Hari Om,
4 July 1902 was a memorable day. Swami Vivekananda, a great prophet of modern India , passed away at about 9:00 pm while he was in meditation. The flame of his life-lamp, which brightened the spiritual world, suddenly blew out in the deep darkness of night. The next morning this sad news spread throughout Calcutta and all over India . Swamiji's disciple Kanai Maharaj (Swami Nirbhayananda) came to our house in Ahiritola and gave us the news. I was then busy performing worship in a temple nearby. I returned home before 9:00 am to find my mother crying loudly. When I asked why she was grieving, she said, ˜My son, a great calamity has taken place. Swamiji is no more. He has passed away - and you never did take me to see him. I replied, ˜Mother, all monks in the monastery are called Swami. Which swamiji are you talking about? Perhaps you have misunderstood something. My mother answered: ˜Oh no, Kanai came early this morning and said that the head Swamiji passed away last night at nine o'clock. He asked all of you to go to Belur Math. I consoled my mother, saying, ˜It is not good to express grief for the death of a monk.
Swamiji in Mahasamadhi
At that time my friend Nibaran, a disciple of Holy Mother,
arrived. I decided not to go to work. Accompanied by Nibaran and my younger
brother Dulalshashi, I went to the Ahiritola ghat, crossed the Ganges by boat,
and then reached Belur Math at 10:00 am via Salikha (Salkia) and Ghusuri. It
was raining a little. I saw that Rakhal Maharaj (Swami Brahmananda) and some
monks were busy decorating a cot with flowers in the western veranda of the
Math building. When Rakhal Maharaj saw me, he burst into tears. His voice was
choked, so he pointed to the steps and indicated that we should go upstairs.
When I entered Swami Vivekananda's room I saw that his divine
body had been laid on a carpet. His forehead was smeared with holy ashes; a
bouquet of flowers was placed near his head; and his body was covered with a
new ochre cloth. His right hand was resting on the floor and a rosary had been
placed around his right thumb. His eyes were indrawn and half-closed like Lord
Shiva in meditation. The entire room was full of fragrance from incense burning
at both sides of his body. Sister Nivedita was seated at the left side of
Swamiji's body, steadily fanning his head with a palm-leaf fan. Tears were
trickling down her cheeks. Swamiji's head was placed to the west and his feet
to the east, towards the Ganges . Grief-stricken, Brahmachari Nandalal sat
silently at his feet. We all three bowed down to Swamiji, touching his feet,
and then sat there. When I touched his feet, they were as cold as ice.
I then touched Swamiji's rosary and repeated the mantra given by
my guru. Meanwhile, many distinguished people and devotees from Calcutta and
other places arrived to see Swamiji for the last time. One after another they
bowed down to him and left; but the three in my party, Brahmachari Nandalal and
Sister Nivedita stayed. When I finished my japa, Nivedita whispered to me: ˜Can
you sing, my friend? Would you mind singing the songs that our Thakur used to
sing? I said that I could not sing. Nivedita then requested, ˜On my behalf will
you please ask your friend to sing?
Then my friend Nibaran sang a few songs melodiously: ˜Cherish my
precious Mother Shyama tenderly within, O mind; Why should I go to Ganga or
Gaya , to Kashi, Kanchi or Prabhas?; ˜Is Kali, my Mother, really black? The
Naked One, of blackest hue, lights the lotus of the heart; ˜The black bee of my
mind is drawn in sheer delight to the blue lotus flower of Mother Shyama's
feet; ˜O my mind, chant the name of Kali. If you say Kali, Kali, the fear of
Kala [Death] will disappear.
Nivedita's Reaction
Nivedita listened to these songs with all her attention. Pent-up
emotions overflowed from her heart and began to flow from her eyes as tears. It
was an unforgettable and sad scene; I shall never forget it. Although the
incident occurred forty-five years ago, still its memory is written on my mind
in golden letters. On that day the expression on Nivedita's face told me how
wounded was her lost and sad heart! It truly stirred my consciousness. I
realized that her reaction was not the result of mere emotional weakness. Where
is this great, learned, spiritual English woman full of renunciation and
forbearance, and where are we who are proud of a little learning and devoid of
renunciation!
