The Chinese priest, Fa-Hsien, wrote an account of
his eleven years in India during the reign of Chandragupta II (early
4th century). The Chinese author relates: "Throughout the country
no one kills any living thing, nor drinks wine. . . . They do not
keep pigs or fowl; there are no dealings in cattle, no butchers'
shops or distilleries. Rooms with beds and mattresses, food and
clothes, are provided for resident and traveling priests without fail,
and this is the same in all places. The priests occupy themselves
with benevolent ministrations and with chanting liturgies; or they
sit in meditation." Fa-Hsien tells us the Indian people were happy
and honest; capital punishment was unknown.
{FN42-7} I was not present at the deaths of my mother, elder
brother Ananta, eldest sister Roma, Master, Father, or of several
close disciples.
(Father passed on at Calcutta in 1942, at the age of eighty-nine.)
{FN42-8} The hundreds of thousands of Indian sadhus are controlled
by an executive committee of seven leaders, representing seven
large sections of India. The present MAHAMANDALESWAR or president
is Joyendra Puri. This saintly man is extremely reserved, often
confining his speech to three words-Truth, Love, and Work. A
sufficient conversation!
{FN42-9} There are many methods, it appears, for outwitting a
tiger. An Australian explorer, Francis Birtles, has recounted that
he found the Indian jungles "varied, beautiful, and safe.
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