From the website of Ramana Maharishi:

“Not only good people went to the Ashram. Sometimes bad ones turned up also – even bad sadhus. Twice in the year 1924 thieves broke into the Ashram in quest of loot. On the second of these occasions they even beat the Maharshi, finding that there was very little for them to take away. When one of the devotees sought the sage’s permission to punish the thieves, the sage forbade him, saying:

“They have their dharma, we have ours. It is for us to bear and forbear. Let us not interfere with them.” When one of the thieves gave him a blow on the left thigh, he told him: “If you are not satisfied you can strike the other leg also.” After the thieves had left, a devotee enquired about the beating. The sage remarked, “I also have received some puja,” punning on the word in Tamil (poosai) which means ‘worship’ but is also used to mean ‘blows’. The spirit of utter    harmlessness   that   permeated  the  sage  and made even animals and birds make friends with him. He showed them the same consideration that he did to the humans that went to him. When he referred to any of them, he used the form ‘he’ or ‘she’ and not ‘it’. Birds and squirrels built their nests around him. Cows, dogs and monkeys found asylum in the Ashram. All of them behaved intelligently – especially the cow Lakshmi. He knew their ways quite intimately. He would see to it that they were fed properly and well. And, when any of them died, the body would be buried with due ceremony.”