between them, and Swami Saradananda had to come between them before they could separate and resume their seats. Under the able arbitration of the Swami, the bickerings of the parties were finally silenced and the partition of all the properties, including houses and lands, was effected. The Holy Mother was at that time asked where she would like to stay at Jayrambati after the partition. Her reply was: 'The Master used to say, "Rats make holes and thus provide places for snakes to live in." I shall stay a few days with Prasanna, a few days with Kali and so on.' In fact, until a new cottage with a thatched roof and mud walls was built for her in 1915, she used to stay mostly with Prasanna Kumar, the eldest of the brothers. She did so because this brother had by his first wife two young daughters, Nalini and Maku, and his second wife was too young to bring them up. The Holy Mother took up the responsibility of these two young girls, and in later days one found them always in the group of relatives who formed her train when she moved from one place to another.
Partition, however, did not stop the rivalries among the brothers. For the Holy Mother was to them a common property still, and they indulged in mutual recrimination over real or supposed attempts that one or the other was making to get money from her. The way in which they worried her and her reactions to their conduct will be best illustrated by a few incidents recorded by her disciples.
On one occasion the Holy Mother arrived at Jayrambati with some disciples. One of them said to her, 'Mother, did you notice how your brothers behaved