Death had snatched away Shri Haribhai Kothari from us. But we
can tell death ‘Do not be proud’ — You cannot really take him away from us. To
live in hearts of people is not to die. Haribhai will live for ever in our
hearts.
Let us all then do Namaskar to this great soul and pray that
the God Almighty give him eternal peace.
Haribhai has been addressing us under the auspices of Amita
Memorial Trust since past 14 years. He was scheduled to speak to us for the 15th
time on 31st January 2011. But this was not to be. He passed away on 5th January
2011.
During our life we come across various people who are good
thinkers, who are good speakers. But very rarely do we come across a person
whose thinking, speaking and living are totally aligned. Haribhai taught what he
believed in and practised in his life. He walked his talk. He was truly a saint.
Haribhai was easy to get along with. In arranging all the 14
lectures, never had I to even write a letter to him. Even selection of the topic
was done on phone. To lend us comfort he would come 15 minutes ahead of the
appointed time of the lecture, to ensure that we were not put to any uneasy
feeling. He came on his own, and went on his own. No arrangements were required
to take him back to his residence in Mulund.
Haribhai was a great exponent of ‘Bhagvad Gita’. He
repeatedly taught us that one should not grieve at the death of someone. Quoting
Bhagwad Gita :
Just as we cast off old clothes and put on new clothes, the
soul gives up the old body and acquires a new one. The soul is neither born nor
does it die. Why should then one grieve ?
My mind goes back to my childhood. As a small boy, I along
with my grandfather, had an occasion to visit an Ashram in Songadh in Saurashtra.
In the morning when we were to leave, a person was singing a bhajan in a
melodious voice to the strains of a sarangi. He was blind and he was also
playing the sarangi. I remember the bhajan that he was singing written by
Anandghanji :
During the last month of his life he uttered these prophetic
word “He only is afraid of that who has done things which he should not do or
not done things which he should have done. I have always done what I should have
done and never done things I should not have done. Why then should I fear
death ?”
Let us learn from the life of Haribhai how to live, so that
we do not fear death. Let us spend our time doing things that we should live. As
expressed in the Upanishads “Better a moment of glow than a lifetime of smoke.”
Let Haribhai’s noble life be a guiding torch to enable us to live a better life
that will be our true Namaskar to the great soul.
“We live in deeds, not years;
In thoughts, not breaths;
We should count time by heartthrobs.
He most lives, who thinks most.
Feels the noblest, acts the best”
— Philips James Bailey
