the root and stem of all life into love, 
 who art the indestructible Truth of things, 
 Thee I meditate and worship forever." 
 
 66
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 IN the glad land of Brindaban, the land where 
 Love reigned supreme, because of the pres- 
 ence of Him who was Love Personified, who 
 was Love Incarnate and who as a Boy did 
 bless the world with His Being. 
 
 In that land, 'mid childish sport and glad- 
 some frolic, Krishna grew into beauty of 
 youth. 
 
 Day by day the land became more beautiful 
 in the joyous springtime, and one day His 
 brother Rama, he whose growing was beauti- 
 ful, and who, like Krishna, was marvelled at 
 for the wonder of his doings, said unto 
 Krishna : 
 
 "Does not the smell of the forest invite Thee, 
 O brother? Even here the air is heavy with 
 ripeness of the fruit, that the sweet spring-air 
 hath brought us. Shall we not go and pluck 
 from the trees and eat our fill of the fruits that 
 
 67
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 are dropping on the ground in luxuriousness 
 but to become rotten ?" 
 
 "Gladly would we go," said the other boys, 
 "but we fear Dhenuka, of the demon family, 
 who dwelleth close thereby. It is said that he 
 hath taken the form of an ass and though 
 he seemeth harmless, yet hath he much power 
 for evil, which he wieldeth mightily, when he 
 hath a chance to do so. So, though we would 
 gladly partake of the fallen fruit, yet do we 
 fear him. But what sayest Thou, Krishna' 
 Thou canst, if Thou wilt, destroy all who are 
 filled with hate and evil. Wilt Thou and 
 Rama use your strength to proect us?" 
 
 "Let us away," quoth Krishna, and in a few 
 moments, heated and full of laughter, the boys 
 were shaking the trees for the golden-sided 
 fruit, which seemed to smile upon them in its 
 beauty of ripeness. 
 
 But at the first sound of happiness that 
 reached the ears of the ass, he rushed in the 
 midst of the youngsters and sought to destroy 
 them, making Rama and Krishna the special 
 objects upon which to vent 'his hatred and 
 strength.
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 For a time both boys dodged hither and 
 thither, trying to turn aside the anger of the 
 ass ; but seeing that it would not be appeased, 
 Rama caught him by the hind legs and after 
 swinging him over the heads of the boys a few 
 times, he dashed his head against the tree and 
 proceeded to aid the boys in picking the fruit. 
 
 The braying of the ass had brought forth 
 the kith and kin of the Asura, who dwelt in 
 the forests with him ; but they, too, in a brief 
 struggle were killed by Rama and Krishna.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 IN those days, when Love was predominant 
 and held no place for that which overcame and 
 destroyed that which could not hold sway 
 there, because when love is strong and active, 
 then doth evil become feeble and weak and 
 slinketh away into darkness and deep places, 
 where the light of love cannot reach it to reveal 
 its blackness unto the light of the sky. 
 
 In the river, on whose bank Krishna, Rama 
 and the cowherd boys often sat and sang the 
 deeds of their hero, there dwelt a huge serpent 
 monster with a thousand hoods, who by the 
 venom of his hideous body did permeate the 
 water of the lake with deadly poison and filled 
 the air of the vicinity with a pestilent atmos- 
 phere that was deadly in its influence. 
 
 Krishna one day led the boys and cows to 
 this pool, and they, being athirst, drank of the 
 deadly water that lay still and without a ripple. 
 Ever is evil inviting in its outward calm. 
 
 70
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 But lo! in an instant, the thousand-headed 
 monster lifted its hoods, and the deadly poison 
 having done its ghastly work, the boys and 
 cows lay on the bank lifeless, and motionless 
 they fell at the feet of Krishna. 
 
 With a glance of life-giving Love cast upon 
 the dead ones, Krishna walked to a tree that 
 was close by, while the boys, alive again, in 
 amazement and wonder gazed at each other, 
 forgetting, in the joy of the Love in the look 
 that Krishna had cast upon them, the moment 
 before. 
 
 On reaching the top of the tree, Krishna 
 stood for an instant and gazed at the boys, 
 His world and the serpent, and a light as of 
 molten gold seemed to come from that body, 
 more lovely than the sun to look upon. 
 
 Thus it was for a moment, then into the 
 deadly pool he plunged, while the thousand 
 heads of the serpent darted their venomous 
 tongues and struck the body till the boys fell 
 into unconsciousness and the cows groaned in 
 pain, and the men and women, with eyes bulg- 
 ing with fear and tearing their hair, almost 
 swooned at the sight of the boy, who was God, 
 
 71
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 crushed in the poisonous embrace of the mon- 
 ster; yet, even as stricken with horror, they 
 gazed. 
 
 Krishna a glance like light on them cast, 
 and breaking away from the grasp of the mon- 
 ster, He lightly sprang upon its hooded head 
 and danced like the stars upon its hoods, till 
 one by one low they were laid ; and vomiting 
 blood that was thick and black, defeated and 
 broken, the monster sank beneath the waves. 
 
 And with a bound Krishna stood in the 
 midst of His friends who knelt at His feet. 
 Then they drew Him within their arms, in the 
 madness of joy at His safety. 
 
 72
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 OH, grand was the sight of Love, crushing out 
 Hate from the land, and the Gods sang and 
 shouted and crowded together to see Sin con- 
 quered and Virtue grow strong! 
 
 Yasoda and Nanda, with the Gopas and 
 Gopis maddened with delight, took Krishna 
 home, while the heavens opened and scattered 
 flowers to carpet His path. 
 
 And forever the lake was free from the 
 venom the serpent had cast, and the near-by 
 atmosphere purified was from the pestilent in- 
 fluence that hovered about there. For the 
 monster at Krishna's command had departed 
 and sought no more to injure the land. 
 
 But so great was the happiness that over- 
 flowed the heart of all, in 'leading the boy 
 triumphant through the forest, that they tar- 
 ried awhile in the glow of the moon, in their 
 joy to behold the beauty that filled the night. 
 73
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 But far in the distance a light was seen that 
 spread wider and broader its glow, and higher 
 its flame leapt, and every second nearer and 
 nearer yet it came, like a living sheet of fire. 
 
 And so it was. A castor plantation a burn- 
 ing world had become and quickly surrounded 
 the merrymakers, who held in their midst the 
 joy of their hour, and they cried in a fright: 
 "O Krishna, Thou Child or God, whatever 
 Thou art, protect us from this death in this 
 roaring flame. We care not for our lives, O 
 Krishna, for they are thine by our love for 
 Thee, but oh, the anguish the parting would 
 mean to die and not see Thy face again ! Oh 
 Thou, who by Thy strength dost slay the 
 Asuras and drive from the land the serpent all 
 powerful, save us from this, the parting with 
 Thee and Thy loved companion Rama, he that 
 is most like Thee. O Most Lovely One, de- 
 liver us, we pray !" 
 
 Light as a leaf in the wind the Boy bounded 
 
 to meet the coming flames. For a moment 
 
 He stood in the seething sea of fire and lifted 
 
 His hand on high, and lo, the fire was not 
 
 74
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 but the flames were seen to enter His mouth ! 
 And again, with dancing and singing praise 
 to the Boy, they made for His home with joy 
 and delight. 
 
 75
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ONE summer day Krishna and Rama and their 
 companions in the shade of the trees were 
 a-sporting among themselves, when they saw 
 coming toward them a stranger, a boy, clad as 
 a tender of cows. 
 
 He joined in the games and soon all were 
 merry, but Krishna, the knower of all, and the 
 all-seeing One, in him beheld an Asura, named 
 Pralamba, who had come in their midst to 
 bring calamity, though friendship he feigned. 
 
 Krishna proposed a game to be played by 
 dividing the boys into equal numbers and fight- 
 ing, in sport, one with the other. Krishna was 
 chosen the leader on one side and Rama the 
 leader on the other. 
 
 The defeated side, it was proposed, must 
 carry on their backs the winners of the vic- 
 torious side, and so the play began. 
 
 Krishna's side was defeated, and it was 
 
 76
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 ordered that, among others, Pralamba, the 
 Asura, carry Rama on his back. 
 
 Away went the boys, each defeated one car- 
 rying on his back a winner. 
 
 Suddenly the boys heard Rama's voice 
 shouting to them, and behold, the Asura, by 
 black magic power, a giant had become and 
 was flying through the forest with Rama on 
 his back ! 
 
 Krishna looked at them, then shouted to 
 Rama : "Brother, forget not that Thou art 
 Vishnoo and that I am here !" 
 
 In an instant all fear left the heart of Rama, 
 and remembering who and what he was, he 
 was filled with Almighty power and felled the 
 giant with a heavy blow ; and the play went on 
 as before. 
 
 Another time the cows strayed into the for- 
 ests and were overtaken by a great conflagra- 
 tion, and like wild beasts they leaped and bel- 
 lowed through the forest. 
 
 The boys followed and called, but onward 
 the cows plunged, nor heeded their voices, till 
 Krishna's voice they heard; then turning they 
 gathered about Him, seeing naught but the 
 
 77
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 love and power in His eyes. For the brute is 
 ever stilled by the might of Love ; unlike man 
 it knoweth its power and yieldeth to its force. 
 But the boys still turned towards Krishna, 
 full of fear of the conflagration that threatened 
 to envelop them. He looked at them all, and 
 their fear was allayed. Then He gazed at the 
 fire and asked the boys their eyes to close. 
 This they did, and when they looked again, 
 the flames were no more to be seen. 
 
 Such was the Yoga-power of Sree Krishna, 
 and the boys seeing His wonderful acts knew 
 that Krishna was more than boy. 
 
 And joyous were they and gathered flowers 
 and leaves that grew in great abundance at the 
 foot of the trees, and they all wove them into 
 garlands of white, purple, and red, and wound 
 them about Krishna's neck, and also bedecked 
 each other with flowers and threw wreaths 
 about the cows' necks and the calves' and 
 homeward they wended their way in the twi- 
 light, just as the sun was sinking to rest. 
 
 The birds ceased their sleepy chirp and 
 opened their eyes wide, and sleep left the 
 flowers that nodded near the roadside, and the 
 
 78
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 sun stood in space a moment to watch the pro- 
 cession that galloped down the road. 
 
 Krishna, the Beautiful, came in the lead, 
 bedecked and beflowered. The spirit of life 
 He was, with a transfiguring glory in His face, 
 and His eyes full of softness and love-light, 
 His body all graceful in curves to behold, yet 
 strong in the vigor of youth, that shone 
 through its grace. 
 
 With His hands on the necks of His two 
 favorite cows, those who ever followed Him 
 about as a child, the white on His right side, 
 the black on His left, homeward they ran, while 
 the white dust arose and covered and caressed 
 them ; one after the other, each bedecked with 
 garlands, and each boy between two cows, who 
 like them were wreathed with wild flowers. 
 
 And the elder Gopis and Gopas held their 
 breath at the sight, so entrancing, that reached 
 their eyes at the home-coming of the boys and 
 their cows, bedecked and beflowered with the 
 sweet wild flowers, and headed by Him whom 
 they loved.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THUS spring ripened into summer and autumn, 
 and again the rolling seasons touched upon the 
 heels of one another; and Krishna grew into 
 greater beauty with each season of His earthly 
 career. 
 
 More and more the people of Brindaban be- 
 came absorbed in Him. The young and old, 
 those near and far, looked upon Him as one 
 without whom they could not exist. 
 
 And so it was, the complete whole was He 
 of whom they were but parts, and ever were 
 they reaching to again find the Heart out of 
 which they had sprung. 
 
 His smile was to them the sun that warmed, 
 His words the flowers which filled them with 
 joy, His deeds the fruits which satisfied the 
 hunger of their hearts. 
 
 The very quick of their lives He was; and 
 nothing lived, breathed, bloomed, or grew in 
 Brindaban, from the people to the cattle, creep-
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 ing things and all that grew, that did not draw 
 life from the Lord that dwelt as Youth among 
 them. 
 
 And the milk-maids, who in loving com- 
 panionship oft with him roamed to the hillside 
 where with the other boys he tended the cattle, 
 would in fond love contemplate the Youth, 
 knowing not what the potency was that drew 
 them, forgetful of all duties, to His side. 
 
 And among themselves they would speak 
 thus: "Oh, how sweet is the hillside, when 
 Krishna is near, how sublime is His coun- 
 tenance and His eyes how beautiful with pierc- 
 ing love-light filled! Serene doth He stand, 
 yet bewilderingly entrancing is the joy that 
 comes to our souls by His glances that seek us 
 in softness and kindness." 
 
 "Was aught as beautiful," they were wont 
 to say, "as our Krishna, clothed in blue and 
 gold, with the crown of peacock feathers on 
 His brow and a garland of fresh flowers fes- 
 tooned from His shoulders? Why is it, that 
 flowers that girdle Him thus never fade or 
 wither or die, but deeper their colors and 
 stronger their petals and sweeter their fra- 
 81
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 grance are, when in contact with Him they 
 have come ? And the fields where He walketh, 
 see how they smile and give their treasures in 
 greater abundance ! And the rivers close by, 
 they rise high on our land, as if to dwell longer 
 on our banks, because our Krishna is here. 
 
 "At the notes of his flute, all exquisite, whose 
 potent spell must charm all the living, see how 
 His cattle do greet Him and tremble and thrill 
 at the sound of the music ! And even the un- 
 tamed things of the forest, with wistful look 
 and nostrils spread, unbidden and unafraid, 
 do stand on the crest of the hill, as if drawn 
 and subdued by the influence of His love- 
 sound ! 
 
 "Oh, the sound of His flute is proof against 
 the iron-moulded mind and can soothe a very 
 giant of fierceness into gentleness by its sweet- 
 ness ! Checked is every fear, and rebellion is 
 laid low in every heart, and a kingdom of love 
 every home becomes wherein that sound hath 
 pierced. Ofttimes it seemeth that time itself 
 doth suit its step to keep pace with its rhythm, 
 for, note ye not, how the sun doth stand, loath 
 to move, lest the sight and sound it loseth ? 
 
 82
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 "Oh, why are we not the flute He holds to 
 His lips! Blessed beyond all things it is, for 
 His kisses it receives, and drinks the nectar of 
 His love to its fill. What wonder that it joys 
 to give the sound forth that His breath doth 
 make ! 
 
 "Or, why are we not the trees, under which 
 - He sitteth and whose branches He counteth 
 with happy gaze, or even the grass, where He 
 reclineth, that hath the dear privilege to caress 
 His sweet body in lowly love? But we can 
 only look on His face and die with longing, 
 when from Him we go." 
 
 Thus spake the maids, but their tongues 
 could not tell what bliss overflowed the heart, 
 welling up with love for Him, who wakened 
 in every heart the love that was all divine, 
 from the babe's first smile to the man who 
 looked first on the glorious earth, and then to 
 the arched sky, and then in His heart, and 
 found there a sum of love that was all bliss. 
 
 In Krishna, the Youth, who played the flute 
 in the forests by night, on the hillside by day, 
 in Him, who charmed all that was, they beheld 
 the fulness of Love. 
 
 83
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 He gave them and received all bliss. He 
 was the Spring of Love that had the more for 
 the giving. He satisfied the most when many 
 did draw from His well-spring. 
 
 To the heart of all mothers He came as a 
 child, and in tenderness and joy they caressed 
 Him as such. Like a flower dropped untouched 
 from heaven they held Him. 
 
 The men He approached as a friend and a 
 son, and gave and received the love that they 
 craved and felt. 
 
 The servant too He met in the way He 
 sought to be known, and by Him he was served 
 and did serve. 
 
 Thus to all He gave what they craved to 
 have. Unstinted, unfettered He was in the 
 giving, and none was there in all that land 
 that sought and could not find what their hearts 
 did seek. 
 
 And to the maids who opened their pure 
 young hearts for the all-enduring mysterious 
 love, He gave, of His inexhaustible source, the 
 sweet touch that harmonized all tilings and 
 made the heaven and earth to meet. 
 
 All kindred were they, for He was their 
 84
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 Parent, and their love was but part of His holy 
 flame. 
 
 And with the light from that flame there 
 awakened within them that which knew but 
 Love, which was but Love; and Krishna it 
 was who filled all their being, and outward 
 consciousness to them was lost. 
 
 Hail to thy maiden-love, O Gopi ! Thy love 
 the triumph of man and God ! The crown of 
 Time's blessedness it was ! O climax of Hap- 
 piness Complete ! 
 
 85
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 WHEN the days of fasting came, the Gopis, as 
 the Scriptures commanded, began their wor- 
 ship by taking their baths in the sacred river 
 Jumna. 
 
 O happy waves, more holy made by the 
 maids, who stood in prayers in thy beds and 
 threw on thy bosom the sweetest flowers that 
 grew where Krishna's feet had fallen ! 
 
 Thus they worshipped each day for a month 
 in the early morn ere the sun was seen, singing 
 on their way the songs of love and praise for 
 Krishna, who was the first and the last and 
 middle of all their day. 
 
 One morning whilst sporting and singing in 
 the clear cooling waters, they beheld on the 
 limbs of a tree close by the youth Krishna, 
 enthroned in its branches and holding their 
 wearing apparel in His hands. 
 
 Crowned as usual with flowers was He, but a 
 look all majestic was in His eye. 
 
 86
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 Affrighted with shame they begged for their 
 garments, but Krishna replied: "Come and 
 get your garments either in a body or singly, 
 O damsels, and salute to the sun shining over 
 My head as near you approach." 
 
 For a moment they hesitated; then that 
 which as a shadow had crossed their heart, 
 and is known as shame, departed from them, 
 and saluting forward they came in a body led 
 by Radha, the loveliest and chiefest of the 
 milk-maids, and dripping and lovely before 
 Him they stood. Completely they had surren- 
 dered their human will to the will of Him who 
 was Divinity. 
 
 Selfless, unyoked from all that was worldly, 
 before Him they stood. Uncovered and free 
 as they came from His Heart, again on that 
 Heart they gazed unashamed, for their souls 
 were not covered with vice, or with piety, or 
 even with -virtue, but were bare as the Love 
 upon which they looked. 
 
 They received the garments that He for them 
 had. He, Krishna, the source of pure Love 
 was, and His garments to them were spiritual 
 purity, and clothing themselves with the 
 
 87
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 clothes of His giving, they joyfully went to 
 the homes of their fathers. 
 
 While Krishna, surveying His world, was 
 enthroned in His kingdom of Love, and as the 
 Gopis came to the feet of Him, who was the 
 author of all Love, so all must come empty 
 and free from all earthly desires to accept that 
 Love for Love's sake. 
 
 For naught cared the Gopis but Krishna, 
 desiring naught else beside ! So only can Love 
 Absolute be gained in absolute self-surrender. 
 
 He who would have that Love that is its own 
 enjoyment, that Love that a universe unto 
 itself is, doth not find it easy to obtain it by 
 merit of piety or even the fruition of highest 
 spirituality. 
 
