CHAPTER 26 Beyond Embodiment
His Holiness observed the cāturmāsya of 1989 in Sringeri and for its duration stayed in Narasimhavana. The cāturmāsya concluded on 15th September. On that day, He went to the northern side of the Tuṅgā and had darśana of Goddess Śāradāmbā.
16th September, 1989, Saturday
The following was reported by H. N. Shankar:
“As long as an object is perceived as pleasing, it is but natural that a want develops towards that object. By discrimination, when one recognizes its inherent worthlessness, the craving, and hence, the consequent distractions, cease by themselves.”
- His Holiness
“It was between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. on 16th September, 1989. His Holiness was seated facing east in the semi-open veranda on the first floor of Sacchidananda Vilas. Giridhara Sastry and I prostrated before Him, sat facing Him and brought up, one by one, the letters received. A letter read out by Giridhara Sastry was from a devotee who sought His Holiness’s guidance on how he could control his senses and tackle distractions. To some letters, He would dictate His response and we would just write down, verbatim, what He said and communicate that to the persons concerned. For others, He would spell out His reply; we would make a note of that reply and communicate it suitably. In this case, His Holiness spelt out His answer. Looking at Giridhara Sastry and giving His response, He said, ‘As long as an object is perceived as pleasing, it is but natural that a want develops towards that object. By discrimination, when one recognizes its inherent worthlessness, the craving, and hence, the consequent distractions, cease by themselves. ‘doṣa-dṛṣṭyā muhur-muhuḥ (By the repeated discerning of the defects)’ – this is the means to be adopted. No matter what the object is, it is sought after only if one sees positive attributes in it, sees it as pleasurable.’
“Then turning to me, He said, with His countenance and tone leaving me no doubt that He was instructing me, ‘What else? That is all. ‘doṣa-dṛṣṭyā muhur-muhuḥ (By the repeated discerning of the defects).’ An object perceived as a cause of unhappiness does not generate desire.’ Continuing to look at me, He nodded his head, as if to ensure that what He had stated had been grasped by me. ‘Yes,’ said I, not in reply to His question on the content of the instruction, but meaning that I had paid attention to what I felt were His personal and direct instructions to me.”
This turned out to be the last day that letters were presented to Him.
17th September, Sunday
It was about 4:15 p.m. His Holiness got into His car, then parked in the shed on the eastern side of Sacchidananda Vilas. He set out to visit Narasimhapura. He alighted in the courtyard of the house of the supervisor of the Maṭha’s lands there. Using a walking stick, He proceeded straight to the pump house, with the supervisor accompanying Him. To reach it, He had to move down a gentle slope and descend two steep steps. He went inside the pump house, enquired about the pumps and Himself ascertained that both the pumps were in a good condition. He then asked a few questions about the Maṭha’s estate. Emerging from the pump house, He climbed up the two steep steps at the fence. Feeling pain, He put His right hand on His left chest. He then slowly walked up the gentle slope and reached His car. He proceeded to the Narasiṁha Temple in the middle of the estate and had darśana there. Upon returning to the car shed adjoining Sacchidananda Vilas, He sat for a while on the steps leading inside. He was looking uncomfortable as He climbed them and went in.
18th September, Monday
After His morning āhnika, His Holiness distributed tīrtha to the assembled devotees in the front hall of Sacchidananda Vilas. Having completed interacting with and blessing them, He started around 10:30 a.m. by car for the Malahānikareśvara Temple. He alighted near the temple’s ‘dhvaja-sthambha (flagpole)’, climbed the steps at the entrance to the temple and, entering it, had the darśana of Lord Gaṇapati. As He was climbing the next set of steps leading to the level of the shrine of Lord Malahānikareśvara, He felt pain in His chest and sat down on a step for a few minutes. He then got up, ascended the remaining steps and proceeded to have the darśana of Lord Malahānikareśvara and Goddess Bhavānī. Having descended the steps, He did pradakṣiṇa of the shrines of the Lord and the Goddess by walking down the corridors on the four sides of the big structure housing the shrines.
After this, standing on the southern side of the outer wall surrounding the temple, He gave instructions regarding the proper preservation of the trees in that region. He then stood for a while captivated by and appreciating the grandeur of nature – the vast spread of green paddy fields visible in the backdrop of the distant majestic mountains. Moving forward, He issued directives regarding some sanitary works for two houses adjoining the temple.
