I WOULD NOT RETURN THEN; YOU WOULD HAVE TO CREMATE ME THERE

"When are you ( PROFESSOR MAX MÜLLER ) coming to India? Every heart there would welcome one who has done so much to place the thoughts of their ancestors in the true light", I said. The face of the aged sage brightened up — there was almost a tear in his eyes, a gentle nodding of the head, and slowly the words came out: "I would not return then; you would have to cremate me there." Further questions seemed an unwarrantable intrusion into realms wherein are stored the holy secrets of man's heart. Who knows but that it was what the poet has said—

तच्चेतसा स्मरति नूनमबोधपूर्वं ।

भावस्थिराणि जननान्तरसौहृदानि ॥

"He remembers with his mind the friendships of former births, firmly rooted in his heart"

- Swami Vivekananda
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 4/Writings: Prose/On Professor Max Müller