A sanyasi (monk), Swami Satydev, spent a day at Gandhiji’s Sabarmati Ashram and then expressed his wish to stay there.
“I like the work you do here,” he told Gandhiji.
Gandhiji said he was welcome to stay as the ashram was meant for people like him, but added, “You will have to put away your saffron robes and dress like the others here.”
The monk did not like that. “I am a sanyasi!” he protested.
“I’m not asking you to renounce sanyas,” explained Gandhiji. “Sanyas is a state of mind. Dress has nothing to do with it. If you wear your ochre robes here, people will not allow you to do work out of respect for your robes. Instead, they will serve you, and that would be contrary to the principles of this ashram. We are here to serve, not to be served.”
The sanyasi thought the matter over and decided to join the ashram.
On another occasion, a man in an advanced state of leprosy came to the ashram and asked for shelter.
“I’ve come to shed me skeleton here,” he said. “I won’t go even if I’m pushed out.”
“How can I say there’s no shelter for you here?” said Gandhiji. “You’re welcome.”
Nursed by Gandhiji, the man spent several days in the ashram before succumbing to the disease.
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