While Swami Dayanand was yet at Multan, he had received a letter from Lala Umrao Singh of the Thomason Engineering College, begging him to visit Roorkee. The Swami's reply was, that he could not comply with the request contained in the letter immediately, but hat he should do it as soon as his leisure permitted him to. The reply was somewhat disappointing, but Lala Umrao Singh and his friends saw their wishes realized sooner than perhaps they had expected they would. While leaving the Punjab, the Swami addressed from Amritsar a letter to the Secretary of the Arya Samaj, Guranwala, which speaks for itself. The letter was to the following effect:-

''Secretary and Sabhasadhs'' we wish you happiness. Be it known to you that we intend to set out for the N.W.F. Provinces on Thursday, the 11th July, 1878, and, passing through Jullundhur, Ludhiana and other cities shall proceed onward. It is just possible that we may stay, for a matter of three or four days at Amballa. Henceforward we shall be able to converse with you through letters alone. Let us hear from you constantly, and, on our part, we shall write to you from time to time. What we now want to say to you is, that you should strive daily to further the progress of the Samaj.

''You have undertaken a great responsibility, and your advancement and happiness lie in carrying your undertaking to a successful termination. The Samaj her id progressing daily; many influential people of the place have become its members. The Pandits of this place had come to the determination of holding a shastrarth, but on their coming into the Sabha they neither spoke nor replied to any question; having merely shown their faces they went away. And some of the people of this place, who were partial to the ''popes'' (idol-worshipping priests), had slandered and misrepresented the Arya

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Samaj to the authorities, but the results of their efforts, thanks to the power of truth, was that nobody now dare raise a finger against the Samaj, Namaste to all the Sahbasads' (Signed) Dayanand Saraswati, Amritsar.''

Busy giving updesh, the Swami reached Roorkee 925th July, 1878), and put up in Lala Shambu Nath's bungalow in the Civil Station. The Muhammadans of the station ran away with the idea that the Pandit had been invited to Roorkee to vex them and to oppose their famous local preacher and disputant who, as the Muhammadans were well aware, had been, for some time past, attacking the Christian and Hindu Faiths with vigor.

No wonder that the educated people of Roorkee heard the Swami's lectures with astonishment and in deeply appreciative and enraptured frame of mind. These lectures and the reply to Colonel Olcott's letter from America read out to the audience gave them an insight into the Swami's teaching and made them feel that nobler teaching could be had nowhere. It was, of course, natural that the Muslims of Roorkee should find but little to appreciate in his speeches on ''Revelation'' and on the teachings of the Bible and the Quran as contrasted with those of the Vedas.

While his lecture on the comparative merits of the Vedic doctrines and the doctrines of the Quran and the Bible was in progress, our Muslim friends, we are told, looked angry and threatening, almost ready to resort to violence, emboldened perhaps, in some degree, by the fact that the Police in attendance was not over-active in the discharge of their duty (why? The reader might well guess for himself.) Apprehending a disturbance, the gentlemen, who had arranged the meeting, put a slip of paper into the Swami's hand, requesting him to be sparing in his criticism of Islam. Without heeding the advice, the lecturer went on speaking in his wonted manner, bringing forward objection after objection against the creed, and quoting profusely from the Quran I support of his objections. Everything, however, ended peacefully, nobody seeing anything reasonably to find fault with what had been said.

Pandit Umrao Singh has the following to say regarding the utterances of the Swami at Roorkee:-

''On the 4th day the Swami's lecture was on Western Philosophy, Theory of Darwin, Effects of English Education and on some other subjects. At the same time, the speech dealt with the Christian and Muhammadan Metaphysics and the Absurdities of the Puranas.''Of English Philosophy the Swami, in his own parlance, spoke as the keet preet (worms, insects, etc.) philosophy. He enlarged upon the advantages and methods of education, and briefly dwelt on the virtues of the British Government and on the boon of freedom of speech which it had bestowed on its subjects.

