Swami Vishnu-devanadna's AntimaYatra (Final Pilgrimage)

Article by Swami Karthikeyananda:Om Namo Narayanaya Dasohnm TavakeshavaOm Dum Durgayai NamahaOm Hrim l\{ahalakshmyai NamahaOm Aim Saraswatyai SwahaOm Namo Bhagavathe SivanandayaOm Namo Bhagavathe Vishnu devanandayaSri Raama Raama Raameti Rame Raame l!(anorameSahasranaama TatfuIyam Raama Naema YaraananeAs th-e summer programs started to wind down,Swamiii started to prepare to go to India; often h6would say that he wanted to spend his h3t days inIldia, in Uttar Kashi, and leave his body iri theGanga. The impulse to go was very stronel and bvthe end of theATTC tickets were teirtatively Uookeifor the middle of September. Plans'were first madeto g^o in Algrrstitself,-b-ut Swamdi decided to delayas Swami Chidanandaji confrmed he would bbvi siting S wami- ji. at the Camp on Sept. 1 5th. S wamij i' sphysical cg.nditign was no-ticeably deteriorating tothose working closely with him.Howev.er, bookings were repeatedly changed, asSwamiji -was 31_so focussing his eriergiesln'theconstruction of the. Subramanya/Ayyappa temple atJhe Qa14p, ("Illl gq to India oirce the temple is Uuittbut finish it quickly so I can go fast') Workhad notstarted and there were many setbacks and delays.Finally,. through Qrace, an architept designed'anappro_priate plan with grgat devotion. Then, at theconclusion of a very rapidly called-EBMmeeti:rg,(called inmid Oct.) iiwamiji with finalitysaid that he was going to go to India. It seemed tha:the had to wait until he felt that all the senior staffrealised the grqqt irypqrtance of thi t"rpt., *a ttr"itenqrgy was _behind_this project. At this?neeting, theTrhi!*J, Usha Dhir *as-presenr wirh tfre ftlans._Sryan1iji leverently touched- each page to his'head;a finalpuja was offered at the temile-site before th6different board members departed.Tickets were confirmed for 2 days time (22nd) toILondon. Many long-time students of Swamiji's,some who had not seen Swamiji for many manyyeqrs, had been turning up to visit in the several daysbefore departure. Some reminisced about the earlydays at the Camp and Montreal center. John andMarilyn Rossner, Rose Rosenstone, Monique Boulet,'Pr,e,nra, Jaya and others would visit, some frequently.Some tried to dissuade Swamiji fromtravelling, but he was very firm.Swamijihad also done something unprecedent€d, ingoing to the private homes of some-of these devotees,forworship and firnd-raising forthe temple. Aswell he went to the Toronto center for an eveningprogram with puja, for firnd-raising, on Oct L?th.Everywhere he would tellpeople that he was going{o India, to Uttarlftshi, and ifMother allows, wouldleave his body in the Ganga.,The day of departure came, Accompanying S wamijion this trip were to be Swami Ikrtikeyananda,Swami Atmaramananda, Prahlad and Gayatri.Throughout the day preparations for the trip werefinalised, while Swamiji went through the mail,attended to visitors etc. Former staff Sarada, whohad been an early secretary to Swamiji many yearsago, camein the midday and stayed throughout theafternoon, reading all the reports, and mail to . .Swamiji; Swamdi applied the vibhuri etc., andapplied to her also, Camp staff came down toSwamiji's house in the early eveninE, and after theusual manffas Swamiji has been in the habit of 'ffreciting before departing from the house, finishingwith the Maha Mrityunjaya mantra, Swamiji andparfy left for the airport....As there was no "c4rry on" chair on the aircraft,Swaniji had to be carried the few yards to the exitdoor. Afterproceeding through the iirport, Swamijiwas met by staff and students of the Delhi center,who conveyed to Swamiii news. On arrival at thecenter, Swamiji was met outside by Uma Sharma aswell as Radhika and other IGthtk students, whoIyere rehearsing for the Maharaas Lila. AlthoughUma w.as hoping Swarniji would stay downstaiis,fwgrniji wantedto go up to stay in the center, sayrnghe "only want(s) to go up"! -Onenews giv-en by staff was notpleasing to Swamiji:a former sAff whom Swamiji had had-to request toleave.after v-e-ry negatiye actions was apparentlyplanning to visit Swamiji thatnight, 10pm; this wassupposed to be a secret from Swamiji and staff.Swarniii spent some time talking to Ddlhi center staffabout the actions of this perion. It seemed thisindividual was blaming certain EBM for his disq.usql; Swam{ii told the staff that it was Swamiji thatdismissed him; that the former staff blames SwamiKartike.yananda etc because he cannot directly blameSwarniji. Swamiji did not want to see him. Whenthis person finally came, he was refused access toSwarniji; but said that he would retum in themorning. When Swamiji, heard, he was visiblyagitated; commenting t@! thery negarive tlpepeopli:qrecp-rying tomorrow. (Herefused to seoliini againthe following day.){q*! dqy Q6fir)Swamiji, deeply exhausted, resteda little. I{e saw some visitors in-the evenin e. ahd thenleft for the Dethi Ayyappa temple w[6re UmaSharma's troupe was pi:ifo-rming th-e Maharaas Lila.He scolded the staff for leaving v-ery late and missingsome.of the -program (obdously upset for thEmusicians and dancers, who weie elpecting hispresence). The staff had not wanted to itisturf trimas he seemed so very tired. Returning to the centerarou-nd l0pm, Swaniijilistened to woitdnews; staffcontinued with packing/unpacking etc for the iest ofthe journey. When Uma Sharma arrived later aftertheperformance, Swamiji told her to take medicinefor her cold!Swamijihad wanted to go to South India first, beforegoing to Uttarl(ashi. (Direct fliehts to Madras fromLondon were booked out for ieveral weeks, andhance.Ltrir qtop in Delhi.) So ar 4.30 am eTth)lygtttji qng group_ left 1!e cenrer, to catch ftighi41404 to Madras. Swamdi and group were aflotledseats in the L2throw, and-Swamiii trid to be carriedby accompanying staff to his seai. He was not well,3n$ ye5y restless throughout the flight. Upon arrivalin Madras, close student of the ceiter, Frema, metSwamiji on theplane. After clearing baggage Swamijiwas met bv staff Sabu Chaitanva and Sunil andSwami Ayyappanandaji; as well Dr Bob Vinetz wasthere with bouquets of flowers. Dr Bob had visitedthe Camp for the first time a few weels ago. Aterening satsang then held in Swamiji's house,Swamiji (first meeting him) invited Bob to go toIndia with him. Bob was very touched by this anddecided to havel to India, even though Swamiji'sfinal dates of travel did not coincide with his ownvacation time. Dr Bob stayed in the Neyyar DamAshram, and staff Sunil'travelled wifti him toMadras, showing him sights en route. Due to leavetomorrow evening back to California,, DrBob toldSwamiji that he had had a wonderful trip and hadbeen treated very well by the staff - like-family.On the drive to Swami Ayyappananda's residence,where Swamiji was to say, Swamiji asked SwamiAyyappanandaji about Anjali (his young granddaughter)- joking - does- she drivb'yef? Is sheguarding my m:Lngoes? etc. He inquired about DrVinq and others, and referred to -his fust trip toMadras, when he was a teenager and joined ttrearmy.Bhargavi (Tapaswini) had just arrived back fromCalcutta theprevious day, not knowing Swamiji wasto arrive, and had readied everydring Tor Swarniji'sstay.I-ater in the afternoon Chitra came to visit Swamiji.There was a lengthy conversation, with Chitraasking many qlestions and Swamiji grving succinctreplies. Seeming in a high state of devotion, at onepoint Swamiji asked Swami l(artikeyananda to tellthe story of Radha's complete identification with herLord (the story of the Charanamritam to stopKrishni's stomich ache). Others came in to ttieroom, and satsang with the usual format withSwamiji (singing ofNama Ramayanam, LingasAkametc). Swam[ii asked Swami Kartikeyananda to relatean incident ttrat happened when Swamiji and partyvisited Guruvayur temple during a previous tip.(On this trip iravelling westeri s6ff wete nbtpermitted into the temple, perhaps due to onetravelling priest that made a great ileal of fuss. SoSwamis Saradananda, Kartikeyananda, andAtmaramanand4ii, and Gayati, sai outside'whileSwamiji went in, mentally focussing on Swamiji andIord Guruvayur. After-some time a beautific oldwoman came out of the temple, ild despite thecrowds came difectly to the party. Saying * tirtham','she offered each the milk from'the doritrio of LordGuruvayur. Then she disappeared, and Sw-amij i justthen came out of a side entrance . when hearing bf theincident, hehad crJLel., sying - you weren't ailowedin to see Krishna, so He sent Radha to you.)-Swa.niii was tak6n outside, where he rested. Ali*Afiiting very little for several weeks, Swam[iibareiy touched his food dl daY.Ca[iire Swami Kartikeya for " news" at 4am the next*ornifie. Swamiii fslened to world news for a;hile. -dv 8.15am he left for the Tamil NaduHoipitrt'+s mins. away for a checkup after thetrav6,[ine. bv Dr G. Abratram - who has treateSwaniii-on ttre last visits to India, and the e4r*""i.tist Dr Krishna Kumat, who puformed ther'"iew otSwamiji's left ear in the sfring. -sytotjiieoiesteC Dr Bob-anaSwami Ayyappanandaji to go"to'ne "lro.At the hospital Swaiiijiwas busy intrgduciieDr Bob to the doctors and initiating theuconJeisation - it seemed Swamiji had gone !o qehosoital specifically to show Dr Bob everything hecouid on his hst.dlay in India, and only.day.Y-1qSwarniii. Swamiji was given a prescnp[on -ror acredn-anddrops, for a minor fungal growth in theears.Rr.tr.vt when Swamiji visits the hospital, he didnot leavL before watering the tree he has named;iapaiwini" (after Bhargivi, whom Swamiji namedTaoaswini aftbr she stated in a cave in Gangotri).ittis tre" was planted driring Swamiji's first visit tothe hosPitalFinattvieavine thehospital, Swamiji wanted to goAiii"tiy to tf,e 'Sanfiar Narayan' Institute ofMaseniobiology - about an hours drive across town'it uEiog uew hS[, bumpy and dusty, it was su-ggestedthat we stop at the house for a while to rest..Swamilrwould haG none of it - so to the Institute!fnfei Uv n Ohabai, Dr Sankar Narayan and Dr SaradaSuUrainaniam, Swamiji made sure a full tour of theInstitute was made, ahd ttrat Dr Bob was given