During March, 1936, the question of whether or not to establish an ashram in Mysore was being seriously discussed between Baba and the mandali. However, Baba expressed that the people of Mysore were far too traditionally religious-minded and since they were so entangled in orthodox religiosity, it would be difficult to free them of their narrow-minded prejudices so his ashram could operate in an uncontested atmosphere.
On March 15th, (1936) he dictated this poignant statement:
I like this place, but here my movements will be restricted. I cannot move about independently because of such persons, and I do not like that. The time is past when I could dismantle the whole ashram within eight days as I did in Toka. It was quite a different phase of my work altogether then. Here it is different. I now wish to prepare a definite plan so that there may not be any difficulties in the future.
For that, the sword must be in the hand whereby I can enter the lion’s den and slay it; meaning of course that I may be able to do my work here among all this orthodoxy!
All these zealots should be sent to the front of the battlefield!
A scoundrel is better than these people for he at least appears as he is. People can recognize him and take precautions to stay away from him. But these orthodox persons are a danger to people. They are devils in the guise of saints!
Lazy, good-for-nothing loafers are often courageous by nature, are prepared for any eventuality and are not afraid to die. But these zealots are cowardly, hypocritical posers!
Therefore, these zealots are more dangerous. They are like black sheep wearing the clothes of a sadhu!
Lord Meher, Bhau Kalchuri, Original Publication, Vol. 6, p. 1991.