Over the previous couple of months, a road around the temple at an elevation lower than that of the temple itself had been fashioned anew. It served, in a way, for ‘giri- pradakṣiṇa (circumambulation of the mountain).’ His Holiness had planned its layout and initiated its construction prior to the cāturmāsya (which commenced on 18th July, 1989). During the cāturmāsya, when travel and crossing of any river are disallowed for saṁnyāsins, He had kept Himself posted of the progress and sent word about what was to be done. Since the untarred road had been made by excavating earth and it had been raining in the previous few days, His Holiness decided to personally ascertain how suitable the road was for vehicular use. He sat in His car and directed His personal attendant, Mahabala Bayari, who was driving, to complete a full round on the circular road. Satisfied, He had a word of appreciation for the local supervisor, Ganapati. He then returned to Narasimhavana. There, He completed His afternoon bath and āhnika and partook of some bhikṣā. Later, though in much discomfort, He had His evening bath and duly did His āhnika. He then performed pūja at night; this was the last time He did so. He then retired for the night to His room on the first floor of Sacchidananda Vilas.
At about 11:15 p.m., when Shankar checked on Him, He was having pain in both His arms and it was radiating to His back. He was forced to lie only on His back and was unable to sleep. Though the weather was pleasantly cool, He found it warm. Shankar contacted Dr. Vasudeva Herale of the Sharada Dhanwanthari Hospital at Sringeri over the phone and informed Him of His Holiness’s condition. On learning about His Holiness’s state, Giridhara Sastry rushed to Sacchidananda Vilas from his quarters in Narasimhavana. Herale soon arrived, checked His Holiness’s blood pressure and recorded His ECG. He administered an injection of Calmpose. He then suggested to His Holiness that He needed to take complete rest for a day or two. After that a visit to Manipal could be arranged for Him to undergo an operation (bypass surgery) there, so that, subsequently, He would be well and back to His routine. His Holiness said, “Wait for a week. If after that, there is any possibility or need for this, I will not object.” The significance of His statement was unapparent at that time to Herale, Giridhara Sastry, and Shankar; He gave up His body in less than a week. Herale took leave of His Holiness and, outside His Holiness’s room, told Giridhara Sastry and Shankar that he found changes in His Holiness’s ECG indicative of a recent heart attack. His Holiness was in pain that night. He hardly slept, except between 1:30 a.m. and 3:45 a.m.
“Wait for a week. If after that, there is any possibility or need for this, I will not object.”
-His Holiness
19th September, Tuesday
Dr. Herale came around 7 o’clock in the morning. He found that His Holiness continued to be in pain. He administered an intramuscular injection of Pethidine. His Holiness expressed His discomfiture at Herale having had to come for His sake at night (at 11:30 p.m.) and again in the morning; it did not weigh with Him that it was only a ten-minute’s drive from Herale’s house, which was next to the hospital, to Sacchidananda Vilas and that between his two visits, the doctor could have slept for over six hours. Unhesitatingly, Herale conveyed that he had not been put to trouble at all and that all He wanted was that His Holiness should quickly recover and be of sound health. The doctor then left. As a consequence of the injection, His Holiness felt nauseated for some time but His pain largely subsided. He had a bath, performed His morning and afternoon āhnikas and then partook of some bhikṣā.
Around 5:30 p.m., He called for Shankar and made enquiries about the agricultural works in the Māṭha. After a while, He told him, “I will trouble you for only a day more.” Shankar did not realise at that time how prophetic the words of His Holiness were. He denied that His Holiness was in any way burdening him and added that after a few days of rest, His Holiness would be back to normal.
His Holiness then recalled that whenever He was unwell, His Guru used to have curd-rice offered at the Durgāmbā Temple. Out of respect for what His Guru had done and would have done if He had been physically present, His Holiness said, “Some sevā needs to be offered at the temple of Durgāmbā” and instructed that curd-rice be offered the next day.
He then drew Shankar’s attention to a pink shawl and told him, “It was offered by Devrao Shivaram to my Guru.” His Holiness treated the shawl as an article that had been sanctified by His Guru and received by Him. With Shankar’s help, He donned it.
