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Her final message to an afflicted world
torn by hate,
she gave five days before her death. Note: this was only two years, after the end of the First World War, of 1914-18 To a woman devotee, who was weeping, she said, "Let me tell you something. If you want peace of mind do not look into the faults of others. Rather to look into your own deficiencies. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger, my child. The whole world is your own." On Tuesday, July 21, 1920, at half past one in the morning she breathed heavily several times and entered into a deep samAdhi from which she never returned to the consciousness of the physical world. Peaceful sleep settled over her body, ravaged by long illness, which now suddenly relaxed and gave off a celestial light. Many of her disciples were deceived by this light and thought for a time that she was still with them. The body, decorated with garlands and flowers, was taken to Belur Math, across the GangA, and cremated on a pyre of sandalwood. Now a white temple stands on the spot, in loving memory of her immaculate life. Another white temple has been erected over her birthplace at Jayrambati, from the top of which flies a flag emblazoned with the single word "Ma", recalling to her devotees, from far and near, her words of reassurance: "I am the mother of the wicked, as I am the mother of the virtuous. Whenever you are in distress, only speak this to yourself, 'I have a mother'." |
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Sloka by Shrimati M. S. Subbulakshmi____
