ALL DUE TO POVERTY
I have already said that the adoption by my father of the profession of Haridas commended itself to the approval only of my father and grandfather, but not of any other (member of our family). Hence of course it cannot be said that a man will satisfactorily do anything in which he feels no interest. Even during my grandfather’s lifetime, some of my uncles behaved in a self-willed manner. One of them joined a dramatic company, another began to learn to sing, another learnt to play on a tambora and another became a vagrant. The saying " Men without money care nothing for one another " is not untrue. I am sure that had my grandfather possessed even a small sum of money, this dispersion would not have taken place.+++(4)+++ This is quite obvious, (for) if my grandfather had (any) money he would not have left his own house and gone to Indore. When one is without money, unexpected calamities befall him. Brothers quarrel with him ; relatives and friends keep at a distance from him ; he is not honoured by men of position ; nay, he loses credit even with his own wife, that is to say, even she insults him, unheard of accusations are levelled at him, and they are believed simply because of his extreme poverty.+++(5)+++ These are the consequences of the displeasure of the Goddess of wealth.
But if the same goddess be propitious, even enemies will become friends. A poet had said, " Relatives gather in the house wherein riches in a large measure find their way." When a man is prosperous people seek his acquaintance, claim relationship with him and force themselves upon him. Great scholars honour him in assemblies by calling him Rao Saheb and Kaka Saheb, his wife places a stool in ten different places (to suit his humour). If rich men commit any number of unjust acts, they are deemed to be just ones and their authors are praised by the people. Hence in this world no one is so greatly esteemed by the people as a wealthy man. In short, my uncles only followed the way of the world by becoming disunited It is needless to say that having left their father in adversity they lived separate also from their eldest brother, namely, my father.
MY FATHER’S DIFFICULTIES
Then the profession of performing kathas which had been adopted by my father ceased to be as lucrative as it ought to have been. It is clear that a speaker cannot alone divert an audience composed of men of different tastes. Again, as my father had recently begun to perform kathas, it was necessary for him to have all the necessary appliances. But there was no remedy. The members of his family were of the character already described. Thinking that if paid outsiders were engaged it would be difficult to defray the cost of the establishment, my father took service at Sholapur for some days. But whether as a singular coincidence or because it was not in his destiny to earn a living by service, he used to fall ill whenever he resumed his duties. While at Sholapur he suffered severely from (pl?)ague. At last he relinquished service and again betook himself to performing kirtans. At this time I undertook to act as his assistant by standing behind him and beating the tal. At this time I was nine or ten years of age. My uncle Rambhau, who was my father’s younger brother and whom I called Dada, used to assist (him) by playing on pakhawaj, but in a few days he too went away. In the end we two brothers only, namely, my brother, Balkrishna and myself, proved serviceable (to our father) as his helpmates. We were then quite young. The musical and melodious padas sung by us in our juvenile voices used to gladden the minds of the audience. A few days afterwards I learnt to play on the harmonium and my younger brother, Balkrishna, became proficient in playing on Sarmandal (a stringed instrument of music ; a sort of hurdygurdy). Our youngest brother, Wasudev, used to stand behind us to beat the tal and to enchant the audience with his sweet voice.