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Volume 6 / Epistles - Second Series /
(Translated from Bengali)
Salutation to Shri Ramakrishna!
ALLAHABAD,
5th January, 1890.
MY DEAR SIR, (Sj. Balaram Bose)
I am very sorry to hear of your illness from your kind note. The gist of the
letter I wrote to you about your change to Baidyanath was that it would be
impossible for a man of weak and extremely delicate physique like you to live
in that place unless you spent a good deal of money. If change be really
advisable for you, and if you have deferred it so long simply to select a
cheaper place and that sort of thing, it is certainly a matter of regret. . . .
Baidyanath is excellent so far as the air is concerned, but the water is not
good, it upsets the stomach. I used to suffer from acidity every day. I have
already written you a letter; have you got it, or finding it a bearing letter, have
you left it to its fate? In my opinion, if you have to go away for a
change, the sooner the better. But, pardon me, you have a tendency to expect
that everything should fit in exactly with your requirements, but
unfortunately, such a state of things is very rare in this world. "
— One must save oneself under any circumstances."
"Lord have mercy", is all right, but He helps him who helps himself.
If you simply try to save your purse, will the Lord arrange the change for you
by drawing on His ancestral capital? If you think you have so much reliance on
the Lord, don't call in the doctor, please. . . . If that does not suit you,
you should go to Varanasi. I would have already left this place, but the local
gentlemen would not give me leave to depart! . . . But let me repeat once more,
if change is actually decided upon, please do not hesitate out of miserliness.
That would be suicide. And not even God can save a suicide. Please convey my
compliments to Tulasi Babu and the rest.
With best regards,
Yours affectionately,
VIVEKANANDA.