47Ramanamaharishi20120124
Ramanamaharishi47
Sakthi Vikatan 24 Jan, 2012
Revised 2018-06-23
The Universal form of the effulgent Jnana
In mid-April 1949, Dr. Sankar Rao excised a mass in the forearm near the
left elbow.
Bhagavan: This mass does not hurt me. Why should I have it removed? It
looks benign. Heavy pressure on the mass causes pain.
Let it be.
Dr. Sankar Rao opined, “This mass is getting bigger. If left alone, it
will get even bigger. If the surgeon excises it, it won’t get bigger. We
can control it. Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi kept silent.
The devotees, the doctors, and the president Niranjana Sami came to the
president’s office. They chose surgical excision of his mass and
informed Bhagavan on their decision.
Bhagavan accepted their recommendation. His devotees panicked.
A woman devotee: This is not a big deal. Application of the sap from
Ficus religiosa would suffice and will help shrink the mass.
Bhagavan: Yes, it will shrink with the sap. What am I to do? They have
other plans. They are all experienced doctors.
Bhagavan had the tranquility to say, ‘Let what should happen, happen. My
input is none. The surgeon removed the mass and he had a bandage in his
arm. Three months later, another mass above it appeared. The doctors
recommended surgical excision. Some devotees argued that surgery was not
an option.
Treatment with Āyurveda, Homeopathy…came up.
After the second surgical excision of the mass, homeopathic treatment
was the choice. Bhagavan neither regretted the surgical excision nor
wondered about homeopathic treatment. Homeopathic doctor instituted his
treatment after a prayer. He further added Bhagavan himself should do
his own healing.
But the disease did not end in cure. Many argued at length continuation
of Āyurveda and Bhagavan consented.
Kuñju Swāmigaḷ a devotee brought Mūse from Kerala. The Ayurvedic doctor
upset said, “OMG, why was it streaked (operated)? It is like annoying
the cobra.” He treated Bhagavan. The arm was swollen and red with oozing
of blood. It must have given Bhagavan much pain. Not one murmur from
Bhagavan. He tolerated his pain with dignity.
A country doctor applied herbal bandage. The herbs were too strong he
developed shaking of his legs. He was unsteady on his feet. A fear he
may fall was real. He could not walk. These side-effects resulted in the
termination of herbal treatment.
Bhagavan used to pop his head into the kitchen before he went to the
dining hall. Now he washed his hands in the sick bed. This caused a
great deal of anxiety to the devotees. They asked the doctor whether
they can apply Āyurvedic bandage with the sap of the sacred tree. The
country doctor
said in anger, “Do what you want. Don’t ask me those questions. Get a
good doctor and do the right thing.” The devotees did not know how to
help Bhagavan. Bhagavan himself maintained silence giving them a free
hand and kept his fortitude.
Ayurvedic bandages were in place. A new doctor came from Chennai. He
recommended surgical intervention because of fear of hemorrhage. The
devotees removed the Ayurvedic bandage.
A woman devotee said she had masses in her neck and the Ayurvedic
bandage dissolved them in a few days. The doctors performed third
surgical treatment on Bhagavan. They raised the possibility of
amputation of the diseased arm. Shrewd Bhagavan asked the doctor whether
the same mass could appear elsewhere. The doctors could not answer the
question. The prevailing opinion was it could recur and metastasize to
other parts of the body. So, Bhagavan
refused the option for amputation.
Kaviraj Pandit coming from Bengal prescribed expensive medications. He
opined that Bhagavan himself should heal himself and left for home. The
medications caused side effects and so the staff stopped giving the
medicines.
Th mass was getting bigger and bigger every day and looked red. Someone
recommended exposure to sun. The mass shone like an emarlad. Bhagavan
said, “Look at it, it shines like a diamond.” Some people recommended
Sun worship and Mrutyañjaya Japam.
Bhagavan questioned, “Would Japam stop death?” No one had an answer.
“The Japam helps reduce the fear of death but does not stop death, said
Bhagavan.
He supported them, imposing no objections on the devotees.