arunning'commentarYBack at the house, Swamiji rested for a while afterthJshower, but was not l:eeling so well and in theevenine took tvlenol for a headache. Periodically hewould isk the staff how was DrBob - did he eat? etc.ioni s*utni and devotees came to see Swamiji for afew minutes. Swamiji, as usual, retired on a cotouisiOe for the night, where he-would keep Prahladand Swami Atmaramanandaji busY.Next morning Q9th, Swamijiagain took medicinefor a headadhe. P6tti swami was conducting ahomam at the Madras center, so Swamiji went thereabout 6:30am. After the conclusion he returned to-tttJ trout. around 8:15am, where he read the fa:cesttrit nuA arrived from Camp regarding the temple,ila from South Rmeiicd wh-ere SwamiS*uoopunandaji was on lecture tour, and heardtelephone reports etc as usual-Swimiii wai uncomfortable and a little dizzy, butcontinied to listen to news. Later in the afternoon helistened as DeviBhagavatam was read - oftenin thelast manv weels. wh-ether day or night, staff wouldtoAftoit pevi bhagavatam. Radhabai visited andintroduced Shailia. saung she would like to becomeoermanent staff in theAsf,ram (NeyyarDam). After-moreDevi Bhagavatam, Swamiii *-nt for a (wheelchair)*qrelk" around the block.Chitrhvisited in theearly evening, and continued toread to Swamiii for a while, befoie Swamiji led intoiconversatioir with her, going right to the hi:art ofa matter that had Oeerilv roubled her. Swamijieventually finished thdcbnversation by.asting tocontinue fo read Devi Bhagavatam. Swamiji listenedto reports ofphone calls. Ee-had by ttris time almostsffieO eatiig, and was being prbplteg t9 d{a$tfhiinigtrt thei6 was a storm. Sbmetimes in the niqlthe wouid have Pratrlad or Swami Atma make callsalso. Asusualinthenight, this timearound 1am, hecalled Swami Kartikeyananda for news.g0th - Swamiji was a little wak; he ate very titttt utthe late mornirg, only after greatpersuasion. SwamiMatradevanandaji arrived ioon-after, having justarrived from Cairada after theEBM meeting, stop'ping over en route to Trivandrumi some studentsof-the"centercame with him. Swamiji asked him fornews, and afterbeing given th9 reports, Swarniji toldhim lie wanted to glve Swami Ayyappananda someChocolates, since- it was his-6irthday. SwamiMahadevariandaji pulled somg puropean chocolatesout of his suircis-e - he had been-given them inLondon - and handed them to Swamiji, who gavethem to Swami Ayyappanandaji, who promptlystarted to disEibute some to those present.Swamiji's body was paining and restlqss, so he wasatterna,:tety sitting an4 lylng down with- great frequencyfrjr a wtrile, tivehtGlly settling in a sittingricsitiSn with num6rous cushions supporting himwtrite Gavafri read to him the news. In the eveningSwamiji'fuas still not willing to eat, eating very littlesnacks-after much coaxing.Meanwhile staff were piiking up tickets for theflight to Mangalore orf the 1st Nov. At 6:20pmS#amiii left t6 attend the satsang arranged at thgMadris center, arriving just as SwamiMahadevanand4ii-wasfinishing- the -(aily chants,and then beean io speak about Swamiji. There wasno electriciE, - it hdd just gone out before Swamijiand partv arfived - and ttreie was heavy rain. At theconciusion of his talk, Swami MahadevanandajiasrcA Swamiji to say a few words. fust before, theelectricity came back on.Swamiji iaiA - I'm going to Uttar Kashi. I want to leave my body on the Ganges bank. Mother Gangeswill take me I hope.Following SwamiJi's few words Saumya, a beautifulclassical singer and student ofthe center, sA4g fo!several minutes. Afterwards she prostrated, &dSwarniji invited her, as he had so many peoplerecenfiy, to come to Uttar Kashi. Otleq giftedsingels followed on theprogram, which finished asusu-al with arati and distribution of prasad. Somepeople came to receive blessings from Swamiji - hetouched them on the head.Then - back down the stairs, and back to SwamiAyyappanandaj i' s residence.Onb rnbre day was spent in Madras; bags etc wereorganised for the trip tomorrow. Then on the 1 st NovPrahlad and Sabu, who was also accompanyingSwamiji to Mookambika, went ahead to theairportwith the luggage. Swamiji and the rest of the groupleft about 61 30 am, after arati. As usual S wamij i wasparticular to ensure that incense was waved to theGanesha murthi outside, which Swamiji had installedduring Sivaratri, 1985. On the drive to theairport staff in the car sang the Jaya Ganesha dailychants. Prema met Swamiji at the airport andescorted him to the plane. Swamiji sat (and lay) inrow 2,between Swami Atnaramanandaji and Prihlad- Swamiji was weak, and travelled mostly lytngdown, as usual with his head on oneperson and legson the other. After a slight delay and the ll?hourstop over in Bangalore, the flight landed in Mangalorearound 9:45 am. Swami Hariomananda was there tomeet Swamdi. Bags were collected, then people andluggage were loaded on the Neyyar Dam Ashramvan, fitted out with a wooden cot for Swamiji. Whenasked if he wanted to rest in Mangalore, or godirectly to Kollur (town of the Mookambika temple,about4-5 hours drive), Swamiji told that we shouldproceed'snaight.