Book-7 The Guiding Presence

ARUNACHALA
RAMANA
ETERNAL OCEAN OF GRACE
THE
GUIDING PRESENCE
BOOK 7
Sri Ramanasramam
Tiruvannamalai
INDIA
© Sri Ramanasramam
Tiruvannamalai
First Edition : 2018

1000 copies
CC No: 1102

ISBN: 978-81-8288-277-5
Published by:
V.S. Ramanan
President
SRI RAMANASRAMAM
Tiruvannamalai 606 603
Tamil Nadu, INDIA
Email : ashram@gururamana.org
Web : www.sriramanamaharshi.org
Typeset at
Sri Ramanasramam
Printed by:
Sudarsan Graphics Pvt. Ltd.,
Chennai 600 041
Tamil Nadu, INDIA
Lord Siva’s glory will not be exhausted even if Goddess
Saraswati were to write for eternity using the black
mountain as ink, the ocean as the ink-pot, the branch of
wish-fulfilling tree as pen and the earth as the writing leaf.
— Siva Mahimna Stotram
*** *** ***
Familiar to Thine ears are the sweet songs of votaries who
melt to the very bones with love for Thee, yet let my poor
strains also be acceptable, O Arunachala!
— Akshara Mana Malai
*** *** ***
Hill of Patience, bear with my foolish words, (regarding

them) as hymns of joy or as Thou please, O Arunachala!”
— Akshara Mana Malai
Devi Stuti
samayamayi te dhṛtvā pādāmbujaṁ
ramaṇaḥ suto
girivaraguhāsvantaḥ śānto nayedyadi
nādbhutam |
sthalavirahataḥ svīyasthāne kimatra
samāgato
na vadasi kutaḥ kāryaṁ tasmai
kulācalakanyake ||34. 8||
(Uma Sahasram)
Oh, Mother! Daughter of the mountain! Your
son Guha has incarnated as Ramana. He now resides
in the cave of the great mountain, Arunachala. It is
amazing that (such a valiant) Guha has remained
so silent and calm. It is not because that he left his
place in Kailasa (that he now remains sober). But
he has surely come down to fulfill some intention
of yours. Why then do you not direct him to do the
great task ahead of him? ||34.8||
lohitācaleśvarasya locanatrayīhitā
lohitaprabhānimajjadabjajāṇḍakandarā |
hāsakāntivardhyamānasārasārimaṇḍalā
vāsamatra me karotu mānase maheśvarī ||36.12||
(Uma Sahasram)
Oh, Mother! You please all the three eyes
of Siva, the Lord of Arunachala! You are like the
precipice of the universe which reflects the reddish
effulgence! Thy effulgent smile excels in comparison
vi
to the beauty of the moon. May you, the great ruler,

ever reside in my mind. ||36.12||
haraṁ prapadye vijaraṁ prapadye svatantratāyās
sadanaṁ prapadye |
ameyasāmarthyavahaṁ prapadye viśuddhavijñānivaraṁ
prapadye || 6 ||
(Prapati Ashtakam)
To Hara, I surrender; to the never-decaying, I
surrender; to the abode of independence, I surrender;
to Him of immeasurable skill, I surrender; to the
foremost of spotless knowers, I
Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya
Introduction to The Guiding Presence

The Guiding Presence presents one hundred and eight
articles especially chosen to illustrate the depth and breadth
of Bhagavan’s influence during that hallowed time when he
was physically present in this world. His profound influence
continues to inspire to the present day.
Bhagavan himself was inspired by the Periya Puranam
and often told stories about various saints featured therein.
Some of these stories, as told by Bhagavan, are included in
the present volume.
The articles include a spectrum of topics which go from
“How I came to Bhagavan”, to commentaries on the teachings
of Bhagavan and detailed accounts of daily interactions.
Through these articles the reader gets to feel the Power of
His Presence..
As people are different in nature, the perspective of
a kaleidoscope of personalities writing about Bhagavan
informs the reader in a way that no single author can. Each
person’s experience with Bhagavan is unique. Some of them
are instructive and others are devotional. Every reader will be
able to easily relate to the caring compassion of the Master
shining through these accounts. Long-standing devotees
and occasional visitors write the articles all of whom were
touched by Bhagavan in some way. The contributors include
Westerners and people from all parts of India. Some of them
spent a great deal of time with Bhagavan, some were passing
through and were greatly touched by Bhagavan and yet others
never ever saw Bhagavan in his body but were, and are,
greatly connected to the Maharshi.
viii
The articles have been culled from a wide range of

publications including The Call Divine, Mountain Path, ‘The
Maharshi’ newsletter and ‘Saranagati’ newsletter. They also
include selections from Golden Jubilee Souvenir, Ramana
Smriti and other publications. Some of the articles are very
short while others are quite long. We have also included the
English translation of some poems written by Bhagavan. The
translations were seen and corrected by Bhagavan.
All of these articles together paint a picture of the
Master’s radiant Being and profound influence.
Contents
Page
No.
Devi Stuti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Introduction to The Guiding Presence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
1. Sri Ganesa . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .1
2. Arunachala. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .2
3. Reminiscences of Rangan . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 10
4. Activity, Help Not Hindrance . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 14
5. How Maharshi Helps His Devotees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6. My Life, My Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
7. Initiation by Look . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 32
8. Bhagavan Sri Ramana is Personally Present Here. . . . 33
9. The Secret Operation of Grace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
10. Sri Dakshinamurti and Sri Ramana . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 38
11. The Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
12. Excerpts from the Prayer Manuscript. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 47
13. Sri Bhagavan’s Teachings . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 49
14. Easy Yet Difficult. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
15. The Essence of Ramana Maharshi’s Teaching. . . . . . . . 54
16. Sri Bhagavan’s Grace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
17. A Chakra at Sri Ramanasramam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
18. Bhagavan Sri Ramana as I Knew Him . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 65
19. Arunachala Aksharamanamalai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
20. Ramana Reminiscences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
21. The Essential Teaching of the Maharshi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
23. The Significance of Mahapuja . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
x
Page
No.
24. He Opened My Heart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

25. Bhagavan’s Teachings and Life in the World. .. .. .. .. 90
27. Bhagavan Sri Ramana: God-Reality Incarnate. . . . . . .101
28. Arunachala Stuti, the Sixth Hymn to Arunachala. . .106
29. Set Aside Your Ego and Live Happily. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
30. Awareness Absolute . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 127
31. What of us, after He went. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 131
32. Bhagavan and Thayumanavar. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 134
33. Bhagavan and Peacocks. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 171
34. Bhagavan and the Bhagavad Gita. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 172
35. Bhagavan is Bhagavan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177
36. Nine Stray Verses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
37. Light on the Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182
38. Bhagavan Sri Ramana – As I Knew Him . . . . . . . . . . .185
39. Arunachala! The Spiritual Axis of the World. .. .. .. 187
40. Bhagavan Sri Ramana: His Marvellous Love . . . . . . .191
41. Bhagavan is Everywhere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194
42. Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199
43. The Sat-Guru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202
44. The Uniqueness of Sri Maharshi’s Realisation . .. .. 208
45. Dreams. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 211
46. Sunk in the Ocean of Bliss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213
47. God and Destiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227
48. Sri Bhagavan’s Love for Arunachala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233
49. Broken Pieces of Thosai (Dosa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238
50. The Path of Enquiry. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 240
51. Visit of a Moulvi from Peshawar . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 245
52. Outside the Scriptures . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 246
53. Companionship with Bhagavan . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 254
54. Some Reminiscences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259
55. Sri Ramana the Divine Sage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261
xi
Page
No.
56. The Power of Arunachala . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 264

57. Kannapa Nayanar narrated by Bhagavan . .. .. .. .. .. 281
58. Dravida Sishu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .284
59. Jnana Sambandhamurthy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286
60. Saint Appar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .290
61. Sambandhar and Appar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292
62. Siva Bhakta Sundaramurthy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294
63. Sundaramurthy’s Bond of Servitude. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .297
64. Manickavachakar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .302
65. Sri Muruganar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .308
66. On Birthday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315
67. The Grace of Arunachala Siva. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .316
68. My Pilgrimage to Sri Ramanasramam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325
69. Merits and Demerits (Fruits of Karma). .. .. .. .. .. .. 337
70. Excerpts from a Video Interview
with Padma Venkataraman . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 340
71. The Crest-Jewel of Sri Bhagavan’s Teachings. . . . . . .347
72. How I Came to the Maharshi . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 352
73. More than a Dream. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .355
74. How I came to Bhagavan . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 358
75. Namaskara . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 364
76. Saranagathi Song. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .368
77. How I Came to Bhagavan. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 369
78. The Unity of Surrender and Self-Enquiry . . . . . . . . . . .374
79. Conversation with Sri Kunju Swamigal . . . . . . . . . . . . .385
80. The Unexpected Feast. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 390
81. Rajapalayam Ramani Ammal . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 392
82. The Tiger’s Prey. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 400
83. In Memoriam – The Holy Cow, Lakshmi . . . . . . . . . . .404
84. Ramana-Arunachala . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 408
85. Sri Ramana and Arunachala. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 418
86. Saviour. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 428
xii
Page
No.
87. The Term Hridaya . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 429

88. Some Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi . . . . . . . . .431
89. The Silence of Bhagavan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .436
90. Ramana Sat-Chit-Ananda Guru . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 442
91. Universal Love and Equality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .445
92. An American Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .450
93. With Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .453
94. Sivanandalahari. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .467
95. On Dipavali. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .470
96. Visit to Bhagavan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .471
97. The Maharshi and the Path of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . .475
98. What Sri Ramana Means to Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .485
99. Tales of Bhagavan. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 488
100. The Gift of Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .492
101. The Maharshi and the Path of Devotion. . . . . . . . . . . . .493
102. Sri Ramana’s Wondrous Grace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .499
103. Maha Nirvana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .506
104. Readiness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .514
105. Visiting the Ashram after Maha Nirvana. . . . . . . . . . . . .515
106. Continued Presence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .520
107. Ramana Still Lives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .523
108. Sri Ramanasramam Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .526
Index . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 533
THE
GUIDING PRESENCE
1. Sri Ganesa
O ne day a potter presented Bhagavan with a small image

of Sri Ganesa, the Elephant God, to whom worship
must be first offered before worshipping the other deities in
a temple. He is also known as the Opener. A disciple who
was present at the time suggested that both he and Bhagavan
should write verses to celebrate the occasion and this is the
verse that Bhagavan wrote. It is used here as the ‘opener’ of
the present work.
Him, who begot you as a child, you made
Into a beggar; as a child yourself
You then lived everywhere just to support
Your own huge belly. I too am a child.
You Child God in that niche! encountering one
Born after you, is your heart made of stone?
I pray you look at me.
Sri Ganesa, who is depicted as very fat, is one of the
two sons of Siva, who became a wandering beggar. Bhagavan
identifies himself with the younger brother of Ganesa,
Subrahmanian.
2 Arunachala Ramana – Eternal Ocean of Grace
2. Arunachala*
“Arunachala! Thou art the Inner Self who
dancest in the heart as ‘I’. Heart is Thy name, O
Lord.”
– Five Stanzas to Sri Arunachala, verse 2.
I n the puranas Arunachala is referred to as the oldest hill on

earth and is regarded as the heart of the universe. Scientists
have also pointed out the eastern ghats of the Deccan plateau
as the oldest land. Arunachala has many names: Arunagiri,
Sonagiri, Sudarsanagiri, Annamalai to mention only a few
and is also referred to as the Tejolingam – the Lingam of fire
– which is the formless emblem of Siva.
The form of the Hill is said to resemble Sri Chakra,
the emblem of the Cosmos with its substratum; and shaktas
regard this hill as Sri Chakra itself. Bhagavan took an active
part in the installation of Sri Chakra in the temple dedicated
to the Mother.
Devotees of Siva consider this divine mountain as the
form of Siva who appeared in the midst of Brahma and Vishnu
as a column of fire without beginning or end in order to dispel
their ignorance after both failed to realise his Presence with
the aid of their physical efforts. This signifies the inability
of the mind or intellect to go beyond itself. Arunachala is
traditionally identified with Sudarsana (a form of the chakra
or discus of Vishnu). In the form of a deity, Sri Sudarsana
appears in a fierce aspect, armed with weapons of destruction.
When a seeker penetrates beyond the semblance of the Terrible
while struggling to overcome what seems terrible in himself –
namely the dark downward propensities of his own psyche –
Grace reveals itself as Love and Compassion. This, according
to Dr. Mees, an authority on symbolism, is the etymology of
Sudarsana aiming at the destruction of these propensities so
as to reveal Love and Beauty.
* Lucia Osborne, The Mountain Path, January 1974.

Book 7 – The Guiding Presence 3
Many saints and sages have sung and composed songs

in praise of Arunachala and its import, and some have
attained enlightenment here. Sankara also seems to have
visited Arunachala. In one of his compositions he calls this
Hill ‘Meru’ and says, like Bhagavan, that Siddha Purushas
are found here. Saint Namasivaya lived in one of the caves,
which is still called by his name. His disciple has written
the well-known Annamalai Venba, a hymn in praise of
Arunachala. Another well-known Saiva saint, Virupaksha,
also lived in a cave higher up on the slope. It is said to be in
the shape of OM – and some devotees have heard there the
sound of OM in silent meditation. The saint’s tomb is there
and the cave bears his name. Bhagavan spent seventeen years
in it and later moved up to Skandasramam where a trickle
of water changed overnight to a perennial stream whose
water, like that of the Ganges, does not deteriorate with time.
Arunagirinathar, another notable saint, is also celebrated for
his songs of praise after he received illumination through the
grace of Muruga in the Arunachala temple.
When mention was made one day of the tank adjoining
the ashram being called Agastya Thirtam, the Maharshi was
asked if that sage ever visited the Hill. Bhagavan remarked:
“Yes, of course, everyone must come here eventually,”
meaning that everyone must eventually return to the Source
– Arunachala.
Sages have said that one can attain salvation by being
born in Tiruvarur, by dying in Benares, worshipping in
Chidambaram and by merely thinking of Arunachala.
“So worship Arunachala of shining golden lustre for mere
remembrance of Him ensures Deliverance,” Bhagavan also
affirms.
Bhagavan mentioned that the Hill is one of Light.
Sometimes one can see manifestations of lights on the Hill. In
the early years, a French devotee, Sujata Sen, once spent the
night on the Hill in protest against an order of the management
not allowing women devotees to remain in the ashram after
dark. This was the most wonderful time for many devotees
when Bhagavan used to sit with them for an hour or so in
radiant silence. Sujata dwelt on her grievance one-pointedly.
Next morning, she told me that she was taken inside the Hill
and found a whole world in it, which she described. I did
not pay much attention to this, dismissing it as a dream or
imagination. Strangely enough many years later, in 1970 to
be precise, another devotee, Mr. S.N. Tandon, had a similar
experience which he described in detail in the April issue
of The Mountain Path that year. It is reminiscent of Dante’s
inferno, leading by stages to Light, in which all manifestation
disappears in the feeling of pure “I-Am” ness.
Sri Viswanatha Swami, who from his adolescence spent
many years with Bhagavan, shares with us the following
account: Bhagavan said to him one day in the early twenties:
“Innumerable are the visions I have had of this Hill,
Arunachala. I have seen beautiful groves of trees and fine
places inside it. Once I saw a large tank and a big congregation
of rishis and yogis seated on a wide plain around it. Every
face was familiar and so were the surroundings. A dais was
there, and I went up and sat on it with my right hand held
up in Chin-mudra. It seemed my usual place and my usual
pose.” Chin-mudra is a pose in which the right hand is held up
with the thumb and forefinger joined and the three remaining
fingers straight up. It is the pose of Dakshinamurti. It denotes
the unity of the individual with Brahman, the transcendental
Reality beyond the three gunas.
It is said in the puranas that a Siddha Purusha, the ancient
Teacher in the form of an eternal youth, is present higher up
on one of the slopes seated under an enormous banyan tree
diffusing His spiritual radiance in silence.
In the early days Bhagavan used to roam a good deal on
the Hill. One day he found in a dried up watercourse a banyan
leaf of such enormous size that it set him wondering what
tree could produce such a leaf. Proceeding further he saw
from a distance a huge banyan tree growing on what looked
like sheer rock. Going nearer Bhagavan inadvertently put his

foot in a hornet’s nest and did not withdraw it till the hornets
appeased their anger for being disturbed by badly stinging
his leg. Bhagavan did not go near the tree but returned to
his abode. Subsequently he firmly discouraged devotees from
trying to find the place saying that it was inaccessible and
not advisable for them to do so. “It is impossible. I know
it!” he told them. “For there shall no man see Me and live”
(Exodus 33, 20). The finite ego must die before it can behold
and merge with Infinity. Once a whole group of devotees,
obviously not yet aware of Bhagavan’s injunction, set out to
locate the place but they found themselves in such distress
that all they prayed for was to be able to turn back safely!
Any endeavour to write about Arunachala is like painting
the lily – to borrow an apt expression. It is impossible to
present it better or clearer than what Bhagavan himself has
done and in this case there is no distinction. Arunachala in
the form of Bhagavan speaks about Himself! Like Bhagavan,
the Hill comes to life and can appear to us as the Beloved of
our heart in indescribable tenderness. What could be dearer,
nearer than one’s own Self – Arunachala?
“O nectar springing up in the heart of devotees… Haven
of my refuge ...”
“The One Self, the sole Reality alone exists eternally.
When even the ancient teacher, Dakshinamurti revealed it
through speechless eloquence, who else could convey it by
speech?”
Bhagavan explained that the universe is like a painting on
a screen, the screen being the red Hill, Arunachala. That which
rises and sinks is made up of what it rises from. The finality
of the universe is Arunachala. Meditating on Arunachala or
the Self, there is a vibration ‘I’. Tracing the source of ‘I’, the
primal ‘I-I’ alone remains over – and it is inexpressible. The
very first sloka in the Marital Garland of Letters expresses
this tersely: “Arunachala! Thou dost root out the ego of those
who meditate on Thee in the Heart, O Arunachala.”
Bhagavan, who scarcely ever gave advice to devotees

unless asked, wholeheartedly approved and encouraged their
going round the Hill as conducive to progress in sadhana
and very beneficial. He himself set an example by doing it
countless times. Worship is expressed by going round the
object of worship in silent remembrance or singing bhajans
– and not giving way to stray thoughts. One usually goes
barefoot. The most auspicious times are full moon days,
Sivaratri (The Night of Siva) and Karthikai, the night when
the beacon is lit on top of the Hill. It is said that the pilgrim
is accompanied by an invisible host of Siddhas and Rishis.
On festival days, the stream of pilgrims in white and brightly
coloured clothes resembles garlands of flowers, strewn around
Arunachala, wafting their scent in bhajans.
Among the many holy places in India representing
different modes of spirituality, Arunachala stands out as the
centre of the most direct path, guided by the silent influence
of the Guru. It is the centre and the path where physical
contact with the Guru is not necessary. The silent teaching
acts and speaks direct to the heart. There was something
essentially immutable and rocklike in Bhagavan, though he
had a thousand faces. He spoke and explained when asked,
but his greatest and most inspiring teaching was, like the Hill,
like Dakshinamurti, given in silence. Through Bhagavan, the
immense potentiality for spiritual regeneration inherent in
Arunachala, with which He identified Himself, was brought
to life and into focus.
The Benedictory adopted as an auspicious introduction
to the Five Hymns to Sri Arunachala was rather puzzling as
to who actually wrote those words “… the Paramatman, who
is the same as Arunachala or Ramana.” T.P. Ramachandra
Iyer, one of the oldest devotees, who gave up his practice as
a lawyer to serve Bhagavan, was consulted and so was Sri
Viswanatha Swami. The account of the matter is that one day,
when Bhagavan went out of Virupaksha Cave for his usual
morning walk, one Amritanadha Yatindra put on Bhagavan’s
seat a piece of paper on which he told in a Malayalam verse

of his great longing to know who Bhagavan really was – “Are
you the manifestation of Lord Vishnu, or Siva, or the great
grammarian Vararuchi, or the greatest of yatis (renunciates)?
...” His question was couched in classic form and script.
When he returned a little later to the cave, he found Bhagavan
already back from his walk. On the reverse of the piece of
paper was Bhagavan’s reply, also in verse and Malayalam
script, rendered with mastery. On reading it, Amritanadha
Yatindra felt shaken and in all humility fell at Bhagavan’s
feet “like a tall coconut tree cut even at the base,” to use his
own words!
The reply was as follows:
“In the lotus-shaped Heart of all, beginning with Vishnu,
there shines as Absolute Consciousness the Paramatman
who is the same as Arunachala-Ramana. When the mind
melts with love of Him and reaches the inmost recess of
the Heart, wherein He dwells as the Beloved, the subtle
eye of pure intellect opens and He reveals Himself as Pure
Consciousness.”
“Through the potent Grace of Bhagavan” wrote Arthur
Osborne, the founder-editor of The Mountain Path, “the path
of Self-enquiry was brought within the competence of men
and women of this age, was indeed fashioned into a new
path that can be followed in the conditions of the modern
world with no form or ritual.... This creation of a new path
to suit the needs of the age has made Arunachala the spiritual
centre of the world. More than ever, now that He has shed
His physical body and is one with Arunachala, the Grace and
guidance that emanates from Him to those who turn to Him
and seek His aid is centred outwardly at Arunachala, to which
many are drawn, both those who were disciples of Bhagavan
in his lifetime and those who have come later.”
As in the lifetime of Bhagavan, so also now one can turn
and speak to Arunachala Ramana far more effectively than in
one’s own words, by repeating an appropriate verse chosen
from the Five Hymns to Arunachala which Bhagavan wrote

on behalf of His disciples from whom He was not separate.
The individual, being only a mode of Absolute Consciousness,
struggles against his finitude to regain his primordial state of
absolute freedom through Grace. These verses come from the
devotees’ own heart:
“Even when the thieves of the five senses break in upon
me, art Thou not still in my heart, O Arunachala?”
“On seeking Thy Real Self with courage I lost my
moorings. Have mercy on me, Arunachala!”
“Unless Thou extend Thy hand of Grace in mercy, I am
lost, O Arunachala!”
“Unlovable I am to look at now, yet ornament me with
Thy Grace and then regard me, O Arunachala!”
“Thou hast administered the drug of confusion to me, so
must I be confounded! Shine Thou as Grace, the cure of all
confusion, O Arunachala!”
“Lord! Who art Consciousness Itself reigning over the
sublime Sonagiri, forgive the grievous wrongs of this poor self,
and by Thy gracious glance benignant as the rain cloud, save
me from being lost once more in the dreary waste, or else I
cannot ford the grim (stream of universal) manifestation.”
“Lord! Deign to ease me in my weariness struggling like
a deer that is trapped. Lord Arunachala! What can be Thy
will?”
“O Pure One! If the five elements, the living beings and
every manifest thing is nothing but Thy all-embracing Light,
how then can I alone be separate from Thee ...”
Bhagavan has given many indications of His continued
presence. Ever-present, all-pervading, where could He go?
Outwardly manifested and visible as the Hill, He will remain
here always guiding as before. Only the body travels – the
Self just IS, Bhagavan used to say. His body travelled and
disappeared. He just IS as He always has been and the visible
support of Grace is Arunachala. It is a great blessing to be able
to come here, to stay here. After many years, every day still
seems like a gift. One cannot help feeling the living Presence,
radiation and powerful spiritual help accorded to those who
seek it, and above all are humble enough to surrender to this
influence in faith!
NANDI, the foremost devotee of Siva, said:
“That is the holy place! Of all Arunachala is the most
sacred! It is the heart of the world! Know it to be the secret
and sacred Heart-centre of Siva! In that place He always
abides as the glorious Aruna Hill!”
SIVA said:
“Though in fact fiery, the appearance of a hill on this spot
is an effect of grace and loving solicitude for the maintenance
of the world. Here I always abide as the Great One (Siddha).
Remember that in the interior of my Heart is transcendental
glory with all the enjoyments of the world also.
“That, whose sight suffices to remove all demerits which
divide Being into countless worlds and egos, is this glorious
Arunachala.
“What cannot be acquired without endless pains – the
true import of the Vedanta – is easily got by all who can
either directly sight this Hill or even mentally think of it from
afar.
“I ordain that residence within a radius of three yojanas
of this Hill shall by itself suffice to burn off all defects…”
DEVI said: “This is always the abode of pious devotees.
Those who do evil to others here will, after suffering ills, be
destroyed. Wicked persons will be completely bereft of their
power to do evil here. Do not fall into the burning fire of the
anger of Lord Arunachala, who has assumed the form of the
Hill of Fire.”
3. Reminiscences of Rangan*
O ne day Bhagavan told me “It was your mother that

came and saw me here first. Even my mother came
only afterwards. Your mother came to me in 1898 when I
was at Pavazhakkundru.” She could not bear to see Bhagavan
unwashed and practically naked, sitting on the rocks. So while
returning home, she took the train and got down to join us at
Villupuram and told us of the pitiable sight she saw.
Referring to this incident, Bhagavan later asked me “You
all stayed away at Villupuram and sent only your mother. You
thought, ‘Why go and see this mendicant fellow?’ Is it not
so?” I replied “Bhagavan apparently felt that we couldn’t
bear to see him in such a state and so did not give us the
conviction then that he was God, an Avatar and a Jnani. So
we couldn’t come.”
My mother asked Pazhani Swami, who was standing near
Bhagavan, if Bhagavan would take fruits. Bhagavan at once
stretched out his hand and my mother peeled off the skin
from a banana and placed it in Bhagavan’s hand. Bhagavan
graciously ate it. When next she asked Pazhani Swami if
Bhagavan would walk, Bhagavan got up and walked a few
paces. Many years afterwards Bhagavan referred to this
incident and with a smile told me, “I even thought of speaking
to your mother then, but was afraid that if I did so, she might
be emboldened to drag me away by force to Madurai. I used
to speak a word or two in those days to Pazhani Swami.”
One day Bhagavan’s mother told me in his presence that
once when he was standing she saw various kinds of snakes
all over his body, round his neck, chest, waist and legs and
got terribly frightened; and that after a while the snakes went
back to their places. I believe that was one of the visions
vouchsafed by Bhagavan to his mother to wean her from the
* The Call Divine, January 1955.

belief that Bhagavan was her son and to impress on her that
he was God Himself.
Once at Skandasramam when Bhagavan, his mother
and I alone were present, mother said as follows: “About
ten days ago, at about this time (i.e., 10 a.m.) as I was
looking at Bhagavan, his body disappeared gradually into a
Lingam like the one in Tiruchuzhi temple. The Lingam was
lustrous. First, I could not believe my eyes. I rubbed my
eyes and looked again. It was the same sight still. I became
frightened that he was leaving us. But again, gradually his
body appeared in place of the Lingam.” On hearing this I
looked at Bhagavan. He smiled at me. From this I gathered
he was confirming mother’s account. When I returned home
I mentioned this to the members of my family. My eldest
son was writing an account, as he termed it, of Bhagavan’s
marriage with his bride Jnana, and he included the above
incident in it. Later when that work was being read out
before Bhagavan by my son, when the portion relating to
this incident was read, Bhagavan asked my son, “Who told
you this?” And my son replied, “My father.” Thereupon
Bhagavan said, “Oh! That fellow came and told you all,
is it?” Some of the bhaktas who were listening to this
asked what exactly the incident was referred to. Bhagavan
passed it over, saying it was nothing. I gathered from the
above vision of Bhagavan’s mother that Bhagavan was God
himself and that the vision was vouchsafed to mother to
impress on her that she was no longer to think of him as her
son, but as God Supreme.
One day, when Bhagavan and I were climbing the hill,
I told him that because I have had the good fortune to have
Bhagavan’s darshan, all my Sanchita and Agami Karma have
been burnt away like a bale of cotton by a spark of fire,
and that only my Prarabdha Karma was left. He replied,
“Even Prarabdha will remain only so long as the mind
remains. If the mind is destroyed, to whom is Prarabdha?
Think over that deeply.” From that I understood that once the
mind is killed and Jnana is attained, there is no such thing

as Prarabdha.
Once a Bhakta having done some apachara, i.e. something
improper or irreverent towards Bhagavan, he came and asked
me what he might do for expiating his offence. I advised him to
do Pradakshina round Bhagavan three times. He came round
Bhagavan three times accordingly, prostrated before him,
and said, “Bhagavan should not keep in mind the apachara I
have committed.” Bhagavan replied, “Where have I mind?
It is only if there is a mind I can keep anything there.” It is
clear from this Bhagavan has attained Mano Nasa (extinction
of the mind).
When Bhagavan was in Skandasramam, a gentleman
from Malabar, greatly learned and expert in yoga sastra, came
and lectured for four hours on yoga. After he had finished,
Bhagavan said, “Now, you have finished, I hope, all that you
wanted to say. The end of all your yoga is seeing lights and
hearing sounds. The mind will be in laya, i.e., there will be
suspension of mental activity, whilst the sound or light is
there. When they disappear, the mind will again emerge. The
real thing is to achieve Mano Nasa or extinction of the mind.
That is what is called Jnana.” The other man thereupon said,
“What you say is the truth,” and took leave of Bhagavan.
I used to pester Bhagavan frequently with my questions.
So, one day Bhagavan said, “You are always asking questions.
Some devotees come, sit before me and realise what alone
has to be known and go away.” I replied, “What is to be
done? If you have a dunce for your son, you will have to
again and again shout into his ears and teach him.” Bhagavan
laughed and remained silent. I realised that many people had
become jivanmuktas by having Bhagavan’s darshan. Who can
describe Bhagavan’s greatness?
While Bhagavan was at Skandasramam, Bhagavan’s
mother told me that one bhakta used to grind green ganja
leaves and give a ball of it frequently to Bhagavan. Another
bhakta one day gave the same stuff in such large quantity
that it might have proven fatal. It seems that day Bhagavan’s

eyes grew very red and he sat like that the whole day. Telling
me this, Mother asked me to request Bhagavan not to take
whatever is offered from bhaktas. I then asked that bhakta
not to give anymore ganja to Bhagavan. I also requested
Bhagavan not to take it thereafter. For that Bhagavan replied,
“What to do? I have to take whatever is offered.”
One day I noticed Bhagavan’s gums had receded. I asked
him, “You are younger than me. How is it your gums are
already like this?” He replied, “One person, to test me, gave
me poison. I took it. It did not take away my life, but it ate
up my gums.” “There was a Goddess to prevent the poison
getting below the neck in Siva’s case, but there was none
here.” I replied.
My son has composed a work in Tamil describing the
marriage of Bhagavan, the bride being jnana, just as the
marriage of Rama or Krishna is elaborately sung in our books.
When people of my family sang the above songs before
Bhagavan, the bhaktas assembled there remarked, “What is
this, they sing of Bhagavan’s marriage! Bhagavan left his
home and became an ascetic when he was sixteen,” and
laughed. Then Bhagavan said, “When I was at Skandasramam,
a married Brahmin woman used to visit me now and then.
Whenever she was present, if we sat for food, she used to
place a leaf-plate next to mine and serve on it all the several
dishes served to us all. When asked for whom is that plate?
She would reply, ‘It is for Moksha Lakshmi’, the idea being
that in the case of jnanis, Moksha Lakshmi is always by their
side.” When asked who that lady was, Bhagavan replied, “I
don’t know who she is. Nor does mother know.”
4. Activity, Help Not Hindrance*

“Seek to know Brahman by means of tapas
(concentration), for tapas is Brahman.”
– Taittriya Upanishad
T he earnest aspirant is endowed with one pointedness of

mind. But others, whose minds are restless on account
of their attachment to the outer world, are asked to practise
certain simple spiritual disciplines in order to acquire the
concentration of mind which is an indispensable step towards
ultimate spiritual attainment.
The urge to be active is strong in man; it is extremely
difficult to renounce action altogether and dedicate oneself
entirely to spiritual sadhana, whatever be the mode of sadhana.
Thus, of the paths available for an aspirant, Karma marga
is the most suited to the modern age. By Karma marga we
do not mean the rituals of the orthodox or social service as
generally understood nowadays. By Karma marga we mean
the performance of one’s svadharma as determined by one’s
environment and circumstances. Since action is inescapable,
the choice left for one is to follow one’s svadharma without
undue attachment to the results.
What is this Karma marga pursued merely as doing one’s
svadharma? It is simply working in an egoless spirit without
identifying oneself with the doer. But such egolessness is
impossible for the man of the world; he always identifies
himself with the doer. Karma marga then is the process of
inner development which enables one to be active in the world
and yet remain unattached to the credit or the results of the
work. The sadhana consists in cultivating the attitude that it
is not oneself that acts but a Power within. “Doership pertains
to the individuality; but you are not a separate individual and
so you are not the doer. Man is moved by some mysterious
power but he thinks he moves himself,” says Sri Bhagavan.
* Viswanatha Swami, The Mountain Path, July 1976.
The same idea is conveyed in the Bhagavad Gita (XVIII, 61):