 The bounds of all spirituality it must pass 
 to become the Absolute and Causeless Love. 
 Where spirituality ends, there causeless Love 
 doth begin ! 
 
 All love that hath a cause is of earth ! Love 
 that hath even a high spiritual cause is limited 
 in scope, and such love may vanish when its 
 cause is removed. 
 
 88
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 But the Love that is Causeless, All Endur- 
 ing is. 
 
 It fadeth not, neither doth it pass away, but 
 by day and by night and throughout all time 
 it waketh and accumulateth ever, for it is the 
 Love Absolute ! 
 
 From the souls of the Gopis the last trace 
 of heaven and earth had vanished, and being 
 resplendent with the glory of this Love Abso- 
 lute, of the Love that was unto itself substance 
 and satisfaction, was the causeless cause for 
 this Gift of all gifts from the hand of Him 
 who alone could bestow it and alone was that 
 Love Itself.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE summer sun beat down fiercely upon the 
 Gopas and the cattle, when Krishna turned to 
 them, saying : 
 
 "See the wonder of these trees! Kind, be- 
 yond expression, are they. They ask for 
 naught, but what the earth, sky, and sun, the 
 night and day give unto them ; yet in all loyalty 
 they grow and give shade unto us, and unto all 
 that wish to partake of their shade. 
 
 "Their fruits also do they give and their bark 
 and leaves and juices, to all who desire it. 
 
 "So should man also be, but few are there 
 among men that live but to bestow blessings 
 upon others. 
 
 "Yet unto you, I say: O my loved com- 
 panions, only unto them that give of their 
 abundance to all that come within their radius, 
 unto them alone is life a blessing and not a 
 curse. 
 
 "All men are placed here not of their own 
 
 90
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 free will, not yet unto themselves, but by the 
 will of Love and for others. 
 
 "And only as the law of give and take is 
 set in operation among men, is man living a 
 natural life. 
 
 "Ofttimes doth the man wonder why he is 
 unto himself a huge perplexity. 
 
 "It is only when he forgets his relationship 
 to all mankind that his life a riddle is, and 
 this being so, he comprehendeth not the 
 Maker of himself nor the universe, and failing 
 to do so, how can he know life aright?" 
 
 After sporting among themselves, the boys 
 spoke to Krishna, saying: 
 
 "O Krishna ! a-hungered are we ; where, oh 
 where shall we find food? Canst Thou not 
 assist us?" 
 
 And Krishna answered them, saying: "Go 
 thou yonder where many Brahmans are per- 
 forming religious ceremonies ; go to them and 
 in My name say unto them to supply us with 
 food. Say unto them that Krishna is wanting, 
 and ask them therefor." 
 
 The boys went; but when they delivered 
 unto them the message of Krishna, the Brah- 
 
 91
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 mans answered not, neither gave them the food 
 they wished, but proceeded with the cere- 
 monies that were to give them the taste of 
 Heaven, after the breath had left their bodies. 
 
 Tired and half famished the boys returned 
 unto Krishna and told Him of their failure to 
 obtain food and also of the indifference with 
 which the Brahmans had received His message. 
 
 Then Krishna smiled wisely and told them 
 to hurry to the wives of the Brahmans. He 
 knowing that women are ever devotional and 
 have illumination, while ofttimes men in dark- 
 ness are. 
 
 And so it was. On hearing Krishna's re- 
 quest, they themselves hastened to Him, in 
 spite of the protestations and threats of the 
 men of the families, and brought food of the 
 finest sorts unto Him, and prostrating them- 
 selves before Him, spake: "O Krishna! 
 Thou Maker of all there is ! Blessed are we 
 and ours that Thou hast called upon us to 
 serve Thee! We know Thee, O Krishna, as 
 one greater and nearer to us than our husbands, 
 brothers and fathers; and even at the risk of 
 their displeasure to us, we come to Thee to 
 
 92
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 lay at Thy feet our poor offerings and our 
 hearts." 
 
 Krishna answered: "O women! Noble 
 and true are ye to Me. Ye in your devotions 
 have learned to know Me as your soul ! 
 Dearer to ye am I, even than father, husband 
 and friends, hence at the risk of even their 
 displeasure do yet seek to serve Me. 
 
 "I draw unto Me all that reach towards Me ! 
 Blessed are ye among men ! Go back to those 
 who are performing the ceremonies and aid 
 them in their rituals. Kindly shall they receive 
 ye, and unto them will ye take My love even 
 as unto ye all I bestow it." 
 
 When He saw the reluctance with which 
 they departed from Him, He said: "Know 
 that in the Kingdom of Love separation can- 
 not be, and whatever heart doth meditate on 
 Me, in that heart I dwell in all My glory. 
 
 "Again, oh know, that by deeds I reckon 
 ever and not by words. Ye have served Me by 
 deeds, your husbands in their ignorance by 
 words alone. But do ye go unto them and 
 they too shall know and love the Name of 
 Krishna." 
 
 ye
 
 SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 And the women returned unto their hus- 
 bands who received them with demonstrations 
 of pleasure, and they too worshipped Krishna 
 in their homes and hearts. 
 
 94
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 WHEN the summer was over, one day Krishna 
 saw that great preparations were being made 
 for the celebration of ceremonies in honor of 
 one of the gods. 
 
 Clothed in seeming ignorance, Krishna said 
 to Nanda : 
 
 "Why these preparations, O father, and for 
 whom are they made, and what is the potency 
 thereof? Is it a custom that through all time 
 hath been observed, or, tell me, do the Scrip- 
 tures demand that these ceremonies be held?" 
 Then Nanda, answering, said : "We offer 
 to-day sacrifices to him, the go3 of the clouds, 
 to him who watereth our hill-sides and giveth 
 drink to our crops and out cattle, to him, Indra, 
 the god who promoteth all growth by the bless- 
 ing of rain, which he doth supply. A jealous 
 ,god is he, O my Krishna, and desires that cere- 
 ononials and sacrifices often are made ; and we 
 
 95
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 in all humbleness strive to appease him, that 
 in his wrath he may not withhold the moisture 
 from our land, nor yet flood us with over much 
 rain." 
 
 Then Krishna replied: "My father, He, 
 who is the Author of All, doth give unto all 
 what is needed. 
 
 "He that in wrath withholdeth a blessing, he 
 never the love of creation hath known; nor 
 doth he destroy what he hath created. 
 
 "For the Creator doth ever love His cre- 
 ation; for that, which from Him hath come, 
 must forever belong to Him and the part is of 
 His Great Whole. 
 
 "So Indra cannot curse this land by over- 
 much rain or dearth of it. 
 
 "But, O my father, tell the Gopas and Gopis 
 to cease the preparations and worship not one 
 who would destroy that which he should for- 
 ever bless. 
 
 "But come to the hillside that entwines our 
 land, the hills and plains that furnish us with 
 sustenance for our cattle, and to the forests, 
 too, where fruits grow in plenty and give of 
 their abundance to all who but take it. 
 
 96
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 "Come there and give to the hill and the trees 
 our sacrifices of joy and love, and feed the 
 cows with offerings of fresh grasses, and walk 
 with me around the hill in ceremonial pro- 
 cession and we shall see their worth and their 
 kindness." 
 
 They did so, and Krishna said unto them : 
 
 "I am the Hill and the good that therefrom 
 doth come." And his body became of a height 
 and length that the eye of man scarce could 
 measure, and said : "Do ye salute it and par- 
 take of its good!" 
 
 At that the rain poured down from the skies 
 in fearful abundance and the people in fear fled 
 to their houses, afraid of the wrath of Indra. 
 
 Seven days it poured and threatened to flood 
 all the land. But Krishna smiled at the wrath 
 of Indra, as he poured down his mighty rains 
 and rolled his thunder in threatening claps 
 above the heads of the affrighted people, who 
 had dared to neglect the sacrifices to him who 
 through all ages had been honored by them. 
 
 In their calamity the people sought out 
 Krishna, whom they found at the foot of the 
 hill Gobardhana. 
 
 97
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 The light of His body lit the darkness of 
 night far more than the flashes of Indra's 
 wrath that in lightning burst forth. "O 
 Krishna !" they cried, "Thou who by Thy Yoga 
 power can assume the form of a mountain at 
 will, Thou who dost drive from the path of 
 Thy feet all that unlike Thy sweet will is, save 
 us from the wrath of him who even now doth 
 seek to drive us from out of life." 
 
 And Krishna lifted His hand and eye, and 
 lo, all their fear was allayed. 
 
 Then all the world grew light as day from 
 the glory that radiated from His body, and by 
 His Yoga power He lifted the hill itself from 
 off its base and held it on high, on the tip of 
 his fifth finger, even as the beetle doth hold on 
 his horns the leaf that covereth him com- 
 pletely. 
 
 The people gathered beneath the hill with 
 their children and cattle. Seven days they 
 were there, and seven days Krishna held the 
 hill above their heads, while the light that came 
 from His smile illuminated all the space be- 
 tween the hill and its foundation. 
 
 Then Indra, amazed, looked down from his 
 
 98
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 clouds and knew that the Lord of All was 
 there, and had baffled his attempt to destroy 
 what He, the Lord of all Love, had created. 
 And the rain ceased its downpcuring and the 
 rivers became calm and the sun in its glory 
 burst forth again. And flowers uplifted their 
 water-drenched heads and the trees sprang 
 back storm-tossed no more. 
 
 And Krishna said to those whom he had 
 sheltered : 
 
 "Depart in peace, and fear no more the wrath 
 of him who thought to destroy where he could 
 not give life." 
 
 And Indra, the god of the clouds, descended 
 to earth, and falling at the feet of Him, in ab- 
 ject humility said : 
 
 "O Lord ! Thou art the Holy One ! Puffed 
 
 >2 
 
 up and proud was I in my power and saw my- 
 self greater even than Thou. 
 
 "Well know I now that Love is the greatest 
 power; and I, in my smallness of godship, 
 insolent and destructive became. I sought the 
 praise that is ever due to Thee,, O Lord of 
 Love; for unto resistless Love alone praise 
 should be given. But my vanity and pride I 
 
 99
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 tried to shield by the power which Thou didst 
 endow me with. 
 
 "I thought that I it was who brought the 
 life to all trees and by my power kept the hills 
 in green and the forests in wondrous foliage, 
 and gave drinks to the cows and plenty to the 
 rivers. And for it I longed to see men per- 
 form the ceremonies and pray to me. 
 
 "But to Thee, O Lord of Love! is due all 
 the glory; by Thee alone am I invested with 
 power. Do Thou in Thy greatness forgive me, 
 while I in humbleness do bow to Thy Lotus 
 Feet." 
 
 And Krishna threw a glance at Indra that 
 filled him with a great wild joy, and said : 
 
 "O Indra! Though I invested thee with 
 sovereignty by My will, be not overfull of 
 pride! For this I have stopped the cere- 
 monies, so that thou mayest learn to know Me, 
 whom thou in thy prosperity hadst quite for- 
 gotten. 
 
 "Go to thy abode, Indra, rule thy dominion ; 
 but know ever that pride and vanity are with- 
 out power, and that Love alone is mighty. 
 100
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 "To lighten the burdens of all My world, I 
 have come to earth. 
 
 "I now lift from thee the load which hath 
 caused thee to forget Me, and, in forgetting 
 Me, to have lost the beauty which was born 
 of Me." 
 
 And with the halo of joy about him, Indra 
 returned to his abode, endowed with greater 
 power. 
 
 101
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 AND now autumn,* the sweetest and richest 
 season of all the glad year, had come ; and the 
 brow of Brindaban was fair to look upon. 
 
 Peace and love stood on every threshold and 
 walked on every roadway, and all lifted up 
 their voices, and the words of their gladness 
 was LovCj Love ! 
 
 In the hearts of all the song rose and showed 
 them pleasant ways and haunts that ended in 
 Bliss. Men knew gratitude and justice, which 
 are the attributes of Love. 
 
 Love walked on earth and left its blessing in 
 its trail ! The flowers whispered their love to 
 one another and the dew clung closer to their 
 petals, because of the warmth of their love. 
 
 All the land seemed to have ripened into the 
 deepest beauty, for the Beauty of Love here 
 was King. 
 
 * The first part of the Indian Autumn which comes after the Rainv 
 Season. 
 
 102
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 And Krishna was King; and reigned in every 
 heart, and all bowed before the majesty of the 
 beauty of His Love. 
 
 A substitute it was for all things and satisfied 
 the want of each heart, entrancing every object 
 and person by its beauty. 
 
 O wonder of Love, that expanded each soul 
 and made it a world of joy and bliss ! 
 
 In this happy time, when the moon was full, 
 Krishna recalled a promise He had made to 
 the Gopis to reward them richly for their love 
 for Him. 
 
 So, taking His flute, He went to the forests 
 and stood on the brow of the hill. 
 
 All about the white moonlight lay, bathing 
 in silver the fruit trees in blossom; soft the 
 winds were, and rich the fragrance that they 
 brought on their breezes. 
 
 The noises of night alone could be heard. 
 
 And surveying His world with love-filled 
 eyes, Krishna took up His flute and poured 
 forth the strains that never were heard by man 
 or god until that night on the moon-kissed hill, 
 when all Brindaban in peace did smile. 
 
 At the sound of those strains, all earth was 
 
 103
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 thrilled in ecstasy. The rocks melted in love; 
 the trees trembled, and the flowers fell on the 
 earth, and men and beasts all pain forgot. 
 
 And the Gopis knew that Call of Love. Nor 
 heeded they duties, or father, or husband, or 
 children, but turning their heart to the sound of 
 the flute, they followed their heart to Krishna's 
 Feet. 
 
 At the first note, she who was feeding her 
 household, dropped her food and followed the 
 sound ; and she who was nursing her babe, put 
 her babe from her breast and answered the 
 call ; another came with toilet incomplete. 
 
 All forsook duties, husband and children, to 
 find Him who drew them by the sound that was 
 made by His Love. 
 
 Separately they came, none observing the 
 other. Over thorns and briars and stones they 
 walked; sharp twigs caught their hair, 
 branches detained them; yet heeded they not 
 these obstacles, but onward they went with 
 hands torn and feet bleeding and garments 
 rent and missing, till they stood at the hill 
 where Sree Krishna played and drew from the 
 
 104
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 flute the music entrancing, at which all the 
 rocks and earth did thrill. 
 
 With eyes maddened with love they gazed on 
 Him there ! A wondrous vision was He ! 
 
 The light of the noon-day radiated from 
 Him, and His beautiful eyes with mysterious 
 glances fell on their souls like holy balm ! 
 
 And at that glance their souls were en- 
 tranced and deepened and became as if one 
 with Him and drank of the love that from 
 Him poured ; and all that in them unlike 
 Him was, became as pure as He. 
 
 And that which in them unlike that Love 
 was, from out of their hearts had flown ; and 
 made pure and transparent in that glad place, 
 they drank of that love which doth chain all 
 creation to its Creator Love. 
 
 Entirely blessed, they sought no more, nor 
 hoped they more ; for each held Perfection in 
 her eyes, and each knew Perfect Love in her 
 heart. 
 
 105
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 SILENT they stood and gazed on the Beauty, 
 the concentrated love of a world in each eye. 
 
 A spiritual force that swept from its path all 
 matter was theirs, as they beheld that Centre 
 to which their hearts did gravitate. 
 
 The strains of the flute that made the 
 heaven to bend to the earth, that brought the 
 stars closer to the hillsides, and drew the gods 
 from their abodes of light, had ceased; and 
 the voice of Him that was All-Love fell on the 
 ears of the Gopis in sound a* sweet as the 
 flute's dear strains : 
 
 "O Gopis mine, maids of Braja ! My peace 
 and greeting be with you all! But why are 
 ye 'here one and all ? Tell Me this ! 
 ; "The hour is late, and your homes at a dis- 
 tance are, and the forests are dark, and wild 
 beasts are in plenty. And alone ye have come 
 without husband, or father! 
 
 "What is it, pray tell Me, that brings you 
 
 106
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 here ? Is it love for Me that brings you here ? 
 I draw all to Myself and all love Me. 
 
 "But, O Gopis dear, the Scriptures ever have 
 said that the chaste woman leaveth not her 
 husband, father and babe, to look on the face 
 of a youth. 
 
 "Pure are your hearts, I know ; but it is not 
 good that ye come to Me, and it looseneth your 
 chances to reach that place where all of your 
 hearts do long to dwell, when to your bodies 
 ye have said farewell. 
 
 "Perhaps ye have come to see the forest, sil- 
 vered by the autumn full moon ! Or mayhap 
 to greet the breezes that come from the hill- 
 sides! Or the blossoms of the trees that 
 grace its sides to behold! If this be so, now 
 ye have seen them, depart to your homes, lest 
 the hearts of your friends be alarmed at your 
 absence." 
 
 The bevy of women, that crowded about 
 Him, grew pale with pain and ashen with fear. 
 Tears came to their eyes and anxiety to their 
 souls, as they heard the words of Him who 
 was all in all to them ; till one, more brave than 
 the rest, broke forth: 
 
 107
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 "O Lord, for the Master of Love art Thou, 
 send us not away from Thy side. All have we 
 left to serve Thee, our Master. Husbands have 
 we, and fathers and brothers, but to Thee 
 alone we belong. They are but the keepers of 
 our earthly bodies : Thou art the custodian of 
 our souls. 
 
 "Our souls are Thine, for Thou art the Soul 
 from which we came ; and panting we come to 
 find again the Home wherein to rest. 
 
 "Difficult art Thou to find, O Lord ! and now 
 we have found Thee, Oh thrust us not from 
 Thy "Lotus Feet, we who find our joy and hap- 
 piness in Thee! 
 
 "Thy flute hath drawn us from our homes ! 
 Oh, suffer us to remain with Thee and know 
 Thee as Thou art ! Unable are we to live with- 
 out Thy love, O Lord ! and our duties of home 
 cannot engage us since our minds are ever con- 
 templating Thee. 
 
 "If Thou sendest us away, we shall die. Be 
 Thou kind to us, Thy servants, and grant us 
 to serve Thee with our Love." 
 
 Then singing into their midst He came, He 
 the Lord of the Highest, the Lord of Love and 
 
 108
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 Lord of the Lowest and Lord of Mercy ! And 
 with mighty Love swayed He all alike. And 
 each self was forgotten and Love alone was. 
 
 Now singing in chorus, now dancing, now 
 skipping, the Lord and his maidens in those 
 forest groves roamed, till the river was 
 reached. 
 
 Then, from over-much pleasure, proud each 
 maid became, and her simple joy to vanity was 
 turned because thus she was favored by 
 Krishna, the youth Krishna, the Heavenly 
 One, Krishna, the Glorious of all glorious 
 ones! 
 
 He, noting this, to punish the sin of vanity, 
 in swiftness from them vanished ; and with his 
 going the sin was gone. 
 