He then directed Shankar to read out select compositions of Bhagavatpāda. He had placed bookmarks in the pertinent volume of the ‘Śāṅkara-granthāvali (Series of works of Śaṅkara)’; this volume contained Bhagavatpāda’s ‘stotras (hymns).’ Shankar recorded later, “As I was reading from the book, I could hear His Holiness saying, ‘Hm,’ ‘Hm,’ in between when I was going fine. When I faltered, however, He promptly corrected me. Upon completing the Brahmānucintana, I looked at Him for His next directive. He said, ‘In the normal course, I would have read the Ṣatpadī-stotra, Lakṣmī-Narasiṁha- karuṇārasa-stotra, Mohamudgara (also called Bhaja-govindam), kaupīna-pañcaka, and others. Since I am not in a position to voice them myself today, you read them aloud for me.’ I proceeded to read them out and then, as directed by Him, read the Dhanyāṣṭaka, Sādhana-pañcaka, Manīṣā-pañcaka and Ekaślokī.”
With this, His Holiness fulfilled, as Shankar clearly realised, what His Holiness had, a decade earlier, told him He would do for him someday. In 1979, Shankar had been in Sringeri for his vacation at the time when His Holiness was expounding the Bhagavadgītā-bhāṣya to His then successor-designate and current pontiff Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī-tīrtha Mahāsvāmin. One day, His Holiness told him, “Just be seated here and listen. Even if you do not follow, it can serve as śravaṇa for you.” After a week, Shankar received a message from his parents to return to Bengaluru to attend to the application formalities to join an Engineering course. He refused because he wanted to be in Sringeri till His Holiness completed the Bhagavadgītā-bhāṣya. This came to His Holiness’s knowledge. He directed Shankar to go home and join an Engineering course. He told Him that He would teach Him alone someday. Ten years later, in 1989, as Shankar sat exclusively in His Holiness’s presence reading what His Holiness was telling him to read on His behalf and being corrected whenever required by His Holiness, He did not have an iota of doubt that His Holiness was gracing him with that private session of Vedānta.
Subsequently, His Holiness had His evening bath and performed His āhnika in the first floor itself, rather than on the ground floor of Sacchidananda Vilas as He normally did.
20th September, Wednesday
His Holiness was essentially in the same condition as on the previous evening. He had His bath and duly did His āhnika. In view of His health, He had been advised not to strain Himself by going down, giving darśana to the public and distributing tīrtha-prasāda. Sevā was offered at the Durgāmbā Temple as directed by His Holiness in keeping with what His Guru would have wanted done. The prasādas were submitted to Him by Shankaranarayana Maiya, the Maṭha’s Peśkār, and Shankar around 12:45 p.m. His Holiness was, at that time, seated, facing north, in the semi-open veranda on the first floor. That was Shankar’s last darśana of His Holiness while He was physically alive, for he left Sringeri that afternoon on Māṭha work for a day and before he returned, His Holiness had cast off His body.
That night Giridhara Sastry slept outside His Holiness’s room to attend to Him, if required. Some days earlier, as he was entering His Holiness’s bedroom at night to check on Him, He asked, “Did I disturb you by saying, ‘Nārāyaṇa’ loudly?” When in pain, He used to repeat the name of God, but without any expectation whatsoever. He had done so that night and that was the basis of His question. He was so considerate that He did not want to disturb anybody’s sleep even by voicing the Lord’s name in the privacy of His room and that too, at a time when He was in pain.
21st September, Thursday (bhādrapada-kṛṣṇa-saptamī of the cyclical year Śukla)
The pain that His Holiness had experienced on 18th night and which had continued till the next day recurred. He needed physical help for some time. Thereafter, when He was in some position to do so, He had a simple bath and performed His āhnika. He then moved from the semi-open veranda, where He completed His āhnika, to His room.
Around 11:00 a.m., He was informed that Dr. Subhalakshmi wanted to have His darśana. He granted permission for this. (Since a young girl, she had been a recipient of His Holiness’s grace. She attributed, with conviction, her standing first every year in the M.B.B.S. course and then passing the M.D. course in paediatrics in flying colours to His Holiness’s blessing, which she invariably sought and obtained before her examinations. She served in the Sharada Dhanwanthari Hospital in the early 1980s. She is back at the hospital now and is its Chief Medical Officer.) When she came to His presence, He sanctified her sphaṭika-mālā (rosary with crystal beads) and gave it back to her. Having blessed her, He gave her an apple as prasāda and permitted her to leave.