Mounted as on a machine in the Heart of every being dwells
the Lord whirling every being by His mysterious power.
The urge for action is strong in most men; action is their
svabhava; it is impossible for them to renounce all activity.
But the distinguishing characteristic of the karma yogi is that
throughout his activity he feels intuitively that he is not the
doer, but that the higher power works through him. He is
thus merely an instrument of the higher power working for
the welfare of all. His work, therefore, is really worship. He
asks nothing for himself, seeks nothing, but yet is active. He
realises that he is only an actor playing his role in the drama
of life, the Leela of the Supreme. He does not forget his real
being nor does he overplay his role to win fame or personal
success. There is no room for desires in him because of his
non-identification with a petty individuality.
Such a detached life frees him from the prison of
ignorance, though he may be active like others. Is action,
without expectation of results, itself enough? Detached action
(nishkama karma) is only the means to achieve inner purity and
therefore one has to strive further in the quest for perfection.
The question still persists; who is engaged in such nishkama
karma? As long as there is a doer there is the need for the
experience of pure non-dual Awareness. Hence the karma
yogi too has to tread the path of knowledge ultimately. But
self-enquiry comes naturally to him. The perfect karma yogi
is spontaneously drawn to the path of jnana (knowledge). The
apparently contradictory paths of karma and jnana become
complementary to and inseparable from each other. The
purity of mind brought about by selfless action points the way
to jnana. The identification of one’s true being with the body-
bound ego is the root cause of all selfishness and suffering.
Such wrong identification ends only with the dawning of
wisdom through the enquiry: ‘Who is bound?’ – ‘Who am I?’
When, through uninterrupted experience of Being, the wrong
notion of bondage (and liberation therefrom) is dispelled, the
radiance of Pure Awareness alone remains. Sri Bhagavan has

clarified for us the path of Self-enquiry starting from selfless
action and culminating in the bliss of Pure Awareness.
Inner search for jnana together with such disinterested
karma is the most practical way for most of us under
modern conditions. Leading such a life is fully approved
by Sri Bhagavan when he says: “Leave your outward life to
prarabdha and make intense effort within for illumination.”
He has taught us that, while pursuing the path of Self-
enquiry, we can carry on our occupation in life, without the
least idea of ‘I am doing this’. The idea ‘I-am-the-body’ is
the only ignorance and bondage. Performing our work with
detachment and enquiring Who Am I? at the same time is
the safest course for release from bondage. To do one’s work
impersonally and to enquire intensely within ‘Who am I?’ is
thus the essence of the teaching of all great Masters.
Bhagavan sums this up aptly: “A man need not give up
his worldly duties; what he should give up is desiring things
for himself.” The ideal to be aimed at, therefore, is a life
of selfless activity accompanied by uninterrupted awareness.
The mind that operates without attachment to its own past
or future can attend to work of any kind efficiently and in a
truly scientific manner. Such a mind is well protected from
all ignorance and distraction as it is free from petty, personal
desire.
It should be remembered that Sri Bhagavan’s method is
not a mere intellectual exercise, but a heuristic and holistic
sadhana for self-integration and self-transcendence in which
there can be no conflict between awareness and action. The
only freedom we enjoy and the only obligation enjoined on
us is to turn the searchlight inward and learn to look within.
Having once set out on this quest of self-improvement through
Self-enquiry, one can no more miss one’s way than a living
plant firmly rooted in good soil in the open air can lose its
rapport with sunlight. One’s very means of livelihood, the
actions that one is called upon to perform, duty to family
and role in society, will undergo the requisite change either

through one’s volition or by sheer force of circumstance. All
things work together for good to them that love God, i.e. for
those who have turned towards the Self. For turning to the
universal Self is ceasing to be selfish, narrow, personal. The
more impersonal the worker, the more scientific and more
efficient the work. If disinterestedness is an asset, surrender
to the Lord, heightened awareness and empathy with one’s
fellow-workers, add a new dimension to one’s human
relations.
The spiritual aspirant who is honest and heroic can thus
use even worldly work as a means of self-purification. Much
more easily then can the inmate of an ashram adopt the right
attitude to activity as a help rather than a hindrance in the
spiritual path. There is a lurking fear in some people that their
sadhana will be adversely affected by engaging in work or
service.
Even granting that sadhana becomes less intense if
combined with work, can one assert that one is engaged in
sadhana all the time? Unfortunately, the truth is far from
this. People who are not prepared to be active in constructive
work mostly indulge in casual or loose talk, controversial
discussion or even outright gossip. Their own notions of piety
also drive them to undertake minor or major jobs for others.
The results of such undertakings on individual responsibility
are unpredictable.
Thus the problem comes through the back door and has
to be faced. It is far better and safer to do allotted tasks than
indulge in erratic activity. Rare is the sadhaka who can carry
on sadhana on a whole time basis. And it is highly unlikely
that such a person will refuse to do service when called upon
to do so.
The human tendency that drives one to activity cannot be
wished out of existence. This tendency can be sublimated by
accepting work or service as a vital and recognised aspect of
spiritual practice.
Work, particularly systematic work, has rich rewards. In

the higher, spiritual sense gradual purification results. Work
in an impersonal and universal cause helps the erosion of the
ego. The loss of individuality is easier here than in mundane
activity where personal motives have wider and stronger play.
The two types of activity are different. Work in the world
without is a sadhana for the athletic spirit. Work in an ashram
demands less of courage than humility.
Spiritual alertness and physical briskness go together.
Spiritual laziness can lead to physical laziness and vice versa.
Spiritually evolved persons prove the point conclusively.
Sri Bhagavan was always an enthusiastic participant in
the Ashram chores. He was the first – to get up (from his
apparent sleep) and attend to kitchen duties like cutting of
vegetables. He did this for years and years. He had done on
numerous occasions jobs like brick-laying and book-binding.
There was no task which he deemed beneath him. Apart
from this personal example there was also his unmistakable
admiration for those who worked hard for the Ashram. His
own Ashram on the Hill he named Skandasramam, because
one Kandaswami cleared the ground and prepared the site for
it single-handed. For the dignity of useful labour there could
be no higher testimony than the example of Sri Bhagavan.
This does not mean that ashrams should be converted into
workhouses and their activities expanded in a mechanical
manner. But one should not escape work that needs to be
done; one should do one’s share of it willingly.
The kind and quantum of work done does not matter as
much as the willingness and zeal one puts into it. It should
never be forgotten that awareness is our true being, and that
action is only a ripple, a movement, a shadow in the ocean of
awareness. We should not be in too great a hurry to become
agents, we should for the most part be content to be patient.
As Wordsworth says: “Action is transitory, a step, a blow,
the motion of a muscle, this way or that, ‘Tis done, and in
the after-vacancy We wonder at ourselves like men betrayed:
Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark And shares the

nature of infinity.” Whatever action we do – and none of us
can altogether escape action, whether in the world or in an
ashram – should be surrendered to the Lord, should not boost
the ego and should thus help inner purification. In the words
of George Herbert:
“Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws, Makes that and the
action fine.” It is in this spirit that Appar, the saint who was
ever busy tidying up our temples and their environs, sang of
the covenant between him and Siva: It is His duty to sustain
Even this slave. My duty is Only to serve and be content.
5. How Maharshi Helps His Devotees*
S ri Bhagavan was unique, peerless. Why should I say

‘was’? He is unique, and he is peerless.
One gracious look, an understanding nod or a sympathetic
word always meant oceans to the earnest seeker, to the
aspiring pilgrim. Which sincere voyager has gone to him and
returned empty? And which devout sadhaka has sought his
guidance and not gotten it?
The intellectual quibbler might have been given the short
shrift by him. The dry philosopher might have found in him a
steel wall. The eternal doubter would have returned from him
not any the better.
But those who have unreservedly surrendered themselves
to a pursuit of Truth have never failed to find in him a great
guide. And in what infinite ways has he helped the true
sadhaks?
Sometimes the sought for guidance would come through
an answer given to somebody’s question. Sometimes it would
* Major A.W. Chadwick, Sunday Times, April 1950. Reprinted in

The Call Divine, January 1959.
be provided through a direct monosyllabic answer. And

sometimes it would come through a subjective experience.
And if the hundreds of pilgrims on the path of spirituality
who have sought and received guidance from Sri Bhagavan
were to unfold their subjective experiences, the world will
know how gracious, compassionate, benevolent and all-
pervasive Sri Bhagavan has been and is.
But subjective experiences are intimate, and they are
provided only for the personal spiritual advancement of the
particular aspirant. It is, therefore, not usually considered
necessary to take the world into confidence regarding the
subjective experiences of sadhaks. But since I have been
invited by the editor to write on how Sri Maharshi has been
helping the aspirants, I venture to refer to just one experience
of mine.
Once I was going on the eastern side of the Arunachala
hill in full belief and confidence that I had unreservedly
surrendered myself to Sri Bhagavan. Suddenly I saw a leper
woman walking towards me. Her face was terribly disfigured
by the disease. Her nose had been completely eaten away and
in its place were found two holes. The fingers on her hands
had all gone. She advanced towards me and extending the
stumps of her hands and asked me to give her something to
eat.
The sight of her disgusted me, frightened me. My
whole frame shuddered with terror that she might touch me.
Overcome by repulsion, I hastened to move away from her.
Suddenly, I heard the voice of Sri Bhagavan coming clear and
ringing from across the mountains. It said: “To surrender to
me is to surrender to everyone, for the Self is in everyone.”
Hearing this I regained my poise and offered the leper woman
the plantains that I had in my bag.
In a few minutes, I saw myself standing before not the
disfigured leper woman but before a tall old man with white
long hair and beard. The man looked like a rishi and was
smiling. When the thought of prostrating before the rishi
entered my mind, I saw before me the old leper woman again.

I bowed happy at heart though somewhat confused in mind
and then resumed my walk up the hill.
This experience taught me a new lesson and made me
tread a new path. I have cited this as just one of the ways
through which Sri Bhagavan teaches, guides and helps.
Infinite, indeed, are the ways through which he teaches
the aspirant. Since what he has been providing before and
what he will continue to provide hereafter is a subjective
help to a subjective research, it may not and usually does
not produce wondrous ripples on the objective surface. Sri
Bhagavan is the one and real Guru. May his grace enflood
our being.
6. My Life, My Light*
Varanasi Subbalakshmi rendered useful service
in the Ashram kitchen during the lifetime of Sri
Bhagavan. Her chosen God was Lord Viswanath of
Benares. However, when she was going to Benares
for good she had a dream in which Lord Viswanath
told her to return to Arunachala, saying that
Bhagavan Ramana was the embodiment of Rama,
Krishna, Siva and all other Gods.
I lost my husband when I was sixteen. I went back to my

mother’s house and lived there as a widow should, trying
to pray to and meditate on God. My mother’s mind too was
devoted to the spiritual quest and religion was the main thing
in her life.
Once we went on a pilgrimage to Kaveri Pushkaram and
on our way back we stopped at Arunachala. There we were
told that a young Brahmin saint had been living on the hill
* Varanasi Subbalakshmiamma, Extracts from Ramana Smriti, 1980.

for the past ten years. The next morning, we went up the hill
along with others with whom we were travelling. At Mulaipal
Tirtham we cooked our food, ate and had some rest. Then we
went further and found the young Swami near Virupaksha
Cave. There was a brick platform at the entrance of the cave
and he was sitting on it. As soon as I saw him, I was at once
convinced that God Arunachala Himself had come in human
form to give salvation to all who approached Him.
He was about thirty at the time, and wonderful to look
at; he was bright and shining like burnished gold, his eyes
were blooming and clear, like the petals of a lotus. He looked
at us for a long time. The peak of Arunachala was towering
over our heads, the huge towers of the temple were below,
and an immense silence surrounded the Swami. Then the
ladies started whispering. One wanted to pray for a child for
her daughter-in-law who was barren, but another was saying
that the Swami was too exalted for such worldly matters.
Finally, the Swami was told of the young wife’s sorrow. He
smiled and lifted his folded hands to the sky as if saying: “All
happens by the will of the Almighty.”
We returned to Nellore and the impression of that visit
faded away. I did not even dream at that time that my life
would be spent at the feet of the Swami.
When I was thirty-one I went to Rameshwaram
on a pilgrimage and on my return journey I stopped at
Tiruvannamalai. I learned that the Swami was then living at
the foot of the hill. That afternoon we went to see him at his
Ashram. There was a thatched shed over his mother’s samadhi
and a tiled hall for meeting the Swami. He was seated on a
couch and about a dozen devotees were on the bare floor. We
sat in silence for ten minutes and returned to the town.
Bhagavan’s presence gave me the experience of inner
silence and mental stillness, but away from him I could not
regain it and I spent a year vainly trying to free myself from
all thought. Some friends were going to see Sri Aurobindo’s
Ashram at Pondicherry and they took me along. They were

to stay there for a week. I was not much impressed and went
for a short visit to Ramanasramam. A learned Shastri whom
I knew appeared in my dream and asked me: “Where was
the need for you to go to Pondicherry? Entrust yourself to
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He is God Himself. He will
surely lead you to salvation.”
But even such a clear dream was not enough. I cherished
a plan of going to Benares and spending my life there in holy
austerities. I decided to go to Bhagavan, learn from him how
to meditate, and then leave for Benares for good. My friend
Parvatamma decided to join me in the spiritual adventure.
Accordingly, we went to Tiruvannamalai and rented a house.
In the afternoon we took cashew nuts and sugar candy as
an offering to Bhagavan and went to the Ashram. We placed
our offerings on a stool before him and sat down. The cow
Lakshmi happened to be lying near Bhagavan’s sofa. She
got up and began to chew our precious offerings. Bhagavan
looked on and said nothing. His attendant, Madhava Swami,
did not even look. We thought it might be impious to disturb
the cow, but soon I got exasperated and exclaimed, “Please
remove the cow!” Madhava Swami replied: “Why? I thought
you offered those sweets to Lakshmi!”
What is Atma?
The next day at noon I was again at Ramanasramam. His
midday meal over, Bhagavan was reclining on the sofa and
explaining a verse from the Bhagavad Gita to Sri Ramiah
Yogi. As no one else was in the hall, I gathered courage and
asked: “What is Atma? Is it the limitless ether of space or the
awareness that cognizes everything?” Bhagavan replied: “To
remain without thinking ‘this is Atma’ and ‘that is Atma’, is
itself Atma.” He looked at me and I felt my mind melt away
into nothing. No thought would come, only the feeling of
immense, unutterable peace. My doubts were cleared. Every
day I would visit Bhagavan and listen to his talks with the
devotees. Deep in my mind there was the same rock-like
stillness, immensely solid and yet strangely vibrant.
Several times I was invited to work in the Ashram, but
the Ashram ways were not orthodox enough for me. One
day Bhagavan’s own sister asked me to take her place in
the Ashram, for she had to leave for some time. I could not
refuse. At that time Santammal was the chief cook and my
duty was to help her. To my great joy Bhagavan was in the
kitchen with us most of the time. He taught me to cook tastily
and neatly. I would spend all day in the Ashram and in the
evening I would go to the town to sleep, for there was no
sleeping accommodation for women in the Ashram.
Once Bhagavan said: “You widows do not eat vegetables
like drumsticks and radish. Diet restrictions are good to
strengthen the will. Besides, the quality of food and the
manner of eating have an influence on the mind.” I was
very happy to work in the kitchen directly under Bhagavan’s
supervision; yet I wanted to go home. The Ashram ways were
too unorthodox for me. And there was too much work. I did
not want to work all day long. I wanted to sit quietly and
meditate in solitude.
I Leave the Ashram
So, I left again for my village and I went away for about
a year. I divided my time between idleness and meditation.
Yet my heart was at the Ashram. I would tell myself: “Where
is the need of running about. Is not Bhagavan here and
everywhere?” But my heart was calling me to Bhagavan.
Even when I was pleading with myself, that in the Ashram
there would be no time for meditation, my heart would
say: “Working in the kitchen by his side is far better than
meditation.” At home I had all the leisure I wanted, but it
seemed to me that I was wasting my time.
Later I learned that that was the time Bhagavan used
to remember me very often. Once they were preparing
pongal (pulse with rice and black pepper) to celebrate

Bhagavan’s monthly birth-star (Punarvasu) and Bhagavan
told Santammal: “Subbalakshmi is far away yet she worries
whether pongal is cooked here today or not.” On some other
festival day Bhagavan announced: “Subbalakshmi will turn
up; keep some pongal for her.” That very day I arrived at the
Ashram.
His great love for me, a worthless devotee, bound me
firmly to his feet. Again and again I wanted to leave the
Ashram, but he held me for my good, more powerfully than
I held on to him.
Whenever I was collecting courage to tell Bhagavan
about my desire to leave, he would seem to read my thoughts
and forestall me by giving me something special to do. I felt
I had too much to do and that my life was being wasted.
One day Bhagavan was looking at me intently and said:
“It looks as if you are still hankering after meditation.” I
replied: “What have I got except endless work in the kitchen?”
Bhagavan said with deep feeling: “Your hands may do the
work, but your mind can remain still. You are that which
never moves. Realise that and you will find that work is not
a strain. But as long as you think that you are the body and
that the work is done by you, you will feel your life to be
an endless toil. In fact, it is the mind that toils, not the body.
Even if your body keeps quiet, will your mind keep quiet
too? Even in sleep the mind is busy with its dreams.”
I replied: “Yes, Swami, it is as natural for you to know
that you are not your body as it is for us to think that we
are the body. I had a dream recently in which you were
explaining this very point. I was dreaming that I was working
in the kitchen and you were having your bath in your usual
place behind the bamboo mat partition. You asked: ‘Who is
it?’ I replied:
‘Who shall I say I am?’ You said: ‘Exactly so, you
are nothing of which something can be said.’ Now, just
remember that was my dream and it was quite clear. Why
can’t I remember always that I am not the body?” “Because

you haven’t had enough of it,” he smiled.
Do Not Torture the Body
I used to fast quite often, as advised in some scriptural
texts. In one of the books, I read: “He who wants to know
himself and yet pays attention to his body is like a man who
trusts a crocodile to take him across a river.” I showed the
text to Bhagavan and he explained: “It does not mean that
you should starve. You need not torture the body. It only
means not giving the body more than it needs. With your
mind, hold on to enquiry and just keep the body going so that
it does not become a hindrance. For this, pure and fresh food,
simply prepared and taken in moderation, is a great help.”
Another day I asked Bhagavan’s permission to put on
the sannyasin’s orange robes and beg for my food. He said:
“Will coloured clothes give you renunciation? First learn
what sannyasa means.”
Once five or six devotees sat down before Bhagavan and
sang a hymn in praise of the Guru. He got up in the middle
of the recitation and went away, saying: “Prayers and praises
will not take one far. It is the merciful look of the teacher that
bestows true knowledge.” I felt elated. Had I not received his
merciful glances? But the next day he was saying: “Unless
one becomes a six-month-old baby there is no hope for him
in the realm of Self-knowledge.” My heart sank. Although I
lived in the presence of Lord Arunachala Himself, I was far
from becoming an infant.
Why Should You Doubt?
Another time Bhagavan was telling us stories from the
lives of devotees of bygone ages. I questioned him: “It is
written that God appeared before the devotee and shed His
grace on him while he was still in his mother’s womb. Can it
be true?” To that Bhagavan replied: “Why should you doubt?
Will doubt profit you? Only your devotion will suffer. Those
stories are as real as your telling me that you are present here
and now.”
Bhagavan was one day reading and explaining
Tiruppugazh in Tamil to Alamelu Ammal of Madurai. I did
not know Tamil and I could only look on. I saw a change
in Bhagavan. A light was shining from within him. His face
was radiant, his smile was beaming, his eyes were full of
compassion. His words reverberated in the mind and were
instantly and deeply understood. All my being was carried
upwards on a current of strange vibrations. The memory of
this experience is ever present in my heart. A great joy has
remained with me that I was privileged to sit at the feet of
the Divine Being.
It was ever like this with him. Whoever went to him, he
would go down to his level; his words and gestures, even the
intonation of his voice, would adapt themselves to the make-
up of the people around him. With children he was their
playmate, to family people – a wise counsellor, to pundits –
a well of knowledge, to yogis – the God of will, the God of
victory. He saw himself in them and they saw themselves in
him and their hearts would be bound to his feet in everlasting
love. All who came to see him would be charmed by his love
and kindness, beauty and wisdom, and the overwhelming
sense of unity he radiated like fire radiating heat. To some he
would grant a special vision, invisible to others; with some
he would openly discourse. Crowds would gather round him
and each one would see him differently. Even his pictures
differ. A stranger would not guess that they are all of the same
person.
Grant Me Salvation, Swami
One afternoon a lady from Kumbakonam sat near
Bhagavan and exclaimed: “How glad I am that I have met
you, Swami. I have craved to see you for a long time, Swami.
Not that I want anything, Swami. Only please be kind and
grant me salvation, Swami.” With that she got up and went
away. Bhagavan had a hearty laugh. “Look at her – all she

wants is salvation. Give her salvation, she wants nothing
else.” I said: “Is it not what we all want?”
He replied: “Is salvation something to be handed over on
request? Do I keep bundles of salvation concealed about me,
that people should ask me for salvation? She said, ‘I do not
want anything.’ If it is sincere, that itself is salvation. What is
there I can give and what is there they can take?”
Somebody brought a bell to be rung at the arati ceremony
and it was put into Bhagavan’s hands. He tried its sound in
various ways and laughed: “God wants us to make a fire of our
past evil deeds and burn our karma in it. But these people burn
a copper worth of camphor and hope to please the Almighty.
Do they really believe that they can get something for nothing?
They do not want to bend to God, they want God to bend to
them. In their greed they would swallow God, but they would
not let him swallow them. Some boast of their offerings. What
have they got to offer? The idol of Vinayaka (Ganesa) is made
of jaggery. They break off a piece of it and offer it to Him.
The only offering worthy of the Lord is to clear the mind of
thoughts and remain steady in the peace of Self.”
In the early days, when I joined the Ashram, Bhagavan
used to help in grinding lentils, peeling vegetables and even
lending a hand in cooking. He would get up long before
daybreak to join the kitchen staff at their work. We ladies
would arrive by sunrise, and Bhagavan would see that all was
ready for our arrival and we would often find a part of our
work already done. To forestall him we would come by five;
he would come at four; we would come then at three. When
he saw that we were left without sleep, he stopped entering
the kitchen before sunrise and gave us time to sleep.
He was the very embodiment of wisdom and kindness,
though he did not mind our faults and mistakes, he made
us follow his instructions to the letter. We had to do the
same task again and again until it was done to his complete
satisfaction. Did he do it for himself? Of what use was it to

him? He wanted to prove to us that we could do things right,
that only lack of patience and attention causes all the mess.
He sometimes seemed too severe, even harsh, to make us
do something correctly, for he knew what we did not know
– that we can act correctly if we only try. With experience
came confidence, and with confidence the great peace of
righteousness.
In daily life he avoided all distinction. At work and at
food he was one of us. But in the hall, seated on the sofa, he
was the great Lord of Kailas, the Holy Mountain. Whenever
Bhagavan would enter or leave the hall, we would all get
up respectfully. One could see that he did not like so many
people being disturbed because of him.
He wanted us to learn well the lesson that God is present
in every being in all his glory and fullness and must be given
equal reverence. He was tireless in hammering this lesson
into our minds and hearts, and he would ruthlessly sacrifice
the little comforts we so loved to provide for him, as soon as
he noticed a trace of preference. The law that what cannot be
shared must not be touched was supreme in his way of dealing
with us. Separative and exclusive feelings are the cause of the
‘I’ and therefore the greatest obstacles in the realisation of the
One. No wonder he was exterminating them so relentlessly.
Once Bhagavan had jaundice. He had to be put on a fruit
diet, but he would not eat fruit unless all ate, and in equal
quantities too! Where could we get such a lot of fruit? Yet
he was adamant and would leave his share untouched unless
he saw an equal share on everybody’s leaf-plate. Those who
say that a sick man needs special food and must not give
trouble, miss the point. Bhagavan was not sick. His body had
jaundice, that was all. He wanted to impress on our minds
that under no condition must a man have a greater share. Our
learning this lesson was more important to him than the cure
of his jaundice.
To serve him at mealtimes was by itself a dangerous

adventure. Our womanly desire was to fill him to the brim.
His rule was to clear the plate no matter what or how much
was served. Not a speck of food would be left uneaten. So,
we had to be watchful and serve much less than what we
would like to. It was not easy, and we would often fail. He
would scold us bitterly, or, what was infinitely worse, would
fall ill and suffer. I cannot understand how he managed to
produce an illness when a lesson was needed, but our life
with him was crisis after crisis.
He would take any amount of trouble to teach us the
virtues necessary for self-discovery. Our life in the Ashram
was a school of yoga, and a hard school too. For book-
knowledge was as nothing to him; only character and genuine
spiritual experience counted.
With time he ceased working in the kitchen, but we
could still find him in the dining hall. When all would leave
after food, he would linger on his seat and we would collect
around him and chat and listen to his precious words. He
would teach us and guide us, and we would forget the years
that passed and be again the happy crowd of yore.
Changed to the Very Root of Our Being
One had to live and work with him to know what a great
teacher he was. Through the trifles of daily life, he taught
us Vedanta in theory and practice. He led us with absolute
wisdom and infinite kindness and we were changed to the
very root of our being, not even knowing the depth and
scope of his influence. It is only now, after so many years,
that we can see the meaning of the orders, prohibitions,
scoldings and storms that we had to endure. At that time,
we understood so little and just obeyed, because we felt that
he was God. Even that feeling we owed to his grace, for
from time to time he would let us see him as he really was,
the Lord Almighty, and not the human frame to which we
were accustomed.
We were women, simple and uneducated. It was our love

for him, a reflection of his love, that chained us to his feet
and made us stay. For him we gave up hearth and home and
all our earthly ties. We only knew that we were safe with
him, that in some miraculous way he would take us to our
goal. He himself was our goal, our real home. More than that
we did not know or care. We were even slow to learn the
lesson of equality to man and beast which he was so anxious
to teach us first. To us he alone existed. The radiant form of
Ramana was enough for us. We did not know that it was not
enough, that a human soul must learn to embrace the universe
and realise its own presence in every living being. We would
concentrate too much on him and resent his compelling us to
enlarge our little circle. His sometimes-harsh treatment would
bewilder us and make us cry. Now we see that it was love
that suffered as it laboured.
Yogis control themselves severely for long to reach the
state to which Bhagavan would take us by making us work
near him in the kitchen. The small tasks of daily life he
would make into avenues to light and bliss. Whoever has not
experienced the ecstasy of grinding, the rapture of cooking,
the joy of serving idlis to devotees, his devotees, the state
when the mind is in the heart and the heart is in him and he
is in the work, does not know how much bliss a human heart
contains.
Although physically he is no more with us, he still directs
us, as in the past. He will not let go his hold on us until we
reach the Other Shore. This is our unshaken faith. We may
not always be conscious of his guidance, but we are safe in
his hands.
Sri Krishna, in His mercy became a cowherd to teach
simple milkmaids the way to salvation. Similarly, Bhagavan,
the same supreme Being in another form, took to cooking in
order to save a few ignorant women. With his eyes he served
his devotees the food of the spirit, with his hands – the bread
of life.
7. Initiation by Look*
I stop in the Gratitude Hut during my walking meditation.

Upon entering, my eyes immediately become fixed on a
large photo of Ramana Maharshi which hangs on the wall. I
cannot take my eyes off of him. I am magnetized. It seems
he, too, is looking directly at me.
As I gaze into his eyes, his image takes on a form that
seems lifelike, multidimensional; it’s as if he is right here,
now. His face becomes luminous and his expression softens,
as if to say, “Yes, I am looking at you.” A couple of more
crow’s feet appear at the outer edges of his twinkling eyes
and his lips turn up ever so gently as he smiles warmly at
me. His kind look is penetrating; truly, it’s as if he is looking
into me and through me. I feel a profound sense of intimacy,
into-me-see, of being seen so completely and fully in this
moment.
Something shifts ever so slightly, and his eyes take the
form of luminous white fire. I feel a burning sensation. No
longer am I the object of his gaze; I experience myself gazing
into myself – subject and object at once. I am seeing myself
through his eyes. He is showing me my own True Nature! It
is as if Sri Ramana is lending me his eyes so that I can see
what he sees – the Self that I Am.
Tears stream down my face and I am filled with a
profound sense of wonder, and awe, and connection. I sense
that I am not separate, or alone; in this moment all are one –
the wooden hut and the photo and Sri Bhagavan and I, and
the trees and the sunlight, and then, in this new moment, I am
Formlessness, Timelessness, Consciousness.
* Ann Osborne, ‘The Maharshi’ newsletter, Nov-Dec 2011.

8. Bhagavan Sri Ramana is

Personally Present Here*
B hagavan Ramana is personally present here. To demand

proof is like wanting proof that the sun is shining
overhead. His presence is known or ‘seen’ by those with eyes
to see. For others even a positive proof would be useless.
If a few phenomenal incidents are cited to prove his
personal presence here, the logical mind may well dismiss
them all as too fantastic or merely imagination. A man of
faith could accept the facts on hearing them but would that
instill conviction of Ramana’s presence as a living reality?
For those who come to visit Ramanasramam, I would like
to offer my advice. Please do not come like a tourist merely
with an idea that you are going to sightseeing an Ashram
even if it bears the name of one of the greatest Rishis of
modern times. Don’t go through the ritual of offering prayers
and puja at various shrines, receiving prasadam and vibhuti
only to go back satisfied that you have ‘done’ with another
holy place.
Of course, visiting holy places does have a great effect,
but that in itself is not enough. It may be enough for the
uninitiated, but seekers of the Truth require a sense of holy
presence, such as can be experienced at Ramanasramam. It is
a fact that Bhagavan is here.
Towards the end of his bodily manifestation, he said,
“They say that I am going, but where can I go? I am here.”
Once when someone wrote a booklet criticising
Ramanasramam, Bhagavan remarked that the author had
done a great service to the cause of Truth. When asked for
an explanation, he said that this book would keep away
the insincere and superficial people and only the sincere
Truth-seekers would continue to come. In the same way the
Maharshi himself has done a great service to the cause of
* Sri Swatantra, The Mountain Path, January 1974.

Truth by withdrawing himself from the physical plane. He

has made himself unavailable to the worldly eye, while to the
seeker with spiritual sight his living presence is very much
here.
9. The Secret Operation of Grace*
R amana would always remind the visitors and devotees

seeking assurance of His Grace that it is there all along,
that it is synonymous with God and the Self. Ramana was
emphatic about the “Self revealing immediacy of divine
grace” and would compare failure to perceive it to the poor
vision of the “owl which cannot see the sun” or to those
buds “which do not blossom on sunrise”. He once remarked.
“People come and tell me that I must grant Grace. They seem
to think that I keep it under lock and key. I am always giving
it. If it cannot be comprehended what can l do?
How then is His Grace vouchsafed? What does it mean to
be ‘clothed’ and ‘ornamented’ by His Grace? Ramana’s Grace
means different things to different people. It is ordinarily taken
to mean His intervention for altering the course of events.
The following illustrations are typical: a devotee suggested
to her friend to keep Ramana’s picture with her so that her
husband might return to her, and reported after some time in
the hall that her prayers had been answered. Another devotee
present in the hall asked, “What is impossible for Bhagavan?”
adding that he had advised a friend that he could continue
in Madras, for physical proximity of Bhagavan, if only he
prayed to Him for that. Devotees would send telegrams and
letters to Sri Ramanasramam to be placed before Ramana for
curing ailments of their dear ones.
Even as the telegram or letter was being despatched there
would be relief and miraculous cure which would be attributed
* A.R. Natarajan, The Mountain Path, October 1982.

to His grace. Many instances are narrated in Day by Day with

Bhagavan and Sri Ramana Reminiscences of persons turning
to Him in their hour of need, and invariably getting succour.
Ramana Himself would, however, dismiss these visible signs
of His Grace as being only the automatic intervention of a
higher power when matters are brought to the notice of a
jnani. The following conversation which Ramana had with Sri
Subbaramayya is germane: “Bhagavan, did you not think that
you must do something to save the child?” Straight came His
answer, “Even the thought of saving the child is a sankalpa
and one who has any sankalpa is not a Jnani. In fact such
thinking is unnecessary. The moment the jnani’s eye falls
upon a thing, there starts a divine, automatic action which
itself leads to the highest good”. Such instances are no doubt
important in kindling and sustaining faith in Ramana’s divinity
and the inspired nature of His teachings. The first overt act
of grace, however, is the awakening of interest in the search
for Truth and for finding the meaning of Life. To be saved
from the quagmire and quicksand of a life of identification
with the body, centred on sensate pulls, is truly Ramana’s
Grace. For millions are lost in worldliness. “Remembrance
is the forerunner of Grace. That is the response, that is the
stimulus, that is Grace”.
To be exposed to the simple and direct path of Ramana
for returning to the source, to our natural state of happiness,
is the next step, as it were, in the chain of his directed Grace’
for one could lose oneself in the labyrinth of purely mental,
spiritual practices. For the search into the source of the ego,
the vital sustenance and support is His Grace, for that pushes
the mind inward.
Till one becomes established in the divine milieu one
undergoes the torture of “one suspended between life and
death”. We are often in a halfway house, having neither
anchorage in the Self nor in the body. Old tendencies lash
at us, as it were, forcing the mind outward and the joy of
Self-abidance is far too weak or intermittent to act as a
countervailing force to pull the mind inward. At this juncture,

grace is needed most.
Ramana Himself once quoted Nayana (Ganapati Muni)
as saying: “In going forward one can run any distance at any
speed, but when it is a question of going backward, that is,
turning inward, even one step is hard to take”. The capacity
of the mind to be fully focussed on the ‘I’ thought is not
strong enough on many an occasion. Ramana Himself puts
this situation very clearly in The Marital garland, when He
says, “seeking you with my weak mind I have come back
empty-handed. Aid me O Arunachala!”
In the inward journey too one could be lost by mistaking
‘lulling of the mind’ as being the end of the journey. The
case of Sankarananda, a devotee saved by Ramana, would
serve to bring out this point. Sankarananda would sit for long
hours in the hall. While meditating he would be overtaken by
spells of ‘stillness of thought’. To get him out of this state,
Ramana would request Sri Kunju Swami and Sri Viswanatha
Swami to take him out to the temple or for a walk to the lake
to draw himself out for no further progress would be possible
otherwise. It is Ramana’s Grace alone which enables one to
cross this stage and push inward, deeper, to the zone of the
Self. Giving the strength for persisting in the enquiry upto the
point where it is required before ‘letting go’ to be ‘swallowed
alive’ and becoming ‘inundated’ by the sea of bliss of the
Self. “Grace is thus the beginning and end, introversion is
due to Grace; perseverance is Grace and realisation is Grace.”
So important is grace for the search and Self-abidance that
Ramana uses the expression as many as fifty-one times in the
Marital Garland of Letters.
Again, it is the Grace of Ramana which enables us to be
aware where exactly our true freedom lies. The first instruction
which he gave to His mother was that events are preordained
according to the divine law. In response to questions put to
Him, he would emphasise this fact. Years later, Ramana told
Paul Brunton, “He who has given life to the world knows how
to look after it also. He bears the burden of the world, not

you.” He would at the same time point out that “the pathway
to freedom” “lies in not identifying oneself with the body and
by not being affected by pleasures and pains consequent on
the body’s activities.”
The feeling that we are utterly helpless and incapable of
shaping events and circumstances according to our choice
increases. The ability to cast the ‘burden of care’ on the
supreme power who sustains all things comes about as one
learns to “let go” and “lose” oneself in the flood tide of
Ramana’s Grace.
Self-enquiry and surrender are possible only by His Grace
which operates unnoticed like the morning dew, cleansing
the mind both of its self-regarding activity and its laziness.
Borrowing His words, we often wonder who it is that has
“secretly entered the mind and stolen our heart”. He is ‘the
sacred treasure of Grace’ coming to us uninvited, without
notice, biding His time to reach and destroy the vitals of our
ego.
The secret of this alchemy of Grace is not known for,
like a spider, Ramana holds us tight in his gracious orbit to
consume us at His hour. But one thing is certain. He is like
‘the mighty Aruna Hill’, ‘the life-destroyer’ and He too has
‘raised the flag vowing the death of the ego of his devotees’.
It is for this reason that he would generally not encourage
evaluation of one’s spiritual progress. Once we have entrusted
ourselves to His care, care he will and it would be His concern
to look after us.
What indeed would have been our lot had He contended
Himself with just enjoying the Bliss of Self abidance! But
Ramana graciously accepts the responsibility and becomes
our helmsman, our staff and support in the spiritual journey.
Two instances illustrate this:
Balarama Reddy would pay obeisance, along with a
loving offering, to the Maharshi early every morning and
pursue self-enquiry in the privacy of his own apartment.
He was not yet aware of the transforming influence of the

physical proximity of Ramana. Ramana noticed this. When
His broad hint failed, he literally thrust His grace on Reddy
by a mock anger, which made him realise the immeasurable
advantage of ‘questing within’ in Ramana’s presence.
A leaf from Sri T.K. Sundaresa Iyer’s diary is also worth
extracting in this context. “One day I wondered why I was
visiting Him at all. What was the use? There seemed to be
no inner advancement. Going up to the Hill was meaningless
toil. I decided to end my visits on the hill. For one hundred
days exactly I did not see Bhagavan. On the hundred and
first day, I could suffer no longer and I ran to Skandasram
above Virupaksha cave. Bhagavan saw me climbing, got up
and came forward to meet me. When I fell at His feet, I could
not restrain myself and burst out in tears. I clung to them and
would not get up. Bhagavan lifted me up and asked: ‘It is
over three months since I saw you. Where were you?’ I told
him how I thought that seeing Him was of no use. ‘All right’
he said, ‘May be it is of no use, so what? You felt the loss,
did you not?’ Then I understood that we did not go to him for
profit, but because away from him there was no life for us!”
The steady light of Ramana’s Grace will do its work
shining like the golden rays of the rising Sun, enabling us to
abide, forever, sunk deep in the Ocean of Bliss.
10. Sri Dakshinamurti and Sri Ramana*
B hagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi has often been compared

to Sri Dakshinamurti, who sits silently under the banyan
tree on the north slope of Arunachala, and there is much
ground for this comparison. Moreover, it is more than just
a comparison. Actually, the two are identical, although their
* Sadhu Arunachala (Major A.W. Chadwick), The Call Divine, 1953.