With us, the Aryans of India, it is quite different. We have the very word of him (Manu), who was the founder of the human race, telling us that mankind is from the beginning a separate species of the animal kingdom and that the highest thoughts within the reach of mankind were revealed to him; and he, in his turn, revealed the same to his descendants.'' Vedic Philosophy, by L.H. Narain of Jullundur.

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these was, that if man was really a descendant of monkey, then it was, as it were, a fact a law which according to the followers of Darwin and other philosophers of his school, was unceasing in its operations under any conditions whatsoever. If the law was of a constant and permanent nature, ever working itself out, how was it that for thousands of years past, no monkey's young one had developed into a human being? If in times gone-by a money copulating with a fish (for instance) brought into being a strange creature, and if that strange creature copulating with some other creature brought forth another strange creature, and if the process of copulation on the same principle continuing, the last strange creature helped to bring on the scene, as the result of copulation with a nameless creature, a human being; if all this happened formerly, why was it that similar result had ceased to be brought about in the later ages? Did the last strange creature leave a will that no animal in future, especially a monkey, was to act after the fashion of his ancestor.

The Swami further observed that the copulation of an animal of one species with that of the another, did not result in offspring.* Similarly, the advanced many other arguments. The English-educated young men of the station were surprised at hearing the Swami's arguments, confessing that they had never heard such arguments before. And these young men were also under the impression that the principles of physics, chemistry and of other sciences, which they studied in their colleges, had been discovered and brought to light by the Europeans, and that no other people were aware of these before. When however, the principles in question were dwelt upon by the

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Swami in language remarkable for its connectedness and its intellectual depth, as if the speaker was reading from a scientific treatise, the wonder was all the greater. When a gentleman observed to the Swami that the principles and theories he had spoken of were the discoveries of modern times he deplored the fallen state of India and added:

''Any (true) theory or principle which you think to me of modern origin, name the same, and I will prove to you that it is taught and set forth in the ancient Shastras.''

''The concentration of attention thus obtained could serve no useful end whatever in reference to God as an object of contemplation. The mental concentration needed for the purpose must partake of the holy nature of the object contemplated, it must be pure, the result of pure action, of righteous practice.''

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asking questions. The Swami to each as soon s it was, put and his answers were so reasonable that the Colonel could not see his way to find fault on them. His mortification was complete, and at last finding that he was unable to carry on the contest longer, he took his leave, remarking that he would reply to the Swami's objections on them morrow, the Captain alone came, and, unlike the Colonel, hear the lecture that was being delivered, with evident pleasure.''

The Muhammadans would hold a shastrarth on the condition that it should not be reduced to writing, and to this demand of their would-be representative and spokesman, the Swami found himself unable to agree.

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in the following words, appended to the announcement:- ''Our Pandits are profound scholars, and you are an ignorant man. It is ridiculous for the learned to hold a shastrarth with the illiterate.''

The questions which the assembly of ''profound scholars'' had sent to the Swami for an answer were:-

1. ''We hear that doubts have arisen in you mind in respect of ''idol-worship'''. If the report is true, then quote from Shruti and Smriti in support of your contention; but if the report is unfounded, then declare the fact in clear words.
2. ''If you have any doubts in respect of the Gangamahatam (meritoriousness of bathing in the Ganges), then quote authorities in support of your contention.
3. ''Is the doctrine of incarnation right? If otherwise, cite authorities to prove your case.''

The Swami's lectures, which were delivered in three different places in succession, in Lala Geneshi Lal's Press, at the house of Lala Ram Saran Das, Reis, andint he kothi of Babu Chhedi Lal, Commissariat Agent, had their effect on unbiased minds, and an Arya Samaj was established at Meerut on 29th September, 1879, with the following gentlemen as Office-bearers :- Pandit Kundan Lal, B.A., President; Lala Ram saran Das, Ries, Vice-President; Babu Anand Lal, Secretary; Babu Chhedi Lal, Treasurer; Pandit Jagan Nath Pershad, Librarian; Pandit Amba Shanker, Assistant Secretary.

