Swami Akhandananda faced terrible provery in the Sargachi where he later started an Ashrama to help the orphans. He wrote letters to some of his old acquintances asking for financial help. Pramadadas Mittra, a great scholar of Varnasi wrote back to him mentioning that it is better for a monk to travel, study and practise meditation than to get involved in social service.

Swami Akhandananda replied: "I am delighted that you have reminded me about my olden days. Those days are gone, and now a new era has sprung up. The Atman never changes, but life changes. Now I don't enjoy travelling anymore.When I first went to Himalayas, I was a different person. Now I wonder upon seeing myself. At that time, I would avoid seeing human beings, and leaving the village, I loved to live the secluded caves of the Himalayas surrounded by ferocious animals. In this way, I lived for some years. Now I see God living in all human beings, and I have realized that the service to man is service to God. God, as it were, is whispering in my ears, "Verily these human beings are the Vedic sages; they are divine incarnations like Rama and Krishna - they are everything."

Source: God Lived With Them by Swami Chetanananda