PANCH PANDAV CAVE 11
ing it at about one o'clock in the afternoon and feed them.
The leper who had the worst attack came in for service
first. His toes and fingers also having fallen a prey to
leprosy, he could with great difficulty raise the food to his
mouth.
While he was engaged in eating, Ramdas would be busy
in driving away the flies that were settling on his face
which at other times he covered with a piece of cloth.
Ramdas had also to rub off gently the stream of pus cours-
ing down his cheeks iuto Ms mouth. The remaining food
would then be distributed to the boy and other lepers. The
Lord put him to this service for about two months. All the
time, far from feeling any weariness or repugnance, he
performed the task in a spirit of enthusiasm surcharged
with an objectless ecstasy. A few days before he bid adieu
to the cave, the feeding work was suddenly stopped by the
command of the Lord. 0 Lord, Thou feedest all Thy
creatures in Thy own inscrutable ways. Ramdas is hut an
instrument in Thy omnipotent hands.
Soon after the feeding of the lepers had ended, a
Malayali, that is, a native of Malabar, came to stay with
Ramdas in the cave for a few days. He was so emaciated
that he was only skin and bones. Ramdas thanked God for
His having given him another opportunity to serve Him in
the form of this skeleton-bodied Malayali. Karndas scarcely
found this friend in a talkative mood. The only expression
that was now and again issuing from his lips iu a weak
voice was "Krishna, sharan, sharan". E-amdas would both
at noon and in the evening run down to the city and by
begging collect food to feed this welcome guest. Oh Lord,
Thy manifestations are most marvellous. The lepers and the
Malayali that he served are Thyself in those forms. The
entire universe is Thy Self-revelation in which Thou art
manifest in a variety of masks. Thou art the one absolute
Truth, birthless and deathless; pure Satchidananda, eternal
existence, knowledge and bliss.
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