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A subscription was duly raised by the Ajmer, gentlemen on the receipt of the news that the Swami was coming to them. Before, however, the reformer had time to reach Ajmer, some member of the priesthood, probably in his desire to settle old scores, sent him a letter in the name f an admirer of the Swami, telling him that it was unnecessary for him to come, since no subscription could be raised in the interest of his visit! The Swami communicated the contents of the strange epistle to Munshi Samarthdan at Ajmer, and the Munshi instituting inquiries and ascertaining the real facts submitted his report to the Swami. The villainy was apparent, and the Swami duly came to Ajmer, reaching there on the date already specified.

Without making a halt at Ajmer, the Swami proceeded directly to Pushkar, a famous tirtha of the Hindus, situated at a few miles distance from Ajmer. The annual fair was taking place, and the work of prachar could not be neglected on an occasion like the present one. The Swami put up at the ghat of Maharaja Jodhpur, popularly known as the Window of Nathji, and he stayed at Pushkar as long as the fair lasted. Notices were issued, inviting all true enquirers to come and hold religious conversations, but nobody came forward for the purpose. The updesh, however, was regularly given, and we may be sure that it did not fall on deaf ears. As soon as the fair was over, the Swami returned to Ajmer, and kept lecturing here till 1st December, 1878. His lectures were attended by the gentry and nobility of the town and by the local Officials, such as Rai Bhag Ram, Extra Judicial-Assitant; Sardar Rai Bahadur Amin Chand, Judge; Sardar Bhagat Singh; Rao Sahib Masooda, etc. The first named gentleman was long a member of the Ajmer Samaj.

The following lines are from a gentleman's diary regarding the Swami when at Ajmer:- Swamiji must be about fifty years of age. I saw him lying on a bed with his langot on. It appeared that he was suffering from dysentery. For all this, however, his appearance, by virtue of his brahmacharya was such as to furnish little ground for anyone to suspect that he was ill; he possesses a well-knit body, and is tall of stature''.

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One of the lectures the Swami delivered at Ajmere was on the teachings of the Bible. Mr. Rev. Grey, and some other Missionaries, were present at this lecture, and being anything but pleased with what was being said, they, finding their opportunity, intimated to the Swami that they were ready and willing to hold a discussion with him in connection with any objections he might bring forward against the Biblical teachings provided that he had these objections handed over to them in advance for consideration.

The Swami agreed to the condition, and getting some sixty-four out of the numerous objections he could raise against the dogmas of Christianity, had them sent to the Rev. gentleman, through Rai Bhag Ram. After the Rev. gentleman had considered them for full ten days the 28th of November, 1878, was fixed for the discussion. The public announcement that a discussion of such a character was going to take place between the Missionaries and Swami Dayanand attracted thousands of men to the place of meeting. Three reporters were in attendance.

When the objections against the bible were read out to the audience, Rev. Mr. Grey insisted that only two or three objections should be made the subject of discussion and that no objection should be spoken upon, if possible, more than once. It was pointed out, in reply, that the restriction imposed was unfair, and that, though it did not signify much what objections were discussed and what left out, it was material that the objections that were selected for discussion should be discussed thoroughly. The Rev. gentleman would not listen to this, and so the discussion being nominal led to no definite result; the more so as the Missionary declined to resume it after the first day had closed. Whatever, however, was said by the parties, was published in the Theophist.
The following extract will give the reader an idea of what was said:-

Missionary - The phrase without form does not mean imperfect, it means uninhabited. As, for instance, the book of Ayub 2: 24, - ''They shall have to wander in the trackless wilderness.'' The word which signifies without form here means ''wilderness'' there.

Swami ~ ''In the verse preceding it, it is said that ''in the beginning God created heaven and earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.''
This passage shows that the words without form cannot mean ''uninhabited''; there was no necessity of using the word void or uninhabited again. If God alone created the world, could not He have created it by His knowledge from the beginning with some kind of form?''

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Missionary - ''All languages have synonymous words, generally coming one after another; as, bood-o-bash in Persian, the two words being synonymous: in like manner, it is right to say in Urdu that the earth was barren and a waste.''

