Baba was furious and took all to task.
"I know your activity and movement was necessary," he said, "but had you the least thought for me, you would have been more cautious, more circumspect, moved more carefully and silently."
Baba's scolded them for hours, wounding them so much that they forgot themselves, and even the most reticent among them (as far as voicing complaints was concerned) could no longer contain himself.
For his own reasons, Baba purposely wanted to stir things up and cause a scene. He continued his taunting nonstop throughout the day. Everyone's thoughts and feelings came out in the open, and some of the mandali's voiced concerns were: "Obedience to you is impossible ... Following you is 'impractical obedience!' ... Our only fault is that we love you too much! ... We are incapable of bending to the extent you want ... we are only human! ... It is impossible to please you, and since we cannot rise to the required heights of submission, it is better we leave."
Although Baba had kept up a raging storm of anger for hours, he quelled it in a few minutes by stating:
Whether the results are satisfactory or unsatisfactory, I am quite satisfied with your efforts because everyone has been making them according to his capacity. I myself would not have done for my Master what you are doing for me. Only when you are awake can I sleep, so you must all keep awake the whole night in Vijayawada in order that I can rest for the great work lying ahead in Andhra.
He added:
You don't know me; you have not seen me. I am not this body which you see. It is not me you are listening to. God is not physical existence. God is in everything, everywhere and always [forever].
How is it that I am God and you are not? I know it, and you do not . You all, too, are not your bodies. Even if a hand or leg is cut off, you will continue to feel yourselves whole, as you are . From a child, you grew up into a boy, from a boy into a man, and you will continue to grow old. You change and will go on changing. At the same time, you also always continue to feel yourself remaining as yourself, neither more nor less.
Your very existence remains unchanged, always the same.