The Saints of India (An Old and Rare Book)

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Savants hold that the spiritual soil of India is like a delta made up of layer upon layer of its religious endeavoners from time immemorial. They base their theory on the historical materials which demonstrate how varieties of religious striving have contributed to its formation. It can not be denied that religious faiths of India worked on the principle of 'live and let live'. But occasionally this spirit of toleration was vitiated in the struggle for existence and new challenges came with the proselytization of India by coercion and sometimes by bloodshed. These challenges were met by the free spirits and lovers of humanity with their new techniques of spiritual regeneration and construction of the bridges of love to suit the needs of the hour. It was left to the saints to bring about, by their lives, a synthesis and keep India's spiritual heritage alive by maintaining the uninterrupted flow of the stream of spiritual consciousness throughout the vast country for the welfare of humanity at large.

Religion, the mother of civilization is a mighty force for universal good. The secret urge of evolution and the spiritual disquiet at the existing order of things lead men to make conscious effort to understand this and the nature of their being without which they can never exist. So struggle is a common phenomenon in all. There are people and their number is very great, who are bereft of inner spirit. That is why they miss the central truth about life and its spiritual aim and in confusion laugh away the potential divinity as absurd idea. But there are others who, though their number is very small, use superior gift of their intellect to understand the condition of life and meaning of struggle. They want to lead enlightened life endowed with far-sight, fore-sight and insight and try to solve the intricate problems of life that agitate men from the dawn of civilization. They struggle to uncover divinity lying concealed within them. Those who succeed in it become the blessed citizens of the city of God. The world has seen many seers of God at different lands and at different ages.

When the ascent of men towards divinity is seriously endangered the seers appear to release the clogged wheels of spiritual progress of mankind. They attain perfection through self control and removal of ignorance, the cause of bondage. They are divine, full of love, joy and wisdom, above nature and absolutely free. Nothing can bind them. They are free from want, misery and fear. They have no cause for strife or grief. They are the salt of the earth. Out of fulness of heart they preach what they see and feel. Their selfless love flows alike to all. Living under the most difficult circumstances their life is self-emolating austerity, their contact brings strength, purity and solace to all, their loving heart is the refuge of their followers. Through their life men see vividly the ideal to be realised. Their teachings dispel doubts, their life furnishes humanity with a living model, gives impetus to the ascent of men towards godhood and a fresh lease to religion. They help humanity to lead the life of purity, proceed towards the spiritual goal of divinity and attain, godliness. They make difficult maxims simple for easy comprehension by average people and are reflected in the heart of their followers. To speak in the words of Isherwood they are "like motionless reservoir supplying electricity to a country side.