III

At the behest of his guru, Sahajanand went back to his village, where he was pressed by his family and well-wishers to give up the life of a sannyasi. Though he faced all kinds of pressures and persuasions he stood his ground. Subsequently, he and a friend go on a pilgrimage covering distant places such as Chitrakoot, Manegaon, Onkareshwar, Indore, Ujjain, Mathura. Ultimately, only Sahajanand reached Kedar and Badridham and returned to Kashi via Rishikesh and Haridwar. The chapter contains a brief description of all the trials and tribulations the two friends suffer in the course of such a long and tedious journey. But all these efforts ultimately turn out to be in vain as they could neither find the perfect yogi nor God. In 1909, Sahajanand settled down at Kashi to pursue shastric studies.