Chapter VIL
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE; RAMABAfs SPIRITUAL EX-
PERIENCES.
** She considereth a field and buyeth it : with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard." Proverbs xxxi. i6. WHEN Pandita Ramabai arranged with her
friends in America to support the Sharada
Sadan for ten years, she confidently expected
that at the end of that time the Hindus virould have be-
come so convinced of the benefits of education for women that they would willingly pay for it. But, as
the years went on, it was evident that this prospect be-
came no nearer realization. Ramabai's mind became
exercised about the future support of the school—how,
could it be brought about ? After considerable thought
and prayer, she conceived the plan of purchasing a
piece of land in the country, and planting it with fruit
trees, the produce of which should yield a fair income
in the course of a few years.
Acting upon the principle that " If two of you shall
agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask,
78 PANDITA RAMABAI
it shall be done for them of My Father which is in
heaven," Ramabai and Soonderbai joined in prayer that
if the thought was of the Lord, He would send the
money to purchase such a fruit-farm. They then be-
gan to look out for answers. Ramabai mentioned the
plan to several of her friends both in India and in
America. Money given to be used at her discretion
was placed to this fund; it gradually grew. In 1894,
two years after they had began to pray, the money was
in hand, and the purchase of the farm an accomplished
fact.
A suitable piece of ground was found to be for sale
at Khedgaon, close to a railway-station on the recently-
opened Southern Marathi Railway, about forty miles
south of Poona. Ramabai planted a portion of the
land with hundreds of young orange, lime, and mango
trees. A fine well was dug, and a vegetable garden
made, which in a few months supplied most of the
vegetables used by the school. The remainder of the
hundred acres were, by degrees, cleared of the jungle-
wood, by which they were covered, and planted with
various useful crops; leaving only one very rocky por-
tion, of which the Government took a part in making a new road.
There was a charm about life at the Sharada Sadan
that always captivated me. I learned more about the
ways and thoughts of genuine Indian life by a few days
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE 79
with Ramabai than in months and years of ordinary
European experience in Bombay.
When therefore Ramabai asked me to spend the New
Year holidays of 1895 with her, I was very glad to be
free to accept the invitation. The Sharada Sadan was
" Liberty Hall " for guests. They could either have
their meals sent to their rooms, or join the family. I
usually prefered the latter. When breakfast or dinner was ready, Ramabai herself would come to escort me to
the refectory. This was a long, shed-like building,
with a verandah in front, on which we left our shoes.
There was no furniture, save a row of stools along each
wall. I call them stools for want of a better name;
they were simply boards about one foot by two feet,
raised about two inches from the ground. These were
the seats. I was placed next to the hostess, who commenced by pouring water over her hands and mine.
She then inspected the brass vessels which were placed
in front of us, and usually rinsed out the shining brass
plates.
Then the girls who had been cooking came in and
deposited quickly a small mound of rice on each plate
another followed with a pot of ghee (clarified butter)
and poured a little on the rice ; another served us with
two kinds of curry, made of lentils or peas, in small
brass basins. Others followed with hot chappatties
(unleavened bread), then vegetables of several kinds.
8o PANDITA RAMABAI
all cut small and fried with herbs and pepper. In ad-
dition to this, the ordinary fare, Ramabai always served
her guests with fruit, cake, and milk. I enjoyed the
food, and succeeded fairly well in my endeavour to eat
it in the same fashion as my Indian sisters, without the
aid of fork, knife, or spoon.
On the visit of which I am writing, I spent several
pleasant days, the last being New Year's Day. All the
Christian girls who understood English attended the
Watch-night Service with Soonderbai and Manorama,
while Ramabai conducted a service of her own at home
in Marathi for the other Christian girls. All were up
bright and early on New Year's morning in anticipation
of a happy day. Ramabai informed me that we were
invited to breakfast with one of the Christian teachers
of the Sadan who lived with her family in the city, but
that she was going on a round of New Year visits first
and I could accompany her.
