[The Siddha and the elephant.] There was another Siddha, who was very proud of his psychic powers. He was a good man and an ascetic. One day the Lord came to him in the form of a saint and said: "Revered sir, I have heard that thou possessest wonderful powers." The good man received him kindly and gave him a seat. At this moment an elephant passed by. The saint asked him: "Sir, if thou desirest, canst thou kill this elephant?" The Siddha replied: "Yes, it is possible"; and taking a handful of dust, he repeated some mantram over it and threw it on the elephant. Immediately the animal roared, fell on the ground in agony and died. Seeing this, the saint exclaimed: "What wonderful power thou possessest! Thou hast killed such a huge creature in a moment!" The saint then entreated him, saying: "Thou must also possess the power to bring him back to life." The Siddha replied: "Yes, that is also possible." Again he took a handful of dust, chanted a mantram, threw it on the elephant, and lo! the elephant revived and

came back to life. The saint was amazed at the sight and again exclaimed: "How wonderful indeed are thy powers! But let me ask thee one question. Thou hast killed the elephant and brought him back to life; what hast thou gained? Hast thou realized God?" Thus saying, the saint disappeared.

[Desire for powers prevents realization.] Most subtle is the path of spirituality. God cannot be realized so long as there is the least desire for powers in the heart. You cannot thread a needle so long as there are fibres at the point of the thread. Krishna said to Arjuna: "Brother, if thou wishest to realize Me (God), thou must not desire any psychic powers. The possession of psychic power brings pride and egotism, then one easily forgets God. So long as there is egotism, Divine realization does not come."

[Four stages of realization.] There are four different stages in the path of realization. First, that of a beginner, a Pravartaka, or one who has just begun to worship God. Those who belong to this class begin to wear the sign of their creed, such as the rosary or the mark on the forehead, and they are very particular about the external forms of their sect. The second stage is that