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dispensed by the learned Pandit. Having been perfectly satiated, they
expressed a desire to work for the propagation of the Vedic religion
and volunteered their services to the Pratinidhi Sabha. For some time
they worked with unfaltering zeal. Latterly two of them, viz,
Achutananda and Prakashnanda, fell off.34 The conversion of these
Sannyasis had not a little affected the health of Pandit Guru Datta,
but they were not the only frequenters of his house at the time. A large
body of Aryas and non-Aryas visited him daily, some to learn, some
to amuse themselves and some to fathom his learning. Being a man of
obliging habits, he never asked them to retire, but kept up with them
till late in the night. An idea of these gatherings may be gained from
the following observations of Lala Lajpat Rai: "For several days of the
year, I am told by a reliable witness, all the four revered Swamis
remained with him and conversed upon different topics of religion,
so the people might have well considered his house to be an
Ashram
in
the truest sense of the term, and that many did consider it to be such is
a fact. Many a soul did go to that house in search of truth and come
back with their minds treasured with the lore of the Vedic religion.
All sorts of people, whether
Grihastis
(laymen) or Sannyasis (ascetics),
flocked to him to solve the deep problems of human life and to receive
light from that resplendent luminary of knowledge. With brilliant
record of valuable services in the cause of the Arya Samaj, he did not
neglect his own intellectual and spiritual advancement. Among not
others too numerous to be named, he went through the ten principal
Upanishats, Gopath and Aitrya Brahmans, portions of Nirukta,
Charak (a medical book). Surya Siddhant, Patanjali's Mahabhashya
he studied himself with the aid of Swami Dayananda's Vedang
Prakash and Swami Dayananda's work were, of course, his special
favourites. Swami's Satyarth Prakash, and especially the chapter on
Mukti,
he is said to have read many times and the more and oftener he
read them, the more and deeper he believed in their celebrated author.
Every day is reverence and respect for Swamiji's genius was on an
increase, and towards the middle of the year 1889 it reached its climax.
Though
ever so busy
he never
refused to help and teach those who wanted
him to do so."35
This hard strain brought on suffering and disease and
we find the following painful notes in his diary:
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