The Last Rites
At about 1:00 pm Swami Saradananda came upstairs to Swamiji's
room and said to Brahmachari Nandalal and the three in my party: ˜Look, we are
broken-hearted because of Swamiji's passing away. We have lost all our
strength. Would you be able to carry Swamiji's body downstairs?' Immediately
Brahmachari Nandalal and we three devotees slowly and carefully carried
Swamiji's body down the steps to the lower veranda and placed it on the cot
decorated with flowers. As was the custom, some pomegranates, apples, pears and
grapes were offered to Swamiji. Swami Advaitananda then said to the
brahmachari, '˜O Nandalal, Swamiji loved you immensely. You perform the last
worship to him. When Swami Brahmananda and the other monks approved this
proposal, Nandalal performed the ritual offerings of garlands and flowers, and
of fruits and sweets, then waving an oil lamp and finally chanting a hymn.
It was proposed that a final photograph of Swamiji be taken, but
Swami Brahmananda would not allow it, saying, ˜There are many good photographs of
Swamiji; this sad picture will break the hearts of all. Afterwards, Swami
Brahmananda, the other monks and brahmacharins offered flowers at Swamiji's
feet. Finally, Haramohan Mitra (a classmate of Swamiji's) and other devotees
offered flowers. Later, Swamiji's feet were painted with red dye (alta) and
footprints were made on small pieces of cloth. Sister Nivedita also took a
footprint on a new handkerchief. I took a beautiful rose (not fully open),
smeared it with sandal paste, touched it to Swamiji's feet and put it in my
front pocket as a memento.
When the worship service was over, Swami Saradananda asked the
same four of us to carry the cot to the spot where Swamiji's body would be
cremated. All the monks and devotees followed the procession. There had been
some rain before noon, so the monastery ground was wet and slippery, and
moreover it was covered with spear grass. So we slowly and cautiously crossed
the vast area and placed the cot on the funeral pyre set with sandalwood. At
that time Swamiji's aunt and his cousin, Habu Datta, arrived by car from Simla
( Calcutta ), and began to cry and lament loudly.
Swami Saradananda then asked everyone, ˜Please take a bunch of pankati [the
dried stalk of the jute plant], ignite it, circle Swamiji's body seven times,
place the blazing pankatiunder the cot just below Swamiji's feet,
and bow down to him. According to his instructions, Swamiji's body was
consigned to the sandalwood fire, and the grief-stricken monks and devotees sat
like statues around the blazing pyre. The funeral fire gradually rose high,
extending its many lolling tongues to consume Swamiji's body. Girish Chandra
Ghosh, Upendranath Mukhopadhyay of the Basumati, Jaladhar Sen, Mahendranath
Gupta (M), Akshay Kumar Sen and other devotees were seated on a cement bench
near the bel tree and watching this heart-rending scene.
Broken-hearted, Girish Babu began to lament: ˜Naren, you were
supposed to live and spread the glory of the Master by telling people my story
of transformation. But this wish of mine has been destroyed by a horrible
Providence . I am an old fellow [he was 19 years older than Swamiji], and I am
left alive to see this terrible scene of yours. You are the Master's son and
you have gone to him. Look, you have departed prematurely, leaving us in this
pitiable condition. How unfortunate we are!
At this, Nivedita could no longer suppress her grief. She got up
and began to circle the blazing funeral pyre. Seeing her close to the pyre,
Swami Brahmananda was concerned that her skirt would catch fire. He conveyed
this to Swami Nirbhayananda, who then took Nivedita's hand and led her away
from the pyre. He made her sit on the bank of the Ganges and tried to console
her.
The sacred fire and a favourable wind consumed the lower part of
Swamiji's divine body to ashes within a short time; but amazingly that fire did
not touch his chest, face and the hair of his head. His facial expression and
the look of his broad eyes were beautiful. It was suggested that someone shake
Swamiji's body so that it would burn quickly. This greatly upset Swami
Nishchayananda, a disciple of Swamiji. He did not want to see his guru's body
prodded with a pole. So he immediately climbed up an old tree nearby, cut some
branches and set them on the funeral pyre.
Afterwards
Meanwhile, Swami Brahmananda took me aside, gave me a ten-rupee note,
and said, ˜You and Nibaran take Girish Babu's boat, cross the Ganges and buy
some sandesh [sweets] and other kinds of food from Baranagore Bazar. From last
night on, no monk put anything in his mouth - not even a drop of water - and
some devotees are also fasting. When Bipin Saha of Baranagore saw us going to
carry out Swami Brahmananda's order, he joined us. He contributed five rupees
and asked a confectioner in Baranagore Bazar to prepare hot luchis [fried
bread], kachuri and sandesh. He then carried the food basket on his head and
returned to Belur Math with us. It was evening when we returned to the
monastery, and the funeral pyre had been extinguished. Swamiji's remains had
been collected, and the monks and devotees were bathing in the Ganges and making
water offerings.
