Their first stop was the bungalow of the district judge, Krishna Rao Naidu, where Baba gave this message on honesty:
I have lately been laying stress on honesty. If we love God honestly, we become one with Him. Never before have dishonesty and hypocrisy prevailed in the world as today. If the least hypocrisy creeps into our thoughts, words or deeds, God, Who is the innermost Self in us all, keeps Himself hidden.
Hypocrisy is a million-headed cobra. There are today so many so-called saints who tell people to be honest and not hypocritical, and yet they are, in themselves, deep in dishonesty. I say with divine authority that I am in you all, and if you honestly love God, you will find Him everywhere.
And remember, if you cannot love God and lead pure lives, at least do not make a show as if you are loving God, because the worst scoundrels are better than hypocritical saints.
-www.lordmeher.org, p3267
January, 1953; Andhra Darshans