[ Observation -- The Swami was going to say something more, but the Missionary said that only two questions and answers could be put and given on one point; or else the questions being many would not be finished that day. Upon this the Swami said that it was not necessary that all the questions should be disposed of in one day; some should be discussed that day, and others in tow, three or in as many days following, as it would take them to be discussed.

The Missionaries did not consent to more than two questions being asked and two replies being given on a point. The Swami remonstrated against this, observing that so many men had come together in order that they might hear something and that if nothing worth their trouble was said, they would go home disappointed; but all was to no purpose. The Missionaries were obstinate.]

Swami ''Genesis 1:2 '' ''And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.''
The first verse tells us that God created heaven and earth; but the creation of water was not mentioned. Whence, then, did water come to exist? Is God of the form of spirit, or is He corporeal like us? If He has a body, He can have no power to create heaven and earth; for the atoms are more delicate than the limbs of the body, and consequently, it is impossible for limbs to hold and unite them, to create things with. Also, He cannot be omnipresent or all-pervading. When His spirit was floating on the surface of the waters, where was His body?''

Missionary - ''When He created the earth, water was included in it. God is a spirit, and so is He called in the Bible from beginning to end.''

Swami ~ ''The account of God in the Old and the New Testament make shim corporeal in many places; for, His coming down to Eden for Adam, His descending on the Mt. Senai, His talking with Moses, Abraham, had his wife Sera, his going into their tent, his wrestling with Jacob, and the like adventures of His show that He must possess some sort of body, or assume it on such occasions.''

Missionary - ''These things do not concern the verse, and are mentioned as the outcome of ignorance. Suffice it to say in reply the Jews, the Christians, and the Muhammadans, who accept the Bible, are all unanimous in declaring that God is spirit.''

Swami Genesis 1:26, ''And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness
This verse clearly proves that God is like Adam in form. God had body and soul like Adam according to this verse. How could he make Adam after His likeness, if He had no form?''

Missionary - This verse makes no mention of body. God created Adam holy, intelligent, and happy. He is a holy, intelligent, and happy Himself, and made Adam like Himself. When Adam sinned, he fell from the likeness of God, as is manifest from the 24th and

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3oth questions of the First Cathechism. Epistle to Corinthians 3: 9 and 10: - ''Don't tell lies amongst you, for ye have cast off the old Adam with his works, and put on a new life, which is like your Creator's in knowledge.
This shows that man was made like God in knowledge and holiness. We are made anew. Corinthians 3:17 and 19 "God is spirit; God is the spirit, wherever the spirit of God is, there is peace. We distinctly see the glory of God and change into His form from glory to glory by means of His spirit.''
This shows that the faithful or believers are changed into the likeness of God, i.e., in knowledge, holiness, and happiness; for being endowed with certain qualities, man's body is never changed.''

Swami ~ ''The creation of Adam after the image of God proves the corporeity of God. Had God made Adam holy and happy, how could he have broken the command of God? If he broke the law, it is evident that he was not wise or knowing. His statement that when he tasted of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, his eyes were opened, proves that he got knowledge afterward. If he had knowledge before he tasted the fruit, it is unreasonable to say that he got knowledge after the commission of the act.

''God at first blessed Adam with prosperity. But when he broke the divine law by eating the forbidden fruit, he became endowed with knowledge and knew that he was naked. He covered his body with the leaves of goolar. Only reflect a little that if Adam was like God in knowledge, holiness and happiness, he should have been omniscient and ever-happy, and should have experienced no pain whatever: for, he was like God in the qualities above-mentioned. He could not have fallen from his state. If he fell, he could not be like God; for, God never falls off from His knowledge and the like divine attributes. Since Adam, being like God in those three qualities, fell from them, the believers will suffer the same fate, unless they have more knowledge than Adam, and consequently, than God! If they have equal knowledge with Adam, they will fall, as fell he who was like God in those respects.''