He was then seated alone in His room, facing west, with His back resting against the eastern wall. Through the window on His right, He could have a view of the gopura of Goddess Śāradā’s temple. His call bell was on His right on the windowsill. Moments later, K. G. Rajesha, His personal attendant, heard His bell, entered and saw Him in discomfort and short of breath. He immediately called Mahabala Bayari. The latter noticed that His breathing was not continuous; it appeared like a strained version of prāṇāyāma. He rushed out to call Dr. Subhalakshmi who, by then, had reached the ground floor. When Mahabala came back, He found His Holiness seated, but without any signs of suffering or discomfort on His countenance. Dr. Subhalakshmi arrived and determined that His Holiness was no longer breathing. As directed by her, attempts were made to revive Him but were of no avail. Dr. Herale, who had been called, arrived in about fifteen minutes and confirmed that all vital signs had ceased. The time of His Holiness’s setting aside His body was specified as 11:20 a.m.
Rajesha told me later that after Mahabala had gone out (to call Dr. Subhalakshmi), he saw His Holiness become free from distress and sit peacefully, with His body erect and His eyes closed. It is presumable that, in an instant, He went into samādhi, as He had done many a time before. In June 1983, seeing Him in great discomfort, I once requested His Holiness to free Himself, at least for a while, from this; He immediately plunged into samādhi and remained in it for half an hour. After that, He opened His eyes and was again in pain. I mentioned the possibility of His Holiness having cast off His body in samādhi in view of some statements made by Him earlier. In 1984, Shankaranarayana Jois, the Maṭha’s astrologer, told me that he had hesitatingly conveyed to His Holiness that astrologically that was a very bad time for Him. His Holiness had smiled and said, “Why bother? When the time comes, I may discard this body like this (and sat for a few moments with His eyes closed).” In 1988, Ganapathi Subrahmanya Avadhani, the Maṭha’s purohita, unhappily told me in the front veranda of Sacchidananda Vilas, “I asked His Holiness to bless me that I should depart before Him. He did not do so. He, who was seated, closed His eyes and said I think I will shed my body like this. You could be involved in the rituals after that.”
His Holiness smiled and said, “Why bother? When the time comes, I may discard this body like this (and sat for a few moments with His eyes closed).”
As a matter of fact, it is totally immaterial whether His Holiness cast off His body in samādhi or not. With respect to an enlightened sage, it is said in the authoritative Vedānta-Pañcadaśī, “Let him give up his life in good health and sitting up (such as, while focused on the Supreme) or diseased and rolling on the ground (writhing in pain) or even when unconscious. In any case, there is no delusion (leading to his enlightenment being compromised and resulting in rebirth) for him.” Likewise, in a verse of Śeṣa’s Paramārtha-sāra cited as authoritative in the Jīvanmukti-viveka, it is said, “Regardless of whether he discards his body in the defiled dwelling of one who cooks dog’s meat or in a holy place or with complete loss of memory, becoming freed upon enlightenment, with sorrows ended, he attains absolute emancipation.” In the Brahma-sūtras, it is said, “On the authority of the scripture, when Brahman is realized, there occurs detachment from future sins and the destruction of the past ones. In the same way, there is no connection with virtue. On the fall of his body, liberation is certain.” The Lord has stated in the Bhagavadgītā, “For those who have realised the Supreme, there is absorption in Brahman, while living and after death.” The Chāndogya-upaniṣad teaches, “For the enlightened one, there is delay (in attaining complete liberation) only till the fall of his body. Thereupon, he becomes merged in the Truth.” Moreover, in keeping with the teachings of the scripture, such as, “His organs do not depart. Being but Brahman while alive, He merges in the Supreme Brahman,” for the enlightened sage, there is no departure to any world; there is just abidance as the Supreme Brahman, of the nature of absolute existence, pure consciousness and infinite bliss. Thus, regardless of the condition in which His Holiness gave up His body, His abidance thereafter as just the Supreme would not have been compromised even by a jot or tittle. If, as His own Guru, an undisputed jīvanmukta, asserted now and then, with certitude, His Holiness was an incarnation of the Supreme, then His mode of terminating His human drama would, in any case, not have affected Him in any way.