bodies may seem different to us who are bound by the

limitations of time and space.
Sri Dakshinamurti has retreated to an inaccessible
vastness, no longer to be reached by humans, and we can
only surmise that this is because he found the world unworthy
and unable to understand his silent instruction, whereas in
the form of Sri Ramana he was always most accessible and
explained to one and all the meaning of this silence; if they
did not listen, well, the seed would bear fruit on some future
occasion. Nothing was ever wasted; for him there was no
time and so there could be no disappointment.
Strangely, Bhagavan (as we all used to call Sri Ramana)
once found himself in the proximity of the Silent Guru. He
had gone off on a ramble about the slopes of the hill when
he saw a very large banyan leaf lying in his path. So struck
was he by this that he set off in search of its source. At length
he came within sight of an uncommonly large tree, which he
thought must be the one for which he was looking. But he
could not reach it, his way was blocked by a wall of sheer
rock; at the same time, he was attacked by a swarm of wasps
whose nest he had unwittingly disturbed. Thus, realising
that he was not destined to proceed, he returned. After this
event, he discouraged his disciples who proposed to explore
the Hill in quest of the same spot. “You will not succeed in
any way,” he would tell them. And though occasionally some
would ignore his advice, nobody ever did succeed in getting
a glimpse of the enormous tree.
Both Sri Dakshinamurti and Sri Ramana taught exactly
the same teaching that can be fully expounded in silence. As
soon as words are used we are in the realm of the relative and
for Bhagavan there was no relative. It was only a fictitious
appearance of Reality which is One (Advaita).
“Make an effort to be without effort,” he would say. In fact,
don’t do anything, because actually there is nothing to do. The
whole trouble with us all is this constant doing. By associating
ourselves with all sorts of actions and circumstances we place
apparent limitations on the Illimitable. How can speech do

more than point out to us our mistake? It can tell us only to
‘be’, not to be this or to be that, because being this or that is
back again in the realm of limitation and it is just exactly this
that he is trying to make us understand.
And is there really any method of reaching that which is
eternally and forever here and now? Yes, Sri Ramana taught
Self-enquiry. Find out who is this eternal and ever-conscious
being that you really are by inquiring ‘Who am I?’ But that
was all. In other words, ‘Just be yourself,’ and to be yourself
you must get behind phenomena to the Eternal Witness and
this can only be done by Self-enquiry.
However, sometimes Sri Bhagavan would expound
philosophy by the hour to clear the doubts of his many
visitors, yet he always explained that this was actually quite
unnecessary. There was only one thing to know and do.
Silence was best. Once when he saw me puzzling over the
intricate division and recombination of the elements in an
Advaitic treatise that he had told me to read, he turned to
someone sitting before him and said, “Tell him not to worry
over all that, that is for those people who demand that sort of
thing, who want analytical explanation of everything. Let him
read the rest which he can understand.”
Sri Ramana has stated explicitly that he himself never at
any time did any sadhana. “Sometimes I would sit with my
eyes closed and sometimes with them open. I still do. But I
know no mantra or yogic exercises and would not have any
use for them if I did.” And it is certain that he never taught any
of these things. He told us how to set about Self-enquiry and
advised certain rules of life that would facilitate this, but that
was all. He says in the little book Who am I? “Regulation of
diet, restricting it to sattvic food taken in moderate quantities,
is of all rules of conduct the best, and is most conducive to the
development of sattvic qualities of the mind. These, in their
turn, assist us in the practice of Atma Vichara or enquiry in
quest of the Self.” For the mind is the product of the food we
eat, he explained. Purify the food and the mind automatically

becomes pure. Again: “Likes and dislikes, love and hatred
are equally to be eschewed. Nor is it proper to let the mind
rest often on the affairs of worldly life. As far as possible
one should not interfere in the affairs of others. Everything
offered to others is really an offering to oneself; and if only
this is realised, who is there that could refuse anything to
others?” Let me quote once again: “If the ego rises all else
will arise, if it subsides all else will also subside. The deeper
the humility with which we conduct ourselves the better it is
for us. If only the mind is kept under control, what matters it
where one may happen to be?”
It all sounds so simple put like this, and yet how many of
us succeed? No question hereof going off and taking sannyasa,
for as he says: “Renunciation is not discarding external
things, but the cancellation of the uprising ego.” And this can
quite possibly be done more effectively in the world and in
the midst of family life. For to the determined seeker some
opposition is good; it gives him something to work on and
keeps him alert, just as the airplane needs the opposition of
the air to hold it aloft.
Bhagavan was always very definite in pointing out that
liberation is not some far-off, after-death experience. It is here
and now for all of us always. Just drop the false association
with limitation. Nothing new will happen, and we shall
then see that we have been all along the Self that we were
searching for. Sri Ramana was no missionary trying to drive
people along a definite track. Did he not know far better than
we that everything would come to fruition at its proper time,
there was no forcing it?
A certain number of people were bound to come to him,
and a few were able to remain permanently. It was just their
karma. Once when a visitor was taking leave and with tears
complained that he could not remain any longer, Bhagavan
remarked in a very matter of fact way that if everybody who
came remained, there would not be any room for anybody.
For a person who believed in reforms and all sorts of

charitable activity, his advice was: “First help yourself and
then you may be able to help others. How can you possibly
do any good to others when you yourself are still only seeking
for the Good?” Such activity amounts to starting out at the
wrong end.
People who never came to him have often said that his was
a negative philosophy, but this is only ignorance of the truth.
He was a dynamic force himself and he never advised the
inaction of inertia. “Do, but do not associate yourself with
the doer. Be the witness always,” was his message. Things
will undoubtedly go on, and as long as we imagine ourselves
to be the body we will naturally believe that we perform
the various activities ourselves. It is absolutely useless to sit
back and say: “I am not the body, so there is no need to
do anything;” this is only a catch phrase of intellectualism.
We do not really believe it to be true, so it only reveals our
hypocrisy. When we do actually know the Truth, we shall
never talk like that. For the real sannyasin, he has said, there
is no difference between solitude and active life, as he does
not regard himself as the doer in either case.
Sri Ramana’s message was for one and all, and so no
one, whatever his occupation, need say that he has no time,
for his teaching is to be practised now and always, whatever
we may be doing, whether it be working, resting, eating or
sleeping.
At the end of Catechism of Enquiry, (Self-Enquiry) it is
said: “It is within our power to adopt a simple and nutritious
diet, and with earnest and incessant endeavour, eradicate the
ego, the cause of all misery, by canceling all mental activities
born of the ego (i.e., the idea “I am the doer”). Can obsessing
thought arise without the ego, and can there be illusion apart
from such thought?”
And in these few words are summed up the whole of
the teaching of the great Sage of Arunachala who was in
fact none other than Sri Dakshinamurti in mortal form. And
even now though Sri Ramana has left his body, where is the
difference? Does he not exactly come up to the definition
of Sri Dakshinamurti as given by Sri Sundararaja Sarma in
his commentary on the slokas of Sri Sankaracharya? Sri –
Sakti, Dakshin – Perfect, Amurti – formless, or “the ever-
perfect, invisible power,” as one might term it.
The first verse of the Sri Dakshinamurti Stotra by Sri
Sankaracharya declares the same: “I bow to Sri Dakshinamurti
in the form of my Guru; I bow to him by whose Grace the
whole world is found to exist entirely in the mind, like a
city’s image mirrored in a glass, though like a dream, through
Maya’s power it appears outside; and by whose Grace, again,
on the dawn of Knowledge it is perceived as the everlasting
and non-dual Self.”
But of a truth the Self is one. When we have reached
that state of knowledge, when we live in the Self alone
and see the world for what it is, we too shall find that both
Sri Dakshinamurti and Sri Ramana are and ever have been
enthroned in our hearts. Let us pray earnestly that the dawn
of that day may be near at hand.
11. The Hill*
W hat is it about Arunachala that attracts some people

to the point of obsession? There are some who, once
ensnared, find it almost impossible to leave; there are others
who pass by and barely notice it. You drive along the main road
in either direction and the countryside is more or less littered
with hills of a similar size and configuration. Why should this
pile of earth and rocks be in any way different? Yet different
it most assuredly is. None of the other prominences has the
power, presence, or sheer personality and exuberance of
Arunachala. Even Bhagavan, if he could be said to be attached
* Katya Osborne, The Mountain Path, April 2005.

to anything, was attached to this place. On the face of it, it is an

inexplicable mystery; yet it is nonetheless a fact and therefore
worth trying to explain. In the myths of antiquity, Arunachala
was acknowledged to be the incarnation of Lord Siva on earth
as the Lord of Fire. Physically it is a hill, or small mountain,
some 2,668 feet above sea level, of apparently unremarkable
rocks physically indistinguishable from any others in this
landscape of scattered hills dotted about on the hot plains.
Bhagavan treated Arunachala as a living manifestation of
God, and as such it is hard to describe. A person cannot be
truly conjured up by a catalogue of physical details, and yet
any other sort of description is even harder to arrive at. To
those who are in tune with it, Arunachala is a microcosm of
the world. Its signature on the landscape is so powerful that
it seems to distort one’s inner compass; no hill this, but an
overwhelming presence that makes everything else around
seem shadowy and unreal. It also acts like a prism to intensify
all the senses and emotions. Colours seem brighter; the taste
of food is sharper; the very act of breathing is not just the
drawing in of whatever comprises the local atmosphere, rather
it is an effervescent inhalation of invigorating power. Every
sensation seems to be keener; love is stronger, but then so too
is hate. Having heightened senses works both ways, which
is why people come to Arunachala. They hope for release
and enlightenment, but the corollary is that all one’s negative
aspects are also highlighted. They can be dealt with or given
in to, according to the personal application of the individual.
People who resonate with the Hill have a unique opportunity
to deal with all the troublesome facets of their characters,
to recognise them and try to eliminate them; they also have
the possibility of elevating their least desirable qualities and
this can happen so slyly that it almost goes unnoticed. Small
skirmishes can become major wars and a mild interest in one’s
neighbours can become malicious gossip. In the same spirit, a
lack of interest in personal possessions can become genuine
renunciation and ordinary thoughtfulness can transmogrify

into true spirituality.
It is a mistake to suppose that everything within the
ambit of the Hill is benign. People have been robbed, raped,
and have even died on the Hill. Others have lived there as
renunciates, untroubled in a cave for years. Still others have
carried on a lifelong love affair with it.
Whatever happens in the world at large also happens on
or around the Hill…but more so. Addicts to this sort of intense
living find it hard to revert to black and white after the glories
of Technicolor. These are the people who cannot keep away
for long. Whatever the outside world has to offer pales into
insignificance when compared to the concentrated wealth of
emotion engendered by Arunachala; although this amount of
sheer cosmic power is hard to contain and can sometimes
cause the mind to spin out of control, which may be the
reason why some people who come to Tiruvannamalai either
are, or become, unbalanced. It is dangerous to underestimate
the intensity of this place.
Another attribute of the Hill is its healing powers. Known
also as the ‘Medicinal Hill’, this can be a reference to the
many therapeutic herbs to be found on it, but it can also be
an allusion to total holistic healing, in fact to the immense
feeling of well-being that emanates from anywhere within
the aura of Arunachala. The many special attributes of this
sacred place have been recognised from time immemorial.
Possibly, in ancient days, when people were more attuned to
natural forces, the power of Arunachala was more apparent
to everyone and its manifestation was acknowledged by
all. Certainly many shrines and temples, some of enormous
antiquity, festoon the pradakshina road and legendary stories
of the sanctity of the hill proliferate in the scriptures. It is
an eloquent confirmation of the abiding authority of this
place that its influence has not evaporated over the millennia;
indeed, it is apparently just as strong now as it ever was.
Whether the source is geological, due to a concentration of

magnetism in its structure, or whether it is purely spiritual
due to causes we cannot understand, the fact remains that the
power is there and so strong that it is almost tangible. Some
interested people have gone to the trouble of measuring the
distance from which the aura of the hill can be felt and they
came up with a figure of a 40 km radius. This may or may
not be accurate, but in any case it is irrelevant. For Bhagavan
the Hill was his guru and he walked around it, climbed up it
and composed songs to it. Indeed, it was the Hill that drew
him to Tiruvannamalai in the first place.
The solace that some people find within the radius of
the hill is alluring and addictive. Historically people have
looked for sacred places upon which to build their altars,
temples or any other place of worship. A hill was felt to be
a fitting location from which to praise God. With Arunachala
however, although many shrines have been built at its feet
and Bhagavan himself lived in a cave on its slopes for some
years, no one has ever even considered building any structure
on the summit. It would seem like a desecration. At least that
was the feeling of respect which Arunachala engendered
until recently. Nowadays, possibly as a sign of the Kali Yuga,
the summit of the hill is disfigured by shoddy shacks and
there are a number of quite aggressive ‘sadhus’ who demand
money from pilgrims. In the past this was never the spirit on
the hill. It was enough that at the festival of Deepam a huge
copper cauldron was hauled up to the top from the big temple.
Pilgrims clustered around and thronged the pathways to the
peak, each one bearing gifts of ghee to fill the container. On
Deepam night, the flame is lit, not by Brahmin priests but by
ancient custom, it is done by simple townspeople. For ten
days, the flame is kept alight while everyone honours Siva
in his aspect of Lord of Fire. No one can say how old this
ceremony is; certainly it goes back beyond the era when
records were kept. Lost in the dim past is the origin of the
feeling of awe and reverence engendered by Arunachala. But
whatever its source, the hill’s spontaneous attraction still

exists, and is experienced by so many people, even those
who first came to the Hill expecting nothing at all. It speaks
eloquently of the power of Lord Siva in whatever incarnation
he chooses.
12. Excerpts from the Prayer Manuscript*
J ust to abide in the cavity of the lotus of my Heart is the

greatest gift from Sri Ramana Bhagavan to me and how I
pray He keep me glued to His Lotus Feet once and for all.
His Sri Arunachala Ashram, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
Centre and this Sri Arunachala Ramana Mandiram in the
Annapolis Valley of Peace and Happiness are here as a result
of His Infinite Grace and Mercy. I must declare to the world
that they would not have been brought into existence without
His Infinite Grace and Mercy. So I shall have to remember
day and night that Sri Ramana Arunachala Dakshinamurti
Sachchidananda Parabrahman is looking after all of His
loving sons and dear daughters and we have to move on,
march on, press on and push on towards the goal that must
be reached without any further delay. But we are simply the
most infinitesimal instruments of the Mighty Maharshi and
He is the Doer behind each and everything in this world.
In the bright sunshine of the autumn, the Annapolis Valley
is glistening, sparkling and shining with warmth, love and
affection and I have no other choice left to me but to turn to
the Self within the cave of my Heart in this far-off land.
There has never been the least shadow of doubt within
me that my destiny is linked up with my Master and Lord,
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, and the time has come that
I must trudge along, trudge along, to the Holy Hill of the
* Arunachala Bhakta Bhagawat, ‘The Maharshi’ newsletter, Mar/

Apr 2006.
Beacon Light. The unceasing inherence in the Self in the

cavity of the lotus of my Heart must remain that focal point
of my remaining days. When I close my eyes, I find myself
transformed into the ant that knows nothing else in this world
but His Lotus Feet. No amount of my efforts and endeavours
can be of any avail in this world without His Infinite Grace
and Mercy. I beg and beseech Him to cut asunder the knot
of nescience from my Heart and melt me into the Holy
Arunachala Mountain. I am standing on this sacred soil of Sri
Arunachala Ashram in this Annapolis Valley at the southern
foot of the North Mountain and am calling on Bhagavan
Sri Ramana to remove the densest darkness of desires and
delusions from my life and give me the ceaseless inherence
in the Self, once and for all. My breath is merged in my Heart
and I feel like doing nothing but remaining calm and quiet all
the time. I walk around His Ashram like one possessed and
I can now do nothing but abide in the Self, nothing but the
Self, within my Heart Cavity. I am prostrate at the lotus Feet
of Sri Ramana Arunachala Dakshinamurti Guru.
Bhagavan Ramana has established His Abode for the sake
of all those devotees and disciples who are eager and earnest
to profit from His Most Direct and Simple Teaching of ‘Who
Am I’. Sri Bhagavan is ever kind and compassionate to me
and He gives us the friendship of such persons who are ever
ready to sacrifice their life for the sake of keeping His Banner
fluttering in the open air. Sri Arunachala Ramana Mandiram is
standing on the southern side of the field and adding grandeur
and luster to the world. Each and every single second of my
sojourn in this land is the firmest reminder to me that I must
cling to His Lotus Feet. My Heart is unceasingly repeating
His most blissful and potent Name ‘Om Namo Bhagavate
Sri Ramanaya’ and this is the be all and end all for me Sri
Arunachala Ramana Dakshinamurti Sadguru.
13. Sri Bhagavan’s Teachings*

1. Japa of ‘Koham’ (Who am I?) is not correct. Put the
question once and then concentrate on finding the source of
the ego and preventing occurrence of thoughts.
2. You should not attend to the breathing, if you are
capable of concentrating on the enquiry without it. Some may
have to attend to the breathing if unable to concentrate on the
enquiry alone. Some may practise Kevala Kumbhaka during
the enquiry. Some may require the help of regular pranayama
also to steady the mind and control the thoughts. All these
practices are to be given up when the mind becomes strong
enough to pursue the enquiry without their aid. Pranayama
is to be practised with the usual caution. It will gradually
increase the power and duration of the Kumbhaka. It will make
the mind one-pointed. Take its help if unable to concentrate
without it. Pranayama is like reins to control the mind-horse,
or like brakes to control the wheels of thought... “Who am I?”
and “whence am I?” are one and the same. They refer to the
ego only. No such questions can be asked in the case of the
Real Self.
3. Suggestive replies such as Sivoham (I am Siva) etc.,
to the Enquiry, are not to be given to the mind during the
meditation. The true answer will come by itself. Any answer
the ego may give cannot be correct. These affirmations or
auto-suggestions may be of help to those who follow other
methods, but not in this method of Enquiry. If you go on
asking, the reply will come. The method of enquiry is Dhyana,
and the effortless state is Jnana.
4. “I” is also a Guru-mantra. The first name of God is
“I”. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says, ‘Aham nama abhavat’
or “He became ‘I’ named”) Even OM comes later. Atma or
the real Self is always saying ‘I-I’. There is no mantra without
the person who does the Japa i.e., aham. The japa of aham
* Sri D.C.D., The Call Divine, June 1953.

is always going on within, Japa leads to Dhyana and Dhyana

leads to Jnana. You may practise saguna meditation or the
method of Enquiry according to your inclination. Only that
method will appeal to a person, which is most suitable for
him.
5. Without losing hold of the knowledge of “Who you
are”, you may continue all activities as prompted to perform
by the inner controller. They will go on even without your
efforts. What you are destined to do, you cannot avoid. They
will come your way of their own accord. You should also
understand what Japa, Kirtans etc. are meant for. The real
Japa is always going on. Japa and God are one and the same.
See the philosophy of the Name as given by Saint.
6. In the Enquiry, “I” refers to the ego.
7. Don’t entertain such thoughts of imperfection, lack of
qualities etc. You are already perfect. Get rid of the ideas of
imperfection and need for development. There is nothing to
realise or annihilate. You are the Self. The ego does not exist.
Pursue the enquiry and see if there is anything to be realised
or annihilated. See if there is any mind to be controlled. Even
the effort is being made by the mind which does not exist.
8. Real Asana is “being established” in the Self-Reality
or the Source. Sit in your Self. Where can the Self go and sit?
Everything sits in the Self. Find out the source of the “I” and
sit there. Don’t have the idea that the Self cannot be realised
without the help of Asanas etc. They are not at all necessary.
The chief thing is to enquire and reach the source of the ego.
The details such as posture etc. may distract the mind towards
them or to the body.
9. You may read whichever book you like. Self (Atma) is
the real book. You can look into it whenever you like. Nobody
can take it away. It is always at hand to be read. Hold on to
your Self in your spare time also and then you can read any
book.
10. Ask yourself ‘‘to whom do these doubts, fears and
worries occur?” and they will vanish. Cease to pay attention
to them. Pay attention to the Self within. Fears etc. can only
arise when there are two, or when anybody else exists apart
from, or separate from, or outside you. If you turn, the mind
inward towards the Self, fears etc. will disappear. If you try
to remove a doubt or fear, another doubt or fear will arise.
There will be no end of it. The best method to annihilate
them is to ask “To whom do they occur?” and they will
disappear. Destroying a tree by plucking its leaves one by
one is impossible – other leaves will grow by ‘the time you
pluck a few. Remove the root of the tree – the ego – and the
whole tree with its leaves and branches will be destroyed.
Prevention is better than cure.
Q. 10 a. Should I look for the source within the body?
A. 10 a. The ego arises within the body. Hence in the
first instance you may look within the body for its source.
When you reach the source there will be no inside or
outside, because the source of the Self is all-pervading. After
realisation everything will be inside the Self.
Q. 10. b. Is the source on the right side of the middle line
of the chest?
A. 10. b. The Heart is defined as the place from which the
‘I thought’ arises. Heart means the Centre (of consciousness).
It cannot be identified with any part of the body.
11. Keep the mind quiet. That is enough. Sitting in the
Hall will help you. The purpose of effort is to get rid of all
efforts. The force will be clearly felt when the stillness is
achieved. Spiritual vibrations exist everywhere and they will
manifest when the mind is stilled.
12. Look at your Self or Atma, rather than anywhere else.
The eyes may be kept open or closed. It is immaterial. There
is only one I, whether you spell it ‘I’ or ‘eye’. There is no
point in opening or closing the eye. Attention must be focused
on the inner ‘I’. You are not an eye that can be opened or
closed. You may close or open the eyes according to your
liking or inclination. It is immaterial, and not important. You
will cease to think of the world when you think of the Self.
If you are in a room and close your eyes and do not look out,
it is immaterial whether you close the windows or keep them
open. (The body is the room, the eyes are the window.)
Looking at Ajna-chakra etc. is not necessary in this
method. It may help in keeping the mind from going out
towards external objects. Concentrate on the Self without
which there are no chakras. They do not exist without you.
You are all of them. All centres (chakras) are in the Heart.
The Heart is not the Anahata-chakra, which is in the spinal
cord. Heart is “I”.
13. First find out whether the ego exists, who is depressed
by these thoughts. Find out how you got the idea of the body.
Solve this problem for your ego, then see if anything remains
to be solved.
14. Easy Yet Difficult*
M y contact with him began in 1930. It was by Divine

Providence, not by my planning, that I was able to spend
a continuous period of three years at Sri Ramanasramam. It
was a great blessing. I was a science graduate. I had learned
about the atomic structure of the universe and how matter
finally resolves into energy and the mind also is a form of
energy. So the entire world of mind and matter, when traced
to its source, is one uniform Energy, or God, or whatever you
choose to call it.
This was my attitude of mind when I first went to Sri
Ramanasramam. Bhagavan was then translating his ‘Ulladu
Narpadu’ (Forty Verses) into Telugu at the request of Yogi
Ramiah. After finishing it he threw the book to me and said,
“You are an Andhra; see if there are any mistakes of grammar
in it.” This was an act of grace, for it was that translation
* G.L.N., The Mountain Path, January 1966.

which was responsible for turning my mind inwards and

setting it on the right path.
The essence of what Bhagavan said to me in my talks
with him was: “You say that on final analysis all that I see
or think or do is one; but that really comprises two notions
– the all that is seen and the I that does the seeing, thinking
and doing, and says ‘I’. Which of these two is the more real,
true and important? Obviously, the seer, since the seen is
dependent on it. So, turn your attention to the seer who is the
source of your ‘I’ and realise that. This is the real task. Up to
now you have been studying the object, not the subject; now
find out for what reality this word ‘I’ stands. Find the entity
which is the source of the expression ‘I’. That is the Self, the
Self of all selves.”
This direct, simple teaching was like a tonic to me. It
swept away the unrest and confusion that till then had haunted
my mind. It is, of course, the essence of ‘Ulladu Narpadu’ and
the central theme of all Bhagavan’s writings. The simplicity
of it made me burst out: “Then Bhagavan, Self-realisation is
very easy, just as you say in the poem ‘Atma Vidya’!”
Bhagavan smiled and said, “Yes, yes, it seems so at
first, but there is difficulty too. You have to overcome your
present false values and wrong identification. Therefore, the
quest requires concentrated effort and steadfast abidance in
the Source when this is reached.”
However, even while warning me, he also added words
of solace: “But don’t let that deter you. The rise of the urge to
seek for the ‘I’ is itself an act of Divine Grace. Once this urge
gets hold of you, you are in its clutches. The grip of Divine
Grace never relaxes and finally devours you, just as the prey
in a tiger’s jaws is never allowed to escape.”
15. The Essence of Ramana

Maharshi’s Teaching*
“The Divine Master Bhagavan Sri Ramana ministered
to countless devotees in countless ways. One finds in his
teachings an immense range and variety suited to the level of
the seeker. But one also finds that ultimately he leads every
seeker to the crucial question ‘Who am I’?
Sri Bhagavan’s repeated emphasis on Self Enquiry and
his lucid explanations of it drive home the point that it not
merely represents a most direct path but is the real aim or
goal implied in all spiritual effort. If we are given an unfailing
means of finding or discovering the Truth, is it not the fruition
of having met or having been influenced by as great a master
as Bhagavan? To aid us in the task we have not only the
teachings of Bhagavan as recorded in his conversations with
devotees but his own words as well, in his own original works.
An earnest seeker will find all help to make his effort fruitful.
The devotee queried by Bhagavan as to ‘who’ he was,
may think for a while and reply he was either the body or the
sense-organs or the mind. To this Sri Bhagavan would say:
“In the world of phenomena you call certain things yours.
These organs etc., are 1 ‘yours’ on the same analogy. You
are in the position of an owner and since the owner is always
different from what he owns; these are not ‘you’. In sleep
you did exist but not the body or organs or mind.” This turns
the seeker inward. He realises that he has merely assumed
himself to be various things which he has never been and is
not – the body, the sense-organs or the mind.
To know intellectually that the body or the mind can be
transcended is preliminary knowledge that one is something
beyond these. That is described as Knowledge or Kutastha
or Brahman by the Upanishads. But to have concepts of the
* Sadhu Natanananda, The Mountain Path, April 1972.

Supreme Truth is not enough and often muddling, for how

can the mind gauge what transcends it?
Taking the body etc. as the Self is due to delusion or
ignorance whose origin is timeless. This ignorance is to a
man spiritually what blindness is physically. A man who is
born blind could not walk freely nor much less run like others
even if his sight were to be restored instantaneously. The
force of habit is so strong that it cannot be overcome quite
suddenly. Practice is necessary. Similarly, one cannot dwell
in the Self just on knowing one is the Self. Long sadhana
is needed. The sadhana of enquiry is subtler and cannot be
taken as a routine like bhajan, parayana, archana, japa or
dhyana. It also implies continuous vigilance. Even a moment
of inattention means slipping into the state of ignorance.
The aim is to transform oneself completely so that
ultimately Self-awareness is as natural as body consciousness
at the beginning. The following from Sri Bhagavan explains
it clearly:
“…When, by continued effort, the conviction ‘I am that
Guhesa’ (Lord of the Heart Cave) becomes as firm as the
sense of ‘I’ in your body and you become that Lord, nescience
of the form ‘I am the perishable body’ will disappear like
darkness at sunrise.”
– Supplement to the Forty Verses, 20
Dhyana, samadhi, nishta etc. appear to represent different
stages but all have the common aim of not swerving from
Self-consciousness. Sri Bhagavan has explained clearly that
not forgetting oneself or one’s real nature is the aim of all
tapas. The sadhana of enquiry does not need any special
equipment as a special spot or fixed time or room etc. The
Vivekachudamani of Sankara, Kaivalya Navaneetam and
other works stress the idea of not swerving from the Self.
Thayumanavar has a beautiful verse on this: “Can this disease
of samsara go by merely hearing (of the Self), contemplation
or clarity of conviction? This falsehood of birth and death will
vanish only for him who plunges into nishta with vigour.”
Nishta therefore means not to swerve from abidance in

the Self. It is not sitting in a fixed place for a fixed time and
things like that. When one develops the conviction that one is
not the body or sense-organs or mind and is clear about being
the Self, one should make the best of it, be alert and not get
trapped in the doings of the phenomenal world. This is the
fruition of ‘Who am I?’ enquiry: Never forget the Self which
ever remains full and undivided!
16. Sri Bhagavan’s Grace*
M y father was an earnest devotee of Bhagavan. Whenever

he happened to be at Tiruvannamalai on an official
visit he never missed going to see Bhagavan. At that time
Bhagavan was residing at Virupaksha Cave. My father would
sometimes take me with him. I think I was seven years old
when I saw Bhagavan for the first time. But it was much later
that I came to stay close to Ramanasramam. Thus, I got many
opportunities to meet and talk to Bhagavan.
Once, I asked Bhagavan what I should do to be on the
spiritual path. He said, “Do what you want to do but keep
doing it; don’t remain doing nothing. Repeat the name or think
deeply or seek the source of your “I” consciousness, do Atma
Vichara but keep working on yourself. This is very important.”
One instance of his grace to his devotees is his
recommendation of two songs from Tiruppugazh to help
them get their daughters married. The devotees of Bhagavan
believed firmly that it was enough to sing the two songs from
Tiruppugazh before Bhagavan to have the marriage arranged
in the best way possible. There is another song in Tiruppugazh
in which God is invited to come to the house as a newborn
child. When anyone approached Bhagavan praying for a child
he would tell him or her to sing that song.
* Gouriammal, Ramana Smriti, 1980.

I stayed at Ramana Nagar, where my house was situated,

for eight years. Those were the most memorable and fruitful
years of my life. How sweet they were and how many miracles
happened before my very eyes! Once, Dr. Sreenivasa Rao was
telling Bhagavan how good it would be for him to eat more
pineapples, when somebody entered the hall with a heap of
pineapples on a tray. On another occasion, Bhagavan was
mentioning one Gajanana Sharma who used to stay with him
some years earlier and enquired about his present whereabouts
and doings. At that very moment the Postmaster entered the
hall and in the mail, there was a letter from Gajanana Sharma
with photos and details about his life, Ashram, and disciples.
Bhagavan said, “Look at this, how wonderful! I was telling
about him just now and here it all comes.”
On another day, a well-meaning but ignorant devotee
insisted that Bhagavan should take the glass of orange juice
that he had brought. Bhagavan was annoyed at being treated
partially and said, “If you give anything to me without giving
it to all, it will be like poison to me.” When the devotee said
that next time all would be given orange juice, Bhagavan
said, “What is the use of giving because I tell you? You
should know by this time that they are all myself and what
you give them you are giving me.” Bhagavan disapproved of
any difference made between him and others.
Once a snake bit my sister’s five-year old son and in
desperation she brought the child to Bhagavan. The doctor had
given up hope and the boy was perspiring profusely and was
in great pain. The child was already stiff with glazed eyes and
was breathing heavily. The mother of the child was weeping all
the way and carried him to Bhagavan. When Bhagavan saw her
he said, “Don’t weep, don’t weep. It is nothing.” He passed his
hand over the child and within a few minutes the boy recovered
his senses and sat up. They sat in the hall for some time but
as it was late in the evening the mother was told to take the
child home. As she was leaving, she saw a Muslim devotee on
the porch in front of Bhagavan’s Hall, murmuring his prayers.
By profession he was a snake charmer and a snakebite healer.