-Itwas a hot drive.:As usual when travelling in lndiawith Swamiji, staff chanted for several hours in thevan en route. Swamiji was very frd, and unusuallyquiet.Upon arrival, Swamiji and staff stayed at theRamakrishna mission Ashram there. This Ashram islocated on the road down to the holy Sowparnikariver, and was started by Swami Acharya Thirta,whose 4th year after Matrasamadhi was being celebratedthe next day.Swamiji went to 5ed immediately, and seemedcompletely exhausted - and hot. Staff were allexhausted - some went to eat, others were too tired.Swamiji would not eat. Efforts were made to keephim drinking. Finally all went to bed, leavingS wami Atmaramandaj i and Prahlad as usual on nightduty attending Swamiji.Around 2arn Swami Kartikeyananda got up veryworried about Swamiji's condition. Going into hisroom, she asked if Swamlii had been drinking at allduring the night. He had not. Swamiji's_body wasburning hot and he was shaking with fever. Shestarted applying cold compresses, and gave coconutwater to?rii*. ft was clear Swamiji was very sick,so iurangements were made to take him fast to ahospital - Swamiji agreed to go, The van wasreaiiied, laundry collected off the lines and everythingloaded; Ashramites paid their respects, and,still-dark, Swamiji was lifted into the van. I{e washardly able to open his eyes. Some local villagersand sidhus on ttieir way fbr early morning worshipand dip in the rivet, stopped to watch.As usual, chanting was done in the van. The nextmqior town was Kundurapura, and from there thegroup stopped so thatPratrlad could callDrAbrahamat his home in Madras, to obtain from him ttre nameof a doctor he could recommend us to contact at theManipal hospital, located just out of Udupi. DrAbraham recommended- Dr Unni, head ofNephrology Dept at the hospital.The journey continued - about 3 hours in all -Swuniji was very quiet and very feverish.Upon Cnival at the-Iftsturba lvftdical College -thatis the name of the large hospital teaching college inManipal, it was evident that admission would takesorne time. Inside the van was very hot, so an airconditioned room in the hotel opposite was quicklyacquired, and Swamiji wasplaced on thebed whileprahtad went back to the hoqpital to mafte all thearrangements. Swamiii was taken to the hospital - bynow i[ was midday, as the doctor was able to see him.Dr Unni was out of station, but his assistant DrSatyanarayan saw Swamiji. Septacemia was suspot0. Sdcuring a room in the hoqpital would stilltake a little time-, so Swamiji was tdcen back to thehotel room for a short while before final adminance.A private room had been arranged in ward N2.SwamiSi wanted to go immediately to ttre hospttal.Treatment started; Swamiji was put on an IV drip -it was very difficult to access a vein. Antibioticswere also administered. (As usual there were alwaysat least.2 staff round the clock with Swarniji.)Swamiji was very feverish, and during ttre night hisblood pressure was very unstable, and dropped verylow. He had involuntary movements of the eyes.The doctor on night dutychecked Swamijiacoupleof times. By now the IV was no longer working- asthe vein was now no good and no other accessibleveins were found.On the 3rd (the next day) Swamijis blood.pressurer"*"in O ldw; Swamij-i was- cognisant-bgl ve.{.yil;[H; washrintingalot - but losing fluids wittt;ir-lil. ;hictr recuri-ed throughout the night andilid". Swamiji made an effort to eat on the 4th-ihti "iil"to soine kongee (soupy tio) : but toof<verv little. Up to now, satsangs were hero -quleuy"ri,ionto*i"i and evening, wiih arati etc at the altar;;;;ilidroom. Pho-n-e calls continued to be;ridrd: uut s*utiji was too wealS to take the*iir"gti, although he listened to Devi Bhagavatam6-;6g ieab ror so-me time in the morning'After uking some kongeewater around 2pm' $qmljivomited. By now his B.P. was constanuy .lo11Swarniii cotild not sit up as he would pqss out; therewas soine involuntary moaning. Diarrhea was pe-r-.irtiot. The nurse ri'as calleii. several times; sheinforfreO Swamiji's staff that the doctor was comins^Dr Sawanaravan came with Dr Unni (out ofit:ti"n until'today). Rfter-chec-kingSwamiji, Drb""i ;41"d Swarni Kartikeyananda andiatiotnananOa out, and informed them Swamiji wasi^nf. nu"Erw ietious condition. They replied that they 'rtr"iifttnfJ"tt*.a rSdt1avf,f were happy-the-doctor talkedhis manirti and ability seenpd;GTlent and ali were very comfortable with Driinni in Ch-ee. Preliminarydiagnosis was probableseotacemia 6tooO infection), the primary source asvel not known, although lung infection orposslbleberitonitis were at fust suspected.b;-Ut"i had Swamiji transferred immediately totntensiive Care, wher? avein was accessed and new'rJimentt starteO immediately; Swamiji's- B'P'seemed to improve slightly for a while. Staff wereiotJilit i] tti itauitisea-ne iould be transferred backio-itt" orivate room, so all could be there - but thatnt uitiitots *"t" atto-weC in fntensive Care' However*ni" S*iniKartikeyananda had to go in later