CHAPTER X
KALADY-KASARAGOD-IX THE
STEAMBOAT
(f) Birth-place of Sri Shankaracharya
One evening Raindas was unusually inebriated with
ecstasy- In the presence of some friends, of whom V. Iyer
was r.c.e, ke talked with great fervour on the universal
; epect of G<xl. Iyer was eagerly listening.
"The whole universe is permeated through and through
with God," s&id Raindas. "The visible and invisible worlds
are all He—as manifest and unmanifest. There is nothing
an*L E'-aie Mu He. AIL all is He. Such is the truth. "Where
then is the idea of T and Vou1—'mine1 and Yours1. All are
He and His/"
In this strain Raindas spoke on. The words flowed out
i."f him in Lin irresistible stream, Ramdas saw that a blissful
li^'ht ha* 1 filled the ro«**m and the people sitting in it were
like faint shadows. The compelling words and the
atmosphere produced a marvellous effect on Iyer. His face
was aglow with a sirange Instre; his eyes became moist.
"I have, then, no relations and no home—where shall
I go to?" he cried out with a touch of deep pathos and
anxiety. He trembled and swayed on one side. The other
friends at once held him and led him out of the room and
made him lie down on a bench. He fell into a trance-like
sleep for half an hour, after which he returned to outer
consciousness. Now, coming to Karndas, he said:
''Swami, I am going home,"
"So you have recovered the ego which you had lost for
awhile/' Ramdas observed with a smile. He nodded in the
affirmative and left*
Sanjivrao and the other friends proposed to take
Ramdas on a visit to Ealady—the birth-place of the re-
nowned Shankaracharya—situated at a place, a few stations