'Fill a little bottle from the lamp; put seven drops into Rama's
mouth.'
"'Sir,' I remonstrated, 'he has been dead since yesterday noon. Of
what use is the oil now?'
"'Never mind; just do as I ask.' Lahiri Mahasaya's cheerful
mood was incomprehensible; I was still in the unassuaged agony of
bereavement. Pouring out a small amount of oil, I departed for
Rama's house.
"I found my friend's body rigid in the death-clasp. Paying no
attention to his ghastly condition, I opened his lips with my right
finger and managed, with my left hand and the help of the cork, to
put the oil drop by drop over his clenched teeth.
"As the seventh drop touched his cold lips, Rama shivered violently.
His muscles vibrated from head to foot as he sat up wonderingly.
"'I saw Lahiri Mahasaya in a blaze of light,' he cried. 'He shone
like the sun. 'Arise; forsake your sleep,' he commanded me. 'Come
with Yukteswar to see me.'"
"I could scarcely believe my eyes when Rama dressed himself and
was strong enough after that fatal sickness to walk to the home of
our guru. There he prostrated himself before Lahiri Mahasaya with
tears of gratitude.
"The master was beside himself with mirth. His eyes twinkled at me
mischievously.
"'Yukteswar,' he said, 'surely henceforth you will not fail to
carry with you a bottle of castor oil! Whenever you see a corpse,
just administer the oil! Why, seven drops of lamp oil must surely
foil the power of Yama!' {FN32-3}
"'Guruji, you are ridiculing me.
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