Yogananda 's last smile

 This photo of Paramahansa Yogananda, called "The Last Smile", was taken about one hour before his death (March 7, 1952).

"Yogananda began hinting to his disciples that it was time for him to leave the world. According to Phil Goldberg, one example was what Yogananda said to Daya Mata, "Do you realize that it is just a matter of hours and I will be gone from this earth?"

Since the body seemed to be perfectly healthy, most did not expect it. But he died as announced.

On March 7, 1952, he attended a dinner for the visiting Indian Ambassador in Los Angeles. At the conclusion of the banquet, Yogananda spoke of India and America, their contributions to world peace and human progress, and their future co-operation, expressing his hope for a "United World" that would combine the best qualities of "efficient America" and "spiritual India."

According to his direct disciple Daya Mata, who was present at the banquet, as Yogananda ended his speech, he read from his poem My India, concluding with the words:

"Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves, and men dream God - I am hallowed; my body touched that sod."

Daya Mata stated that "as he uttered these words, he lifted his eyes to the Kutastha center, and his body slumped to the floor."

The teacher thus performed mahasamadhi (a yogi's conscious exit from the body). The medical verdict was "acute coronary occlusion," i.e., a heart attack."

"For three weeks after his death, Yogananda's body "showed no signs of physical deterioration and 'his unchanged face shone with the divine luster of incorruptibility.'"

His body remained “in a phenomenal state of immutability”.