It happened in the initial days of the Banaras Hindu University. Some students went to meet the founder vice-chancellor, Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya. They had many complaints against some of their teachers and classmates. Malviya ji was an eminent scholar and patriot, who genuinely cared for the younger generation of the nation. He patiently listened to the complaints then replied affectionately – “My young friends! There may be some thorns of idiosyncrasies in these people, but these thorns would bother us only when we are not able to see the beauty of the flowers of their positive qualities. You should endeavor to observe the flowers of goodness in their lives; then the thorns will lose their prominence and your life will also begin to get fragrant with the sweet scent of those flowers."

                                                                                           EXTINGUISHING SELF-EGO -- THE INITIAL STEP

Prince Neervrat reached Saint Ailushu's Ashram with the intense desire to achieve realization. The saint invited him to lead Ashram life and assured that anything can be achieved with complete devotion. Then on the prince had to be on his own, without any help of attendants and special comforts to which he was accustomed to as a prince. He was astonished to see that all the inmates of the ashram lived a highly disciplined and austere life. Did they have no materialistic desires and urge for pleasures and conveniences?

The prince had all the time for introspection here. He began to realize that everything in this world is perishable. No distinction of man or woman, king or pauper, young or old prevails when one is dead. He began to develop the art of contemplation and to appreciate the inner qualities of compassion and selflessness. Still he was not able to get rid of his ego and at times would pick up quarrels with his colleagues, only to regret about the same later.

After a few days the prince was asked to go to near-by villages with begging bowl in hand to collect food for the Ashram. This practice was quite routine those days. It served the dual purpose of subjugation of ego of the pupils of the Ashrams, and helped maintain the attitude of assistance and respect towards the ashrams within the society. This was the initiation for the prince. Because of his ego he felt disgusted; why should a prince go about with a begging bowl in hand. But he had to comply to his master's command.

Neervrat,  the beggar, entered a village with the begging bowl in his hand, but stood at a place feeling hesitant to go to any door for begging. The daughter of the village-head, named Vidya, sensed his predicament. She took a handful of grain to him, but instead of putting in his bowl she poured the same on to the ground. The pupil enquired, "Oh lady! If you deliberately wanted to throw the grain on to the ground, why at all you brought the same to me?"

Smilingly Vidya replied, "Sir, why talk of me, the whole world does the same. We have taken birth as a human being for a purpose, but do we utilize it for that purpose? We feel very hesitant to fulfill our duties and take it as a big burden on ourselves. Is it not a criminality on par with throwing the grain off on to the ground?"

This opened the eyes of Neervrat. He now understood that attainment of any target calls for great determination. His hesitance and ego were totally cleared and he moved on to beg enthusiastically. He reached ashram and deposited the bowl and grain in the stores of the ashram. Neervrat now had got rid of all the mental ties which contributed to complications, illusions and dissatisfaction. In the evening when Neervrat took to meditation he got immersed in the all peaceful nothingness, as if he had nothing to do with the external world. His bodily senses, mind and his entire life-sense had lifted away from the narrow bounds of the physical body into the vast expanse of space. Getting away from all narrow limitations he now  experienced the infinity, and felt himself clean, pure, peaceful, satisfied and unburdened.