The dumnie, a heavy covered wagon, drawn by two
fine white bulls, came round about 8 a. m., and we start-
ed off. Manorama and some others of the children
were included in the party of s;x. In the front of the
wagon and beneath the seats were piled huge baskets of
sweetmeats, from which I partly guessed the nature
of the visits we were about to pay. We first alighted at
the Anglo-Indian Children's Home, a work of faith,
founded by the late Miss Dawlly, which cares for desti-
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE 8i
tute children of European and Eurasian parentage. As
we waited the appearance of Mrs. Hutchings, the devot-
ed successor of Miss Dawlly, I related to Ramabai the
peculiar history of one of the children in that institu-
tion. " I wish to support a child here," said Ramabai
" I will support that very girl." And from that day
that dear child has found a kind friend in Ramabai.
Her holidays are spent with Ramabai ; and when I last
met her she was looking forward to taking up some post
of usefulness in connection with the work in years to
come.
One basket of sweetmeats was left here, and I fancied
also a more substantial gift, by the happy and grateful-
looking faces we left behind us. The Government poor-
house was our next destination. This covered a con-
siderable extent of ground, and here we saw maimed,
halt, blind, and lepers. Ramabai went through all the
compounds, and herself gave a large ball of sweetmeat
to each inmate, while the respectful salutation of " Sa-
laan^ Bai," sounded gratefully on all hands. Indian
sweetmeats are a food as well as a luxury—this was a
peculiarly nourishing kind, made of lentils, butter, and
sugar.
" Poor things, they have no pleasures," said Ramabai.
Our next visit was to the lunatic asylum. The dis-
tribution here was assisted by two of the keepers. We
saw, sad sights here indeed, and some that were com-
82 PANDITA RAMABAI
ical. One man, a Mahommedan, looked very fiercely
at me, and ordered me (in Hindustani) to go back to my country, saying that I had only come there be-
cause I could not get enough to eat in my own land.
Gratitude there was none. The poor creatures
snatched the sweetmeat and cried out for more. Ram-
abai persevered in overseeing the distribution. She
dared not leave it to the officers of the place, lest any
should lose their share. On leaving, she remarked to me that it was evident that a large proportion were
there through opium and ganga (hemp-drug)—^their
appearance showed this.
The breakfast prepared for us at the teacher's house
was very elaborate. Plaintain leaves were spread for
plates. A merry party of about twenty sat down to
cat the repast, which was strictly vegetarian. One very
delicious dish so closely resembled custard that one
could scarcely believe it was made without eggs; but
I was assured it was a combination of rice and cocoa-
nut.
The great event of the day was to be a Brahmin
dinner given by an aunt of Ramabai's, a Hindu, who
was visiting her. The old lady took great pleasure
and pride in cooking this dinner and serving it up,
though she would by no means have defiled her caste
by sitting down with us—Christian outcasts—^to eat
it. Two missionary families and several Indian Chris-
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE 83
tians joined the dinner party. The festivities ended
with a surprise party of Soonderbai's planning, held in
the large schoolroom. A monster bran tub furnished
presents for pupils, teachers, and visitors. The little
ones had toys and picture books; the pupils had each
the material for a choli (a short bodice that they all
wear) with knitting-needles, crochet-hooks, wool, etc.,
etc. The party dispersed after a happy day, and Ramabai and myself took the night train to Bombay.
The battle had been decided as to whether Hinduism
or Christianity should have the ascendancy in the Shar-
ada Sadan. As Ramabai's Christian life strengthened
and deepened, she became more independent of even
the opinions of her quondam Brahmin friends. At the
same time, she kept strictly to her covenant of giving
an entirely unsectarian education, with freedom to her
pupils to observe all their Hindu customs. The Brah-
min community gradually came to the conclusion to let
Ramabai alone. They accepted the fact among them-
selves that she had gone irrevocably from them; and
that all the benefits of her work which they had looked
upon to shed lustre on their ancient religion were quite
lost to them. A rival institution, or what was intended
to be a rival institution, to the Sharada Sadan, was
started as a boarding establishment in connection with
the Poona Girl's High School; but though it existed
for a few years, it never flourished greatly. Some of
84 PANDITA RAMABAI
the girls who had been rernoved from the Sadan were
placed in this institution, but more than one finally re-
turned to Ramabai.
