JUNAGAD—LIMBDI 133
her neat little bungalow, in the midst of a beautiful garden.
She called her abode, Sri Krishna Nivas. She was so loving-
and kind.
In the afternoons the room in which Ramdas received
visitors would be filled by ladies. Of these, two mothers
who were very old did not fail to come every day. In spite
of their decrepitude they would climb up the stairs on all
fours and directly totter towards Mm and push into his
mouth large pieces of sugarcandy. Hence they went by the
name sugarcandy mothers. They would softly rub their
palms on his cheeks and gazing on him with a fond smile,
say:"0! my beloved.11
One evening, in response to an invitation of the old
Rani saheb—the widowed rani of the late Thakore Saheb—
he visited the zenana or that part of the palace which was
reserved for the ladies of the prince's household. The
retired Dewan of Limbdi, a qtdet and pious old man,
escorted him to the place. The Rani *Saheb, of course,
observed purdah. She sat behind a perforated screen.
In a small front room he was made to sit on a raised
asan. The ladies behind the screen could see the people in
the outer room but not vice versa. A brahman puranik was
also there. It appeared that the devout old mother was
utilizing her afternoon hours in listening to the readings
of scriptures. She desired that Ramdas should speak. He
expressed himself in Hindi. He dilated at length on the
hollowness of life, if it was not devoted to the attainment
of divine knowledge and universal love. His words flowed
in a spontaneous current for nearly half an hour. At the
close of his talk there followed a dead silence for about
five minutes. Then the voice of the Rani in a clear and
measured modulation filtered through the metallic screen:
"Look at his magnificent vairagya! How I wish I
were a man instead of a*woman, hopelessly caught in a
golden cage! If I were dfisi^q&^^v&s life like Mr-
free and blissful."