There Is No Free Food

Sri Annamalai Swami

A wandering sadhu who had recently arrived approached Bhagavan with his complaints about the ashram.

'Your sishyas are just like the Guru. I came to your ashram and asked for some food but no one would give me any. Swami Vivekananda has talked a lot about annadana and praised it. He talked a lot about Vedanta and Siddhanta but he also stressed the importance of annadana.'

As I listened to all these complaints against both Bhagavan and the ashram I got more and more angry. Eventually I interrupted him and told him, 'Why are you disturbing Bhagavan like this? Go away!'

Bhagavan silenced me with an angry look and permitted the sadhu to carry on with his complaints. The sadhu, realizing that he was not going to be interrupted or sent away, lectured Bhagavan for about half an hour on the defects of the ashram and the people who worked there. When he finally stopped, having run out of complaints, Bhagavan very quietly and politely asked him if there was anything else he wished to tell him. The sadhu made no response.

The Bhagavan said, 'I am not getting food here for nothing. Every day I cut vegetables, I look after the cows, I give darshan to the devotees and answer all their doubts and questions. That is why they are giving me food.'

Bhagavan then seemed to relent a little. He turned to me and said, 'What to do? Take him to the kitchen and give him some food.'

The sadhu ate his meal, left the ashram and never came back.