Baba asked Bhau to bring Gustadji a plate, and then instructed him to go to his room and write what Baba said was a very urgent letter. Just as Bhau was about to start writing, Baba clapped for him.
Pointing to a few crumbs on the floor that had fallen from Gustadji's plate, Baba gestured, "Clean this up or ants will come here."
Bhau did as he was instructed.
"Now go, go!" Baba gestured. "Finish that letter; it is urgent and most important."
Bhau returned to his room, but hardly had he finished two lines when Baba clapped again.
"Gustadji wants a glass of water," he told Bhau. "Bring it for him."
The other mandali were seated in the hall, unoccupied, but Baba had called Bhau away from his work to perform this task. "That old man [Gustadji] is doing this on purpose to harass me," Bhau thought. Nevertheless, once again he did as he was told.
Baba then motioned, "Finish that letter! Hurry! You must complete it before the boy leaves with the mail for Ahmednagar."
Again, Bhau went to his room. But five minutes later, Baba called him to clean more crumbs from under Gustadji's plate.
Then he asked, "Have you finished that letter?"
Bhau was so irritated by this time that he blurted out, "How could I finish it, Baba? You keep calling me every two minutes — and Gustadji is just sitting here doing nothing but causing trouble!"
Baba replied, "Is he doing nothing? He is doing much more important work than you! The work Gustadji does by sitting by my side here is such that you can never do it even while working your utmost for me. The reason is that he sees to my pleasure . You are obeying me, that is true. I asked you to write the letter, and you are complying, but your obedience does not give me pleasure. He is doing this purposefully because he knows that it pleases me. Gustadji's obedience gives me pleasure. He knows what I want and he does it in order to please me.
"It is my pleasure that he should eat sweets, which he does. It is my wish that he should want something or other from you, which he does. While pleasing me, he has never had a thought that you are disturbed in your work. If he did that, then he would be keeping your pleasure, not mine.