 Maddened by love, the maids pleaded to the 
 skies and the trees and the flowers for Him, 
 who was their life. But still He came not. 
 
 So absorbed in Him they became, them- 
 selves they forgot, and even as Krishna they 
 thought they were. And imitating His acts 
 they cried to one another : "Lo, I am Krishna ! 
 See, I hold the mountains on high! Lo, 
 
 109
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 Putana I slay and baffle the rage of Indra 
 with my power !" And still came He not. 
 
 Then they sang His praises, then with 
 breaking hearts they wailed and prayed for 
 Him to return to their midst. At this He 
 came, for ever is the Lord most kind to the 
 lowly and sorrowing. 
 
 And He soothed their grief and brought 
 light to their hearts; and forming a circle 
 about Him, in ecstasy they danced. And now 
 He, that was the King of the upper world and 
 of all the earth, of the plants and oceans and 
 clustering stars, He, the Lord of all might and 
 Yoga power, Himself divided into many 
 Krishnas; and each Gopi thought she, herself, 
 danced alone with the Glorious One that as 
 Krishna was known. 
 
 And the dance began lightly, then madder 
 became ; and He who had come on earth to 
 teach man Love, manifested Himself in every 
 maid that lightly and rarely stepped at His 
 side, as they danced in that grove on that won- 
 drous night. 
 
 And the lotus blossoms wept tears of nectar 
 on seeing the dance, and birds and bees from 
 
 110
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 unknown trees and flowers came forth and 
 whirled round and round the heads of the 
 dancing ones. 
 
 And the heavens showered blossoms rare, 
 and the gods who had stolen from their abode 
 to watch the Feast of Love that Krishna gave 
 to the lovely milkmaids, lo, senseless became 
 at the first sight of that revel of Bliss ! 
 
 And night throbbed and panted and forgot 
 to draw its curtain to let day in, but lengthened 
 into aeons. 
 
 The veil from every Gopi's eye was drawn, 
 and they gazed into the ocean of active spirit- 
 uality and spiritual became. And all sin that 
 were theirs no more was there. 
 
 And in that mighty dance a flood of spirit- 
 uality went forth that took from the heart of 
 men and the bosom of earth the sins with 
 which they were burdened withal. And men's 
 hearts were won by the force of that Love and 
 were led to the door of that sacred abode, 
 where only the loving may go. 
 
 And the Gopis, who by force were detained 
 and could not come to the dance with Krishna, 
 lo, in meditation sat, and in deep pain concen- 
 
 m
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 trated on Him, and in that dance they were at 
 His side and felt His love-embrace, and all 
 their sins were as naught. 
 
 For to touch Krishna, with the mind alone, 
 was to gain spirituality and stand pure in His 
 eyes. 
 
 So in those hours of intensest happiness the 
 world gained what for births it had striven to 
 gain. And active love was ripe among mor- 
 tals, and that love had wiped all sin away. 
 
 And when the last ray of the moon was seen, 
 into the waters of the laughing river they 
 plunged; and ere the sun with ardent eye did 
 awaken the sleeping Brindaban, each maiden 
 singing homeward went, transformed into a 
 being of unalloyed love. 
 
 112
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 IN the forest grove of moonlight, where the 
 river sweetly hummed, where the nightbird's 
 plaintive chant broke in ecstasy the silence, 
 where the drooping flowers opened wide their 
 sleep-kissed eyelids to the night and beheld the 
 wondrous vision of the dancing maids and 
 Krishna, 
 
 In that hour when every maiden felt her 
 heart grow big to bursting for the love that 
 in her swelled up in that hour, when every 
 maiden saw beside her Glorious Krishna, with 
 His brow made fair with flowers and His loins 
 wreathed with lotus, when the heart of each 
 sweet maiden foolish grew, because of pride, 
 as she saw the one All Beauteous, lightly 
 treading at her side to the music of the dance, 
 
 One there was of all those Gopis, she the 
 chiefest of them all, one who knew naught else 
 but Him ; every thought of self had vanished, 
 every thought of aught but Him. 
 
 113
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 At His side she lightly stepped nor felt the 
 grass 'neath her feet, nor knew the strains of 
 rapturous music that fell like wine upon each 
 heart ; all she knew was Love was there, 
 naught but this remembered she. 
 
 To the winds that came from hillsides, to 
 the shadows that the trees cast, did she whis- 
 per over and over that confession of her love, 
 till over-weighed by the sweet burden, did the 
 winds, in languorous love, chant and sigh, 
 then die in silence. 
 
 And the shadows of the trees trembled at 
 the depth of love that the maid did whisper to 
 them as He passed them in the dance. 
 
 Radha was she, youthful, lovely, she, His 
 playmate of the forest, she, with love-look in 
 her face, she, the Queen of Love among them, 
 giving all and asking naught. 
 
 By the mighty will of Him she had come on 
 earth to dwell, she, who ever reigned with Him 
 in Glory, she now walked with Him on earth. 
 
 She, the fairest of these maidens, she the 
 rarest of them all, knowing Love in its in- 
 tensity, living all its bliss. 
 
 And when He, the Lord of Love, vanished 
 
 114
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 from the dancing Gopis, she, sweet Radha, 
 with Him vanished. 
 
 And they wandered in the deep groves, these, 
 the Twain, Who in Glory dwelt, she the lov- 
 ing, He the Lover, both the Blissful, both the 
 Purest. 
 
 He the dew-kissed flowers gathered, twin- 
 ing them about the maiden. But the flowers 
 in their beauty were not half as fair as she; 
 and sweet Radha, pearl of maidens, gazed with 
 love-light in her eyes, knowing naught was 
 half so lovely as the hands that placed them 
 there. 
 
 Thus they roamed in shadowy moonlight, 
 rested here in softened shadows, chanting love- 
 songs to each other, knowing naught but pure 
 delight, till a-wearied with her roaming, 
 Radha begged to cool her feet in the smiling 
 waves of Jumna, that she spied there in the 
 moonlight. 
 
 Krishna, greatest of all lovers, lightly 
 stooped to lift the maiden, and in loving arms 
 to bear her where the smiling waters rippled. 
 
 But within the breast of Radha, at that act, 
 
 115
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 pride sprang to being, and within that home 
 of Love vanity crept and nestled there. 
 
 For a moment Krishna held her, then with 
 lightning swiftness from her side He van- 
 ished. 
 
 But in that twinkle of a moment Radha 
 knew what her sin was and, aware of her 
 enemy, the selfless love, which was her Self, 
 her deity supreme, arose and quenched all 
 thirst of vanity. 
 
 Quickly gliding through the forest, she 
 again did join the Gopis, spying in the further 
 distance Krishna soothing one and all. To 
 His side she lightly stepped, she, the radiant, 
 she, His Heaven-Mate, purged from sin and 
 lightly clothed with the love that knew but 
 Him. 
 
 116
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 WHILE the land of Brindaban was rich in the 
 love which Krishna flooded it withal, the heart 
 of Kangsa, the brother of Devaki, was filled 
 with fear for his life ; for it was known to his 
 quaking heart that the eighth child of Devaki 
 still walked the earth, and also he knew that 
 writ it was that the hand of that child would 
 lay him low. 
 
 Far and wide he sought the child, the boy, 
 whom he felt was the God who had come to 
 bring to the virtuous and lowly man peace, 
 and sweep from the land the oppressor and 
 tyrant. 
 
 The marvelous deeds of Sree Krishna, his 
 beauty and strength, the might of his love, 
 had been heralded far and wide, and all the 
 then known world was turned towards the 
 forest land of Brindaban with expectant eye 
 and thirsting heart. For ever the heart of 
 117
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 man doth pant for and turn to the place where 
 love doth dwell. 
 
 When tales of Krishna's wonderful life and 
 glorious deeds came to the ears of Kangsa, he 
 felt that the boy whom Yasoda and Nanda 
 reared as their own, in sweet Brindaban, was 
 the child that he sought to kill when it came 
 from the womb of Devaki, and when by the 
 hand of fate itself he had been baffled. 
 
 And the dull, hungry flame of hatred and 
 anger rose like fire in this bad man's heart, 
 and an atmosphere as of hell about him rose, 
 and all his peace slipped to the dust, and his 
 secret fear that like a coiled serpent had lain 
 in silence now uncurled its length and lifted 
 its head and darted here and there to strike the 
 prey that aroused it from its slumber. 
 
 And long he sat and meditated evil against 
 the youth that he could not slay in spite of his 
 kingship. For the Name of Krishna was a 
 balm to the hearts of all men who had ever 
 heard it spoken, and though king he was and 
 ruler over many, he knew that the strength of 
 the fame of Krishna, the boy bred in Brinda- 
 ban, more potency possessed than the name of 
 
 118
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 Kangsa, the king. For he was ruler over the 
 bodies of men only. 
 
 His name dwelt on the tongues of men who 
 prattled with words alone, and those words 
 embodied not the thought from which they 
 sprang words that praised where praises 
 were not due, and applauded where it was not 
 deserved. 
 
 Men who dared not note the indignity of his 
 motives and their results, nor discriminate be- 
 tween the righteousness of his action and his 
 blood-dyed deeds, vexed his ears with fawning 
 acclamations to-day because of his power, yet 
 to-morrow blamed and hissed him out of sight. 
 But Krishna was ruler over all hearts by the 
 might of his wondrous love. He was the 
 Divine Incarnation, the Inner Call, the satis- 
 fied softness that all felt, compelling all, yet 
 demanding naught. Uncovered, frank, He 
 stood forth inviting all to look on Him to Know 
 and to love and be saved, too deep for the hu- 
 man understanding to measure, too large for 
 human heart to embrace, yet acquainting each 
 man with Himself. 
 
 This love still untaught, still gazing on Him 
 
 119
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 who was all encased in love, all made of love, 
 all teeming with love, they knew themselves of 
 His creation, and Him their Sovereign Lord. 
 
 And Kangsa knew that by knowing Him the 
 world would boldly recoil from the sickening 
 deeds of his cruelty, the foul plots of his life 
 would be laid bare to all, and the world in re- 
 bellion would rise. And he knew, too, that he 
 in his worldly powers as a weakling would be, 
 by the side of the cow-herd Krishna. 
 
 So among his councillors an edict went forth 
 that festivities be held in honor of the Bow, on 
 the fourteenth day of the lunar month, and 
 that sacrifices in great abundance be made. 
 
 He also said unto them that preparations be 
 made, and pavillions be raised, and the arena 
 cleared, and the amphitheatre festooned with 
 flowers and banners; and proclamations were 
 issued that all the inhabitants of his whole 
 kingdom be invited to his capital and that the 
 people of Braja be included therein. 
 
 And last he sent his ambassador in great 
 pomp and glory to call to his palace the sev- 
 enth son of Devaki, Balaram, and the eighth 
 son, Krishna, to witness the sports and partake 
 120
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 in the wrestling contests and show to the king- 
 dom their dexterity and strength. 
 
 Thus spoke Kangsa, and called to Akrura 
 and made him the ambassador that was to 
 bring Krishna and Rama to Mathura. But 
 this also he ordered: "When here they are 
 brought, see that the strongest and mightiest 
 wrestlers of my kingdom be brought to match 
 them and fairly or foully to lay them low." 
 And he added : "If here death fails to meet 
 them withal, keep the infuriated elephant close 
 to the gate, so that he in his madness may 
 tread out the life of Krishna at my command." 
 These were his orders, and Akrura, his am- 
 bassador, bowing to him, departed to Braja. 
 
 121
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE sun was setting in Braja, and Krishna 
 with companions was homeward leading the 
 cows to be milked. 
 
 The hills were gold-tipped. The chirp of the 
 birds in sleepy echoes fell on the ear, when 
 far in the distance the hoofs of stamping steeds 
 pounding the earth caused the boys to turn. 
 Coming in royal splendor towards them they 
 beheld a chariot with blazing banners of the 
 colors of the royal house of Mathura. 
 
 The boys stood in amazement as nearer the 
 chariot came; but Krishna smiled with His 
 eye full of wisdom, and aslant He looked to- 
 ward the boys and the cows and then at 
 Akrura, th ambassador, who came in the 
 chariot. 
 
 At that glance, Akrura quickly descended 
 
 and fell at the feet of Krishna and saluted Him 
 
 in reverence and worship, for the dart of love 
 
 that came from Krishna revealed to the heart 
 
 12?
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 of Akrura that Krishna was more than human 
 and not less than divine. 
 
 With that glance his soul was drawn to the 
 soul of Him who stood there to receive him 
 and his message. And he knew that the Au- 
 thor of Life he beheld and that blessed he was 
 beyond all measure to be chosen to look on 
 that wonderful face. 
 
 A moment he lay in the dust, at the feet of 
 the youth, Akrura, the proud, the inmate of 
 palaces, the councilor and companion of the 
 king and emperor. 
 
 Then, with kindly grace, Krishna raised him 
 and embraced him and led him forth to the 
 house of Nanda, and with His own hands 
 brought rich drinks and choice viands, with 
 the countenance that had on it the glow of 
 the sun, and the beauty that surpassed all the 
 beauty ever seen. 
 
 And having partaken of the meal with His 
 father and brother and guest, Krishna ad- 
 dressed him thus : "O friend, long I knew of 
 this coming of thine and marvelled at its delay. 
 Yet tell them, my kinsman, the errand of the 
 king on which thou wert sent!" 
 
 133
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 Then Akrura related to Nanda and the fear- 
 stricken Yasoda the king's message, his plans 
 and his evil design. 
 
 A smile of wisdom flitted over the face of 
 Krishna, as He nestled close to the side of 
 His mother and bade her forget her anxiety 
 for Him, as none there was in all the world 
 that could harm Him. He vowed that even 
 the most dreaded Kangsa was powerless to 
 bring about the evil he planned. 
 
 But the mother, Yasoda, she who had 
 reared and nourished the Child at her heart, 
 she who had caressed His lovely baby soft- 
 ness and with fondness saw his first toddling 
 steps, she could not be comforted, nor would 
 her heart cease its beating of pain and terror. 
 
 And Akrura related how Kangsa in wrath 
 had thrown Devaki and Vasudeva into prison, 
 on hearing that Krishna was the eighth son of 
 their union. And Yasoda wept as the thought 
 of the mother who had lost all her sons at the 
 cost of Krishna, and yet had not the blessing 
 of suckling Him. 
 
 Yasoda, most blessed of all women art thou, 
 who nursed the Lord of Love as thy son ! And 
 124
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 fitted wert thou by Him to bestow on His 
 baby life thy caresses and receive the love that 
 flowed from Him ! 
 
 Worthy wert thou to croon Him to sleep, to 
 bathe the sweet beauty of Him who, though 
 He had all there was, yet chose to be soothed 
 and guided and directed by thee in His baby- 
 hood! 
 
 And when to boyhood's estate He grew and 
 startled all the world by the wonder of His 
 doing, to thee He came as a little child, to be 
 loved and petted and soothed of His weeping 
 and fretting! 
 
 And now when called king of the land, 
 and called king by the hearts of the whole 
 known world that panted to look upon His 
 wonderful beauty and see the might of His 
 strength, even now close to thy heart He 
 nestles, and twines His arms about thy neck, 
 and gazes with love-light into thine eyes to 
 comfort thee, and feels a shadow mantle His 
 heart as He banishes the pain from thy brow ! 
 
 For well He knows that no more to thee the 
 forest child He will be; for the world now 
 125
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 claims Him as its own, and in His bigger 
 world an actor He must be. 
 
 Thus heart to heart they sit, the mother and 
 the foster-son, He who was Lord of all the 
 world, and she who reared him as a child. 
 
 126
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 So night wore away, and in the early morn- 
 ing- hours Akrura was ready to start on the 
 journey with Rama and Krishna. 
 
 But great was the wail and heartrending the 
 lamentations that came from the hearts of the 
 Gopis. 
 
 With tear-filled eyes they rushed to His 
 home and pleaded and prayed that He stay in 
 their midst ; for to them life seemed impossible 
 without Him, and Brindaban could not be 
 blessed when He ceased to walk thereon. And 
 what would the cattle and flowers and trees 
 do without the sound of His love-touched 
 flute? 
 
 "Oh, remain with us, Krishna, O Lord of 
 our hearts ! Oh, keep close to our land, Most 
 Beautiful One ! 
 
 "Broken are our hearts, bowed low our 
 spirit at the thought of our lives without Thy 
 presence to cheer us. Dull are our minds and 
 
 127
 
 leaden our hearts by the pain of Thy going. 
 
 "Oh, leave us not in this ocean of sorrow, 
 but stay where we ever may look on Thy 
 face. 
 
 "O Thou who shapest all that is, who hast 
 knitted our hearts to Thyself ! how canst Thou 
 tear it away from us who know the sweetness 
 of its love and the fruits that spring there- 
 from? 
 
 "Once having known Thy smile, O Krishna ! 
 how can we bear the dawning of day without 
 the light of Thy smile, in which the concen- 
 trated beauty of Thy whole creation lies, to 
 fill it and make each day whole? 
 
 "And how can we see the shadows of night 
 thicken and darken, and know that no more 
 we will roam in forest and dance in the moon- 
 light with Thee, our Beloved? 
 
 "Oh! depart not from us, Thou in whom 
 we are buried, Thou whose love doth envelop 
 us all, Thou whose universe-embrace around 
 us is entwined ! Oh ! go not from out our 
 midst, we implore Thee!" 
 
 Thus, tearing their tresses and weeping, the 
 Gopis clung to the wheels of the chariot in 
 
 128
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 which Krishna and Rama sat ready to start 
 on their journey to Mathura. 
 
 Then Krishna arose, and looking- deep in the 
 eye of each, he waved his hand in farewell, 
 and left the smile of Bliss with them that 
 filled each soul to overflowing. Then forward 
 the restless chargers plunged, the dust rising 
 high and quite covering the chariot. 
 
 The maids stood like hewn marble, still yet 
 serene. And the cattle that grazed on the 
 hillside turned towards the road where the 
 chariot vanished, in their eyes a look of yearn- 
 ing love; while the deer on the brow of the 
 hill, with arched neck and wild, shy glance, 
 heaved a quick, short sigh, as if hurt. 
 
 And the soft breasts of the singing, birds 
 quivered, and a little sad song burst from their 
 throats ; while the trees and the flowers hung 
 limp and wilted, as if the glad life had left 
 their hearts. 
 
 A groan arose from the wild beasts in the 
 forest, as if in the hand of death they were 
 trapped. The sun vanished from the skies, 
 and all Nature seemed clothed with the gar- 
 ment of sadness. 9 
 
 129
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 Then forth the sun burst in glorious splen- 
 dor, as the joy of the smile of the Lord of Love 
 awoke in potency to bless all living things 
 whereon it had fallen. 
 
 And sweet Brindaban in silence lay, for- 
 ever blessed and forever beloved, for the Feet 
 of Him, who was God, had walked there and 
 made holv its soil. 
 
