March 7 and March 9, respectively, are the annual anniversary dates for the deaths of Paramhansa Yogananda (1952) and his guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar (1936).
How does “mahasamadhi” differ from an ordinary human death?
“Maha” means “Great” and “samadhi” refers to the highest state of God-consciousness, or cosmic consciousness. When a liberated saint or master leaves their human body and their passing is described as “mahasamadhi,” this is saying that the saint exited the human form without loss of awareness; AND, was in a state of cosmic consciousness not just ordinary human conscious awareness. Concurrent with mahasamadhi is the more common prior knowledge one possesses of the circumstances and date of their death.
Mahasamadhi does not necessarily mean that the saint unilaterally chooses to leave at that time and place, at least not in the ordinary sense of how you or I choose to run an errand or go out to dinner. (Someone once asked me if mahasamadhi was the same as suicide! No, it is not.) And how and why is that?
A saint who experiences death in the state of mahasamadhi lives in a continuum of consciousness, dialogue, communication and inspiration from the higher Self of the soul, at the prompting and influence of the guru, a deity or God-directed will. “Not my will, but Thy will be done!”
Like so many spiritual appellations, mahasamadhi is applied to what to my mind is a wide range of situations, not all of which are on the same level of consciousness. That, at least, is my impression from visits to India and reading reports of the lives and deaths of various saints. Nonetheless, what is implied is far-from-normal death experience. It is something to be honored and celebrated.
In each instance, Swami Sri Yukteswar and Paramhansa Yogananda displayed advance knowledge of their impending exit and to those present, each appeared to have retained awareness and control of their bodies until their soul left. Neither died from any obvious fatal, medical condition. Accounts of their passing can be found in books: Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi” recounts the events of Swami Sri Yukteswar’s death and Swami Kriyananda in his book, “The New Path,” recounts the details of Yogananda’s death.
Can a saint’s mahasamadhi state be proved objectively? States of consciousness can only be implied by what outward signs or circumstances attend the miracle or event. So, too, then with mahasamadhi. Some devotees may point to the saint’s subsequent bodily incorruptibility as proof but while there are signs present to those who witness the mahasamadhi, there is no fool proof objective method.
Why do we celebrate these mahasamadhi events? Like the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a saint’s mahasamadhi implies the victory of Spirit-consciousness over bodily mortality. Non-identification with the body is dramatically shown by one who can leave it behind both consciously and willingly. We celebrate the saint’s victory even as we view this as a promise of our own soul’s immortality.