Sadhus Reminiscences of Raman Maharshi

Author(s): Arunachal Sadhu
Publisher: Ramanasramam Tiruvannamalai

Page 82

76 A Sadhu's Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi tried; naturally it was by then too late. They had said that unorthodox treatment would be useless and by withholding it until the last, naturally proved correct. But Bhagavan's attitude had all along been to let everybody have a chance; no one should be disappointed.
The length of this terrible illness of just about one year gave everybody a fair warning that the end was inevitable and not very far off. But, out of his Grace, he in this way saved all from a sudden shock. No one had any excuse to be taken by surprise. He also repeatedly warned the devotees that giving up the body would make absolutely no difference. “Where can I go? I shall always be here.”
Perhaps it would be well if I explained here my apparently condemnatory attitude towards the doctors. It is all summed up in my belief that we should implicitly obey Bhagavan. Doubtless we often fail; we are weak and our Vasanas are strong, but here was an occasion when we could do so without inconvenience to ourselves. He said, “Let nature take her course,” but we would not heed him. In fact, we knew better than he. What absolute arrogance!
On the last night, Bhagavan was lying in the small room which had originally been built as a store-room when he had moved into the big hall. We are all seated along the verandah of the temple opposite. Our only view of the room was through a small ventilator window about six feet from the ground. Naturally, seated as we were on the ground, we had no view of the interior of the room where he lay; all we could see was the constant movement