250 IN THE VISION OF GOD
(ii) A Christian Sadhu
Mark Sanjivarao was Ramdas1 cousin by the old birth.
From early boyhood he and Eamdas were great chums
When he was still young, he renounced the Hindu faith
and embraced Christianity. The great Christ, as a supreme
ideal, fascinated and captured him/and as an earnest seeker
of the everlasting life, i. e. the kingdom of God, he be-
came Christ's discif)le. The friendship between him and
Ramdas continued Vnhampered. Ramdas admired his
courage in taking a step which threw him into odium and
made him an object of ridicule from the Hindu public. He
bore the cross of persecution calmly because he had the
courage of his convictions. He associated with pure and
•saintly souls amongst the Christian missionaries and
imbibed from them the spirit of a dedicated life.
Ramdas' new birth and purified vision had brought
about a momentous change in his life. On his return after
a year's absence from South Kanara, Mark Sanjivarao paid
a visit to him, and Ramdas felt great joy on seeing him.
Now his love for Ramdas had increased a hundredfold. He
was instrumental in bringing Ramdas in close touch with
the sublime teachings of Christ in the New Testament.
Ramdas had no predilection for any particular creed or
religion. He held in the highest veneration the founders
of all the great religions of the world—Sri Krishna, Jesus
-Christ, Buddha and Muhammad. Now Ramdas knows that
these great ones are the torch-bearers of Truth who show to
the deluded souls the path to the supreme Reality, a
Reality which is revealed as these torch-bearers.
Mark Sanjivarao was a preacher of the Christ's Gospel
and his sphere of work covered an extensive field. He came
to Ernakulam on his way to Alleppey and Kottayam in the
Travancore State. He paid a visit to Ramdas in his retreat
•and proposed to take him to these places. Ramdas at once
fell in with the idea. They started and reached Alleppey in
'•due time. Here they were put up in a commodious building