Chapter 12 Summary and Analysis

Sri Yukteswar greets Mukunda without emotion. Mukunda vows that he will allow Yukteswar to assume responsibility for his life. Yukteswar tells him he must get a university degree because he will be better received in the west. After some arguing, Yukteswar agrees to reveal God to Mukunda.

Mukunda learns that Lahiri Mahasaya is Sri Yukteswar's divine guru, who had also influenced Mukunda's entire childhood. The hermitage is Yukteswar's ancestral mansion, which is now simple, clean and utilitarian. Yukteswar reveals that he once had a wife and has a daughter. The three stories he agrees to tell of his earlier life each have a moral. He remembers his mother trying to scare him with a ghost story, but he confronted it and was disappointed. The moral to this story is to face your fears. As a child, Yukteswar coveted an ugly dog...