book Smriti-Katha (From Holy Wanderings to The Service of God in Man). He travelled hundreds of miles in the mountains of the Himalayas without carrying any money or extra clothing. Life as a Monk Travels Gangadhar took his monastic vow in 1890, in Baranagar Math and in the presence of SwamiVivekananda, and was given the name of "Akhandananda" (Akhanda - undifferentiated, ananda - bliss, one who finds supreme bliss in the undifferentiated nature of the Truth). After his return, he had frequent correspondence with Vivekananda, then at Ghazipur, who induced him to join him in travelling in some places of the Himalayas because of the latter's experience and familiarity in those terrains. Accordingly, Akhandananda came to Baranagore monastery, and after spending a few happy months with his brother-disciples, sharing his experiences with them, he set out in July 1890, with Vivekananda on a pilgrimage to the Himalayas. Visiting important places on the way they reached Almora, but the illness of one or the other plagued their journey, and they returned via Tehri to Dehra Dun, from where Akhandananda proceeded to Meerut for treatment. Vivekananda also joined him in Meerut, and they met some other brother disciples. After five months of association, Vivekananda left them and Akhandananda followed him surreptitiously, going from one province to another in his search, but everywhere he narrowly missed meeting him. Finally, he met Vivekananda again in Kutch where Swami Vivekananda entreated him to follow a separate course. Accordingly, Akhandananda continued his pilgrimage separately. Intellectual Pursuits During his days of wandering in the Himalayas, he studied Avadhuta Gita at Srinagar in Garhwal. In 1891, while resting at Etawah, he spent most of his time reading the Mahabhashya, Patanjali's voluminous commentary on Panini's Sanskrit grammar, as well as Sridhara Swami’s commentary on the Bhagavadgita. In Jamnagar in 1892, he studied the Charaka-Sushruta Samhita with the help of the Sanskrit lexicon Shabdartha Chandrika Kosha and also Shukla Yajur Veda. In Udaipur, he read the Vedantic text of Panchadasi. He also learned Hindi grammar from Bhasha Bhaskara, to correct his Hindi pronunciation. In Indore, he completed a reading of the entire Valmiki Ramayana over a period of eighteen days. Later in Mahula he undertook a critical study of the Yogavasishtha Ramayana. Relationship with Vivekananda and Sarada Devi Akhandananda was an ardent follower of Vivekananda, who called him lovingly as Ganges. He was also devoted to Sarada Devi. When hard