During my Diwali vacation in 1973, I travelled with Swamishri around the Kheda region of Gujarat. One morning in the village of Limbdi, I was watching Swamishri clean his teeth with a datan. I had already asked Pragat Bhagat, Swamishri's attendant, to give me Swamishri's used datan as a memento for me to keep.

Swamishri finished brushing his teeth. He washed the datan and gave it to Pragat Bhagat to throw away. But Pragat Bhagat passed it on to me, as per our prior agreement. Swamishri saw this. "Throw it away! Throw it away, I say!" Swamishri said, quite upset. "These pieces of wood will do you no good in Satsang. Only by attaching yourself to the Sadhu will you truly understand Satsang and enjoy its bliss, not by collecting useless mementos like these."
Swamishri's words revealed both his preference and his principle.