Last days of Sri Ramakrishna at Cossipore (contd-2)

In the beginning of 1885 Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa suffered from clergyman's throat, which gradually developed into throat cancer. He was moved to Shyampukur near Calcutta, where some of the best physicians of the time, including Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar, were engaged. When his condition aggravated he was relocated to a large garden house at Cossipore on December 11, 1885.
During his last days, he was looked after by his monastic disciples and Ma Sarada Devi. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was advised by the doctors to keep the strictest silence, but ignoring their advice, he incessantly conversed with visitors.
Before his death, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa transferred his spiritual powers to Swami Vivekananda and reassured Swami Vivekananda of his avataric status.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa asked Swami Vivekananda to look after the welfare of the disciples, saying, "keep my boys together" and asked him to "teach them".
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa also asked other monastic disciples to look upon Swami Vivekananda as their leader.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's condition gradually worsened and he attained mahasamadhi in the early morning hours of August 16, 1886 at the Cossipore garden house. (Posted by Balaji Palamadai on Friday, May 04, 2012)

Last Days of Ramakrishna at Shyampukur (contd-1)

It was autumn when the Master's disease turned to an indefinite stage varying day to day between increasing and decreasing irregularly. One day doctor said noticing the aggravated stage, " There must have been some irregularity in diet. Please tell me what you are today."The Master said that he had had his usual rice-gruel, soup and milk in the morning and milk and liquid food like barley-water in the evening.On hearing it the doctor said , " No, i can't take it; there must have been some deparutre from the prescription . Well tell me please what vegetables were used for the soup." The Master replied, "There were potatoes, green plantains, egg-fruits, and also a piece or two cauliflower". " Ah" exclaimed the doctor , " You have taken cauliflower! Here, you see, is  a grave irregularity! Cauliflower is very hotand difficult to digest. How many pieces have you eaten. ?" The doctor continued, " None  of you have any idea as to how much harm can be done by ome slight alteration."
Girishchandra and Narendranath had from time to time many controversies with the doctoron the aforesaid opinion of his about God's incarnations, as a result of which he became a little wqary of giving expression to such an opinion without due consideration. The month of Aswin and that of Kartik is over but no improvement in the physical condition of the Master was visible. On the day before the worship of the Kali , the MAster said all onasudden to a few devotees, " Collect all the ingredients for a brief worship, Mother Kali must be worshipped tomorrow."
  
   

Last days of Ramamkrishna at Shyampukur

Inspite of the difficulties to lead a female life in Shyampukur Garden house, the Holy Mother came there to prepare the diet   for the Master. Since there was only one place for all to take bath, the Holy Mother got up from bed every day at 3 am for finishing her ablutions and stay confined through out the day for preparing diet for the Master.Thus a major problem was solved. the Holy Mother used to take her food during day and night when every one would have  taken their meal. The problem of preparing diet being solved, the devotees now should take care of the nursing of the Master.Narendranath took himself the charge of nursing the Master day and night. Encouraged by his example, Gopal, Kali, Sasi, and a few other smart young men join him. All of  them were firmly  determined to lead a life for the highest ideal, namely, realisation of God. But when the Master's illness increased , thgey stopped going to their house even for taking food.The service rendered at Shyampukur was four times more than the service at Cossipore.
Having solved the problem of preparing diet and nursing for 24 hours, they concentrated their mind for collecting fund for the treatment. The devotees like Balaram, Surendranath, Ramachandra, Girish Chandra, Mahendranath, and others who brought the Master to Calcutta for treatment were not affluent. But they were in such a mood that they could sacrifice all their belongings they had for the treatment of their Master .
As time passed on, the devotees could understand the Master's disease and its time for recovery which took definite shape of opinions among them and formed different groups on the basis of emotions or reasons they could avail.A group headed by Narendranath, the most rational and practical group, would like to serve the master and work for his cure even endangering their own lives.Simultaneously they engaged themselves in the spiritual practices as were instructed to them.
Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar, who had taken charge of the Master's treatmen, was trying his best to cure him. For many days he came there to see the patient three times. As he repeated his visits, he gradually began to feel the attraction of the liberal spiritual ideas of the Master. Once he said that he was after the truth he felt and that was why, "he has taken to Homeopathy and founded The Association for the Cultivation of Sciences."
As the doctor's faith in, and love for, him increased, the Master gtook greater care to lead him on the spiritual path. The doctor gradually became acquainted with Narendra and came to learn that his proficiency in music, in vited him in a lunch to listen his songs. One day Narendra came and sang songs for about two to three hours. The doctor blessed Narendra, embraced him and kissd him, saying to the Master," I am very happy to see a boylike him come to follow the path to God-realisation."                

