There comes the fateful night, when at about 10 p.m., Mangla comes to the kitchen window and asks Priya Nath for a glass of water from Shri Nathji’s refrigerator for Veeran Devi. “Dr. Gupta? Main Swami Bhola Nath bol rahaa hoon. Aisaa lagtaa hai ke Veeran Devi kaa shareer chhoot gayaa hai!”“Dr. Gupta? I am Swami Bhola Nath speaking. It appears that Veeran Devi has left her body.”Dr. Gupta referred to Shri Nathji as “Swami Bhola Nath”, and here was Shri Nathji playing his part to perfection, remembering the smallest details in the drama even as it took a serious form.“MAUT KYAA HAI? ZINDAGI KAA EK KHOOBSOORTI SE DOOSRI KHOOBSOORTI MEN BADAL JAANAA!”“WHAT IS DEATH? THE CHANGING OF LIFE FROM ONE BEAUTIFUL PHASE TO ANOTHER!”Indeed, such was the state of death of those who believed in a God–who made their life and death equally beautiful.Veeran Devi had been a widow all her life, dependent entirely upon Mahamateshwari and Shri Nathji. Her son and daughter had shown callousness during her entire lifetime. “Maharaj ji ko kahen mujhe ab paar kar den!“Ask Maharaj ji to send me across.”And her prayers had been heard at 10 p.m. in the night. She had crossed the ocean of life and death–the “Sozish hai ek dam ki aur raahte davaami“The burning is for a moment only, and the life eternal,Shri Nathji adds: “Masiji ke man se sansaar kaa sab moh jaataa rahaa thhaa!Shri Nathji speaks of Veeran Devi’s peaceful death again and again before the people gathered there and tells them that such a death is the envy of saints and sages. Ye kaise kahaa jaaye ke aaj rone kaa din hai yaa hasne kaa? Masiji mukt hain, amar hain!”“How can one say whether this is a day for tears or for joy? Veeran Devi is immortal, she has attained salvation.”And Shri Nathji quotes his famous verse which is the voice of a devotee praying to God:“Nikal jaaye dam tere kadmon ke neeche“Let my last breath be spent at Thy Feet,Smt. Veeran Devi had indeed attained that state without a shadow of doubt.Iss Van ke der men aane kaa bhee rahasya hai! Masiji abhee shareerik roop se kuchh der aur tthaiharna chaahati hain!”“There is a purpose behind the delay in the coming of the Van. It appears that Veeran Devi wishes to stay here a while longer in her physical form!”Both, Priya Nath and Shri Nathji, place flowers on her body as the funeral van arrives. Priya Nath raises one end of the wooden frame on which her body is kept even as it is taken to the van.“All throughout the procession you were only asking which of the cars were following us!”It was the first experience of Shri Nathji and Priya Nath with the Cremation Grounds at Delhi. There was the smell of smoke in the air. And the quotations from the Gita on the walls, wherein it was stated that even as a person takes off one set of clothes and puts on another so does the soul take off one body and take on another. These verses appeared strange to Shri Priya Nath. There were groups of people carrying their dead, chanting “