When he saw them he said, “The boy was dying of snakebite,
but since you were going to see Bhagavan I kept quiet. Now
the child is safe, but the poison is still in his body and I had
better chant some charms to get it out.” He chanted some
prayers and then asked them to go. Bhagavan had saved the
child but wanted the snake charmer to take the credit.
17. A Chakra at Sri Ramanasramam*
* Krishna Bhikshu, The Mountain Path, April 1965.

I n the sanctum sanctorum of the Matrubhuteswara Temple at

Sri Ramanasramam, established by Bhagavan Sri Ramana
Maharshi, in a small niche in the western wall, stands an object
of worship two feet square and proportionately high, cut out
of a single piece of granite and resting on a base of gold plate
on which is etched a particular symbolical geometric figure.
This object has been worshipped ever since its installation by
Sri Bhagavan in 1949, the year before he laid down the body.
In technical terminology it is a Sri Chakra Meru
standing on a Sri Chakra Bhu-prasthara yantra. It may seem
incongruous to some that Bhagavan who all his life taught
the philosophy and path of Advaita or Identity should at the
same time inaugurate this other mode of worship or sadhana
which is to all appearance far removed from it. But since he
did so it behoves us to try to understand why, and for that we
must investigate the significance of the Sri Chakra Meru and
Sri Chakra yantra and of the sadhana based on them. While
doing so it is well to remember that they are a symbolism and
a sadhana that go right back to Vedic times and are said to
have been originally instituted by the Lord Himself.
The object of all sadhana taught and practised at Sri
Ramanasramam is only to realise the ever-existing identity
between the worshipper or individual self and the Worshipped
or Supreme Self. Advaita itself is based on the Vedic text:
Sarvam khaluidam Brahma, “All this is Brahman”. To realise
this is, the purpose of any Advaitic upasana or teaching. The
teaching is succinctly set forth in another verse: “Isavasyam
idam sarvam, yatkincha jagatyam jagat”, meaning whatever
lives and moves in this phenomenal world is to be clad in the
luminosity of the Lord. To put it more simply, we have to realise
as a result of sadhana (and not merely know theoretically)
that everything, visible and invisible, is a manifestation of
the Supreme Brahman. This is technically termed Brahma-
atma-aikyam siddhi: realisation that the Brahman or Supreme
Self is the same as the Atma or individual Self. The Supreme
Being is called the Brahmanda or ‘egg of Brahma’ and the
composite personality of the individual, the pindanda or ‘egg

of flesh’. The embryonic form of the individual Self or the
basic form out of which it is evolved is called the ‘andanda’,
or ‘egg of life’. From the pindanda the successful sadhaka rises
to the Brahmanda or limitless Beyond. Successful sadhana
results in a blissful (ananda) conscious (chinmaya) existence
(sat). In that state there are neither ‘I’ nor ‘others’ neither self
nor phenomena, but only the all-embracing Satchitananda,
Being-Consciousness-Bliss. However, even this, the texts say,
is only the mode of Brahman called Saguna or ‘Conditioned’.
Beyond it is Nirguna Brahman or ‘Conditionless Brahman’ to
which no words or attributes can reach.
The Sri Chakra Meru type of sadhana instituted by
Bhagavan at his Ashram aims at this same ultimate objective
through concentration on a symbol called the Meru. The
method is known as tantra or tantrism, being based on the
ancient tantric texts. These are coeval with the Vedas. The
sadhana based on them is worship of the power aspect of
Brahman which is called Tripurasundari, the same as the
Saguna Brahman we referred to above. Of course, it must not
be supposed that Saguna Brahman is anything different from
the ultimate Nirguna Brahman; it is only another aspect of it.
Tantric sadhana proceeds by worship of a form, or perhaps
concentration on a form might be a more apt description. This
is usually a geometrical figure called a yantra although, as
will be explained later, it may also be an icon. The sadhana
involves the utterance of mantras and the use of the requisite
dravyas or supports at the right moment and in the right
manner. It can only be validly performed by one who has
been initiated into it by a guru. The tantras declare that the
devata or god worshipped, the yantra or symbol used, the
mantra or words uttered and the mantri or worshipper are all
one and the same; and therefore, the purpose of this worship
is to rise from the state of creature to the state of Creator.
Probing into the meaning of this mode of sadhana, we
find that it is a method of concretising concepts in a material
form and, by working through the material form, rising above

it to the level of concept and then above even that to the finer
and subtler level of its Source. The material form through
which one works may be a prathika or icon or a prathima or
geometrical symbol. This last is known as a yantra. Tantricas
use both types. Both are described in detail in the agamas or
tantric texts; and it is important that they should be exactly
as laid down, because there is no fancy or imagination in the
prescription but precise symbolism. The object of this article
is not to describe this symbolism at length but to explain the
basic concept underlying tantric worship.
How do we represent the entire cosmos with its
phenomenal manifestations in a geometrical figure? Its
causal or embryonic state, the ‘andanda’ referred to above, is
represented by a minute circle called the bindhu, round which
the yantra is built. This point or minute circle represents the
unevolved essence or germ of being, the virtual Satchitananda
known in the individual as the antaryami. To counterbalance
it an infinitely large circle represents the fully evolved and
perfected manifestation or actualised perfection. This is
the Brahmanda, and since it has no limitation the limits of
manifestation are represented by squares within it.
Out of the bindhu or causal state of the individual,
which is the causal body or karana sarira of the cosmos, are
manifested kala and nada, light and sound, which appear on a
formal plane as form and name. That is on the level of formal
manifestation, but prior to that, on the causal plane, first arise
desire and action, ichcha and kriya. These are the first two
expressions of the Prime Power or Sakti. Thus the whole
process of manifestation is dependent on and governed by
the Sakti which is (1) Chit or Consciousness, (2) Ichcha, wish
or desire, (3) Kriya or action. Kriya is the combined result
of the first two and is represented as the apex of the triangle
of which they form the base. Although one says ‘base’ and
‘apex’ the triangle is actually inverted, with its apex pointing
downwards, since it represents the descent of the Divine into
the manifested world. The sadhaka is represented by another

triangle with its apex pointing upwards. The two triangles
interpenetrate and in the heart of them is the bindhu. The
ichcha of the individual leads him to action and from the two
of them combined arises consciousness, aspiring upwards.
The descent of the Divine and the ascent of the aspirant are
thus interlocked, and this is the simplest form of the yantra
or symbol. Between the bindhu and the Beyond the power
of the Maha Tripurasundari or Supreme Sakti has now built
for herself a pindanda represented by the six-pointed star,
and out of this emerge the microcosm or individual and the
macrocosm or cosmos. This is also called the first pura, body
or abode, in which the Mulasakti or Original Sakti abides.
All the geometrical figures used in the chakra are
variants of circles and triangles. A bindhu surrounded by a
triangle in a circle can represent the entire creation; but all the
manifestations of power have to figure in the completed yantra.
According to tantric teaching the Mulasakti or Original Sakti
manifests as three different saktis at each node of the triangle.
These are Sri Maha Saraswati, Sri Maha Lakshmi and Sri
Maha Kali, the three primary forms of the Mother. They are
the first deities to be worshipped by every manifestation of
form and name in the universe.
Each of them has various aspects which are manifested
in the larger triangles. The powers of the Sakti are legion.
Cosmically, each larger triangle represents a wider and grosser
manifestation. The tantric texts give the names of the presiding
deities at each of the nodes of each of these triangles. This
diagram of manifestation is surrounded by two concentric
circles, of which the inner represents the centrifugal forces
and the outer the centripetal. The various types of forces are
represented by the petals of a lotus. Outside the circles there
is still grosser manifestation represented by squares which
surround the pura or abode of the Devi. Every type of matter,
metal, tree and living creature, is given a place in these
ramparts. The deities which preside over each rampart are

mentioned and have to be worshipped by the aspirant. It is
said that the Sri Puri or place in which the Mother manifests
herself is surrounded by twenty-five ramparts of different
materials and that beyond these is the unmanifest power of
the Sakti.
For the individual the order is reversed. What is in seed
form in the first upright triangle has to be expanded by sadhana
into the larger triangles which represent wider powers latent in
him. Ultimately, he has to overleap the ramparts and merge in
the all-pervading Unmanifest. I have purposely not given the
details of the chakras mentioned in the texts, since Tantrism
is a secret tradition not to be revealed in its operative details
except to those who are initiated into it. It is enough to say
that each figure represents some tattva in the cosmic creation
which is the second pura or abode of the Mother. And the
Beyond, i.e. the Brahmanda of the cosmos, is the third pura.
Tantrism teaches that in worshipping the deities at each
point of the diagram one acquires their Grace and develops the
power they represent. Thus, what begins as the mere worship
of an outer form becomes a samskara on the mental plane, and
these samskaras can actualise powers in the individual which
were hitherto merely virtual or potential. Finally, they lead
the individual back to the amplitude of power, consciousness
and bliss which is the essential nature of the Divine Mother.
Tantrics believe in the manifestation of the Mother in form
and name, which means that for them creation is a fact and
not just an illusion, as it is for the pure Advaitin. The Advaitin
works for the elimination of ignorance or illusion, whereas
the tantric works for the development of cosmic power and
consciousness. The ultimate goal of both is the same, that is
identity with Saguna Brahman and further eventual transition
into the Nirguna beyond.
Tantrism teaches that there are a number of worlds on
different planes, controlled by different powers of the Divine
Mother. The ultimate result of sadhana is identification with

the formless and nameless Power above them all that is Maha
Tripurasundari, the Supreme Sakti.
Now to return to the specific case of Sri Ramanasramam.
The yantra called Sri Chakra Bhuprastara is etched on a gold
plate and forms the base of the Meru worshipped there. To
the normal Sri Chakra form thus etched Bhagavan added
some bija aksharas of the mantra of Kumara or Subramanya.
The Meru prasthara is the Sri Chakra in conical form, its
apex representing the highest point of realisation attainable
to the aspirant as a result of his sadhana. The mind becomes
one-pointed and merges into the indescribable Beyond that is
the Mother. Through this chakra the deities or devas are to be
worshipped. It is taught that the universe is in three stages,
the causal, subtle and gross. For the Tantric all this has to be
symbolised, whereas for the Advaitin it is not necessary. The
ultimate result aimed at is the same for both.
That is why Sri Bhagavan, who prescribed Self-enquiry
for those who could follow it, also instituted this type of temple
worship for those who are helped by it. Thus the beneficent
power which he brought on earth is induced into the Sri
Chakra sanctified by his touch. Some of his devotees believe
that when he felt that the time was approaching for him to
give up the body he instituted this as a means of canalising
and continuing the Grace he had brought to them. He inducted
his Divine Power into the Sri Chakra and Meru Chakra so
that those drawn to the more elaborate path might continue to
receive his Grace even after the disappearance of his body as
well as those who practised Self-enquiry. He was present at
the installation and took a great interest in the pratishtapana,
personally adding some details to the forms of the Chakra
and supervising the entire construction of the temple. He
inspected every stone of the temple carefully during its
construction and told the workmen to eliminate every defect,
and at every stage he was the final authority both on form and
on the ritual to be adopted and the deities to be worshipped. It
is through his Grace that the Matrubhuteswara Temple is now

Rishi-pratishtapita, (installed by the rishi) radiating his Light,
which is the Light of the Mother. Its very name signifies that
it is Iswara (God) who has become the Mother, pointing to
the identity between Iswara and Mother or between Siva and
Sakti. Thus, the advaitic doctrine of identity is not negated
by this act of Bhagavan’s but on the contrary reinforced so as
to be available for those who require a more ritualistic path.
18. Bhagavan Sri Ramana as I Knew Him*
S ri Ramana was my Divine Father. At my first ‘Darshan’

in the summer of 1933, Sri Ramana reclining on the
sofa in the old hall looked the very picture of my father in
Heaven. So, I always approached him as a child, would draw
near its father, and he ever responded as an indulgent parent.
That was the secret of my prattle in his presence and of the
liberties I took with him, as well as of the lenience and favour
he lavished upon me. He used to talk to me at length and
make the kindest personal inquiries. He often asked me to
interpret him and inspired me to do many literary jobs. He
gave me the rare privilege of working with him in the kitchen
though I was an ignoramus in culinary service. He made me
understand the truth of Christ’s saying, “I and my Father are
one”. Indeed, he taught me to realise finally that Sri Ramana
was all the best human relationships rolled into One.
Sri Ramana once defined Sat Guru as one who at mere
sight would pluck away all the unrest and misery of his
disciple and plunge him in a pool of Peace and Bliss. Sri
Ramana was himself the best example of such a Sat Guru.
It was the universal experience of devotees and visitors that
in his presence they forgot all their doubts and cares and felt
* G.V. Subbaramayya, M.A. (Hons)., V.R. College, Nellore), The

Call Divine, January 1955.
the Peace that passeth understanding. He never gave formal

initiation to any disciple, and yet the world hailed him as Sat-
Guru. He was also a ‘Mouna-Guru’ (Silent Master) like Lord
Dakshinamurti. His normal silence was even more potent than
his oral utterance. His mere presence was indeed the greatest
boon and blessing to us all. Nay more; the very remembrance
of Sri Ramana like the thought of holy Arunachala was and is
itself sufficient to lead one to ‘Mukti’ (Salvation).
Sri Ramana was a true Jnani. Having realised the Self in
his boyhood, he ever remained the same. He saw and knew
nothing other than the Self. His approach to life’s problems
was direct and original. He spoke with authority and carried
conviction because he spoke what he knew, and he knew what
he spoke. According to Sri Ramana, the sign of a true Jnani
is his equal treatment of all beings. Sri Ramana illustrated it
in his own conduct. His outlook was universal. There was
nothing foreign in his eye. He sympathized fully with all
beings. If anything he was partial to children and to the so-
called sub-humans. He would never neglect to give a child,
a bird, a squirrel, his smile and caress. He always referred
to them by the personal pronoun ‘he’ ‘she’ etc., and never
by the contemptuous ‘it’. Naturally they responded in equal
measure. Every child called him ‘Tatta’ (Grandpa) and played
with him; peacocks danced before him; cows licked him;
squirrels crawled on His body. While stoically indifferent to
the aches and ailments of his own body, he was all sympathy
and tenderness for the troubles and sufferings of others.
As he had become one with the Supreme Self that
is the source of Power, all ‘Siddhis’ (Powers) were at his
beck and call. So many miracles were happening every day,
unnoticed, in his presence. One constant miracle may be here
stated. Whenever he casually mentioned somebody’s name,
that person would presently enter or would be on the way
to his presence. But Sri Ramana would make light of such
happenings. Once a paralytic was carried into His presence,
and, lo and behold! he got up and walked. Sri Ramana himself
seemed to share the wonder of those present. Indeed, he used

to warn us against being lured and diverted by the ‘Siddhis’
from our ‘Sadhana’ (practice) for true knowledge. He once
told me “A Jnani has no will of his own. It is enough that
a matter is brought to His notice. A Divine automatic action
starts at once and proceeds to do the needful.” Being a man
of Self-Realisation Sri Ramana taught us the ‘know-how’ of
mind-control, a path to Self-Knowledge.
When a thought occurs to you, do not pursue it, but
question yourself: ‘‘To whom does the thought occur?” “To
myself”, “Who am I?”. At once, the thought vanishes, and
the mind becomes still. Repeat this process until it becomes
a habit. When the mind or ego is thus destroyed, the self-
manifests itself.
That is the gist of Sri Ramana’s precept, and his life’s
purpose was to exemplify the state of Self-Realisation in His
own practice. Like the beacon-fire of Arunachala, of Ramana
was the blazing light of Spirituality that illumined all souls
who turned to him.
Sri Ramana once remarked that only a true Jnani could
be a perfect Karma-Yogi. He was himself the best illustration
of that truth. Without a will or initiative of his own, he did to
perfection whatever came to his hand. No work was too low
or too high for him. Whatever it was, he concentrated upon
it and attended to every minute detail of doing it. He was
indeed an artist of life. To merely watch his manner of living
was the best lesson in life’s wisdom. He was punctual and
punctilious in carrying out the daily routine. He scrupulously
observed cleanliness. There was supernal grace and elegance
about everything he did. One instance will suffice. Sri Ramana
used to take meals squatting along with others. He would first
ascertain whether every item has been served to all. Then
he would give a sign to begin, and only thereafter he would
himself start eating. He would mix all items with rice into one
mass and eat it unmindful of its taste. He would not waste a
single particle but leave the plantain leaf just as clean as it was
in the beginning. He would himself carry the leaf and throw it

out just like the rest. So, his every action was an object-lesson
to all in cleanliness, neatness, and propriety. Wearing only a
codpiece, he was simplicity itself. And yet there was an aura
of beauty and elegance about his person and posture. Rooted
in the Transcendental State, he still was keenly observant of
everything going on around him. He moved equally with all.
His behaviour was the most natural, spontaneous, and free
from formality. He had absolutely no privacy but was easily
accessible to all people at all hours. His life was like an open
book.
Sri Ramana possessed literary and artistic genius of the
highest order. All his works were either answers to questions
or written in response to the prayer of some devotee or other.
His ‘Five Hymns to Arunachala’, besides being profoundly
philosophical, are gems of lyrical beauty and devotional
fervour. His “Wedding-garland of Letters” is the most
moving lyric addressed to Arunachala and is constantly sung
by all devotees. His ‘Upadesa Saram’ and ‘Ulladu Narpadu’
not only contain the quintessence of philosophical wisdom
but are masterpieces of poetic rhythm and succinct style.
His command over Sanskrit, Telugu and Malayalam was
equal to his proficiency in Tamil, his mother-tongue. It was
the marvellous classic beauty of Sri Ramana’s Sanskrit and
Telugu compositions that first drew this writer to his feet. He
was an artist to the tips of his conical fingers. His script itself
is a marvel of perfect form and neat execution. Sri Ramana
was a superb actor. Whenever he narrated a story or anecdote
or recited a poem, he showed a wonderful dramatic genius.
He completely identified himself with the character in the
situation.
His face, voice and gestures made the scene live before
you. It was a most affecting, unforgettable experience to all
listeners.
Sri Ramana’s life was a ‘Leela’ (sport) of Divine Grace.
A poet aptly described him as the incarnation of Grace. Sri
Ramana once declared that Grace was not merely an attribute

of Jnani but was the synonym for Real Self. So, the Supreme
Self that is Grace took shape as Sri Ramana and blessed us all
for threescore years and ten. The Self is immortal and eternal.
And Sri Ramana as the Self of our self is ever with us and in
us, showering Grace upon us and calling us to His Presence.
May we heed the call and dissolve our little ego into that
‘Nectareous Ocean of Grace’ that is Sri Ramana.
19. Arunachala Aksharamanamalai*
I t is said that, to reveal the meaning of the Tiruvacakam, the

noble Sri Manickavachakar simply pointed to the divine
Hall [of Chidambaram], before himself merging as one with
it and disappearing.† This is something that should give us
much food for thought. If one were to have asked Bhagavan
Sri Ramana, who gave us in grace Aksharamanamalai, what
its meaning was, there is no doubt that he too would have
remained silent, pointing to Arunachala, and revealing that its
meaning was Arunachala itself.
When we consider the story of Bhagavan Sri Ramana’s
life, it is seen to be a tale of divine grace, in which ‘the flashing
forth of Arunachala’ (Arunachala sphurana) appeared in him
as his very nature ‘from the innocence of youth,’ entirely
swallowed up his body, possessions, his very soul and caused
him to exist as one with its very own Self.
* Introduction to Muruganar’s Commentary by Sadhu Natanananda

(1952) translated by Robert Butler (2015).
† According to his biography Manickavachakar, when asked the
meaning of the Tiruvācakam, simply pointed at the Golden Hall of
Chidambaram, his body vanishing and dissolving into light as he did
so. See Tiruviḷaiyāṭal Purāṇam, Maṇ sumanta paṭalam, v. 3105, and
Tiruvātavūr Aṭikaḷ Purāṇam, vv 535-538.
That there was in him at first some trace of dualistic

awareness is demonstrated in his words, ‘I have left in search
of my Father according to his command.’* However, as soon
as he laid eyes on Arunachala, he attained the transcendental
state in which he remained as the Self alone, as exemplified
in the words, ‘When I sought in my mind who the seer was,
I perceived Him standing there with no trace of the seer,’†
and remained absorbed for a long period of time in his
natural state, kevala nirvikalpa samadhi, as the very form of
Arunachala (unalloyed, pure being), ‘which allows nothing
to manifest, other than its own nature as the Self.’‡ Later, he
gained the realisation that, although grace and the world are
not different, the Self manifests in two different ways, and
thus was able to attain the state of sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi,
the experience of consciousness free of divisions, in which,
even on the worldly level, he still perceived everything,
without distortion, through the eye of grace. It was at this
juncture that this first work appeared, as the expression of
that experience.
Already his awareness, his energy, his mind, his voice,
everything had been swallowed up by Arunachala on his
arrival there, even as ‘the day consumes that darkness of night,’
and the name ‘Arunachala, Arunachala!’ flashed forth from
Arunachala’s gracious presence which shines as pure being.
What meaning then could there be to those ‘flashings forth,’
other than that Arunachala itself, the fullness of the Real?
Further, the qualities displayed in the strength of Bhagavan’s
austerities, his attainment of the Supreme, are evidenced
in such utterances as, ‘Entering my home, you dragged me
from it and made me dwell as a prisoner in the cave of your
Heart’; ‘Removing my dark delusion, you held me in thrall
* The words in quotes are taken from the note that Bhagavan left
behind when he left his home in Madurai to go to Arunachala.
† Aruṇācala Aṣṭakam, v. 2, l. 1.
‡ Tayumānavar, hymn 14, Ākāra puvaṉam – Citampara rakaciyam,
v. 22, l.1.
to your Reality with the magic collyrium of your grace’;

‘Enchanting me as if with magic powder, you revealed your
Siva consciousness, plucking away my jiva consciousness;’
‘Grasping me as the ghost (Brahman) which does not let go
of me, so that my ghost nature (the ego) left me, you made
of me a ghostly one;’ ‘What austerities have I performed, that
you should take me as the target of your grace?’ If we examine
such utterances carefully, we can see that his experience was
not that of many of the other great sages. According to the
expression, ‘If one worships Lord Siva, practising austerities
over many eons of time, right understanding may dawn to
some degree,’ such sages exerted themselves over long periods
of time to gain spiritual maturity through the acquisition of
grace gained only with great difficulty. Then, through their
own efforts, coupled with the sadguru’s glance of grace, they
understood the inner meaning of the mahavakya teachings,
‘Brahman am I,’ ‘He am I,’ and ‘Sivam am I.’ Finally
having performed arduous austerities on paths such as ‘the
way of the ant,’ ‘the way of the bird,’ and ‘the way of the
monkey,’ [all of which require some form of effort on the
part of the sadhaka],* they attained the state of union which
is the meaning of the word ‘art’ [in the mahavakya ‘Thou
art That’]. Whilst this was so in their case, in the case of Sri
Ramana, however, it can be said with certainty that even in
his dreams he never thought about, desired or strived to attain
anything, be it true knowledge, the attainment of liberation,
teachings, or the grace of a guru, and that, rather than saying
* pipīlika mārga – the way of the ant signifies the slow progression
of the sadhaka through the various stages on the spiritual path;
vihaṁga mārga – the way of the bird signifies the direct path in
which the sadhaka proceeds immediately to the practice of jñāna
yoga and markaṭa nyāya – the way of the monkey signifies the path
of devotion and faith in which the sadhaka clings tightly to the Lord
in the face of all hardships, as a baby monkey clings to its mother
as she swings from tree to tree. See also the commentary to v. 16 in
Appendix 2.
‘he became’ Arunachala, it is more appropriate to say, ‘he was

transformed’ into Arunachala. Moreover, when he exclaims
in tones of praise and wonder, ‘Say to me, “Without knowing
the truth of Thou art that thus much did you attain. This state
that you have attained is the final truth,”’ it becomes clear
that he is addressing Sri Arunachala, in the second person,
as the one who granted him in grace the direct experience
of Brahman that arose in him suddenly ‘in the way of the
cat’ [which holds its kitten firmly by the neck*]. Having had
this new, unexpected and wondrous experience of coming to
dwell simply as ‘That’, in which he was thus swallowed up
by the vast effulgence of grace, he at that time took up the
enquiry, ‘Who am I’, desiring to refine his understanding of,
and become firmly established in, his nature and form, and it
was this same enquiry that in later times he taught as Atma
vichara to the followers who paid homage to him.
Thus the subject of this work is Arunachala, the unmoving
reality whose nature is being-consciousness-bliss. It is the
space of consciousness (chidambaram) which transcends word
and thought. Who are those who are capable of perceiving
the essence of that nature which is known only through
divine silence (mauna)! The firm conclusion established by
the experience of the great sages is, ‘[Who can speak of its
greatness and to whom?] When That [Reality] comes about,
they will be only That. That alone can speak [of its greatness].’†
Therefore it is a certain fact that only those who possess the
fitness for dwelling in that immovable state are the fit ones to
communicate that state.
That great soul, Sri Muruganar, is one who, through the
grace of his guru, is possessed of a great strength and ability
* In Bhagavan’s case there was no need for him to seek the Lord by
any of the previously mentioned means. It was Arunachala who took
hold of him and did not let go, as a cat grasps her kitten by the loose
skin at the neck. This is called mārjāla nyāya – the way of the cat.
† Tayumānavar, Hymn 14, Ākāra puvaṉam – Citampara rakaciyam,
v. 22, l.4.
to take on and complete tasks that are extremely difficult

to accomplish. Worshipping the feet of his guru through
that grace itself, and relying upon the power of that grace,
he has embarked upon the great, rare and good endeavour
of discerning the recondite meaning of this work of grace,
Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai. That one such as he has
achieved a truly miraculous success in his endeavour, is not
to be wondered at. No other excellence need be desired of
this work, other than that it was composed by Muruganar
with the grace of Sri Ramana as his eyes. However, there is
one further point worth mentioning.
This commentary was composed at a time when
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi, the author of the source
text, still inhabited his radiant, divine bodily form. Being in
Bhagavan’s divine presence, Muruganar was able to compose
it having clearly ascertained the author’s intended meaning
for every single word of the text, so that there was not the
slightest discrepancy between the text and its commentary.
As with the commentaries on the Prasthanatrayam and many
other commentaries on works imbued with grace, doubts
assail the minds of those who study them in a number of
places regarding the congruence of meaning between the text
and the commentary. However, this commentary possesses the
unique excellence in which the possibility has been entirely
eradicated that it might appear to anyone, ever, that there was
a lack of congruence between itself and the text.
Until today, this work, Sri Aksharamanamalai, has been
considered an ordinary example of the genre of hymns of
praise, worshipping Sri Arunachaleswarar in its own distinct
fashion as the form of the Supreme, and, as such, has been
used for regular recitation (parayana). But now, due to the
brilliance of the learned Sri Muruganar’s commentary, it
shines out as a distinguished, authoritative treatise, and has
endeared him to the hearts of all devotees. It is no exaggeration
to say that this Commentary has made of him one who is rich
in grace, who dwells with Sri Ramana, his guru and god.
It is certain that this commentary will be greeted with great

delight by the wise and learned.
20. Ramana Reminiscences*
I knew full well that Bhagavan gave no formal upadesa

(initiation) but I kept on asking for it whenever an
opportunity presented itself. Invariably Bhagavan used to
reply, “Who is the Guru and who is the sishya (disciple)?
They are not two. There is but One Reality. It is in you and It
can neither be given nor taken. But you may read books for
intellectual understanding.”
On March 12, 1934 after prayers at the Shrine of
Matrubhuteswara I went to the old hall. Only the attendant
Madhava Swami was with Bhagavan. When I made my
usual request Bhagavan laid aside the newspaper he was
reading and sat in padmasana, quite absorbed. I then recited
a (general) hymn of praise to the Guru in Telugu and also
Aksharamanamalai in Telugu (the hymn on Arunachala by
Bhagavan). Bhagavan turned to Madhava Swami and said,
“She has prayed to Arunachala.” This struck me as meaning
that Arunachala will give the initiation and also that Bhagavan
and Arunachala are not two. Bhagavan resumed his state of
absorption and I had my persistent request for upadesa. But
he continued to sit motionless. Finally, I begged of him,
“Am I not a competent person to receive upadesa? Bhagavan
should himself tell me about this. Even if Bhagavan confirms
this how is it that I adopted him as my Guru immediately
on hearing of him? Will it all be in vain?” (She was just
told that a Rishi lived at the foot of the Hill). Immediately
on my speaking thus I found a bright light emanating from
Bhagavan’s holy face, and the effulgence filled the whole
hall. I could not see Bhagavan’s body but only the brilliance.
* Madhaviammal, The Silent Power.

I shed tears in profusion. The whole incident could have

lasted just two seconds! I prostrated to Bhagavan. There was
a smile on his face but no movement otherwise. After a while
Bhagavan turned to me as if to ask, “Are you rid of your
mania?” Yes, I was. He then took a piece of paper, wrote a
sloka (verse) on it and gave it to me saying, “You can make
use of it in meditation.”
This is the sloka:
“I adore Guha the Dweller in the Cave of the Heart,
the Son of the Protector of the Universe, the Pure Light of
Awareness beyond thought, the Wielder of the weapon of
Jnana Sakti and the Remover of the ignorance of blemishless
devotees.”
And again he smiled graciously.
This was wonderful upadesa indeed by a Master rare to
see. My Master taught me the great truth that there is only
ONE. The proper Guru is one who shows what is. This was
but a practical demonstration of the saying
“The Master’s face reveals Brahman. You attain Brahman
through Grace.”
21. The Essential Teaching of the Maharshi*
H induism is not a proselytizing religion. Indeed, it is by

no means easy for any one not born a Hindu to become
one, since it is not only a religion but a social structure into
which a newcomer could not easily fit. The religion of a
Hindu consists of two elements (and indeed, he has no word
corresponding at all exactly to ‘religion’): a pattern of life
and worship and a path to Beatitude.
Hinduism is also not an intolerant religion. By no means
all follow a path to Beatitude, though many recognize that
they ought to. Even for those who do, there are many paths
* Arthur Osborne, The Mountain Path, April 1972.

to choose from. One who follows a devotional path may, for

instance, worship God in the form of Rama. If he does it
will never occur to him to refuse recognition to those who
worship God in the form of Krishna or try to convert them.
Why then should he try to convert those who worship God in
the form of Christ? If told that they or the Buddhists believe
theirs to be the only valid path to Beatitude, he is likely to
smile pityingly.
Mystics in any religion, that is those who know from
experience, perceive that the experience is universal and
beyond doctrine and usually find it easy to understand
that it can be approached through other religions also.
And Hindu doctrine is openly mystical. It declares plainly:
“The unreal has no being, the Real no not-being.”*
The whole Truth is in that sentence. The Real is not something
that has been in the past or will be in the future; it does not
depend on religion or doctrine; it cannot be made real, it just
IS, now and eternally.
Since Ramakrishna Paramahamsa a remarkable change
has taken place in Hinduism. The gurus have separated
the path to Beatitude from the Hindu pattern of life by
giving initiation to non-Hindus. It was Swami Vivekananda
who was most spectacular in introducing this change with
Vedanta Societies in America; but it was not his innovation.
Ramakrishna himself had a dream which he interpreted to
mean that he would have many followers in the West. Sri
Sarada Devi, wife of Sri Ramakrishna, whom all his disciples
revered as 1 The Holy Mother had foreign disciples. She and
all the other disciples approved of Vivekananda’s action.
Since then the saints and gurus have continued the practice.
It culminated in Ramana Maharshi.
This development is of tremendous importance for
it means that they can not merely appreciate the wisdom
* Bhagavad Gita, II, 16.

and beauty of it but find actual guidance on the path of

Beatitude.
In his lifetime the Maharshi initiated his disciples
silently, with no forms of ritual. We see the wisdom of this
now, because the same silent initiation continues although he
has shed the body. This is not just theory; there have been
many cases of it.
The Maharshi’s teaching too was independent of any
specific religion. This does not mean that he deprecated ritual
or religion. He appreciated them for those who are helped
by them; but in our modern, materialistic, individualistic
world there are many who are outside their pale or can find
no guidance in them, and yet seek. It was for such that his
guidance came. And it was not for one generation only.
His instruction was of the simplest: to seek Reality through
the enquiry ‘Who am I?’. However, this is not a mere mental
enquiry. It is not philosophy or psychology. He indicated this
by saying: “No answer that the mind gives can be right.” It
is rather clinging to one’s actual sense of being, of I-am-ness,
and experiencing that in full consciousness while suspending
thought. One sign that it is not mental is that the Maharshi
advised, while meditating in this way, to concentrate not on
the head but the heart at the right side, the spiritual Heart.
The ancient Hebrews knew of this: “The wise man’s heart is
at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left. ” * Not to think
about the Heart but to experience with or in the Heart.
He taught the Unity of Being; but it is not a question of
whether God exists apart from you but of whether you exist
apart from God, as he showed in his Forty Verses on Reality,
his great exposition of doctrine. “All religions postulate the
three fundamentals – the world, the soul and God; but it is
only the One Reality that manifests itself as these three. One
can say, ‘The three are really three’ only so long as the ego
* Ecclesiastes, X, 2.
exists. Therefore, to inhere in one’s own Being, where the ‘I’

or ego is dead, is the perfect state.”*
But it is no use arguing about it; it has to be experienced:
“It is due to illusion born of ignorance that men fail to recognize
That which is always and for everybody the inherent Reality
dwelling in its natural Heart-centre and to abide in it, and that
instead they argue that it exists or does not exist, that it has
form or has not form, or is non-dual or dual.”†
Doctrine must be transcended, because the only answer
is experience and the ultimate experience is Identity: “Under
whatever name and form one may worship the Absolute
Reality, it is only a means for realising It without name
and form. That alone is true Realisation wherein one knows
oneself in relation to that Reality, attains peace and realises
one’s identity with It. ” ‡
There are many, however, whom this path of direct inner
quest does not suit. They are drawn to a more devotional
way. For them too the Maharshi provided guidance. He
often said: “There are two ways: ask yourself ‘Who am I?’
or submit.” And indeed, if the mind cannot realise its own
nothingness and universality, the only thing is for it to submit
to the Universal. If it does it will eventually be absorbed
(“I came to devour Thee, but Thou hast devoured me; now
there is peace, Arunachala!”§), so the two paths lead to the
same goal. For those who are drawn to the more emotional
approach the Maharshi wrote the Marital Garland of Letters
to Arunachala, the supreme mystical love poem, beginning:
“Thou dost root out the ego of those who meditate on Thee
in the Heart, O Arunachala!”¶
But if the ego is eradicated no void remains; pure Being
takes its place: “Hast Thou not bartered cunningly Thyself for
* Forty Verses on Reality, v. 2.
† ibid., v. 34.
‡ ibid., v. 8.
§ Marital Garland of Letters, v. 28.
¶ ibid., v. 1.
me? O, Thou art death to me, Arunachala! ” * What is destroyed

is only the illusion of duality, of two separate beings: “Unite
with me to destroy Thee and me and bless me with the state
of ever-vibrant joy, O Arunachala!”† And the mind wonders
at the Grace of it: “Thou art the Primal Being, whereas I
count not in this or the other world. What didst Thou thus
gain by my worthless self, O Arunachala?”‡
The two paths are not incompatible. Many do in fact
combine them. Nevertheless, a person is apt to be drawn
more to one or the other. Therefore, guidance was provided
on both. .
The Maharshi often said, “The Guru is One.” Whatever
Guru one may follow it is only a manifestation of the Inner
Guru, the Christ in you, and his function is to lead you back
to the Source. Nevertheless, until the heart is purified various
impulses may masquerade as the inner Guru and it is safer
(and indeed usually necessary) to have an outer Guru. In this
spirituality dark age an enlightened Guru is not easy to find.
Therefore, the silent initiation was instituted, for Providence
always meets the needs of its children. Those who turn to
the Maharshi for help will not be left without guidance. Sri
Bhagavan’s detailed explanations of Self-enquiry do not mean
that his emphasis on this method was absolute or dogmatic.
Sri Kunju Swami shows how all methods were given their
due place by Sri Bhagavan, citing concrete instances.
* ibid., v. 62.
† ibid., v. 56.
‡ ibid., v. 93.

