Swami Prashantananda passed away at about 2.30 p.m. today.
He had a stroke some months back which had left him paralysed on one side and almost in coma.
He was a stubborn, jovial, little monk.
His stubbornness sometime bordered on asinineity but he chose to remain so at those times and true to form never changed his course of action.
His Resolute Determination was the foundation on which the Rural Services of the Trivandrum Ramakrishna Mission rests.
These Rural Services were started by Swami Nirmalananda from Nettayam in 1935 and was continued up to 1942 by Swami Tapasyananda & Swami Visadananda and other monks. Then it ceased till Swami Golokananda revived it in a new format in 1983. It was left to the charge of Swamis Srinathananda & Shakrananda to take the project forward. The details of it fell to the lot of Swami Prashantananda who laid the solid foundations and built upon it an edifice which remains strong and goes well.
His stubborn determination had shown itself earlier during his early years in the monastery and his years in Madras Math. I will narrate a delightful anecdote at the end.
There are hundreds and hundreds of poor or needy people who were benefited by the service activities he so determinedly carried out here. They all remember him with gratitude.
His days as head of Thrissur Math mostly showed his asinine determination.
He was a good speaker and writer in Malayalam. He often wrote under the pseudonym Ramesh.
He was jovial to death. He carried his jokes till the day of his stroke.
About his being a little monk he had a retort which I shall keep for another day. That day I shall also narrate other anecdotes.
A part of his legacy is in my charge now. I was his successor to the Rural Services.
My pranams to his memory. Let me go and bow to his mortal remains now.
Hari Om Ramakrishna !
Part 2 :
The form which hitherto went by the name Swami Prashantananda is now in memory. The remnant of remains is still aflame ... Let the memory speak while still afresh ....
Part 2 :
The form which hitherto went by the name Swami Prashantananda is now in memory. The remnant of remains is still aflame ... Let the memory speak while still afresh ....
The night before last night (10 March) the Swami had some convulsions. Monks & some devotees gathered by his bedside and started chanting & bhajans. While Nama sankirtan was going on, his hands and feet were moving slightly as if keeping the beat and his head too moved in tandem. This coming after about six months of coma like state was really a remarkable occurance. Then he went back to the coma like state again. He breathed his last today afternoon at 2.30 p.m.....
The pyre is still aflame.
.... The form was small but the self occupying it had a strong & substantial 'I'. If some contemporary mentioned about his short stature, he would give a retort that would be both sharp but rich in wit. His Malayalam in this case is beyond translation.
Once a great spiritual luminary of Kerala experienced the sharpness of his wit.
I will narrate it later.
The remnants of the remains are still stubbornly aflame. .....
Hari Om Ramakrishna !
