A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

""<>The""""""""""""""""""""SWAMl S REPLY TO THE ADDRESSES. 59curious and unorthodox custom of hereditaryGurus thaf> prevails in Bengal, and for the most partin Bengal alone, is another cause of her being cut off fromthe religious life of the rest of India.The greatest cause of all is that the life of Bengalnever received an influx from that of the great brotherhoodof Sanyasins who are the representatives and repositories of the highest Indian spiritual culture even at thepresent day.Tyag is not liked by the higher classes of Bengal.Their tendency is forBhoga."How can they get a deepinsight into spiritual things ? Tyageiiaikena amritatvamanasuh otherwise ?On the other hand throughout the Hindi-speakingworld a succession of brilliant Tyagi teachers of farreachinginfluence have brought the doctrines of theVedanta to every door. Especially the impetus given toTyag during the reign of Run jit Sing of the Punjab hasmade the highest teachings of the Yedantic philosophyavailable to the very lowest of the low. With true pridethe Punjabi peasant girl says that even her spinning wheelrepeats Soham," Soham." And I have seen Mehtar rTyagis in the forest of Hrishikes wearing the garb ofthe",Sanyasi," and studying the Vedantas. Many a proudhigh-class man would be glad to sit at their feet and learn,And why not ?Thus it isAntyadapi parodharmah."that the North-West and the Punjab havea religious education which is far ahead of that of Bengal,Bombay or Madras. The ever-travelling Tyagis of thevarious orders, the Dasamis or the Vairagis or thePanthis," bring religion to everybody s door, and it costsonly a bit of bread. And how noble and disinterestedmost of them are. There is one Sanyasiri belonging to the