Swamishri was travelling in southern Gujarat when he arrived in the village of Kapura on 28 September 1978. The previous few days had been rough. On the previous day, Swamishri had travelled through numerous villages while observing a waterless fast and had not had a chance to fully recover from this exertion. In any case, the schedule continued. Swamishri was at Sumanbhai Bhakta’s house and an assembly was underway. As Viveksagar Swami was speaking to the audience, Swamishri sat peacefully turning his mala. The other sadhus started noticing a change of expression on Swamishri’s face. He skin was changing colour and he looked really uneasy. Swamishri looked like he was going to collapse. As he spoke, Viveksagar Swami noticed this and in mid-speech put his hand on Swamishri’s wrist to check his temperature. To his surprise, Swamishri’s body was very hot.
Viveksagar Swami immediately ended the assembly and helped to get Swamishri to Jitubhai Shah’s house. The sadhus helped Swamishri get to his room on the second floor. As soon as they brought Swamishri to the bed, he fell onto it, exhausted. A doctor was summoned, and in the meantime he was given some medicine, but his condition seemed to deteriorate by the minute. He was barely conscious when he started mumbling instructions. The sadhus tried to listen and make out his words. After a few minutes they realized what he was saying, “I hope Sumanbhai’s father is not offended. I wanted to stay for the whole assembly. I didn’t want to finish it early. We didn’t get to go to Mahendrabhai’s house. He has come all the way from Madhi.”
Swamishri was so drained from the fever that he couldn’t even turn in bed. At around 11:30 a.m. Swamishri mustered every ounce of strength in his body to sit up and said, “Have you prepared Thakorji’s meal? Make sure you offer the thal on time.”
Swamishri only lay down again after receiving a confirmation from the sadhus.
From the start until the end of this incident, Swamishri hadn’t uttered a single word about himself or his discomfort.
In the following days, Dr Ramanbhai Patel of Bardoli treated Swamishri for jaundice.
Also, Swamishri was suffering pain from a gum abscess. Shri Labhshankarbhai, an experienced dentist from Rajkot, had come for Swamishri’s darshan in Sankari. Upon hearing of Swamishri’s dental pain he decided to take a look at it. As Labhshankarbhai opened Swamishri’s mouth and gently touched the gums, a stream of pus oozed out. Labhshankarbhai was amazed by Swamishri’s threshold for pain, commenting, “Only Swamishri can tolerate so much.”
Swamishri never complains about physical ailments. He endures them with a smile and without as much as a sigh. |