##20 (Vivekananda) The Master's Last Days Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

One day, there came a scholar
And advised the Master,
“For your self-cure, concentrate
Steadily on your bad throat.”

This would mean diversion
Of his mind from God then,
Switching over to his body,
For which he wasn’t ready.

When Narendra persisted,
To Mother Kali, Guru prayed,
Just to satisfy his disciple,
And it was not fruitful.

What was Mother’s advice,
He told the worried disciples,
“To eat thro’ your mouths,
Mother gave me her orders.”

Here, the principles of Vedanta
Was quoted by Ramakrishna,
That God pervaded all souls,
To prove oneness of existence.

In Ramakrishna’s opinion,
This was the true realization
To overcome the pain
Or suffering by anyone.

The advance stage of disease
Made his condition serious,
And he looked like a skeleton
Just covered by a thin skin.

As he couldn’t even whisper,
He had to write on paper,
That all his acquired powers
Would work thro’ his disciples.

Was Guru God incarnate?
Narendra still had this doubt.
Guru told him, “Rama and Krishna
Both are in me as Ramakrishna.”

Thus, Guru himself declared
That he came to this world
As God-man to guide the people
And make them more spiritual.

On 16th August,1886, morn
Ramakrishna, the Holy-man,
Entered the heavenly abode,
Leaving this material world.

A week thereafter they saw,
A luminous figure, with awe,
Not merely as an illusion,
But actually in their vision..