{"id":3566,"date":"2011-04-10T21:29:41","date_gmt":"2011-04-10T16:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/?p=3566"},"modified":"2011-04-10T21:29:41","modified_gmt":"2011-04-10T16:29:41","slug":"sadanandis-last-and-final-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/devotee-contribution\/sadanandis-last-and-final-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Sadanandi’s last and final journey……….."},"content":{"rendered":"

Radhe Radhe !<\/span><\/p>\n

Mataji’s (yes, she is the only one whom i lovingly called simply as ‘Mataji’ – although she protested always) final journey has been recorded by none other than her own Sri Gurudev. He writes – <\/span><\/p>\n

At the hospital bed of Sadanandi dasi – reflections while trying to assist
\nmy dying secretary in her final journey<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh eternal soul
\nTrapped in a dying body
\nNow it’s time for you to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cut the rope of your remaining attachments
\nBy the sword of devotion
\nAnd go – please go
\nDon’t fear- yes, there were many tests on the way but you passed them all
\nRadha and Krsna are by your side – They are already waiting.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is about as far I came in my little address to Sadanandi. I had just
\nentered the emergency ward and stood before her bed. It was obvious: She was
\nin her last stage fighting with death. Then suddenly I was overwhelmed by a
\nhurricane of emotions and, in the midst of tears, broke down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even in her state of coma, Sadanandi looked like an angel. She was breathing
\nheavily – apparently not noticing her surroundings. But I could sense – she
\nwas still there. The soul was awake, even in her finished body.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rest is quickly told: we sang for 8 and half hours the maha-mantra.
\nAfter a quick bathroom visit I saw how two nurses took out the second
\npatient, who had just died. His wheel-bed rolled by. Good that he heard the
\nKirtan.
\nSadanandi’s Mother was there caressing her head and arm – crying and
\npreparing for the final good-bye.
\n‘When will death come?’, I asked the doctor when he removed the artificial
\nlife-prolonging machines one after the other.
\n‘Within the next 24 hours!’, he answered with a sad smile (everyone liked
\nSadanandi immediately). ‘There is nothing we can do for her any longer. The
\ninternal bleeding just can’t be stopped. Her liver is dead, kidneys don’t
\nwork and then there is this dangerous virus, and….. Only one strong pain
\nkiller is still administered.’<\/span><\/p>\n

After 7 hours of maha-mantra, the male nurse Till came and wanted to speak:
\n‘I congratulate you. What a wonderful atmosphere! I have never seen this
\nbefore. Most people who come here die alone. It is me who has to be their
\nbest friend, their lover, father, mother, brother, sister – everyone in one
\n– because there are not many people who dare to confront the great unknown –
\ndeath.’
\n‘Why is that?’, I asked.
\n‘Most probably because they are reminded of their own death – and then their
\nwhole present life is questioned. Death always puts one disturbing question
\nwith three fat question marks behind everything we do in our life. Is it
\nreally worth it???<\/span><\/p>\n

I was surprised of the depth of Till’s answer – who quickly added: ‘I wish
\nthat when my time comes, people like you are around me, singing.’<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear readers, how can I write down what happened next – who of you will
\nbelieve me? Please try:<\/span><\/p>\n

One kirtan was so wonderful that I felt inspired to leave this world in my
\nmind, and go to Goloka Vrindavana. There, under a wish-fulfilling desire
\ntree, I entered the presence of the Divine Couple and presented Sadanandi’s
\ncase: ‘Here is Sadanandi, my wonderful disciple. She was initiated in the
\nparampara where Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared and where Srila Prabhupada
\nspread Krsna consciousness. All her devotional life was filled with service,
\nshe was kind to all devotees and tried her best to increase her attachment
\nto You. She loved Your own home, the sacred forest of Vrndavan, and….. (as
\nI tried to find a point which was best describing Sadanandi, an idea came to
\nmy mind) Yes, her most frequently used word was ‘thank You’ referring to all
\nthe spiritual gifts she received. Kindly, kindly accept her.’ At that moment
\nthe Divine Couple seemed to smile, and Srimati Radharani took a flower and
\nhanded it to Sadanandi. Then she said: “We are already waiting for you”.
\n(Please don’t get me wrong: I am not claiming to be directly in contact with
\nthe Lord. It was in meditation only.)
\nYayoo, yayoo, yayoo….. I was quickly pulled back to emergency room. One of
\nthe monitors suddenly made noise to indicate that her heart beat had
\naccelerated. Maybe that was a good sign? It was around 10.30 PM when we left
\nthe room. Something in me told me that Sadanandi dasi would prefer to start
\nher final journey in my absence. It is known that those who die suffer great
\npain when they see people around them to whom they are most connected.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, Gaurahari and Rangadevi had arrived to replace us. And at
\n00.30 AM – the beginning of the new day – the telephone rang in
\nGaura-bhavan: Instantly I knew; Sadanandi had just left!! Gaurahari was on
\nthe phone and described the last minutes of Sadanandi in these words: “as we
\nwere doing kirtan, Sadanandi’s breath became longer and longer. Her mother
\nhad for a moment fallen asleep and her head rested on the shoulder of her
\ndaughter. All of a sudden I felt inspired to glorify Srila Prabhupada and
\nher Deities with ‘Jaya Prabhupada!’ and ‘Jay Sri Sri Radha Govinda!’ and
\nthen I sang glorifications to Krsna-Balaram and different places she liked
\nto go in Vrndavan. Sadanandi’s breathing became very peaceful and, all of a
\nsudden, she opened her eyes wide and looked at me. She must have felt: now
\nis the time! I kept on singing ‘Jaya Prabhupada!’, ‘Jaya Gurudev!’ and ‘Jaya
\nRadhey!’ when she finally breathed her last.<\/span><\/p>\n

