AN ANECDOTE

Many years ago, Baba was showing a lot of attention to a particular devotee who was serving Bhagavan in various ways. This devotee would get many Interviews, gifts of various kinds, etc. There was another devotee who in fact was doing much more by way of service but Baba appeared to ignore him. To people watching from the ringside, this was most inexplicable. One day a person could not contain himself and asked, “Baba, You are giving so much attention to one person but are completely ignoring the other person who is in fact doing more service. Why is that?” Swami smiled and replied, “That is very simple. This first person keeps on telling Me, ‘Swami I have done this, Baba I have done that,’ etc. So I compensate him suitably and we are quits. This other person never tells me anything nor brags about his service. I know every little bit of what he is doing. Since he does not try to cash his cheques, he is totally under My protection. In contrast, the first person has exhausted his credit; he has implicitly claimed rewards and has collected all of them; there is nothing left to give. One who does not ask will get the most!”