The title of this article may not be quite appropriate,
for those who “knew” Sri Bhagavan Ramana – know Him
forever. This is because, even a single encounter with the
Great Rishi on our life’s path is an event which can never
be forgotten or dimmed in our consciousness by the passage
of time. For some of us, it meant a complete change in the
course of our present and future lives, and this could never
have happened otherwise. The scope of the subject is far too
broad to be described in detail within the frame of such a
short article and therefore I am compelled to condense it as
much as possible.
The first time I met him, I had come directly from the
cart which had brought me from Tiruvannamalai railway
station. Before visiting the Ashram, I had been conversant
with Sri Maharshi’s teachings for some four years and the
many photographs had made his features quite familiar to me.
So that, when I was ushered into the dimly lit dining hall, I
was able to recognize him immediately, although, at that time
his figure was much more meagre than in the pictures I had
seen. He was sitting close to a wall eating his evening meal.
I bowed in greeting, and with an incomparable expression of
kindness on his face, he asked me where the other devotee
was who had come with me. I wondered at his very sharp
memory, because my letter advising of my proposed visit,
had been written many months before. My friend’s absence
was explained, as he had not been in a position to come. Then
Sri Bhagavan ordered that supper be brought to me.
It was not a matter of deliberation, but an intuitive flash,
when I became conscious that at last I had found what I had
been seeking all my life. Immediately I became absorbed
into the presence of the Master. At first I was worried about
his precarious physical state; but my grief quickly became
* Mouni Sadhu (Australia), The Call Divine, January 1955.

dissolved in his spiritual radiation. The outer appearance soon

merged into that mysterious inner link with him, which has
remained unbroken from that moment up to the present time.
While I was at his feet I learned to stop the thought-current
in my mind, a thing which formerly had devoured long years
of effort and which had never been completely successful
despite the many exercises of various occult systems. I never
returned to those exercises; they were quite inadequate in the
sublime spiritual atmosphere surrounding the Master, which
in itself permitted much faster development. The key to it –
concentration – came of itself.
Firstly, I became aware that “there is a THING, above
all things which I had ever known before”, and it was the
most important result. This cannot be adequately described
in words, but nevertheless – perhaps some direct hints will
give an idea about it. The eyes of the Master conveyed in
silence, that there is a State which is beyond and untouched
by all human troubles that state which is Certainty and Peace
in itself, in which we know everything, for then, everything is
in us. This mysterious process in consciousness was induced
by Sri Bhagavan or rather by his presence, for he was himself
all Harmony and Peace. I tried to analyse the changes which
arose in me when I meditated at his feet. I found that the
mind was easily freed from thoughts, and that memory – in
its usual meaning – was no more, along with its concomitant
subdivisions of time – past, present and the so called future.
Instead, there appeared something which cannot be properly
described in words. Perhaps – a conception of Living Eternity
would be best. There were no visions, but – strangely enough,
one knew that there could be nothing unknown to him, for by
completely directing the attention, one could know everything.
These experiences have been more explicitly described in the
book In Days of Great Peace.
In some wonderful way, the Maharshi seemed to supervise
these inner processes in us, just as an operator watches the
work of complicated machinery which he knows thoroughly.
Moreover, he mysteriously helped in these inner experiences,

but how – still remains closed to me.
At the same time, without any deliberation from my
side, a potent love for him was created in my heart, simply
because it could not be otherwise. Altogether, a man emerged
from these experiences greatly changed and quite often with
a totally different conception about everything in this world.
For myself I called it the “spiritual alchemy of the Master’’.
As time passed, I ceased to consider Sri Bhagavan as a
being of flesh and blood. And this was the most wonderful
experience and conquest. From that time the Master could
never be lost to me, although I was only too well aware that
his days on this earth were numbered and few remained. I saw
the Man-Spirit, the indestructible Essence instead of just the
mortal frame. And this was the chief factor which enabled me
to bear his physical departure without any inner catastrophe.
The word “spirit” is plainly misused by the world, which
cannot connect the term with anything real, often confusing
it with emotional mental impressions and creating something
indefinite and dim. All his long life Sri Maharshi taught, that
the true Reality is beyond all forms, no matter to which plane
of existence they belong. And yet, for many, many people this
remains as only a myth or theory.
After the Master left this earth, I tried to analyse what
it was, in his appearance amongst us, which was the most
important and deciding thing for future generations. I reached
the conclusion that – IT WAS HE HIMSELF, BECAUSE HE
SHOWED THE EXAMPLE OF THE FINAL ATTAINMENT,
THEREBY MAKING IT ACCESSIBLE TO US.
An eternal Wisdom lies in all his utterances and he
confirmed It – being himself that Wisdom. For example, how
could one, seeing Maharishi’s supremacy over matter and
suffering when his body was attacked by a dread disease, so
terrifying for the average person, ever doubt the possibility of
his overcoming it, were it necessary. If such a Sage testifies
to the Immaterial Truth of being, how could I seek something

apart from IT?
The Maharshi himself knew well about his deciding
role in the lives of those who were fortunate enough in their
karmas to come to him from all sides of the world. He says:
“Association with the Sages who have realised the Truth
removes material attachments. These attachments being
removed; the attachments of the mind are also destroyed.
Those for whom attachments of the mind are destroyed
become one with THAT which is ever motionless. They attain
liberation while yet alive. Cherish therefore the association
with such Sages.”
Such a Sage was and is Sri Ramana, and there are many
of us who used to know and revere him.
23. The Significance of Mahapuja*
A fter the installation of a lingam on the Mother’s Samadhi

regular Puja to the Matrubhuteswara Linga commenced.
(Incidentally, it was Kavyakantha who gave the name
Matrubhuteswara to the linga.) Here Kapali Sastri explains
the significance of Mahapuja, the annual day of Mother’s
Samadhi.
The Mahapuja, or the samadhi anniversary of the mother
of Ramana Maharshi, is celebrated every year in summer, on
the ninth day of the dark half of the solar month Vaikasi (May/
June), for on that day came the solemn hour, the final samadhi,
for the mother. There are two main items in the programme
of this annual celebration; one is the feeding of the visitors
and the poor on a large scale, the other is the special worship
of the lingam that is installed over the masonry work sealing
the interred remains of the blessed soul.
* Kapali Sastri, The Mountain Path, Jul. 1987.

Here we seek to throw light on the meaning of the

samadhi and the worship of the lingam and the general
feeding. First about the feeding: generally, food is given as a
matter of charity, as service of the poor, i.e. as service of God
in the poor. When the feeding is associated with a great name,
a saint or a religious institution, the religious man who does
not believe in this form of charity learns to tolerate it! Now
let us see if the feeding in Ramanasramam is undertaken as a
matter of pity for the poor, or if there is anything else behind
this act of charity.
Even on ordinary days it is difficult for the visitor to
return from the Ashram without the impression that the
Maharshi evinces keen interest in feeding not only the hungry
stomachs, but looks pleased to see that the visitor, whatever
his status, avails himself of the opportunity of taking a meal
at the Ashram. This is so notwithstanding the impersonal
character of his dealings with men and things, of his general
outlook on life, which is the inevitable expression of the
intense deep life of the Truth he is centred in. Those who visit
the Ashram frequently, or have made a few days’ stay, have
often testified to the unusual appetite for food they experience
which is a special feature of the Ashram atmosphere. Most
of the devotees, even when they are on flying visits, would
not forego the privilege of having a meal at the Ashram as
it is consecrated, sanctified by the very air of the Ashram,
permeated by the Maharshi’s spirit.
If these facts are borne in mind, it will be easy to
understand the significance of a number of people being fed
daily and of larger numbers being fed on special occasions.
Indeed the Ashramites and devotees of Maharshi take so
much interest in such feedings because there is the common
belief, a general understanding, that food in the Ashram is
prasad in the true sense of the word. It is an active symbol
of the spiritual gift, a material vehicle of the awakening
influence and gracious glance emanating from the presiding
Spirit, namely Maharshi.
Let us next turn to the samadhi and the worship of the

Lingam, and look at the question in the light of known facts
about the changes in the life of Maharshi before and after
his mother came to live with him in 1916. There are good
people who are satisfied that the mother of Maharshi was
great because she gave birth to a great spiritual figure, and
became greater after the close of her earthly life, deserving a
place of worship, almost for the same reason.
Looking back to earlier years, we can note certain
landmarks in the story of his life that have been the stimuli for
drawing him out, to be responsive to those that who sought
him for help and guidance.
Another period began in 1916 when his mother came to
live with him to the end. Within a short period of her advent,
culinary arrangements were made, a regular kitchen was
started, and visitors and devotees got lodging and boarding.
In this period (1916-1922) i.e., the six closing years of her
life, Maharshi began to pay increasing attention to her needs.
Gracious and sympathetic, he allowed her to have her share
of his love and sympathy. Such was his spiritual stature that
he did not worry about the conventional Shastra that a saint
must keep himself aloof from his relatives. He was preparing
her for the supreme consummation, the true samadhi. Apart
from his silent spiritual way of helping her to build her
inner life, he gave her useful instructions, narrated helpful
anecdotes, corrected some of her common old-world notions
of religious virtues in bathing and eating, of the kitchen
religion, but never coerced her, always allowed her to have
her orthodox way. For instance, he would remark in a jocose
style, “O your cloth is touched by somebody, madi is gone,
polluted, O religion is gone... Yes, this onion, drumstick...
great obstruction to Moksha!”
When the end came, the blessed lady completely resigned
herself to the sage, making it possible for his grace to be
effective. On the last day of her life (May 19, 1922), from
morning to about 8 in the evening, the great sage sat by the
side of his gasping mother. His right hand remained on her

heart and his left on her head until life in her body became
extinct and the soul became absorbed into the Spirit, into the
Peace that passes all understanding.
Some time after the event, when someone referred to the
passing away of his mother, the sage corrected him with a
curt remark, “No, not passed away, absorbed.”
On another occasion referring to the same subject, he
stated, “Yes, in her case it was a success; on a previous
occasion I did the same for Pazhani Swami, when his end
was approaching, but it was a failure, he yawned and passed
away.”
Further, explaining in part what was happening during
those ten or twelve hours when his hands were on the head
and heart of his mother, he said: “Innate tendencies, vasanas
or subtle memories of past experiences leading to future
possibilities, became very active. Scene after scene rolled
before her in the subtle consciousness, as the outer sense
had already gone. The soul was passing through a series of
experiences that might possibly have required many births
of her, but for the quickening process worked by the special
touch given on the occasion. The soul was at last disrobed
of the subtle sheaths before it reached the final destination,
the supreme Peace, Nirvana, Samadhi from which there is no
return to Ignorance.”
Utterances to this effect regarding his mother are
aphorisms for which a plain commentary is to be found in
the general atmosphere and his attitude to the samadhi and
the temple constructed after the event.
From Skandasramam on the Hill, he was for about six
months daily visiting the samadhi at the foot of the Hill
where her remains were interred, until one day he suddenly
sat there and has continued to stay there to this hour. (This
was written in 1936.)
“Not of my own accord I removed from Skandasramam...”
he said, “something placed me here and I obeyed; it is not
due to my will, sveccha, it is pareccha, the will of others or

of the Lord.” “Lord, I have no will of my own. Thy Will is
my will,” is one of the oft-quoted phrases of the Maharshi.
What has been so far stated is enough to show how he
looks upon this samadhi with which, one may say, commenced
a new period in the history of his life and the Ashram. The
fact is well-known that from 1922 onwards, Ramanasramam
has been steadily growing, the teachings and the influence of
the sage are increasingly recognised and spread; especially in
the last half-a-dozen years the name of Ramana Maharshi has
touched some of the earnest hearts of Europe and America.
On one occasion Maharshi is said to have remarked,
“Where is she gone? She is here.” This was taken to mean
that she, his mother, as a freed spiritual being, lived with him
in his atmosphere. If so, it may be that the principle of female
Energy, Sakti, was required to extend and spread the influence
of Maharshi and that was supplied by his mother effectively
after her samadhi. This need not be discussed further here, as
it can be best understood only by students of occult tradition
and knowledge of the East as well as of the West.
The greatness then of Maharshi’s mother rests much more
upon other factors than on the fact of her great good luck of
having been a good and pious minded mother of a spiritual
personage of a rare type. Her greatness lay in her capacity to
receive his help and influence in the closing hours of her life
and thereby to shuffle off the subtle coils of mortal ignorance
before she could get liberated into the eternal of Supreme
Peace. Above all, her worth and greatness are manifest in
the increasingly felt influence of the spirit and teachings
of the Maharshi, spreading across the shores, and entitling
her to take the place of the Madonna in the institution of
Ramanasramam where the Lingam Matrubhuteswara (the
Lord who has taken her into Himself) has been installed, and
is offered daily worship.
24. He Opened My Heart*
D uring my dynamic silence of thirty years, about five

years were spent in going from saint to saint, Ashram
to Ashram. Even samadhi was not the summum bonum of
realisation. My heart wanted something which I did not
find anywhere during my long journey from Mt. Kailas to
Kanyakumari. I stood in silence at the feet of the gigantic
Gomateswara up the hill of Shravanabelagola when I was
living among the Digambari Jain sadhus, wearing just a
codpiece. At midnight a bright face rose like the sun in the
crimson dawn, and a hymn from the Vedas came to my mind,
“There he rises, the brilliant sun spreading a thousand rays,
the cosmic form of the effulgent splendour, unique light, life
of beings!” The crimson glory opened two lotus eyes and
then coral lips emitted pearly smiles.
I quickly remembered Ramana Maharshi and felt his
inner call. I put a semicolon to my spiritual pilgrimage and
went quickly to Arunagiri. I went up the Hill, took a bath in
the waterfalls, meditated in the Virupaksha Cave and came
down. Accidentally Seshadri Swami met me and smiled at
me. I went near him and in his silvery voice he declared, “Go
on and on, Shuddhananda, until you go deep in and in.” He
accompanied me a few yards and ran away saying, “Run, run,
Ramana waits for you. Go in and in.”
I reached Ramanasramam and entered the small shrine of
the Mother. There was a square room adjoining it and Nayana
stood up exclaiming, “Welcome, Welcome! Swagatam!”
Ramana’s gentle voice said, “Let Bharati come in. Bharati
varattum.”
I saw no human form. I felt dazed. An effulgence
enveloped me. My mind disappeared into silence. I sat
down, closed my eyes and entered the inner cave – nihitam
guhayam. An hour passed like five minutes. I came back to
* Shuddananda Bharati, Ramana Smriti, 1980.

myself, opened my eyes and saw Ramana’s lotus eyes riveted

on mine. He appeared like a linga spreading rays of burnished
gold. “Now you have felt That”, the cave is open! The “I”
is the Self-nectar!” After all these years of sadhana, here I
experienced a delightful inner reality which is beyond word
and thought – Yato vaacho nivartante aprapya manassa saha.
I caught hold of his feet and shed tears of delight singing with
Saint Manickavachakar, “Today Thou hast risen in my heart a
Sun destroying darkness.”
Blaze on, O Light Divine
Swallowing I and mine.
The Self rose like the Sun
The many merged into the ONE.
Behold the beacon of I
Inner Light of every Eye,
Towering above He, She and it,
A new dawn of inner delight.
(All songs that I dedicated to Bhagavan are contained in
my book Arul Aruvi, Torrents of Grace.)
Nayana, whom I already knew in the Gurukulam
congratulated me saying, “Like myself, you have found the
right guru in the right place! Now the cave is ready for you.”
B.V. Narasimha Swami entered the room and said joyfully,
“Happy, Happy! Bhagavan has touched your heart!”
Then Niranjanananda Swami called me to the dining
room. I opened my bag and brought out ground nuts and
plantains and gave them to Bhagavan. He took one fruit and
a few nuts, and I took the rest as his prasad. That has been
my diet for many years.
The next morning after my bath I was meditating when
Ramana came and we spoke for half an hour about practical
Self-Realisation. We had plenty of meetings during the nights.
Maharshi is the beacon light of hope to seekers. He kept me
in the Virupaksha Cave silent. Only Nayana, Seshadri Swami
and B.V. Narasimha Swami, used to visit me now and then.
Ramana gave a finishing touch to Sankara’s “Brahma Satyam
or Brahman is the unique reality.” Bhagavan located that

Brahman in the Heart and called it Heart itself:
I, I shines the Truth in the Heart’s core. That’s Brahman;
be That; seek no more.
Deepam crowds disturbed my cave life in Tiruvannamalai.
Ramana made me live with Nayana in a mud cottage near the
Ashram. I had the joy of hearing Vedic hymns and Nayana’s
verses all day long as I remained silent and self-immersed
and prepared myself for the future fulfilment of my life. The
last day was fully spent at the feet of Bhagavan and that was
my golden day. What he taught me on that day sustained me
for twenty-five years:
The egoless “I am” is realisation. The experience of “I
am” is peace. The meaning of “I” is “God”. The outgoing
mind is bondage; the in-going mind is freedom. The mind
turning inward to the Heart brings bliss. The restless worldly
mind brings bondage and misery. The triads of knower,
known and knowledge are one. You go to a cinema. Observe
the projector light. If the projector light fails, the whole show
stops. Be Self-centered and finish your work in silence and
come out. The world is nothing but the objectified mind.
25. Bhagavan’s Teachings and Life in the

World*
B hagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi has on various occasions

clearly indicated the details of the path of Self-enquiry
– the investigation Who Am I? – presented by him as the
supreme spiritual path fit for this age. Once a person embarks
on self-enquiry, sooner or later the question of how that would
affect his life in the world, invariably arises.
Bhagavan never claimed that self-enquiry would lead to
‘instant salvation’, but one is enjoined to follow diligently the
* I.S. Varghese, The Mountain Path, July 1982.
path for an indefinite time – perhaps for his whole lifetime.

Hence the question of how it will affect the various facets
of life in the world assumes greater importance. Though
Hinduism does not enjoin physical renunciation for spiritual
seekers, it is generally presumed in India that renouncing the
world in some form or other is necessary for all aspirants.
This was also the original Christian teaching, as reflected in
St. John’s epistle: “If you love the world you do not have the
love of God in you”. (The Bible 1 John 2:15). Therefore, it
was natural that many of Maharshi’s followers often asked
him whether they should renounce the world.
In India renouncing the world invariably means becoming
a sannyasi or a mendicant (equivalent to a Fakir in Islam), one
who possesses nothing, desires nothing and lives on charity.
It is noteworthy that the Maharshi withheld permission in all
such cases. The search was internal and the inner process of
spiritual progress had nothing to do with the conditions of
life. According to Bhagavan: “The one obstacle is the mind,
and this must be overcome whether in the home or in the
forest. If you do it in the forest, why not in the home? So
why change the environment?” (Maharshi’s Gospel – I, p. 6)
“ALL OUR WORKS, BEGUN, CONTINUED AND
ENDED IN THEE”
Closely allied to the problem of renouncing the world is
the problem of engaging in worldly activity or work while
pursuing the path of self-enquiry. Here again the Maharshi
was quite categorical that work in the world need not interfere
with spiritual practices. In the well-known interview Paul
Brunton, the author of A Search in Secret India, had with the
Maharshi, Brunton asked the basic question: “Is it possible
to develop along the path of the spirit while leading a life of
work?” and Bhagavan replied “There is no conflict between
work and wisdom. On the other hand, selfless work leads to
Self-knowledge.” (The Mountain Path, October 1981, p.198.)
Bhagavan has also said: “Nothing that the body does should
shake you from abidance in the Self. Such abidance will never
interfere with the proper and effective discharge of whatever
duties the body has, any more than an actor’s being aware of
his real status in life interferes with his acting a part on the
stage.” (Day by Day with Bhagavan, p. 245)
Still, many devotees and aspirants had doubts as to
how a householder who is constantly engaged in the active
discharge of his domestic duties could obtain supreme peace.
To this very relevant question Bhagavan has said: “It is only
to the spectator that the enlightened householder seems to be
occupied with his domestic duties: for even though apparently
engaged in domestic duties, he is not really engaged in
any activity at all. His outer activity does not prevent him
from realising the perfect peace of withdrawal”. (Spiritual
Instructions, p. 23.)
SILENCE, SOLITUDE, SELF-SERVICE
While such basic questions and doubts about life in the
world troubled many aspirants and devotees, others were
worried about subsidiary problems like taking a vow of silence,
the value of solitude, reforming the world, social service,
political work, the right kind of food, etc. It is traditionally
recognised that a vow of silence helps a spiritual aspirant to
insulate himself from much of the noise and bustle of the
world. However, Bhagavan saw much deeper than that and
tells us that it is the inner silence that is necessary. According
to him, if the mind is incessantly active and chattering, the
outer show of silence, which a vow of silence enjoins, is
useless. Again, about solitude, the Maharshi has said that
solitude is in the mind of man. “One man may be in the thick
of the world and yet maintain perfect serenity of mind. Such
a person is always in solitude. Another may live in the forest,
but still be unable to control his mind. He cannot be said to
be in solitude. A man attached to the things of life cannot
get solitude wherever he may be, whereas a detached man is
always in solitude.” (Maharshi’s Gospel – I, p.14.)
With many western and some Indian visitors, it was the

opposite question to renouncing the world that arose – what
could they do to reform the world? A classic example of this
is the following conversation between Paul Brunton and the
Maharshi in the early days of Ramanasramam, in the nineteen
thirties:-
Paul Brunton: Will Bhagavan give his opinion on the
future of the world, as we are living in critical times?
Bhagavan: Why should you worry about the future? You
don’t even know the present properly. Take care of the present
and the future will take care of itself.
Brunton: Will the world soon enter a new era of
friendliness and mutual help or will it go down in chaos and
war?
Bhagavan: There is one who governs the world and it
is His task to look after it. He has given life to the world
and knows how to look after it. He bears the burden of this
world, not you. This is a question that seekers after Truth
need not worry about. People waste their energy over all such
questions. First find out the Truth behind yourself, then you
will be in a better position to understand the Truth behind
the world, of which you are a part.” (A. Osborne, Ramana
Maharshi and the Path of Self Knowledge p. 155, Jaico
Publication.)
However, this does not mean that Bhagavan advocated
indifference to distress and suffering. What was prohibited
was the egoism inherent in trying to act the part of the
Supreme Power. This aspect is brought out very clearly in an
exposition recorded by A. Devaraja Mudaliar: “Till you attain
the state of Realisation and thus wake out of this illusory,
phenomenal world, you must do social service by relieving
suffering whenever you see it. But even so you must do it
without ahankara (egoism), that is, without the sense of: ‘It is
I who am doing it.’ Instead you should feel: ‘I am the Lord’s
instrument’. Similarly, you must not be conceited and think
‘l am helping a man who is below me. He needs help and I

am in a position to give it. I am superior and he is inferior.’
You must help him as a means of worshipping God in him.
All such service is serving the Self, not anybody else. You are
not helping anybody else, but only yourself.’’ (Day by Day
with Bhagavan, p.94).
It so happened that from the early part of this century up
to 1947 was a period of intense political activity in India. This
was the time when Mahatma Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience
Movement and Satyagraha were convulsing the conscience
of large numbers of people in India. And the major part of
Maharshi’s life on earth was also during this time. So it was
natural that there were frequent questions put to the Maharshi
about a political activity. It may be said at the outset that
the Maharshi discouraged political activity in those seeking
after Truth. Once during that period, Jamnalal Bajaj, the great
industrialist and Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who later became the
president of India, were sent by Mahatma Gandhi to seek the
blessings of the Maharshi for the Independence Movement.
An extract from the exchange of Jamnalal Bajaj with the
Maharshi, given below, shows how far Bhagavan was from
the typical independence worker:
Jamnalal Bajaj: “Is the desire for independence right?
Bhagavan: Such desire no doubt begins with self-interest.
Yet practical work for the goal gradually widens the outlook
so that the individual becomes merged in the country. Such
merging of the individuality is desirable and the karma in
question is nishkama (unselfish). Jamnalal Bajaj: If Self-
government is granted for India after a long struggle and
terrible sacrifice, is one not justified in being pleased with
the result and elated by it?
Bhagavan: In the course of one’s work one must have
surrendered oneself to the higher Power whose might must
be kept in mind and never lost sight of. How then can one
be elated? One should not even care for the result of one’s
action. Then alone the Karma becomes unselfish”. (Talk 502)
Many persons who are active by nature find it extremely

difficult to understand that in the realm of the spirit “there
are no others” as taught by Bhagavan and they presume that
seeking one’s own realisation is itself egoism. They forget for
the time that the whole purpose of self-enquiry is to annihilate
the ego. Such people often asked Bhagavan why he did not
go about preaching the Truth to the people. To this question
Bhagavan has said: “How do you know that l don’t? Does
preaching consist in mounting a platform and haranguing
the people around? Preaching is simple communication of
knowledge and can be done in silence too. What do you
think of a man listening to a harangue for an hour and going
away without being impressed by it so as to change his
life? Compare him with another who sits in a holy presence
and leaves after some time with his outlook on life totally
changed. Again how does speech arise?
First there is abstract knowledge not manifested. From
this there arises the ego which gives rise to thoughts and
words successively. If words can produce an effect, consider
how much more powerful preaching through silence must
be.” (Talk 285)
MAN IS WHAT HE EATS
Though Bhagavan did not attach much importance to
physical aids to meditation, he was very particular about an
aspirant confining himself to sattvic (pure) food in moderate
quantities. By sattvic food is meant vegetarian food like
rice, wheat bread, fruit, milk, vegetables and such things.
In one of the earliest expositions in answer to the question
whether there are any aids to concentration and getting rid
of distractions, Bhagavan has said: “Physically, the digestive
and other organs are to be kept free from irritation. Therefore,
food is regulated both in quantity and quality. Non-irritants
are eaten, avoiding chilies, excess of salt, onions, wine, opium
etc. Avoid constipation, drowsiness and excitement and all
food which induce them.” (Talk 28). And in an answer given
to Mrs. Piggot, a foreigner, Bhagavan said: “The quality of

one’s food influences the mind. The mind feeds on the food
consumed.”
Mrs. Piggot: “Really! But how can Europeans
accommodate themselves to sattvic food? Bhagavan:
(turning to Mr. Evans-Wentz, the well-known writer on
Tibetan religion) – You have been taking our food. Does it
inconvenience you at all?
Evans-Wenz: No, because I am accustomed to it.
Bhagavan: Custom is only an adjustment to environment.
It is the mind that matters. The fact is that the mind has
been trained to find certain food good and palatable. The
necessary food value is obtainable in vegetarian as well as
non-vegetarian food; only the mind desires the sort of food
that it is used to and considers palatable.
Mrs. Piggot: Do these restrictions apply to the realised
man also?
Bhagavan: He is stabilised and not influenced by the
food he takes (Talk 22)
Also, Bhagavan never advocated fasting or celibacy as
necessary for Realisation, though he conceded that they can
be aids to Realisation like many other things. He advised
that fasting is only a temporary help and not an end in itself.
Actually he has said; “Absolute fasting weakens the mind
too and leaves you without sufficient strength for spiritual
quest. Therefore, eat in moderation and continue the quest.”
(Talk 170)
Nor did Bhagavan consider Brahmacharya (celibacy)
as essential to Realisation. He has said: “It is a question of
fitness of mind. Married or unmarried, a man can realise the
Self, because the Self is here and now’’ (Talk 17). Also he
has said: “Brahmacharya means ‘living in Brahman’ and it
has no connection with celibacy as commonly understood”
(Talk 17).
When in studying Bhagavan’s teachings concerning
different aspects of life in the world, it is relevant to enquire
whether the Maharshi looked upon the world itself as unreal

and an illusion. The Hindu concept of Maya has been
criticised by many not conversant with its full content. There
are three statements of Sankaracharya which have to be taken
together to understand his philosophy of Maya. These are, as
Bhagavan explained: “that Brahman is real, that the world is
unreal, and that Brahman is the world. This means that when
the world is perceived apart from Brahman, that perception
is false and illusory. It further means that phenomena are
real when seen as the Self and illusory when seen apart from
it.” (A. Osborne, Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-
Knowledge. Jaico, p.93.)
This is also very clearly brought out in the eighteenth
verse of Bhagavan’s ‘Forty Verses on Reality’ Ulladu
Narpadu:
“To those who have not known the Self and to those
Who have known the Self,
The World in front of us is real,
But to those who have not known the Self,
The Reality is limited to its names and forms,
Whereas to those who have known the Self,
The Reality shines devoid of name and form
As the substratum of the world.
Know that this is the difference between the two “
(The Mountain Path, Oct. 1981, p. 219)
SURRENDER, AND GOD TAKES OVER
Though Bhagavan prescribes self-enquiry as the supreme
path to Realisation, he recognises that there is no ‘best
method’ suitable for everyone. He has said: “One method
will prove easy to one person and another to another. There
can be no general rule”, (Talk 580). While self-enquiry suits
only very mature souls, it is found that most people are of
a devotional temperament which requires worship and a
dualistic approach. In such cases Bhagavan always advised
submission and surrender to God to the extent that one is to
do one’s duty and leave the results entirely to God. To anyone

who has tried it, this is an extremely difficult thing to do,
as the ego always pushes itself to the forefront and expects
certain results from all actions. The necessity for complete
surrender is brought out forcibly in an exposition recorded in
Sad Darshana Bhashya (p. XXV).
Bhagavan: Now, I will ask you a question. When a man
gets into a train where does he put his luggage?
Devotee: Either in the compartment or in the luggage
van.
Bhagavan: He does not carry it on his head or in his lap
while in the train?
Devotee: Only a fool would do so.
Bhagavan: It is a thousand times more foolish to bear
your own burden once you have undertaken the spiritual
quest, whether by the path of knowledge or devotion.
The very first Western devotee of the Maharshi, Frank
Humphreys, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Vellore,
has given in moving words his personal testimony about an
unseen Guide bearing the burden of spiritual seekers. “Though
it takes years to find that ‘That’ (i.e., for Realisation), the
results of this concentration (the enquiry ‘Who am l’), will
soon show themselves in four or five months’ time – in all
sorts of unconscious clairvoyance, in peace of mind, in power
to deal with troubles, in power all round – always unconscious
power.” (Frank H. Humphreys, Glimpses of the Life and
Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 19)
There is also a great company of witnesses from religions
as varied as Roman Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism etc. of a
greater power than man operating in a mysterious way in
the case of people following any spiritual path in earnest. To
this I can add my own humble testimony about an unseen
Presence taking over all earthly concerns once we enter the
path of self-enquiry. To some very complicated problems
in life in the world, mysterious solutions have appeared by
themselves. Also some happenings which may be classed
as miracles have also been experienced by me, though it is

irrelevant to describe them here. I have written of these things
in more details in The Mountain Path in the 1960’s under
the title “Light on the Path”. Bhagavan’s invitation is not to
proceed after death to somewhere over the rainbow where
skies are blue, but to enter now the beatific Kingdom of God
within all of us. May the Grace of Sri Ramana Maharshi be
on all who read this!
Note:
All quotations are taken from books published by Sri
Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, except where otherwise
indicated. ‘Talk’ refers to Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi,
the numbers noted after ‘Talk’ refer to the numbers of the
Talks and not to page numbers.
A s a matter of my immediate spiritual experience,

Sri Ramana is the living, talking, seeing, guiding
transcendental Reality, bent on transfiguring with its Light
the higher levels of our purified consciousness. Sri Ramana is
here and now with us: he is more easily accessible to us now
than he was when environed in the limitations of a bodily
mansion; he is more palpable to our inner faith and thought
and spirit now, than when the glimpses of his Godhead were
given us through the half-closed eyes of the clay-tenement he
indwelt at Arunachala.
Offer Sri Ramana the conditions of the devotion of
your heart, the earnest longing of your soul, the mountain-
moving faith in him, a certain receptivity to the Light and
Grace of his all-pervading Presence. He is standing by you
as a Reality more real than your physical experiences, than
* Sri Swami Sivananda (Rishikesh), The Call Divine, January 1955.

your mental preoccupations, awaiting, to be touched, felt and

known by you. The Powers and the Presence of the liberated
Consciousness of Sri Ramana are here with us, to be sensed
and experienced and utilised by our aspiring natures, by our
purified hearts and minds. I know of a few sadhakas who have
been directly contacting Sri Ramana not only in the hours
of intense meditation but in their normal life whenever they
direct a single thought towards him. We would be in perpetual
attunement with Sri Ramana if only we can transcend the
heavy limitations; of an egoistic mode of consciousness.
The Central message of Sri Ramana was that we should
subject ourselves to psychological self-observation, liberate
ourselves from the ego-idea, grow conscious of the pure
spiritual “I”-awareness and live in it as he lived in it all
through the life of his physical embodiment and is living in it
now. By the magic-working offices of prayer, by the power of
the sincerity of our longing for his Experience, let us elevate
our consciousness from the brilliant impurities of the mind,
from the insistent vehemence of the vital nature, from every
form of egoistic existence; this done, I assure you, we would
experience Sri Ramana’s living Presence here and now. It is
the imperfection of our surrender unto the Maharshi, of our
Faith in him, of our effort to realise him here and now, that
is obscuring our vision to the perception and experience of
His Divine Grace, Presence, Light. Therefore, it is that we
need to take to a little more of intense inner spiritual Sadhana
in order that Sri Ramana may be a matter of our immediate
experience: it is then that the Light and Love of all-pervading
Ramana possess our entire beings and give us a knowledge as
to how dynamically active he is in the higher consciousness of
spiritual humanity. I offer my heartfelt prayers to Sri Ramana.
The impact of Sri Bhagavan’s Presence defies description.
All who came to Him received His Grace in abundance, yet
He Himself remained simple and unaffected! The author,
one of the earliest western disciples of Sri Maharshi, full of
devotion to the Master, was also an erudite scholar.
27. Bhagavan Sri Ramana:

God-Reality Incarnate*
IF a man were to do the greatest deed in the world and
go and sit in the presence of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
he would realise that his deed was as nothing compared to the
perpetual Deed of Self-realisation of the Sage.
If a man were to write the greatest book in the world and
lay it as an offering before the Sage he would realise that the
Sage was a greater Book, written from day to day, without
any conscious effort, in the inner being of all who cared to
come and read it.
Any endeavour to write about the philosophy of Bhagavan
Sri Ramana Maharshi is like painting the lily. It is impossible
to present the Maharshi’s philosophy in any better and clearer
way or form than he has done himself. In the case of other
personalities, it is always possible to make a distinction
between theory and practice, or between spirituality and
intellect on the one hand and action on the other. With the
Maharshi no such distinction exists.
It is in accordance with the spirit of the time that every
man, thing, or event of interest should be written about. The
Maharshi is beyond the spirit of our time and long after the
spirit of this age will have been succeeded by the spirit of
another age, Sri Ramana Maharshi will be remembered as
an Immortal. His immortality stood out from his every word
and look. It lives in the inner heart of all who have had the
great privilege to sit in his in his presence. It is reflected only
poorly in the books and articles that have been written about
him. How could it be otherwise? No one can truly describe
God or Truth. Even so, no one can truly describe a Son of God
and an embodiment of Truth. The Mounam (mystic Silence)
which expresses God-Reality is the fit way of describing the
Sage of Mounam also.
* Sadhu Ekarasa (Dr. Mees), Golden Jubilee Souvenir.

