He said:

"There is not need for it. This body itself is a big disease. Such being the case why should the hand itself be cut off? Let any thing happen. Let, this hand die naturally." He didn’t bend to any kind o persuasion. Doctors performed an operation. In spite of it, Ramana Maharshi's health did not improve. The disease only great worse. The tumour grew bigger. The wound did not heal at all. Ramana Maharshi remained untouched by it. That he showed not signs of pain was a wonder to all the ashramites.

People from far and near flocked to the Ashram to have the last darshan of Ramana Maharshi. They were all sorrow- stricken. Ramana Maharshi himself had to console them all. He said his devotees "Every one that is born must die. The body is not the soul. Therefore nobody need feel miserable for the death of the body."

Ramana Maharshi breathed his last at two o'clock in the night of April 24, 1950.

Ramana Maharshi did not write many books. Everything that he wrote was only for his devotees and at their request. He wrote both verse and prose. All his poems were composed in some context, at Somebody’s request. They are all compiled under the caption 'Forty Verses'. This is his best work. He has also written a work called 'Upadesha Sara'. He translated Shankaracharya's 'Viveka Choodamani' into Tamil. He wrote much in Tamil. He could write in Samskrita, Telugu and Malayalam languages, too.

Paul Brunton, a devotee, once asked "Is it possible to give up self-interest even when one is engaged in the affairs of the world?"

Ramana replied: 'Work and knowledge are not opposed to each other."

A man may be engaged in his work, in his profession. He should give up the thought of 'myself, my happiness and my glory', realizing that there is no happiness in them. He should not feel, 'I am weak'. There is strength in every one. Every one can find peace and happiness.