What I did for my grandmother's final moments
My own experience and Hindu rituals on death
Mrtyu - death, in Sanskrit. It is an inevitable fact of this human incarnation. And the whole of Hindu tradition and spirituality leads us to realise ourselves beyond the cycle of birth and death.
Yet there are certain very specified cosmic laws around death that we have lost with modern civilisation. Another massive loss of colonisation.
It is a spiritual truth, that we are not our body - we are Atma.
And the Atma moves from one body to another, or it achieves Moksha (liberation) where it merges with the Paramatma and no longer has to reincarnate.
The Hindu rituals around death and ancestral rituals (shraddh) are easily the most crucial for the well-being of any person or family born into a Hindu lineage.
And so it is no coincidence that this is one of the most neglected areas.
It’s a two fold thing.
Yes, you can cure cancer with natural medicine. You should do everything that you can to manifest health if you have someone with chronic illness. Because your mind is the most powerful thing, as well as our ancient traditions that the Vedic Rishis outlined so many thousands of years ago.
At the same time, if it is clear that someone is departing or may depart soon, it becomes crucial to have the correct knowledge so you can give their Atma the best transition and peace.
Though I will elaborate on Pitru Dosh (ancestral curses from half done passing or ancestral rituals) at the end, let me first talk about what I did for my grandma (dadi).
Aum Shanti
Meeting my grandma in the ICU
It was the day after Dusshera that I booked by flight to Ahmedabad. I knew that my paternal Grandma was in the ICU and prayed that she stay around until then. She did, thankfully. For two entire days. Two days can be a lot, you know?
Though some of my people told me, why are you preparing for death? She is still alive, I was already intuitively gathering knowledge from my intuition.
Here are some things I did whilst she was in the hospital to give her peace. If you have been in any ICU or hospital, it can be such a dense and heavy place. Although it is thanks to the modern medical technology she could stay alive for so long, on the oxygen machine; the spiritual energy in a hospital can really induce a lot of suffering on a human. We will dive into natural health cures and healing later.
Practices I did just before she left earth
First thing I did was get a Tibetan sound healing bowl and play it for her. I played the bowl and moved it across her body so that any disturbed vibrations may be dissolved. This helped her with calm - as everything is vibration, suffering too.
I got Chandan from Kashi and applied it on her head whilst she was still breathing with ‘brahma murari’ shloka to give her peace in the 9 grahas (planets).
I placed a blue kyanite on her bed because blue kyanite is one such crystal which doesn’t need to be cleansed and helps with the fear of death.
Apart from this, I also felt called to give her my Celestite crystal which connects a person to their angels and guides and opens up the portals to higher dimensional communication. When I held the Celestite in my hand (the 2nd day, a few hours before she passed), and meditated - I had a strong feeling that the biggest trauma she carries in her energy is having to forcefully move from Karachi (when Pakistan was formed and our land was taken from Hindus), and so I blew some positive affirmations on the crystal and tapped it on her temples for healing. Trauma, of course, can be carried throughout lifetimes.
I also applied nice lavender essential oil with 17 types of lavender that I got from England, onto her wrists and temples. This also helps a lot with calm and aromatherapy directly impacts a persons energy system and pulse points. I remember her smiling when I stood in front of her also and she even opened her eyes and smiled at me though her eyes were previously closed.
On the Monday, I had an intuitive call to make offerings for her health in Kashi Vishwanath main temple and also in Atma Vireshwar where my ancestral pandits also stay. It was a very beautiful moment, where Panditji did Rudra Abhishek for her on video call and she listened to the mantras and Mahamrityunja Mantra chanted for her life. And so Mahadev gave her a great deal of Shanti in her final moments and I am sure Kashi Vishwanath has taken care of her in the spirit world.
Played the Hanuman Chalisa
Put a picture of Kashi Vishwanath and showed her the picture when her eyes were semi open, because if one cannot die in Kashi at least they should be able to see Kashi. Kashi is the land of Moksha. I also placed a picture of girnar and our Nagar Brahmin ancestral saint Shri Narsi Mehta there in the hospital and showed her this too.
The last and most important thing, when a person is dying, if in their last breaths you put Gangajal and Tulsi on their tongue, they achieve liberation. If they chant the name of Narayana when dying, they attain Vishnu Loka. And so even hearing the name of Narayana as they pass is very important.
Though I can’t describe the exact moment that she passed, well essentially - she was taken in the ambulance from the ICU to the house where she resides. It was all very surreal, like a slow motion movie. Yet I was fairly calm inside. I reached there and asked, is she still breathing? And I was told she is still breathing, so I removed my Rudraksh and all the malas because you are not supposed to wear if someone dies. By the time I quickly removed it and returned to her bedside room, I can’t say if she was still breathing or her breath had already left her body. Maybe I will never know exactly. But I spontaneously started chanting Aum Namo Bhavagate Vasudevaya. Perhaps she was waiting for me and my mum to arrive there before she finally left her body in peace. Because she left just minutes after I arrived to her room. I do wish that I could have chanted in her ear, but I guess - you can’t do everything. Maybe I was a bit late to arrive. But I still managed to see her for two days and grateful that I was able to share some happiness in her final moments which can truly be terrifying for a human being if left alone.
Please write if you have questions on any of the above, the tools I used etc - I already have another article on blue lotus extract.
The second part of this article will be on the Hindu rituals related to death, just after a person has died and the 13 day process for the departed soul to gain proper peace and become a Pitru (ancestor) - when neglected, this has harsh consequences. So stay tuned for this as well.
Overall, I will carry with me the moment that she smiled at me through the ventilator and opened her eyes when I played music and did healing.
The purpose of this article was to share for others, hence I’m not writing much about my internal experience, grandma’s life or stories. But I will share in due course.
Thank you all for your prayers and support for the Atma Shanti of my Dadi Maa.
Much love to you all.
Aum Namo Narayana