The skies were overcast in London. The gathering in the hall stood in silence as a Brahmin priest read out the last rites. The face of Mateshwari was uncovered.
Suddenly, the skies appeared to part above, the clouds scattered, and rays of light entered through a skylight above and fell directly on Mateshwari’s face.
The gathering was stunned. Mr. Leverton, who was about to take a last photograph, and whose flash bulb had failed, found a glorious moment in the brilliance of the light, and took the photograph.
It cannot be called a chance, he said later, it was heavenly light!
Mateshwari’s brother, Sri Krishen Khanna was present on the occasion. He had been informed of Mateshwari’s illness in India, and he had sent a cable to Shri Nathji: Pray save Sister. My only wish in Life!
He had fallen down at Shri Nathji’s feet in London and wept copiously: Didn’t you get my telegram? he said.
On an impulse, Priya Nath had said to Shri Nathji, just before the cremation: Pitaji, why don’t you bring Mo back to life?
Shri Nathji stood in silence, lost in a deep meditation. Everything that was happening was part of a divine plan. Shri Nathji was watching his play unfold itself before his eyes like everyone else.
Our firm belief Mateshwari immortal, a telegram arrived from Akola.
She has shattered the boundaries of the flesh and merged into your divine self completely, wrote Mateshwari’s elder sister, Vidyavati, from Bombay.
Said Shri Nathji:
Mateshwari, who was the Divine Mother of all, and particularly of her poor children in India, has now mingled into the vastness of the Universe; her existence can be felt in each and every particle, each and every leaf, in all the rivers and streams, in all the mountains and the lands that exist. Anyone who prays to her shall find her always at his side; anyone who has firm faith in her shall find the path to salvation.
On the physical plane, however, the human form of Mateshwari no longer existed. Shri Nathji, stood pensively, like Lord Rama when Sita Maharani had left the earth, and said:
Mateshwari is gone. Now I am all alone.
Priya Nath heard these words and immediately made up his mind that he would remain with Shri Nathji all his life.
He had a teaching job in America that began in the new semester. He also had a green card to stay there indefinitely. However, not caring for these things, he sent the institution a cable, submitting his resignation and decided to quit America.
Priya Nath’s uncle, Sri Krishen, said to him:
Why must you quit your job in America permanently? People in India thirst for jobs there! There is no one so highly educated as yourself in both our families.”
And Priya Nath said to his uncle:
If you will heed my advice, you too, should quit your job and serve Shri Nathji, now that Mateshwari is gone.
Sri Krishen had great faith in Shri Nathji and regarded him as the Emperor of the world. His sister’s death in no way shook his faith. He had been through numerous difficult moments in life on the strength of his faith. In 1943 at Dilaram Estate in Mussoorie, he had sat at the door of Shri Nathji for long periods of time, his forehead on the doorstep.
He had three children, all of whom had passed away in accidents one after another. His father, Lala Hargopal Khanna, passed away in his presence. And many of his dear friends left the world when he was with them. But this last blow was the most tragic of all – the passing away of Mateshwari.
This is the greatest shock of my life, he said.
Sri Krishen had always been very attached to Mateshwari since the days of their youth, and regarded her as the Divine Mother after her marriage to Shri Nathji.