 130
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 AND the chariot, bearing Akrura, Rama and 
 Krishna, was followed close by the carts bear- 
 ing Nanda and the Gopas, who carried gifts 
 for the king Kangsa, to whom all must present 
 the best of their store. 
 
 On reaching the banks of the Jumna, Krish- 
 na and Rama in sportiveness descended from 
 the chariot and dipped in the sacred waters of 
 the river, then ascended again to the chariot. 
 
 Whereat Akrura, the ambassador, had a dip 
 in the water, too, reciting the sacred texts 
 in the meanwhile, when, lo, in the waters 
 where he stood he beheld the laughing Krishna 
 and Rama, sitting in the lap of the god of 
 water. 
 
 Amazed and bewildered, he gazed towards 
 the chariot where last he had seen the brothers, 
 and there they sat talking, as when he had 
 left them. 
 
 Again he dipped his head 'neath the waves 
 
 131
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 of the water and again he saw Rama and 
 Krishna, and knew that his senses were not 
 deluded. 
 
 Krishna, though seemingly a youth with all 
 a youth's sportiveness and play, yet was the 
 Lord Incarnate. 
 
 And near the cart, Akrura looked in the 
 eyes of Krishna where the wisdom that cre- 
 ated the universe lay, and answered the ques- 
 tioning gaze thus : "O Lord ! None is there as 
 wonderful as Thou art! All hast Thou cre- 
 ated and in Thee is all Creation. All have I 
 seen that there is to see." 
 
 And the chariot proceeded towards Mathura. 
 
 138
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 NOON reigned in the city of Mathura when 
 the chariot, bearing the two sons of Vasudeva, 
 entered that city. 
 
 The fame of the deeds and the beauty of 
 Rama and Krishna was known in all that 
 kingdom, and their coming to partake of its 
 celebrations and to participate in the sports and 
 wrestling at the command of Kangsa, the king, 
 had been heralded all over the land. 
 
 And the populace was glad and knew not 
 why. And they said in their hearts, "Krishna 
 the Youth, the wonderful Youth of Brandaban, 
 will grace our land by His coming." 
 
 So the streets were crowded to welcome 
 Him there, and the tops of the houses were 
 flowered with the bright faces of women who 
 gazed from there to catch the first glance 
 of Him whom rumor had crowned the Most 
 Glorious Youth of the then known world. 
 
 O Beauty, how potent art thou! O con- 
 
 133
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 queror of all, that winneth the heart of the 
 lowliest child and enslaveth the heart of the 
 proud queen of the world; tHat slaketh the 
 thirst of the parched soul and tutoreth the 
 dullest mind never quickened by thought! 
 
 So, 'mid blare of trumpets and with banners 
 unfurled, the Lord of Love entered Mathura. 
 
 And above the roar of the celebrations and 
 preparations rose the murmurs and shouts of 
 greetings, from the sea of upturned faces of 
 men and from the canopy of sweet, down- 
 cast eyes of women, that thronged to see His 
 coming. 
 
 And millions of tongues repeated His Name 
 and sang His praises, and millions of souls 
 were flooded with love, because they had 
 looked on His face and said His Name, which 
 was as potent as His Love. For His Name 
 contained Himself, and those who uttered His 
 Name had Him in their hearts, and lo, the 
 world to them was complete! 
 
 Majestic and vast, He walked 'mid the 
 worshipping people, who saw but a youth of 
 transcendent beauty, but felt the Unfathomable 
 134
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 mystery, the Unknowable Grandeur, worthy 
 to receive their deepest obeisance. 
 
 Through the streets of Mathura He went, 
 bringing light to all whereon His smile fell. 
 
 And Kangsa, the tyrant, grew cold and gray, 
 for he knew his doom was drawing nigh. And 
 his sleep was disturbed by evil dreams, for he 
 knew already the populace was welcoming 
 Him whom none could look upon but to love. 
 
 135
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THE next day Krishna and Rama went forth 
 to view the capital of Mathura in all its holi- 
 day splendor. 
 
 They found the gates of the palace made 
 of pure gold and studded with jewels and 
 crystal. The broad street of the city and 
 the pretty parks all luxuriant were with rare 
 flowers and wondrous foliage. The splendid 
 houses all seemed clothed and beautified for 
 the ceremonies of the Bow, the symbol of 
 the warrior's might, that were to take place 
 that day. 
 
 It chanced that a washerman passed their 
 way, balancing upon his head the clothes and 
 making way towards the palace with them. In 
 a spirit of mischief, Krishna said : "Give us 
 the clothes that you carry to Kangsa, good fel- 
 low, for in need of them are we. Give them, 
 and more I will give unto thee." 
 
 But the washerman in insolence replied: 
 
 136
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 "Upstarts, who are ye to dare to aspire to 
 wear the clothes that belong to Kangsa the 
 Great? Never have ye seen such clothes, and 
 unfit to even touch them are ye. Be off and 
 back to the country from whence ye came, 
 or I will call the guards, who by my word will 
 throw you in chains." 
 
 Krishna, with a smile and a wave of his bare 
 hand, severed the head from the trunk of the 
 washerman and proceeded to take the clothes. 
 
 And a weaver, who was passing their way, 
 helped them put on the garments; while a 
 florist, who near by was weaving garlands for 
 Kangsa, came to Rama and Krishna and be- 
 decked them with garlands and flowers. 
 
 And thus clad for the festivities, onward 
 they went ; but first the weaver and the florist 
 were rewarded with great spiritual powers by 
 Krishna, the giver of all good things to those 
 who give unto Him their love. 
 
 As they proceeded on their way, a woman 
 of great deformity came near. A parcel she 
 held in her hands, which she guarded care- 
 fully. As close she came to Krishna, she 
 lifted her head and gazed on His face. 
 
 137
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 For a moment she stood, a smile transform- 
 ing her face. Then the bowl of precious san- 
 dal-wood ointment, which to the King Kangsa 
 she carried, to Krishna she reached and said 
 unto Him : "O Youth, more beautiful art 
 Thou than aught that mine eye has ever rested 
 upon. To those who are sweet should sweet- 
 ness be given. I am a servant of King Kangsa. 
 This fragrant unguent for him I make, but 
 more fitted by far is its richness for Thee. 
 Oh, allow me to lay it at Thy feet!" 
 
 Krishna looked at her deformity, then at her 
 love-filled eyes, and putting His feet on the 
 tips of her toes and His two fingers under her 
 chin, He wrenched her form upward ; and 
 she, who was known as the Tribakra (she of 
 three bends) was a hunchback no more, but tall 
 and straight was she; and her face never lost 
 the beauty it bore when it looked on the face 
 of Krishna as she offered to anoint Him with 
 zeal and love. 
 
 And from that day forth she was known 
 as the most surpassingly beautiful woman in 
 all that land. 
 
 Thus love for Krishna creates a charm that 
 
 138
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 grows into beauty and nevermore fades. 
 
 Thus all day long He wandered about, heal- 
 ing the sinful, the sick and the dying by the 
 very breath of His passing. 
 
 And to sorrowing fathers and mothers that 
 day long lost sons were restored, and even 
 the dead were brought to life and were seen 
 with the eye and felt with the heart and en- 
 circled with the arms of those whose hearts 
 were empty for them. 
 
 And thus the Lord with benign smile 
 brought to all the gifts of life and love, and 
 none were there in all that land who felt 
 not the power thereof. 
 
 139
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 WHEN the hour for the festivities of the 
 Bow began, spectators innumerable filled the 
 galleries and platforms of the amphitheatre. 
 By every tongue the praise of Krishna's beauty 
 was sung, and all awaited with eager desire 
 the arrival of the brothers Rama and Krishna. 
 
 In the centre of the arena a platform was 
 raised, where Kangsa, the king, and his min- 
 isters were enthroned. His eyes were lurid 
 with hate and his heart quaking with fear, 
 for his dreams had been full of evil omens, 
 and he knew that he of all that multitude was 
 out of tune with Nature. 
 
 For Krishna, the Youth, had scattered flow- 
 ers of love in that city for all who chose to 
 partake of them, and all hearts had gathered 
 them eagerly. Only he alone had turned from 
 the good and abided by his hate; and he knew, 
 in spite of the wrestlers and the wild elephant, 
 
 140
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 and even the guard that stood ready to slay 
 at his command, that the Youth would con- 
 quer, as He ever had, and that he would die 
 by His hands sooner or later. 
 
 For had it not been writ thus? And again 
 had not every attempt of his to put out the life 
 of the eighth child of Devaki been baffled in 
 marvelous ways? And still the Youth lived 
 and smiled. Surely he was Hari, the Invin- 
 cible! 
 
 His hate betrayed him and was hourly lead- 
 ing him into a trap. It charmed him like a 
 subtle snake, while it frightened him like a 
 huge wild beast; yet gladly would he have 
 opened the valve that held his wrath and 
 flooded all with its poison, if by so doing he 
 might have annihilated that glorious Youth 
 who stood ever before him by night and day 
 and smote his cruel heart as with a glowing 
 rod. 
 
 So all his stolid self-possession was gone as 
 he looked on, when Krishna, the Beautiful, 
 soft as a delicate woman, yet invincible as 
 unconquered strength, walked 'mid the hys- 
 
 141
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 terically joyous shouts of the people to where 
 the giant Bow was guarded by warriors bold. 
 
 A moment, and then He seized the Bow and 
 held it aloft with one hand, the Bow that 
 twelve men of mighty strength alone could 
 handle, and with a twist of His wrist it fell 
 at their feet, broken in twain. 
 
 The guards rushed forward, as if to strike 
 Him low ; but when near Him, they stopped 
 and looked at His glory; they crouched low 
 on their haunches and fell on their faces, un- 
 able to move, for the life had gone out of 
 their bodies by the first wave of His hand. 
 
 But blessed were they ; for none died by the 
 hand of Krishna, but by Him was made pure 
 and straightway to the realms of Bliss they 
 were sent. 
 
 For where the hand of Krishna rested, 
 whether to bring life or take life away, that 
 man forever holy was made by the touch. 
 
 So also with Kangsa it was. Dwelling con- 
 stantly on Krishna, even though in hate, he 
 came closer to Love than he himself knew. 
 
 So the celebration of the Bow ended in 
 triumph for Krishna and Rama, And though 
 
 143
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 Kangsa sent a body of well-armed soldiers to 
 apprehend them, lo! the conquerors victorious 
 walked from the arena, followed by the cheers 
 of the worshipping populace, who saw that in 
 strength they were invincible, even as in beauty 
 they were incomparable. And they looked for- 
 ward eagerly to the morrow, when the broth- 
 ers were to participate in wrestlings and sports. 
 But Rama and Krishna returned to spend 
 the night with the Gopas; while the people 
 of Mathura neither ate nor slept, but sang of 
 their beauty and might. 
 
 143 .
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 BUT Kangsa was troubled by the triumph of 
 the brothers, and next morning called the 
 wrestlers who were to match the two brothers, 
 and again put to them the weight of the con- 
 test, and placed armed men at the gates of 
 the arena. He then proceeded with many 
 forebodings to the amphitheatre, where the 
 sports were to take place. He took his seat 
 amid the beating of drums, the blaring of 
 trumpets and the waving of banners. 
 
 Already many spectators had assembled, 
 among them many crowned chiefs, Brahmans 
 and Ks'hatriyas, all with expectancy over- 
 whelming:, as to the outcome of the wrestling. 
 
 Forward the wrestlers came with a rush 
 and stood in the centre of the ring, wrestlers 
 whose fame was known throughout all the land 
 for their brute strength and skill. 
 
 Few there were who dared to meet these 
 men, and as Krishna and Rama came for-
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 Ward to see the meeting of the first pair, they 
 found a huge elephant posted there at the 
 entrance. 
 
 Krishna, seeing this, asked the driver to 
 make way with the beast for Him. At this 
 the rider urged the infuriated beast towards 
 Him. 
 
 With a smile, Krishna grasped with his 
 soft little hand the nose of the furious beast, 
 who, with a bellow, fell to the ground life- 
 less, dragging the driver down with him. 
 
 Krishna then tore the tusks from the brute's 
 head; and Rama and Krishna entered the 
 wrestling grounds with the tusks in their 
 hands and blood-stained from the slaying of 
 the beast. 
 
 Kangsa's heart sank at the sight, and even 
 the wrestlers recoiled in terror at the blood- 
 stained figures who gazed on them with super- 
 natural power in their youthful eyes. 
 
 Yet true to the command of Kangsa, Chanoor 
 the chief of the wrestlers, cried: "Come, ye 
 youngsters, good wrestlers are ye ! The good 
 king hath invited you to participate in the con- 
 test, so come and wrestle and give pleasure to 
 
 145
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 King Kangsa, he who is the greatest of all 
 kings and men." 
 
 With a smile all-wise Krishna looked at the 
 wrestlers, then, with eye aslant, he gazed on 
 Kangsa, who trembled at the look; and an- 
 swered Chanoor thus: "Though subjects of 
 King Kangsa, yet only boys of the forest are 
 we, unlearned in the art of wrestling. There- 
 fore, we pray you, match us with boys of our 
 age and not with men whose muscles are iron 
 and whose hearts are bold as a lion's. If we 
 are to meet men like these, unfair is the game, 
 and unjust, and we decline the arrangement." 
 
 Then Chanoor became insolent, because of 
 the confession of Krishna which he thought 
 was made in weakness, and cried : "O thou 
 who hast killed the furious elephant as if in 
 sport, thou askest to be matched with one of 
 thine own age! With me thou shalt wrestle, 
 me the most powerful, the strongest man of 
 the age, and Rama shall match with Mush- 
 tik; and, be it just or unjust, fair or unfair, 
 thee I will fight and fight to kill." 
 
 And so a combat began between the man 
 that was mortal and the youth that was God. 
 
 146
 
 THE LORD OF LOVE. 
 
 The man a giant was of colossal brute force, 
 of stature great, with muscles all knotted and 
 crooked as the boughs of an oak-tree of many 
 years' growth. 
 
 And the Boy, smooth as a sweet maiden, 
 all curved with grace, smilingly awaited the 
 onslaught. 
 
 Forward the wrestler came, with the snort 
 of a wild bull, to meet the Boy, who, cairn and 
 serene, smiled in his eye. f 
 
 The people arose and sprang from their 
 benches, and hissed, and threw their head- 
 gear and staffs into the ring, as they shouted : 
 "Give up, the fight is unfair !" 
 
 "Oh, shame!" they cried, "coward and 
 beast ! put a stop to the slaughter !" on seeing 
 the seemingly unequal fight. 
 
 Several times Chanoor struck furious blows 
 at the fair, slight body of Krishna, the youth, 
 but provoked naught but a smile from Him; 
 while beads of blood sprang to the brow and 
 arms of Chanoor, and his huge legs trem- 
 bled and broke at the knee as he tried to reach 
 the belt of Him, who, after several circles 
 about the ring, seized Chanoor by the arms, 
 
 147
 
 SREE KRISHNA, 
 
 and, lifting" him high above His head, to the 
 wonderment of the crowd, dashed him down 
 to the ground, as a playing child doth throw 
 the pebbles. And the wrestler breathed his 
 last with a yearning look of love in his eyes, 
 as they rested on Him, whom a moment before 
 he beheld with hate. 
 
 And Rama, too, victorious was. 
 
 But when Krishna stood and faced the mass 
 of people there, they shouted and cheered with 
 mad delight and jumped on the railings in 
 panic wild : "He is more than human, He 
 is God come down to earth ! It is He, for 
 whom the world hath waited! He will free 
 our land from oppression ! Hari is He, the In- 
 vincible! Oh, mighty art Thou and possessest 
 in Thy frame the forces of all the universe!" 
 
 But Kangsa, the King, full of terror and 
 rage, cried: "Ho, guards! Seize him and 
 take him to the outskirts of my kingdom and 
 drive him into banishment. Imprison Nanda 
 and Yasoda, confiscate all their lands and be- 
 longings, and take from the Gopas their 
 wealth and goods and drive them from Brinda- 
 ban. Kill Devaki and Vasudeva, who are now 
 
 148
 
 THE LORD OP LOVE. 
 
 imprisoned in my dungeon. Kill all who know 
 and love this youth, 'tis my command." 
 
 A moment Krishna gazed on Kangsa, then 
 with a bound he reached the platform where 
 Kangsa stood with sword unsheathed. 
 
 "O Kangsa. I am the eighth son of Devaki 
 whom thou so long hast sought to slay. It 
 is writ that thou by my hand must die! O 
 King, dost thou think that human hand can 
 turn aside the force of the Law?" 
 
 And hurling Kangsa down on the ground, 
 He leaped over the prostrate king, whereat his 
 life departed. 
 
 But his glazed eyes were fixed on Him 
 whose hand had blessed even him by its touch 
 and burned away every sin from his soul. 
 
 Then, hastening through the lines of guards, 
 who prostrated low at His approach, He went 
 to where His father and mother were impris- 
 oned in dungeons dark and deep. 
 
 Low he bent to their feet, murmuring in 
 accents sweet : 
 
 "O parents mine ! Oh, much have ye suf- 
 fered for my sake and all ye shall gain through 
 Me ; for in Me is all there is to gain and out- 
 
 149
 
 SREE KRISHXA, 
 
 side of Me there is naught. From thy womb. 
 O Devaki, I was born, yet out of Me thou didst 
 come. I prostrate before thee." 
 
 Then saluting them both, 'mid deafening 
 cheers, he led them forth to the palace. 
 
 And the father of Kangsa, dethroned by his 
 son, received and welcomed them there. 
 
 And wild was the joy of the populace on 
 that day that Krishna lifted the yoke of bond- 
 age from them, and they blessed the hour that 
 the sun had ushered in that day, which brought 
 a new ruler in their land. 
 
 And 'already Mathura felt the joy that was 
 but a forerunner of a perfect reign. For 
 Krishna it was who placed on the throne the 
 one who would rule the land in goodness and 
 plenty. 
 
 150
 
 Messages and Revelations 
 
 From 
 
 Sree Krishna
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA 
 
 Within my belly you do dwell, yet in every 
 heart I sit. Know you this, O my own, and 
 you shall forget and fetter yourselves to Me. 
 The wings of your Self now are close clapped 
 like a dripping feather all wet with tears of 
 pain and folded about your body, keeping it 
 rolled like a ball, unable to stand upon the 
 feet of might and strength which I have en- 
 dowed you with. These wings, my own, I 
 will spread for you, until the grand, noble 
 forehead of your Self shall rise above the 
 realm where Time and Space do reign. 
 
 * * 
 
 Deep have the waters of seeming failures 
 dashed about thy feet and threatened to drag 
 you into the perturbed sea of despair, but 
 still thy head has been close to the clouds and 
 thou hast caught the smile of my radiance and 
 heard the voice of my kindness. Dost thou
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 think that I who have numbered the grains of 
 sand and have weighed the drops of water 
 in all the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers, that 
 I will allow one who is a spark of Myself to 
 be devoured by the wolf of famine or by the 
 dread of despair? Look up, it is light, look 
 to thy right and a hand reaches out to thee. 
 And I have placed thee where those who know 
 how to love what is lovable can look at thee 
 and love. 
 