This article, therefore, can never do justice to the

greatness of the Sage. An attempt may be made, however, to
say a few things about the uniqueness of the Sage, about the
Sage as Guru, and the significance of the present celebration.
After having studied the lives and ways of teaching of
Saints and Sages of the world, belonging to various traditions
and various periods of time, it strikes one that Sri Ramana
falls into a class of his own. No one, as far as one knows,
has achieved God-Realisation merely by hearing a name
of God uttered heedlessly and without any preliminary
instruction in philosophy or theology, without passing any
traditional initiatory rites, without having a Guru, an inspirer
or even only an instructor in traditional matters. But Sri
Ramana received “initiation” by merely hearing the name of
Arunachala, pronounced only for the purpose of conveying
information about a journey. Sri Ramana claimed his spiritual
heritage without even having been told that there was a
heritage to claim. He knew it of his own accord. He went to
claim it without receiving any directions on his way. He took
it without any formalities.
Bhagavan Sri Ramana acts with regard to those who come
to him for realisation, inspiration and instruction, according to
his own being. As God, the Reality in the innermost Heart, he
worked and works his ways directly within the heart of those
who aspire to be, or consider themselves as his disciples.
For this Bhagavan needed no mantras, no verses, no ritual or
conventional formalities. For he was a Guru in the true sense
of the word. The word Guru means ‘dispeller of darkness’.
The Darkness which needs dispelling is that of Ignorance
of God-Reality. The Light that dispels it is the Light of the
Natural State of Being. The Maharshi’s way is as direct as
it is simple. But the simple is often found to be the most
difficult. Bhagavan’s simplicity was so profound that it failed
to reach the consciousness of many who came to him for
something definite, or rather, something finite. They desired
knowledge, vision, grace, bliss, all kinds of directions and
numerous mundane things. The enquirer generally did not

realise that these things themselves were only mental concepts
which stood in the way of his development. Only if he was
able to ignore these concepts and surrender them, as it were,
at the feet of the Maharshi, his continuously radiating Light
was able to penetrate the Darkness of his consciousness. It
is often imagined that ‘renunciation at the feet of the Guru’
implies renunciation of worldly matters like worries, family,
occupation, sinfulness and so on. But actually it implies
renunciation of the mind, or, in other words, of all mental
pre-occupations, pre-conceived ideas, prejudices, dogmas,
physical attachments, tendencies and desires, for these various
categories of thought-forms form the substance of the separate
‘I Many times it has happened that visitors and resident-
disciples have asked Maharshi to vouchsafe them initiation,
grace, blessings or spiritual experience, and that he replied:
‘I am always giving it. If you cannot apprehend it, what am
I to do?’ Often, however, the Maharshi, when he saw that a
disciple did not respond to his Mounam, gave instruction on
a level suited to the mind of the disciple by reciting a story,
writing verses or by explaining philosophical questions.
Dwelling in the Eternal, the Maharshi made no distinctions
of person, and 1 looked with an equal eye’ on a learned scholar
and a simple peasant, a Maharaja and a sweeper, an old man
and a young woman, a man and a dog, a householder and a
monk. But although Sri Ramana realised the mystic Oneness
of souls in God-Reality, he also recognised that distinctions
in the relative world of appearances have their relative value
until transcended. Once a visitor said during a conversation:
‘There should be equality among men.’ Sri Ramana
promptly remarked: ‘Then let them go to sleep; in sleep all
are equal!’
In contra-distinction to other gurus of a less exalted level,
who are inclined to be aware of their spiritual superiority in
relation to others Sri Ramana Maharshi considered all beings
to be potential Jnanis, whether they were aware of it or not.
Some of his utterances run parallel to that of the eighth century

mystic, Hui Neng, who said: ‘The only difference between
a Buddha and an ordinary man is that one realises it while
the other does not.’ In one conversation Sri Ramana said:
‘Vivekananda asked Sri Ramakrishna:
“Have you seen God?” I say: “Is there anybody who has
not seen God?”’
Sri Ramana proclaimed that life is full of latent happiness
for those whose lot it is to struggle with the most depressing
situations and propensities in samsara, because the Divine
Heritage is ever there, waiting to be received. God-Reality is
ever present within the heart of all. The act of full surrender of
the man of Darkness to the Lord of Light is bound to reveal it
as the dawn dispels the darkness of the night. And just as the
dawn is not the first dawn, but reveals the eternal light of the
sun, the dawn of Self-realisation is not a new creation, but the
remembering of a lost state of consciousness. It is an entering
into the ancient heritage. In this connection Sri Ramana taught
that the Guru lives as the Immortal and Eternal Light within
every being. The Path to that Guru is the Guru in the world of
manifestation. The Path to the Father is through the Son. To
quote the Maharshi’s own words: “One must not look upon
the Guru as a person; he is not anything else than the Real
Self of the disciple. When that Self is realised, then there is
neither Guru nor disciple.”
Knowing the value of the tradition that he should not
look upon the Guru as a person, there is for the disciple yet
a very sweet and wonderful element of hope and promise
in it to think that Bhagavan Sri Ramana, though a Son of
God, is also a son of human parents like himself. What a
world of possibilities for his own future is suggested by this
knowledge! He has heard of liberated Devas or Angels, but
what use is their achievement to him, for he is not one of
them. But a liberated man is another matter!
In this light there is a good excuse (for fear of looking
upon the Guru as a person) for celebrating the great event for
which this book sees the light of day. In this light the coming
of Bhagavan Sri Ramana to Arunachala, and his fifty years’
stay there, assumes significance not only for the spiritual
children of the Maharshi, but for all humanity.
Fifty years! From the point of view of the restless worldly
mind which delights in movement and change, an unbroken
stay of fifty years in one place seems to be a tremendous
achievement. It is indeed unique. But surely Sri Ramana
has never looked upon it as being in any way remarkable.
He has attained the Great Magnet of the World, the Centre
of the Heart, and became as immovable as his Father, Lord
Arunachala. How could the piece of iron leave the magnet of
its own accord? It has no will of its own.
In a large number of traditional contexts, the number
50 suggests and symbolizes fullness and perfection, in
connection with the World of Manifestation. In Hinduism it
is found in the 50 letters of the Sanskrit Alphabet, the 50
“beads” of the Varnamala or Rosary of the Goddess Kali, and
the 50 coils of Sakti. In Greek, Hebrew and Arabic traditions
the number 50 symbolizes the manifestations of new life
in spiritual birth and resurrection. In Jewish tradition the
number 50 finds expression in the mystery of Pentecost, the
50th day of spiritual resurrection and joy, and in the Jubilee
year, every 50th year, which was one in which spiritually
a new beginning was made in the World of manifestation.
The very word “Jubilee” is derived from the Hebrew word
“Yobel,” which is a word for the trumpet calling men to
Resurrection! The Jewish Jubilee was a commemoration of
the Original State, the State of Paradise in which man lived
as one with God. Bhagavan Sri Ramana calls that state the
Natural State. What has been called by older traditions the
Resurrection from the Dead is nothing but the return to that
Original State of Oneness in which there is no separateness,
duality or multiplicity. The Resurrection from the Dead is
the same as the attainment of Self-Realisation which is the
reattainment of the Natural State. The end is the beginning,

and the beginning is the end.
In the light of these old traditions, the event that we are
commemorating assumes a special significance for all who
are celebrating it. In accordance with the tradition of the
Jubilee Year the event of fifty years ago is that of the Natural
State of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, and the event at which it is
commemorated fifty years later is that of the spiritual renewal
of his disciples and admirers, and, in a wider sense, of the
world.
28. Arunachala Stuti, the Sixth Hymn to

Arunachala*
When Bhagavan was staying at Skandasramam,
Ganapati Muni approached him, quoted a Sanskrit
verse and asked him if there was any equivalent
metre in Malayalam. Bhagavan replied that there
was, and to illustrate it he composed the following
three verses in Malayalam. Kunju Swami, a native
Malayalam speaker memorised the verses and noted
them down in his notebook. The verses then passed
into temporary oblivion and they were somehow
ignored by the various compilers of Bhagavan’s
collected works. The verses appeared in print for
the first time in 1980 in Tamil phonetic script in a
small centenary offering complied by K. Natesan.
However, until now, the verses have never appeared
either in the original Malayalam or in a Tamil or
English translation.
Sri K.K. Nambiar, a native Malayalam speaker,
and one of the senior most living devotees of
* The Mountain Path, January 1982.

Bhagavan, has kindly provided us with the following

English translation.
1. The Primordial Lord of the Universe, whose form
is unbroken consciousness, whose feet are adored by the
Vedas, who destroys sins of those who bow to him, The
Lord of the mountains! bestow on me a sidelong glance
with thy eyes moistened with compassion, lest I should
end my life living like an animal.
(Alternate reading of line one: “The Supreme
God, Lord of the Universe, whose form is Eternal
Awareness...)
2. Arunachala, the embodiment of the eightfold form
of the universe, in order that the worldly afflictions may
cease to torment me (alternatively: may be completely
wiped out), please cast thy look of Grace to help cut
asunder the ego-knot without feeling its pangs.
Note: The universe is said to have eight components: the
five elements (ether, air, fire, water and earth), the sun, the
moon and the jivas (individual souls).
3. As proclaimed in the essential teachings of all
scriptures, by ceaseless contemplation of the Holy Feet
of the Supreme Lord Arunachala, I am sure to be freed
from my innate pride, attachment, anger, delusion, lust
and greed, and attain salvation (liberation).
29. Set Aside Your Ego and Live Happily*
S o many scriptures are there in the world like the Ramayana,

Mahabharata, Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita
which have been taught over the centuries through discourses
and so many books have been written on them. But have we
been able to put these teachings into practice in our day-to-
day life and reform ourselves so that we may be on the right
path that will take us to our life’s Supreme Goal – Realising
the Self and ending our life cycle? What stands in our way
towards achieving this Goal? It is indeed our Ego. It is ego
that blocks our path of evolution. Unless we learn to conquer
this vicious ego, we cannot progress and be happy in life. It
is ego that brings about repeated births and its destruction is
the only way of crossing this seemingly never-ending ocean
of samsara.
The ego is the false ‘I’ which arises from ignorance. This
false ‘I’ completely dominates our personality veiling the Real
‘I’ which remains hidden inside the Heart. It is like the snake
in the rope. Unless the false snake is negated, we cannot see
the underlying rope. Similarly, unless we set aside this false
ego, we cannot realise our true Self which is the source of all
our happiness and knowledge. The ego is the cause for all the
agitations and negativities that arise in the mind. It is also the
cause for all the frictions that arise in our relationships.
Only when the ego is set aside will the mind be calm;
only when the mind is calm can we look within, and only
when we look within and meditate on the Self can we traverse
the Royal Path and reach our Source and become united with
the Self. The ego disappears when we become aware of it
and start seeking it. That is why Bhagavan asks us to enquire
‘Who am I?’, the ‘I’ here refers to the Ego. When we seek the
‘I’ by looking for its source within, the ego disappears and the
* Lakshmi Sreedhar, Mountain Path, Part I, II and III starting

January 2018.
real Self shines forth of its own accord. There is a beautiful

example given by Bhagavan: Preparations are going on for a
marriage function in a hall. A well-dressed impostor enters the
hall and is seen talking closely with the bridegroom’s party.
The bride’s party therefore thinks he belongs to the other side
and gives him much respect. Soon he gets close to the bride’s
party also. For some time, the impostor gives a nice ride to all.
Each party respects him thinking he belongs to the other side.
Thus he manages to enjoy good food and respect. Suddenly
someone in the bridegroom’s party becomes suspicious about
him and goes to the other side to enquire who he is. As the
impostor sees both the sides enquiring about him, he quietly
disappears from the scene. Bhagavan says the ego is the
impostor. It is a false entity that arises within us between the
body and the Self. So long as it is not noticed and questioned,
it asserts itself. When enquired as to what it is, it disappears
like the impostor without a trace. So long as the ego exists, it
veils the Truth and the unreal appears to be the Real.
The ego operates as ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ – ‘I’ is the sense
of individuality and doership and ‘Mine’ gives rise to
possessiveness and selfishness. As long as we are the Totality
as the Self, the whole universe is Me and Mine. But when
we separate as the ego, we become a mere fraction and limit
ourselves to this body in ignorance which is what is known
as the dehatma buddhi, and try to possess what all we can
grab even by hook or crook and claim it as Mine. See the
degeneration from the grand state of being the owner of this
whole universe as the Self to being a pride owner of petty
things as a fraction! What all we fondly claim as ‘mine’ do not
stay with us forever as we have to leave them behind willy-
nilly when the conch blows. Even Alexander the Great who
set out to conquer the world left with empty hands. We are
not this name and form we think we are; we are That which
exists within this body covered by the pancha kosas and
layers of vasanas like the cabbage being covered by several
layers. The core in each of us is common; there is unity in the
diversity. For example, we go to a beach and take water in a

number of buckets. The water now is separate in each bucket,
but are they not the same water, from the same source? So
too, we have all forgotten our common origin and our true
nature and think that we are separate individuals, though at
the substratum we are one and the same Self. Just as water
takes the shape of the container – pot water, lake water, tank
water etc., – but is still the same water, so too, the very same
Self takes on the various forms and appearances in the world.
Thus we have to realise our oneness at the core and end the
sense of individuality that has arisen due to ignorance and
delusion. If we are the Self, why are we not aware of it? It is
because your mind is externalised and is on material things.
Turn your mind away from the material things which lead to
desires. Withdrawing the mind from them and internalising it
is the beginning of spiritual effort called sadhana which will
lead you to awareness of the Self. Unless you turn your mind
in the direction of the Self, how can you become aware of it?
The Self and the world are 180° apart.
How does this ego operate? The ego branches out as
emotions or feelings of desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride,
jealousy, hatred etc. In addition, the ego can be seen in our
day-to-day activities in the extent to which we are able to
adjust and accommodate others’ feelings. Let me give a few
examples: our elders ask us to wake up early, bathe and go to a
temple because it is a festival. If we listen to them out of love
and respect, though we may not like it, our ego would soften
further. Instead if we refuse to listen thinking ‘why should I
sacrifice my sleep and go to a temple which is only a waste
of time’, it will only strengthen our ego. Another example:
My mother is asking me to go to a shop urgently and get
something she requires for her cooking and I refuse saying
why should I be the person to go out in the hot sun. Here also
it is the ego that makes me resist my mother’s call which is
my duty to fulfil. Every time there is a resistance, we should
realise that it is the ego that has risen. Another example: My
mother-in-law wants me to cook a particular dish which I

dislike but I do it for her sake. Here my ego has not risen to
refuse her request. The ability to accommodate the feelings of
others indicates the extent of our ego. How rigid are we to our
views, how much can we accept and submit to others’ views
and feelings reflects on the extent of our ego. We can also
see how much we are self-centred, i.e., how big or small are
our ‘I’ and ‘Mine’. Does ‘Mine’ include only ourselves or our
children, grandchildren, relatives, neighbours, friends etc.?
The more the mind expands, the more it cares for others and
lesser is the ego. To the extent there is caring and sharing, to
that extent there is lightness of ego. In fact, our culture itself
promotes a joint-family system wherein there is expansion of
the mind and reduction of ego. In our joint-family system,
we will have so many people staying with us in one house –
brothers, parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins etc. So
our mind goes beyond ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ to include more people
in our circle causing the mind to adjust and accommodate the
feelings of many people and thus the ego is not allowed to
strengthen. Moreover, there is always someone to help and
share our burden as there is much warmth in the relationship
and there are wise elders in our house to guide us in every
step. In addition, our festivals have been so designed that
there is much sharing and caring as we go and give sweets
to our neighbours, friends and relatives or invite a few to our
house for food. Such is the greatness of our Indian Culture
designed by our ancient rishis wherein the ego is not allowed
to strengthen but only dissolve.
When the ego rises in our mind, there will be no peace
or clarity as the Intellect will take a back seat. All our normal
actions are from the Intellect while reactions arise from the
ego. When the ego is set aside, the spiritual knowledge we
have gained from various sources – scriptures, discourses
and listening to the Guru – can be put to practice in a given
situation. Then knowledge becomes wisdom and there is
evolution. Knowledge unapplied in practice is useless and
only a burden of memory in the head. Real spirituality

consists in applying knowledge through enquiry in every
situation we face in our day-today life where emotions or
frictions arise in our interactions due to ego and outgrowing
them. Ego clashes are an everyday phenomenon in family
life where we live and interact with so many people with
diverse views. When the ego rises, it will not be possible
to smoothly see through every situation as samabhavam will
be lost. Bhagavan says that karmas have to be burnt like
camphor without leaving any residue; this is possible only
when reactions end speedily like the camphor. That is why
camphor is used in temples at the time of arati to show us
that we should cut off our ego quickly and burn them like
camphor. Where there are reactions, karmas will not end fully
and there will be residue like candle burning or oil-lamp. The
longer we carry the reaction, the more the mind will become
negative. This means the karma will leave a larger residue
like the candle. Therefore, we should be very alert to cut off
reactions at the earliest. Conquering all our reactions is the
prime goal in life, as only then we will be able to retain peace
and evolve in life and attain perfection.
When we can bear every situation patiently and see
through it, the karma will end fully. ‘Seeing through’
means to face every situation fully without trying to escape,
with equanimity, without reaction and let go of it with
understanding. This is possible only when there is tremendous
patience or forbearance in us which comes about only through
the understanding of karma siddhanta and holding onto the
Sadguru Bhagavan. Thinking of Bhagavan will give us the
mental strength, and enquiry will reveal that ‘this too shall
pass away’ and what comes to us is only what we have sown
in the past due to ignorance. “As you sow, so you reap” is
the inexorable Law of Nature. Thus we are responsible for
every situation arising in our life; we are the architects of our
own destiny. There is no one to blame for any situation in
life except ourselves. We have to only learn to see the cause
through insight and correct the faults so as not to repeat them

in the future and add to our karmas. Every pain (or pleasure)
comes to us as destined and all are only agents or instruments
in the hands of nature to inflict upon us our quota of misery.
But we do have the choice of not becoming the instrument
for causing hurt or harm to any living being in the world
through evolution. When we evolve, we will have Wisdom
and Nature cannot use us as the instrument for hurting others.
Thus we have to overcome every adverse situation through
patience, prayer and positive thinking by setting aside the
ego. As and when the ego rises as reactions, we have to think
of Bhagavan and enquire with an open mind and make our
mind positive. Then peace will prevail and the karma will end
smoothly. It is not enough if we just make the mind positive.
We must also understand the mistake for which enquiry is
the only way. Only when there is understanding, there will be
evolution. When understanding comes, we become wiser and
evolve. We should never do anything that disturbs our mental
peace and if disturbed, we should strive to quickly bring
it back to equilibrium through enquiry and prayers. Such
devotional enquiry elevates us and takes us forward on the
path of evolution and helps us to traverse the Royal Path so
as to end our life cycle. Thus we see that right understanding
and mental strength which gives rise to patience are the sine
qua non for any spiritual development. Leading such a life
of wisdom is the true spiritual life which is not divorced
from our day-to-day life in samsara. True spirituality is not
something to be practised in isolation but in the midst of our
day-to-day life.
Bhagavan says that you must love all and help all, since
only in that way can you help yourself. Selfless service and
prayers alone can help reduce the effects of our past karmas
to some extent. When you seek to reduce the suffering of any
fellowman or fellow-creature, whether your efforts succeed
or not, you are yourself evolving spiritually, especially if the
service is rendered without any expectations and without the
egoistic feeling ‘I am doing this’, but in the spirit of being the

instrument of God. You no longer think you are the doer and
all acts are His. This is inaction in action as enjoined in the
Gita. Once Bhagavan was stitching leaves with reed pins to
make leaf plates. A devotee who saw it remarked to Bhagavan
that it was a waste of time and energy for Bhagavan himself to
undertake such a task. Bhagavan said that no work is a waste
of time if it serves a good purpose, and if it is done in the right
way, one can learn something useful from every work done.
These leaves, for instance, become important when they are
used to serve food for the hungry. After the food is eaten the
leaves are fit only to be thrown away. In the same way our
lives become useful and sacred only when it is used to serve
others. The selfish man, who lives all for himself, only wastes
his life even if he lives for 100 years. He is no better than
animals which also live, eat and grow. If dead leaves serve so
much purpose, how much more useful should man be who is
having so much intelligence with six senses? Bhagavan says
that what we do for others, we are only doing for ourselves,
for there are no others in the world. We alone exist in every
form. Therefore, we should serve others without expectations
as nishkama karma. Then punya karmas will accrue to our
account. Doing noble and selfless deeds and fulfilling all our
duties perfectly is the best defence against the hard blows of
destiny. Only when we have punya karmas can we get the
Grace to transform and evolve in life. In Upadesa Undiyar,
Stanza 3, Bhagavan says, “Acts performed without any desire
for fruits, as an offering to the Lord, will purify the mind and
show the way to Liberation.” And in stanza 5, He says, “To
consider all the eight-fold forms you see (in the world) as the
manifestation of the (one and only) God, and serving them
(selflessly), is the best way of worship of God.”
Bhagavan says that we should do all our ordained duties
perfectly without trying to escape. If we try to escape how will
the karmas end? It will come back to us later on with greater
intensity, that too at a time when we are least prepared or
when our health is feeble as in old age. There are many who
try to skip their responsibilities because they are difficult or
boring or they are preoccupied with other worldly and social
activities. If they realise that no one can escape their karmas,
they should learn to fulfil them as and when they arise, when
they are still young and strong, instead of having to face them
in their old age ignorantly. Bhagavan gives an example of
how a dog does its duty in the night as a watchdog. It does
not sleep off. But how many watchmen sleep nicely during
their duty? Man alone does not perform his allotted duties
properly. Then his karmas will not end fully. They will not
be able to retire peacefully when they are old. They will be
forced to work even when they are old and weak as you
would have seen many old people still working hard. If you
do not want to join this list, you should learn to do your work
without grumbling and finish them off timely. Bhagavan says
that if we do our duties thinking of Him, we will be able to
finish them without difficulty by His Grace. How to do our
duties keeping our mind on Him? Bhagavan taught this to a
small boy. He gave him a number of dosas and asked him to
go on eating till He asked him to stop. The boy was asked
to always keep his eyes on Bhagavan while eating. This the
boy did perfectly while going on eating his dosas. Suddenly
Bhagavan asked him to stop eating and thus taught him the
art of doing his work keeping his mind on Him. Also, when
we think of Him our mind gets consciously linked to Him
and to His energy. This becomes our kavacham. When this
kavacham is intact, the world cannot enter us and our karmas
cannot harm us in any way. This is what Prahalada did to
outwit his evil father. His father ordered him to be thrown
down from the top of a hill, made a mad elephant trample
him, gave him strong poison, put him in fire, drowned him
in water... but nothing affected him as he was constantly
chanting the name of the Lord with supreme devotion and
faith. The strength of Narayana became his, and his father’s
cruelty could not touch him in anyway. Lord Krishna says
in the Gita 18:58, “By keeping your mind on Me, you will
overcome all the obstacles by My Grace. But if you do not
listen to me due to ego, it will be a great loss (for you).”
Bhagavan never advocates renouncing our normal worldly
life of action to achieve our spiritual goals. For him only
renouncing of ego is the true renunciation. Even in the Gita,
Krishna prefers action to inaction. External renunciation is
only symbolic. No sort of work is a hindrance on the spiritual
path. It is the notion ‘I am the doer’ that is the hindrance. If
you get rid of that feeling by enquiring who is it that works,
then work will go on automatically. Thus all duties in life
must be done with detachment. Bhagavan counsels us to deal
with worldly affairs as a bank cashier handles the money
coming to his table. During the course of the day, he receives
and disburses lakhs of rupees. He is neither elated when he
receives cash nor is he saddened to give money for your token.
Thus we should lead our life with a spirit of detachment so as
not to lose our peace. Renunciation is not running away from
family to the wilderness, but to live the allotted life in a perfect
manner holding onto God in every step. The lotus plant is
used in the scriptures to refer to such a life. The lotus is born
in the water, lives in the water and dies in it, but throughout
its life, it keeps its head above the waters and the water does
not wet its leaves. Thus we should live in the world and yet
be out of it by not being worldly, which means a life of inner
detachment. To the extent one is detached, to that extent he
will be able to see through life. When we get caught in the
world through sense-attractions, the mind gets externalised
and goes away from its source within and experiences pain
and pleasure and not happiness which is our true nature. That
is why inner detachment is required which comes about only
through devotion and enquiry. Inner detachment leads to
sense control and enquiry leads to mind control. Bhagavan
says that there is nothing wrong in enjoying what comes your
way of its own accord as per Prarabdha. If you take what
comes without any special attachment and without any desire
for more of it or for a repetition of it, it will not harm you by

leading to more vasanas. But it does not mean that one must
‘seek’ pleasure. Just as one does not ‘seek’ pain which comes
only through Prarabdha, one should also not seek pleasure.
Sage Tiruvalluvar says in Kural 628, “One who does not seek
pleasure and accepts adversity as natural to life, will not be
affected by misery.”
When the spirit of enquiry is kept alive in us, by the
Grace of the Lord, we will be able to tackle the ego when
it rises provided we are alert. In Aksharamanamalai stanza
46, Bhagavan says, “O Arunachala, of what use is this birth
without the ability to do enquiry? (Pray) come and make me
fit (for doing enquiry).” Ego is the seed from which the tree
of life grows. Bhagavan says that achieving egolessness is
our true goal of life. Whenever the ego rises, strike it down
through enquiry and prayer. He gives an example of a fort
under siege. As and when a soldier guarding the fort shows
his head, if he is killed, the fort will soon be overrun by the
enemy. So too, as and when we see the ego rising, for which
we have to be very alert, we have to cut it off through the
sword of enquiry. There is no other direct method to cut off
the ego. Enquiry is an all-exclusive tool for one’s evolution.
It is the short cut to one’s transformation in life. That is why
Bhagavan says that Vicharam is the shortest path to Liberation.
He who practises Vicharam and develops devotion will have
his life cycle ending in very few janmas. But to enquire we
need to have Grace and the right knowledge. Grace comes
through self-effort, devotion, purva janma samskaras and
good service done in this birth. What is self-effort? To
practise His teachings, thinking of Him and looking to Him
for help. When there is self-effort and devotion, Grace comes
automatically to help us succeed in our efforts. Without self-
effort Grace is not possible. For instance, if a boy studies well
for his exams and then prays to Bhagavan for help, he will be
able to get Grace Marks to pass the exam in case he is short of
marks. However, if he does not study properly due to laziness
or other distractions, how can mere prayers help him to pass

his exams? God helps only those who help themselves. Even
Sage Vasishta has said that failure comes in life only when
there is slackness in self-effort. Sage Tiruvalluvar says (Kural
620) that even an adverse fate will turn its back and run away
if one strives relentlessly to achieve success without getting
agitated or dejected.
How does devotion help in ending ego? Egolessness is
the nature of Arunachala and Bhagavan. Whoever comes to
Arunachala or Tiruvannamalai with reverence for Arunachala
and Bhagavan, their ego will get suppressed the moment
they enter the orbit of Arunachala which the scriptures say
is three yojanas, which is about 30 miles. When they keep
coming to Arunachala with devotion and earnestness, slowly
their ego will begin to evaporate. Also, each time one thinks
of Arunachala or Bhagavan, a slice of their ego will be
removed. That is why Bhagavan says in the opening verse of
Aksharamanamalai, “O Arunachala, you destroy the ego of
those who think of You (steadily) in their mind.” Bhagavan
has said that if we take but one step towards Him, He will
take ten steps towards us – such is His compassion. He that
has come under His gracious look shall be saved and will not
be forsaken like how a prey cannot escape the tiger’s jaws.
But we have to fall a prey to Him and not to the world of
maya and ego. Ego is our greatest enemy. A mind devoid of
it is our greatest friend. An egoistic person hurts a number
of people and creates numerous sins. A virtuous person
who bears the hurts patiently is wholly praiseworthy. Sage
Tiruvalluvar says that a person who harasses another gets
but fleeting joy, whereas one who bears the harassment gets
glory for all time (Kural 156); just as the earth bears with the
people who dig it, so too it is best to bear with those who
hurt our feelings (Kural 151). Thus Sages have advocated
patience as an important virtue to be cultivated in life. If we
enquire as to who is hurt, we will be able to realise that it is
only our ego that is hurt, not the body or Self. The ego is not
me but something apart from me. Such an enquiry will help

us to attain proper understanding and end our hurt feelings
speedily. Thus Bhagavan’s method of enquiry is the fastest
way to bring an agitated mind to control. If the mind becomes
emotional it becomes weak and loses control. Thus we should
strive to end all emotions and agitations that weaken the mind.
Bhagavan lays a lot of emphasis on ‘leaving off, many
things we cling to in life – not just desires and attachments
but also hurt feelings, unwanted memories of the past, fixed
notions, expectations, bad habits, unwanted things in the house
etc. We should not load our mind with unwanted thoughts
and information which will only make it heavy. When we
can leave off all unwanted things in the mind, the mind will
always be light and will die off fast. The art of living is
truly the art of leaving off things which are detrimental to
our progress. The more we learn to leave, the greater will
be the peace and happiness. Sage Tiruvalluvar says in Kural
341: “From whatever things you can get detached and leave
off, through them you will certainly not suffer.” The ability
to leave off troublesome matters quickly to Bhagavan in a
spirit of surrender and trust is the key to peace and spiritual
progress. When we leave off problems to Bhagavan, He has
an astonishing way of making things happen at the right
time in the right manner. Leaving off things to Bhagavan
may appear to be easy but is the most difficult thing to do.
One has to have a lot of trust, understanding and devotion to
Bhagavan. It is only the ego and attachment that makes us
cling to unsolvable problems. Ego makes us think we can do
and achieve success, and attachment makes us hold on where
we have to leave. Whoever can leave wins as in the game of
tug-of-war. When we let go with understanding, for which the
spirit of enquiry must be kept alive always, we go above the
karma and evolve and all conflicts cease.
There are three ways to learn in life:
One who is alert and whose ego is less learns and corrects
himself by just seeing others.
One who has more ego learns and corrects himself when
he is pointed out. Fortunate are the ones whose mistakes are
pointed out. Sage Tiruvalluvar says in Kural 448, “The king
who is without the protection of a wise man who can rebuke
him boldly whenever he goes on the wrong path will perish
even if he does not have enemies.”
One who has much more ego learns only when a blow
comes to him. For example, a smoker who does not give up
his smoking habit even when he sees others suffer or when
he is told by his family, thinking that nothing will happen
to him. But when he gets the symptoms of cancer, he gets
scared and stops smoking or if he is a drunkard he gives up
drinking when his liver is affected.
But there is a fourth category of people who are most
ignorant and egoistic. They do not wake up even when a
blow comes to them. They are so dull that they cannot learn
and correct themselves even from blows. So they commit the
same mistakes again and again leading to more karmas and
janmas. They are like the rocks which break up only through
repeated blows. Thus changes take place for them only slowly
over a long period of time over several janmas.
A wise man has a keen insight and is able to see his
faults as and when he commits them or when he is pointed
out, and is able to correct them. Sometimes, depending upon
his mental maturity he can stop it at the thought-level itself
before it becomes an action. As he is very alert, he is able to
enquire and understand his mistakes. Even in enquiry, we can
arrive at the right understanding only if we enquire with an
open mind setting aside our ego. But if we enquire with the
feeling that we are right, we will not be able to see our fault.
Thus we have to somehow conquer this ego and destroy it for
the mind to reach its source and merge in it. Only when the
mind merges in the Self, there will be Mukti.
Why are people so unwilling to change their way of life?
For instance, if a person is habituated to smoking, drinking,
non-veg. and other vices and sense-pleasures, he will think
that life would become a dreary waste if these have to be

