Aarav decided he would become a great renouncer. He had heard Dadu talk about "giving up action," and he thought it sounded peaceful and wise. So one morning he announced, "Today I will do nothing at all. I am giving up all action. I will just be."

He sat cross-legged on the mat by the doorway, very still, very serious.

For about a minute.

Then his nose itched, and he scratched it. "Oops," he thought, "that was an action." He tried again. But his stomach growled, so he got up and ate a banana. Then he was thirsty, so he drank water. Then a fly landed on his arm and he waved it off. Then he blinked. Then he breathed — in, out, in, out — and realized even that was something his body kept doing without asking.

By midday he marched over to Dadu, frustrated. "Dadu! I can't do it. I tried to give up all action, but my body keeps doing things! Scratching, eating, blinking, breathing — it never stops!"

Dadu laughed so hard his shoulders shook. "Of course it doesn't, my boy! As long as you wear this body, you will always be doing something. To stop acting completely — that's not possible for anyone alive. Even a stone rolls when the river pushes it."

"Then how can anyone be a renouncer?" Aarav asked, deflated. "It's impossible!"

"Ah," said Dadu, leaning close. "You misunderstood what to give up. You don't give up doing. You give up the grabbing. Tell me — yesterday you helped Sundar Chacha carry the fish baskets. Why?"

"Because he said he'd give me ten rupees."

"And if he had given you nothing?"

Aarav scrunched his face. "I'd have been grumpy."

"There it is," said Dadu. "The grumpiness is the grabbing. The real renouncer still carries the baskets — he can't stop being useful, he's alive! — but he carries them because they need carrying, and then he lets go of demanding a reward. He keeps the doing. He drops the grabbing."

Aarav thought about this. Then he grinned. "So I don't have to sit on a mat doing nothing?"

"Goodness, no. Go run, help, climb, play, work. Just stop tying a price tag to everything you do." Dadu winked. "That is far harder than sitting on a mat — and far more useful."

Aarav leaped up, full of relief, and ran outside to help pull a boat onto the sand. This time, he didn't ask for anything. And the strange thing was, it felt even better than the ten rupees had.