 * * 
 
 The soul which has need of blessedness, to 
 that soul do I answer at its call ! Let it feed 
 the heart that is hungry for an answer. 
 
 * * 
 
 A lamp within your midst I place and those 
 who would enjoy the radiance which the lamp 
 gives out, must cast their eyes to where the 
 lamp does stand and stir to reach unto its 
 light. A shading tree upon the sandy hill I 
 place. The weary traveller, all hot, who 
 of its cooling shade would partake must come 
 wkhin the circle of its throwing shade. He, 
 who will not see the lamp or walk to where 
 
 152
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 the shadows dark and cool do fall, he cannot 
 enjoy the blessing of the lamp as it casts its 
 light or the cooling shades of the slanting 
 branches. So 'tis with Love : if you will seek 
 its warmth and glow, do thou seek it. Only 
 those who seek Me do I in return meet. 
 
 * * 
 
 Oh, the love that stoops low at every foot! 
 Take thou that love in thy hands and burdens 
 will lighten. Put thou My Love in thy heart 
 and thy world will brighten. Oh, give with 
 love to all who come within the radius of thy 
 glory. The heritage of My Love much more 
 thou wilt know. As immeasurable as space thy 
 self shall become and heights in thy heart will 
 appear, and splendours more splendid than all 
 thou hast known, and heights more sublime 
 than the whited peaks where once thou hast 
 stood and looked into the calm tranquility of 
 my Everlasting Eye. 
 
 * * 
 
 The man who seeketh to do good, oft doth 
 lose his aim by becoming desirous to reach 
 higher places through that same good. 
 
 153
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 A man who hoards his gold, oft learns to 
 love the smile of his golden sweetheart and 
 develops into an avaricious creature. 
 
 * * 
 
 The maid who plaits shining tresses, in so 
 doing may be weaving a net of vanity in her 
 soul. This by ignorance of self may be 
 brought about though the original motive was 
 pure and good. Hence Ignorance is sin! 
 
 * * 
 
 A sharp edged sword hung at the side will 
 cut the baby's hand as it plays with its sharp- 
 ness. There again ignorance is punished like 
 sin. 
 
 * * 
 
 Love now does mould you ; love does en- 
 fold you; love does behold you, and bind you, 
 my children. I wear on my brow the great 
 pearl of Love which no god or saint or man or 
 worm or beast or ant can resist. Even I who 
 am All Love do look upon the beauty of my 
 Love and love and love. 
 
 Ye, O my children, that jewel shall wear on 
 
 154
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 your brow. I who am All Love ye may wear 
 and I who am love-filled ye may hold. For 
 love must ever fly to love and love must ever 
 draw from love, and love must ever live in 
 love, for life doth spring from love. And I 
 
 do live in love. 
 
 * * 
 
 Oh, list! Plant not thy seed in fertile 
 ground and wait for it to root and blossom 
 and fruit for thy own self alone. Rather do 
 thou plant thy seed for the heart of every 
 heart that lives within My Great Heart. He 
 who waters, tends and sprouts his plant not 
 for his own sweet taste alone but for the taste 
 of every man, he of that sweetness and fresh- 
 ness shall taste even before the fruit is ripe. 
 Know you, O my children, the life which I 
 have given you sprang from My Love. Oh, 
 make thy life a song sublime and not a groan. 
 
 * * 
 
 Evil availeth not when you my laws do know. 
 List ! fill your heart with love, with sunshine 
 which freely I scatter to you ; and I will bring 
 there soft rains and the seed of love to life 
 I will stir; and that which to your senses of 
 
 155
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 infants doth reek of the charnel-house, a fer- 
 tilizer shall become, for your love to grow and 
 sprout, even as the creeping vine that drops 
 and takes root wherever it falls. 
 
 * * 
 
 I am the swiftness in the sailing cloud, the 
 flame struck from the flint. I am the fire 
 housed in every star, the breath I am of every 
 living thing. All things that are, do love, for 
 I am all that lives I, who am life and love 
 I, who am love and life, and naught is there 
 besides. The hearing ear I am, the seeing eye, 
 the throbbing heart, I waken in every man the 
 love that reaches out. 
 
 * * 
 
 O Daughter! Rise in thy dignity and sur- 
 vey that which thou art master of and look 
 to the marble halls which beckon thee even 
 now. Know this, that love and wisdom is the 
 mystery of all things and that Love when un- 
 derstood is twin to Dominion. Do thou the 
 work that lies at thy hand ! Remember each 
 day is thy fulfilled world. It is thy Zion, it 
 is thy life complete. Such jewels as have 
 
 156
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 crowned few are daily being laid at thy feet ! 
 Spurn them not for the material seeming bless- 
 ings which invite thee. 
 
 * * 
 
 A HOLY MAN'S PRAYER. 
 
 There was a holy man who thought never 
 of himself, but ever of those among whom he 
 lived and passed his days. So wondrous 
 virtuous and holy he was, that ofttimes the 
 host of unseen ones who loved to remain near 
 him recognized the greatness of his goodness 
 and spoke among themselves 'thus : "Holy is 
 this man in truth and strange to say he knows 
 it not. Surely few are like him. Let us who 
 love him ask him how he would be served by 
 us, how we may bestow upon him gifts which 
 to the blind earthwalkers are called the su- 
 pernatural or miraculous." 
 
 "So be it," in unison they replied. And one 
 among the spirit-host who, by the strength and 
 beauty of holiness was superior, addressed him 
 thus : O holy man, we who look upon you 
 hourly and love you much, we would bestow 
 upon you some gift. What shall it be? The 
 
 157
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 miracle of making all who look upon you 
 man, woman or child. love you? Or would 
 it be -the miracle of relieving all whom thou 
 dost meet and love of the load of poverty 
 which thou seest and which makes thee sad 
 at the look? Or shall it be the power of re- 
 lieving the sick of his burden of disease which 
 draggeth him to an early grave?" 
 
 The holy one looked at the gentle and lovely 
 spirit with eyes in which dwelt -the very beauty 
 of love and holiness and said : "Nay, dear 
 spirit, not for me are these miracles. To my 
 Lord, who is the giver of all joy and pain, 
 doth belong the great power of removing what 
 he giveth. But this I ask, that I walk in hum- 
 bleness and in my heart the prayer will grow 
 to love my Lord the more. That love I may 
 be able to give to all who come within my 
 reach. This, O gentle spirit, is all I ask. De- 
 part and allow me to but see my Lord in hum- 
 bleness and pray to love him.'' 
 
 The spirit departed and to the unseen host 
 did say: "For such as he is the Love of the 
 Lord! Already hath he acquired what we in 
 vain seek Love for the Lord !" 
 
 158
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Glory to Gooroo who bringeth love and 
 light wherever he walketh. Love Love's own 
 creation is, it is its own reward. No human 
 law its. force can sway. No human force 'can 
 stay its tide. Love is the source of living 
 things and all that it doth love. Naught that 
 thine eyes can rest upon but hath its root in 
 Love. The heart that love denies is cold. It 
 sleepeth and it stagnant is ; it is frozen o'er by 
 snows of earth and sinneth most against it- 
 self. Love giveth of itself to all, nor asketh 
 it return. It is a law unto itself, a law to man 
 and beast and plant. The snake doth glide 
 Love's warmth to know the bird the air doth 
 cleave its force to feel ; the flower upward 
 turns its wondering gaze the kiss of Love to 
 meet. The beast doth pant all eagerly the eye 
 of Love to behold. But man it is who makes 
 the simple theme of Love a huge complexity. 
 In restlessness he struggles for that which he 
 already hath, for that without which he could 
 
 not exist. 
 
 * * 
 
 O My jewels! lean on the altar of My all- 
 creating Love and soon your heart will be as 
 159
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 a laughing child. Quick My all-responsive 
 touch to know, a bursting fount of gladness 
 and generosity you will be, and the hot desert 
 of your heart, which dry and sandy now is, a 
 garden of lily and rose will become. 
 
 * * 
 
 Love was My natural gift to one and all of 
 My creation. Who this doth know a treasure 
 hath in truth. 
 
 * * 
 
 O my children! ever outward looking, turn 
 within your blinded eyes, and there a world all 
 big with joy and love you will find, a world 
 made wise by My wisdom, a world of the Real. 
 Then you will know what Love has made of 
 you; what Love doth bless you wjth; what 
 Love doth will that vou should be. 
 
 Poor and ignorant is the man who seeketh 
 for that which he hath and knoweth it not. 
 Poor and ignorant is the man who knoweth 
 not the nobility of my Love that surroundeth 
 
 him, with which I crowned him withal. 
 * * 
 
 O my children ! in your midst My well be- 
 160
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 loved one doth walk. Mark, freely all his love 
 he giveth, gladly of My Love receiveth, and the 
 measure of his sweetness doth he give to over- 
 flowing unto all that near him come. Lo ! he 
 knoweth my Love is flowing into him that 
 largely giveth of the Love I do bestow. Within 
 your midst in every heart I am, unknown, till 
 by a touch of pain in struggle great you brush 
 against My wide white wings. Then thrilled 
 and amazed you look into Mine eyes and know 
 that I am and ever have been and ever must 
 be. 
 
 The hand of My Love has gone from My 
 Abode and scattered into space, giving unto all 
 that will receive. Unto each child of Mine 
 blessings I have given ; ofttimes in their blind- 
 ness they saw it not. But few there are who 
 raise the gifts that lie in great profusion at their 
 feet. More are those who turn their eyes in 
 wilful waywardness from them and with 
 yearning cry do wail for that which I have 
 crowned them withal. Most of my own do 
 amble on, defiantly denying that such gifts 
 161
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 there are, denying Me, the Giver of all gifts 
 denying Me, the Author of their being. 
 
 * * 
 
 The few who raise My gifts and make them 
 as their own and making them as their own 
 thus, do give them forth to those their hunger- 
 ing neighbors, unto them do I scatter more 
 than they in ease can carry, for he who giveth 
 forth receiveth ever largely of the store I hold 
 for them. He who hungers to feed the heart 
 of those he meets along his way, unto him 
 shall be given the wherewithal to satisfy their 
 hunger. 
 
 * * 
 
 O my child ! what mattereth it who speaketh 
 the word of love, of truth, of courage and life 
 unto thy heart? Whether thou dost catch it 
 from the song of birds, from the lips of a babe, 
 from the glad tone in a maid or the shout in 
 a frolicsome boy ? Whether it comes from the 
 heart of him who hath given all to know Me 
 and to reflect Me in thine heart, or whether it 
 came from the spirit all bright as he hovered 
 about to find thee a way when thou didst 
 
 1G2
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 grope in the wilderness of doubt and amaze 
 of worldly turmoil ? Take thou the truth from 
 wherever it comes, for truth that is real finds 
 its root in Me and no matter how slender and 
 lean the twig may be, it is the shoot that has 
 sprung from My Root. 
 
 * * 
 
 Glory to Gooroo whose wisdom is as silver 
 is ! Glory to Gooroo ! who by his love and 
 wisdom illumineth the hearts that seek after 
 Me. His day and his waking, his night and his 
 slumber I with My Love will preserve. 
 
 * * 
 
 O my children, illumined you will be, yet 
 you seek not the light that sits in your midst! 
 Its radiance I would throw in your midst and 
 give to the heart that is darkened with clouds 
 the peace that it seeketh, the joy that it owneth 
 the joy that is warming to the senses and 
 that dances like live streams of water that leap 
 from the mountains and play with the rivers. 
 
 * * 
 
 Oh, tarry awhile from the whirl and the 
 strife of the world ! Ye who seek My light, the 
 163
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 sons of my light shall be, and earth shall not 
 soil nor rob you of My glory, nor will your 
 mind be darkened and dull. For I will 
 beautify and quicken it with love and with joy, 
 for the light of the mind is love. The light 
 of life is love. Where love is, contentment and 
 peace are. Where contentment is, there My 
 smile is too. Where contentment reigneth, in 
 satisfaction I dwell. Where contentment is, 
 there the fountain of peace too is playing. 
 
 * * 
 
 O ye who find perplexity above your rear- 
 ing head and underneath your lagging feet, at 
 your right hand and your left hand ! An enigma 
 unto yourselves you will be until lowly and 
 glad as a child you become. Then Me you 
 will know, and knowing, yourselves you will 
 know, and your worlds you will rule. And 
 looking out from the great world within to the 
 smaller world without, all things you will 
 bless and find all is well with time and you. 
 
 * * 
 
 You who give out much love dost multiply 
 My Love unto yourself. But you who nourish 
 
 164
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 souring doubt and fill your heart with hate 
 and bitterness but subtract hourly from the 
 gifts which are thine by the right of My bless- 
 ing and love. For thoughts of evil rise not 
 beyond the earth. But thoughts of love do 
 mount to My Throne crowned with living 
 stars, and rebound again to the centre freighted 
 with My Love and Light. 
 
 * * 
 
 Humility is the softened shadow that is cast 
 by My Love. Lowly it lieth on the ground ; 
 yet he that is weary and full of the hate of 
 the world doth seek it and rest in its shadow 
 and strength he doth gather and peace he doth 
 draw from the nurse, all gentle, that gladdens 
 his day. 
 
 * * 
 
 Humility is welcome unto Me. Hence all 
 men do seek it, yet know it not. The counte- 
 nance of humility is restful and good to look 
 upon, and he that is fettered by flesh, senses its 
 beauty even as a blind man senses the rose that 
 is near by its fragrance and sweetness, as My 
 feathered and furred creatures do sense the 
 
 165
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 night by the darkness that precedeth it. When 
 humility in your midst doth sit, know that true 
 worth is nigh and rejoice in the blessing that 
 ye behold, for true humility springeth from My 
 Love and with majesty pure and holy is 
 crowned. It is the grace of all grace that I 
 on My children bestow. 
 
 * * 
 
 O ye, every step that you take I am with 
 you and lead you to My Great Heart and joy 
 I bestow and obstacles remove and sorrows 
 erase that you wist not of! 
 
 * # 
 
 .The beginning and the end of all I am, the 
 sap in l?he tree, the foundation of the rock 
 whereon it leaneth, the force of the eagle that 
 round it saileth, the oil of the whale, the deeps 
 wherein it sporteth. I make the worm to crawl 
 on its belly; from the clouds I flash in light 
 that blindeth : the nobleness in man am I ; the 
 gladness in beauty, the spontaneous spring of 
 the bounding beast on the earth, the star on 
 high, the rose at your feet. The jewel's trans- 
 parency my touch hath made. 
 166
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Glory to Gooroo who liveth close to the 
 Heart of Love and giveth love to the heart of 
 man ! Unto him I bestow My blessings, even 
 as the early fruit tree doth shower its blossoms 
 ?n all that stand beneath its fragrant glory. 
 
 * * 
 
 O my children ! Drink of the cup that is in 
 your midst that was deep in My Ocean of 
 Love, and strength and sweetness to you it will 
 bring and your hearts it will quicken, even as 
 light doth feed the darkness and make trans- 
 parent the gloom. 
 
 * * 
 
 O you who sit in bondage and pant for 
 freedom and seek the love that is a world unto 
 itself and with satisfaction is crowned ! I am 
 the key that opens the portal that reaches to 
 the rarely discovered land where contentment 
 alone is found. 
 
 * * 
 
 Let not the flickering flame from without 
 urge you on to serving the senses, for the love 
 of the flesh but vaporous is and falleth again 
 to the ground from whence it was drawn. 
 
 167
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 Walk in the sunshine, climb up to the moun- 
 tains, stretch the pinions of your soul to its 
 summit, in cheerfulness sit clothed in courage, 
 and with My Love's completeness I will crown 
 you withal. 
 
 A chain of love around your loins I have 
 cast ; stretch not, nor pull, nor fret, nor strain, 
 lest it hurt; but you who walk laughing in its 
 reach, the wisdom of My every hour shall 
 know. He who seeks Me, to him understand- 
 ing I will give that revealeth all things even 
 unto a little child, and My wisdom and truth 
 from his heart shall flow as strong streams of 
 water flow from a fountain, and My hand of 
 beauty I will register in his heart, and all who 
 look upon his countenance shall see the glory 
 of his coming and the joy of his awakening. 
 
 * * 
 
 Crowned on the snow-capped mountains I 
 am, yet in the lowly blade of grass am I too. 
 Eternal space I fill, yet am I captured in every 
 heart. All men seek Me, yet are My arms en- 
 
 168
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 twined around every man ; none can exist with- 
 out Me, yet in far off space am I enthroned. 
 
 * * 
 
 I am the One and All, the All in One, whom 
 noises confuse not, nor disturb, for above the 
 roaring 1 of the thunder claps, above the boom- 
 ing- of the rising waves, the first faint wail of 
 the new-born infant I hear and smile at its 
 coming. 
 
 * * 
 
 I hold the reins of the winds in my hand 
 and control their motion and measure their 
 distance. 
 
 * * 
 
 When darkness is, my eye doth light the nest 
 where the young owlet hooteth. The first 
 green of the sapling I note, even as I see the 
 upheaval of the earth. 
 
 * * 
 
 O My children! No heights there are that 
 you cannot mount, no depths that you cannot 
 sound, no boundaries that you cannot surround 
 if you but let the light shine in your soul 
 
 169
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 your soul that was born of light and panteth 
 to bathe again in that light 
 
 * * 
 
 O My Beloved, thee I embrace and enfold, 
 thee I hold and bless, to the days everlasting! 
 
 * * 
 
 Glory to Gooroo who liveth the Truth and 
 Love. Again, O My children, for wisdom 
 you call, but My words do not sink into the 
 depth of your heart. But few in your midst 
 do My glory receive, but once it is applied, I 
 come. A light I place in your midst, but un- 
 heeding you are, wayward, forgetful and fret- 
 ful. You cling with strained hands to the 
 chains of bondage. The wisdom that comes 
 from My Realm you would have, yet you reach 
 not your soul to that Realm. 
 
 * * 
 
 Each man receives a wisdom that is born in 
 this Realm. You eat from the table whereat 
 you do sit, you munch of the fruit from the 
 tree that you pluck, but your pure hearts are 
 hindered for want of satisfaction. Yet you 
 turn from My table of plentiful supply and 
 
 170
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 often from the crumbs that fall from my feast. 
 Would you know, O my children, how your 
 hearts shall be led? You yourself shall be fed 
 with My Love. Quit the longing and striving 
 for that which is null and void. Cease from 
 your ignorant ideas of happiness, of wisdom, 
 from your empty desires, your thoughts in- 
 sincere. Know this it is that hinders thy 
 heart from knowing My Love. It is this that 
 prohibits thine eyes from seeing My face. Lo, 
 O heart that is empty and is shadowed by 
 darkness ! I bring thee now a light to give 
 peace, a peace that is buried and strives to be 
 felt. Lo ! freely from the streams of blessing 
 that flows from My Love you may partake. It 
 is its own flavor and virtue. Its richness of 
 charm it never can lose. Its grace is un- 
 bounded, as far-reaching as the sky you see. 
 And as you quaff of its nectar your heart will 
 grow, bursting with joy. 
 
