LIMBD! 395
Mother Elizabeth was of course an English lady, Mrs. Pynx
an American and a new arrival, Miss Kronse was a German.
Prince Pratap Singh, a younger son of Raja Ram, was also
one of the party.
Mother Elizabeth got copies of Ramdas* second booklet,
"At the Feet of God," in the publication of which she had
helped and to which she had written a loving foreword,
and desired that Ramdas should present them to the ladies.
The ladies asked him to have his autograph on the presented
copies. Accordingly, he wrote down his love a,ncl regards to
them signing: "From your child Ramdas/' On a previous
occasion, at the wish of mother Elizabeth Ramdas had
written the same words on a copy which she had for her
own use. Seeing the exact similarity of the wording in the
case of the other ladies, she remarked, when they were
alone together later, "Ramdas, don't you think this
mother's love (referring to herself) is greater than that of
others? I expected you would make some difference in your
estimation of my love in comparison with that of the
other mothers."
" For Ramdas all mothers are alike.'1 replied Ramdas.
After sundry talks about the ways of Sabarmati ashram,
which was recently visited by Mrs. Pym, during which
Ramdas played the role of a sileut listener, he had a short
conversation with Miss Krouse. This young lady had
adopted Jainism and had spent many long months on
Mount Abu in rigorous austerities. She was simple and
childlike in her manners and talks. Dressed in plain clothes,
she was frank, cheerful and unsophisticated. She glanced
over the pages of " At the Feet of God."1
" I do not agree with you, Ramdas, in your articles of
faith," she said. " I believe that by purushartha, i. e. by
steady and severe discipline alone can the contaminated
and imprisoned Atman be purified and liberated. I do not
believe in the theory of the pristine and eternal purity and
freedom of the soul, with ignorance only as a cloud over
50*