Pedda Mamayya and his last journey

Pedda Mamayya (My Eldest Maternal Uncle) was a man full of energy. At the age of 75, he would put many youngsters half his age to shame with his stamina and enthusiasm. He was always a busy man, doing something or the other. He would never take rest except for sleep in the night. Words like ‘No’, ‘Never’, ‘Impossible’ were not in his dictionary. He was a popular figure in his area. People around his place lovingly called him ‘Ayya Garu’. He had built a Sai Baba Temple near his house and many people visit the temple daily and do bhajan’s in the evening.

Since the year 2003, when we came to Bangalore on transfer from Delhi, our visits to his house in Julepalle, Nandyal had increased. We used to visit his house at the drop of the hat. All my family members liked his house and longed to go there at some pretext or the other.

During one such visit to his place, I and my cousin brother were doing Yoga and Pranayama in the evening time in the garden area that surrounded his house. He came and sat near us and watched us doing Pranayama. After seeing us sweating it out for around half an hour, he said ‘if you guys do the work I say, you will never need this yoga and Pranayama for keeping you fit’. We asked him about the work he wanted us to do excitedly. Then he showed us a piece of land in the garden area and said, ‘I have got this land cleaned of wild grass some time ago, but the grass has grown again. It will be a good exercise for you to clean this piece of land and remove all the wild grass that has come up again’. We were taken aback and wondered whether we could do the work he has assigned to us. The ladies of the house advised us against venturing into the work. Some of them said that Pedda Mamayya would have said it in a jocular vein. But then he said, ‘you are young people and you should not think twice about doing such jobs. Anyway if are not willing to take up the job, then leave it, I will engage some labourers to do the job’. It then became a prestige issue for us and we toiled hard all morning to complete the job. We were completely exhausted and it needed a full day’s rest for us to come back to our normal routine. We then thought that perhaps this positive attitude towards life, his enthusiasm and energy were the secrets of his good health even at that age. Pedda Mamayya was relatively free of any disease as compared to many men of his age. He would cycle around the surrounding villages for every work. We had celebrated his 75th birthday last year and we all thought he would go on for another 10 years like our grandmother who lived up to the age of 86.

But that was not to be. On 16-06-2007, destiny took its toll and he breathed his last leaving all of us grief struck. I went to his place the next morning and saw his body lying on the floor. Many people had gathered around his body and all were wailing. I could see his face which was looking very calm. He seemed to be at peace with himself.
The dead man does not grieve. The survivors grieve for him’ I remembered Bhagawan’s words.

It appeared that Pedda Mamayya was in a deep sleep. I felt as if he would get up some time later. As Bhagawan had said ‘Death is a long sleep’. I then realized that Pedda Mamayya is not going to get up and physical body has completed his tenure on this earth. Tears came rolling down my eyes and I was weeping like a child. Some time later I remembered Bhagawan’s words again:-

‘Grief exists only so long as one believes oneself to be of a definite form. If the form is transcended one would realize oneself to be eternal, having neither the birth nor death. That which is born is only the body. The ego that grieves must die’

During the last rituals, his body resembled a lifeless statue. It was as if some body had taken out the air of energy and the enthusiasm from his body he once possessed. A variety of rituals were being performed to his body and I was standing in a corner watching it all. I kept on remembering Bhagawan’s words:-

‘That which is born must die. Whose is the birth? Were you born? How do birth and death affect the eternal Self?

Hundreds of people from the surrounding villages had gathered around the place to have a last look of the man whom they fondly called as ‘Ayya’. After several rituals, his body was placed on to a bamboo bed which was to be taken to the burial ground. The bamboo bed was lifted by a few men and the journey to the burial ground had begun in a procession. Many people joined the funeral procession and I too joined it.

His body was being carried turn by turn by many people. People from all religions, castes and creed had come to bid a final good bye to the man whom they respected a lot. I was surprised to see so many people at his funeral procession. We all knew that Pedda Mamayya was a popular figure in his place, but we never expected such a large turnout during his last journey.

During the procession, people were expressing a variety of emotions. Some were crying and expressing their great loss and some were praising his worldly acts. Some people called him a living God. A young boy was seen pouring buckets of water on his body before he came running to give his shoulder to carry the bamboo bed on which Pedda Mamayya’s body was lying still, unmindful of the noise and the wailing around him.

The funeral procession finally reached the burial ground. Pedda Mamayya’s body was kept on the wooden pyre that was ready. Amidst the chanting of sacred mantras, the funeral pyre was lit by his eldest son. The entire wooden pyre was engulfed by fire. Within minutes, the body of the great man was burnt to ashes. Pedda Mamayya’s earthly journey had ended and journey to the heavenly abode had begun.

While returning back, I remembered Bhagawan’s words, ‘in the long sleep we call death, instead of feeling happier still for the departed beloved who enjoys it, we put on long faces and mourn, the irrationality of our behavior would appear ludicrous to the man of wisdom.’ How true were these words I said to myself. Pedda Mamayya had lived a life which was full of purpose and service. I said to myself that I will not mourn his death but feel happy about the fact that he has passed away peacefully without becoming a burden on people around him by falling ill and getting confined to bed. His energetic figure and his forceful voice would always come to mind whenever any body thought of him. That itself is a great achievement, I said to myself.

Bhagawan had said that ‘the body is a troublesome over growth which has been superimposed on human beings.’

As S.S. Cohen has explained:-
‘The body which has life and intelligence, thinks, feels, loves, wills, acts with which we establish a relationship such as father, son, husband, wife, friend, uncle etc. The body devoid of intelligence can perform none of the functions and when life withdraws from it, it remains an effete matter fit for cremation.

What death destroys is only the form. So long as we attach ourselves to the form, we continue to feel the sting of death. Once we come to know that the form is not the person who has died, we will be able to transcend grief and in fact death itself. This mental training would not only kill all sorrow at bereavements, but also reveal the truth of our immortality.’

We came back to the house from the burial ground only to find a house which had fallen silent. The next few days were very tough on me. I could see the images of Pedda Mamayya in every nook and corner of his house. He was such a towering figure. He was present everywhere: in the hall, in the kitchen, in the temple and in the garden. Although we could not hear his voice now (which was so loud some times that a person on the next street could hear him), I could feel his presence everywhere. His loud voice kept on ringing in my ears.

I began to ponder over the future of the temple project he had undertaken and which could not be completed by him during his life time. Who will complete his unfinished task ? I questioned myself. But then as Bhagawan has said:-

As long as you feel yourself the doer of action so long you are bound to enjoy its fruits. But if you find out whose karma it is, you will see that you are not the doer. Then you will be free’

I then got the answer for my question. I returned to Bangalore the next day.