Inthecourseofalltheseyearsheneverraisedhishood，nomatterwhattheardorofthesunortherain’sstrength。Heneverputonashoe。Heworeagarmentofcoarsesackcloth，withnothingelseuponhisskin。Thisgarmentwasasscantaspossible，andoveritalittlecloakofthesamestuff。Whenthecoldwasgreathetookoffthecloakandopenedforawhilethedoorandlittlewindowofhiscell。Thenheclosedthemandresumedthemantle——hisway，ashetoldus，ofwarminghimself，andmakinghisbodyfeelabettertemperature。Itwasafrequentthingwithhimtoeatonceonlyinthreedays；andwhenI
expressedmysurprise，hesaidthatitwasveryeasyifoneoncehadacquiredthehabit。Oneofhiscompanionshasassuredmethathehasgonesometimeseightdayswithoutfood……Hispovertywasextreme；andhismortification，eveninhisyouth，wassuchthathetoldmehehadpassedthreeyearsinahouseofhisorderwithoutknowinganyofthemonksotherwisethanbythesoundoftheirvoice，forheneverraisedhiseyes，andonlyfoundhiswayaboutbyfollowingtheothers。Heshowedthissamemodestyonpublichighways。Hespentmanyyearswithouteverlayingeyesuponawoman；butheconfessedtomethatattheagehehadreacheditwasindifferenttohimwhetherhelaideyesonthemornot。HewasveryoldwhenIfirstcametoknowhim，andhisbodysoattenuatedthatitseemedformedofnothingsomuchasofsomanyrootsoftrees。Withallthissanctityhewasveryaffable。Heneverspokeunlesshewasquestioned，buthisintellectualright-mindednessandgracegavetoallhiswordsanirresistiblecharm。”
F。MaxMuller：Ramakrishna，hisLifeandsayings，1899，p。
Oldenberg：Buddha；translatedbyW。Hoey，London，1882，p。
Wefindaccordinglythatasasceticsaintshavegrownolder，anddirectorsofconsciencemoreexperienced，theyusuallyhaveshownatendencytolaylessstressonspecialbodilymortifications。