SRI AUROBINDO'S MAHASAMADHI 5 DECEMBER 1950

God departs - 5 DEC 1950.

At 1.26 a.m., leaving his physical sheath, "the Colonist from Immortality" departed from the earthly habitation, in the presence of the Mother who stood near his feet with an intense penetrating gaze, an incarnation of divine strength, poise and calm.
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"A colonist from immortality. A treasurer of superhuman dreams, "

Sri Aurobindo’s Mahasamadhi - 5 th December 1950.

‘…the sadhaks came one by one and saw the Marvel and the Mystery, the body of the Golden Purusha in eternal sleep. And with tears of joy and grief they offered their prayer to the One who had sacrificed all for them.

‘I also saw, to my utter wonder and delight, that the entire body was suffused with a golden crimson hue, so fresh, so magnificent. It seemed to have lifted my pall of gloom and I felt light and happy without knowing why. When the Mother came, I asked naïvely, “Mother, won’t he come back?” No!” she replied, “If he wanted to come back, he would not have left the body.” Pointing to the Light she said, “If this Supramental Light remains we shall keep the body in a glass case.”

‘…for four days, the disciples, the people of the town, Ashram employees had the unique Darshan and paid their homage. Bhaktas had come from different parts of India for the benediction of the last Darshan of the Guru. Many of them felt the room surcharged with peace, force, light or bliss. Some saw Sri Aurobindo sitting on the bed and saying, “I am here, I am here!” as if to falsify Nature’s decree…

‘The Mother paid her visits to the room twice or thrice a day, clad in a white robe and with a scarf tied over her hair. Her face calm and grave, yet softened with a material sweetness, she looked like Maheshwari of transcendent glory. She would stand silently before the body, look at it for some time and quietly retire. Sometimes she was accompanied by Nolini, Pavitra, Amrita and others. She did not want the body to be touched and wished that an utter silence should prevail in the room at all times.’[1]
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‘The Mother then said Sri Aurobindo had lived so long in the Supramental Consciousness that it had come down into His body and made it shine with a golden light. But She added that one could not be sure how long the light would remain and in case it remained for a long time it was necessary to protect the body against dust and air-borne insects. So She asked me to prepare a large glass covering to go over the whole body in a way which would not disturb it. Immediately a man was sent to Madras to get the necessary large sheets of glass and through Dyuman we arranged for the silver angle strips to join them to form a cover.

‘In the meantime we thought it would be good if we could keep the room temperature low by arranging large blocks of ice round about with fans to blow over them. We did this without consulting the Mother. As soon as She saw it, She asked us to remove everything at once: She did not want any artificial measure to be taken at all. If the body was to remain without perishing, it would be by His will alone…

‘Mother gave me instructions for the casket which was made of solid wood and lined with silk. Sri Aurobindo was still lying on his bed and there was the most marvellous golden light emanating from his body, and a scent like a celestial perfume. The Mother told me how deep to go into the Samadhi and how to design it.

‘We built the Samadhi not as a hole in the ground but as a vault with thick concrete walls nine inches thick with cement floors and a cement roof. We went down eight feet and built a four-foot room with cement slabs. Over that the Mother instructed me to build another room also with walls, a floor and a roof. She told me to fill it with clean river sand and to put a large slab on the top. Thus was the Samadhi built.

‘Mother wanted Sri Aurobindo’s ‘Samadhi’ to be under the Service Tree in the Ashram courtyard. She gave detailed instructions, saying how deep we should go and that we should construct a waterproof chamber down below with a waterproof cement slab cover and then an air-space with another waterproof cement slab cover. Then earth was to be filled over this till it came above the surface of the ground, and around it the walls of the Samadhi were to be built.

‘The Mother also told us to prepare a fine case for His body. I got the Harpagon Workshop to start making one in solid thick rosewood with brass straps and brass rings on the side to take the ropes.

‘We started working from the morning of the 5th. We decided to build the Samadhi ourselves without paid labour. The ground was hard—very hard—and breaking it was quite a job. It was decided that the burial would take place on the evening of the 5th. Discoloration of the body generally sets in within 24 hours, 35 hours is the outside limit. But when it was about time for the burial there was no sign of decomposition at all. In fact, even though life had left the body, it was suffused with a golden light and Sri Aurobindo’s face shone with it.’[2].

REFERENCE:
[1] Nirodbaran, Twelve Years with Sri Aurobindo, pp. 280-282.

[2] Udar, One of Mother’s Children, pp. 35-37.

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A Tribute Through His Savitri.

