Moolshankar wanted to discover the truth about the life, the religion and the message of the scriptures. He wished to spread light in the society which appeared to be drowning in misconcepts, half-truths, ill conceived customs, meaningless rituals, shallow religious faith and hoaxes.
But for the time being he was himself groping in the dark without any ray of hope. He badly needed an honest guide to show him the correct way and redeem him from the world of confusions.
A lot of wandering around brought him to Swami Sampoornananda who appeared to be the most sincere holyman Moolshankar had ever come across.
So, he confided to Swamiji all his dilemmas.
Swamiji understood the spiritual plight of the youngman who was the genuine seeker of the truth. The seriousness that the youngman showed was a pointer to the genuineness of his purpose.
Swami Sampoornanda said, “Son, the truth you are seeking demands your total dedication for its revelation. Give up all the worldly desires and put your faith in Power Supreme. He will show you the way.”
“Maharaj,” Moolshankar spoke with folded hands and begged, “I need your guidance. I will follow your orders.”
“Son, you don’t need anyone’s guidance. I can see the flame of the true desires to seek the truth. That is your principle guide and will serve as a beacon. Nevertheless I will help you on.”
Swami Sampoornananda initiated Moolshankar into the order of his disciples and gave him a new name ‘Swami Dayananda Saraswati’. Thus, Moolshankar became Swami Dayananda and later earned the glory under that very name.
Swami Sampoornananda ordered Dayananda Saraswati to explore the world around in the real life conditions and find truth or the true teacher suitable for his guidance.
Accordingly Swami Dayananda set out in earnest to gain the knowledge of the truth.
He walked barefoot through the wilds, villages and the towns. The soles of his feet suffered boils. His attire got torn into tatters. He would not stop and walked on.
He was the seeker of the knowledge that so far had eluded him.
The youngman had himself chosen the path of travails for the sake of the truth. He could have easily opted for a life of comfort and riches made luxurious by a beautiful wife. But he renounced all those rosy prospects and had wandered into the world of hunger and miseries.
Many times Dayananda had to go without food. From several doors the young sanyasi was turned away after a thorough rebuke for being a shirk work. Many called him imposter and a fraudulent character.
On that day Dayananda was in bad shape. He had not eaten for days. In some village he had been humiliated and as driven away.
No one wanted to spare a meal for him.
He was very tired. Then he to saw a muth at Okhi on his way. He staggered into the Okhi-muth. The Mahant of the muth saw the visitor’s pitiable condition and got him seated very respectfully. Dayananda was served food and nursed well. He remained there to recuperate at the request of the Mahant who had somehow sensed that the youngman was genuine.
Mahant grew fond of Dayananda. The muth was a very rich outfit. Mahant wanted Swami Dayananda Saraswati to become his disciple and then as his heir he could inherit the riches of the muth.
To entice Dayananda the Mahant showed the gold and jewellery treasure of the muth which was incredible. But the treasures had no value for the young Swami. The only thing at that point of time mattered for him was answer to the question that had been burning his mind.
The Mahant argued, “Dayananda! Don’t waste your precious life in the aimless wandering. All this talk of sublime spiritualism is just hogwash. Stay with me as my disciple. Enjoy life. You have seen the beautiful maids here. They are there for your pleasure. You will inherit this muth and revel in luxuries. That is the real life. It was perhaps your destiny that made you stumble into this muth. May be, this muth was the answer of your fate to the questions you had been asking. The fate works in many ways, my dear son. You have seen for yourself the consequences of aimless wandering around. What did it get you except pain and the miseries? Now, what do you say, youngman?”
Mahant was sure that Dayananda would happily grab the opportunity. But little did he know how much sacrifice young Moolshankar had made to seek the truth. He could have just stayed home if the worldly pleasures could buy his conscience.
Moolshankar alias Swami Dayananda Saraswati was made of a different stuff.
Dayananda said, “Mahantji, my father also has considerable wealth which was my own by the legal right. But I renounced it. For me the real treasure is the revelation of truth I am seeking. Nothing else in this world matters to me.”
In stunned the Mahant.
He spoke, “Alright son, I see that you are a true missionary. I can only wish you success and bless you. But you can stay here as long as you like.”
“Thank you, holy sir. I appreciate all that you have done for me. But I must go. I shall be on my way to seek what I renounced the world for. Kindly give me the permission to leave.”
He paid his obeisance to Mahant and set out on his mission. So far he had not met the teacher who could be made for him. He had kept asking the people about the guru who could guide him.
Someone told him that Swami Virjananda of Mathura may be the guru he was looking for. The Swamiji was a blind man. But before suffering from blindness he had studied all the scriptures.
The informer revealed that Swami Virjananda was a short tempered man who would not easily take anyone under his wing as his disciple. And he was supposed to meet people very rarely and he stayed in his hut closeted most of the time.
He was the oddest kind of guru.
Swami Dayananda made up his mind to try Swami Virjananda. He set out for Mathura.
