My friend, who may mildly be described as vacillating in temperament, left me in Calcutta. By local train I soon reached Serampore, twelve miles to the north.
A throb of wonderment stole over me as I realized that twenty-eight days had elapsed since the Benares meeting with my guru. “You will come to me in four weeks!” Here I was, heart pounding, standing within his courtyard on quiet Rai Ghat Lane. I entered for the first time the hermitage where I was to spend the best part of the next ten years with India’s Jyanavatar, “incarnation of wisdom.”
[11-1:] See [chapter 25].
[11-2:] The world-famous mausoleum..
[11-3:] A dhoti-cloth is knotted around the waist and covers the legs..
[11-4:] Brindaban, in the Muttra district of United Provinces, is the Hindu Jerusalem. Here Lord Krishna displayed his glories for the benefit of mankind..
[11-5:] Hari; an endearing name by which Lord Krishna is known to his devotees.
[11-6:] An Indian sweetmeat..
[11-7:] A mythological gem with power to grant desires.
[11-8:] Spiritual initiation; from the Sanskrit root diksh, to dedicate oneself.