Reverting to the events of 21st September, the following was narrated by Dr. Subhalakshmi.
The Lord has stated in the Bhagavadgītā, “For those who have realised the Supreme, there is absorption in Brahman, while living and after death.”
“About a year before His Holiness’s siddhi, I had His darśana. He made a passing remark that He was soon going to give up His body and merge into the Supreme. I became sad and submitted to Him candidly that I would not be able to bear seeing Him cast off His mortal coil and so should not be in His presence at that moment. He smiled. I then sought and obtained His permission and blessings to pursue my post-graduation programme in nephrology. I started the course that year. Later, I received a message from Him asking me to complete my research papers and come to Sringeri. Obeying His command, I reached Sringeri and stayed there. On the day of His siddhi, I somehow felt very uncomfortable from the morning about His condition. I went to Sacchidananda Vilas and found that He had trouble breathing. Looking at me, He said, “I am going to give you prasāda,” and sat up. When I took out my stethoscope from my bag, my crystal japa-mālā fell out. When He saw it, He asked for it, took it in His sacred hands, performed japa for a few moments and gave it to me, sanctified. He also blessed me with an apple. Finding His health bad, I requested Him to take rest and took leave of Him. Shortly after I left His chamber, His personal attendant called out for me. I rushed back and found that His Holiness had cast off His mortal coil. I realized that He had granted my request to Him a year ago that I should not be in His presence when He discarded His body. It appeared to me that He was waiting for me to leave the room to do so.”
The news of His Holiness having attained Mahāsamādhi was communicated to Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin, who was then camping at Pune. The news soon spread near and far, including over the radio and the electronic media. His Holiness was made to be seated in sukhāsana in the inner hall on the ground floor of Sacchidananda Vilas, resting against the southern wall and facing north. He was decorated with vibhūti and rudākṣa-mālā, besides tulasī and flower garlands. The doors were thrown open to devotees for His darśana.
Since the waters in the Tuṅgā were flowing high, ferrying the devotees across by boat was unfeasible; bus and lorry owners, however, voluntarily cooperated in transporting people to Narasimhavana and back to the town, till well past midnight. Upon hearing the news, educational and commercial establishments closed and people from in and around Sringeri and from outside proceeded in large numbers to pay their homage to His Holiness; according to a report, about 20,000 people did so. Among those who paid immediate homage were the President, Secretary and members of the Chikmagalur Zilla Parishad, T. V. Chandrasekharappa, M.P., V. S. Krishna Iyer, former M.P., M.L.As, Varadan, advisor to the Governor of Karnataka, the Chairman and the General Manager of Karnataka Bank Ltd. and leading citizens. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Umesh, and the Superintendent of Police, Om Prakash, supervised the arrangements for darśana. The pontiff of the Hariharapura Math, Śrī Svayaṁprakāśa Abhinava Rāmānanda Sarasvatī Svāmin, motored to Sringeri to pay his homage; he had a long-standing association with the Sringeri Math and had even witnessed His Holiness’s coronation as a pontiff in 1954.
22nd September, Friday
Jagadguru Śri Bhāratī Tīrtha Mahāsvāmin (Śrī Sannidhānam, as He was then respectfully referred to by devotees) rushed by air in a devotee’s private aircraft from Pune to Mangaluru and from there, by car and arrived at Sringeri around 1:00 a.m. He paid His homage to His Holiness and remained in silence for some time in His presence.
When I saw His Holiness’s holy form around 4:45 a.m., He was in a seated posture on a block of ice right in the middle of the inner hall of Sacchidananda Vilas, facing west. After some time, He was to be placed facing north resting against the southern wall in the middle of the hall. Some others and I carried His remains to the seat. I positioned His legs and hands to bring Him as close to His meditation posture as feasible and applied vibhūti to His forehead and arms. Śrī Sannidhānam came there and asked me, in Tamil, “Did you place Acharyal in a meditative posture?” I answered in the affirmative. He had a word or two with the Maṭha staff and left. A photographer took a photograph of His Holiness. Some devotees had darśana. A little later, His Holiness’s garments were changed and vibhūti freshly applied. Photographs were taken (by another photographer). After this, the door leading to the inner hall from outside was thrown open to the public and devotees from all over the country came in a queue to pay their homage to His Holiness.
