“”That is what is desired.
In following my orders, put up with the whims and
fancies of the boys, and never think what sort of humbug is this! When you think
such things, you are at fault. What you are doing is not service to the
children; it is service to me! The best service you can render consists of
complete obedience to me.
There is a secret behind all these affronts; my bitter
words contain sweetness within. So continue tolerating all unconcerned; and
enduring everything, try to be happy. Be in a good mood and cheerful, even when
contrary thoughts assail you. I only want this much from you.
Baba's continual search for the "ideal boy"
also bothered Raosaheb. The mandali were frustrated in their attempts to find
such a boy, because after finding so many boys, Baba sent them all back. Baba
explained:
“”Behind this work of mine, there is a great mystery. Through these boys, I forge links and work for chosen Prem Ashram boys who are
now away from me. This work of preparing certain boys is a self-imposed extra
duty, over and above my work of preparing the circle [for Realization]. For that
special duty, I opened ashrams for the children, prepared them and selected a
few boys. But what would happen to them after the ashram was closed? They could
not just be thrown away, discarded or set aside! Something had to be done for
them once they came under my spell [nazar]. To do that, it was necessary for
some of them to stay near me.
The best efforts were made at the sacrifice of so much
expense, time, energy and labor to bring the boys near me. But due to the
parents' or guardians' objections and other problems, they could not
come to me. The cases of [Aga] Ali and Vasant are typical examples and are
self-evident. Since they could not be brought to me by direct efforts with their
parents, another way — an indirect method — was resorted to by
calling other boys, keeping them with me and connecting their links with those
few select boys of the ashram who are physically away. This is why I spent
thousands of rupees for so many boys, over and above the trouble to myself and
to the mandali. Each was kept for a few days, given good clothes, food, and even
pay; but each was sent away after some days.
