Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi gave the first indication of dropping His body during the end of 1948 and early 1949, when He kept rubbing His left elbow. On closer examination it was found that a growth, the size of a peanut first showed itself. That peanut size boil began to grow in size and pain had commenced. Ramana Maharishi without consulting any doctors from outside the ashram asked those in charge of His health to remove the growth. The simple operation was performed in the bathroom just before breakfast. Realising that the sight of the bandage would get His devotees worried Ramana Maharishi draped a towel on His left hand which covered the elbow and when inquired as to what He had on His arm or why was He draping His hand with a towel, He jokingly replied that it was a bracelet or a Lingam had decided to erupt from His arm.
In a few months time
that growth had been detected as a tumour. It was removed and miraculously the
wound healed in a week and everybody heaved a sigh of relief. Ramana Maharishi
all through seemed to be oblivious of the tumour or its pain. A month later,
the tumour returned on the same part and was removed and after tests were done
it was detected to be malignant. The tests showed that the tumour was a
sarcoma, which is a kind of malignant cancer. Radium treatment had to be
commenced as the wound refused to heal till a point came when the doctors
insisted that the arm should be amputated. Raman Maharishi refused saying that
the body itself is a disease and it should have a natural end. Why try to
mutilate it? He insisted that the affected part should be covered by a simple
dressing. All through the process and the operations, Raman Maharishi showed
complete disregard to the tumour and the pain.
Some of the doctors
suggested that the healing rays of the Sun would help heal the wound, so every
day Ramana Maharishi would sit behind the cow shed, with the bandage removed,
the wound cleaned and the arm exposed to sun rays. He continued to joke about
the wound, calling it a precious ruby that glowed when the sun rays touched it,
and was an ornament to His arm.
But the cancer cells
began to spread through His blood stream and another operation was performed
and in matter of no time the wound reappeared more fierce in its malignancy. In
fact after His third operation within hours Ramana Maharishi gave darshan to
the multitude of devotees longing to just have a sight of Him, much to the
helplessness of the medical team. The next day once the doctors had left,
Ramana Maharishi returned to the darshan Hall, to meet His devotees, saying
that it was not right of Him to disturb other patients who would get
inconvenienced by the devotees who wanted His darshan.
In December 1949,
another operation was performed where it was realized that surgery in fact
aggravated the cancer rather than heal the body.
Thus other forms of
treatment commenced. Homeopathy, ayurveda and other alternative medications.
Returning from His daily walk, one evening, shivering with fever, barely able
to walk, Ramana Maharishi sat on His couch devoid of any strength much to the
grief of all those present. When inquired about His body Ramana Maharishi said,
‘ what about the body? What if the body is shivering? What all want is that
there should be life in the body? Is there not life in this body? Aren’t you
all satisfied that life still remains in this body? This is the Natrajana dance
going on. Every day the dance is not visible today it is giving the Tandava
Darshan. Don’t be worried about this.’
Then one morning,
Ramana Maharishi while entering the bathroom, trying to cross the threshold,
stumbled and fell down. Refusing all help from the devotees He stood up. His
clothes were covered in blood and though He had suffered a fracture, the news
of His fall was not allowed to be made public. The fall and the ensuing injury
was painful but Ramana Maharishi gave darshan from early morning to the
countless devotees who wanted a glimpse of Him. Nobody was aware of the fall
nor could anybody see Him in any discomfort.
Slowly Ramana Maharishi
found it difficult to climb steps and as His daily routine required Him to
climb the steps from the eastern entrance many suggested that He should use the
northern part of the Hall. He refused, saying that the northern part of the
Hall was meant for women devotees and He did not want to cause any bother to
His women followers. Whenever He was not giving Darshan, He began to remain in
a very small room which was on the eastern side of the Hall. Eventually this
room came to be known as the Nirvana Room as Ramana Maharishi left His body
from this room.
By early April 1950 it
became clear to all that Ramana Maharishi would not be long in His body but He
continued to give Darshan to all, even though now He could barely sit.
Everybody realized that their beloved Master would not be long with them in the
physical body. Though He was physically dying, His body began to glow with a
radiance visible to all. Every time a devotee broke down seeing the pain and
discomfort He was in He would tenderly tell them, ‘ they say I am dying, but I
am not going anyway. Where can I go? I am here.’
Many of His intimate
followers have described Ramana Maharishi’s last days in the physical body.
According to S.S.Cohen, on the 10th of April the devotees that thronged to get
a glimpse of their Master was immense. He has noted down that, “this darshan is
no doubt a very great strain on the Maharshi, who, in his infinite compassion,
keeps his face constantly turned towards the devotees the whole time the
darshan lasts. His couch has east-west position and the door through which he
looks at the devotees’ faces south, so that for one full hour he keeps his head
turned in that direction and strains his neck. In his present state of health
the strain on him must be great; yet he refuses to stop the darshan, or even
reduce it to once a day. His nourishment consisted today of a little fruit
juice, tomato juice and some coconut water with glucose.”
On the 12th of April,
S.S.Cohen wrote down that, “today he is stretched full length on the sofa, with
hollow eyes, sunken cheeks, pale, waxy skin and drained of vitality. Three
attendants are massaging hard his legs. The upper half of the body is
exceedingly sensitive and cannot be touched without causing him severe pain.
During the half-hour running darshan at 9 a.m. he could only at times turn his
face to the devotees, but mostly he is listless. Doctors stopped testing and
examining him and strictly forbade all access to his room.”
Narayana Iyer in a
letter to Professor Subbaramayya described Ramana Maharishi’s last days.