Missionary - ''The first answer will suffice most of the objections. As regards the disobedience of Adam, he was holy at first but became sinful after he disobeyed God. It is incorrect today that he acquired knowledge afterward; because when he tasted the fruit of the forbidden fruit, he simply canes to know of evil, of which he did not know before. That his eyes were opened and he knew that he was naked means that being sinful he became ashamed. As for the assertion, that had he been like God, he would not have fallen, I say that he was made after the image of God, but he was not equal to God. Had he been equal to God, he would not have fallen into sin. As for the question, if the believers were more holy than Adam, I say that the question is not one about more or less holiness, but about form or likeness, - as to whether the image of God was material or not. If the image in question was material, the believers, when regenerated by the grace of God, would change their corporeal frame.�

Swami - Gen.2:3 ''And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it He had rested from all His work

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which God created and made.''
God can experience no fatigue in creating the world, being almighty, all-pervading, truth, intelligence, and happiness. Then how can he have the necessity to rest on the seventh day? If He rested at all, He must have worked very hard during the previous six days. If He blessed the seventh day, what did He do with the foregoing days? We can't believe that it takes God more than a moment to create the world, or that He is ever fatigued.

''The account of the discussion given above shows what policy the Missionaries pursue in India. As far as possible, they avoid discussions with native Scholars, and confine there preaching to the low classes and ignorant in the Missionaries Schools and Colleges also the teachers do not like answering the questions of intelligent youths on matters of religion in class: they would have students come to their houses if they would have the same answered. It is no secret to the impartial Europeans who have visited India that the Missionary propaganda here has had to face bitter disappointment. The gentlemen of philanthropic impulses who donate millions to the Padris are in reality wasting their charity. Many Anglo-Indians are in absolute sympathy with this view of ours. It is our intention to publish from time to time whatever evidence on the point is forthcoming.''

.

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''It is really most extraordinary that while earth, water, fire, air and sky, the sun and moon, the year, the nights, the seasons, the paksha, the day and night, the pahars, mahurats, gharis, pals and kshans, the eyes, nose , ears and other parts of the body; the medicines, the plants, eating and drinking, and all other things which play a part in the maintenance of life, should have remained in Aryavarta exactly as they were from the time of Brahma down to the age of Jaimini, we Aryas (the inhabitants of the land) should be so markedly changed. Fellow-beings! If you would only think deeply you would see that Dharma can never be that which is productive of pain and suffering, nor Adharma that of which peace and happiness are born.

''The great cause which has brought about our fall is the same as has been referred to above, - namely, our going against the teaching of the Veda. That which can restore us to our pristine state is nothing else than re-confirming our lives to the behests of Scriptures. This can only be done by following the plan which those natives of Aryavarta who are Sabhasads of Arya Samajes and genuine Aryas, have to suggest. This plan is (1) that a mandli (band) of Updeshaks should be created of individuals, who are well-versed in Sanskrit, who is of thoroughly patriotic instincts, who are philanthropic and ever ready and willing to confer, in their

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simplicity and purity of heart, the blessings of knowledge on all true suppliants for the same men who are righteous in thought, word and action, and learned; (2) that schools and colleges should be established wherein the Shastras be taught. Whoever is in a position to assist in carrying through this noblest undertaking, the same should come forward and engage in the undertaking. If this is done, people will rapidly improve.''

The foregoing lines from Swami Dayanand's pen are too clear to misconstrued. the regeneration of Aryavarta, it was his conviction, could be best-achieved in woe ways, - by means of preachers, and by the agency of schools and colleges. His ideal updeshak was a person of loft character, learned, and having the welfare of this motherland at hear, and the patshalas he as for establishing were, primarily and in the first instance, to be patshalas where the Vedas and the Shastras were to be taught.

It was a tremendous affair, this Kumbha Fair at Haridwar. The cord was immense, appalling in it proportions. There were no less than two lakhs of souls present at Haridwar as early as the 12th April, 1879, and thousands upon thousands were arriving daily from all parts of the country. For some nine or ten miles along the banks of the Ganges, nothing but masses of surging humanity could be seen. What could the fifty or sixty Aryas among a gather so vast expect to count for? For much, on the principle enunciated by the great sage and legislator in his well-known shloka which says that a learned Brahman is superior to thousands of his brethren, who are destitute of the qualities and excellences of a Brahman.

