Moksh Dham
Varanasi. Hindu holy city on the east bank of the Ganges. Hindus earnestly believe that death in Varanasi sends the soul to salvation.
Varanasi has many ashrams for the stay of pilgrims. But one ashram is for a special set of pilgrims. Those who come to this ashram called ‘Moksh Dham’ come when they are close to death. I had heard of this place from my co-passenger on my flight to Varanasi. I was keen to visit this ashram and accordingly fixed a visit with the owner/manager Viswanath Tripathi. So here I was in ‘Moksh Dham’ with Vishwanath as my host and guide.
I began, “Mr. Tripathi, I am curious to know about this place. Please tell me all there is to tell.”
“Well sir,” began Vishwanath, “I bought this place from a businessman about 30 years ago. It was a boys’ hostel and I had intended to run it as such. A few years later I decided to convert it to its present form ‘Moksh Dham’ where men and women nearing death can come and stay for free till they achieve moksh.”
My curiosity was growing and I was keen to know more. “What are the rules for stay here? I am sure you can’t keep people for too long as there would be a long waiting list.”
“Yes sir, you are right,” continued Vishwanath. “We permit stay only for two weeks and if our guest survives, we politely tell them to leave and come later. I have never had to turn people away for lack of room.”
I asked, “Who cooks and cleans for these helpless people?”
Viswanath explained, “Most are too weak or infirm to do any work so we arrange the cleaning and cooking. And since our guests come alone, we have to perform the last rites at our expense.”
I asked, “Vishwanath ji, do your guests talk about their lives? Did they leave you with any life lessons?”
Vishwanath’s reply was, “Most guests like to share their life journey. Hearing their life story I have learnt many lessons.”
I was keen to know more. “Tell me some life lessons your guests have left you with.”
Vishwanath responded, “I will tell you the life story of Mr. Sarabhai, who was with us till a month ago. He, like most others, liked to talk about his life and its lessons. I will tell you his story in his own word as each word is still fresh in my mind even today. So here it is: ‘I was a successful business man in Pune. I owned many companies. My net worth was close to 20,000 crore rupees. My wife had passed away a few years back. I have only one son Aditya. When I turned 70, I decided to hand over my companies to my son and live in my bungalow a peaceful retired life. Aditya took over the reins of my companies while l settled down into retired life. All was going well or two years or so when suddenly I received a legal notice to vacate my bungalow. I was shocked and spoke to my son about the notice. His response was even more shocking. He said he had no idea about this matter and it would be best to speak to the companies’ lawyers. When I spoke to them, they told me that their boss Aditya had given them the instructions. The reason was that Aditya and his family wanted to move into the bungalow. I was told that arrangements had been made for me to shift into a senior citizens home in Ahmedabad. I refused to comply. A few days later my bank informed me that they had received instructions from Aditya’s team stopping my monthly allowance which was pegged at 5 lakh rupees per month. I had not thought about keeping aside any cash for myself as I had no doubt that Aditya would take care of me in my old age. My foolishness had brought me literally on the streets. I was broke. I had no one to turn to as all my dear friends had left this world. A few days later all the household servants were withdrawn on Aditya’s instructions. He was making life as difficult for me as possible to force me to vacate the bungalow.
I consulted a lawyer-acquaintance who agreed to talk to me without taking his customary fee after I’d explained my financial situation. After hearing my story, the lawyer said that I could do nothing as I had signed away all the properties including the bungalow to Aditya.
By now I was finding it difficult to eat two meals a day. In desperation I vacated the bungalow and moved into a senior citizens’ home in Pune that provided accommodation and food free of cost. I was miserable with nothing to look forward to. I had hardly spent one year at this place when I fell sick. I went to the state government hospital because treatment it was free. The hospital diagnosed me with stage four cancer of the brain and told me that I had no more than three months left.
All along I had ensured that Aditya got information about me through our relatives. He never bothered to come and see me even once. News of my cancer was also given to Aditya through relatives but I had already lost any hope of Aditya coming to my rescue. As expected, there was no response from Aditya. I was getting very sick and my health was deteriorating every day. I knew that I had not much time in this world. Then one of the inmates told me about ‘Moksh Dham’ in Varanasi. I decided to come to ‘Moksh Dham’ as this was the only way I could spend my final days in peace and also be assured of decent last rites. I requested one of my relatives to arrange a ticket for me to Varanasi.”
I was spellbound. I had never heard more disturbing story. I said, “Vishwanath ji, is this the end of the story or there is more?”
Vishwanath said, “Yes there is more yet to come. Mr. Sarabhai told me that he wanted to make one last attempt to reach out to Aditya. He showed me the email he had sent to Aditya which contained a simple request to come and meet him here. A few days a visitor came and inquired about Mr. Sarabhai. The visitor said that Aditya had sent him to meet Mr. Sarabhai and he was also carrying some papers for Mr. Sarabhai’s signature.
After the visitor had left, I asked Mr. Sarabhai about the visitor and he told me that the visitor was Aditya’s personal secretary who had come to get his signature on papers for transfer of a flat in Pune. For some reason Mr. Sarabhai had forgotten about the existence of this flat as it had been locked up. The flat must have been worth rupees two crores. Mr. Sarabhai told me he didn’t know how Aditya came to know about this flat. It appeared that this flat had not been among the list of properties transferred by Mr. Sarabhai to Aditya. Aditya’s secretary had said that Aditya had been looking for Mr. Sarabhai to get the paper signed but could not locate him. After receiving his mail and knowing his whereabouts, the secretary had been sent. Even though Aditya knew that his father was likely to pass away within a few days he sent his secretary and that too for getting a flat signed away by Mr. Sarabhai.”
“Did Mr. Sarabhai tell you what he told the secretary?” I asked.
Vishwanath replied, “Mr. Sarabhai did not say much and told me only that he had refused to sign the papers brought by the secretary.”
Curious, I asked, “Vishwanath ji, why do you think Mr. Sarabhai did not sign the papers? What good would it have been to leave this world without giving the last piece of property to his son?”
“By not signing away the Pune flat Mr. Sarabhai was only giving a message to his son.”
I said, “I wonder what will happen to the Pune flat now that Mr. Sarabhai is no longer in this world. What do you think Mr. Vishwanath?”
Vishwanath said, “I do not have to think. I know what happened to the Pune flat. Mr. Sarabhai willed the Pune flat to ‘Moksh Dham’. Now we are owners of the flat which I will sell and make more rooms in ‘Moksh Dham’.”
“What an incredible life lesson! There really is no limit to greed and avarice,” I said.
Vishwanath said, “There is another lesson apart from the one that you have mentioned. Never part with your money till the very end.”
