"But in between, some outsiders [Pukar and Kumar, for example] were also called to supervise things; and though they possessed no knowledge of the state of affairs in the Garden, the Owner would give them the duty of pointing out the faults in different ways of those residing there permanently. They were told to lecture the residents in the proper way of working in the Garden and serving the Owner. This was a great lesson for the incumbents because to work in the Garden meant not only laboring physically, but also having the ego crushed, and the occasional outsiders proved immensely helpful in that regard. The Owner would daily create such circumstances which would, little by little, destroy the ego of his workers. The outsiders themselves also had a chance of experiencing this on occasion, and so only those who were resolute and firm were called and given duties by the Owner.
"When the Garden was blossoming and in full bloom, thousands came to see it. They would come and go, attracted by the splendor and loveliness of the Garden and its Owner. And at times the resident workers had to put up with insults even in their presence. Such was the state of the inner mandali; but along with this pain and hardship, the love showered by the Owner of the Garden on them was unimaginable. Thousands would derive love from the magnificence of the Garden; whereas the mandali would gain it through their unbearable efforts of working with the Owner to prepare it."
During this time, Baba's health deteriorated and he commented:
"These days I am having a fever which goes up to 99° by the time I come to the mandali, and in the afternoon it reaches 100° or 101°. It is the case every day. The unbearable pain in the hip joint is there, but besides it I have a splitting headache, and my eyeballs pain as if they are going to fall out. Due to the injury in the automobile accident, my tongue had to have stitches. I feel as if that part is on fire, as if a hot coal has been placed on it.
[Baba stuck his tongue out to show the men.]
Before the accident, I had a very shapely nose, but due to the injury it is no longer so."