Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

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!”