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 Appendix 2 Vinobaji's “Report”

Most revered Bapuji

I left the Ashram a year ago to recoup my health. I had intended to stay in Wai for two or three months and then return, but though a whole year has passed away, nothing has been heard from me. Questions, therefore, may have arisen whether I am ever to come back and even whether I am alive or dead. I must admit, I am myself entirely to blame in the matter. I had, however, written a letter or two to Mama Phadke requesting him to write to me immediately if any satyagraha was to be launched. I had told him, I would give up everything to join it, but otherwise I would stay on, out of the Ashram. If anybody suspected that I was a deserter, even there the fault is mine alone, because I am averse to correspondence. I must, however, state here that the Ashram has not only captivated me, but I have also the ingrained conviction that I was really born for the Ashram. Why then, did I loiter away a whole year outside the Ashram precincts?

Early in my life, when I was only ten, I took a solemn vow to observe Brahmacharya and dedicate my life to the country. Later on, during my high school days, | was fascinated by the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita. My father, however, asked me to take up French as my second language, but that did not abate my zest to learn the Gita. I began to study Sanskrit privately at home that very day, and I was resolved upon studying the Vedanta and other books on philosophy whenever possible. When, with your permission, I came to Wai, I saw that there was an excellent opportunity for me to study the Vedanta. One Shri Narayan Shastri Marathe, a Brahmachari all his life, is teaching the Vedanta and

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