From a very young age, Shyam had formed the habit of bathing twice a day. Once in the morning, and once again in the evening. In the evenings, after playing all sorts of games with his friends, Shyam would return home and go straight for his bath. Mother would draw water into a brass pot for him, and he would bathe. She would scrub his body herself. Shyam enjoyed bathing both times, but he especially liked the evening bath. After bathing, the body felt fresh and pure. Prayer is the bath of the mind. When both body and mind are clean, sleep comes easily.

One day, after playing, Shyam came home. He took off his clothes, applied a little oil to his hair, and sat down to read his lesson. As always, Mother brought him water. She scrubbed his body and then went off to her work. Shyam poured water over himself and was about to dry off when he called out, “Aai, I’m feeling cold, come quickly.” In those days, there were no towels to dry oneself with. Mothers would wipe their children dry with the end of their own saree. Before Shyam could dry himself, she came and wiped his body. She picked a few flowers for Shyam to offer to God and told him to recite a prayer.

“But my feet are still wet, Mother,” Shyam said.

“So what if your feet are wet? What will happen if you don’t wipe them?”

Aai asked,

“Your hem is of thin cloth, Shyam; I see you wipe your feet on it. That’s why all the water gets soaked up by it. If not, mud will stick to your wet feet. I don’t like that,” I said, stubbornly insisting.

“You’ve become so obstinate! Don’t keep inventing new whims every day,” she said, yet she took the thin end of her sari and wiped my feet with it. Shyam wiped his feet on it, cleaned them, and then went off to pluck flowers. As she wiped my feet, her sari grew damp, but she never gave it a thought. How prepared a mother’s heart is to do anything for her child! How much she endures, how much she gives.

Aai lit the lamp and stood before God with it. She said,

“Shyam, just as you are careful not to let mud stick to your feet, be just as careful that no stain touches your mind. Ask God to grant you pure understanding!”

These words of Aai have echoed in Shyam’s life ever since. How much care we take that our faces and bodies remain clean and unblemished! We wash our clothes till they are spotless. There are people who polish their shoes to keep them shining. There are fragrant soaps to cleanse the body.

Everyone strives to keep these outward things pure and clean. But how many strive to keep their minds pure? If the mind commits a sin, does it ever weep as the eyes do? Is there such weeping