Veer Savarkar, a renowned freedom fighter on February 03, 1966, started his abstinence from food. After a few days, he abstained from having liquids too. He further instructed his physicians not to administer him any medicines.

On 24 February 1966, Savarkar folded his hands and in a feeble voice quoted the couplet of saint Tukaram, “amhi jato aamuchya gava! aamucha ram raam ghyava”(we are going to our native town, please accept our farewell ) . These were his last words! 

On Saturday, 26 February 1966, at around 11 a.m., in the tradition of great Hindu seers, Savarkar breathed his last in Mumbai.

Savarkar’s last article, ‘atmahatya ki atmarpan’ (suicide or self-termination) appeared in 1963. Its title can be translated into English as ‘Suicide or self dedication’. That article begins and concludes with a couplet from the ‘Avadhoot Upanishad’, a minor upanishad. The Sanskrit couplet reads, ‘dhanyoham dhanyoham kartavyam me na vidyate kinchit! dhanyoham dhanyoham praptavyam sarvamadya sampannam !!’ It can be rendered into English as ‘Blessed am I, no duty remains undone, blessed am I, now I have got all that I had to get’. In that article, Savarkar propounded that all acts of self-termination of life should not be termed as suicide. He cogently argued that self-termination of life that stems from anger, dissatisfaction, misery and escapism from problems should alone be considered as suicide. On the other hand, a happy self-termination of life after having achieved all goals in life should be regarded as a self-dedication, and not suicide. He cited last days of Kumaril Bhatt, Ramanuja, Dnyaneshwar, Eknath and Ramdas as illustrations of self- dedication.