Yukāthi festival in April 1950. A female devotee gave as is customary a
gift of loincloth and an upper garment. Bhagavan said, “Oh, it must be
Vikruthi year, Ok.” I did invite Yukāthi. He sounded like it was the
beginning of the end. The devotees hearing it were brimming with tears.
The female devotee went near him and cried, “You have cured the diseases
of a multitude of people. Could you not heal your own disease? Could you
get relief from the pain?
Bhagavan pointing an accusative finger chided and calmed her saying,
“Why do you regard me as a body? Knowing me all these years, you are
ignorant of this.”
Day to day, Bhagavan’s body weakened. He fell as he walked. The bandages
were soaking in blood with spilling of blood on the floor. Many came
rushing to help him. He stopped them and got up on his own strength. His
eating became difficult. He could eat only rice water. He had loose
stools and nausea. His digestive ability suffered. The disease and the
medications made him sicker.
The devotees gave medication from Kaviraj Pandit as liquid every four
hours. He became weary of taking medicines again and again. He appeared
to say, “Give it up.” The devotees did not give up. Bhagavan did not
refuse. He went along with what they said. He remained steadfast in
giving Darśan to the visitors. He did this for one and half to two hours every
day from his cot, though he was in a collapsed state. He blessed the
visitors and
looked at them in their eyes.
On April 10th, the Āśram stopped Darśan. He showed no movement in the
bed. His blood pressure was low, a sign of impending death. But Bhagavan
had shallow respirations. He opened his eyes and said something. On
April 13th Darśan resumed. They lined up the people and rushed them
through. They came in droves. When the Āśram officials stopped the
Darśan, Bhagavan ordered them not to stop it. They lined up the visitors
and sent them for Darśan. He saw the visitors, opening his eyes. He
moved his eyes as if he embraced each one. Some devotees, controlling
their anguish and tears, prayed with opposed palms. With the mind
focused on his survival, they supplicated to Bhagavan not to abandon
them. Some devotees in a soft voice offered prayers and said, “Should
you go past all these sufferings, It is alright. Leaving this body, you
remain in all places and in all people.”
Darśan session was over at 7 PM. Bhagavan asked the devotees to seat him
in Padmāsaṉa position. He asked them to remove the oxygen tubes from his
nostrils. Devotees near his mother’s Samadhi Mandapam sang
Bhagavan-authored ‘Atcha Ramana Mālai’. When Bhagavan heard it, he
opened his eyes and shed tears. It was all ‘Atcha Ramana Mālai’ all
along.
Everyone agonized in their mind he was leaving them. They could do
nothing. They could not prevent it. This they thought was his desire and
remained silent as if they were under some external control. There was
no chitchat. Āśramam came to a standstill. There were sounds of
Namasivaya. Some recited Vedas. Some were looking at outer space as if
something possessed them.
They feared the prospect of losing their ever present helpful majestic
Guru. Could it not happen by some miracle? Could Āśramam be again a
place of mirth and laughter? Could we not witness his graceful walk?
Could we not enjoy his individual attention to us anymore? This
happiness will be no more. Everything is coming to an end. They squirmed
under the prospect of his absence. They walked back and forth. Though
fatigued, they continued singing ‘Atcha Ramana Malai’
At 8:45PM, he breathed his last. His body was cooling down.
The devotees
cried, some beating their heads, and some rolling on the floor. Some
sobbed. It was more difficult to lose a Guru than losing a father or
mother. The world went dark; the heart ripped and fell off the chest.
They felt like a calf bereft of its mother.
Who else is there for an individual giving help like a Guru? Who takes
you to a higher mental state, and offers help in this world and the
other? Where will the cows go, on losing the herdsman?” Nowhere. They
seek another herdsman. They cry and emit various sounds. The devotees of
Ramana were trembling in fear at losing Bhagavan.
At 8:45PM in the sky there was a shooting star going north. A shooting
star appeared in the skies of Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu, a
sign of death of a Mahan.
The effulgent Janani’s Āṉma left the body, rose with greater effulgence
and merged with the outer space. This is the Universal form of Bhagavan.
It is the witness that Ramana was not an ordinary earthling.
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