Right after her departure there was an amazingly loving atmosphere all
\naround us and we felt that Sadanandi had gone on her divine journey back
\nhome, back to Godhead…”<\/span><\/p>\n

In closing this little article I want to say a deep heartfelt thank you
\nfirst of all to Elfie, the wonderful mother of Sadanandi, and then to our
\nlittle team in Gaura-bhavan who showed such a wonderful example of the
\ncommunity of care: Gaurahari, Rangadevi and Bhanu-nandini dasi. Now I want
\nto also thank all the devotees who have visited her, like Gadadhar das and
\nthe devotees from the Dharma castle, Amara prabhu, Nrsimha-priya, Suzanne,
\nKatja, Mr Klebig, Helmut, Marei … etc etc<\/span><\/p>\n

And I want to extend a hearty thank you to all the devotees who have prayed,
\ndone kirtan etc. Really, I am moved. I think all around the world devotees
\nprayed and produced a supportive atmosphere of blessings. Thank you, thank
\nyou, thank you. At this time we are naturally grieving, but in our hearts of
\nhearts we feel simultaneously happy. The journey went just like Sadanandi
\nalways wanted her departure to be. Radha and Krsna were really with her all
\nthe time.
\nAnd death lost its horror.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sacinandana Swami<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPs. Let me end with a wonderful verse which comes to mind when I think of
\nSadanandi:<\/span><\/p>\n

“Though engaged in all kinds of activities, My pure devotee, under My
\nprotection, reaches the eternal and imperishable abode by My grace.”BG 18.56
\nTo a devotee who is thus engaged in Krsna consciousness the Lord is very,
\nvery kind. In spite of all difficulties, he is eventually placed in the
\ntranscendental abode, or Krsnaloka. He is guaranteed entrance there; there
\nis no doubt about it. In that supreme abode, there is no change; everything
\nis eternal, imperishable and full of knowledge. (Srila Prabhupada’s purport
\nto Bg 18.56)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A personal word to the readers:<\/span><\/p>\n

It is natural that one feels an increased sense of renunciation and
\nsincerity of purpose when a near and dear one leaves the body.
\nI am aware that most of you know Sadanandi personally – so deep feelings
\nwill naturally move your heart – and lots of grief.\u00a0 But there is a
\nwonderful dimension in all of this: Krsna’s plan.
\nIn addressing you personally, it is important for me to share one point
\nwhich became very obvious to me: Her whole departure was really under the
\ncare of Krsna. He kept His promise, that he will protect His devotees.
\nOf course, during the last year we were sometimes pained to witness the
\nfailing struggle of Sadanandi to regain her health, but now in retrospect
\nall makes sense:
\nSome old karmic debts were used by the Lord to detach her from this world
\nand attach her to Him.
\nOne of her last sentences to me was: “I think that I am ready to go now.”
\nAnd a little later: “Yes, I want to go. More service is waiting.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Radhe Radhe ! Mataji’s (yes, she is the only one whom i lovingly called simply as ‘Mataji’ – although she protested always) final journey has been recorded by none other than her own Sri Gurudev. He writes – At the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[251,254],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotee-contribution","category-sadanandi-mataji"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3566"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3567,"href":"https:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566\/revisions\/3567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}