Papaji’s Final Days

Papaji passed away on September 6,1997 in a Lucknow hospital, having succumbed to what the doctors there called ‘acute respiratory failure.’

Papaji had led an independent, active life until the late 1980s. He travelled extensively and at age seventy-five, could still carry his own heavy luggage when neccessary. It was in the 80s, while living in his Lucknow home, the side-effects of his late-onset diabetes began to catch up with him. The motor nerves in his legs began to deteriorate to the point where they affected his mobility. The long walks, which had been a daily feature of his life, became shorter and shorter. In the early 1980s he was still capable of enjoying an eight-mile walk. By the early 1990s he was down to one or two miles and in the months preceding his passing away, he was finding it a struggle to complete any distance longer than 100 yards.

In 1989 he went into a diabetic coma and had to be hospitalised. Prior to this incident he had always made a full recovery from his various ailments, but this particular episode marked a turning point in his physical capabilities since it signalled the beginning of a slow physical decline, with no return to the vigour and vitality he had exhibited throughout his life. Recognising that he could no longer lead a peripatetic life or even travel independently, he settled down in Lucknow. For the first time in his life he allowed visitors to come to see him without a prior invitation, and he also permitted them to stay as long as they wished. His forced immobility and the relaxed visiting rules inevitably resulted in a major new influx of visitors, some of whom ended up staying in Lucknow for years.

In September, 1990, he moved from Narhi to Indira Nagar, a suburb of Lucknow, occupying a house that was owned by Usha, his daughter-in-law. For about a year and a half satsangs took place every day in the front room of this house, but when this room became overcrowded, the satsangs were moved to another rented house, located about one kilometre away, that eventually became known as Satsang Bhavan. Visitors continued to pour in, many of them attracted by rumours of a man who could give the direct experience that many long-time seekers were striving for. 

By the middle of 1992 the large L-shaped living room could no longer contain the crowds, many of whom were current or former Osho sannyasins from Pune. A new annex was added to Satsang Bhavan that accommodated about 200 people comfortably. Initially. Papaji gave satsang in this new building six mornings a week, but from early 1993 until 1997 his schedule was reduced to five days a week. Dealing with such large numbers of people put a major strain on his aging body, and his devotees felt that he needed days off to rest and recuperate. Often he would come home from satsang utterly exhausted and spend several hours lying in bed. However, except for the occasional holiday and brief bouts of sickness, he continued to make himself available for the public satsangs until about two weeks before his passing away.

On August 31st, Papaji experienced severe breathing difficulties and when he didn’t respond to treatment at home, he was taken to Sanjay Gandi Hospital in Lucknow. Although the doctors put him on ventilators and breathing machines as well as medications, his condition worsened. 

Papaji died around 11 p.m. on 6th September, 1997. When the doctors realised that their hospital would be swamped by hundreds of grieving devotees if they didn’t expedite all the paperwork connected with the handing over of the body, they cut through a lot of the usual red tape and released the body within an hour. It was brought to Satsang Bhavan where it was laid out in front of the chair in which Papaji usually gave satsang. It remained there from about 1.30 a.m. until noon the following day, when it was taken to his Indira Nagar home for a ceremonial bath. Shortly afterwards it was carried in a procession to Satsang Bhavan, and then driven to the cremation ghat on the banks of the River Gomti. At 2 p.m. his body was cremated. Three days later some of his ashes were taken to Hardwar and ceremonially immersed in the Ganga at Har-ki- Pairi by Surendra, his son. Surendra permitted all the devotees who attended the cremation to take some of the ashes for themselves, and at the ceremony at Har-ki-Pairi, he allowed all the devotees who attended to take some of the ashes he had brought with him and immerse them in the river.

Satsang Bhavan remains open for devotees who wish to visit and sit in the meditation hall where Papaji taught.

Excerpt from soon-to-be-published Papaji’s Final Years by David Godman