Last Days of Acharya Dharmanand Kosambi at Sevagram Ashram

 

A Stay  that Sanctified Sevagram Ashram

Or

 Last days of Dharmanand Kosambi

 

                                                                                                                   Siby K. Joseph

Acharya Dharmanand Kosambi had a long association with Mahatma Gandhi and his work and actions. The first meeting between the two took place as early as 1916. Acharya Kripalani was instrumental in introducing Kosambi to Gandhi.  Gandhi always talked about Prof. Dharmanand Kosambi with high esteem. Once Gandhi brought into  notice  of Kosambi that “you are a great scholar of Buddhist literature”.  His response was that “you are the one who understands its essence; I am only a carrier!”.  This shows his very nature  despite the fact that  he was an erudite scholar and authority on Buddhism  and Pali language . In fact this nature was very much embedded in his personality. He joined the Civil disobedience movement in 1930 and was imprisoned. He also served Gujarat Vidyapith, a university founded by Mahatma himself. In September 1946 it was brought into the notice of Gandhi   that Dharmanand Kosambi who was at an ashram near Gorakhpur was fasting unto death when he was not physically fit to carry on his work. Gandhi immediately wrote to  him asking him to stop the fasting and followed it up with telegrams to the head of the ashram. In response to Gandhi’s request he gave up his fast on 23rd of September. He also moved to Gandhi’s ashram at Sevagram as desired by Gandhi.  

In Sevagram, he cheerfully underwent all physical sufferings including skin trouble. He considered it as an opportunity to test his endurance. On Vinoba Bhave’s advice he was on a reduced diet at Sevagram.  Finally on 4 May 4, 1947 he decided to stop taking any food at all and embrace death peacefully. Understanding  the precarious situation Kosambi was facing  this time Gandhi also agreed to his fasting . Gandhi wrote  to Balvantsinha, Manager of the Ashram :“Kosambiji may live on water, if he cannot digest any food whatever. If he cannot take even water, then, of course, there is no help and the body will slowly die. Inner peace being established, there remains nothing more to be achieved. However, do as Vinoba says.”

  Balvantsinha in his book  Under the shelter of Bapu  graphically explains  his  last days at Sevagram Ashram in the chapter. “Prof. Dharmananda Kosambi”  In the words of Balvantsinha, “He looked on death which was fast approaching with the same unconcern that one looks at a person standing before him. He even talked to us about it and gave us minute directions to be carried out at the different stages of his coming end.”  It was mainly due to  Kosambi’s meditational practices and his Sadhana. Kosambi himself recounted his experience of such matters to Balvantsinha .“The peace that I am experiencing now is to be attributed to this sadhana which I undertook years ago. A man is put to the final test at the time of his death. If he has truly performed any sadhana and achieved detachment and inner peace, it is bound to stand him in good stead at the time of his greatest need, and he will be enabled to leave behind his earthly body peacefully. We should not try to do anything for the sake of mere fame. All our efforts should be directed to the cultivation and enrichment of noble qualities.”

Kosambi was thankful to Gandhi for undergoing this ordeal at Sevagram Ashram.“I am glad that, through Bapu’s kindness, I had this opportunity of testing my endurance. It has been a severe trial but I think I have stood it well. It gives me delight to suffer from this skin trouble which is bothering me now. This present attitude of mine is due to Bapuji’s thought for me. He should be pleased to see me courting death in this way knowing that one of his humble devotees is successfully braving a severe ordeal and struggling through it with calm determination. I must add, however, that God only knows how I will face it at the last moment.” When all these matters were reported to Gandhi by Balvantsinha, his reaction was that “I have no doubt whatsoever that his stay in the Ashram has sanctified it.”

 

As desired by Kosambi, Balvantsinha  wrote  another letter  to Bapu  in which he shared the details and the manner in which Kosambi   wanted  his  funeral to be carried out in a frugal manner.  In his reply Gandhi  said “I do not remember anyone having written to me on this subject, viz. the manner of the disposal of the dead body before actual death. Kosambiji is the first person to have done so.” Gandhi  shared his views on this matter suggesting cremation. Further Gandhi said “ I have now to request him to forget about such matters and concentrate on withdrawing himself into a state of inner concentration whether the body subsists a little longer or withers away soon.”

