India, Sept. 8 -- In the ashram of Sage Dhaumya lived a devoted student named Aruni. One stormy evening, the sage noticed a breach in the mud wall holding back water meant for the fields.

If it widened, the crops that fed the entire ashram would be lost.

Dhaumya asked his students to fix it. Most tried briefly, then gave up against the storm, rain and darkness. Aruni did not return. Worried, the guru went searching and found him lying across the gap, using his own body to hold back the rushing water, enduring the rains, cold and the current throughout the night.

When Dhaumya found him, he was moved, not by the wall that now held, but by the depth of Aruni's surrender. No one had been watching, no reward waited, yet he had given everyth...