The next day, Wednesday, December 24th, 1941, a telegram was received in Ahmednagar that Upasni Maharaj had dropped his body. Sarosh immediately came to Meherabad, arriving at two in the afternoon and informed the ma ndali. Vishnu and Sarosh went up the Hill to inform Baba. On seeing them, Baba came out of the gate and before they related the news to Baba, he calmly asked, “Has it happened?” This surprised them; it was as if he had been expecting the news.
Sarosh then said, “Upasni Maharaj has left the body.”
Without a trace of sadness or surprise in his expression, Baba replied, “That is what I meant.”
Baba directed Pendu, Vishnu, Kalemama, Chhagan, Sarosh, Chanji and Gulmai to go to Sakori to participate in the last rites, which they did on December 25th. Maharaj was buried at Sakori, and they returned soon after the ceremony was finished, arriving back at Meherabad at ten that night. Dr. Deshmukh had arrived too late that day for him to go with the mandali to Sakori, so he remained near Baba at Meherabad.
That day, Baba called the mandali to the mast ashram on the Hill and discussed the recent occurrence. Baba had instructed Gulmai to stay at Sakori during specific periods in December 1941, and also January and February of 1942, saying that at anytime during these three months Maharaj would “pass off.” The first of these time spans was December 19th to 24th, 1941, and accordingly Gulmai had gone to stay at Sakori on the 19th. But on the 22nd of December she had returned to Ahmednagar, as Maharaj had told her he was leaving for Satana (his birthplace), where he would be staying until the end of the month. However, Maharaj had returned the next day, complaining of chest pains, and subsequently expired the following day. Gulmai felt very bad about not being in Sakori when Maharaj died as Baba had wished, but Baba comforted her, “Don’t worry. It had to happen that way.”
Baba then commented: “The breaking of my silence will also be as sudden and unexpected as the passing away of Upasni Maharaj. The difference will, however, be in the general feeling, which will be very strong when I speak. All will feel it. “It will shake the world like an earthquake. People will feel the shock in different degrees in different parts of the world. Thus they will experience it in different ways.
“I feel unconcerned and even happy at this news of Maharaj’s death, since I know that he is now relieved of the burden of retaining his physical body after his work was over and the long-awaited meeting with me had taken place at Dahigaon.”
In memory of Upasni Maharaj, Baba instructed the men and women mandali and his lovers everywhere to fast completely, taking tea only twice, on January 13th, 1942, and to hold a public feast on January 14th. He also ordered that the dhuni, which would be lit on January 12th, be kept burning for forty-eight hours in Maharaj’s honor.
A Parsi named Minoo Bharucha had come in Meher Baba’s contact during his stay in Nasik in the thirties. After this, Minoo had gone to Sakori, where he had Upasni Maharaj’s darshan. He became very devoted to Upasni Maharaj and Maharaj would sometimes visit his home when he was in Nasik. Ramjoo Abdulla and Minoo had gone together to Sakori for the funeral. After a few days Minoo and his wife, Aimai, who once was a nun at Sakori, were called to meet with Baba at Meherabad.
Sitting outside the gate at Upper Meherabad, Baba took Minoo aside and assured him, “There is not the slightest difference between Maharaj and myself.”
Feeling comforted by this, Minoo asked, “Who will take Maharaj’s place?”
“A man living near Tibet,” Baba spelled out from the alphabet board.
Lord Meher, Original Publication, Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 8, pp. 2744 – 2746.