Bhau had seen Baba suffer continually. He had observed for himself how, after the second automobile accident, even when grievously injured, not a single sound had passed from Baba's lips. Yet, the human mind is like this: It wanders here and there on the slightest pretext. Bhau forgot everything and began to question Baba's unendurable anguish.
Baba got up and gestured, "Come here, sit down."
Bhau was standing and, because he was upset, he said, "I am all right here."
"Obey me."
Bhau sat near him, and Baba explained, "Listen to what I say. What were you thinking?"
"Nothing."
"What do you take me to be? Tell me."
"You are my Master."
"And what are you?"
"Your slave."
"What is the duty of the slave?"
"To please the Master."
"And do you please me? If you are my slave, it is your duty to serve me. You should treat me as you would a tender flower. Have you any idea what happened to this flower when the lid struck it? Its petals were crushed, not from the injury but because of your carelessness.
"Because you have accepted me as your Master and I have accepted you as my slave, it is the duty of the Master to see that the slave does his duty properly. And because I have accepted you as my slave, I am duty-bound to see that you serve and please me correctly.
"If the Himalayas fell on my head, what would that be to me? Nothing. If someone threw a stone at me, it would not have hurt as much as what happened here tonight. Why do I have this pain? Because of the carelessness of my slave. Because I have accepted you as my slave, I cannot bear the slightest carelessness on your part.
"But instead of thinking that you have displeased me, you thought only: 'How can he bear infinite suffering?' Have you the least idea of my suffering? Your duty is to serve and please me at any cost, not to think about my infinite burden. It does not behoove you to think like this. By pondering such things, you cannot really call yourself my slave.
"So remember: Your negligence makes me suffer much more than untold suffering, as I cannot tolerate the slightest carelessness on the part of my slave. And since you are my slave, treat me as you would a flower."