theodl,iot it ttt*ge in iniensivg-Fry @llyo$ noticedhow she undeistood Swamiji's hand gestures etc''and seemed to understand the need for someone tortrn *itt t itn. From then on there was always at leaston6 staff in attendance (except rarely during certatnmedical Drocedures when the medical personnelrequired Staff to leave).Meantime communication was being ryq$ntdiiequentty wittr Headquarters, London, Munich etc,ni"itte frtnuent upda:tes of news. Swamiji's b'p';ffifu m&e stabie due to the medicines; -SyaTtji-was still aware though very weak; he complained otsorebackand neckOe was notallowed to bemoveoas his b.p. would be affected); face was veryilithii;iub"*"t inserted thr6ugh the nose, and02 mask).More calls were made to EBM. Pratrlad and Swamietran"ma"andaji as usual took night shift, alter-;d"s one in tlie waiting room'-and 9'19 yithS*"niiii. Throughout tht night Swamlii's b'p'seemed more stable.itrr:3*"ri:i inai"ut a often that his stomach wastt".tinn UiOtv. entaciOs were administered periodiottv5v tulie; kungee liquid was also tube fed'rtto'ortin"w weat,-swamiji did seem a little betterttta" fr" preiious dhy. His-bqckwas paining badly,but he wis not in uiy condition to qlt up.Swami HariOmananda, Swami Kartikeyananda anclC"v"tti .ttt*ated in attending to Swamiji, andafi;nding to phone calls etc.S*a*Ui*as turned to his side for a while - for ther*t ti"ii. if tu-eO out -and fell asleep for mush ofttt" "ft#;n, the first time in along while. D--ufi{tga iaie evenini visit, the doctor informd staff theymav tate-S*imiii off the antibiotics tomorrow, andif S'*"*iii is doing better, they would move him toh-Sis- *ro..oiimi .*iui very alert by 3am; every time the unitort*J"*te. or iioor bvizs went, S-wamiji wog$ft-"ite - rftio is it? At around 5am he called Prahladrni told him - I want to go for a drive.(!)Swamiji's b.p. plummetei around 6.30am; SwamiAtma'&as seirt out as emergency treatment wasni"en. The level of dopamine was'increased, Iegsfrred etc. The sourcb of infection causing thesepAcemia was still not known, nor would it ever bedetermined.S*a.iii spoke for probably the last time this morni"g, dttG underfoing a (traumatic) change ofarliring on his arin - i"yind - I wanlto sit up (ofcourselhis was not perniitted); Ram Ram, etc.fhe medical saff insi-sted Swamij i' s beard be shaven'in case of necessary treatment, *hich was donelaterin tttJ*o*ing. lLere was something remarkableron : s*tti:i;s face looked 91act1.y as-it had beforehe;"* up shavine! We had'expebted it would besmiller, ai tre traO tost weight erc. The intensepowerof his cbncentration, and total serenity' peaqg' $'-asverv clearly reflecied on the face - despite thesuffering of the physical bodY.S*"toiii;t U.p. twrit was not inaintaining- andveryuoJt*ie. rfe naO a temperaturc of 39.7C, an{ ryetto*JJ*oe placed. Sriami3i's breathing had alsobecome verylabored. Though-he was.very cgn;scious all aftLrnoon, it seemed all his bodily energieswere used just to maintain the basic bodUy frlntdPttl:He did noieven mention the pain in his bac-k, -w-hich ;* Act"tiating throughoul. (Swamiji hqd. lgqestanding back injuries from the 1976 car accident rnSpuin.ffoi several days it had almost not beenpossibte to change position ; even_a-_neck pillow wasnot allowed due to the b.p. instability.Swarniji was administered a blood transfusion toraise tfie b.p. It went up to about 108, but after awhile contiirued to slowly fall. I-ater in the nightSwarniji seemed morereldxed, with his eyesclosed,althouih later he again had eyes open - lookingexhausted in the extreme - his breathing was verylabored. The b.p. wim now being sustained by 2drugs.In theevening morephone calls were 41de; oY.glseas and Indiin staff-were informed of Swamiji'scritical condition, and that he may or may notsurvive the night.'Centers were doing repetition ofMahaMrityunjaya mantra and Om Namo Narayanayachanting.Meanwhib, Swami Ayyappanandaji, who had arrivedfrom Madras iii thE midday, &d SwamiHariOmanandalii had gone in thd aftemoon to Kollur,to visit Mookarirbitca temple.They did a special pujathere for Swamiji, and upon their return around11.30pm, kunkumprasad was applied to Swamiji'sforehead.(Swarni Kartikeyananda always travelled with someGanga water from Gomuk; a iittle was carefu4ypu!on S-wamiji's mouth etc on a corrple of oqcasiqtls.)7th - Swarirdi's body was still witli us! His breathingwas labored but reluhr; eyes closed. B.p at fus-tbeing maintained In thb 80s and 90s b-y the 2intravenously administered medicationsr !u!