As time went on, the light of Christianity shone more
and more brightly in the Sharada Sadan. The Christian
Endeavour Meetings prospered. Morning and evening
prayers were held in a larger room, and attended by
the majority of the pupils. Ramabai's little daughter,
Manorama, whose heart had been early opened to di-
vine influences, took a leading share in carrying on the
work among the girls. Those who were interested in
Christianity, and not forbidden by their guardians, at-
tended Church and Sunday-school outside,, as well as
the ministrations of a Poona missionary, who held
meetings in the prayer-room once a week.
The natural outcome of all this teaching was the
creation among those girls who had received Christ
of a desire for baptism. They wanted to become Chris-
tians in fact and deed, as well as in heart. Ramabai,
however, was in favour of their remaining unbaptized —at least, while pupils in the Sharada Sadan. The
school, she affirmed, was not for Christian girls, but
for Hindus ; and, consequently, she could not encourage
the proposed baptisms. Several of the girls, however,
made their own arrangements with the missionary
whose classes they attended, and were baptized in the
Methodist Church at Poona. Ramabai let things take
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE 85
their course; but, after the baptisms, she told these
girls that she could no longer accept them as pupils of
the Sharada Sadan. As they all declared their readi-
ness to work for their living, work was found for them.
One or two became teachers in other schools; some
were employed as teachers in the primary department
of the Sadan; and others, unfit for teaching, accepted
posts as servants of the establishment, cheerfully under-
taking menial work as unto the Lord. Thus the diffi-
culty was bridged over, and time was allowed for con-
tinuing their studies in part to those who wished it. Among the pupils thus baptized was one particularly
nice and good girl, whose early history illustrates the
condition and hardship of the little widow more than
many.
This poor little child, married at the age of five to a man forty years her senior, became a widow at six.
She was left in charge of her husband's brother, a Brah-
min innkeeper in a country district, a day's journey by
rail from Poona. As the child grew up, she became
a regular little slave, beaten and half-starved. She was
employed constantly in going backwards and forwards
to a well a quarter of a mile away to fetch water, which
she carried on her hips and her head in great copper
vessels. She was very miserable and her treatment was
no secret to the people around.
One day Ramabai received a letter informing her of
86 PANDITA RAMABAI
this poor child's forlorn condition, and of the location of
the well where she might so often be found. One of
Ramabai's helpers visited the place in disguise, gained
the confidence of the child, and arranged to take her away by the night train. The girl was then about
eleven years old, and with her shaven head was easily
disguised as a Mahomedan boy. Before the train start-
ed she was missed, and her people were in pursuit of
her. They were at the station, but failed to recognise
her; and she escaped. She bloomed out into a most
lovable and estimable girl, and was married in 1897 to
a fine Christian young man.
In a little tract published in Bombay, in 1895, Rama-
bai told the story of her own spiritual experiences.
She said : " When I turned my attention to searching
for the truth in the Hindu and Christian religions, and
comparing them with each other, I found Christianity
to be the better of the two, and accepted it. I was duly
baptized in the Church of England. I believed the
Apostles' Creed, and all the essential doctrines of Chris-
tianity. My mind was at rest; and I trusted in God,
believed on Christ, and prayed in His name. I did not
adhere to any special sect, nor do I now. It was enough for me to be called a Christian, on the ground
of my belief in Christ as the Saviour of mankind. I
used to pray in a general way, and had never known
that my special need was—
* Believe on the Lord Jesus
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE 87
Christ, and thou shalt be saved/ Salvation, I thought,
was something to be good in the future. That is how
the future tense in the above text is abused by the con-
verts, especially the intellectual converts of the present
day in this country. I had many doubts and many dif-
ficulties in the matter of belief. So many sects, so many opinions, so much want of spirituality and much
shallow talk in the name of religion. All these troubled me very much, and I began to see much the same in
the picture of Christianity as I have been accustomed to
see in that of the Hindu religion. But all this time I
was conscious that God was leading me; and I deter-
mined not to take the opinion of men as my ground of
belief, and went on reading the Bible only and trusted in
God's mercy.