given up. So long as the soul does not get the food it needs
and deserves, it remains content to roam in the world and feed
upon the base pleasures of the world. Thus till one realises
the true purpose of life or seeks something higher in life than
what he has already experienced and saturated, he will not be
interested in giving up things that give him joy in the present
even though they may be detrimental to his spiritual progress.
Unless he realises that it is meaningless to come back again
and again to this world of impermanence and misery, he
would not like to give up on things that he is comfortable
with at present. Bhagavan says in Aksharamanamalai stanza
8, “O Arunachala, show me your beauty so that by seeing
you, my mind that is restlessly wandering in the world may
(turn towards you and) subside.”
Why does the guru take so much trouble to teach and try
to transform his disciples? It is only his compassion that makes
him come again and again and teach. It is not that he seeks to
gain anything from his disciples as he is not interested in the
material offerings of his disciples. The Guru has a great thirst
or a burning desire to see his disciples evolve and attain the
Supreme State of no return in the shortest possible time. In
fact, the Guru would like to see his disciples excel him. Even
in the Mahabharata, there is a fight between Parasurama and
Bhishma on account of Amba who wants Parasurama to force
Bhishma to marry her. Parasurama who is Bhishma’s teacher
is unable to defeat Bhishma even after fighting with him for
many days and ends the fight by praising and blessing the
prowess of his disciple.
The Guru is only keen to see that his disciples do not
stagnate on the Path or go astray. Even if they leave him, as
they tend to when steeped in their worldly life, he is always
waiting for them to come back. In the meantime, he keeps a
watch over their life in his own way, waiting to intervene at
the right moment. In the Ribhu Gita, which Bhagavan was
fond of, even after teaching his disciple many things, Sage
Ribhu comes in disguise to see how his disciple Nidagha

is progressing. Nidagha is not practising what his Guru
had taught him as he is steeped in samsara. Nidagha was
watching a procession in which the king was coming on an
elephant, when his Guru came in the disguise of an ignorant
villager and asked him what they were all seeing. Nidagha
showed him the royal procession. The seemingly ignorant
villager wanted to know which was the king and which was
the elephant! The disciple replied with a little irritation that
the one seated above was the king and the other below was
the elephant. Feigning not to understand the terms above
and below, the disciple was made to demonstrate so that the
disguised Sage could understand them. Nidagha made the old
man bend down and got on his back and said, “Now ‘I’ am
above and ‘you’ are below.” Next, the poor villager pretended
that he could not even understand what the meaning of I and
you were. Suddenly Nidagha realised that it was his Guru
who had come to wake him up from his slumber and put him
back on his rails. He had been long lost in the world of sense
pleasures. He fell at the Guru’s feet and again spent a lot of
time learning all that he had forgotten.”
The Guru is keen that his disciples do not settle in the
limelight of the world but settle in the light of the Self in the
Heart. Bhagavan has said that just as a prey that has fallen
into the tiger’s jaws cannot escape, so too those who have
come under the gracious look of the Guru shall be saved
and never forsaken. However, the disciple on his part should
unswervingly follow the path shown by the Master. Thus
it is a two-way responsibility. The Guru cannot by himself
transform the disciple unless the disciple himself is interested
to change and is willing to put in his efforts. Only in sustained
Satsang will one be able to hold on to the Royal Path and make
speedy progress. When Satsang is not there, the disciples tend
to slip back from their Path easily. Satsang especially with
our Guru is so very vital to keep our bad vasanas from rising
and also to develop strength of mind. For instance, we make
a path in our garden for us to move about. If we are regularly

walking on it, grass or weeds will not grow on it. Suppose
we are away for a long time. By the time we come back, a
lot of grass and weeds would have grown on the path totally
covering it. Then we have to search for the path and again
work on it. Similar is the case with our vasanas. If we do not
maintain Satsang, the vasanas of anger, habits etc. will once
again start rising in us due to weakness of mind and slackness
of effort. So long as there is Satsang, only good qualities
like love, generosity, helpfulness, humility etc. will rise to
the top and we will behave accordingly. We should never
allow these good qualities to go down and get buried once
again by retaining Satsang, prayers, and enquiry. There is an
incident in the life of the Buddha to drive home the value of
Satsang: Once the Buddha happened to stay in a place with
just one monk, the elderly Meghiya. On their round for alms,
Meghiya was one day attracted to a lush mango-grove and
wanted to retire to that grove for meditation. Buddha advised
him to wait for another monk to arrive to take his place with
him. However, Meghiya soon became impatient and on his
voicing the request for the third time, the Master allowed him
to go. Meghiya was very happy to receive the permission and
soon he went and sat down in the grove to meditate. But
soon many thoughts of his past life came to his mind. He
began to think negatively as to why he had renounced the
world to take up the life of a monk. He thought that had he
stayed back with his family, he would not have to struggle
for food by begging or lead a life of discomfort. He felt that
his brother who had taken over his lands must be having a
happy life and felt a little jealous about it. He felt that he
should go back and reclaim his property from his brother. In
this manner, many thoughts were coming in his mind when
he sat down to meditate. Soon, by the Grace of his Master,
he realised the mischief the mind was playing and rushed
back to where his Master was staying and fell at his feet
and regretted at not having stayed back with him. Buddha
explained to him that till he had stabilised his mind based on

the teachings, he should never leave the shade of the Guru.
Thus Meghiya realised the value of Satsang and never again
left the Master’s side.
For those who are in samsara, it is important that they go
again and again to the Master till their minds become strong
and they are firmly stabilised on the Royal Path.
Due to the many distractions in the world, they tend to
easily slide back and get derailed. Thus the battery needs
to be charged regularly. The Master is only too pleased to
give them all the help they need to rid themselves of the dirt
that have once again accumulated in their mind. At times
the Guru may appear to be strict with us, but it is only like
the dhobi who beats the clothes on a stone to remove the
stubborn dirt and not to tear them. Guru is the instrument
through whom God guides his devotees so that they may
return back to Him. The mighty elephant of ego cannot be
brought under control except when the lion of Guru comes
into our life. Every person’s life will continue to take the
path of Prarabdha unless he takes some steps to change
the course, like the Newton’s First Law of Motion. The
Guru’s Grace is the outside force which comes as a simha
swapnam to wake you up from your dream life of delusion.
Old age comes by itself, no effort is required. But maturity
of mind does not come by itself; it has to be earned by hard
self-effort. So long as we are unaware of the true purpose
of life, we will only go about filling the tummy with tasty
food, dressing up like a dandy (dandy is one who is much
concerned about his dress and appearance) and going about
seeking worldly pleasures. Bhagavan says that if we want to
sustain ourselves on the Royal Path we have to start giving
up our desires one by one with understanding. Otherwise, we
cannot progress on the path. Worldly desires will only take us
back to the world and not to God who is 180° away within
our own Heart. Moreover, any unfulfilled desire will bring us
back to earth. Thus we have to conquer all our desires and
attachments and become perfect through enquiry and prayers.

Giving up the worldly desires is Vairagyam and to traverse
on the Royal Path is the true sadhana. So Vairagyam is a
prerequisite for the sadhana to fructify. Vairagyam involves
detaching the mind from the objects of the world and sadhana
is to internalise the mind and focus it on its source. All
attachments lead to misery. Swami Rama Tirtha says that if
you hold a cow by the rope, the cow also holds you by the
rope. The rope of attachment leads only to bondage. Why do
we get attached to persons and objects we have to interact
with? When we realise where all we are attached to in our life
and strive to end them, we will be able to end many of our
karmas we would have formed through such attachments. For
instance, we are attached to some people in our family like
children. If we are attached to them, we will have to face a
lot of misery through them. If they don’t eat properly or study
well, we would be much affected leading to many arguments
with them. However, if we develop detachment towards them
through enquiry and understanding, we will be able to leave
off the problems to Bhagavan easily and be able to retain our
peace. This does not mean that we will not do our duty of
telling our children when they go on the wrong path. It only
means that we will not become affected when they do not
listen to us. We will then be able to let go of the problem to
Bhagavan in surrender.
How do we prepare ourselves so that we may lead our
life after retirement in a happy and purposeful manner? This
is possible if we learn to see through all the situations in life
by holding onto Bhagavan and His teachings and keep doing
all our allotted duties perfectly; then our karmas in life would
end smoothly. By the time we become old, our minds would
have grown lighter, calmer and stronger due to conquering
of involvements, reactions and frictions. We would have also
conquered much of our desires, attachments and expectations
in life and thus be in a position to utilise our time after
retirement effectively in study, prayers, sadhana and Satsang
and pursue the spiritual path in right earnest. We would not

mind whether the children are with us or not to take care of
us in old age. We will be able to let go anything in life easily
and be strong enough to see through any situation calmly.
Thus we will be able to fully concentrate on our spiritual
development. Now it would be easy to do the self-enquiry
‘Who am I?’ and pursue the sadhana so as to traverse on the
Royal Path leading to the Self. We would be able to easily
meditate and conquer all the obstructing vasanas on the Path
by the strength of mind achieved. If we have not led our life in
the manner described above, our vasanas would have further
strengthened by the time we become old. The mind too would
be weak. Then how can we do our sadhana and destroy the
vasanas blocking the Royal Path leading to the Self? We will
not even be able to internalise the mind and enter it let alone
reach our Source which is so deep within us. Thus leading the
correct way of life is sine qua non for success in sadhana. The
vasanas we create in our life veils the Self. Just as the clouds
which are formed by the effect of the sun’s rays expand and
cover the sun itself so too, all our actions take place only by
the light of the Self and the vasanas that accrue from them
are stored in the Heart covering the Self itself.
Most people who have not learnt the art of living dread
the day when they have to retire as they do not know how
to spend their time usefully. They get bored sitting at home
not knowing what to do. Some people therefore take up
reemployment to spend time. Others sit at home and meddle
unnecessarily in the affairs of others in the house. Their
favourite occupation is to grumble and find fault with others
and offer unsolicited advice. Thus they spoil their relationship
with other members of the house who begin to feel them as
a burden. Thus they spend the evening of their life miserably
and make an inglorious exit from the world.
Till we reach our true goal of life, we have to come back to
this world again and again, willy-nilly. If we realise what it is
to come back to this world of impermanence and misery, then
we all have to hasten to work out our Salvation with diligence

as the Buddha said at the time of his death. Bhagavan says
that the time is short and the road is long. Fortunate are those
who have found not only a Guru, but a Sadguru (Bhagavan),
to lead us to this glorious destination. This is only because of
their purva janma samskaras. We should never fritter away
this glorious opportunity that has come in our life, probably
after numerous janmas. The knowledge has been given to
us and we have to strive to practise the teachings in order
to transform ourselves so that we may achieve our goal in
this birth itself, for we do not know what awaits us in the
next birth if we miss this opportunity. Unless we practise the
teachings we will not be able to transform and evolve in life.
Having all the knowledge but failing to act upon them will
only lead to stagnation in life. Therefore, we have to hold onto
the Path shown to us diligently. This is the self-effort required
on our part. Earnest efforts never fail. So make hay while the
sun shines and strike while the iron is hot. Start early, travel
slowly and reach safely. Plan your work and work your plan.
Today is the auspicious day to make the beginning. May the
unfailing Light of Bhagavan’s Grace guide us at every step so
that we may fulfil the purpose of life in this very birth.
30. Awareness Absolute*

It was at, Skandasramam on Arunachala that I first met
Bhagavan Ramana (in January 1921). He was standing on
the open space in front of the Ashram building facing the
entrance as I approached. The very sight of him was thrilling;
something very subtle, seemingly with its centre in that body,
shone forth unlimited engulfing everything else. Needless
to say I felt swallowed up by it. I stayed for a week with
Bhagavan in that atmosphere of utter purity and serenity.
* Viswanatha Swami, ‘Editorial’, The Mountain Path, January 1976.

I heard from him how he came to Arunachala, irresistibly

attracted and swept off his feet by a tremendous benevolent
Force; how he was one with it deep down within his Heart
almost oblivious of his body and surroundings; and how only
later on, he gradually regained the use of his senses and mind
and was able to look about and commune with others when
they approached him.
Subsequently too, when I had come to Bhagavan for
good, the effect of his proximity continued the same way
and I may say that there was no necessity for any sadhana in
particular on my part. Along with a few other inmates I had
my share in the work of the Ashram in the elevating company
of Bhagavan and I studied his few works, devotional and
philosophical, and heard his replies to various questions
put by visitors. But the most important thing was the mere
Presence, the spiritually uplifting company of Bhagavan.
As Bhagavan says in the Supplement to the Reality in Forty
Verses: “If one associates with Sages, where is the need for
any other rigorous sadhana? No one looks for a fan when
there is the pleasant southern breeze.” The climax of my
spiritual experience in the proximity of Bhagavan was during
his ‘last’ moments. As I stood in that small room along with
a very few others, everything became shadow enveloped
by one indivisible Pure Awareness, the one and only ever-
present Reality. And so, there was not the least feeling of any
separation from Bhagavan or the least vestige of sorrow on
that account. Not only that, there was a positive ecstasy and
elation of spirit which is nothing but the Natural State of the
Self.
All those who approached Bhagavan with spiritual
earnestness have had this experience of direct contact with
the Divine at the very first sight of Bhagavan. Ganapati
Muni, the great poet and tapasvin, saw an adept (a Siddha
Purusha, a Perfect Being) in Bhagavan the moment he
first beheld him by chance on the Hill in the Ashram of
Jataiswami. The scholar became a disciple. Venkataramanier
of Satyamangalam saw Bhagavan as a clear manifestation

of the all-pervading Supreme Self and sang his five superb
Hymns in Praise of Ramana. Humphreys saw Bhagavan as a
glowing centre of Divine Radiance. Achyuta Dasa, Narayana
Guru and so many others seeing Bhagavan recognised his
unique spiritual greatness. Pascaline Mallet, a French lady,
who stayed with Bhagavan for a few months sang in a poem
in praise of Bhagavan: “One Light, One Life, One Love,
shining through Thee, we see”. And Grant Duff (Douglas
Ainslee), the cultured scholar and poet, says in his Preface
to Bhagavan’s Five Hymns to Arunachala: “I was in direct
contact with one who had passed beyond the boundaries of
the senses and was merged in the Absolute Self. I do not need
any proof of the divinity of Ramana Maharshi, just as I do not
need any to prove the existence of the Sun.”
What is the secret behind the common experience of
Divine Glory which so many intelligent devotees have had
in the presence of Bhagavan? Here is the answer given by
Ganapati Muni in his remarkable Hymn of Forty Verses in
Praise of Bhagavan: “Bow down to the holy Guru Ramana
who reaching the hidden source of the ego within has effaced
all differentiation and shines forth as the One Self of all beings
with various mental propensities and who is resplendent as
the One Reality transcending the body and the entire world
manifestation. I bow to Sri Ramana, the Great Teacher, the
remover of all sorrow, who established in the Eternal Abode
of Pure Awareness dispels the ignorance of earnest seekers,
who though seeing and moving with the world stands as the
Supreme Being transcending it.” Whatever is seen is non-Self
and the Seer alone is the unchanging Self. When we take
to Self-enquiry holding on to this fundamental principle of
Vedanta, the physical body, the life-current operating in it and
the mind are eliminated as non-Self. Even the intellect, the
highest known principle in man with its reasoning faculty,
must be discarded as non-Self as it is only the faculty of one
behind it, claiming it as his. Who is he? He cannot stand
by himself and so he disappears. What then remains as the

source of the elusive I-sense in us is the ultimate Self, which
is ever there as the Ground of all that appears and disappears,
of all perception in the waking and dream states and non-
perception of anything in deep sleep.
Though the truth of the ultimate Self is explained within a
few steps like this, the enveloping power of a mysterious force
of darkness known as avarana in Vedanta is such that it gets
eradicated only after a vigilant self-enquiry constantly carried
on. The inherent tendencies (vasanas) of the mind based on a
phantom ego get annihilated only after a continuous earnest
attempt to abide at the Heart, the Source. So, Sankara says
in his Vivekachudamani that liberation (mukti) is nothing
but the complete eradication of the ego with all its vasanas.
Bhagavan says in his Song on Atma Vidya that Grace is
needed for the dawn of Jnana as well as earnest aspiration
and devotion on the part of the seeker to deserve it. When
earnest effort and Grace meet, then there is the achievement
of the highest spiritual aspiration of man, viz., spontaneous
inherence in the ever-present Self.
The Self is Pure Awareness, unalloyed Awareness itself,
whereas the mind is awareness of this and that. The mind
cannot stand for a moment without an object because it is
by its very nature a subject-object phenomenon. It disappears
when it is divested of objects, unable to stand by itself. And
there, the Self, the one indivisible absolute Awareness shines
forever as stated in Sri Ramana Gita (Ch. VII, v. 5): “When
the ego which is but a phantom of the Self totally disappears,
what remains is the real Self alone in all its plenitude and
perfection. This is Jnana, and this is Mukti (Liberation).” For
one established in it thus, the subject-object phenomena may
appear and disappear but he will remain forever unsullied
as Pure Awareness, since nothing has any existence apart
from it. This is known as Tanmaya Nishta. Being the Self is
Awareness of the Self.
From a relative standpoint, the proximity of such a Sage,

normally established in the Self under all circumstances of life
serves as an eye-opener for those in the clutches of delusion
and as an invaluable aid supporting them in their spiritual
quest. The operation of the Spiritual Force of such enlightened
Ones is not limited to the lifetime of their physical body. It
continues for ever and those who think of them, surrender
themselves to them, study their life and teachings and try
to follow them do get into the ambit of their Grace, non-
different from Supreme Divine Grace. This is the experience
of so many spiritual aspirants who had not met Bhagavan
during his lifetime but devoted themselves to him on hearing
of him or coming to know of him somehow or other. The
enlightened Ones who are themselves timeless belong to all
time and by their very nature shed light on the path of seekers
and help them in ever so many ways.
Ultimately one sees that one has no existence apart
from Pure Awareness, that there is no world apart from it
and that there is no other God than Pure Awareness. Blissful
Awareness is the sole Reality. Manifestation as the Many is
nothing but its Leela. Everyone, in manifestation, has to play
his part knowing at heart that it is all nothing but Leela, the
only Reality Being Absolute Blissful Awareness.
31. What of us, after He went*
M ost of us here have at one time or another had the

immense good fortune to meet a living Master, and
to receive his darshan. Several of us have met Bhagavan
Ramana Maharshi when his body was still with us. Some
went to other masters, but the problem most of us have in
common now is: Now that my Master is no longer here as a
* Wolter A Keers, The Mountain Path, July 1975.

talking, visible being, I am lost; and there seems to be no one

who can enlighten me.
How did this occur?
I may tell you immediately that I myself suffered the
same experience. When I was overwhelmed by Bhagavan’s
all-pervading look, my whole world changed. Who was I?
I then thought ever to have imagined myself as a person
sufficiently important to have problems . . . me . . .! Now, the
thing seemed solved once and forever.
But after Bhagavan left the physical body, gradually my
old problems returned, and three or six months later, I felt
desperately in need, once again, of someone who would show
me where I went off the rails.
I feel that, basically, all of us here have made the same
mistake. We have tried to return to the Experience that was
(and no doubt still is) Bhagavan, without realising that the
one who wants to get back to that Experience is precisely the
one that makes the Experience impossible. In other words: if
I, personality or ego, try to get back to impersonality, I am
trying to find dry water or square circles. Impersonality, Atma,
is the absence of the seeker. The presence of the Ultimate
Experience, we saw as our Master, was at the same time the
absence of the seeker . . . of the troubled and agonised ego.
But, when the Master’s presence or his words no longer
corrected us, we started to seek happiness and peace for the
ego or personality, instead of realising that ananda is the
absence of ego or personality.
How may we overcome this difficulty?
It is not too difficult, but it takes time. As we are all
Europeans here today, I shall employ terminology to which
we are used.
It is extremely important to see that our whole life is
one gigantic projection. We don’t see ourselves as we are or
the rest of the world, as it is, but we see everything in the
coloured interpretation of our egoism, i.e., of our defences.
When we are sad, the entire world seems sad, and when we
are happy, the entire world seems happy. In other words, we

don’t see the world, but we see our own standpoint projected
left, right and centre. As long as all kinds of fears are crowding
the mind, I hate people whose presence reminds me of those
fears, and I love people whose presence does not, so that the
fears lie dormant, and I enjoy peace of mind.
But peace of mind is no peace at all, it is a mere absence
of acute pain, but it is a sleepy kind of state. Peace, real peace
or moksha, is absence of mind, and not at all a mind lulled
into cosiness. Nor is it what we call absent-mindedness in our
daily speech.
I don’t know if you were aware of the fact that I have just
been quoting Ramana Maharshi, although not quite literally.
He said: A sage or an enlightened being is a person without
a mind.
In saying so, Bhagavan was in perfect accord with
what all authentic Masters have been saying throughout the
centuries, even before Sankara. But we cannot hear it often
enough, as this little phrase contains the key to the problem
we are discussing today.
Moksha is living without a mind in other words without
the slightest trace of a feeling that ‘I am the thinker and the
doer’ and even without a trace of the feeling “I am not the
thinker and not the doer’. Moksha is the total disappearance
of even the last trace of the feeling that I am somebody,
positive or negative.
Is this not the key we have lost?
Most of us, instead of seeing through the fact that ego and
personality are illusions, have gone in the opposite direction,
and have started to polish them up to exercise them and make
them purer. That is a foolish thing to do, because a golden
chain binds us just as much as an iron chain, and I would
rather throw away an iron chain than a beautiful golden one.
When you have an old chair in your house and you
decide to get rid of it, are you going to paint it or wax it the
moment before throwing it away? Or try to teach it to talk?
Let us try and see what Bhagavan and all authentic

Masters mean when they tell us that freedom is ‘being without
mind’.
You are there, as living, conscious presence, before the
thought appears, when it is there, and after it has disappeared.
In other words: you, as this Presence, are not limited in any
manner by such thoughts. And if thought cannot limit you,
nothing can, for the only thing with which we ever come into
contact is thought.
So one must go about it in a different manner, by looking
alone. In the end you will find that even the desire for Self-
Realisation drops away, when the seeker is completely
exposed in his poverty and littleness. At that moment you
discover that you are what you have been looking for: that the
seeker minus the masks of his pseudo selves is the sought. At
that moment you will be one with your Master. But then, of
course, there is no ego, no personality to claim this oneness
just as in deep sleep there is no one to claim that “I am
sleeping.”
32. Bhagavan and Thayumanavar*
T hayumanavar was a distinguished Tamil poet-saint who

lived in the first half of the eighteenth century, from 1705
to 1742 AD. His devotional poetry was frequently cited by
Bhagavan, with obvious approval, and many Ramanasramam
books record fragments of his poems that Bhagavan either
read out or quoted from memory. However, in most cases
the full verse is not given in the ashram literature. In this
article we are presenting the complete versions of most the
verses that Bhagavan referred to, giving, wherever possible,
* Robert Butler, T.V. Venkatasubramanian & David Godman, The

Mountain Path, October 2004.
the circumstances and context in which they were quoted.*

We do not propose to analyse Thayumanavar’s poetry or
philosophy in any great detail; we merely wish to present,
in a full form, those portions of his work that particularly
appealed to Bhagavan.
Bhagavan was sometimes so emotionally moved when
he read out verses by Thayumanavar, he would be unable
to continue. Devaraja Mudaliar, who was responsible for
recording many of Bhagavan’s references to Thayumanavar,
wrote about this on two occasions:
I may here record that I have noticed on
more than one occasion in the past how Bhagavan
could not proceed with the reading of any deeply
devotional portions of Tamil works such as Tevaram
and Thayumanavar.†
... when touching songs were recited or read
out before him, or when he himself was reading out
to us poems or passages from the lives or works of
famous saints, he would be moved to tears and find
it impossible to restrain them. He would be reading
out and explaining some passage and when he came
to a very moving part he would get so choked with
emotion that he could not continue but would lay
aside the book. To quote a few instances, such a
thing happened when he was reading and explaining
some incidents in Sundaramurti Nayanar’s life in
connection with the Tiruchuzhi Mahatmyam, and
also when he was reading out ‘Akarabuvanam-
Chidambara Rahasyam’ in Thayumanavar’s works,
and came to the twenty-fourth verse:
Conceiving you as everything from earth to space,
* We have not been able to identify all the verses since some of the
references are too general.
†Day by Day with Bhagavan, 12th December 1945, afternoon
session.
I shall record my thoughts on the large page of my mind,

and looking at that image ever and again, I shall cry out:
‘Lord of my life, will you not come?’
Repeatedly believing myself to be You,
I am unable to fix my attention on anything else.
Lamenting in this way, like one whose heart is wounded,
dissolving inwardly, so that tears pour down in floods,
uttering deep sighs, unaware even of my body,
I stand transfixed.
His [Bhagavan’s] eyes were so filled with tears
and his throat so choked with emotion [as he read
these words] that he had to put aside the book and
break off his discourse.*
Thayumanavar was brought up in the Tanjavur District
of Tamil Nadu in the coastal town of Vedaranyam. His
father, Kediliappa, came from an agricultural background but
progressed from being a farmer to being the administrator
of the local Vedapureeswarar Temple. He carried out this
responsibility so well, he was subsequently offered the
job of palace manager and royal advisor by Vijayaranga
Chokkalinga Naicker, the reigning Prince of Tiruchirapalli.
When Thayumanavar was born, his father named him after
Thayumaneswarar, the presiding deity in the temple of
Siragiri, which is nowadays known as the Tiruchirapalli Fort
Temple.
Thayumanavar received a good education at court in
which he ended up acquiring an outstanding knowledge of
both Sanskrit and Tamil language and literature. He must also
have made a good impression on the royal family because,
* My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, Devaraja Mudaliar,
pp. 45-6, 1992 ed. The translation from the ‘Akarabuvanam-
Chidambara Rahasyam’ verse was done by the joint authors of this
article. We have made new translations of all the Thayumanavar
verses that appear in this article and have inserted them at the
appropriate places, that is, whenever Bhagavan quotes from them
or refers to them.
when his father passed away, Thayumanavar, who was still

in his teens, was considered qualified to take over his job. He
subsequently managed the financial affairs of the kingdom
and apparently fulfilled his duties with some distinction.
However, while this was going on, his religious yearnings
impelled him to look for a Guru who could help him to
progress spiritually. Unfortunately, as many seekers have
discovered before and since, such beings are hard to find. In
later life Thayumanavar wrote about the qualifications that
are necessary for one who is looking for a qualified Guru.
Bhagavan once cited this verse, and endorsed its contents, in
the following dialogue:
Question: What is satsang?
Bhagavan: Satsang means only Atma sang
[association with the Self]. Only those who cannot
practise that are to practise being in the company of
realised beings or sadhus.
Question: When does one get the company of
sadhus?
Bhagavan: The opportunity to be in the company
of a Sadguru comes effortlessly to those who have
performed worship of God, japa, tapas, pilgrimages
etc for long periods in their previous births. There is
a verse by Thayumanavar that points out the same
thing:
For those who, in the prescribed manner,
have embarked upon the [pilgrim] path
of divine images, holy sites and holy tanks,
a Sadguru, too, will come
to speak one unique word,
O Supreme of Supremes!*
Only he who has done plenty of nishkamya
punyas [austerities performed without any thought
of a reward or consequence] in previous births will
* ‘Paraparakkanni’, verse 156.

get abundant faith in the Guru. Having faith in the

Guru’s words, such a man will follow the path and
reach the goal of liberation.*
We can assume that Thayumanavar had the requisite
qualifications since his search for a teacher ultimately led him
to a man called Arul Nandi Sivachariar, who was also known
as ‘Mauna Guru’. This teacher could trace his lineage back
to the famous saint Tirumular, whose book, Tirumandiram,
written well over a thousand years ago, became one of the
canonical works of Saivism.
When Thayumanavar approached him and asked if he
could become his disciple, Mauna Guru nodded his head,
thereby giving his consent. Thayumanavar then asked if he
could follow him wherever he went. Mauna Guru responded
by telling him ‘Summa iru,’ which can mean ‘Be still,’
‘Be quiet,’ and also ‘Remain as you are’. This one phrase
apparently brought about a major spiritual transformation in
Thayumanavar. In later years, when he began to write ecstatic
devotional poetry, he frequently mentioned this event, this
phrase, and the effect it had on him. He frequently called it
‘the unique word’ in his verses (including the one cited in the
last quotation).
This phrase was also used by Bhagavan, often with similarly
dramatic effect. Muruganar has written in several of his poems
that Bhagavan enlightened him by uttering this phrase:
Saying, ‘Enough of dancing, now be still
[summa iru],’ Padam [Bhagavan] bestowed on me
the state of true jnana that exists forever in my Heart
as my own nature.
The sovereign grace of Padam completed my
sadhana with the words ‘Be still’. What a wonder
is this!†
* Living by the Words of Bhagavan, 2nd ed., pp. 220-1.

† Padamalai, ‘Padam’s Grace Towards Muruganar’, vv. 168, 170,
p. 354.
In a recent issue of The Mountain Path* there was a

report of how a shorter version of this phrase, ‘iru’, meaning
‘be’ or ‘stay’, effected a life-transforming change in Tinnai
Swami.
The ‘unique word’, summa iru, uttered by a qualified
Guru, has an immediate and liberating impact on those who
are in a highly mature state. For the vast majority, though,
hearing this word from the Guru’s lips is not enough.
Bhagavan discussed this in the following dialogue, which he
illustrated with more verses from Thayumanavar.
A young man from Colombo asked Bhagavan,
‘J. Krishnamurti teaches the method of effortless
and choiceless awareness as distinct from that of
deliberate concentration. Would Bhagavan be pleased
to explain how best to practise meditation and what
form the object of meditation should take?’
Bhagavan: Effortless and choiceless awareness
is our real nature. If we can attain it or be in that
state, it is all right. But one cannot reach it without
effort, the effort of deliberate meditation. All the
age-long vasanas carry the mind outward and turn
it to external objects. All such thoughts have to be
given up and the mind turned inward. For that, effort
is necessary for most people. Of course, every book
says ‘Summa iru’ i.e., ‘Be quiet or still’. But it is not
easy. That is why all this effort is necessary. Even
if we find one who has at once achieved the mauna
or supreme state indicated by ‘Summa iru’ you may
take it that the effort necessary has already been
finished in a previous life. So, that effortless and
choiceless awareness is reached only after deliberate
meditation. That meditation can take any form which
appeals to you best. See what helps you to keep
* The Mountain Path, ‘Aradhana’ issue, 2004, pp. 75-83.

away all other thoughts and adopt that method for

your meditation.
In this connection Bhagavan quoted verses 5 and
52 from ‘Udal Poyyuravu’ and 36 from ‘Payappuli’ of
Saint Thayumanavar. Their gist is as follows. ‘Bliss
will follow if you are still. But however much you
may tell your mind about the truth, the mind will not
keep quiet. It is the mind that won’t keep quiet. It is
the mind which tells the mind “Be quiet and you will
attain bliss”.’ Though all the scriptures have said it,
though we hear about it every day from the great ones,
and even though our Guru says it, we are never quiet,
but stray into the world of maya and sense objects.
That is why conscious deliberate effort is required to
attain that mauna state or the state of being quiet.*
This is the full version of the three verses that Mudaliar
summarised:
‘Remain still, mind, in the face of everything!’
This truth that was taught to you,
where did you let it go?
Like wrestlers, bent upon their bout,
you raised your arguments.
Where is your judgement? Where, your wisdom?
Begone!†
Bliss will arise if you remain still.
Why, little sir, this involvement still
with yoga, whose nature is delusion?
Will [this bliss] arise
through your own objective knowledge?
You need not reply, you who are addicted to ‘doing’!
You little baby, you!‡
* Day by Day with Bhagavan, 11th January, 1946.

