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Regarding Sri Aurobindo's passing we know now that
He had decided to leave this physical world because, as Mother explained to us
later, it was the only way that the final conquest of Death could be made;
Mother said that Sri Aurobindo had told Her that one of them would have to cross
the barrier and work from the other side - so that death, the greatest obstacle
to the physical transformation, could be finally overcome. Mother offered to be
the one to cross over but Sri Aurobindo said to Her that She had the more
difficult task to perform and must continue to remain, while He would go across
and work from the other side. That is why His presence is constantly felt by all
of us.
-Udar- |
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Because He had taken a decision to leave His body,
He chose to do it in a 'natural' way and allowed His body to be subjected to an
'illness'. I suppose that normally such an illness could have been cured by
suitable treatment but in His case, the illness did not respond at all to any
treatment. Mother had given the doctors full permission to try any medical
treatment they wanted and they tried everything. Dr. Sanyal, Dr. Satyabrata and
Dr. Nirod were all in attendance and they were constantly trying out different
medicines which I had to procure for them at any time of the day or night. This
I was able to do with the assistance of a very mysterious person who had come to
the Ashram at that time and was staying at Golconde. He called himself Dr.
Kaplan - a German. I remember him with gratitude as he was able to get,
somewhere, somehow, all that was asked from him.
- Udar-
In spite of all medical treatment, there was no
improvement in Sri Aurobindo's physical condition and it became worse from day
to day till He came to a state when oxygen had to be administered. I was asked
to arrange for it.
It was not available
in Pondicherry and had to be obtained from Cuddalore. At that time, Pondicherry
being still a French colony, there was some tension between the Indian Union and
the Pondicherry Government. At the frontier, movement was restricted. It was
here that Mr. R.K. Tandon helped us so much. He was the Indian Consul General at
Pondicherry and
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was very helpful to us at this difficult time. He
sent me to Cuddalore in his own car to get the oxygen equipment. When I brought
it, I was shown how to work it also. Hence, when I took it to Sri Aurobindo's
room it was understood that I would be sent for if and when the equipment was
needed.
It was about 10:00 on the
night of 4th December 1950 that I got a call to go to Sri Aurobindo's room to
work the oxygen equipment. I went at once and so I was present throughout the
night, that fateful night when Sri Aurobindo left His physical body, and I was a
witness to His last moments on earth.
Mother said that She would
retire for the short rest of two hours or so that She used to take each night.
She said to Dyuman that She should be called if there was any sudden
deterioration in His condition. He continued to be in a comatose state from
which, I understand, one does not come out as it precedes the final moment of
death.
But at about 1 a.m. Sri
Aurobindo suddenly came out of this condition and asked Nirod the time. Nirod
told Him the time and gave Him a drink, then He went back into His previous
condition, which I then understood to be that of a deep meditation and not a
coma which/ I think, is a state of unconsciousness.
- Udar-
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Then Dr. Sanyal said that it was better to call the
Mother. Dyuman went to Her room and called Her. She came in a few moments and
stood again by the side of Sri Aurobindo's bed. After a while Sri Aurobindo woke
up once more and asked Nirod to give him something to drink. Then He sank back.
At 1:26 a.m. His breathing ceased. Everyone and everything was completely still
and silent. The Mother was like a rock of strength.
- Udar-
At this most grave moment in the history of the
world, She stood erect, unmoved, a tower of peace and fortitude. At that moment
I saw in Her the fullness of Her Divinity and loved and worshipped Her in my
heart to an extent I had never been able to do before.
The Mother then said Sri
Aurobindo had lived so long in the Supramental Consciousness "lat it had come
down into His body and made it shine with a golden light. But She added ^at one
could not be sure how long the light would remain and in case it remained for a
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long time it was necessary to protect the body
against dust and air-borne insects. So She asked me to prepare a large glass
covering to go over the whole body in a way which would not disturb it.
Immediately a man was sent to Madras to get the necessary large sheets of glass
and through Dyuman we arranged for the silver angle strips to join them to form
a cover.
- Udar-
In the meantime we thought it would be good if we
could keep the room temperature low by arranging large blocks of ice round about
with fans to blow over them. We did this without consulting the Mother. As soon
as She saw it, She asked us to remove everything at once: She did not want any
artificial measure to be taken at all. If the body was to remain without
perishing, it would be by His will alone.