Subsequently, in Śrī Sannidhānam’s presence, His Holiness’s body was placed in a wooden menā (a palanquin with a covered litter) in which some of the earlier pontiffs had travelled during tours, and taken in a procession from Sacchidananda Vilas to the river. As seated in the menā, He was ferried across the river Tuṅgā in a boat to which a decorated wooden structure capable of accommodating 15-20 people had been attached. Śrī Sannidhānam accompanied Him. (There being no ceremonial impurity upon the passing away of a saṁnyāsin, all the shrines were open in the temple complex and worship went on in them, as usual.) His Holiness was then carried to the precincts of the temple of Śaṅkara-bhagavatpāda and placed next to the well in the courtyard. There, Śrī Sannidhānam worshipped Him with the puruṣa-sūkta serving as the fundamental mantra, with abhiṣeka (inclusive of that with pañcāmṛta) and other aspects of pūjā, such as ārati. As per tradition, abhiṣeka was performed with the waters of that well. He was dressed in a fresh set of ochre robes.
After the pūjā, His Holiness was adorned with a red shawl, a star-studded crown and a necklace of diamonds and rubies. The time was about 10 a.m. After showing ārati, He was seated in the silver palanquin (in which He had sat many times during His initial tours) and taken in a procession through the streets of Sringeri. Śrī Sannidhānam headed the procession to the accompaniment of Veda-ghoṣa, bhajans and nādasvara; elephants and decorative umbrellas were part of the procession. The procession returned to the Maṭha’s premises past noon. His Holiness’s body was carried from the palanquin and placed in Pravachana Mandiram.
The Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, arrived at 12:30 p.m. with P. V. Narasimha Rao, Minister of External Affairs, Buta Singh, Home Minister, Shiv Shankar, Human Resource Development Minister, B. Shankaranand, Law Minister, Janardhana Poojari, Minister of State for Rural Development, Jaffer Sheriff, Minister of State for Coal, Krishna Kumar, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, and Sukh Ram, Minister of State for Civil Supplies. Other dignitaries who paid their respects to His Holiness at Pravachana Mandiram included the Governor of Karnataka, P. Venkatasubbiah, advisor to the Governor, K. N. Singh, Chief Secretary of Karnataka, A. B. Datar, the Director General of Police of Karnataka, A. R. Nizamuddin and General Secretaries of the AICC, Oscar Fernandez and Ghulam Nabi Azad. After paying floral tributes to His Holiness, Rajiv Gandhi had an audience with Śrī Sannidhānam and left by helicopter.
Devotees were still pouring in in large numbers and many had darśana of His Holiness at Pravachana Mandiram and reverenced Him. Around 2 p.m., His Holiness was carried in the menā to the riverbank and was ferried across the Tuṅgā to Sandhya-mandapa.
There, Śrī Sannidhānam performed abhiṣeka with river water to the accompaniment of the chanting of the Vedic Śrī-Rudram. He later stated that He had found it overwhelming to perform abhiṣeka to His Guru’s body at the very place where His Holiness had blessed Him with saṁnyāsa and with the very kamaṇḍalu vouchsafed by Him at that time. With the wet ochre clothing replaced by fresh dry ones and decorated with vibhūti and rudrākṣa-mālā, His Holiness’s body was reverentially carried on a wooden plank and placed near the shrine of His Guru. There, Śrī Sannidhānam performed a short pūjā to His Holiness. In preparation for His interment, a trench had been dug to the south of the shrine of His Paramaguru, the 33rd pontiff, and in line with the samādhis of His Guru and Paramaguru. The circular trench was about 8-foot deep and about 10-foot in diameter; it had within and concentric with it, an inner circular pit about 3-foot deep and 2.5-foot diameter. Years earlier, His Holiness had specified, spelling out the purely practical considerations that weighed with Him, where His body should be interred. A makeshift shed with tin sheets was erected around and over the samādhi spot. Barricades of bamboo were also set in place in front of and around the new shrine.