The house at Shyampukur selected for Ramakrishna's Treatment

Some time passed, but the pain of Ramakrishna in his throat was  only on the increase in spite of all treatment. The devotees present - Narendra, Ram, Girish, Devendra, Mahendra and others became very anxious and decided to shift him to calcutta. One day, seeing Narendra dejected at the time of taking food , a young man asked him the reason for it, to which he replied, " He who is the source of all our joy, is perhaps going to leave us this time. I have come to know from medical books and talks with doctor friends that this kind of throat disease gradually develops into cancer. Hearing of the bleeding today I suspect the disease to be that one for which the medical science has not discovered any cure yet."
Next morning the devotees decided to shift him to Calcutta, in a rented house. at Baghbazar, Durgacharan Mukherjee's street . From the roof of the house The Ganges was visible which was an attraction to Ramakrishna.The house was near to Balaram Basu's house. In the mean time Doctors like Ganga Prasad,Gopimohan, and others who diagonised the disease as " Rohini", the inflamatory affection of the throat. As this was not upto the liking of Sri Ramakrishna, they shifted him, in a week's time to the house of Gokul Chandra Bhattacharyya on the Shyam Pukur Street where he was under the treatment of Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar.
The house now hired for Ramakrishna was extended lengthwise from east to west and was situated on the north side of the Shyampukur Street. In the left side of the gate a pavement and on the right there was a narrow open verandah to sit in.After a few steps from the gate there was a flight of steps, leading to the first floor, and in front of a courtyard with two or three rooms on its eastern sides.Going upstairs by the staircase, there was a long room on the right extending north to south., meant for visitors to sit in, and on the left, the corridor leading to the room extending east to west. This was the room scheduled for Ramakrishna.To its west there were two rooms, one is meant for some devotees and the other for the Holy Mother.Ramakrishna came to this house from Balaram's at the beginning of Sept 1885, and spent a little more than three months there.
From there he was moved to Cossipore garden house in Nov/Dec.
At this time, Doctor asked the devotees to report about him on every morning and evening. On the first occasion he took his usual fees but after learning that the devotees were collecting money for their Guru's treatment, he said, " I'll treat him without taking any fees and help you in your noble endeavors according to my capacity."
Ramakrishna said to his devotees , ' no one could attain peace or reach his desired goal, if he  could not adjust himself to changed circumstances."    

Narendranath and Ramakrishna (contd-1)

Group Photo taken on 30 January 1887 in Baranagar Math;
Standing; (l-r) Swami sivananda, Swami Ramakrishnananda, Swami Vivekananda, Randhuni,Debendranath majumdar, Mahendranath Gupta (Shri M), Swami Trigunatitananda, H.Mustafi
Sitting; (l-R) Swami niranjananda, Swami Saradananda, Hutko Gopal (Gopal Ghosh), Swami Abhedananda.
By the end of the year A.D.1884, the presence of Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar came to be widely known all over Calcutta. His unique personality, his frequent experience of ecstasy, his ambrosial words conveying the highest teachings of religion in very simple form, his unique power of rousing the spiritual potentialities of aspirants, his unselfish love for every one without distinction of caste or creed - all these were the general talk among the people of Calcutta, and large numbers of them began to pour into Dakshineswar to see him, and many of them, having seen him once , to repeat there visits. Although his body became exhausted on account of excessive strain in teaching people, the zeal of his mind in this respect was never seen to wane. Hearing that the pain in Ramakrishna's throat had increased, one of our acquaintances, a lady, was about to go to see him in the month of August in 1885. Another lady of the locality came to know of it and said to her, "There is nothing else in the house today to send to Ramakrishna through you. Will you please take with you a potful of milk?"The former refused and said, " it is inconvenient to carry milk, and if there is no milk in Dakshineswar , milk need not be taken."
But Ramakrishna was not in a position to take any other diet except milk mixed with rice. After many inquiry she was able to collect some milk for Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna said to her in affection, " I feel much pain in my throat, will you please utter the mantra you know to cure my pain and pass your hand over the throat.
Some time passed, but the pain in Ramakrishna's throat was only on the increase inspite of all treatment. He was  examined and found to be contracted the incurable disease Rohini which in the opinion of the Western Doctors call cancer."
In about a week the house of Gokulchandra Bhattacharya, situated on the Shyampukur street was hierd and Dr. Mahendranath Sarkar was called for his treatment.                

