Sunset – including ‘The Last Hours’

This account of Master’s last few days was prepared by the Sat Sandesh staff.

On 20^th August, 1974, the Master gave the last darshan in the physical form – a brief glance from His bed – and on 21^st August at 6.55 p.m. He withdrew all consciousness from His body – never again to be enlivened by His Holy Presence. The Lord gave. The Lord has taken away. He has withdrawn that Supreme Grace – His presence among mankind in the human form. In doing this, His own will and pleasure, may He have Mercy upon us all.

To a careful observer, it would seem that since the Master’s illness in 1971 when He suffered the indignity of an operation upon His person, the already heavy burden He allowed to weigh upon Himself increased to an unimaginable extent. The nature of and reason for that burden may be pondered in our hearts and consciences. Of this we can be sure, that He would not have left this world had it been possible within natural laws to continue the work He had come to accomplish. Those of us who failed somewhere – is there anyone exempt? – should ensure that those failures be changed to successes, even as we learn through our tears the bitter lesson He has taught.

For many months past, the Master’s routine had been one of work and suffering by day and further suffering all through the night – there had seemed to be no end to it. He was asked recently how long He would allow it to continue, and He said,

My suffering will cease in one month.

The date of that question was July 20. It was perhaps one of the most direct indications of His intentions to Ieave, could the right import have been fully understood.

As the Master’s condition grew worse, until it appeared that He was sinking rather than recovering, the doctors recommended extra oxygen, and some of the people attending the Master felt that this and further treatment should be administered from the hospital. With some difficulty they brought the Master’s attention back to the worldly level to ask Him the permission to take Him to the hospital. In a very faint voice He stated that He did not wish to leave the Ashram, but on pressure He finally agreed. However, when all was prepared and the Master had laboured to raise Himself into a sitting position He said,

I have no mind to go.

Scorning the use of a stretcher, He sat in a chair and allowed it to be carried to the waiting car. As He was assisted into the car, tears could be seen in His eyes.

At the Willingdon Public Hospital a wheel-chair was brought, managed by a hospital attendant. As the Master was wheeled across the courtyard toward the entrance, anxious watching eyes from some short distance observed the Master straighten His back to sit regally in the lowly contraption.

When God has decided something, what can man do? The Master reminded us many times –

Man proposes and God disposes.

He soon made it very clear that He had already disposed of any human efforts to effect recovery. Regardless of all the striving of doctors and attendants, the Master chose to leave.

It may be recalled that in June 1971 when the surgeon sought to reduce the Master to a state of unconsciousness by medical means for the purpose of performing the operation, all his attempts failed and the Master explained that it was not possible to force such condition upon Him, and He Himself withdrew from the body by His own will.

Similarly, on 21^st August, 1974, at 6.55 p.m., no attempts by the doctors and others could prevent the course of the Master’s will to leave the body for the final time. Masters come in Their own time, and They leave when they choose to. Whether man hastens or prolongs their decisions may be a point for some deliberation. The Master’s precious, tired, and ever-beautiful physical form was brought back to a lamenting sangat at Sawan Ashram. It was prepared and laid high upon the dais for all to see and to pay their last respects. The chanting of hymns commenced, and continued, to keep the atmosphere reverent and to help the people control their wailing and sobbing. What an unforgettable sight, to witness the form of the Master, seen so often as the every essence of Life itself, lying there bereft of any sign of life or movement, as if in deep samadhi. Indeed an experience to shock the very depths of any sincere heart; to be engraved on the memory for the remainder of one’ existence in this bleak and merciless world. It is yet difficult for some to grasp that His magnificent physical presence is no longer here. The residence in Sawan Ashram seems a strange place – familiar and yet not the same. The rooms, the empty bed, tell their own story.

On the afternoon of 22^nd August the Master’s physical form was taken on a final journey to the new Satsang ground in Pombari Road, about one mile from Sawan Ashram, and there cremated according to the customs of Indian religion. Thousands of mourning Satsangis followed the catafalque in walking procession, and were witness to the ceremonial rites.