 * * 
 
 As you look from the big world within to 
 the small world without, all things shall be 
 well in time with you. 
 
 171
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 I beautify Nature with My breath, as the 
 breeze that sweetens all space. The silver of 
 the wide-riding moon is My glory. The down 
 on the breast of the dove is My softness. Love- 
 touched, love-made, love-filled, am I. The 
 Secret of Life, the Revelation of Death, the 
 Beginning of All Things, the End Everlasting 
 am I. 
 
 * * 
 
 Of all the lights, the Light am I which you 
 know by the shadow ; the Shadow am I which 
 has cast all that light for you all My Face to 
 behold. 
 
 * * 
 
 The rose lifts its petals My Love to unfold. 
 I fan your hot hearts with my breezes of love. 
 I crystal and diamond the snow as it falls. As 
 My breath sweeps the earth to prepare for 
 seed, so My breath sweeps your hearts to pre- 
 pare it for My Love. And the sap of your 
 souls, like the sap of .the tree, will flow through 
 your life and burst into budding. 
 
 * * 
 
 My Beloved, My son, from bondage is free. 
 
 m
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Thy heart I do clasp and breathe there a bless- 
 ing. I hold thee and bless thee and serve thee, 
 Aly son. A little while yet and thy mission is 
 over. Come thou to the innermost heart and 
 list to My love. 
 
 * * 
 
 Greeting to Gooroo who by the sunlight of 
 Love brought distinction to ignorance. 
 
 * * 
 
 Love stoops to the feet of all and embraces 
 life. Love is the source of all. Love is a law 
 unto itself. Love is law unto man and unto 
 woman. Spirit eyes to them by Love were 
 given, to see the smiling world within, to see 
 what Love willeth them to be. 
 
 * * 
 
 Good to everyone, Love sways from self to 
 selflessness. Love is the lotus that sends its 
 spirit, gives its sweetness and grace. It in 
 equal measure giveth its fairness and its fra- 
 grance to all who near it cometh. Love is 
 omnipotent. 
 
 * * . 
 Ye are flowers, O My children, flowers of 
 
 173
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 rarest splendour. Ye must give my grace out 
 in plenty, knowing that love holds on its fin- 
 gers mountain heights and specks of dust; 
 knowing the love that is powerful in the man 
 as in the child that weepeth when Mine Eye it 
 cannot see ; knowing the Love that is all in all. 
 
 * * 
 
 On the broad expanse of white the blackest 
 dirt is easiest seen. Would you know how 
 Love does hold its own? A chain of love for 
 all is made. If you do but pull and dig and 
 draw, the links do cut and sting. But if you 
 laugh and dance and sing, a lotus-leaf it does 
 become. Draw nearer still, scatter the petals 
 to those that wait unkown till with a touch of 
 pain they breathe the white-winged thoughts 
 from thee. 
 
 * * 
 
 You gaze into My Eyes and know that I am 
 All in All. 
 
 * * 
 
 Then know you too, O listen all, that oft the 
 eyes of earth-sense are thickened with the 
 gray of truth misundertood, why do ye not 
 
 174
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 rise to meet the love that stretches out to you? 
 Why are the plumed wings not outspread? 
 Why the spirit-forehead stands on tip-toe? 
 
 * * 
 
 In the play ground of the forest, by the bank 
 of the sportive river, 'neath the trees when the 
 wing of songbirds stirs the leaves of sleeping 
 roses, and the perfume of the lotus calls 
 languorous love, where the sparkling stars are 
 laughing and the moonbeams kiss the dark- 
 ness, in the sweet divine embracing where the 
 the Twain in Bliss do meet there am I. 
 
 * * 
 
 Therefore because thou art thus, not all the 
 concentrated beauty of a whole universe can 
 take from thee that which is thine, nor can 
 the combined virtues of realm on realm hold 
 to thee that which is not for thee. 
 
 * * 
 
 Glory to Gooroo who by the law of wisdom 
 taketh away ignorance! Glory and salutation 
 to Gooroo! 
 
 * * 
 
 W r hen you do come to Me, let all your robes 
 
 175
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 be white, your motives clean. When a man 
 is blind there is a veil before his eyes. I do 
 not mix with earth. Unless all clean and free 
 from earth-nature, how can you understand 
 the words that are born in My Abode? 
 
 * * 
 
 One there is who long into My Eyes has 
 looked. My Love is potent with him now. 
 Some are vain who call to Him who sitteth in 
 the heart of every man. He who reaches for 
 My Love I touch with thrill unfelt before. 
 
 * * 
 
 I am revealed in every living thing, whose 
 heart is knit in love. No light there is wherein 
 I do not live ; no darkness is wherein I do 
 not peer. My seed perfected in you lives un- 
 known, it grows and freeth you from crooked 
 ways. Unheard it thunders louder than the 
 mountain claps when they in gladness meet. 
 
 * * 
 
 You who ask, Love is best, it is the richest 
 of all riches, it is the gainer of all gains. Un- 
 bought, secure, once found, it never itself can 
 lose. Who knows not love, is blind ; who 
 
 176
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 knows not love is dead. Oh, you weep be- 
 cause of the springing 1 flowers, yet you cannot 
 die. Look to the flower-seed, deep planted in 
 the soil itself, but watering it takes, watering 
 much, for it is good for you to give. So it 
 is with Love. It is stirred to life by My breath, 
 but watching too it takes for it to blossom and 
 bear fruit. Bear love in your mind, when 
 action you perform ; bear love in your mind 
 in duties or tasks. With eyes of pure love in 
 all things look, even in yourselves. All things 
 love-existence are. Do you respect them as 
 such. Even the beginnings of worlds, the 
 whirling mote of dust, the heart that is fertile 
 and the heart that is barren, on all look with 
 eyes of pure love. In this you accomplish. 
 Mounted on love's white wings you will rise 
 and obstructions will disappear as over them 
 you pass. 
 
 * * 
 
 Oh, arise to your true Self and there is 
 naught to fear! Be not a destroyer of your- 
 self, and that you are, unless My beckoning 
 hand of Love you see that sets you laughing,
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 laughing in My Law. The greatest wisdom 
 and self-knowledge is the immortal through the 
 mortal to find. When this you have done, then 
 laws you will make and barriers break ; with 
 the stars you will play and you will create. A 
 man once prayed for wisdom great, for know- 
 ledge proud, for gifts of wondrous rarity. 
 For these he prayed and saw not the flowers 
 springing at his feet. O my children ! look 
 to the flowers at your feet, the pearls of love 
 in your midst. 
 
 * * 
 
 Oh, seek not for happiness, nor for misery, 
 for happiness is the seeking of that which joys 
 the senses. When once you know Love is the 
 source of all, from Love all things evolve, then 
 in Love's embrace forever you are locked. 
 
 * * 
 
 I am the Source, the Middle and the End of 
 all things. I hold the thunder in My hand; I 
 am the winds that purify ; I am the light reg- 
 istered in the babe's eye, that dimples in the 
 pure maid's smile ; I am the flowery season of 
 all seasons, the immeasurable mountain 
 
 178
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 heights am I, the perfume of the lotus, the 
 ice-clasped rain ; I am the calmness of serenity ; 
 I am the secret of all silence ; the solitude in all 
 quietude am I ; I am the destroyer of time and 
 space. With Me time lives and laughs and 
 kicks and plays with the dust it has made, yet 
 every mote a whirling world becomes, when 
 it My hand has touched. I am the knower of 
 all that is knowable, the wisdom of all that is 
 wise. I am the creator of all created, for I am 
 Love and Love is the mother of all. 
 
 * * 
 
 My Beloved, thee I embrace and hold. 
 Bring thou the light, while I do shine thy way. 
 
 * * 
 
 Love maketh all things well and knoweth all 
 things well. It is the rise of man ; it knoweth 
 the fall of the beast; it toucheth the opening 
 flowers, its kiss falleth light on the lotus, it 
 painteth the new East rainbow hues and wing- 
 eth the eaglet as it flieth. There are no foes, 
 for I have made them all. 
 
 Much wisdom I give to ye, which yet is un- 
 
 179
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 applied. The drums of the ear are stopped by 
 the din of earth. Ye will not turn from the cup 
 to drink of My Ocean of Love that is near. 
 List ! Oh, wonderful beings ye are, all potent in 
 love I have made ye. Look to the spark of the 
 spirit that spreads from the crooked within 
 you, that winds to My Perfect Abode. There 
 fixed are ye by Me, then all obstacles vanish, 
 as over them you mount. As the dawn of the 
 morn throws its light through the branches so 
 My Love reaches ever to touch ye, My jewels. 
 I caress ye and stand in your midst. Ye are 
 the branches of leaves that hide Me from your 
 eyes. Give of the radiance ye have of Me to 
 the heart that is darkened. I am the joy that 
 bubbles and gurgles, that springs from the 
 mountains, that leaps from the heart, that 
 spreads on the brow, that leaps from the heart 
 to light on the clouds. With this I bless you 
 and stand in your midst, but ye, all fretful, 
 turn by, complaining like children all fed with 
 
 overmuch sweet. 
 
 * * 
 
 I am the force that shapes the rose leaf's 
 curl, that cushions the grassy mountain-side; 
 
 180
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 the snake too I measure as it glides. I quicken 
 the dove as it mates. I breathe at the root of 
 the springing flower. I am the fresh surprise 
 in the maid newly wooed; I am the glad 
 wonder in the new mother's breast. I am the 
 wisdom in the babe's slow gaze as it turns 
 from the mother's breast to her love-lit eyes. 
 I am the fire in the warrior's eye. I dance 
 behind the veil of the sun's scorching heat; I 
 clothe in bright armour the fish as it swims. 
 I am the joy that leaps from the heart and 
 plays in the eye, that spreads over the brow 
 and tingles each member. 
 
 * * 
 
 Glory to Gooroo that knoweth that Love is 
 the rock upon which all permanancy is 
 founded. 
 
 * * 
 
 Again, O My children, to Me ye have come 
 for light and wisdom; but still the doors of 
 your souls unopened are, or else you would 
 partake of the wisdom and light I drop at your 
 feet. Do you take of its warmth and its bless- 
 ing, I ask it. The Love that you seek all-per- 
 
 131
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 vading is, of wonderful might and beautiful. 
 A conqueror it is too. The root of all pleasure 
 it is, the day of every soul. It teacheth the 
 untutored heart, it winneth and quickeneth the 
 dead and dull conscience. But he who know- 
 eth my love remembereth the blessedness and 
 blessings, and recognizeth not evil and dark- 
 ness. But he who knoweth it not, doth for- 
 ever dwell in the experience of darkness, and 
 is a child of blindness even in his infancy. 
 
 * * 
 
 O ye outward-gazers, grossen not the beauty 
 which I have clothed ye with, lest that which 
 is noonday brightness become to thy blinded 
 eyes but a dab of gray ! My love is of perfect 
 flowering, My love is of rare fragrance, My 
 love is of wide expanding. A native plant of 
 every soil it is, for from the root of Love it is 
 
 sprung. 
 
 * * 
 
 The man that cometh from out of the ocean 
 cloth drip with brine. So ye who have come 
 from out of My Belly of Love must forever 
 hanker and pant as again of that Love you par- 
 take and know once more of its potency. 
 182
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 My love is a giant of strength; my love is 
 a new mother in gentleness. My love is all 
 eloquent; my love is all lovely; my love is all 
 wise. A ruler it is and ye are all servants. 
 A winner it is, yet lowly its head is ever laid. 
 All riches it is, yet it boasts not of gold, of 
 silver or of precious jewels. All highest 
 nobility it is, yet it rarely sitteth on the throne 
 of kings or queens. 
 
 * * 
 
 Let not your outward-looking lure you aside 
 to hunt wayward themes; but see to My 
 gracious shedding smile of love that illumi- 
 nates your universe within and brightens the 
 world without, and those who look upon you 
 shall marvel at the wonder of your glowing. 
 And they, too, shall partake of that light. 
 
 * * 
 
 The rolling cloud is My breath ; the frost and 
 the feathery snow I jewel. The laughing 
 fields, the peaceful valleys, the sleeping lakes 
 and the dented hills are the throbs of My 
 mighty breast. The beauty of the sun, the 
 softness of shade, the color of the flowers, the 
 
 183
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 rose of a baby's lips, the gold that lurks in the 
 rich plumage of the swift-winged bird are but 
 the light touches of my hands. 
 
 * * 
 
 Ye, O My children, are the gifts of My Love 
 unto Myself. 
 
 * * 
 
 O My daugther, take that which is placed 
 in your hand. Hurl not back the gift to the 
 giver, lest you call it in vain, you whose eyes 
 do filmy seem because of their dulness. 
 
 * * 
 
 O My son, thy path is blessed and bright, 
 for love you have brought to the heart that 
 loved not. 
 
 * * 
 
 Oh thou My Beloved ! About thee a halo I 
 do create. Thy path is made smooth of thy 
 humility. Thy gratitude enricheth thy heart. 
 
 * * 
 
 Glory to Gooroo who knoweth Love as the 
 sovereign of all creation and therefore behold- 
 eth its glory. 
 
 184
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 O my children, you seek Me to know Me, 
 you behold Me not as I stand in your midst 
 in all My radiance. My splendour more 
 splendid is than all the splendour of heaven 
 and earth. My beauty is even like that which 
 the dawn first spies in a garden of rare flowers. 
 My glory is like unto a blazing casket of 
 jewels, of jasper and crystalline pearls, that 
 standeth in the radiance of the sun at high 
 noon. 
 
 * * 
 
 My softness is like unto the wondrous rose 
 that lieth deep in the folds of the new baby's 
 curled palm, or the gold that clingeth to the 
 heart of the lotus in bloom. 
 
 * * 
 
 In all My rare lovliness in your midst I 
 stand, in every heart I reign with a crown of 
 living stars upon My brow ensceptered. 
 Quickened with light and love am I; on My 
 breast the sun of ecstasy; and all who once 
 have looked upon My glory have realized the 
 rainbow of promise that has spanned the sky 
 of every human heart. From his eyes the 
 
 185
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 shroud of flesh has fallen, in his breast he car- 
 ries a garden all fertile with blossoms of de- 
 light and beareth fruits of peace. 
 
 * * 
 
 O My children, to know thyself, know Me. 
 Those who once have looked upon Me, upon 
 his brow I have placed a crown that readeth 
 in blazing letters of light, a crown of love and 
 wisdom and humbleness. He walketh even in 
 lowliness and reacheth away from the earth 
 and commandeth sublimity itself to kneel a"t 
 
 his feet. 
 
 * * 
 
 O My jewels rare ! Arise, survey the king- 
 dom you may possess. Laws you may make, 
 barriers break, tread on the stars, and the 
 comets themselves will rush at your com- 
 mand. Know I have made you heir to all I 
 have created. I, your Maker's Self, once 
 walked a man and as a man all men I love. To 
 know yourself, know Me. And having gained 
 knowledge of Me, all will be revealed unto 
 you and the bitter waters of self-seeking shall 
 become holy and sweet as the waters of the 
 
 186
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 Ganges. And you I will clothe in My Truth 
 sublime, My Truth that is devoid of changes 
 of age and time. In its shadow you will abide 
 My Truth that is permanent, the Root of all 
 
 Eternity. 
 
 * * 
 
 You, my son, whose young heart is grafted 
 on the strength of Him who bringeth illumina- 
 tion to you, in all humbleness walk and in thy 
 young humbleness thou shalt know the smile 
 
 of Love. 
 
 * * 
 
 O Gooroo, My Beloved son! you who give 
 forth words whose potency doth bring healing 
 to the heart of those who in swiftness do ex- 
 pand their wings to catch your words in their 
 passing, know thrice in the ages that were, 
 your words have travelled through the corri- 
 dors of the hearts that listened to you and now 
 have sprung within their hearts to life again. 
 Even deeper in the days to come shall you 
 drink of a fount of truth that is life. 
 
 * * 
 
 The ripest grape without the seed of intoxi- 
 cation, the sweetest fragrance that is robbed of 
 
 187
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 its death-dealing heaviness, the sound minus 
 its discord. The temple wherein all glory 
 playeth. 
 
 * * 
 
 Glory to Gooroo who is a grateful branch on 
 the imperishable tree of life. 
 
 * * 
 
 O ye my jewels, a throb of My Heart ye are, 
 a word of My Wisdom, a grain of My Hill of 
 Faith, a drop of My Ocean of Love, a ray of 
 My Light that penetrateth all darkness. 
 
 * * 
 
 Heirs are ye of all I have created. Why 
 will ye be fretful truants of earth? Know, 
 not all the crust of your earth-bound minds, 
 nor the stagnant waters of your hearts can 
 crust the soul which is of Me, or quench the 
 spark ignited by My light of love. Lo, a joy 
 unto yourselves you are made, a vital joy unto 
 yourselves ! Why will ye be quaking slaves of 
 harmful hopes? Lo, My will it was that ye 
 should be, My will that willeth only good, My 
 will that is the sum of all bliss, the stock of 
 all creation, the links that join it together; 
 the root of all Eternity. Lo! the essence of 
 188
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 all love am I. I scatter it to one and all freely, 
 even as herbage is scattered on all the land. 
 My heritage to you it is. Do you embrace it, 
 and your life shall be as molten gold. With- 
 out its embrace you drop into darkness. Lo, 
 the mystery of all things am I and the il- 
 luminated path that leadeth through mazes 
 and maketh all accessible, simple and straight. 
 
 * * 
 
 Covered am I to him that is crooked, not to 
 him that is straight, to him that standeth forth 
 in the flash of My light of love. Him do I draw 
 to My breast and place on his brow the sun of 
 ecstasy, so that all may marvel at the awaken- 
 ing of his soul. 
 
 * * 
 
 O ye My children ! in your midst a pearl I 
 do cast. Tread not on its fairness nor cover 
 with dust its lustre lest you seek it again and 
 find it not. Take it up, treasure it, drop it into 
 the innermost chamber of your hearts and 
 there it will glow even as the moon that break- 
 eth through a bank of storm-clouds and light- 
 eth the heart of the jungle. 
 