_grosressivelvfailine and often in the 50s and 60s. Whenbr lvothi camein she was verv concerned with thebrea[hing; in fact she had expected that Swamiiiwould hive left the body by now. By mid-day theydid what she had hoped they wouldn't have !o do ($she knew he wouldri' t comr! off it) ; they put Swamijion a ventilator. The pain and diffrculty associatedwith the breathing seemed eased.Whenever Swamiji's b.p. dropped loo low furthermedication was administered. Temperature by nowwas progressively dropping; it was quite belownormal.Phone calls continued; Swami Chidanandaji waskeeping regular contact via a devotee in Malaysia,where he presently was.8th - Swaririji seerired semi-conscious for a while inthe morning, but by aternoon was unconscious. firedoctors wo[id probably normally have disconnectedeverything by^now, but since iiwas Swamiji, theywouid not: and requested staff not to even askthemto do so.It is difficult to explain in words perhaps, butthroughout the stay in hospital despite the physicalsuffering there remained a very strong peacetulenersv around Swamiii.gvli6afternoonit see-med Swamiji had already leftde UoaV: there didn't seem-any-pfunain-it,-and hiseves hai no movement at all wlien touched. Howiiir,ttre machine indicated that the B.p was $ll.lnthe iOs to 70s, and the lungs kept moving with theventilator.The usual phone calls were made-in the evening;centers wer? stillchanting; Swami Saradananda wasin nombay en routE--to -Man-ipal; SwamiMatradevaniinda would arrive from Madras tomorrow;Swamis Durgananda and Sankarananda wereflvirie to Delhi onWednesday (10ttr) ; SantKesavadasatiO f,amaMataji werealsotryingto come. SwamiChidanandaji wbuld be arriving in Madras tomorrownight.9th - it seemed there was no prana in the-body;although after an inj ection to push the b. p up his eyesflickered.One of the doctors said the obvious - that he was notbreathing by himself, and there was- no real heartbeat -oniy the medicines were showing somethingon the machine.The doctors all agreed - he is gone. When Qemedications ran out no refills were given. Todisconnect everything however, they waitedJot mghead of dept.- to -come. Meanwhile, SwamiSaradanandiji arrived around 9.am. SwamiMahadevanandaji arrived at 11.30am, and wassitting next to Sri,amiii's body when everything wasdisconnected. Ganga water was applied.Latct, as SwamiAimaand Pratrlail moled th9 bolVgently on to a trolley, the nurse told $em slowly,itowly; careful. Eveij'one was very quietaround thebody. .tt shouid be mentioned that the hospital persohel thatattended Swamiji were excdlent, 3nd g-ave Swamijithe proper care in a very reqpectful manner.ONINAMO NARAYANAYANow arrangements were made for the transportationof the Uodi; all EBM agreed that Swamiji wogldwant the body mken to Uttar IGshi, to be placed inthe Ganga. pratrtaO and Swami Atmaraman*qjimade ali arrangements for the transportation, obtainingdeath certifrcate, police clearance, -Fo!Pdures-at the mortuary' making of casket for thetransporation of the bo6y, settling bills etc. DrUnniwas of considerable assistance. Arrangements weremade with the airlines for the casket to go in cargoon the flight to Delhi (via Bombay);7 tickets foraccompanying staff were purchased-S*urngi's poisessions weie moved from the hospiGiiiriitiont. Swamis Saradanandaji,il,r"riidJt-*aaj i and Hariomar-randaji left around5;;i;;MootuiA at".ogements made for a Chandika Homam ontt" fe*, iiay; th"y returned at 11.30pm'nieanwhile'the phone was continuously in operation,and reporte?s from the Malayalam newspapen-sCho^uwtoi d uP.S^itot and Lalitha, after travelling all dayfrornPalehat, arrived around llpm; everyone wasstavirs tf,at night in the hotel. Swami GmsanandaJi6 afrvea aitt.lo pm from Trivandrum'Umasharma convey& by phone a-dream than herniecE nuanika had that mbrning, of Swamiji -blgss;i;;-hr;. Sti Ninus* also reported many people haddiEirns/visions of Swamiji-around this time'ibih - $umi Chidananaiaii phoned from Madras,unAtonu.tted for some tinie frith Pratrlad, detailingil; to ao the lal Samadhi (when Swamiji's body isotaceO in the waters of the Ganga). IIe was con- ";;a if there would be a placeieep-enough neari;il;hd in Neytala (8 ktn up from Uttar Kashi)'ii""ftJe"nekind instructioni ttrat centers aroundthe world could follow.ntru,elmeots were finalised at the mortuary; Ialithahelpef,staff move the body into ttre casket''iil5-Canani- Consulate ivas called, to inform ofSwirniii's departure from the physical bod-y.iii" ttoipit"t ind hotet are on an eievation; from the*inAo*-t oie can lookacross theplains. AboutlevelanO iust below the buildings a great many e4eteqwerd always soaring, or perching in 4e tree-s' GaunSank t pointeo thii'out-in the moming; Garuda'sielativei were present in this location.Just after l.0am, the body, in a rented ambulance,lnO rtuffin the Ashram van left on the 2 hour drivetr th. .itp"rt; chanting was as usual done all the*.v.-pofitadiook carJof all arrangements for thecaiGidt; in the cargo; every-one was checked in'Departurdfor BombaY waP 1-2Qm.^.fnE castet was transfbrred onto the flight goin-g toDelhi, which left at 5pm. Joining-tlre.other ravellersin---g6mUav was h'ajappan-Nair (Swamiji'spoorvastrram cousin) and fis wife Valsalya' It yqs^evidentttrat newqpaper reports were already pnnrcs'Ttrere had been a confusion in arrangemenn maoei" biltti *a thete *as some delay at tfie airport untili-t"nttO"*Uulancevan arriveil, to transport theUoav. n mini bus was there for all staff and others;;itid 6 Uff- Kashi. Potti Swami anived shortlyifter-from Trivandrum.5ti'i*i Ayyappanand{1(wlrg had returnqd tq Yl:;;;; *,e tnl and-Di vina also anived' Allboarded the minibus and both vehicles went to theDelhi center, aniving about 9pm, -- fttJott"t was takenbut and carefullyplaced in theUtnt ao*stairs room, in Uma Sharma's danceilfular;. Swamiji and attending staff ha{ stayedit tfris room on som-e previous visits to Delhi. It wasUeautin Uv arranged^with large pictures of Masterand Swaririji. Tlie energy it ttg- room was very**"tntt. Tima Sharmaf Vinay Bharat Ram and afew otfrers paiO their repdcts. Pdtti Swami and othersl;i;isit.- wttite staif attended to phone q$s,;ffd-;d p"Ctine of Swamiji's things etc' Hadffara tttaitinya (ilho has conducled^Bhag.qyalaSaptaham on a nurirber of occasions for Swamiji' tnNdwar Oam. UttarlGshi and Gangotri), arrd Sryamilu?i"na"Oi (non-staf|, also coming fromTrivlndrum, arrived at the center.$"mi Sanllaranandaji and Swami Durganandaji(Munich) wereboth drie to arriveinDelhiat 1.30aminow ttt6 l1th Nov); Sant Kesavadas' flight wasdehved. T'tre 2 sdamis arrived at the center atj.fda*; Swami Sankarananda led others in-J-ayaC-anestri ctrants downstairs around the casket' [Ut3was also there). Sant Kesavadas and Rama Matalift"a U* anineh at the airport; Swami KrishnanandaG;;d"t there with dnottier cqr for ttrgrn (thgirbaeHs"wit lost); they would be brought to. thecefiEianO Devi l{am would accompany them 1oUtar X"stti. The casket was carefully placed back intftJ atnUutan e van. By 4am all bags were loaded onttti *iniUus; all boarddi and after Om Tryarnbahms'deoarted foi the trip to Uttar IGshi.ffie-vJhictes soed foward Rishikesh, stopping onlyfor road tolls^and petrol.Sant Kesavadas and co'oushiuo with the 6thervehicles en route. As they*JEidfostomed to when travelling with Swamiji'**L taff"n "t"0Om Namo Narayanaya for-muchof the trip to Rishikesh - but due to throatproblemshad almost no voices.ii" tO. ti"rn the vehicles pulled into ttre SivanandaAihd i" Rishikesh. So-me swamijis were on theilA to guiAe the vehicles down towards lvfaster'shrE ;d'td Ganga. A crowd of people were waitingi" tft"-sttt"t. fte-castet was tak6n out of thevan and;i*.d A tmatestrift taUle; it was opened' Garlands -*"te oii"t"o and light and incense-were.waved by."niois*"*iiis ofihe Ashram, direct disciples ofr"r"tiiisi"-i"da. Swami Krislinanandaji, -Gt{tgtlSecretary, gave a short, pithy speecn, emphasising[ow S*ffi:i always did- evrJry-project in the nqme;i th" M*te.. Iiow Swa*ji *ry a completei"n*ii"t", o*ning nothing; 6t". (qJk transcribedseoarateivl. follo*ing ttris, S{vami AdhyaEnanun4aiirdd out |'taxeamessage from Swami Chidanancla;t(also given separately).The casket was closed and refurned to the van, andby 1lam the vehicles departed, now with another 2cars of Swamijis from the D.L.S. The Ashram hadkindly arranged snaclcs, so en route all stopped andpafiook of uppma and tea.Back on the road, the vehicles were speedingtowards Uttar Kashi. Finally,as it was alreadystarting to get dark, Uttar Kashi was reached. Aquick stop to check on Swami Chaitanyanandaji - buthe had already gone on to the Ashram, Neytala.Onward, reaching the Ashram around 5pm at dusk.A jeep had alsojust arrived, and was unloading a bigwooden slatted box. This hadbeen madefor Swamiji'sbody. Many of the sadhus gathered there carried thebox to the Ganga, at the spot near the Ashram wherethe Ganga is always very deep, and set it down onthe rocky outgrowtl there.Meanwhile the casket was unloaded and set on a bedframe in the central room of the Ashram's newlyconstructed la*ir; it was opened. Swamiji's facelooked perfectly relaxed and peaceful, as it had evenwhen thebody wasundergoing such sufferingin thehospital. Sadhus filed past, paylng their respects.Thebox was thenclosedand quickly carried by staffand others over the rocls to the large rocls juttingout on the Ganga bank.Swarniji's body was taken out of the'casket, andupper clothing removed. Potti Swami was directingthepuja; milkwas offered on the bodyby Swamiji'sgurubhais and disciples, as well as many others.Finally Swamiji's body, in new cloths was lift"i intothe large box; flowers were put in and then roclswere carefully placed around. Many senior swamijis,both from Uttff Kashi and from D.L.S. Rishikesh,were assisting throughout. Sadhus and villagerswere crammed on the iocks; many were chanting.The box was nailed down. Therb with the.help of2long bamboo poles and much sounds - Om NamoNarayanaya was being chanted - the box was edgedover the rocks and rolled down into the Ganga. Thehead end of the box rose up - and then the whole boxdisappeared.OM NAMO NARAYANAYAThere was apowerfirl feeling that - Swamiji is verypleased - this, the final wish for his body wasfulfilled.Sadhus and visitors disappeared quickly into thenight. Sant Kesavadas spoke for a while aboutSwarniji backin the kutir before he also left, for hisashram. IIe spoke of the absolute renunciation ofSwamiji, as shown even in the way he went. HowSwamiji never used to show interest in being lecfuredto, but when it came to Hari IGtha, he wasalways ready.The D. t. S Swamiji' s were returning the next morningto Rishikesh, and departed to Kailash ashram.Arrangements for the stay of some of the party thathad fiavelled from Delhi- were also made at KailasAshram; Swamiji's assistants and senior staff wereall staying at the Neytala Ashram itself. By next daymost of those who had journeyed up to Uttar IGshihad left.On the 25th of November the Shodashi puja hadbeen arranged. This is done on the 16th day after thepassing of a great Mahatma. The worship wasarrang-ed at the-I(ailash Ashram; 16 senior Swamijiswere invited for the special puja. A11 other sadhuswere invited for the general bandara, as werevillagers from Neytala area. Swami Umananandaji,in charge of IQilash Ashram, had made all anangementswith consultations with S wami Krishnanandaji(Neytata Ashram director). After staff made finalpreparations, they proceeded to the Kailash Ashramtemple, where worship was made and offeringsgivt?il 1i set of gifts as olf *tose to be given to the [6Mahatmas). Tlien proceeding to the room set asidefor the worship of-the 16 Mahatmas, staff (SwamiKartikeyanil&, Swami Krishnandaji from NeytalaAshram and Swami Krishnanandaji, director.ofDelhi center, who had arrived thepreceeding night)inspected the offerings laid out next to each place.There were wooden sandals, cloth, mat, walkingstick, umbrella, loti, tali and cup (the tali - plate -was engftNed lightly with Swamiji's name and dateof Matrasamadhi), nrdralaha mala and Gita.The Mahatmas entered - Swamis Chaitanyanandaji,Premanandaji, Sankaranandaji, Umanandaji,Ganganandaji etc. When all were seated SwamiKrishnanandaji applied the vibhuti, sandalpaste etc,and. offered flower on the head of each. SwamiKartikeyananda then offered the dakshina and prostratedto each mahatma. Swamiji's loving presencethat was felt then was overwel-ming. Gayatri alsopersonally gave offerings to each Matratma. (Sheand Swami- Kartikeyaranda had stayed back inNeytala specifically for the 16th day worship.) Thento the main dining hall, where all other Mahatmas -100 or so, were to be served. Dalshina was given toeach, as well as a tali and cup. Some villagers werealso attending the bandara.Then those who come for bhilsha but do not stay,were serrred, receiving dakshina.Next more villagersas well as Kailas ashram staff were served andgiven offerings; Swamiji's disciples also ate now.Throughout, Swamiji' s presence was trernendously felt. Another st€p had been concluded.A;tirs-and Aifiranrs" throsgl-rout' the' wdd' ##-S.,,#"s,*ffi f"?$lff '#?frt,'.'ffiijilot Hd'sodfoy Rishibsh trlao atso arranged abandara and worstrip of 16 Mahatmm-'ffiit-n tti-ett ram^in Neytala, drat aftemoon staff;ffi10s b"tr oot oruuria jafu streets, ald in theJr*i"g n* wcre lit and ifacd in the Ganga;Ganga-arati was done..iOM TAT SATSwanriKartilceYanandaOmTrarucription of the speech Swami lftishnanandqii, General Secretary of the Divine Life Society,made in Rishikesh llth Nov. (taken from videotape):OmWe all offer our prayers to the Almighty Lord to bless the soul knowa as Swami VishnudevanandajiMaharaj, who lived his life throughout for Sri Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj.Sri Gurudev was the all-in-all for him, and he 0ook His name only , in every project he undertook. 'TheMasger said" - he would say, whenever he commenced speaking anywhere. The great Masier was thebyword of his projects of every kind, and his heart and soul was in sri Gurudev.He was very insistent that the principles of Sri Gurudev's universality should prevail eve4rwhere, and hewas averse.to any kind of interference by people with this universal concept of equality and inhoductionof the teachings of Sri Gurudev.He lived a good life, and ideal life, an exemplary life, a spiritual life, an rmattached life. He possessednothing personally; he had no property; he lived life like a real sannyasin and fakir.Though he did so much work and his name is known throughout the wodd, he orvned nothing forhimself. And he goes as he came, as an example to all seekers of Reality, seekers of God, and devoteesof Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj.On these holy banks of Mother Ganga, now his mortal rernains get consecrated by the prayers and thedevotions and the regards ofall the people gathered here, physically, visibly, and all those who are notphysically here. The whole ashram has been thinking of him, listening to news about his condition, andnow the whole ashram, Sivananda Ashram, the Divine Life Society, is here with folded hands to theAlmighty Lord, with the prayer that this soul be taken to the abode of the great Eternal Being, for hissalvation.We all conclude our holy prayer at this auspicious momeot.oM.(please apologize for mistakes due to automatic character recognition of a scanned document)

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Sukadev Bretz January 26, 2010 at 10:41am

Anybody is welcome to correct any spelling mistake and add the correct transcription here as a comment. Thank you.

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