ity. It was more through that sense of consolation which the loving touch of a mother conveys to an ailing child. For even the most wicked disciple felt that he was near and dear to her, that she had no eye for his failings, that there was no error too grievous for her forgiveness, and that if he would but open his heart, her overflowing sympathy and assurance of divine protection would heal the wounds of his soul. When she was requested by a direct disciple of the great Master not to allow a certain young disciple to come to her presence on account of some misconduct on his part, she remarked, 'If my child gets covered with mud or dust is it not my duty to cleanse him and take him on my lap?' When a woman who had led a bad life went to her in a mood of sincere repentance and made an unreserved confession of her sins, she embraced her with great warmth of feeling, uttering these words of assurance, 'Don't despair for whatever you have done. You will get over all your sinful tendencies.' She also gave initiation to that woman.
More instances are not wanting which made the 'mother' in her overcome even all the accepted standards of moral respectability. There was an educated young disciple of hers who used to visit her frequently, and was also conducting a religious centre in his village. The young man got involved with a widowed girl - an offence of double sacrilege according to the prevailing moral codes. Several puritans tried to persuade the Mother not to allow the young man into her presence. Though she was visibly moved by this lapse of the young man, her reply to such requests was: