Maha Nirvana

[Guest guest]

This excerpt is being posted per Gabriele's request.

 

Source: "The Maharshi" May/Jun 2000

 

 

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S.S. Cohen

Friday, 14th April:

Maharshi is in a very precarious condition.

The whole morning has been spent by devotees in hushed gloom and with

bated breath. After evening darshan, the unanimous verdict is that it

is positively the last. The Master is now propped on large pillows,

almost in a sitting posture, the head resting backward with open

mouth, and two attendants briskly fanning him,

to enable him to breathe freely-the battle for air, has thus started.

At 7 p.m., oxygen is administered to him for about five minutes, but

seeing that it gave him no relief, he feebly asked that it should be

stopped.

 

The situation was tense: about five-hundred devotees were outside in

sad expectation of the solemn last moment. Blood relations, Ashram

workers, a few old disciples, and some new aspirants went in by turn

to have a last sight of him. When the end was known to be approaching,

the whole congregation with one voice started chanting the Tamil hymns

he had many years ago composed in praise of Lord Arunachala:

"Arunachala Shiva, Arunachala Shiva, Arunachala!" till it came at

about 8:47. Many devotees, grief-stricken and beating their breasts, lost

control of their feelings and rushed en masse to the small room where

the sacred body lay, but police officers immediately cordoned off

the area till it was brought out and placed in the centre of the big

darshan hall in yoga asana for all the people to pay their last

respects to it. The news spread like wildfire to the town and the

neighboring villages and drew huge crowds. By 9:15, the crowd grew so

thick, that it became necessary to give a chance to all to pay their

homage and pass the body in an orderly manner. A queue was thus

formed- seven to ten broad-at a quick-march pace. It is

still (11:55 p.m.) continuing unabatingly.

 

Around the sofa sat dozens of disciples, some chanting Maharshi's

verses and other devotional hymns, but others remained in silent

contemplation. Sandalwood paste and jasmine flowers now cover the body

and incense burns by its side.

 

At about 9 p.m.,Monsieur Cartier-Brassen, the French photographer, who

has been here for about a fortnight with his wife, related an

experience of his to me. "It is a most astonishing experience," he said.

"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." Several other devotees

in the Ashram and in the town later told me that they too had seen the

tell-tale meteor.

 

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In Bhagavan's grace,

 

ramasamy