In plain words
On the day he died he came to the mandir. I had already selected some people for interviews. He came and stood there. ‘Why have you come?’ When I said this, ‘There is a small matter, Swami!’ he said. I called him inside and asked, ‘What matter?’ “Swami! I must not pass away dependent on others. I must not pass away in debt to anyone. I must be freed from debt. While I was in business I may have come to owe someone, at some time, a three-pie coin or an anna. So I have brought this money to make amends for that sin. I earned it by my own hard work,” he said, and took out some money and put it in My hand. “Swami! I have set aside five bags of rice and two bags of jaggery. On the 12th day after I am gone, have food given to the poor,” he asked. From here he went straight home, lay down, and breathed his last.
Just so, Easwaramma too had a death free of struggle. The summer classes were going on in Bangalore then. She longed to be wherever Swami was. So she came to the summer course. Seeing the children who attended those classes, she was full of joy. While they all ate, she would pour them water to drink. ‘Through Swami we have this good fortune,’ and she would be thrilled beyond measure. One morning, as usual, they were serving tiffin to all the children. She too had her tiffin and took coffee. Venkamma was always at her side to see to her needs. After her tiffin, to chew betel she put areca nut in a little mortar and was pounding it, and I could hear the sound upstairs. Suddenly she: ‘Swami! Swami!’ she called. I said, ‘I am coming, I am coming.’ I came down; she had given up her life; no pain in the eyes, no pain in the legs; not a single pang. Both parents of this body died just as easily. Because they were the ones Swami selected, their lives found so holy a fulfilment.