The times., 1899-09-24
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possible origin for the story of the Sun
/ nyasi who tanned the beasts in the Second
! Jungle book. Kipling represents this
man as having been prime minister TO a
native state, honored not only by his own
living throughout his life in the simple
/ fashion dictated by his traditions, and
doing much to reconcile the government
of India with the somewhat wayward and
/ uncertain rule of native prince.
In Prof. Mulfer's book we find the
history OF one Gauri- -Sankara, Prime Min
lister OF Bhavnagar. which is a native state
Of about half million inhabitants, in
I Karlhiawar Rajputana. Now. Rajputana
is one Of Kiplings' old stamping grounds;
il was there that The Naulahka'' and THE
Mowgli" stories took place. 1t was not
improbable, therefore, that the story of
Gauri-Sankara, heard by the young Anglo
Indian during tour which he made through
Central India may have furnished founda-
/. ton for the story of the Miracle Of Purun
Bhagat"
part of the life and character of this
remarkable Rajput are described as fol-
| lows, though the entire narrative is too
/ long to quote:
Gauri-sankara found nothing TO begin with-or
rather les than nothing. for he found net only an
! HnOlGanlKed buL a UlS0fEdnlEtu state. btneTdi
keatinge, who was political agent OF hathlawar
during the wears 1868 70 1861, found the trans
formation that had been wrought by Gauri-
Sankara complete that he could hardly be-
/ heye that Bhavnagar the same town which
! he had known in former days. Splendid build
! ings had arisen, devoted either to education or
I 10 the relief OF the sick, the poor. and the
needy. The harbor had been improved, and roads
( for trade and communication of every kind had
been newly laid out OF made servieeable. There
was 4 large reservoir 10 supply the town with
1 water; there paddocks; a Jail, two
medical dispensaries and immense hospital;
1 there were telegraph and postofiices, high
school, high court of justice. A railway had
! been built from Bbaynagar 10 Gondal, and so
well il administered. without syndicates or
/ any other kind OF iobbery, that il yielded an
| nually fair revenue 10 the state. The response
I sihility for al these undertakings rested on the
| shoulders Of one man, and the credit for them
/ should rest there also.
What attracted me most in him was that the
man should through life have been a true phi
] lOsopher, nay, what men of the world would call
dreamer Of dreams, and should vet have proved
SO excellent Of business Pato's dictum,
] WhiIh has so often been rdiculed. that philoS3-
piers are the true rulers of men, has indeed been
signslly vindicated in Gsuri-Sankara's And
his philosophy was not what may be called use
fnl philosophy knowledge of nature and its
laws This might be tolerated in prime min
ister, in Europe. No; it consisted in the
M 81 ahsiruse metaphysics which would turn even
the hardened brains of some of our best phioso-
a
losophy, so far from uniting Ganri-Sankara for
his arduous work, gave him the proper strength
for doing and dting we'll whatever from day TO
| day his hands found to do. He felt the imoor-
! tance Of his official work 10 the fullest extent
( hut he always felt that there was something more
I important still. Though devoting all his power;
t. this life and its duties, he felt convinced that
! this life would soon pass away, tnlt there was
no true reality In il. that ii MAYA, illusion,
arising from Avidya, nescierce and that III re was
behind beneath. and above, another and higher
life which alone was worth living II was hs
faith in or MS knowledge Of that higher life
I which enabled him to perform his work IN the
turmoil Of the world. Thus il was that when any
Of his s-hemes ended in failure, disappointment
never upset him; and that though he was often
| deceived in the friends he had trusted, he never
became pessiniist.
Max Muller received a letter from this
marvellous character just before his re-
tirement from the world in reply to one
of his own. Muller's letter was this:
have to thank you for your kind letter and
vour valuable present II you had sent
me real necklace Of precious stones II might
have been called magnificent present, but 1t
would not have benefited yourself, my true At
man The necklace of precious sentences which
I you have sent me has, however, benefited my
self my true Altman, and /. therefore, consider
/ 1t q far more precious present than mere stones
! or pearls. Besides, in accepting it, need not
/ be ashamed. for they become only my own, if |
deserve them. that is if ! truly understand them.
I While we are still in first and second As
rama (staticn of life) cannot help differing
from one another, according TO the country in
which are born; according to the language we
speak, and according TO the religion in which
we have been educated. But when we enter into
the third and fourth Asrama differ no longer.
! when God has become really known, all fet-
I tiers fall'
The reply of the Hindu was in part as
| follows:
IT, l.. 5;,, . ,,,,l;o l;ss fo- ,,so-o ,,. -;,.,,
years, think there is nothing left for me to
! desire except the life of a Sunnyasin which
wiz enable my Altman (selD To be with
! Paramatman (highest self, as shown to us by
and l viii be not two persons. and as the At
man. which. being all-peryading, is one, there
viii be total absence OF duality
The absolute union of the human soul
with God. or, as he would say, the return
of the soul TO its true self, is a deep
! rooted part of the Hindu's faith, and GU
| riously enough, the idea is expressed with
accuracy in one Of the old English hymns,
| which uses the metaphor Fire ascending
seeks the sun" The idea Of the Hindu is
that all matter is Illusion, is temporary
must pass away, and that freed from this
yexing ENHANCEMENT, the perfected soul
becomes one with God. The machinery in
vented by European theologians to explain
! human existence is therefore of little in
teTest to him, since he recognizes but two
| things. spirit and matter, the contact OF
these creating all evident life, as the con-
tact of electricity with a wire creates the
electric light To him, all life is natural
! and works by natural laws. Anyone who
reads this book on the Vedantic philosophy
| and retains an idea that Hindu is likely
to become a good Methodist or Presbyte-
! rian, must be inclined TO believe in mira
cles OF kind that have seldom been con-
ceived. (New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons. $1,000
Minor Fiction.
'.The Powers at Play" by Bliss Perry, is
q collection of half a dozen short stories
which are readable and original, though
not amazingly impressive. One may frank
L. .,,- -. .ba,, ,ha. 49, 49, go ,