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have heard that engrossment in the Navakara gives a protection, as defences that comes from some inconceivable element. From this my last bed of rest, I leave the messages of "I seek the forgivance of all the Jivas" and "May my friendship be with all the beings" right from now. If I shall survive, we shall meet with more smiling hearts; if death will be unavoidable, we will meet when it is destined.”
The family of Ratanchand, in all serenity, arranged itself outside the room. Ratanchand was now free from the ghosts of medicines and the goblins of the tubes. He was engrossed in some miraculous experience. His firm resolve to correct himself at the end of his life was unbending and befitting a hero. He submitted himself to the Navakara without any expectation or condition on his part. “Namo Arihantanam" and "Sarvatra Sukhi Bhavantu Lokah”- these two became his very breaths As the chanting of these two continued, a unique peacefulness spread around the patient. The body that had no rest even in the bed, now sat straight in the moments of chanting, and still the force of pains lessened.
Ratanchand accepted that refuge in the Mahamantra whereby the differences of place and time continued to be erased. The chanting went on upto the evening, half the night also passed. It seemed as if the entire disease of the patient was struggling to come out. As an indication of this he had one very big vomit of blood and he began to feel relief. The entire cancer of the body was as if washed out, he felt.
In the early morning, Ratanchand opened the door. There was a line of worried faces outside. He narrated
