Before becoming an attendant of Bhagavan I had talked to Him only once, soon after my arrival. One day I approached Bhagavan on the Hill side when He was alone, placed some fruits at His feet, prostrated myself before Him and asked Him: "How is the mind to be subdued?" Bhagavan graciously replied, "Look within where the mind is."
After that there was no need for me to think of anything else. Bhagavan was God for me.
Everything I did was done with care and dedication. For instance, I used to devote considerable time to wash the only two pieces of cloth Bhagavan had (loin cloth and a small towel), rinsing them many times in water, changing the water every time. I wanted the clothes to be spotlessly clean.
~ account by Vaikuntavasar in Arunachala's Ramana -- Boundless Ocean of Grace
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He was not always so diligent. The following story is from Living by by the Words of Bhagavan, 1st edition, p. 98:
Bhagavan would also sometimes get angry if his attendants were very careless. Vaikunta Vas, one of the later attendants, once aroused Bhagavan's wrath by accidentally burning his leg. It was about 9 p.m. and Vaikunta Vas was a little sleepy as a result of eating too much food at the evening meal. He absent-mindedly applied a hot water bottle tom Bhagavan's legs without bothering to check the temperature. The water in the bottle was much too hot. Bhagavan winced with pain, gt angry with him, and ordered him out of the hall. Vaikunta Vas was so mortified by his mistake that he left the ashram immediately and went back to his village near Pondicherry. Some time later someone attacked him there, stabbing him with a knife in the stomach. Feeling that this was a just punishment for his maltreatment of Bhagavan, and feeling that his sin against Bhagavan had thus been fully paid for, he came back to the ashram and resumed his duties.
I remember that account from Living by the Words of Bhagavan, but somehow did not connect it with the attendant so carefully washing Bhagavan's loin cloth and towel ... what an awful feeling it must have been, leaving the ashram, having burned Bhagavan's legs. And what a relief, that Bhagavan drew him back.
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