Anecdote: HUNDRED RUPEES

For Bhagavan Baba, quality is always more important than quantity; and to stress it, He often says: "One ounce of cow's milk is much better than a barrel of donkey's milk!" There is an incident that graphically illustrates the point:

During the period the Super Speciality Hospital in Puttaparthi was under construction, Bhagavan was quite busy and could not spend as much time with His students as He normally did. In the afternoons, after Darshan and a few Interviews, He would be closeted with doctors.

One day, after giving Darshan and receiving letters from the public as well as students, He adjourned as usual to the Interview room. Suddenly He came out holding a letter in His hand. Waving the letter He went towards the students and asked, "Which of you wrote this?" Hesitantly, one boy got up. Swami asked, "You wrote this?" Meekly the boy nodded his head, fearing the worst. Swami then turned towards the elders in the veranda and said, "This boy is a student here. He is very keen to contribute to the Hospital Project. In this letter, he says that he is not a doctor and therefore cannot contribute service. He is not a rich man and therefore cannot make a donation. He is only a mere student. Yet, he is keen to do his bit. So, what does he do? He saves his pocket money, collects hundred rupees and gives it Swami." So saying, Baba pulled out a hundred rupee currency note from the envelope in His hand and displayed it to the devotees there. Bhagavan then slowly added. "For Swami, these hundred rupees represent pure Love emanating from the heart. They are therefore far more valuable than a big donation made perfunctorily." God always cares only for quality and not quantity.