There were a number of happenings worth recording during those last days. On the evening of the 19^th for instance, a young Western couple due to return to Canada in a few hours, waited patiently in the Master’s House, hoping for a chance to bid the Master farewell and gain His blessing. At midnight, after four hours of waiting, they were called and told that only a brief glance at the Master would be allowed, as He was very weak and unable to sit up and talk to anyone. They were very obedient and within a few seconds had left the Master’s room, but an attendant happened to mention the name of the couple and the Master sat up and put on His turban. The couple were recalled to His presence, and to their joy He spoke with them and gave them parshad. These young people, Tina and David Kippen, and Edna Shinerock who accompanied them, were the last Westerners to be received by Him in private interview.

On one occasion, during an evening darshan, the Master said to the Western satsangis,

Saints know when to come and when to leave, and They will never let you down.

On another occasion someone asked why He did not heal Himself, and He said,

lf someone you love gave you something, would you refuse it? What would you do? You would accept it gladly.

We are all guilty of giving Him such presents, in our failure to keep His commandments.

During those last weeks, the Master continued to give the blessing of darshan to the visiting Westerners – usually in the evening, and lately on the roof of His house when He was too ill to descend to the ground floor. Various remarks are now remembered which gave direct indication of the event which appeared to come finally without any warning.

He once said,

Just a few weeks now and this sickness will have left me.

One evening, there was no darshan, and the next evening an American girl told the Master,

We felt let down all day because we did not have Your darshan yesterday.

The Master replied,

Yes, that is true, but you should not rely solely upon the physical or outer Master, because the True Master is here (tapping His forehead).

About three weeks before, the Master stopped the official tape recordings of the evening darshans, remarking,

I have said everything now. You have so many bundles of material, why don’t you go through it, for I have not the time.

Many people were told in various ways – in dreams, visions, even verbally, but it was hard for them to realise that the event was soon to take place. Another instance is that of the Master’s old gardener who went crying to a nearby satsangi and told him he had had a terrible vision in which he had seen the Master leaving the world. And just a week or two before the Master left, He again came to him and told him to return to his home and children – a home he had left thirty years previous.

The Master told His children countless times:

Make the best use of your time, for time is running out. … I beg of you, I plead with you, to meditate. … No one before me and no one after me will plead with you and feel the compassion for you us I have done …

Those who have this Great Blessing of being the children of this magnificent Spiritual Benefactor, should remember always that His gift to us is complete.

We have everything within us to take us to the heights from whence He came, and to whence He has returned. Each one of us has a responsibility of three duties. The first duty is to the Master and to that which He commanded us to do. The second duty is to ourselves, for the sake of our own progression. And the third is the duty to each other, that we may help each other to carry out faithfully the first two.

The means of achieving all this is one – remembrance of the Master, through which we may gain His Grace. Without His Grace we cannot succeed. We should guard this precious gift He has given with our very lives. If we lose it, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to regain. We must all become one in strength, in Love for each other, in the confidence of understanding that He has not left us but is even closer to us.

The Master used to warn the disciples of Baba Sawan Singh Ji –

When He Iooks down at you, will He be proud of you and claim you as His disciples? I do not think so!

Whatever we have done, whatever failings we had while our Lord and Master was with us which gave Him great unhappiness and pain, may be considered now as past actions. Now is the opportunity to ensure that the Light He has awakened in each one of us becomes brighter and brighter, seeing which He may be proud of us, and with pleasure claim us as His children.

The Last Hours

With grateful Thanks to one of the Doctors, who was there

On the evening of the 20^th, just after arrival at the Hospital, Master was suffering terribly, His blessed body tossing in the bed. Later He graciously allowed these symptoms to be lifted, and rested in perfect peace. The following morning Bibi Hardevi asked Him if He wanted water.

He said,

This is not the time for water, this is the time for tea.

Tea was at once prepared and offered to Him, but He said ,so sweetly,

No; this is for you people, you take your breakfast –

so at Master’s contrivance, all the attendants, nurses, etc., enjoyed a tea break that morning – the last morning of Master’s earth life.

*****

Bibi Hardevi asked Master if Baba Sawan Singh had come; He replied,

When has He not been here?

Then Bibi asked who would take care of the Sangat after He left; He said,

I am leaving it in His hands.

*****

During the last hours, Master remarked that He would be taking twice us much care of the satsangis from now on.

*****

Just Before He left, His eyes moved back and forth across the room, as though in acknowledgment and greeting. Bibi again asked if Hazur had come, and Master replied,

Everyone has come!

*****

His last known words, in response to a question about His welfare:

Bhot achcha! (very good!)