Those who belong to this class of Jivas cannot easily have faith in God, but those who are born with Divine qualities possess the highest faith naturally. When Prahlada [**] tried to write the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, "K," it brought up before his mind the name Krishna, and he began to cry. The natural tendency of a Jiva is to doubt and to become sceptical. Hazra [*+] will not believe in the truth that Brahman and Divine Mother, the Absolute and His Energy, are one and the same. Yet, faith is omnipotent. Before it all the powers of nature shrink and give way. It carries one over seas and mountains with perfect ease. Sin and

iniquity, worldliness and ignorance all vanish before true faith.

The Bhagavan sang:

THE NAME OF THE LORD

1. O my Divine Mother, if I die with Thy hallowed name (Durga, Durga) on my lips.
Then in the end, O Giver of all Bliss, shall it be seen whether Thou savest Thy poor child drowning in the ocean of sin.

2. I might have slain a cow or a Brahmin or an unborn child!
I might be a drunkard, nay more, the slayer of a woman!
But of all these dire sins I have not the slightest fear.
Through faith in Thy Holy Name I can reach the highest bliss of Brahman.

Yes, faith is at the root of all spiritual progress. Thou canst do without all other things, only thou must have faith. Have but faith in the Lord and thou shalt become at once free from the vilest, the blackest, of all sins.

The one thing needed is faith and Bhakti--love, devotion, prayerfulness, self-surrender. It

is exceedingly difficult, especially in this age, for a man with his limited faculties to come to my Mother through Vichara ( of the Real Brahman from the unreal phenomenal universe), unaided by the Divine Person. Verily has Prasad, the "Sweet Psalmist" of Bengal, laid stress on this difficulty in his well-known song:

THE DIVINE MOTHER AND THE ABSOLUTE BRAHMAN

1. Like a mad man, O mind, what seekest thou in the dark room?
He (Divine Being) cometh in deep meditation; without that, who can approach Him?

2. The moon of desire still shineth in thy secret chamber.
First bring it under control with all thy might. It will hide itself at the dawn of Divine wisdom.

3. Holding this as the ideal, the great Yogi practiseth meditation for ages. When realization cometh it attracts the soul as a, magnet draws unto itself a piece of iron.

4. Thou shalt not find It in the Six Schools of Philosophy, in the Vedas, Tantras or in the Holy Scriptures. It loveth the sweetness of true devotion (Bhakti) and abideth in the body with everlasting Bliss.

5. Prasad says: O mind, shall I disclose in public (Chator) the true nature of that which I worship as my Divine Mother? Guess and understand it from these hints.