Page:The Autobiography of Maharshi Devendranath Tagore.djvu/59

 DEVENDRANATH TAGORE 11

Hills, absorbed in intense study and contemplation, and returned to Calcutta shortly after the Sepoy Mutiny, a regenerated soul, full of ardour and enthusiasm, to propagate the holy religion he had found. It was then that he poured forth his inspired utterances in a series of sermons, delivered extempore from the pulpit, which made a most profound impression upon the congregation. The sermons were taken down in writing by myself and others, and eventually published in a book entitled The Brahma Dharma Vyâkhyan or Exposition of the Brâhma Dharma.

The Autobiography breaks off at the time when my father resumed his work in the Brahma-Samaj on his return from the Himalayas. Indeed, the last chapter takes us little beyond the threshold of his career as a religious reformer. The early fifties were not an eventful period either in my father s life or in the history of the Brahma-Samaj. They were devoted to the work of quiet construction and consolidation. The second period may be said to commence with the year 1859, shortly after my father's return from Simla, when an event occurred which was destined to work a great revolution in the Samaj. This was the coming of Keshab Chandra Sen into the ranks of the Brahma brotherhood. The immediate cause of Keshab's acquaintance with my father was his anxiety to take the Maharshi's