Once, Swami Bapa was in Leicester, England. The Bal Mandal was given the seva of getting roses for Swami Bapa’s morning puja. Balaks went from house to house asking people for permission to collect some roses from their garden early the next morning. Most people agreed to give one or two roses every day. But since many roses would be needed for Swami Bapa’s puja, the balaks were worried that they would not have enough roses.

Early next morning, the balaks went to the houses of people who had agreed to give them roses. They knew they were not going to be able to get enough roses for Swami Bapa’s puja . But it was dark. Everyone was asleep, and no one was looking. So, if the person had agreed to give one rose, the balaks would take two. If they had agreed to give two roses, the balaks would take three. They thought it was okay to take more than what they had been given permission for, because it was for a good cause. And, anyway, who was going to find out? A few days later, Swami Bapa was doing his puja.

All of a sudden he asked, “Who brings these flowers every day? Call those children here.” The children joyfully rushed to Bapa and explained to him how they collected the flowers daily. Bapa was reading the Shikshapatri at that time. He showed one 12-year-old balak a verse in the Shikshapatri, and said, “Look, Bhagwan Swaminarayan says here, ‘You should not pluck even a single flower without the permission of its owner.’ That is stealing. If there are no flowers in my puja, that’s all right, but I don’t want their stolen flowers! A satsangi should not even think of stealing!”

Although the balaks were gathering the flowers with the permission of the owner, taking two flowers instead of one was stealing in Swami Bapa’s eyes! The lesson in honesty that those balaks learned that day will remain with them throughout their life.