" Some years ago I was brought to the conviction
that mine was only an intellectual belief—a belief in
which there was no life. It looked for salvation in the
future after death; and consequently my soul had not
' passed from death unto life/ God showed me how v^y dangerous my position was, and what a wretched
and lost sinner I was ; and how necessary it was for me
to obtain salvation in the present, and not in some fu-
ture time. I repented long ; I became very restless and
almost ill, and passed many sleepless nights. The
Holy Spirit so got hold of me that I could not rest until
I found salvation then and there. So I prayed earnest-
88 PANDITA RAMABAI
ly to God to pardon my sins for the sake of Jesus Christ,
and let me realize that I had really got salvation through
Him. I believed God's promise, and took Him at His
word; and when I had done this, my burden rolled
away, and I realized that I was forgiven and was freed
from the power of sin. * The Spirit itself beareth wit-
ness with our spirit that we are the children of God.' *
I became very happy after that. There was not a
shadow of doubt as to my having obtained salvation
through Jesus Christ. * But as many as received Him
[a person, not a thing ; not a religion, but a living per-
son], to them gave He power to become the sons of
God.' ^ * And this is life eternal, that they might know
Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou
hast sent.' ^ In the Old Testament God is not revealed
as Father, but as the Creator, the Mighty God, the
Judge, the Jehovah. It was left to Jesus in the New
Testament to reveal the Father. Men talk about God,
but they cannot know Him except the Son reveal Him.*
These things are hid from the wise and prudent, but
'^ That is why He
God has revealed them unto babes.
says, * Except ye be converted, and become as little chil-
dren, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' *
' He that believeth on the Son hath everkisting life.' ^
I knew I had everlasting life, i. e., knew God; and
*Roni. viii. i6. ''John i. 12. 'John xvii. 3. * Matt. xi.
27. "Matt. xi. 25. "Matt, xviii. 3. ^John iii. 36.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE 89
the Spirit was sent into my heart, crying
' Abba,
Father.'
" Last year I happened to read the Life of Amanda
Smith. She had been a slave in America, and had been
freed. When she was converted, she shouted and said
she had been deHvered out of bondage twice—once out
of slavery, and once from the slavery of sin. And I
have a right to praise God too ; for I have been first de-
livered from the slavery of man's opinions, from the
fear of man which holds so many of my dear people, and
a second time from the bondage of sin. As I read
further in this book, where she gives an account of her
spiritual experience, I felt my need of the abiding pres-
ence of the Holy Spirit in me.
" I prayed earnestly to God to show me the way, and
to remove all the hindrances that came in the way of my receiving this great blessing. I read in the papers
that Mr. Gelson Gregson was to hold some special mis-
sion services in Bombay. I longed to go, but could
not easily leave my school and be away from Poona.
I did not know anything about Mr. Gregson, but the
desire to hear him preach became very strong. I left
the matter in God's hands, and rested quietly. One
morning I received an urgent letter from a girl whose
mother was supposed to be in a dying condition, and who wanted very much to see me. The girl urged up-
*Rom. viii. 15.
90 PANDITA RAMABAI
on me very much to start at once and come to Bombay.
I did so, recognising in this call the special providence
of God which was taking me to Bombay in answer to my prayer.
" I heard Mr. Gregson preach his first sermon from
the text, * I am crucified with Christ ' ^
; which im-
pressed me very much. I stayed three days, and at-
tended the services. The subject was exactly what I
wanted and needed to know. In April at the Lanouli
camp meeting I heard Mr. Gregson preach again. He
preached as one who had received and was filled with
the Holy Spirit and knew the deep things of God. I
then opened my heart to a friend, and told her of my
intense desire for the gift of the Holy Spirit; and we
together sought a conversation with Mr. Gregson. I
asked him many questions, which he satisfactorily an-
swered in the words of Scripture. We prayed then
that I might receive the Holy Spirit; but it was not
until the evening of that day that I felt conscious of
His presence in me. Since then I have received much
blessing, and am ever grateful to God for showing me
the way of this blessed life."
* Gal. ii. 20.