At 9:00 P.M., Goher felt so helpless that she asked Eruch to send for Don. He got up from Baba's side to go phone, but Baba stopped him. That night, Aloba was on nightwatch from 10:00 P.M. to 4:00 A.M., and he reported that Baba had slept and rested, and passed urine twice. He only had one big jolt when he woke up. Bhau, Pendu and Rano also took their turns on watch duty.
Early in the morning on Friday, 24 January 1969 blood samples from Baba were taken and sent to Poona with the driver Yusuf for analysis at Ruby Hall Clinic. Adi was away in Bombay to attend the wedding of Gajwani's granddaughter, so consequently, Meherjee telephoned the test results to Don, who brought the report to Meherazad that evening. Dr. Grant said that Baba's blood hb was 8.5 percent and the urea 80 mg.1 He advised that if the hemoglobin dropped any further Baba should have another blood transfusion. Medicine was prescribed for the spasms.
In Grant's words: "Baba was suffering primarily from diabetes that had affected his kidneys. He had passed a small calculus in the left kidney. Subsequently he developed uremia, multiple disc lesions of the spinal canal and, terminally, he developed a severe secondary anemia due to uremia. He had been given antibiotics, various anti-anemic and other drugs, and repeated transfusions. But Baba told us there was no point in continuing these drugs as his time was near."
January 24th was also Francis' birthday and he received an embrace from Baba.
During Bhau's watch on the night of the 24th, Baba gestured to him, "Listen carefully to what I say. I am giving you very important work. I want you to write my biography in verse."
As he was gesturing, Baba would get frequent sharp jolts, and Bhau's heart broke at seeing his suffering while he was straining to communicate.
Bhau pleaded, "Baba, don't say anything now. You are in terrible pain. Wait and tell me when you are better."
But Baba went on giving him instructions. When he got the jolts, he would stop and lie quiet for a few moments; then he began again. Seeing his Beloved suffer so was the most painful sight of Bhau's life.
Baba instructed: "Write 800 pages. Write in a simple and engaging way. Make it interesting. Make it instructive. Use four types of meters. Include the lives of the five Perfect Masters at the beginning, and also my father's life.
"Save 100 pages for my manifestation. I will give you the meters and also tell you about my manifestation later. Don't worry. I will explain everything to you."
Footnotes
- 1.Don was amazed that Baba's blood urea level, although still abnormally quite high, had come down to such a degree (from 148 two months before to 80). He said it was "medically unexplainable."