VISIT TODAY SARADA

BANERSHAR SHIVA LINGA

Sri Sarada Devi

Thought for the Week

Consistently, just before going to bed, the Master would state, " Hari Om Tat Sat [Verily the Lord is the main Reality]. " That last night [at Cossipore Garden House] he articulated this as I was fanning him. It was almost eleven o' time during the evening. At that point, he hurled a moan and appeared to go into samadhi. Sibling Loren (Swami Vivekananda) requesting that we serenade "Hari Om Tat Sat." We kept on reciting until one o'clock when the Master descended from samadhi. At that point, he ate a little farina pudding which Sashi (Swami Ramakrishnananda) nourished him. All of a sudden he went into samadhi once more. Seeing this Loren became stressed. He called Gopal dada ( Swami Advaitananda) and requesting that he get Ramlal Dada.

Gopal Dada and I cleared out quickly for Dakshineswar, and Ramlal Dada returned with us. He inspected the Master and stated: "The crown of his head is still warm. If it's not too much trouble call Captain [Vishwanath Upadhyay]."

Not long after that Captain arrived. He requested that we rub the Master's body with ghee. Shashi rubbed his body and Vaikuntha kneaded his feet, however, it was without much of any result. Later that morning Doctor Mahendra [Doctor Mahendralal Sarkar] came to look at the Master and stated, "He has surrendered the body."

Sacred Mother was not able to limit herself. When she went to the Master's room, she cried, "O Mother Kali, what have I done that you have abandoned me?" Seeing the Mother sobbing, Baburam (Swami Premananda) and Yogin [Swami Yogananda] went up to her, and Golap-mama took her to her room.

Meanwhile, the Calcutta aficionados had gotten the news, and in a steady progression, they started to arrive. A photo (really two) was taken of the Master with the fans. At that point it was evening.

The Master's body stayed on a bed, flawlessly improved, until the point when it was conveyed to the incineration ground at Cossipore. Slam Babu instructed me to remain at the garden house until Akshay Babu came back from the incineration ground. So I remained there while the others went. Just once did I hear Holy Mother sobbing. After that she was quiet. Never have I seen a lady with such quality.

That night I went to the incineration ground. I saw numerous individuals sitting unobtrusively on the bank of the Ganga. Shashi was close to the memorial service fire with a fan in his grasp, and Sharat [Swami Saradananda] was with him. Both Sharat and Loren tried to comfort Shashi. I took him by the hand and attempted to lift his spirits a bit, yet he stayed still with sadness. At that point, Shashi gathered the fiery debris and bones of the Master and place them in an urn. He set the urn on his head and conveyed it to the garden house, where it was kept on the Master's bed.

page.96-7, Ramakrishna as we saw Him, Reminiscences of Swami Adbhutananda.