The single personality of Dayanand alone a personality, the reproduction of that of the true Arya Rishi and teacher of the primeval times, outweighed, in moral and spiritual wealth, the collective individuality of the legions of priests, Sadhus and Sanyasis, in the midst of whom he was placed. This will be fully evident from the fact that no one of even the greatest men present at the fair Swami Vishuddhanand, Satwa Swami, Sukhdeva Giri, Jivan Giri, etc., had the courage to take up the gauntlet thrown down by the Swami.

Of course the great Vedic Teacher must attend to the work he had come for, irrespective of al consideration as to whether he was being appreciated or not. His lectures on the ''Purans'' were in the spirit of a Luther, only more learned and profound in an argument. The Brahmans, the Sanyasis, the Bairagi Sadhu, the Nirmalas and representatives of a score of other ''orders'' frequently came to hear his lectures, but could not, for the life of them, relish the same. Some of them, gnashing their teeth in rage, would declare to his face: ''We wish we could make an end of you. You have snatched away the bread from our mouth and spread false doctrine in the world.'' And choked with a passion they would retire.

Although men of real learning and worth shrank form encountering Swami Dayanand, orthodox leaders of an infinitely inferior stamp were not wanting who would rough it out with him. Pandit Shardha Ram of Phillur was conspicuous among these. He

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established a Sabha of his own, and got his august body to write the following letter to the Swami:-

''I have never declined, and can never decline, to hold a shastrarth: I am ready for one at all times. But the shastrarth which you propose should be arranged for by some Magistrate, and it should be attended by Pandits only and by no illiterate men. The place where it should be held should be such as might not be regarded as especially yours or mine. The place where your Sabha is being held is one by coming where I apprehend personal violence.

The thought of losing my life does not grieve me at all, but it grieves me to think that in case I lose my life, the work of reform I am carrying on will cease, and it is only for this that I guard my body; hence I do not think it advisable to attend your Sabha.''

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abusing the messengers, Pandits Shardha Ram and Chaturbhuj, in a violent manner, declaring it to their face that, compared with Dayanand, they did not understand so much, as a single letter of the Vedas! Swami Vishuddhanand also wrote a letter to Swami Dayanand, and it was to the following effect.:-

''Many ignorant and illiterate persons have gathered together with the intention of creating a disturbance. You should not at all listen to what they say.''

Pandit Bhim Sen read out this letter in the evening in public to an audience of some ten thousand men, and what the effect of the communication must have been on the minds of the hearers, may be better than described. Pandit Shardha Ram, however, was not going to take his discomfiture to heart. On the contrary, he had the hardihood to write a letter to the Koh-i-Noor, saying that Dayanand had refused to hold a shastrarth with his party. More than this, he prevailed upon some creatures of his to declare in his Sabha that though they had, by bearing Swami Dayanand's updesh accepted his faith, they were now as orthodox as ever. ''We have found out our mistake,'' said they, ''and we beg that we may be readmitted in the Sanatan Dharma.'' Their repentance, was, of course, accepted, and they were conducted to the steps of Haridwar with great pomp, to be purified and reclaimed. No pains were spared to give the expiation as wide a publicity as possible, but alas for the clever Pandit! The trick was exposed by a member of his own fraternity. It was Pandit Gopal Shastri, who did the thing. Truth came out!

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While at Haridwar, the Swami was not unnoticed by the Officials. The Commissioner of Meerut Division, the Collector of Saharanpur, and the Conservator of Forests one day came to see him. The Swami being engaged in upasna at the time of their arrival, they had to wait till he was free. His devotions being over, the interview came off. A long conversation on the ''Nature and attributes of the Deity'' took place, and the European gentlemen were highly delighted with the arguments and observations of the Swami, and before taking their leave, they saw, of their own accord and free will, that the Swami had the benefit of Police attendance, so that there might be no disturbance at his lectures.

