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Pandit Guru Datta lay prostate on his
sick
bed. Though he
was as calm as ever, yet life was slowly ebbing away. There was no
help. No one could interfere with God's ways. He must go, his
Father is waiting him. He is already beckoning him to come to him.
He must obey his Heavenly Father's summons. And our Pandit is
not sorry. Why should he be sorry. Is he not going to join his
Divine Father. While all around are shedding bitter tears of grief,
while the heart rending cries of the mother are rending the air,
while the children's eyes are bedimmed with tears, Pandit Guru
Datta is smiling thinking not of the cares and anxieties of the world.
His is not of this world and so he does not regret leaving it.
Rather he is glad, for who does not rejoice to go back to his home.
He has been absent so long. He must hasten now. The day wore
on, the pain became almost unbearable, but our hero did not utter
any complaint. The shadows of the night began to fall. The anxiety
of his friends is increasing. Will he be spared to us, they seem to
question each other. Is our dear Pandit passing away. Yes, he is
passing away and there is no power that now can give him back to
us. The midnight hour struck twelve. Now life began to fast ebb
away. Pulse was felt every five minutes. Every hope was lost now.
Suddenly the Pandit turned round on his bed and began to recite
Vedic Mantras and then asked his friend Bhagat Remal Das to recite
the
Ishopanishad
to him. Amidst the chanting of the mantras and
the singing of Bhajans, time passed on.
One, two, three, four, five, six. It was morning again. The
morning of 19th of March. It was the last day of Pandit Guru Datta's
sojourn on this earth. At 7 A.M. he breathed his last. He died
almost in seconds. With his death, a star of the first magnitude
disappeared from the horizon of the Arya Samaj, leaving an
impenetrable gloom behind.
The Arya Patrika had a long and touching obituary notice
under the heading "Our Loss:"39
"A man, an uncommon man, a man extraordinary, a true,
deep and profound Sanskrit scholar, a true descendant of the
ancient Rishis has passed away. Pandit Guru Datta Vidyarthi, the
pride and ornament of the Arya Samaj, the pride and ornament of
his country, the pride of all who value truth and knowledge for
their sake, is no more among us. Yes, that noble soul is no more in
the flesh. We miss him all, young and old, aye, we cannot yet
xt.
v
i