Narendra was extremely worried about the Master’s physical condition. One winter night when he was pacing in the Cossipore garden with Sharat, Kali, Niranjan, and the elder Gopal, he expressed his thoughts to them: “The Master is suffering from a terminal disease. Who can say if he has not made up his mind to give up his body? While there is still time, let us make as much spiritual progress as we can by performing service, meditation, and devotional exercises. Otherwise, when he passes away, there will be no limit to our repentance. To postpone calling on the Lord till desires are fulfilled! This is exactly how our days are passing, and we are getting more and more entangled in the net of desires. It is these desires only that lead to destruction and death. So let us give up desires.”
Shortly afterwards Narendra saw a dry heap of grass and some broken tree branches and said: “Set fire to it. Holy men light dhunis [sacred fires] under trees at this time. Let us also light a dhuni and burn up our desires.” A fire was lit, and they meditated for a few hours, mentally offering their worldly desires into the blazing fire. It gave them tremendous peace and joy. At 4:00 a.m. they extinguished the fire and went to their beds. (Source: God Lived with Them)