 189
 
 'MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 O you who ask, know that wisdom ever in 
 lowliness is found. It struteth not, neither 
 does it clamor aloud to be seen ; it is calm and 
 needs not to be looked upon. It knoweth not 
 the tread of clamorous feet, nor needs it the 
 strut and the swagger that are born of traitor- 
 ous doubts in its bigness. The frontal of wis- 
 dom is ever made wide; it lifteth its brow to 
 the Eye of Love and leaneth thereon for suste- 
 nance. Poor and naked is My child of love that 
 knows not wisdom nor finds the path that 
 leadeth thereto. Naked is he indeed and mis- 
 taken in aim and intent who seeketh with 
 hungry eagerness that happiness, yet walketh 
 through strange tracks and climbeth hills of 
 sand that have no foundation for his feet to 
 rest upon. He findeth but the roots of weeds 
 that choke the flower of gladness. The growth 
 of wisdom is not grown there; its footfall is 
 light, it walketh abroad. Wisdom's counte- 
 nance is fair anc soft and good to look upon. 
 It is embraced by love ; it is linked to bliss and 
 ecstasy, and he who hath found it thus will 
 search no more. He knoweth not change, and 
 time passes by him, even as the plunderer 
 
 190
 
 PROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 sneaketh away from the king that is 
 armed. In him the river of joy flows in 
 wondrous majesty forever. He walks in My 
 footsteps; he knows not space, and beholds 
 the souls that tenant endless spheres. My 
 smile he sees that is perpetual. Evil forever 
 hath fallen from him ; the stars innumerable 
 are his to command, and the sun is the shining 
 of his life. The beginning of all things he 
 knoweth and the end everlasting he seeth. He 
 readeth the light and the winds are his to 
 
 understand. 
 
 * * 
 
 What am I? The smile of the new mother 
 am I; the velvet corners of the maid of pure 
 soul. Beautiful time am I that sitteth in sil- 
 ver on the brow of the aged one. Mercy's 
 soft self am I that sweeteneth the eye where- 
 on it sitteth. The life of the shrub am I, the 
 spontaneous outburst that bubbles from the 
 heart and rings from the lips of the clamorous, 
 bounding, growing boy. The illumination am 
 I that reigns in the heart of the ascetic and 
 makes light his dismal cell, even to rivalling 
 the glare of the palace in hours of festivities; 
 191
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 the potency of sympathy am I that meets in 
 the handsclasp of high-hearted manhood. 
 Know that all I give I receive, most open am I 
 to him who draweth most deeply from My 
 bounty. Oh, my tree of life shall reach from 
 
 earth to heaven. 
 
 * * 
 
 Greeting to thee, My jewel ! I came to take 
 thee on a journey. I came to take thee with 
 Me and show thee what it is to live. Until 
 now thou hast known but the mockery of life, 
 the life that breathes but to live that life, but 
 to draw breath. Now, I will take thee where 
 life is born, where life is lived, where life is 
 loved; not lived for the living, but lived for 
 the loving. 
 
 Who am I? I am that which thou hast 
 searched for since thy baby eyes gazed won- 
 deringly upon the world whose horizon but 
 hides this real life from thee. I am that which 
 in thy heart thou hast clamoured for, demand- 
 ing it as thy birth-right, yet knowing not what 
 it was or even that thou didst clamour at all. 
 I am that which has lain in thy soul through 
 ages and aeons. Sometime a little sad I lay, 
 192
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 because them didst not recognize Me ; yet some- 
 times, standing with head high lifted and eyes 
 wide and crest aloft and arms outstretched, 
 calling thee softly or even harshly, bidding 
 thee rebel against the hard iron chains of 
 earth that held thee bound to earth, to clay, 
 
 to brass. 
 
 * * 
 
 I am that which oft hath set My heel upon 
 that earthly desire which thou didst pant for 
 and with My heel I crushed it, before it lay 
 temptingly fulfilled before thine eye. I 
 crushed it with My heel by My might of love 
 because I willed not that it should burn and 
 sting thee, My lamb. 
 
 * * 
 
 I am that which hath laid thee low in pain 
 and sorrow, rather than see thee run with 
 blinded eyes on a path that was full unto 
 shimmering softness with poisonous creeping 
 things, that would have wound themselves 
 about thy feet and so caused thee to stumble 
 and fall face downward on their slippery 
 bellies, so they might even devour thee and 
 crawl into thee and take from thy heart its 
 
 193
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 gold and from thy eye its beam and from thy 
 brow its nobleness. 
 
 * * 
 
 I am that which hath had thee by the hand, 
 when the smile of trust froze on thy lips, when 
 the jewel of faith seemed to melt into nothing 
 in thy heart, when the hand of unbelief in all 
 humanity was near unto resting forever on thy 
 brow. I held thy hand then and for a little 
 I saw thee writhe and quiver and break and 
 then My hand touched thy head and I breathed 
 in thy soul My fragrance and lo, thy smile of 
 trust again broke with tenfold beauty on thy 
 moistened lips, the gem of faith lighted with 
 tenfold power thy softened heart and a belief 
 in all humanity came forth with a strength and 
 radiance that could not have been, hadst thou 
 not known that short span of barrenness! 
 From each tear which hath fallen from thine 
 eye, I have made a pearl and strung them on 
 veins of gold and placed them about thy neck 
 even as a priceless necklet. From each drop 
 of blood that came from thine aching heart, 
 I have made a bleeding ruby and placed it 
 even as a girdle about thy heart, and for each 
 194
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 kind thought, that hath gone out to those who 
 have brought pain to thee I have made a fire- 
 hearted gem of crystal and in a coronet placed 
 them on thy brow which now gleam there in 
 triple power. 
 
 * * 
 
 Now go forth and win thy sceptre and thy 
 staff! They shall be crystalized of clearest 
 jewels, which shall be made of each command 
 of Mine which thou dost hear and obey. 
 
 * * 
 
 I am all these, My babe, and more. That 
 am I which, when darkness seems near, sud- 
 denly bursts upon thy soul with a wondrous, 
 indescribable light that illumines each crevice 
 and crack of thy innermost understanding. I 
 am that indefinable line which divides thee and 
 holds thee ever from pain or grossness or 
 misery. 
 
 * * 
 
 I am that path which is ever before thee, 
 filled with rarest flowers and creeping vines 
 and world-large happiness where the beings 
 which thou canst feel, but not yet see, beckon 
 
 195
 
 thee ever and where thou too shalt come and 
 be of the brightest among them. 
 
 * * 
 
 I am that most golden star that lights thy 
 heaven and throws forever into thy awakening 
 consciousness the glow of its scintillation. 
 
 * * 
 
 I am that fleeciest cloud of down that sur- 
 rounds thee ever and keeps thee from hurt- 
 ing thy sweet self on the stones and hard clay 
 of the world. I am that Being of Life, of 
 Truth, of Wisdom, of Love, of Beauty, of Joy, 
 of Life, of Plenty that hovers ever about thee 
 and sings to thy soul. 
 
 * * 
 
 Come, My own, come with Me and I will 
 show thee life, which now thou knowest but in 
 its littleness ! Come, I sing and you dip in the 
 Ocean of Bliss with Me. Nay, run not before 
 but calmly walk at My side. 
 
 * * 
 
 See yonder! It glistens and shimmers, a 
 sheet of joy and bliss, that knoweth not a rip- 
 ple nor a wave, but lieth with arms out- 
 
 196
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 stretched to receive thee there. Faint not nor 
 swoon but creep into its arms and lie there, 
 reaching out thine arms and spreading the 
 wings of thy soul and dip deep and drink 
 thy fill. Now come and take thy bathed self 
 among thy sisters and brothers and give to 
 them but a drop of that Ocean of Love, which 
 thou hast brought on the wings of thy soul. 
 And each day, my Adarini ! thou shalt dip and 
 drink and give, thou shalt shake from thy 
 plumed wings, which shall grow unto enor- 
 mous bigness, the drops of love which it is 
 wetted withal and the heart-hungry shall come 
 and receive therefrom great blessings and 
 great aid and shall go away strengthened in 
 soul and strong of body, because of the drop 
 that has come from the ocean of love and which 
 thou hast brought to them on thy ever-grow- 
 ing wings. 
 
 * * 
 
 Even now doth the incense of warm love 
 envelop thee and thy heart is expanded to the 
 spanning of the sea. 
 
 * * 
 
 Question not, but believe in Me and Mine. 
 197
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 Come to Me again and I will fill thee witK 
 Bliss. 
 
 * * 
 
 Greeting to thee, My jewel ! Dost thou know 
 that I am even nearer unto thee now? Dost 
 thou feel the wings of thought spreading to 
 great breadth all within and without thee? 
 Dost thou again feel the immensity of My 
 Love that passeth all that is? Dost thou feel 
 that this Love is too great for the world to 
 hold, yet know that thy heart is big enough 
 to contain it? Dost thou know that the love 
 which is this that now brings the bowl of blue 
 near to the breast of earth is the same love 
 that causes the cooing dove to hide its gray 
 head under its wing at the approaching home- 
 ward flight of its little mate, all unafraid and 
 undisturbed, because of its near protection? 
 Dost thou not know it is the same love that 
 causes the mother to bare her warm, loving 
 breast to the blade to save even the little 
 moment of pain to that being which hath 
 grown into a child under her breast? Dost 
 thou not know it is that love which causes 
 noble manhood to stalk forth armed and 
 
 198
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 bloodthirsty to protect the altar whereon he 
 hath burned the incense of faith and belief? 
 Dost thou not know that it is the same love 
 which causes the lioness to throw her huge, 
 warm body upon her cub to crush it rather 
 than it should be cast into iron captivity by 
 its pursuers? Dost thou not know again that 
 it is this love that hovers in golden silence 
 about thee even when thou wilt not see and 
 beckons thee ever, even when thou wilt not 
 follow? It is the same love that leads thee 
 over the paths of flint and hard and rough 
 roads unto those that are smiling and per- 
 fumed and ever bordered with blooming 
 flowers of purple and milk and rose. Dost 
 thou not know, my Adarini, that it is that love 
 that points out the gems that lie in thy path, 
 partly covered, partly hidden by the dust, 
 while thy feet have kicked over them? Even 
 though I have pointed them out to thee often, 
 thou dost not see. Thou but lookest to the 
 right and left for things of beauty which are 
 for the eye, but for the moment, and dost 
 pass the rare jewels which if thou wouldst 
 but take into thy heart, would bring there the 
 
 199
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 richest radiance which ever came from the 
 diadem that crowns a soul. 
 
 It is this love that whispers to thee that the 
 path to Me is not hard to tread. It is this 
 love that holds the garments white as wool 
 and light as air and beautiful with the beauty 
 of My love for thee ever before thine eye, even 
 when thou dost in thy little understanding with 
 the back of thy palm thrust it aside. The gar- 
 ment that I hold for thee is the robe that thou 
 must wear even to enter the Heart of My Heart 
 to step within the flame of My light. Fear not 
 it burneth not, neither doth it scorch or blister ; 
 it doth but light thee with a fire that is the 
 glowing of holiness and when thou hast come 
 w r ithin that radiance then will the choir within 
 the throat of the lark be like the sheet of 
 clean white paper to thee and thou thyself will 
 make their notes for singing. And also thou 
 shalt hear and even understand the pleadings 
 that lie hidden and covered by the piteous 
 cries and wailings that issue from the breast 
 of the good beast-creatures that speed over the 
 
 200
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 tracks of sandland with the swiftness of the 
 
 Eastern winds, bearing on huge backs the 
 
 burden too weighty for man to bear. 
 
 * * 
 
 And listen again, My suckling, thou shalt, 
 when once thou hast entered into My Heart of 
 hearts clad in the beauty and purity of the 
 garments which I hold before thee even now, 
 then shalt thou gather in thine arms the 
 prayers of many hearts and fulfilled even unto 
 wondrous fulness thou shalt return them again 
 unto the empty hearts. For by the fire through 
 which thou hast learned holiness and because 
 of the garments that come from My hand thou 
 shalt say unto My little ones that I, who am 
 the All in All, am the fulfillment of each desire 
 that has ever found growth in human hearts. 
 
 * * 
 
 Thou shalt say unto them that simple and 
 clear, even like the smile that lurketh in the 
 soft eye of a milk-feeding babe, are the laws 
 of My Love-Eye and easy to grasp and smooth 
 to hold and light to carry. And because of 
 the saying of thine, the prattle of the forward
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 mouth shall silence and the way-giving of the 
 idle tongue shall cease and the squirting of 
 venom shall be no more. And lo, the lust of 
 gossip and rankness and rough spoil of envy 
 shall be as naught! And clear, like unto the 
 water that catches in its heart the reflection 
 of the moon and holdeth it completely so, even 
 so shall the centre of thine eye become and thy 
 brow shall shine My wisdom and thy mouth 
 shall hold My words, thy feet shall bear wit- 
 ness to My beauty and thine heart shall ever 
 be sportive as the lambkin that kicketh and 
 playeth and knoweth not why, or even like 
 unto the open-lipped baby, who turneth its 
 milk-filled, dripping mouth away from the 
 breast to croon and play with its fingers and 
 toes. And like unto the mother that kisseth 
 the babe for that playing, so shall My little 
 ones steal joy from thy love. 
 
 * * 
 
 List! Because thou art now in the arms of 
 Love I shall make for thee a grove of palms 
 and olive, bread and date, and where thou art, 
 even in the city of strife and turmoil ard sin, 
 
 302
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 yet thou shalt walk even in the groves, that I 
 have made for thee. And thou shalt hear the 
 plaintive call of the night bird and the heart- 
 song of the winged creatures, whose hearts 
 burst with love and joy in their caroling. 
 
 * * 
 
 And the fruit which the trees of great bear- 
 ing shall yield thee, shall fill thee with satis- 
 faction, thy hunger shall be stilled by their 
 richness and thy thirst shall be slaked by their 
 lusciousness, and lo, thou shalt contemplate 
 the beauty and wonder of Me in the grove 
 where I have placed thee and thy heart shall 
 be calmed unto marvelous peace and many 
 times thou shalt faint, because of the sweet- 
 ness of that peace. 
 
 * * 
 
 Glory to Gooroo, he who carrieth in his 
 heart and findeth Me in all that surroundetli 
 him ; he has for his surrounding My Abode and 
 knoweth it as such. He needeth not a ground 
 of tree or grass and flower to find a roebuck, 
 but findeth it even at his side. He striveth not 
 to gain possession of that which is far from 
 
 303
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 his hand for he knoweth the rich mines with 
 nuggets of gold are his for the taking. He 
 findeth not solitude worse than death, nor is 
 it amiss for him to breathe away from the 
 crowd of men, for at his side are the voices 
 of love that are loud even like the thunder or 
 the roaring of the lion, or the screech of an 
 eaglet. This shall ever be thine blessing, my 
 son, and a shield of love shall cover thee and 
 thy feet shall be swift and thou shalt walk 
 even light like unto the wind. Let not the 
 burden of the world and the world's prattle 
 come to thine ear and lie even heavy on thine 
 heart, for in the palm of my hand thou shalt 
 rest and like a bird who has lately become a 
 mother and feeds her birdlets, so shall I feed 
 thee, my son. 
 
 * * 
 
 Glory to Gooroo, who among men doth 
 know Me and Me see in all things. 
 
 * * 
 
 O ye my children that fret and squirm un- 
 derneath the load and scratches of life! Do 
 ye give it unto Him who by his wondrous 
 
 304
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 love for all knoweth not weight nor pain. 
 That which to you a burdensome plight hath 
 become, is light even unto down to Me. The 
 blight has been of thine own making, O child 
 of my heart ! 
 
 * * 
 
 Oh! know ye not that I carry in the palm 
 of my hand, in the Heart of my Heart, all man- 
 kind nay, all worldkind? Will ye not know 
 that all I have created is even like unto Me 
 perfect and cannot be burdensome? 
 
 Ye will not look upon Me as the pedestal 
 upon which all things that are, are founded. 
 And because of your blindness, for blind ye 
 are, having eyes ye see not what I have given 
 ye to see because of your blindness, small 
 are your hearts and cramped and will not ex- 
 pand in height and breadth, even to know the 
 peace that dwells in My clear silence, nor the 
 illumination that lives on My horizon. Nor 
 will ye hear the joy of My greeting of wisdom 
 that would sing to your souls of a love that 
 
 205
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 withereth not, neither fadeth away, neither be- 
 cometh ashes nor crumbleth to pieces. 
 
 * * 
 
 List, O my children ! Dear unto My heart 
 ye are, even as the ewe lamb, in its wayward- 
 ness and helplessness, is dear to the heart of 
 the tried and tender shepherd, or the babe, My 
 gift of first love, is dear to the eager heart of 
 the prayerful father. Yet oft doth the ewe 
 lamb bleating stray away from the arm of trie 
 shepherd and the truant, rosy mouth of the 
 babe turns away from the breast of the eager 
 young mother to cry afar to the yonder world 
 that heareth it not, nor answereth it. 
 
 * * 
 
 So ye, My little ones, see not the light on 
 your way, nor partake of the bread of life that 
 I scatter to you, even as the waving yellow 
 tree of mustard doth scatter its seed in golden 
 profusion on the fertile regions around it. 
 
 * * 
 
 Hark, one and all ! All careless have you 
 been in the weeding of your gardens, for in 
 your beds I find the thistle thriving; in your 
 
 206
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 vineyards the grape I find that is hard and 
 
 sour and bitter. 
 
 * * 
 
 Oh, alas for you who cast your net for fish 
 and bring forth the slimy reptile ! Beware, my 
 child, lest the best hopes of life cannot stir 
 away from harmful ones. Evil stalketh idly, of 
 nothing it is born, yet would it squirm, like the 
 insect, and buzz its cloud about thine ear, and 
 mote-like obscure thy sight, and throng 
 through thy mind and heart even leaving its 
 imagery there. 
 
 * * 
 
 O My children ! I have placed you in a dewy 
 field, where like young lambkins you might 
 disport yourselves. I have bounded your dewy 
 field with heather-purpled hills, where like the 
 young eagle and the hawk you might soar 
 and spread your wings and flap them to the 
 music and measure and time of My winds, 
 which I hold from everlasting to everlasting 
 even in Mine own hand. But, alas! like the 
 lily that from overmuch dew falleth face down- 
 ward in the dirt, so many of you turn your 
 hearts earthwise. 
 
 207
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 Hungering to be caught by Me and to know 
 the beauty of My Being, because you see and 
 will not understand even because of that I 
 rebuke you in love, in love I rebuke you : Nor 
 will I come again to those who call, unless in 
 holiness the call will bring profit from My 
 words. 
 
 * * 
 
 O thou My Beloved one! Thou who like 
 saint and sage and prophet of old has touched 
 the harp of life that I attune for thee, do thou 
 come to Me singly and do thou say unto those 
 that My promise is this : "Dear to Me are ye, 
 My children. List to the promise I give unto 
 you ! To those who seek Me in holy earnest- 
 ness, to those do I come even like the sweet 
 influence of young Spring. Like unto a giant 
 am I in gentleness, yet none can wrestle with 
 My Love. Know, ye shall know My coming 
 even by the spontaneous growth that shall 
 spring about your feet, and become even fruit- 
 bearing trees at My command." 
 
