[8]
It was at this time that I began to mature some plan whereby the desire I cherished could be carried out without designing persons being able to take any undue advantage. After much deliberation, I succeeded in forming a plan which when submitted to my friends was fully approved of by them. The details of this plan will appear from the sequel.
My plan being matured, I resolved to bring out a second edition of the Mahabharata, the whole intended for gratuitous distribution, subject, of course, to proper restrictions. I selected the Mahabharata in particular, for more reasons than one. The editions of the Mahabharata brought out under the auspices of the Maharaja of Burdwan and the late Babu Kali Prasanna Singha, and distributed gratis, had comprised a few thousand copies utterly inadequate to satisfy the public demand. The manner also in which these copies had been distributed precluded the possibility of the great body of Mofussil readers being benefitted to any considerable extent. It would seem, besides, that such gratuitous distribution by the Maharaja of Burdwan and Babu Kali Prasanna Singha by its very insufficiency had tended more to tantalize the public than allay its thirst for the ancient literature of India.
In view, therefore, of this thirst for the ancient literature of our Father-land,—a thirst that could not but inspire feelings of pride in every patriotic bosom, feelings also that were particularly gratifying to me on account of the anxiety I had entertained at the sight of the growing irreligiousness of a portion of my countrymen, I resolved to establish a permanent Institution for the gratuitous distribution of the great religious works of ancient India. In this connection, as offering a ground of utility that would recommend itself more generally, I may again quote Professor Max Muller. "Printing" says he, "is now the only means of saving your Sanskrit literature from inevitable destruction. Many books which existed one or two centuries ago, are now lost, and so it will be with the rest, unless you establish Native Printing Presses, and print your old texts." The fruit then of my resolution has been the "Datavya Bharata Karyalya." I felt, from the beginning, that such an institution, to be successful, would require large funds. The sum