‘Bhagavan’s condition was considered very critical. No liquid food even. No
motions, no urine. Pulse very, very feeble. Blood-pressure very low. Heart
weak. Temperature 96.8° and frequent hiccoughs ... Bhagavan asked in the evening
if there was the queue in the morning. Sarvadhikari replied that it was
suspended for sometime. Bhagavan said that He would suspend taking even a drop
of water till all that came had their darshan. So there was the queue last
evening’.
On 13th April when a
doctor had wanted to give Ramana Maharishi some medicine to relieve the
congestion in the Master’s lungs, the Master refused saying that within two
days everything would be all right.
Hours later Ramana
Maharishi asked all to leave as He wanted to be alone. Only His attendant
Rangaswami was present with the Master. In the morning Ramana Maharishi told
Rangaswami, in English, ‘ thanks’. The attendant understood no English and
Ramana Maharishi smiled and told him, ‘the English have a word thanks, but we
only say santosham (I am pleased)’.
All through the
morning and afternoon, devotees passed by His open door to get a glimpse of
their beloved Master. His body had become very weak and He had lost immense
weight. His ribs were heart achingly visible and His skin had darkened. Most of
the devotees would begin to cry seeing His weakened body and His clear
suffering.
Many people are under
some misconception that Masters feel no pain. Pain is real. Christ felt it on
the Cross and even asked God as to why had He forsaken Christ? Similarly Ramana
Maharishi felt the pain. Many of His intimate devotees had mentioned that Ramana
Maharishi suffered terribly when alone, especially at night, when He thought
that nobody could witness His pain, He would on His couch, moan out in pain. He
would tell often that pain was natural. I guess when the body is cut with a
knife, the body will bleed, whether it is the body of a Saint or a sinner, the
body would bleed, how one reacted to the cut, the bleeding, and whether one
identified with the pain made all the difference.
But with all the pain
and discomfort, Ramana till the very end of His physical journey made certain
that His devotees always got a glimpse of Him and He got a glimpse of them. His
love and concern for His animals and birds also remained till the very end.
Hours before He dropped His body He heard His beloved peacocks screeching and
He immediately asked His attendants if His peacocks had been fed properly. The
peacocks walked continuously around His room, and His cows, dogs and monkeys
all showed their restlessness for their Master’s wellbeing. There was a white
peacock that stood on the Nirvana room’s roof screeching nonstop.
All through devotees
would complain to Ramana Maharishi that He was abandoning them. His reply to
them was, ‘you attach too much importance to the body….the Guru is not in the
physical form, thus contact with the Guru will remain even after His physical
form vanishes…You are and always were one with Me. You are Me’. To a few He
would say, ‘ forget being my devotee…forget pleading and weeping and finding a
new excuse or avenue for suffering….there is nothing you can give me,
nothing……just sit still and enjoy My love, My devotion to you….enjoy how I love
you and do nothing else…’
But on the 14th
evening everybody realized that in all probability the Master would leave the
body at any moment. The Master’s body was supported by large pillows and He sat
upright with His head tilted backward and His mouth open. He found it
impossible to breathe and He was given oxygen for a few minutes but it brought
Him no relief and He indicated that He wanted the equipment detached from
Himself.
O.P. Ramaswami
Reddiyar, the retired Chief Minister, was with the Master during the last
moments. He says, ‘seeing the difficulty that Bhagavan was experiencing, I drew
a screen across and didn't allow any more darshan. O. P. Ramaswani Reddiyar
came, and I told him that he could come in, but he declined’, unable to see the
Master suffer so much.
Ramana Maharishi then
asked to be seated upright. From outside, His lovers began to sing, ‘
Arunachala Shiva’….Lord Shiva of Arunachala Mountain and when the Master heard
the song, He opened His eyes wide. They were radiant and He smiled for a few
seconds and then tears rolled down His divine eyes. Then He sat in the
Padmasana pose and it was in the Padmasana pose that He exhaled one final time
and then became very still. The time was 8.47 p.m and the devotees fanning Him
stopped and as soon as the devotees outside saw the fans no longer moving
fanning Their Master, they knew He had left His body and with broken hearts
they began to cry for their beloved Master.
It has been noted in
various journals and papers that exact 8.47 p.m. a shooting star or some say a
meteor moved slowly across the sky, above Arunachala Mountain and then
disappeared behind its peak.
Henri Cartier-Bresson,
the famous French photographer who had been staying at the Ashram, says thus,
“I was in the open space in front of my house, when my friends drew my
attention to the sky, where I saw a vividly-luminous shooting star with a
luminous tail, unlike any shooting star I had before seen, coming from the
South, moving slowly across the sky and, reaching the top of Arunachala,
disappeared behind it. Because of its singularity we all guessed its import and
immediately looked at our watches – it was 8.47 – and then raced to the Ashram
only to find that our premonition had been only too sadly true: the Master had
passed into mahanirvana at that very minute.”
Lord Shiva of
Tiruvannamalai, Lord Shiva of Arunachala, had left His physical body, to remain
in the hearts of His lovers for ever and ever more.
Be blessed always.
JAI BABA
Ruzbeh N Bharucha is
the author of Devi’s Emerald, The Last Marathon, The Aum of All Things, The
Fakir Trilogy and The Ramblings of The 110th, RABDA My Sai…My Sigh, ANANDA -
Musings of the Fakir, The Perfect Ones, Conversations with DADA VASWANI, The
Musk Syndrome, ICE with very unusual SPIRITS , Dancing with Swans and SAI
BABA;The Messiah Of Oneness.
Website :
http://www.ruzbehbharucha.net
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