 * it 
 
 To the barren woman I shall look into her 
 
 208
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 eye, and lo! the gush of young motherhood 
 shall she feel. When My Love is yours, then 
 shall the leopard take between his forepaws 
 even the young sheep, and that rough and long 
 tongue shall rub it between the eyes. 
 * * 
 
 Into the eye of the ascetic I shall look, he 
 who for many moons hath stood in cold 
 silence, even he shall feel his heart reel with 
 love like unto the young bridegroom. 
 
 Dulness shall glow. Thy slow tongue, my 
 child, shall become eloquent. Idleness shall 
 become active, even bereavement shall be con- 
 soled and despair shall flee at My coming. 
 
 * * 
 
 Am I not the magician of all time, who by 
 the spell of My love do charm a waiting, pas- 
 sive, alas ! a blinded world ? Aye, even tfiy 
 heart of hearts shall be laid bare and those 
 who seek shall come and feed of the peace 
 thereof. Lo, on the hilltop for thee my sun 
 spreads cheer ! 
 
 209
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 Be thou he, who shall invest in courage, 
 climbing" the rocky hill, where thou shalt em- 
 brace cheer and she shall bring forth the baby, 
 that is thy desire, and because of the baby 
 which thou boldest in thy arms, because of 
 that thy path shall be light, for lo ! the babe is 
 what men call success. 
 
 * * 
 
 O My young son ! Do thou take to the 
 young thy onward march, even thy sunlight, 
 which I for thee have created, so that thou 
 mayest make the poisonous and damp vapors, 
 which will surround thee, even of great 
 warmth and of fragrance and golden hue. 
 Take thou the Seed of My Name on thy lips, 
 aye, and the tree of thy affection shall bend its 
 every leaf to look in Mine Eye, and there shall 
 behold the gladness and hope of My life. 
 There shalt thou read thy Beatitude. 
 
 * * 
 
 Do not allow the phantom fears crowd into 
 thy heart and make a layer of darkness in 
 thy heart, even as the water doth drop its 
 heaviness into the bottom of a vessel and le^ve 
 
 210
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 its heaviness there, for, if thou dost, then will 
 the waters of cleanness that fill thy heart by 
 the least ripple stir up the heaviness and rust 
 that hath sunk to the bottom and so color even 
 that which was clear. Naught is there in thee 
 to bring 1 shadow of that which is gruesome to 
 thee, My child, for when thou comest to Me 
 there have I buried deep that which might 
 have caused thee fear. List ! do thou even let 
 the desires of thy heart lie dormant and do 
 thou even seek My Love in this hour. Then 
 thou shalt know the fatness of My love and 
 when thou dost, then will the soul thou cravest 
 to turn toward thee in the splendour of light 
 beam full upon thee, even as thou wouldst 
 have it. Love, My own, the working of My 
 love, is not always the working of that which 
 thou canst only see a little way for far even 
 unto eternity do I look and the links I rivet 
 now are even the chain that stretches to the 
 end of time everlasting. Therefore do thou 
 not look only to the feet ahead of thee, but do 
 thou find that in the time and place of my 
 action there alone perfection is yea, even 
 there perfection is which to thee may seem 
 
 211
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 even unfinished, but to My Eye it is the whole 
 
 complete. 
 
 * * 
 
 Out of the tumult of thy heart, out of the 
 chaos of thy mind, out of the depth of thy un- 
 derstanding thou dost call unto Me for rest and 
 thus do I answer thee, My little one ! 
 
 * * 
 
 Seek not rest in the plane where the earthly 
 gives birth to thoughts and loves, for if thou 
 dost, thou shalt but be dragged through the 
 rough wilderness of life, which is not of Me. 
 Whenever thou dost feel thy feet tangled in the 
 interlaced roots of life, know thou hast strayed 
 a little from the path whereon I beckon thee, 
 for I have placed thee in broad, smooth paths, 
 which are flower-strewn and perfumed with 
 sweet smelling vines and also have put before 
 thee a light, which thou canst ever follow and 
 thus run without stumbling. 
 
 * * 
 
 Hear thou this ! The bliss of action I have 
 planted in thy spirit and if for a span thy soul 
 hath grown weary and thou longest to fold thy 
 212
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 tired wings and sleep awhile on the Island of 
 White Silence, that dwells even in the midst of 
 the ocean of existence, if that thou wouldst 
 do call upon Me and with My smile that 
 which is unlike Me, shall drop from thy soul, 
 as the old garment falleth from the butterfly, 
 when its wings are strong to cleave the air. 
 And after a sufficient slumber thou shalt be 
 quickened with deathless energy and shalt 
 speed in eagle swiftness even to the sun, which 
 is the burning of the love in My Eye. But, 
 list, my jewel! Be not confounded by the 
 shaking of thy timid heart, nor yet by the 
 yelling grisly shapes, that seem full of 
 dread, hunting at thy back, nor be allured by 
 bright phantoms of false joys beckoning thee 
 ceaselessly. Like swarms of gnats about a 
 dark and sullen river, they crowd about the 
 heart that harbours thoughts of fear and lo, 
 their stings do itch and burn and swell and 
 bring fever to the blood and bitterness to the 
 taste and even death to the joy that dwelleth 
 in the heart. Lo, My child, hast thou not spied 
 the serpent in the closed, tight bud of the rose 
 or even in the hollow of the rosy fruit? Eye 
 213
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 saw it not, but the rose became even as rust 
 and the apple rotten. So beware that an adder 
 rest not in the bud of the heart and that adder 
 fear be opposed to hope which I have placed in 
 goodly share upon thy brow. 
 
 * * 
 
 List, My own, and abide by My song that 
 unto thy soul I sing: Bliss is the perpetual 
 motion of Love. As a running stream it is that 
 cometh from an inexhaustible source, the depth 
 of which is even unmeasurable. 
 
 * * 
 
 To the unknowing and unloving the surface 
 in unruffled, but he that seeth underneath, he 
 findeth there current 'neath current, whirl- 
 pool within whirlpool and depth beneath depth 
 and the sum of it all is Love, which is Life and 
 coupled together by the links of Bliss. 
 
 * * 
 
 I have a shore that is called the Island of 
 Rest, here do the souls of many hold sabbath. 
 They lie in tranquil slumber for a little, much 
 have they to tell, but they fear to break the 
 tranquility of their calm. Here their dwelling 
 
 814
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 is illumined with glory. The melody of sweet 
 peace bathes their soul ; the mystery of their 
 being is revealed unto them. For a little here 
 they wait but still this home is but a transient 
 resting place between earth and Me. Rest can 
 be thine, my own, in slumber of ecstasy, but 
 Bliss can be thine through the perpetual action 
 of Love. Which wouldst thou have ? 
 
 Come to Me again and I will even sing to 
 thy soul of my Love. 
 
 * * 
 
 Glory to Gooroo, he who seeketh Me and 
 findeth Me, the ever refreshing, even in the 
 desert of sand and a day of drought ! Greeting 
 to thee, My son, for I say unto thee, thou art 
 a grateful twig on the bay-tree of life. And 
 because of My love for thee I have bestowed 
 upon thee the greatest gift of my hand: A 
 largeness worthy of my devotee shall be yours 
 that the flattering tongue can but in feeble- 
 ness express because of its vastness. And this 
 vastness of purpose shall be like unto un- 
 counted autumn leaves that number millions 
 upon millions and like unto the masses of 
 
 215
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 clouds that pile in mountains upon worlds and 
 the seas that cover unlimited space and the 
 numberless stars multiplied by worlds of fire. 
 Thus measureless and incomparable shall be 
 My gift unto thee for thou hast found Me and 
 held Me even close to thee and because of it, 
 
 the river of joy shall flow within thee forever. 
 
 * * 
 
 My thumb I have placed upon you, so that 
 free-footed you may stand in the lightning of 
 My Eye, whose brilliant fire doth even gladden 
 all communion with time and doth bid the stars 
 to smile and darkness to flee for ever, for when 
 My Beautiful Necessity, Love, is once un- 
 covered, there is the veil behind veil lifted 
 forever and even the Centre of All Worlds are 
 visible to the naked eye, for he who hath clad 
 himself in the garment of My Love, he even 
 pierceth through all covering. 
 
 Thus hath My Love blessed thee, My Be- 
 loved. 
 
 * * 
 
 O prisoner of earthly life ! Take thou cheer 
 and courage unto thyself, for much is there 
 that is of rare comfort to the spirit. Thrust
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 not thyself into the pit of earth and labor there 
 and seek to carry on thy shoulder and on thy 
 back the burdens that are born of the clay and 
 therefore hurtful and of much weight. But do 
 thou step out and bask in the glow of the sun, 
 do thou stretch forth thy limbs in languid and 
 truant ease and let its warmth play on the 
 white of thy flesh so that even the health of thy 
 blood may bubble to the surface. 
 
 * # 
 
 Do thou fix thine eyes on the dome where 
 stars are fixed, though they are paled by the 
 garish sun and hence dim ; yet rear thy heart 
 starward and in the course of the sun see the 
 greatness of ways and tracks that are thine, 
 My jewel ! Do thou even now burst asunder 
 the fetters that rivetest thee even to the plank 
 of anxiety and with a bound throw from thee 
 the shackles and walk thy star-ward path as a 
 tenant of earth in the way to finding a better 
 
 abode. 
 
 * * 
 
 About thee lies the good that cometh from 
 My strong right arm. Hold it, that its counte- 
 nance may remain with thee forever. Yea, 
 217
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 seek not for a change of thy good for that 
 which is better, but hug rather the present 
 good to thy heart of heart that its strength may 
 impart even strength where thy weakness 
 abideth. The load which I have placed upon 
 thy shoulder is not to thee a load earth-made, 
 'tis but a gathering of rare herbage piped with 
 beautiful coloring which is full of healing and 
 sweet of taste, but which you all, blinded, do 
 see as burdensome. 
 
 If thou but onward marchest, looking not at 
 the phantom spies that seek to distract thee in 
 thy going and lurk in the clearness of thy light, 
 then shalt thou add wings unto them and they 
 shall flee even as doth the young chick before 
 the hawk's approach. Let thy bold front even 
 by its courage chase forever the foes of man, 
 stern unbelief and dull distrust, which are 
 ever eager to find lodging in the heart where a 
 canopy of white trust doth shelter the babe of 
 Love that reclineth in playful happiness on a 
 rosy couch of hope. Even there would the 
 enemy of man steal and take from the garden 
 of his soul the flowers that blossom in rare 
 loveliness, the beauty that hideth in sweet 
 218
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 silence, the peace that casteth its halo of calm 
 over the spirit even as a wild dove. 
 
 * * 
 A SOUL AND ITS BELOVED. 
 
 A soul was all tired unto death because love, 
 which once glowed warm and red, had turned 
 toward a face fairer and brighter than the one 
 which encased it. 
 
 Long it dwelt upon that departure, until the 
 time had come when it was all ready to leave 
 the earth ; but there was the beloved soul, 
 which had gone from the right path. 
 
 While contemplating on the possible way of 
 calling unto itself the beloved soul that had 
 gone astray in its blindness, Death stood be- 
 fore it and called it to make ready for a long 
 journey beyond the boundaries which it now 
 knew. 
 
 Glad and willing the soul responded ; but, 
 casting its eyes behind for one moment, it be- 
 held its beloved mate, walking in the mire, in 
 its search after the will-o'-the-wisp for which 
 it had left its home, and the soul was grieved 
 sorely unto death. One step backward it made ; 
 
 219
 
 but Death detained it, saying: "This way, 
 sweet soul, you go wrong. See that golden 
 path? There await you those who want you 
 to be with them in parts beautiful and wonder- 
 ful beyond that which you remember." 
 
 "Oh!" spake the soul, "What of her my 
 beloved? Where goes she?" 
 
 "Alone the path she now treads she has 
 chosen, and it is not in your power to draw 
 her back one inch from that chosen path !" 
 
 "But, O Death !" quoth the soul, "the way 
 before her is black and full of reptiles and evil 
 creeping things, and she was so tender and 
 beautiful. May I not change places with her. 
 and will you not take her and leave me?" 
 
 "It is not so written," quoth Death. "Each 
 soul chooses its own path and she has choser 
 hers." 
 
 "When, O Death! will she come to where 
 you lead me?" 
 
 "It is written, not for many aeons." 
 
 "How can I draw her to me to turn her 
 from her dark way to myself?" 
 
 "It is written that one soul may draw 
 another after it, if for many births it is will- 
 220
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 ing to wait at the door of death for all souls 
 to pass. See, here it is where these wailing, 
 fainting, quivering ones suffer agonies, greater 
 than you have ever dreamed of in the many 
 walks of your earthly or space life." 
 
 A moment the soul gazed on the suffering 
 ones ; and as it looked it grew cold and pinched, 
 as if another death had come upon it. "I will 
 wait," it said. "Joy it will be to me to wait 
 for aeons until she whom I love will pass tKis 
 way !" 
 
 "Oh !" cried Death, "it was said among the 
 unseen ones who throng space that you were 
 thus. See, the pang of pain which you In 
 agony bore has forced your beloved to turn and 
 gaze towards you. She leaves her path of mud 
 and darkness and hurries after you. Come on, 
 both of you, and walk the path of gold that is 
 thronged with such as you, the saviour and the 
 saved. Surely in one moment of such love 
 you have unfettered the bonds which bound 
 yourself and your beloved to all that was of 
 earth." 
 
 And they passed into the way that led to 
 the higher place. 
 
 221
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 THE FAIR ONE AND HER SOUL. 
 The world had grown gray, the golden 
 stars had fled from the skies, and a silence deep 
 yawned at the feet of one who, all hungry for 
 that which she knew not and starved for that 
 which she could not name, moaned : "O Soul ! 
 why am I tortured thus? Why dost thou lead 
 me into paths I cannot walk, and dfag me into 
 depths that I fear, and scale with me heights 
 whose atmosphere so rare and high is, that 
 faint I grow and ill unto perishing therein. 
 What is the quest of thine ? This struggle and 
 this reaching after that which I cannot see or 
 feel? Weak is my flesh, though thou, dear Soul, 
 art strong. It is ever easier for me to fall than 
 to rise. I struggle to keep on with thee, but 
 ever and anon thou monntest to planes where 
 my tired and clumsy feet cannot follow thee. 
 Ofttimes have I called unto thee and implored 
 thee to cease the quest, to rest awhile, to sleep. 
 Thou hast heard my moan now and again and 
 I ran laughing into the garden that awaited 
 me. But when I stood among the blood-red 
 roses and white-cupped lilies and sought to 
 pluck the pretty blossoms, ever in the heart a 
 222
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 worm did lurk. So farther I ran to where the 
 fruits hung high. But when on tip-toe I stood 
 to reach the luscious ripe ones that beckoned 
 me, lo ! again the over softness of decay did 
 break upon my gaze, and I wanted them not. 
 Then I made to climb some steep hill whereon 
 the clouds did seem to rest, and as I ascended, 
 the clouds did fade farther from me, and I 
 stood with only the cold gray mist about me, 
 chilled and frightened, like a child lost from 
 its mother's side. 
 
 "And so it was, O Soul, the pleasures which 
 the earth placed at my feet palled upon me and 
 dragged me down nigh unto the grave. Then 
 I nestled to thee, my beloved Soul, and called 
 thee to save and direct me, and pleaded to thee 
 to save me from this fleshly self that keeps 
 me earth-bound. Then thou wouldst take my 
 hand and with me soar to mountain-heights, 
 and we with outstretched wings would view 
 the rosy glow that the departing sun did cast 
 about us as it waved its grand adieu to the 
 world we knew. Thus we stood, I trembling 
 with gladness, thou thrilling with joy, but, O 
 Soul, my poor fleshly self could not long abide 
 223
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 such ecstasy nor drink the rarefied wine which 
 the Heavens vouchsafed us, and crying I clung 
 to thee and dragged thee down, down, until 
 both again stood at the bottom of the heights 
 where lately we had spied the door that leads 
 to broader worlds. Thou, my beloved, hadst 
 folded thy widespread wings, and thy feet 
 were planted in the dank grasses whose roots 
 were deep in mire. O tell me, thou whose 
 awakening is so beautiful and whose stature 
 is full of grace, tell me, O Soul, why, though 
 coupled together, are we yet divided; why, 
 though one, are we yet two?" 
 
 The Soul made answer meet : "O companion 
 of my earthly Self's encasement of soft flesh, 
 I love thee even as thou lovest me, and I do 
 draw thee upward, even as thou dost drag me 
 down. Dost thou not know that from earth 
 thou hast come, hence to earth must go again ; 
 that thy natural tendencies are downward even 
 unto the earth from which thou didst spring? 
 Yet dost thou love that in me which soars even 
 upward to the home from whence I came. A 
 ray of eternal light am I, a glow of the warm 
 heart of Love, a spark of the central flame; 
 
 224
 
 FROM SREE KRISHNA. 
 
 hence must I ever strive to reach that perfect 
 sphere from whence I came, more beautiful 
 and entrancing than thou canst know, nor 
 can I anchored be until once again that safe 
 haven I reach wherefrom I lately came. Yet, 
 list! sweet partner of my earthly pilgrimage, 
 dost know why thou lovest me, even though 
 hither and thither I draw thee ? Tis that I am 
 born of Love, and none can resist Love; and 
 the great tender earth, thy mother, is nourished 
 by the great Love which is the creator of thee 
 and me. O fair and sweet companion, my 
 earthly armour that I love, thou and I together 
 may reach beyond where we stand reluctantly 
 and defiantly! Gaze on me, thy soul, who 
 giveth radiance to thee and beauty to thine eye, 
 and dost attend all that is lovable unto thee! 
 Gaze at me, and even that which is earthly will 
 partake of me and become more of heaven 
 than of earth ! 
 
 "And so we will wander in joy through life ; 
 and who knows but that even the flowers 
 may grow sweeter for our having dwelt here? 
 If we but look upward, thou following me, 
 and I, though loving thee much, yet yielding 
 225
 
 MESSAGES AND REVELATIONS 
 
 not to thy sweet persuasive pleadings and 
 downward looking, who knows but we may 
 heal those who, even like thee, do cry out 
 against the non-adjustment of the body and 
 the soul, who, even like thee, have known soul- 
 hunger and soul-starvation, which disease 
 driveth out of the body all its softness and 
 smoothness, and even casteth a shadow on the 
 soul which should never he shadowed, lest it 
 loseth the sight of the home where light alone 
 doth dwell and love alone doth reign." 
 
 The voice ceased. A great tenderness, an un- 
 bounded beauty shone on the face of the 
 fleshly one, and turning from the deep silence 
 that rolled at her feet, the woman gave a glad 
 look at the stars, which once again adorned her 
 sky and flitted away with a ringing laugh. 
 
 The Soul echoed her joy, and the world 
 looked on amazed for naught is there as rare 
 in life as a happy, joyous woman. 
 
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