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extended them to "Nighantu," "Nirukta" "Purvamimausa, 3
and other Shastras, as well as to "Karmakand" or the Ritual.
Renunciation
There were besides myself in the family two younger s i s-
ters and two brothers, the youngest of whom was born when
I was already sixteen. On one memorable night, as we were
attending a nautch 4 festival at the house of a friend, a ser-
vant was despatched after us from home, with the terrible
news that my sister, a girl of fourteen, had been just taken
ill with a mortal disease. Notwithstanding every medical
assistance, my poor sister expired within four ghatikasz after
we had returned. It was my first bereavement, and the shock
my heart received was great. While friends and relatives
were sobbing and lamenting around me, I stood like one
petrified, and plunged in a profound reverie. It resulted in
a series of long and sad meditations upon the instability of
human life. Not one of the beings that ever lived in this
world could escape the cold hand of death'---I thought; I,
too, may be snatched away at any time and die. Whither,
then, shall I turn for an expedient to alleviate this human
misery, connected with our death bed; where shall I find the
assurance of, and means of attaining Muktee, the final bliss ?
It was there and then, that I came to the determination that
I must find it, cart whatever it may, and thus save myself
from the untold miseries of the dying moments of an unbeli-
ever. The ultimate result of such meditations was to make
me violently break, and for ever, with the mummeries of
external mortification and penances, and the more to appre-
ciate the inward efforrs of the soul. But I kept my determi-
I. A Vedic vocabulary.
2. Another treatise on the Vedic terminology.
3. One of the six systems of philosophy by Jaimini, expla-
natory of Vedic doctrines.
4. Singing and dancing by professional women.
5. About half an hour.