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Simply because our sense of reality about the true relations of man and woman is bemisted by passion, we need must make it a subject for poetising.”
you put the blame on the outside elements they cannot defend themselves, but the real reason is known to his inner conscience.”
all that, do you think he found it an easy matter to break my orthodox habits? Now that he has retired in his old age with a heap of savings, he has suddenly turned orthodox and intolerant,— but I cannot follow him in his somersaults.
When you hold a little child to your breast then you feel certain that no one is born into this world with caste.
But, as for us, we are as unconscious of them as of the breath we take,— they move us neither to hope nor to despair, neither to rejoicing nor to despondency. Our days slip emptily by, and we realise neither ourselves nor our country in the midst of surrounding events.”
but my point is, that so long as our women remain hidden behind the purdah, our country will be a half-truth to us, and will not be able to win our full love and devotion.”
offer instruction on any question before it has really arisen in the mind is like
giving food before one is hungry,—it spoils the appetite and leads to indigestion. But whenever you ask me any question, I am always ready to tell you what I know about it.”
Had he not accepted the whole responsibility for his deed, knowing full well all the hardship of gaol life!
“Repentance is a gift of God’s grace. I fear to do wrong, Panu Babu, but not to repent,”
But is my life given to me merely to please husband and children? Sister, this matter is not one which can well be explained to others. He alone understands who knows all!”
“Do not be looking back, my child. Have no hesitations, but face bravely whatever fate may have in store for you. Go forward rejoicing, ready with all your strength to choose the Good from whatever may come before you. Surrender yourself fully to God, accepting Him as your only help, and then,
“Didi, you mustn’t talk like that!” exclaimed Lolita. “Because we have been born girls, are we to wear our hearts out within the four walls of our home? Are we never to be of any use to the world?”
and he accepted the scales with which God weighed men as being the scales of eternal truth, and because he had not mixed false weights fabricated by his own society he had no feeling of self-reproach. He
It’s no use saying that it is one’s duty to be doing something; often enough one’s chief duty is not to do anything at all.”
“Haven’t you the courage to stay in your present community without being insincere?” inquired Anandamoyi.
never be necessary for a man to cut off all connection with his religion, his beliefs, or his society, no matter of what nature they may be, in order to be united with other men. If that were necessary then no friendship could
When men differ in their virtues, natures, or beauty there is no obstacle in the way of their unity, so why should there be obstacles when it is a question of opinions or faith?
bind me by word or rule. Your blessing is the only initiation ceremony which can unite the lives of us two in truly humble bonds. In devotion we place our hearts at your feet, and God will bestow on us what is best for us through your hands.”
do not intend to discuss whether this is good or bad for me personally; I do not even wish to raise the question as to whether it is likely to cause you both inconvenience or not. You both know what my faith and my opinions are, and what my community is, and it is not unknown to you what sort of teaching Lolita has received from her childhood and amidst what kind of social customs she has been brought up. You have chosen your path after due consideration of all these matters, and I have nothing to add. But do not imagine that I am surrendering the helm without any thought or because I am not
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you want to transcend the limitations of your societies then you must
Society will no longer carry you along from outside on the level of ordinary life, and if you do not by your own strength become greater than ordinary people then you will simply fall behind them. As
Man will make blunders, will be baffled, and will meet with sorrows, but he can never stand still;
“That is why the reasons for separation ought not to have been so slight, and the rules for separation so easy,”
Where now was that Harimohini who, in Paresh Babu’s house, had always been as timid as though she were a criminal, and who on noticing the least sign of approval on any one’s part would hold on to him with all her might? Today she stood like a tigress defending her own rights. She was all the
tradition which merely divided men into classes and separated class from class, driving to a distance even love itself, did not want to carry into effect the results of man’s intelligent thinking,
