ONLY PALLIATIVE AND NOT A CURE

 
Since the time I came to live permanently with Baba I've seen nothing but His physical suffering. All the close ones living with Him saw this. One can't compare Baba's physical suffering with that of an ordinary man. Baba would not complain much, but we could see how much He suffered.

One main problem was heartburn. For so many years Baba had been on so many long and severe fasts, and had such irregular diets due to His travels and mast work, that I was afraid of a peptic ulcer but He would refuse any investigation or checkup. And we felt so helpless because we knew He was suffering with this constant pain and uneasiness in His stomach. Then He would make light of it and make us forget that He had any pain.

Whilst He was working, either mast work, poor work, universal work, or during seclusion, Baba did not spare His body. "My work comes first," He would say.

Like so many who do not know about Perfect Masters or the Avatar, when I first came to be with Baba I assumed that He as the Avatar, being the personification of Perfection, was beyond being affected by ill-health or the usual things that affect ordinary human beings.

In Raipur in 1944 Baba told me He had pain in the heart region. I did not understand then how Baba as God could have this pain. He then explained that Perfect Masters assume illness, while He being the Avatar must undergo all the physical pain and discomfort and illness which the ordinary human body has to undergo.

Baba said whenever He complained of any illness I must take Him seriously and give proper treatment.

So through the years, because of the strenuous mast work and many fasts, Baba's digestion was seriously affected and we treated Him accordingly. In the earlier Days Dr. Donkin (Don) and Dr. Nilu were there, and from 1947 I was there also. But naturally when the damage was done, treatment could only be palliative and not a cure.