to throwaway the milk, but the Mother said that others could take it without offering it to the Master.
One day Nalini was higgling for a long time with a woman pedlar of blankets to reduce the cost of a blanket from one and a quarter, to one rupee. At last the Mother interfered and scolded Nalini for detaining there a poor pedlar, who had to go from house to house, for a paltry sum of four annas. She further added that Nalini required no blanket, and that the one purchased should be given to a very poor disciple, Kshirodbala, who was present there, and who, in spite of her poverty, would not beg of anyone for a blanket even in that cold winter.
To quote one more instance of her practical wisdom: her disciples felt that a pedlar woman bringing vegetables to Jayrambati was charging a bit too high and they wanted to dismiss her. But the Mother interfered and said, 'Don't do so. She is mindful of our needs. Don't you see that she is able to procure for our mere asking all our needs even when none is available locally? She is our friend in need. She is my store-keeper.' Such wise and practical outlook on money matters in spite of her non-attachment is remarkable.
When the fourteen clauses of the Peace Treaty, as adumbrated at the close of the First World War by President Wilson of America, were explained to the Mother by a disciple, she remarked: 'Their protestation is only lip-deep
(mukhastha). If it had come from their hearts
(antastha), it would have meant a world of difference.'