In Hindu or Yogic traditions, mahāsamādhi, the "great" and final samādhi, is the act of consciously and intentionally leaving one's body at the moment of death. According to this belief, a realized and liberated yogi who has attained the state of nirvikalpa samādhi can consciously exit from their body and attain enlightenment at the moment of death while in a deep, conscious meditative state. Some individuals have declared the day and time of their mahāsamādhi beforehand. Paramahansa Yogananda's death on March 7 1952, was described as entering mahāsamādhi. Daya Mata, one of Yogananda's direct disciples, said that Yogananda on the previous evening had asked her "Do you realize that it is just a matter of hours and I will be gone from this earth?"