M said to me, ˜You have touched the dead body. Now you bathe and
offer water to the departed soul. I replied: ˜A sadhu is Narayana [God]. Have I
become impure by touching that divine body? Following Swami Brahmananda's
orders, I carried the food to be offered to the Master without first changing
my clothes. Swami Premananda understood my attitude, and said, ˜You do not have
to take a bath, but let me sprinkle Ganges water on your head. Take the food to
the shrine and then go to the Ganges to offer water to Swamiji as is customary.
There were no worship services that day. Vespers were conducted
that evening and food was offered to the Master at that time. Prasad [offered
food], tea and water were then distributed among the monks and devotees.
Afterwards, the grief-stricken devotees returned home.
To fulfil Swamiji's last wish, Kali Puja was held at Belur Math
on the first new-moon night (amavasya) after 4 July. No outsiders were invited
on that occasion, except for Bhupendranath Datta, Swamiji's younger brother.
Makhan Maharaj asked me and Nibaran to bring thirty pounds of dry bel wood for
the homa fire. The new moon fell on a Saturday. When Nibaran and I arrived at
Belur Math with the dry bel wood, Swami Brahmananda was pleased. He recited two
lines of a hymn to Shiva: ˜Chandrashekhara chandrashekhara
chandrashekhara pahi mam. Chandrashekhara chandrashekhara chandrashekhara
raksha mam. [O Chandrashekhara, please nourish us. O Chandrashekhara,
please protect us.]
Then the swami continued: ‘You have saved the situation by
bringing dry bel wood in this stormy and rainy weather. May the Divine Mother
bless you.
At 10:00 pm Kali Puja began in the upper shrine room of the
monastery. Ishwar Chandra Chakrabarty, a Tantric adept and father of Swami
Ramakrishnananda, performed the worship. Monks and brahmacharins bowed to the
Master in the shrine and then meditated in Swamiji’s room. Before that, when
the evening food offering was over, Swami Brahmananda told Swami Premananda,
˜Please give prasad to Bhupen and these two devotees; but the rest of us will
fast. After having prasad, we three lay down in the large room downstairs in
the western part of the Math building. That night, Swami Nityananda (an elderly
disciple of Swamiji) occasionally made loud and pathetic cries that
reverberated throughout the monastery.
At 3:00 am Swami Saradananda came to our room and woke us up. He
asked us to go to the room upstairs.
There Swami Brahmananda asked me to purify myself by sipping
some water and to repeat my mantra. After a while Swami Brahmananda asked
everyone present to go to the western courtyard where the homa fire was
arranged. We joined the monks and sat around that sacred fire, repeating our
mantra. After the homa fire, we all went to the spot where Swamiji's body had
been cremated, circled it seven times, and bowed down. Everyone then sat under
the bel tree for a while and repeated his mantra. Finally, all of us went to
the Master's shrine and bowed down to him, and then took prasad downstairs.
Swami Vivekananda's Room
To the southeast of the old shrine stands Swami Vivekananda's room. In this room, the great Swami lived, and here he attained Mahasamadhi on 4 July 1902. Most of the articles preserved in this room were used by him at different places and times. In the courtyard in front of this room stands a mango tree under which Swamiji used to sit on a camp cot and meet visitors and devotees.
Swami Vivekananda Temple
The temple stands on the spot where Swami Vivekananda's mortal remains were cremated in 1902. Consecrated on 28 January 1924, the temple has in its upper storey an alabaster OM (in Bengali characters). Beside the temple stands a bel (bilva) tree in the place of the original bel tree under which Swami Vivekananda used to sit and near which, according to his wish, his body was cremated.
Swamiji's Words
If in this hell of a
world one can bring a little joy and peace even for a day into the heart of a
single person, that much alone is true; this I have learnt after suffering all
my life; all else is mere moonshine.
Work unto death- I am
with you, and when i am gone, my spirit will work with you. This life comes and
goes- wealth, fame, enjoyments are only of a few days. It is better, far better
to die on the field of duty, preaching the truth, than to die like a worldly
worm. Advance!
That you may catch my
fire, that you may be intensely sincere is my constant prayer.
If you are really my
children, you will fear nothing, stop at nothing. You will be like lions. My
prayers and benedictions follow every step you take, Everything will come to
you if you have FAITH.
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