A colonist from immortality. 
A pointing beam on earth’s uncertain roads, 
His birth held up a symbol and a sign; 
His human self like a translucent cloak Covered the 
All-Wise who leads the unseeing world. 
Affiliated to cosmic Space and Time And paying here 
God’s debt to earth and man A greater sonship was his divine right. 
Although consenting to mortal ignorance, 
His knowledge shared the Light ineffable. 
A strength of the original Permanence 
Entangled in the moment and its flow, 
He kept the vision of the Vasts behind: 
A power was in him from the Unknowable. 
An archivist of the symbols of the Beyond, 
A treasurer of superhuman dreams,
He bore the stamp of mighty memories 
And shed their grandiose ray on human life.
His days were a long growth to the Supreme. 
[ SAVITRI. BOOK I: The Book of Beginnings, Canto Three
The Yoga of the King.Page - 22. ].
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Immeasurable by the common look, 
He made great dreams a mould for coming things 
And cast his deeds like bronze to front the years. 
His walk through Time outstripped the human stride. 
Lonely his days and splendid like the sun’s.
[ Savitri. BOOK I: The Book of Beginnings. CANTO III: The Yoga of the Soul’s Release. Page 45.]
He knew the source from which his spirit came:
Movement was married to the immobile Vast; 
He plunged his roots into the In?nite, 
He based his life upon eternity.
[ Savitri. BOOK I: The Book of Beginnings. CANTO III: The Yoga of the Soul’s Release. Page 34. ]
His soul lived as eternity’s delegate, 
His mind was like a fire assailing heaven,
His will a hunter in the trails of light. 
An ocean impulse lifted every breath; 
Each action left the footprints of a god, 
Each moment was a beat of puissant wings. 
[ SAVITRI. BOOK I: The Book of Beginnings 
CANTO III: The Yoga of the Soul’s Release ].
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He who would save the race must share its pain: 
This he shall know who obeys that grandiose urge.
The Great who came to save this suffering world 
And rescue out of Time’s shadow and the Law, 
Must pass beneath the yoke of grief and pain; 
They are caught by the Wheel that they had hoped to break, 
On their shoulders they must bear man’s load of fate. 
Heaven’s riches they bring, their sufferings count the price 
Or they pay the gift of knowledge with their lives. 
The Son of God born as the Son of man 
Has drunk the bitter cup, owned Godhead’s debt, 
The debt the Eternal owes to the fallen kind 
His will has bound to death and struggling life 
That yearns in vain for rest and endless peace.
Now is the debt paid, wiped off the original score. 
The Eternal suffers in a human form, 
He has signed salvation’s testament with his blood:
He has opened the doors of his undying peace.
The Deity compensates the creature’s claim, 
The Creator bears the law of pain and death;
A retribution smites the incarnate God. 
His love has paved the mortal’s road to Heaven: 
He has given his life and light to balance here 
The dark account of mortal ignorance. 
[ SAVITRI.BOOK VI: The Book of Fate
CANTO II: The Way of Fate and the Problem of Pain Page 445 ].
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It is finished, the dread mysterious sacrifice, 
Offered by God’s martyred body for the world; 
Gethsemane and Calvary are his lot, 
He carries the cross on which man’s soul is nailed; 
His escort is the curses of the crowd; 
Insult and jeer are his right’s acknowledgment; 
Two thieves slain with him mock his mighty death. 
He has trod with bleeding brow the Saviour’s way.
He who has found his identity with God
Pays with the body’s death his soul’s vast light. 
His knowledge immortal triumphs by his death. 
[ SAVITRI.BOOK VI: The Book of Fate
CANTO II: The Way of Fate and the Problem of Pain Page 445 ]
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But when God’s messenger comes to help the world
And lead the soul of earth to higher things, 
He too must carry the yoke he came to unloose;
He too must bear the pang that he would heal: 
Exempt and unafflicted by earth’s fate, 
How shall he cure the ills he never felt? 
He covers the world’s agony with his calm; 
But though to the outward eye no sign appears 
And peace is given to our torn human hearts, 
The struggle is there and paid the unseen price; 
The fire, the strife, the wrestle are within.
He carries the suffering world in his own breast;
Its sins weigh on his thoughts, its grief is his: 
Earth’s ancient load lies heavy on his soul; 
Night and its powers beleaguer his tardy steps, 
The Titan adversary’s clutch he bears; 
His march is a battle and a pilgrimage. 
Life’s evil smites, he is stricken with the world’s pain:
A million wounds gape in his secret heart. 
[ SAVITRI. BOOK VI: The Book of Fate 
CANTO II: The Way of Fate and the Problem of Pain Page 448 ].