long time had corrupted the priests. The people at large were debarred from true
knowledge of religion, and the Vedas, the source of the Hindu culture, were
completely forgotten, especially in Bengal. Moreover, the caste-system, which had
originally been devised to emphasize the organic unity of Hindu society, was now
petrified. Its real purpose had been to protect the weak from the ruthless competition of
the strong and to vindicate the supremacy of spiritual knowledge over the power of
military weapons, wealth, and organized labour; but now it was sapping the vitality of
the masses. Narendra wanted to throw open the man-making wisdom of the Vedas to
all, and thus bring about the regeneration of his motherland. He therefore encouraged
his brothers at the Barangaore monastery to study the grammar of Panini, without
which one could not acquire first-hand knowledge of the Vedas.
The spirit of democracy and equality in Islam appealed to Naren's mind and he wanted
to create a new India with Vedantic brain and Moslem body. Further, the idea began to
dawn in his mind that the material conditions of the masses could not be improved
without the knowledge of science and technology as developed in the West. He was
already dreaming of building a bridge to join the East and the West. But the true
leadership of India would have to spring from the soil of the country. Again and again
he recalled that Sri Ramakrishna had been a genuine product of the Indian soil, and he
realized that India would regain her unity and solidarity through the understanding of
the Master's spiritual experiences.
Naren again became restless to 'do something', but what, he did not know. He wanted
to run away from his relatives since he could not bear the sight of their poverty. He
was eager to forget the world through meditation. During the last part of December
1889, therefore, he again struck out from the Baranagore monastery and turned his face
towards Varanasi. 'My idea,' he wrote to a friend, 'is to live in Varanasi for some time
and to watch how Viswanath and Annapurna deal out my lot. I have resolved either to
realize my ideal or to lay down my life in the effort — so help me Lord of Varanasi!'
On his way to Varanasi he heard that Swami Yogananda, one of his brother disciples,
was lying ill in Allahabad and decided to proceed there immediately. In Allahabad he
met a Moslem saint, 'every line and curve of whose face showed that he was a
paramahamsa.' Next he went to Ghazipur and there he came to know the saint Pavhari
Baba, the 'air-eating holy man.'
Pavhari Baba was born near Varanasi of brahmin parents. In his youth he had mastered
many branches of Hindu philosophy. Later he renounced the world, led an austere life,
practised the disciplines of Yoga and Vedanta, and travelled over the whole of India.
At last he settled in Ghazipur, where he built an underground hermitage on the bank of
the Ganga and spent most of his time in meditation. He lived on practically nothing
and so was given by the people the sobriquet of the 'air-eating holy man'; all were
impressed by his humility and spirit of service. Once he was bitten by a cobra and said
while suffering terrible pain, 'Oh, he was a messenger from my Beloved!' Another day,
a dog ran off with his bread and he followed, praying humbly, 'Please wait, my Lord;
let me butter the bread for you.' Often he would give away his meagre food to beggars
or wandering monks, and starve. Pavhari Baba had heard of Sri Ramakrishna, held him