Sadhus Reminiscences of Raman Maharshi

Author(s): Arunachal Sadhu
Publisher: Ramanasramam Tiruvannamalai

Page 80

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A Sadhu's Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi
was only a small matter and should be removed by a local anaesthetic. No one was consulted, though I was told that he had been warned that Bhagavan was no ordinary person and that a number of doctors would willingly come from Madras for a consultation and that he should wait and do nothing without their opinion. But he was adamant and insisted on carrying on.
Another doctor who was staying in the Ashram at the time reluctantly agreed to give the local anaesthetic and the operation was quietly performed in Bhagavan's bathroom one morning just before the meal. A small (too small I was told) incision was made and the growth was extracted, superficially as it turned out. Bhagavan had never wanted the operation and had told the doctors to let nature take her course. However they decided to carry on. This was the beginning of the end. The curtain on the last act was slowly descending. The growth turned out to be a sarcoma.
In a month's time another operation was performed in the Ashram dispensary by a leading surgeon from Madras. This time under full anaesthesia, but though this gave temporary relief, the growth again, grew in strength. Radium was tried but failed to check it. By July the growth was bleeding and had become septic. The doctors held a consultation with Bhagavan and told him that the only hope lay in amputation of the arm, but this he flatly refused. This was the only occasion on which he really took an active part in what should be done to him during his illness. Let them do what they like was his attitude,