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| Avadhoota Nadananda |
(from "Autobiography of an Avadhoota - part 2"):
Avadhoota Nadananda: In the evening, all of us sat together in the hall for Lalitha Sahasranama archana with flowers. Just after the completion of archana and arathi, disciples gifted me with clothes, some money, and other useful items as tokens of their love and affection. Payasam (Sweet rice) which had been offered to Goddess as naivedya, was distributed to all as prasadam. I was about to climb the steps to go upstairs to my room when I saw the maid servant at the home, standing near the steps. She shyly handed me a small napkin wrapped in paper, and eleven rupees and said, "I am not very well-to-do, so I could only get a small gift for your birthday, please accept it".
I gladly accepted it from her, feeling that its value was higher than anything else I received that day. Once again there were tears in my eyes, as I remembered the story of the widow who offered humble amalaki fruits as bhiksha to Adi Shankara. Even today, I treasure that small napkin and keep it in my almirah. My thought is it's not the great acharyas, gurus, or vaidika pundits who sustain the real Dharma - but the unassuming and innocent folk, the real pillars of sustainable love in this world due to whom this creation is flowing smoothly in spite of all-mountain of flaws.
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