Narendranath and Ramakrishna - 1884

If one closely observed Ramakrishna, one would find the different moods he used daily to behave in his ordinary dealings of life like standing, sitting, joking, talking etc.,as also in experiencing ecstasy in the company of his  devotees of various nature.This is a picture of his daily life with the devotees.His very trifling acts and efforts were not aimless or useless. It possessed extraordinary harmony of divine and human natures.
This was revealed in the treatment he had in his throat disease.to Shyampukur to Calcutta for some time. In 1885, he had his first illness. Ramakrishna was brought in a rented house at Shyampukur from Dakshineswar for his treatment. At this moment , Narendranath renounced worldly life and decided to stay with Ramakrishna. Having found no improvement of the disease of Ramakrishna who was then removed to a
 rented garden house at Kashipore for his treatment. From this time Narendranath led a real ascetic life. He started a hard life of nursing  Ramakrishna in all respect and began  meditation  and worship.Along with him there were other persons leading  the same type of living; such as,
Brahmmananda (Rakhal Maharaj), Saradananda ( Sarat maharaj), Ramakrishnananda (Sashi Maharaj), Akhandananda (Gangadhar Maharaj), Abhedananda ( Kali Maharaj), Gopal Ghosh ( Hutko Gopal), Adwaitananda ( Buro Gopal), Trigunanatitananda ( Sarada Maharaj), Jogananda ( Jogen Maharaj), and Shibananda ( Tarak Maharaj) etc . All of them formed an "Association of Disciples of Ramakrishna" and began meditation and worship.
Ramakrishna had given hints to his disciples that he might be passing away. He said to the Holy Mother (Ma Sarada), four or five years before he had his throat disease ;
" When I shall take food out of anybody's and everybody's hand, pass nights in Calcutta, and give a portion of my food to others first and take the rest myself , know that the time of my passing away is first approaching."  

   

Narendranath as a devotee to Ramakrishna

Sometimes in 1884, Ramakrishna was sitting surrounded by his devotees. Narendranath also was present there. Various spiritual talks, interspersed with merriment, were going on. There arose the topic of Vaishnava religion in the course of the conversation and explaining briefly the essence of that doctrine to all, Ramakrishna said, " That doctrine teaches that one should always careful to observe three things, namely; a taste for god's name, kindness to all beings and the service of the Vaisnavas. God is what his name is.Knowing the non-difference between the name and the possessor of the name, one should always take His name with love and devotion. Knowing the identity of the devotee and the divine, of the Vaishnava and Krishna, one should always respect, worship and salute holy men,the devotees. And one should have the conviction in one's heart that the whole universe belongs to Krishna; and therefore, one should have compassion for all beings than he suddenly went into ecstasy. Regaining partial normal consciousness in a short time, he continued , " Talks of compassion for beings! Insignificant creatures that you are, how can you show compassion to beings? WHo are you to show compassion? You wretch, who are you to bestow it? No, no; It is not compassion to Jivas but service to them as Sivas."
None but Narendranath alone, coming out of the room at the end of Ramakrishna's ecstasy, said, " Ah1 what a wonderful light have I got today from my Master's  words.!"
  

Narendranath became a devotee to Ramakrishna

Ramakrishna got most of his devotees during the period between the middle of 1883 and that of 1884. Narendra was then struggling against dire poverty to maintain his family;With a kind of fore-knowledge of events, Ramakrishna would sometimes announce the coming of a devotee and said ' One belonging to this place is coming todayfrom this direction (pointing to a prticular direction)." or as soon as one came , he would receive him lovingly and say, " You are a person belonging to this place." in the case of a few fortunate ones, he felt special attraction and became eager to see and feed them and have a talk with them  on spiritual matters. Sometimes he would visit the houses of some some such devotees unsaked and would please their guardians with charming conversation, clearing their way to come to him.
Shortly after the arrival of  such a devotee, he would call him aside, ask him to meditate, and then touch under the influence of divine inspiration certain parts of his body like the chest or the tongue. By that potent touch, the devotee's mind would become indrawn into a trance in which his accumulated impressions of the past got activated and produced spiritual realisation in him . Consequently, on account of that touch, one would have the vision of a divine light or of the luminous figure of a  God or Goddess; another would be in deep meditation or feel a bliss never experienced before; a third would have the knots of his heart suddenly loosened and removed and experience an intense eagerness for God-realisation ; a fourth would be inspired with spiritual emotions and enter into Savikalpa Samadhi. But the experience of a foretaste of the Nirvikalpa Samadhi on account of that touch was seen in the life of Narendranath alone.Besides touching the devotees in that way, Ramakrishna, besides touching them in that way, initiated some of them in Mantras. While initiating he did not examine  horoscope of any devotee.
  Sometimes in 1884, a friend of ours came to Dakshineswar