To the Rishava peak He went and there prayed to the deity Náráyan, and visited Paramananda Puri, who was spending his "four months" there. The Master bowed at the feet of the Puri, who embraced Him. For three days they lived together in that Brahman's house, lovingly talking on Krishna's delightful lore. The Puri said, "I am going to Jagannáth, whence I shall proceed to Bengal to bathe in the Ganges." The Master answered, "Go to the Niláchal, where I shall shortly join you on my return from Setubandha. I long to keep company with you. Do kindly visit the Niláchal." So He parted from the Puri and joyfully proceeded further south. The Puri went to the Niláchal, while the Master visited Shri-Shaila, where lived a Brahman named Shiva-Durga. Rejoicing to see the Master, he feasted Him for three days, and the two dis coursed of mysteries in secret. After friendly association with him, the Master left him and went to the city of Kámakoshti, and thence to the Southern Mathura [Madura], where He was invited by a Brahman, noble-minded, detached from the world, and a worshipper of Ram. After bathing in the Kritamala, the Master went to his house; but as the Brahman never cooked, he could place no food before the guest. The Master asked, "Hark you, Sir, it is noon and yet you are not cooking? Why is it?" The Brahman replied, "Master, I live in the forest, where at present nothing can be had for cooking. But Lakshman will bring some wild herbs, fruits, and roots, and then will Sita cook them." The Master was pleased with the Brahman's devotion. The host now hurriedly began cooking and the Master was fed in the third quarter of the day. But the Brahman himself fasted, at which the Master asked, "Why do you fast? What grieves you? Why mourn you?" The Brahman replied, "I have no need to live; I shall destroy myself by jumping into fire or water. The divine Sita, the mother of the world and the emblem of Supreme Goodness, was (rudely) touched by a demon, as I hear. So I ought not to live. This sorrow consumes me, though my spirit does not leave the body." To him the Master thus: "Think not so any longer. You are learned and yet you do not judge the matter in your mind! Sita, the beloved of God, is the embodiment of spirituality and bliss (_chit ánanda_). Physical senses cannot see her, not to speak of touching her. Ravan abducted only an illusive image of Sita, while the true Sita had disappeared.[1] The Vedas and the Purans constantly teach this truth that the Material cannot take cognisance of what is non-Material. Believe my words, and never harbour such sad thoughts again." Reassured by the Master's words the Brahman dined and took delight in life.