KUDLU-KADRI HEX 29
through which he was passing and encouraged him on. He
advised Ramdas to feed the body properly. One thing,
however, became evident to Ramdas—this exercise was
dealing a death-blow to memory, reason and the subtler
emotions of the heart. The mind became blank and arid-
inactivity and silence was the result.
It was the will of the Lord that Ramdas should also gain
this experience of pranayama—a mode of mind-control
prescribed by the great sage Patanjali. This discipline forms
a part of ashtanga yoga as taught by the sage. It is incum-
bent on the aspirant that he should follow all the eight
rules of the yoga together, of which asana and pranayama
are two. Brahmacharya or continence is held to be absolu-
tely necessary, as also a watchful guidance from an ex-
perienced teacher of yoga, The path is not meant for all
people. Householders, engaged in the affairs of life, will do
well to avoid it. For, failure in observance of the rules of
this yoga is likely to cause derangement of the brain and
other diseases. For the householder the most suitable dis-
cipline for concentration of mind is repetition of the
divine Name and devotional music, in other words, the
path of bhakti or devotion. The practice of pranayama
continued unabated for a month, and then Ramdas gave it
up. The usual repetition of the mantram became once more
an automatic function of the tongue. Activity returned,
and he took long walks on the meadow both in the morn-
ing and evening. He wandered aimlessly. The extensive
view of the green vegetation all around absorbed him. He
witnessed his own loneliness—his mind resting on the
bosom of the motionless spirit of tranquillity. The world
about him looked like a vast glistening canvas on which
pictures of variegated tints were laid by a master artist—
the green earth below and the blue expanse above were
bathed in the bright glory of the sun.
In the course of his rambles he was accosted by a
Muslim: