In studying Indian history, people often fail to find out the real soul of India, and as a result, their labour bears very little fruit. In the following pages, the author, whose love for his motherland was very deep and whose life stood like a mighty colossus pointing with one hand to the past and with another to the future of India, gives in a nutshell the undercurrent of Indian history, politics, and sociology.
After every happiness comes misery; they may be far apart or near. The more advanced the soul, the more quickly does one follow the other. What we want is neither happiness nor misery. Both make us forget our true nature; both are chains--one iron, one gold; behind both is the Atman, who knows neither happiness nor misery. These are states, and states must ever change; but the nature of the Atman is bliss, peace, unchanging. We have not to get it, we have it; only wash away the dross and see it.
-Swami Vivekananda