Basic HTML Version
www.thea rya sa maj.org
being a very intelligent and patriotic man and at the same time a
sincere well wisher of the movement, read the mind of the son
and allowed him, without any formal request on his part to join
the deputation.
The deputation left Lahore in July 1887. It consisted of Lala
Lal Chand, M.A., Lala Madan Singh, B.A., Lala Dwarka Dass, M.A.,
Lala Lajpat Rai, Lala Jwala Sahay, the well known contractor and
reis
of Miani and our
Vidyarthi.
There was no particular destination.
Halts were made at almost all important towns. During all this
time the mind of Panditji was by no means at rest, he was very
anxious to know the condition of his father and kept sending
telegrams to Muzaffargarh, inquiring about it. When the vacation
was over, the party returned to Lahore, and immediately after his
arrival, Panditji attended the anniversary of the Rawalpindi Arya
Samaj. The lecture on the D.A.V. College movement delivered by
him on the occasion, was simply grand. The last sentences have
been preserved in record, and they are very pathetic and touching.
'If you are convinced,' said he, "you have a soul within you, if you
are convinced your life will not end with the dissolution of your
outer selves, but that there is something within you, which will
live after your bodies have perished, and if you desire that this
soul of yours should go on progressing and are aware that learning
will effect this object, you must join in helping the establishment of
the D.A.V. College. The cause of the progress of the soul is the
cause of the progress of all humanity and Hindus and
Muhammdans and Christians should all join in this noble cause."
In response to this appeal Rs. 1,253 were collected on the spot. A
few hours after his return from Pindi he received the sad intelligence
of the death of his father.27 The incident must have much affected
his mind. He at once telegraphed to his relatives at Multan to
preserve the body till his arrival. His castemen, coming to know
of his intention of cremating the remains of his father according to
the Vedic rites, asked his mother to give the body to them, but she
would not do anything against the wishes of her son. A strong
resistance was offered by the Bradari but Pandit Guru Datta braved
it very manfully.28
Shortly after death of his father the public demand on Pt.
Guru Datta's energies became very great. The death of his father
had thrown him into various domestic affections. The loss of a
xxxv