This Chapter taken from The book ‘Crumbs from His Table’ by Ramanananda Swarnagiri
One day when all the visitors went to the dining hall for the midday meal a Brahmin youth was ejected from there. At the sight of this the writer felt disinclined to sit down for his meal; however he consoled himself and took his food. He was, however, so badly upset by the incident that he did not take any of the prasadam (small gifts of eatables frequently distributed at the ashram, after having been presented to Sri Bhagavan and a small quantity thereof accepted by Him) given to him later that day. At about 3 p.m., a monkey came and sat opposite to him in the Hall, and he attempted to give it all the prasadam so far collected. Sri Bhagavan, looking at him, remarked that if he fed that one fellow hundreds of other idlers would pour into the ashram and it would be converted from a place of retreat for sadhakas, Jnanis and Yogis, to an idlers’ asylum. Anyone connecting such a plain remark as this with the writer’s mental attitude cannot but conclude that Bhagavan wanted to convey consolation to his disturbed mind and convince him that He has destined everything for everybody, and it was utterly useless for him to identify himself with such miseries and worry himself in vain over His actions.
2. The writer was about to put a question to Sri Bhagavan and just as he began doing so, Sri Bhagavan answered him by referring him to page 73, para. 2 of Mr. Brunton’s Secret Path and remarked that, as stated therein, speech only beclouded argument and disturbed the silent communication of thought.
3. Sri Bhagavan was correcting and aiding some young- sters of not more than ten years of age in memorising His Sanskrit work, Upadesa Saram, and the writer was laughing, so to say, up his sleeve, at the futility of coaching these youngsters who could not understand the A-B-C of this highly metaphysical poetry. Without the utterance of a single word, Sri Bhagavan turned to him and remarked that though these children might not understand the meaning of these poems then, yet they would be of immense help to them, and would be recalled with great relief and pleasure, when they came of age and were in difficulties.