• Rao Ivaz Khan, Hakim and Reis, Jwalapur, often came to see him. Among other subjects gauraksha (protection of the cow) formed the subject of conversation between the two. Whatever arguments the Rao could bring forward in support of his contention, were easily dispose of by the Swami. The discussion finally resulted in the Rao's becoming a convert to the Swami's views, and he gave him a solemn promise to further the cause of gauraksha to the best of his power.
• Some orthodox Pandits and Sadhus, waiting upon the Swami one day, beseeched him to desist from denouncing idolatry, shraddh and other Puranic institutions and practices. ''We have not the slightest doubt as to your profound scholarship,'' said they; ''if you grant the request we have made, the whole of India will worship you as an incarnation; and we too will bow before you, and help you in every way.'' The request was accompanied by the threat that if he rejected their request, they should deal with him as with an enemy, and make him repent. The reply the Swami made to this was the repeating of the well-known shloka of Bhartrihari, upholding devotion to principle.
• A European Doctor of Nianital, in an interview with the Swami, pooh-poohed the idea that the burying or burning of human excreta could produce cholera. However, the very thing came to pass only three or four days after the interview. The gentleman saw the Swami again and asked his opinion as to the best way of disposing of the night-soil. The Swami advised him to have it thrown at someplace fairly distant from the area occupied by the pilgrims and where the wind blew in the direction opposite to human habitation.

  The doctor saw there was sense in the advice, the interment of filth was stopped, and arrangements were made for its transportation to, and deposit in, the kind of locality specified. At the same time, the Swami did not forget to exhort the people in his lectures to leave for their homes before it was too late, for not even the wisest sanitary measures that could be adopted in an assemblage so vast and so unnatural, could shield it from the attacks of one epidemic or another. Many profiting by the counsel betook themselves to their native places several days before the breaking up of the multitude Arya Samajists departing a day before the Swami did.

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• When the report was being assiduously spread by the enemies of reform that Swami Dayanand had refused to hold a shastrarth, some Sadhus elated by the report hastened to the Swami's quarters, and coming into his presence, said that they had sought him out with the view of holding a discussion with him. The Swami, who weakened by dysentery, was laying down, sat up and replied that he was ready.

''Vedantism,'' was the reply of the leader of the band, a man of learning.

Swami ~ ''To begin with, please explain what do you mean by Vedantism?''

Sadhu - ''Vedantism is that which teaches that the world is false and that God is the only true existence.''

Swami ~ ''What do you understand by the ''world'' (jagata)? What things are included in your ''world'' and what do you mean by the term ''false'' (mithya)?

Sadhu - ''Whatever there is from atoms up to the sun, is called the ''world'' and all that is in it, is false and unreal.''

Swami ~ ''Are or are not your body, speech, moving about, updesh, guru, and books included in this world also?

Sadhu - Yes they are.''

Swami ~ ''And is your religion also included in this, or is it outside of it?''

Sadhu - ''Verily, that too is included in this.''

Swami ~ ''When you yourself admit that you and your guru, your faith and your books, your speech and your updesh are false, what can I say to you? The case, according to the statement of the claimant himself, deserves to be dismissed. There is no need for witnesses here.''

• One day, a Parmahansa Sanyasi, a man eighty years old, visited the Swami in company with his disciples. At the sight of him the Swami hastily rose, and advancing as far as the door of his khema, conducted him into a tent and seated him on an elevated masnad (seat). The old saint was a Vedanti, and the discussion between him and the Swami, conducted exclusively in Sanskrit, lasted till 2 P.M. All the time the discussion was going on, the Swami would take up one book after another and show his opponent the required parmanas (authorities) in support of his position. On the termination of the shastrarth, which had been absorbing enough to make the disputants forget that they were hungry, the two great Sanyasi rose, and the Parmahansa, addressing his disciples, said: ''I accept Dayanand's faith, you also do as I do.''