Meanwhile the news had
spread in the Ashram and as soon as Sri Aurobindo's body was properly laid out,
people began to come in. All the doors were opened and everyone was free to
enter. It was the morning of 5th December. We were now constantly going to the
Mother for instructions. It was at this time that She told us many important
things and particularly about Sri Aurobindo's decision to cross over.
-Udar-
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When the Mother saw that I was protesting so
strongly about placing Sri Aurobindo's body in the Samadhi, She took me by the
hand and led me to His body, then asked me if I could still see the golden light
that had been there all these days. I had to admit that it had gone. Then the
Mother said that it was because Sri Aurobindo Himself had given the sign to Her
that it was now time to bury His body. I had to accept this and the burial was
fixed for the evening of the 9th.
When the rosewood case was
ready, we had the inner sides lined with pure silver sheets and over them a
white satin covering was put. Cushions were placed on the bottom of the case.
- Udar- |
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THE SAMADHI
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Mother gave me instructions for the casket which
was made of solid wood and lined with silk. Sri Aurobindo was still lying on his
bed and there was the most marvellous golden light emanating from his body, and
a scent like a celestial perfume. The Mother told me how deep to go into the
Samadhi and how to design it.
We built the Samadhi not
as a hole in the ground but as a vault with thick concrete walls nine inches
thick with cement floors and a cement roof. We went down eight feet and built a
four-foot room with cement slabs. Over that the Mother instructed me to build
another room also with walls, a floor, and a roof. She told me to fill it with
clean river sand and to put a large slab on the top. Thus was the Samadhi built.
- Udar-
Mother wanted Sri Aurobindo's 'Samadhi' to be under
the Service Tree in the Ashram courtyard. She gave detailed instructions, saying
how deep we should go and that we should construct a waterproof chamber down
below with a waterproof cement slab cover and then an air-space with another
waterproof cement slab cover. Then earth was to be filled over this till it came
above the surface of the ground, and around it the walls of the Samadhi were to
be built.
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Samadhi work in progress 6th Dec. 1950 |
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Carrying Sri Aurobindo's casket 9th Dec. 1950 |
The Mother also told us to
prepare a fine case for His body. I got the Harpagon Workshop to start making
one in solid thick rosewood with brass straps and brass rings on the side to
take the ropes.
We started working from
the morning of the 5th. We decided to build the Samadhi ourselves without paid
labour. The ground was hard - very hard - and breaking it was quite a job. It
was decided that the burial would take place on the evening of the 5th.
Discoloration of the body generally sets in within 24 hours, 35 hours is the
outside limit. But when it was about time for the burial there was no sign of
decomposition at all. In fact, even though life had left the body, it was
suffused with a golden light and Sri Aurobindo's face shone with it.
- Udar- |
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Carrying Sri Aurobindo's casket 9th Dec. 1950 |
On the morning of the 9th, Mother decided that the
body would be put into the Samadhi already prepared. The body was placed in the
casket and covered with a bed sheet but the face was uncovered. The Mother stood
over it and concentrated for quite some time in order, as She explained to us
afterwards, to free the physical body from the subtle body and other conscious
parts of the being that normally continue to stay with a body for several days
after death.
Then Mr. R.K. Tandon, the
Indian Consul General at Pondicherry, whom I have mentioned earlier, was called
in to witness the closing of the casket with the body of Sri Aurobindo inside.
- Udar-
In Savitri, 'The Book of Death' is short.
When Sri Aurobindo was asked about this he said, "You cannot be expected to
write about something you have never consciously experienced." So he experienced
death consciously and will return to complete the Book of Death.
-Udar- |
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Laying marble the Samadhi - Viswanath |
After the Mother passed away, we opened up the top
chamber. We took the clean river sand that had been lying over Sri Aurobindo's
tomb from 1950 to 1973 and put it into barrels. We made packets from the sand
and gave them out to many people and it helped them in sickness and pain and in
times of trouble.
- Udar- |
Detail plan of the Samadhi |
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Changing the Samadhi's sand - 17th Nov. 1973 |
Even though Sri Aurobindo has left His body, His
Presence is very real and powerful in the Ashram and even outside it. We have
also His assurance to the Mother that He will come back to us in a Supramental
Body built in the supramental way. How this will happen we do not know, but He
will certainly come and then, along with The Mother, He will lead us to the
Glorious age of the Supra- mental Transformation of humanity.
-'Udar- |
The Samadhi |
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Placing the Mother's casket into the Samadhi 20th Nov.
1973 |
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