Service

On 1st June, 1948, which was the day of the Maha Puja in the Mother’s temple, I went to the Ashram at 2 O’clock in the afternoon. Bhagavan had just returned from the cowshed and was settling down on the sofa. Not many people were there.

On 1st June, 1948, which was the day of the Maha Puja in the Mother’s temple, I went to the Ashram at 2 O’clock in the afternoon. Bhagavan had just returned from the cowshed and was settling down on the sofa. Not many people were there. I offered my humble salutations and sat down. Venkataratnam came. On seeing him Bhagavan began laughing and, looking at me, said, “Do you know what he

has done this afternoon? He has done a great meritorious service to the Swami — unparalleled service!”

It is about a week now since Venkataratnam was deputed to work in place of Rajagopalan, to look after the library and also to do personal service to Bhagavan. I thought he might have done something wrong and so said anxiously, “Why? What has he done?” “Why do you ask me what he has done? Ask him yourself,” said Bhagavan. When I looked at Venkataratnam I found him silent and with his head bent down. After a while Bhagavan himself related the incident thus:

“This afternoon, after food, when I got up to go towards the cowshed, there were several people near the office barring the way and so my attendants tried to make way for me. Not liking those people to be disturbed, I decided to go to the hill by the side of the dispensary and so began walking that way. The place was filled with used leaf-plates. I wanted somehow to walk along stepping in between the leaves but this chap Venkataratnam came there hurriedly and began pulling away those platters and throwing them to one side. With that, even the little clean space that had been available in between the platters became polluted and dirty. How then was I to walk? Should I carefully see which place is clean and then step on or wait until the whole place is washed and cleaned? But would it be possible to clean the whole place then and there? See the dear little boy’s smartness and intelligence!”

I too laughed and asked Bhagavan how exactly he managed ultimately.

Bhagavan: “I had to go, and so on I went. What else could I do? But it did not stop there. While he was putting the platters from one side, Subramaniam began pulling from the other side all the platters near the steps on the hillside.

He is more intelligent than this chap! Will they stop doing all that by mere words? No, their one idea was to remove immediately the polluted platters being in Bhagavan’s path but never for a moment imagining that, by so dragging the platters away, the whole space would become polluted. This is how they do service. I walked all the way over that polluted ground and had to wash my feet and my walking stick later before I could enter the hall. It does not matter at all if it is not deemed to be pollution; but then these people have done all this knowing that there was pollution and mainly with a view just to avoid it.”

“That is so. Westerners may not take it as pollution but these people do; but it did not occur to them at that time,” I said.

Bhagavan thereupon observed: “Yes, that is so. Once a European came here and ate his food with all the others. After that, he cleaned his hands with his handkerchief, put it into his pocket and sat there until I got up. In those days all people used to remove their used leaves themselves and throw them away outside and so, as all the leaves were removed by that time, the whole place was polluted. As soon as I finished eating and got up he too got up and walked along stepping on the polluted places. People there began protesting but what would he know about the pollution? True. He could not understand them but I told him about it in English. What of that? To understand our objection he should know that the places from where the leaves were removed were being looked upon by us as polluted. Not knowing that, he went on stepping on those places. Afterwards I told our people that he was not aware at all of the fact that we look upon the places as polluted and it was therefore not a fault on his part. Really, in their country there is no such practice. So they do not treat it as pollution. It is all right when you

do not know. It is a fault only if you know that it is wrong. Did these two people today do this without knowing it to be pollution? They knew, but they did it out of devotion to Bhagavan. This is service indeed!” said Bhagavan and laughed.

“Who could really do service to Bhagavan faultlessly?” I said.

Then Bhagavan observed: “That does not matter. I will tell you another thing. They disturb people near the office who are conversing among themselves, standing or comfortably seated, saying, ‘Bhagavan is coming, give way, get up.’ When I could easily go by another way, why trouble them all? Is that the way to do service to Bhagavan? We must just get our work done somehow. Is it possible to keep everything clean? Everyone acts like this in one thing or another. They say, ‘Bhagavan wants this, wants that,’ and thereby create trouble and inconvenience to all others. What does Bhagavan want? Giving trouble to others is all that Bhagavan wants, is it? This is all done in my name. To add to this, they say, ‘We are doing everything to please Bhagavan; we are serving him.’ Oh! what attention and what service!”