the eye of the
world. Not understanding your own heart, you have committed this great
error. I will not reproach you more, because you fell into it under a
delusion which it was very difficult to resist.

"The mind has many different affections; men call them all love, but
only that condition of heart which is ready to sacrifice its own
happiness to secure that of another is true love. The passion for
beauty is not love. The unstable lust for beauty is no more love than
the desire of the hungry for rice. True love is the offspring of
reason. When the qualities of a lovable person are perceived by the
understanding, the heart being charmed by these qualities is drawn
towards the possessor; it desires union with that treasury of virtues
and becomes devoted to it. The fruits of this love are expansion of
the heart, self-forgetfulness, self-denial. This is true love.
Shakespeare, Valmiki, Madame de Stael, are its poets; as Kalidas,
Byron, Jayadeva are of the other species of love. The effect on the
heart produced by the sight of beauty is dulled by repetition. But
love caused by the good qualities of a person does not lose its charm,
because beauty has but one appearance, because virtues display
themselves anew in every fresh act. If beauty and virtues are found
together, love is quickly generated; but if once the intelligence be
the cause for love, it is of no importance whether beauty exists or
not. Towards an ugly husband or an ugly wife love of this kind holds a
firm place. The love produced by virtue as virtue is lasting
certainly, but it takes time to know these virtues; therefore this
love never becomes suddenly strong, it is of gradual growth. The
infatuation for beauty springs into full force at first sight; its
first strength is so uncontrollable that all other faculties are
destroyed by it. Whether it be a lasting love there is no means of
knowing. It thinks itself undying. So you have thought. In the first
strength of this infatuation your enduring love for Surja Mukhi became
invisible to your eyes. This delusion is inherent in man's nature;
therefore I do not censure you, rather I counsel you to strive to be
happy in this state.

"Do not despair; Surja Mukhi will certainly return. How long can she
exist without seeing you? So long as she remains absent, do you
cherish Kunda Nandini. So far as I understand your letters she is not
without attractive qualities. When the infatuation for her beauty is
lessened, t