Page:The Autobiography of Maharshi Devendranath Tagore.djvu/54

6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF there and then, and in three hours the whole book was composed. The second part consists of moral precepts from Manu, Yagnavalkya, Mahabharat, and other Hindu Scriptures. In an appendix to the book the following were laid down as the cardinal principles of the Brahmic faith:

1. In the beginning there was naught. The One Supreme alone existed. He created the whole universe. 2. He alone is the God of Truth, Infinite Wisdom, Goodness and Power, Eternal and All-pervading, the One without a second (Ekamevadvitiyam). 3. In His worship lies our salvation in this world and in the next. 4. Loving Him and doing that which He loveth constitute His worship.

Besides looking after the Calcutta Samaj, my father helped to establish branches in Midnapur, Burdwan, Dacca, Rangpur, Krishnagar, and several other places. All this work, extending over a period of nearly twelve years, is set forth in the Autobiography.

In the year 1846 my grandfather Dwarkanath Tagore died during his second visit to England. The death was a great blow to my father; and from a worldly point of view launched him into pecuniary troubles and embarrassments of no ordinary kind. Not only this, but it seemed as if this event was a heaven-sent ordeal, meant to test his spiritual strength in the face of opposition and persecution which arose from an unexpected quarter. It all happened in this