Ganapati Subrahmanya Avadhani performed a short pūjā there as per tradition. His Holiness was lowered into the pit. Before this, the Karnataka police offered a guard of honour. Directed by Śrī Sannidhānam, Avadhani made a mark on His Holiness’s crest with a conch. He then touched His Holiness’s head with a coconut and broke it on a stone nearby; he did this five times. His Holiness’s daṇḍa was broken into three pieces and placed next to Him. His kamaṇḍalu was then crushed and placed by His side within the pit. His spectacles were then removed. The large gathering of devotees continuously and reverentially chanted slogans hailing His Holiness.
The pit was filled with alternate layers of sand and salt of about a foot each till He was covered to the top of the head. The last two feet or so was filled with earth. A bamboo staff was placed vertically above the centre of His head as a mark of identification of the exact location of the samādhi. Shankar fashioned an earthen liṅga, about 8 inches in diameter and about 10 inches in height and set it up precisely coinciding with the vertical staff placed on His Holiness’s head. Having directed, overseen and ensured the performance of all procedures in strict compliance with the Maṭha’s protocols, Śrī Sannidhānam entered Sacchidananda Vilas. Though the skies were overcast throughout the day, it did not pour since the time the procession left Narasimhavana in the morning till it reached the samādhi location; hence, the devotees were not put to inconvenience.
It was past 6:00 p.m. The head of the Jyotir Math as also the Dwaraka Math, Jagadguru Śrī Svarūpānanda Sarasvatī Mahāsvāmin, who had immense respect and reverence for His Holiness, arrived and paid homage at the samādhi. Visibly moved, He spent nearly half an hour there. After that, He briefly met with Śrī Sannidhānam. Śrī Sannidhānam then proceeded for His bath and, after completing His ānhika, duly performed the ārādhanā at His Holiness’s shrine.
His Holiness said about His Guru in a talk on 30th August, 1987, “My Guru was a knower of Brahman and was not dependent on any cause or effect. Still, He led His life in such a way that there accrued the welfare of the world. Remembering the events that transpired in His life, chanting His name and incorporating into our lives, at least to some extent, what He demonstrated in His life constitute a means for us to attain the highest good.” All this is indubitably true in the case of His Holiness too.
It is pertinent that even after His Guru’s attaining disembodied liberation, His Holiness time and again spoke of His Guru gracing and guiding Him. Instances of His referring to His Guru’s grace upon Him can be seen in a speech that He delivered in 1968 in which He presented some of His experiences during His first All-India tour (1964-68); an English translation of this speech is included in the introduction to the following chapter, which is titled ‘Journal of Journeys’. About a month prior to giving up His body, His Guru told Mantreshwara Sharma, a close disciple, “If…I get released from my mortal coil, I shall be with you as soon as you think of me.” Being totally committed to truthfulness, He would never have given this categorical assurance merely to assuage Sharma through an untruth. The 33rd pontiff Śrī Saccidānanda Sivābhinava Narasiṁha Bhāratī was assured by His Guru, “You are attached to me and it will not be easy for you to bear my loss (upon my shedding my mortal coil) but you know that I shall not cease to live; only, instead of being confined to this body, I shall become omnipresent, though I shall be invisible to mortal eyes” and, again in a vision had by Him after His Guru’s videha-mukti, “Where have I gone? I am here.” In some of His spontaneous metrical outpourings, the 33rd pontiff unequivocally referred to His being graced and guided by His Guru. Surely, devotees and disciples of His Holiness too can and do receive His grace and guidance.
There is His holy samādhi at Sringeri; there is an instance of His having pointed to the spot where His samādhi is now located and telling a disciple, “When I am not physically present, you may come here to see me. I will be here”; there are His sacred pādukas; there are His teachings; there is His inspiring life; there is the assurance that He gave, “I will never abandon one whom I have accepted”; there are His earlier-cited words about His Guru that are applicable to Him; there are many instances of devotees continuing to receive His grace and guidance; there are instances of those desirous of initiation from just Him being initiated in dreams into mantras; there are wonderful memories enshrined in the hearts of those who had the greatest good fortune of coming into contact with Him. His grace is undiminished and His guidance available as ever to those who genuinely seek and need it.