 

Kishorlal  Mashruwala who was away from  the ashram  at that time and supposed to be back in  June  wrote to Balvantsinha bowing his head from afar. “Have you read his Aapaviti? It is well worth reading. It records the history of what a daring seeker after truth is willing to do; what suffering he willingly submits to in order to attain his cherished goal. And then he does something more, namely, distributes to others in the world the useful knowledge he had acquired. Kosambiji has placed before us the choicest gems from a vast treasure. He is a saint, and when I say that, I am not using the term in a conventional manner, as applied to anybody whom we want to praise, but am merely stating a fact.”

 

On the 3rd of June Kosambi felt that  he may die and asked Balvantsinha, to be him till 12 night. Balvantsinha depicts the last moments of his life as follows:”As requested by him I remained awake on that night. When it was past 12 he told me: “You may now sleep. I shall not die tonight.” So I left him and went to sleep. When I went to him in the morning, I found him in a cheerful mood. At about 12 noon, he said that he was now about to depart. At 2 p.m., he drank a little water and asked me to open all the doors, as though someone had come to carry him away and the doors had to be kept open for them to pass out. He had never before requested me to keep the doors open. The throb of life in his body gradually slackened and he expired exactly at 2-30. Between the moment till which he continued to speak in full consciousness and the time he drew his last breath, there was not more than ten minutes’ interval.”  

It   was the first death in the eleven years history of Sevagram Ashram. The cremation took place at 5 p.m.under the guidance of Acharya Vinoba  Bhave who chanted Vedic Mantras.  Kakasaheb Kalekar who came to visit him was also present on the occasion along with ashramites and others.   Balvantsinha’s describes it as follows “It was an inspiring sight-one of solemn splendour. Kosambiji’s death was as noble as his life had been.” Gandhi  was in full agreement with this  and said “ It was exactly as Kabir described in the following couplet: The servant Kabir says: Although we wear this sheet with ever so much care, it has to be given up even as it is. If we can all befriend Death in this manner, it would be to the good of India.”

 Gandhi in a Speech at Prayer Meeting in New Delhi on the very next day said “We are so made that we raise to the skies anyone who goes about beating his own drum and indulges in political acrobatics but fail to appreciate the silent worker.

Kosambiji was one such silent worker. He was born in a village. He was a Hindu by birth, but he had come to believe that no other religion, not even the Vedic religion, gave as much importance to non-violence, piety, etc., as Buddhism did. So he embraced Buddhism and gave himself up to the study of Buddhist scriptures. He acquired such proficiency in the subject that he had no equal in India in scholarship. He taught Pali at the Gujarat Vidyapith and the Kashi Vidyapith and freely gave of his profound learning.

He commanded his son and others not to come to him. He left instructions that no memorial should be set up after his death. He also expressed the desire that he should be cremated or buried according to whichever was cheaper. Thus, with the name of the Buddha on his lips he passed into that final sleep which is to be the estate, one day or another, of all who are born .”

 The well opened by Kosambi  on May 22 at the agricultural field  at the Sevagram ashram stands as a memorial to him. The original  plaque  which was  kept after after his death  carried the following words“ In holy memory of Shri  Dharmanand Kosambi whose life was like pristine pure water and who took a short break from Death’s presence, whom he had invited to be his guest by undertaking a fast on the 4^th of May, to bless this well.” Balvantsinha, knowing  Kosambi's  love for construction of wells  carried him to the well on a stretcher when  he expressed a wish to see the well which was under construction. That is how the foundation stone ceremony took place. The well and  the adjacent  agricultural field  carry the name of Kosambi even today .

 In Sevagram Ashram the last residence of Gandhi in which Dharmanand Kosambi spent his last days  and the place where his mortal remains were kept in Sevagram are places of pilgrimage for those who want to pay tribute to a great scholar and practitioner of Buddhism.

 Note: This article was written on the occasion  of 77 death anniversary of Acharya Dharmanand Kosambi 

 About the Author 

  Dr. Siby K. Joseph is Director,  Sri Jamnalal Bajaj Memorial Library and Research Centre for Gandhian Studies, Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan, Sevagram,Wardha- 442102,  Maharashtra  (INDIA) Email: directorjbmlrc@gmail.com