† ‘Udal Poyyuravu’, verse 5.
‡ ‘Udal Poyyuravu’, verse 52.
Though I have listened unceasingly to the scriptures

that one and all declare,
‘To be still is bliss, is very bliss,’
I lack, alas, true understanding,
and I failed even to heed
the teachings of my Lord, Mauna Guru.
Through this stupidity
I wandered in maya’s cruel forest.
Woe is me, for this is my fated destiny.*
One may presume from the complaints in the last verse
that Thayumanavar was not one of the fortunate few who
attained liberation instantly merely by hearing his Guru tell him
‘Summa iru’. As Bhagavan remarked in an earlier quotation,
it is necessary for almost all people to make some conscious
effort to control the mind. Mauna Guru, Thayumanavar’s
Guru, accepted that this was the case with Thayumanavar
and he consequently gave him detailed instructions on how
he should pursue his sadhana. Thayumanavar recorded many
of these instructions in his verses, some of which were
selected by Bhagavan and included in the Tamil parayana at
Ramanasramam.†
During Bhagavan’s lifetime Tamil poetic works were
chanted in his presence every day. Initially, at Skandashram,
only Aksharamanamalai was chanted, but as the years went
by, more and more works were added. By the 1940s there was
a prescribed list of poems, all selected by Bhagavan himself,
that took fifteen days to complete at the rate of about one
hour per day.
These are some of the verses from Thayumanavar that
Bhagavan selected. The first three describe the suffering
* ‘Payappuli’, verse 36. Bhagavan also quoted this verse ‘Udal

Poyyuravu’, verse 52, in Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no.
646.
† A reference to this selection was made in My Recollections of
Bhagavan Sri Ramana, by Devaraja Mudaliar, p. 54, 1992 ed.
inherent in samsara, while the remainder contain Mauna

Guru’s prescriptions for transcending it:
In all people, as soon as the ego-sense
known as ‘I’ arises to afflict them,
the world-illusion, manifesting as multiplicity,
follows along behind.
Who might have the power to describe the vastness
of the ocean of misery that grows out of this:
as flesh; as the body; as the intellectual faculties;
as the inner and the outer; as the all-pervasive space;
as earth, water, fire, and air; as mountains and forests;
as the multitudinous and mountainous visible scenes;
as that which is invisible, such as remembering and forgetting;
as the joys and sorrows that crash upon us,
wave upon wave, in maya’s ocean;
as the deeds that give rise to these;
as the religions of manifold origin
that [try to] put an end to them;
as their gods, as their spiritual aspirants, and as the methods
described in many a treatise that bear witness to their practices;
and as the doctrinal wrangling amongst them?
It is like trying to count the fine grains of sand on the seashore.
In order to teach me to discern the truth
of how all these woes, impossible to measure –
which spontaneously accumulate, multiplying bundle by bundle –
were insubstantial, like the spectacle of a mountain of camphor
that disappears entirely at the touch of a flame,
he associated with food, sleep, joy, misery, name-and-place,
and wearing a bodily form similar to my own,
he came as the grace-bestowing Mauna Guru
to free me from defilement, in just the same way that a deer
is employed to lure another deer.*
* ‘Akarabuvanam-Chidambara Rahasyam’, vv. 15-17.

The idea that God takes on a human form to catch other

beings who have this same form is one that appears in many
spiritual texts. Bhagavan explained this particular reference
in the following reply:
The Master appears to dispel ... ignorance. As
Thayumanavar puts it, he appears as a man to dispel
the ignorance of a man, just as a deer is used as a
decoy to capture the wild deer. He has to appear with
a body in order to eradicate our ignorant ‘I am the
body’ idea.*
The next six verses contain the upadesa that Mauna Guru
gave to Thayumanavar, and a description of the effect it had
on him:
Coming thus, he claimed my body, my belongings,
my very life as his possessions,
and teaching the path of rejection, he declared:
‘The five senses, the five elements,
the organs of action, and all the rest,
you are not. You are none of these.
Nor are you any of the qualities that pertain to these.
You are not the body, nor are you knowledge and ignorance.
You are chit, the real, which is like a [colourless] crystal,
that appears to assume the colours
of whatever is placed before it,
and yet having no connection with it.
It is my inherent nature to enlighten you
when I find that you are ripe for it.’
‘If you desire to gain the vast, supreme reality
that is the temple of refreshing grace,
inseparable from all that is, becoming pure consciousness
and obtaining the indestructible state whose nature is bliss,
listen as I explain to you the proper means:
May you live long, winning in your heart
* Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no. 398.

the reality that is devoid of all qualities!

May you attain the state of bliss-consciousness,
so that all the dense accumulation of ignorance disappears!
May you liberate yourself from bondage!’
Through his grace, he imparted to me the state of mauna,
the true knowledge in which bondage is abolished:
‘For that state, there is no thought, no “I” sense,
no space, no time, no directions, no pairs of opposites,
nothing lost, nothing other, no words,
no phenomena of night and day,
no beginning, no end, no middle, no inner or outer.
Nothing is.’
‘When I say: “It is not, it is not”,
this is not a state of nothingness.
It is pure identity; it is the nature that eternally endures,
a state that cannot be expressed in words.
It is the swarupa which engulfs everything,
so that neither ‘I’ nor anything else appears.*
As the day consumes the night, it consumes ignorance entirely.
Easily overcoming and swallowing up
your personal consciousness, it transforms your very self,
here and now, into its own Self.
It is the state that distinguishes itself as self-luminous silence.’
‘Other than the nature that is its own Self,
it allows nothing else to arise.
Because there is no other consciousness,
should anything attempt to arise there
it will, like a camphor flame, vanish.
The knower, devoid of both knowledge and objects known,
falls away, without falling, since it still remains.
But who can tell of its greatness, and to whom?
By dint of becoming That, one exists only as That.
That alone will speak for itself.’
* This could also be translated as ‘neither jiva nor Iswara appears’.
‘If we call it “That”, then the question will arise,

“What is That?”
Therefore did Janaka and the other kings
and the rishis, foremost among whom is Suka,
live happily, like bees intoxicated with honey,
entirely avoiding any mention of “That”.
Remain in this state.’* Thus did he speak.
Grant me the abundance of your grace
so that, in the nirvikalpa state of total tranquillity,
I may know and attain the condition of supreme bliss,
in accordance with your rule.
I shall not sleep or take up any other work
until I attain this state.†
Thayumanavar’s reverence for his Mauna Guru, for the
teachings he gave him, and for the experiences he ultimately
bestowed on him, were the subject of another poem that
Bhagavan mentioned. The subject arose when Bhagavan was
asked about the necessity of having a Guru:
‘Is it possible to gain knowledge without the
blessings of a Guru?’ asked a devotee. Even Rama,
who was like a dullard in his early life, became a
realised soul only with the help of his Guru.’
‘Yes, said Bhagavan, ‘how can there be any
doubts?’ The grace of the Guru is absolutely
necessary. That is why Thayumanavar praised his
Guru in his hymns:‡
* This can also be translated as ‘This is the state of the Self ’.

† ‘Akarabuvanam-Chidambara Rahasyam’, vv. 18-23.
‡ Letters and Recollections of Sri Ramanasramam, p. 26.
The verse that follows was not specifically mentioned by
Bhagavan. We have inserted it here because it closely resembles
the contents of a verse by another author that Bhagavan quoted
immediately after mentioning Thayumanavar. That verse said: ‘O
Gurudeva, your look falling upon it, a tiger becomes gentle like a
goat, a snake like a squirrel, and a bad man becomes a good man ’
At your [Mauna Guru’s] glance,

the tiger that roams the forest
will sport with the cow.
At a sign of your hand,
the rutting elephant will come,
carrying with his trunk
a huge load of great logs for a bonfire.
Kamadhenu herself will attend
your golden feet,
saying, ‘Your meal is prepared’.
Kings of the earth, and kings of verse
will laud you as the king of tapas,
crying out ‘ Victory and praise to you!’
At the mere sight of your face,
abode of knowledge and compassion,
the nine siddhas will desire your friendship.
Realised sages, with Suka
and Vamadevar at their head,
will express their admiration for you.
Is it easy to tell of the greatness of you,
before whom both heaven and earth
come to offer their worship?
Mantra Guru! Yoga Tantra Guru!
Mauna Guru, sprung from Tirumular’s ancestral line!*
Bhagavan concluded his description of the greatness of the
Guru by commenting, ‘The Guru’s grace is extraordinary’.†
Having been refused permission to follow Mauna Guru
wherever he went, Thayumanavar continued to serve at the
royal court. After some time, though, the prince, who was
a pious man himself, noticed the depth of Thayumanavar’s
devotion and offered to release him from his service. When
Thayumanavar told the prince that he just wanted to spend
* ‘Maunaguru Vanakkam’, verse 7.

† Letters and Recollections of Sri Ramanasramam, p. 26.
his life in meditation, the prince accepted his resignation and

gave him a small house on the banks of the River Kaveri
where he could meditate undisturbed. The prince, who had
recognised his holiness, visited him regularly and often
brought him gifts.
In 1731 the prince, who apparently was not a very able
ruler, died soon after losing a major battle to an army that
had attempted to invade part of his territory. His widow, Rani
Meenakshi, took over the running of the kingdom. She came
to Thayumanavar for advice on how to run the country’s
affairs, and for some time he had to go back to his former
job as a royal advisor. However, in an unexpected turn of
events, Meenakshi fell in love with him and started to make
amorous advances. Thayumanavar decided that the only way
to escape her sexual demands would be to flee to a place
that was beyond her jurisdiction. With the help of Arulayya,
one of his devotees, he escaped, disguised as a soldier, and
eventually moved to Ramanathapuram, where the local raja
welcomed him and arranged for him to stay in a quiet place
where his meditations would not be disturbed. For some time,
he lived a very ascetic life there.
Rani Meenakshi ran her kingdom very badly. In 1736 her
country was overrun by various invaders and she ended up
committing suicide by drinking poison. Siva Chidambaram,
Thayumanavar’s elder brother, came in person to tell
Thayumanavar that it was safe for him to return home, if
he wanted to, since there was no longer any danger of royal
revenge. He went back to his ancestral home where he was
treated with great reverence by both his family and his
community. However, a surprise was in store for him. His
family wanted him to marry, and they were backed up by
Mauna Guru who told Thayumanavar that it was his destiny
to get married and have a child. In obedience to his Guru’s
wishes, he married a girl called Mattuvarkuzhali and they
eventually had a son whom they named Kanakasabhapati. The
marriage did not last long because Mattuvarkuzhali died soon
afterwards, leaving Thayumanavar with the responsibility of

bringing up a child.
Around this time Mauna Guru visited him again to
give him darshan and instructions, one of which was to
make a pilgrimage to Chidambaram. During their meeting
Thayumanavar went into a deep samadhi that lasted for
several days. When he returned to his normal consciousness,
he realised that he could no longer fulfil his duties as a
householder and a father. He handed over the care of his son
to his older brother and left for Chidambaram.
Thayumanavar spent about two months in Chidambaram,
mostly immersed in a deep samadhi state. He then embarked
on a pilgrimage that took him to several of the sacred places
in Tamil Nadu, including Tiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram,
Tiruvarur, Madurai and Tiruvotriyur. His final destination was
Rameswaram at the southern tip of India. Shortly after his
arrival there he made a very public appeal in the temple for
God to intervene and end a drought that had severely afflicted
that part of the country. An immediate and torrential downpour
filled all the tanks and wells. Thayumanavar, who generally
shunned publicity as much as possible, found himself being
carried in triumph through the streets of Ramanathapuram
on a palanquin. He was feted by the local king, the Raja of
Ramnad, and even offered a new job as a royal advisor.
Thayumanavar rejected all the royal honours and spent
the remainder of his brief life in a small hut, meditating and
composing the songs that were to make him famous. His two
principal disciples, Arulayya and Kodikkarai Jnani, wrote
down the poems and began to sing them in public. They
were immediately popular and spread widely even during
Thayumanavar’s lifetime.
In January 1742 he withdrew into his hut and left the
following message pinned to the outside of the door:
Dear friends,
Withdraw the mind from the senses and fix it
in meditation. Control the thought-current. Find
out the thought-centre and fix yourself there. Then

you will be conscious of the divine Self; you will
see it dancing in ecstasy. Live in that delight. That
delight-consciousness is the God in you. He is in
every heart. You need not go anywhere to find Him.
Find your own core and feel Him there. Peace, bliss,
felicity, health – everything is in you. Trust in the
divine in you. Entrust yourself to His Grace. Be as
you are. Off with past impressions! He who lives
from within an ingathered soul is a real sage, even
though he may be a householder. He who allows his
mind to wander with the senses is an ignoramus,
though he is learned. See as a witness, without the
burden of seeing. See the world just as you see a
drama. See without attachment. Look within. Look
at the inner light unshaken by mental impressions.
Then, floods of conscious bliss shall come pouring
in and around you from all directions. This is the
supreme Knowledge; realise! Aum! Aum!*
This was his final message. When Arulayya went in he
found that Thayumanavar had left his body. He was given a
royal funeral in Ramanathapuram by the local raja, and his
songs were sung as his body was interred.
* * *
The remainder of this article is divided into several topics,
each of which explores some aspect of Thayumanavar’s
teachings that Bhagavan referred to while he was responding
to questions from visitors.
The state of the Self
This first section begins with a discussion that centred on
experiences that Tennyson, the famous 19th century English
poet, induced in himself:
* The Silent Sage, by Dr. B. Natarajan, pub. The Himalayan

Academy, 1978.
In continuation of yesterday’s conversation

about Tennyson, the relevant passage was found in a
footnote to the English translation of Upadesa Saram.
It was not in a poem but in a letter to B.P. Blood.
Bhagavan asked me to read it out, so I did: ‘...a kind
of waking trance I have frequently had, quite up
from boyhood, when I have been all alone. This has
generally come upon me through repeating my own
name two or three times to myself, silently, till all at
once, as it were out of the intensity of consciousness
of individuality, the individuality itself seemed to
dissolve and fade away into boundless being: and
this is not a confused state, but the clearest of the
clearest, the surest of the surest, the weirdest of the
weirdest, utterly beyond words, where death was a
laughable impossibility, the loss of personality (if so
it were) seeming no extinction but the only true life.’
Bhagavan said: ‘That state is called abidance in
the Self. It is described in a number of songs.’
He took up Thayumanavar and it opened at the
very page he was looking for...*
Mauna Guru, you who declared:
‘The state in which there is neither merging nor separation,
no pairs of opposites, no expansion or contraction,
no qualities, no coming or going,
that leaves no lasting trace;
that is free of the three defilements;
that cannot be conceived
in terms of having a top, bottom or sides;
that in which there is neither bindu nor natham,
and in which the five elements,
variously constituted, do not exist;
that in which the knower and his knowledge are not;
that which is without decay;
* Day by Day with Bhagavan, 17th June, 1946.
that which, moreover, it is not one and not two,

and is without voice and without mind;
that which is free, even, of the ecstatic seeking,
wherein [the devotee] tastes with his lips,
and drinks from the ocean of bliss
that is the eternally enduring
supreme and all-pervading reality –
that is the enduring state.’
Siddhanta Mukti’s Primal Lord!
Dakshinamurti, enthroned in glory upon the lofty Siragiri!
Guru, you who are pure consciousness’s form!*
Bhagavan quoted two other Thayumanavar verses on this
occasion, but they are not really expressions of what the Self
is like. They are, instead, pleas from a disciple who wants to
attain this state. Bhagavan mentioned them because he said
that they both contained references or allusions to the sahaja
nishta, the natural state of abidance in the Self.†
Reality, pervading everywhere!
Like a supplicant who seeks the favour of a benefactor
begging him, in a manner free of all reproach,
to show compassion and grant his petition
[I apply to You]. Hear my plea! O Transcendent Supreme!
Listen to the petition of one
whose heart is of wood and show pity.
[My plea is] to dwell in mauna
in the fullness of your ethereal grace,
the state of sahaja nishta.‡
* ‘Chinmayanandaguru’, verse 8. The last three lines, detached from

the main verse, are the refrain. Siragiri is the hill at Tiruchirapalli.
Bindu and natham, which are mentioned in the middle of the verse,
are Saiva Siddhanta terms that denote the place or point from where
the universe emerges and evolves.
† Day by Day with Bhagavan, 17th June, 1946.
‡ ‘Asaienum’, verse 2.
...Well indeed does your divine mind know

how my heart melted in tender love,
how I languished,
hoping that I might clearly apprehend this state.
If I try to abide in this state for a while,
then my ignorance, a foe posing as a friend,
comes and makes my mind its home.
Shall defiling maya and karma return again?
Shall births, in unbroken succession, assault me?
These thoughts fill my mind.
Lend me the sword of true steadfastness [sraddha],
give me the strength of true jnana
so that my bondage is abolished;
guard me, and grant me your grace!
Consummate perfection of bliss,
whose abundant fullness reigns,
without exception, everywhere I look!*
In the next dialogue Bhagavan is questioned about turiya,
the underlying substratum of the Self in which the three states
of waking, dreaming and sleeping appear and disappear. He
answered the query about these states and concluded with a
brief quotation from Thayumanavar:
Question: How are the three states of consciousness
inferior in degree of reality to the fourth? What is the
actual relation between these three and the fourth?
Bhagavan: There is only one state, that of
consciousness or awareness or existence. The three
states of waking, dream and sleep cannot be real.
They simply come and go. The real will always
exist. The ‘I’ or existence that alone persists in all
the three states is real. The other three are not real
* ‘Paripurnanandam’, verse 5. Maya and karma, mentioned in the

middle of the verse, are, according to Saiva Siddhanta, two of the
three impurities of the individual self.
and so it is not possible to say that they have such

and such a degree of reality. We may roughly put
it like this. Existence or consciousness is the only
reality. Consciousness plus waking we call waking.
Consciousness plus sleep we call sleep. Consciousness
plus dream, we call dream. Consciousness is the
screen on which all the pictures come and go. The
screen is real; the pictures are mere shadows on
it. Because by long habit we have been regarding
these three states as real, we call the state of mere
awareness or consciousness as the fourth. There is,
however, no fourth state, but only one state.
In this connection Bhagavan quoted verse 386
of ‘Paraparakkanni’ of Thayumanavar and said that
this so-called fourth state is described as waking
sleep or sleep in waking – meaning asleep to the
world and awake in the Self.*
O Supreme of Supremes!
To remain, free of sleep,
beyond thoughts’ corruption,
is this the pure state of grace?
Pray, speak!†
In the final verse in this section Thayumanavar describes
the moment of Self-realisation and some of the experiences
that stem from it. Arthur Osborne wrote that this was a verse
that Bhagavan particularly liked,‡ but there are no recorded
instances of Bhagavan quoting this verse in his replies to
devotees.
When overpowered by the vast expanse
that has neither beginning, middle nor end,
* Day by Day with Bhagavan, 11th January, 1946.

† ‘Paraparakkanni’, verse 386.
‡ Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self Knowledge, p. 61, B. I.
publications, 1979.
the truth of non-dual bliss will arise in the mind.

Our entire clan will be redeemed.
Nothing will be lacking.
All our undertakings will prosper.
There will be sporting in the company
of those wise ones who,
like sunrise at the break of day,
have known the dawn of grace,
where there is neither abundance nor lack.
Our nature will become such,
that like babies, madmen or ghouls,
we should not rejoice,
though offered heaven and earth in their entirety.*
The mocking comments of the mind
... [Khanna] handed Bhagavan a piece of paper
on which he had written something.
After reading it Bhagavan said, ‘It is a complaint.
He says, “I have been coming to you and this time I
have remained nearly a month at your feet and I find
no improvement at all in my condition. My vasanas
are as strong as ever. When I go back, my friends
will laugh at me and ask what good my stay here
has done.”’
Then, turning to Khanna, Bhagavan said, ‘Why
distress your mind by thinking that jnana has not
come or that the vasanas have not disappeared?
Don’t give room for thoughts. In the last stanza of
‘Sukavari’ in Thayumanavar the saint says much the
same as is written on this paper.’
And Bhagavan made me read the stanza and
translate it into English for the benefit of those who
did not know Tamil. It goes: ‘The mind mocks me,
* ‘Ninaivonru’, verse 7.
and though I tell you ten thousand times, you are

indifferent, so how am I to attain peace and bliss?’*
The translation recorded by Devaraja Mudaliar in Day by
Day with Bhagavan comes from the second part of the verse.
G.V. Subbaramayya has noted† that Bhagavan explained the
first half of the verse in the late 1930s, although neither the
circumstances nor the explanation itself is given.
This particular verse seems to have been one that
particularly interested Bhagavan for Devaraja Mudaliar has
reported: ‘On one occasion stanzas 8 to 11 of ‘Mandalattin’
and twelve of ‘Sukavari’ [the verse just referred to] were
elaborately explained by Bhagavan and were translated into
English by me for the benefit of those who did not know
Tamil. These stanzas used to be frequently referred to by
Bhagavan.’‡
In the first half of the ‘Sukavari’ verse the mind of
Thayumanavar is complaining to its jiva, its spirit or soul,
about the division that has sprung up between them.
‘Like yourself [the jiva] who are spirit, have not I, the mind,
and my friend, the prana, always dwelt within the body?
Long ago someone or other separated us,
designating us as “insentient” and yourself as “sentient”.
From the day you heard that, right up to the present day,
you have unjustly erected a barrier between us and
suppressed us,
exercising your oppressive rule.
What a great task you have accomplished,
right before our eyes!’
* Day by Day with Bhagavan, 26th June, 1946. In the same work
it is stated that Bhagavan also explained this verse to Dr Srinivasa
Rao on 22nd November 1945, but the explanation itself was not
recorded.
† Sri Ramana Reminiscences, 1967 ed., p. 49.
‡ My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, Devaraja Mudaliar,
pp. 54-5, 1992 ed.
When my foolish mind thus grossly abuses me,

my heart is scorched and blackened,
like beeswax exposed to a leaping flame!
Can this be right and proper?
Though I have called upon You [God] ten thousand times,
you have not taken pity on me, and bestowed your grace.
Henceforth, how may happiness ever come to me? Speak!
Supreme Godhead,
pure and devoid of all attributes!
Supernal Light! Ocean of bliss!*
On the occasion that Devaraja Mudaliar read out and
translated the ‘Sukavari’ verse for Khanna’s benefit, there
was a further dialogue on this subject, after which Bhagavan
quoted three more Thayumanavar verses, the same ones
that Mudaliar said Bhagavan had once given a lengthy
explanation on:
Then I [Devaraja Mudaliar] said to Khanna: ‘You
are not the only one who complains to Bhagavan
like this. I have more than once complained in the
same way, and I still do, for I find no improvement
in myself.’
Khanna replied: ‘It is not only that I find no
improvement but I think I have grown worse. The
vasanas are stronger now. I can’t understand it.’
Bhagavan again quoted the last three stanzas
of ‘Mandalattin’ of Thayumanavar, where the mind
is coaxed as the most generous and disinterested of
givers, to go back to its birthplace or source and thus
give the devotee peace and bliss, and he asked me to
read out a translation that I had once made.†
* ‘Sukavari’, verse 12, followed by three lines of the refrain.

† Day by Day with Bhagavan, 26th June, 1946. The translation that
Mudaliar made no longer exists. What follows is a translation by the
authors of this article.
Mind, you who evolve from maya

as jewels are wrought from gold!
If you are freed from your defects
so that blissful samadhi is attained
by meditating on [reality] within oneself
as oneself, by melting within,
and by making [you] fall away,
I shall attain redemption.
No one is as kind to me as you are – no one.
When I ponder on this, you [the mind]
are equal to the grace of God.
Amongst those who have taken on bodies
to experience the [the world],
be they Brahma, or any of the gods,
it is true, is it not,
that for any of them to reject you [the mind],
and exist without you,
is impossible, quite impossible.
Without you, can anything be,
in this world or the next?
To vainly label you ‘unreal’ is unjust.
So I shall praise you as ‘real’ also.
In order that my wretched state may be ended,
you must return to the glorious land of your birth.
You who have been my companion
for many a day, were you to lie dead
through the enquiry [vichara]
that has separated you from me,
I should revere that ground with perfect devotion.
Through the mauna Guru who has ruled me
I will be free from ‘I’ and ‘mine’,
becoming one with his grace.
The eight siddhis, liberation itself,
which is a vision delightful to behold,
shall be mine upon the earth.
Through you my anxieties shall be ended.
All my interminable wrangling

with birth will end in this very birth.
For me, the state of jivanmukti,
which is difficult for anyone to experience,
will arise.
Oh, Sir [mind]! Will even a cloud
or a grove of karpaka trees [wish-fulfilling trees]
suffice as a comparison to you?
Can your greatness be described
in the seven worlds, beginning with earth?*
Siddhis, yoga, and religious harmony
Though Thayumanavar mentioned in the last verse but
one that siddhis would come automatically when his mind
had, through the grace of his Guru, ceased to function, he
generally disapproved of attempts to pursue such powers.
Bhagavan mentioned this in the following reply:
One man said that a siddha of Kumbakonam
claimed to overcome the defects in Sankara’s system
which deals only with transcendentalism and not the
work-a-day life. One must be able to exercise super-
human powers in ordinary life, that is to say, one
must be a siddha in order to be perfect.
Sri Bhagavan pointed out a stanza in
Thayumanavar which condemns all siddhis.†
In the English version of Talks the Thayumanavar verse
is not specified, but in the Tamil edition, the translator and
editor, Viswanatha Swami, states that the following verse is
the one that Bhagavan was referring to:
*‘Mandalattin’, verses 8-11. The last four verses of ‘Mandalattin’

are given here since Mudaliar has already mentioned earlier in the
article that Bhagavan once gave an extensive explanation of all four
of them. See My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, Devaraja
Mudaliar, pp. 54-5, 1992 ed.
† Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, 1st January 1936, talk no. 122.
To tame a rutting elephant, who has snapped his tethering-post,

and to walk him under our control – that is possible.
To muzzle a bear, or a fierce tiger – that is possible.
To ride upon the back of the incomparable lion – that is possible.
To charm snakes, and make them dance – that is possible.
To put mercury into a furnace, transform the five base metals,
sell them, and live from the proceeds – that is possible.
To wander the earth, invisible to everyone else – that is possible.
To command the celestials in our own service – that is possible.
To remain forever young – that is possible.
To transmigrate into another physical body – that is possible.
To walk on water, or to sit amidst flames – that is possible.
To attain supernatural powers, that know no equal – that
is possible.
But the ability to control the mind, and remain still,
is very difficult indeed.
God, whose nature is consciousness,
who as the reality, impossible to seek,
took up his abode within my understanding!
Refulgent light of bliss!*
Thayumanavar did not merely disapprove of the pursuit
of siddhis. His criticism extended to extreme ascetic practices,
attempts to prolong the lifespan of the body, and methods
which aimed to raise the kundalini to the sahasrara. In the
following verse, which Devaraja Mudaliar said Bhagavan
occasionally referred to, Thayumanavar asserts that none of
these practices by themselves can lead to liberation.
Though we firmly stand upon devotion’s path,
though we perform pradakshina of the broad earth’s nine
divisions,
though we bathe in the ocean, and in the rivers too,
though we place ourselves between the rising flames
without a thought of thirst or hunger,
* ‘Tejomayanandam’, verse 8.
stopping up the gnawing pangs with water, air and fallen leaves,
though we dwell in silence, retreat to lofty mountain caves,
though we purify the ten channels which ever endure,
though we contain within the sphere known as somavattam
the inner fire, along with the vital air which rises from the root,
tasting thus the nectar that no words can describe,
though we practise the acquisition of powerful siddhis,
to prolong this mere trifle of a body through every aeon
of time,
other than through jnana can liberation be attained?
Siddhanta Mukti’s Primal Lord!
Dakshinamurti, enthroned in glory upon the lofty Siragiri!
Guru, you who are pure consciousness’s form!*
There are a few technical terms in this verse that may
need to be explained:
The five fires (panchakkini) are those amidst which an
ascetic performs tapas – four at the cardinal points, and the
fifth being the sun.
The ten channels are the ida, pingala and sushumna
nadis, along with seven lesser-known ones.
The somavattam, associated with the moon, is a circular
area at the centre of the sahasrara chakra, located in the area
of the crown of the skull. When the vital breath, originating
in the muladhara or root chakra, combines with the kundalini
energy, it rises through all the six chakras until it becomes
contained and held in the seventh, the sahasrara chakra, the
thousand-petalled lotus with the somavattam at its centre. At
this point a nectar is released through the melting effect of
the fiery energy. The yogi, in his state of absorption, is able
to feed upon this nectar, and thus remain in this state for long
periods. Bhagavan referred to this practice when he said: ‘The
* ‘Chinmayanandaguru’, verse 11. Devaraja Mudaliar stated in

My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, p. 55, that Bhagavan
occasionally referred to this verse.
yoga marga speaks of the six centres, each of which must

be reached by practice and transcended until one reaches the
sahasrara where nectar is found and thus immortality.’*
The key line in this verse is the last one in which
Thayumanavar asserts, ‘other than through jnana can
liberation be attained?’, a rhetorical question whose answer
is clearly ‘no’. This conclusion and the preceding comments
about the pointlessness of pursuing siddhis can both be found
in a remarkably similar answer that Bhagavan gave out when
he was asked about the relationship between enlightenment
and the attainment of siddhis.
Only jnana obtained through enquiry can
bestow Liberation. Supernatural powers are all
illusory appearances created by the power of maya.
Self-realisation which is permanent is the only true
accomplishment [siddhi]. Accomplishments which
appear and disappear, being the effect of maya,
cannot be real. They are accomplished with the
object of enjoying fame, pleasures, etc. They come
unsought to some persons through their karma. Know
that union with Brahman is the attainment of the
sum total of all the siddhis. This is also the state of
Liberation [aikya mukti] known as union [sayujya].†
Thayumanavar and Bhagavan were in agreement that
yogic practices alone will not directly result in liberation.
Bhagavan has pointed out in several places that its practices
can result in bliss, siddhis, and even nirvikalpa samadhi, but
he also maintained that it is not until the ‘I’ dies in the Heart
that jnana, true liberation occurs.‡
* Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk no. 398.

† Upadesa Manjari, section four, answer ten.
‡ See Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk nos. 398 and 474 where
Bhagavan expresses his views on these yogic practices in great
detail.
Though Bhagavan and Thayumanavar both pointed out

the limitations of yogic practices, and though both were
sharply critical of people who attempted to attain siddhis,
they had a generally tolerant attitude to different religions
and their various practices. They knew that they all ultimately
resolved themselves into the state of mauna in which all such
distinctions and differences were rendered invalid. The next
quotation on this subject is from Bhagavan, and it is followed
by a very similar statement from Thayumanavar.
The doctrines of all religions contradict each
other. They wage war, collide with each other, and
finally die.
On this battlefield all the religions retreat
defeated when they stand before mauna, which
abides beneficently, sustaining them all.
The rare and wonderful power of mauna is that it
remains without enmity towards any of the religions.
The many different religions are appropriate to
the maturity of each individual, and all of them are
acceptable to reality.
Abandoning vain disputation, which only deludes
and torments the mind, accept the doctrine of the
mauna religion, which always remains undisturbed.*
Shining Supreme!
If we scrutinise all the religions
that look so different,
we find no contradiction in their purpose.
They are all your sport.
Just as all rivers discharge into the sea,
they all end in the ocean of mauna†
* Padamalai, ‘Religions and Religious Knowledge’ chapter, verses
1-5.
† ‘Kallalin’, verse 25. The verse appears in full in Day by Day with
Bhagavan, 21st November, 1945, and was briefly mentioned in
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Talk 547.
The two major competing systems of religious and

philosophical thought in South India have, for several
centuries, been Vedanta and Saiva Siddhanta. The proponents
of each school have been criticising the other in their writings
for much of the last thousand years. Bhagavan tended to use
the language and philosophical structures of Vedanta when he
answered visitors’ questions whereas Thayumanavar, in his
poems, showed a strong Saiva Siddhanta influence. However,
neither was dogmatic about his system since they both knew,
from direct experience, that in the experience of the Self all
philosophical divisions and distinctions are dissolved. As
Thayumanavar wrote:
Since my own actions are forever your own actions,
and since the ‘I’-nature does not exist apart from you,
I am not different from you.
This is the state in which Vedanta and Siddhanta
are harmonised.*
Bhagavan’s own synthesis of the two apparently
contradictory philosophies can be found in the following two
replies:
Question: What is the end of devotion [bhakti] and
the path of Siddhanta [i.e., Saiva Siddhanta]?
Bhagavan: It is to learn the truth that all one’s
actions performed with unselfish devotion, with the
aid of the three purified instruments [body, speech
and mind], in the capacity of the servant of the Lord,
become the Lord’s actions, and to stand forth free
from the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. This is also the
truth of what the Saiva Siddhantins call para-bhakti
[supreme devotion] or living in the service of God
[irai pani nittral].
* ‘Paripurananandam’, verse 5. Day by Day with Bhagavan, 11th

June, 1946.
Question: What is the end of the path of knowledge

[jnana] or Vedanta?
Bhagavan: It is to know the truth that the ‘I’ does
not exist separately from the Lord [Iswara] and to
be free from the feeling of being the doer [kartrtva,
ahamkara].*
Death and Liberation
Question: Is liberation to be achieved before the
dissolution of the body or can it be had after death?...
Bhagavan: Is there death for you? For whom is
death? The body which dies, were you aware of it,
did you have it, during sleep? The body was not,
when you slept. But you existed even then. When
you awoke you got the body and even in the waking
state you exist. You existed both in sleep and waking.
But the body did not exist in sleep and exists only in
waking. That which does not exist always, but exists
at one time and not at another, cannot be real. You
exist always and you alone are therefore real.
Liberation is another name for you. It is always here and
now with you. It is not to be won or reached hereafter. Christ
has said, ‘The Kingdom of God is within you,’ here and now.
You have no death.†
Bhagavan then cited some lines from Thayumanavar to
illustrate his theme:
... those whose state of nishta [Self-abidance] is permanent
will not even entertain the thought that death exists.
This is not a thing to be taught to those of little understanding.
At the mere mention of it, numerous disputations will ensue.
Are not the divine-natured Markandeya and Suka,
and the rest of the [great] sages immortals, their minds transcended?
* Spiritual Instruction, part one, questions nine and ten.

† Day by Day with Bhagavan, 9th March 1946.
Divine One, to whom

Indra and all the devas, Brahma and all the gods,
sages learned in the Rig and other Vedas,
the countless leaders of the celestial hosts,
the nine principal siddhas,
the Sun, the Moon and the rest of the planets,
the gandharvas, kinnaras and all the rest,
join their palms together in worship!
My Lord, compassion’s home, who dance your dance
beyond the reach of thought, in consciousness’s Hall!*
Markandeya and Suka are deemed to be immortals, as
are all the other sages who have permanently transcended
the mind. Some of the commentators on this verse say that
all the other beings who are listed after Markandeya and
Suka are not immortal, and therefore have to continue to pay
obeisance to forms of the divine.
It is worth noting that Devaraja Mudaliar noted in his
reminiscences† that Bhagavan once quoted him a portion of
this same verse (‘This is not a thing to be taught to those
of little understanding. At the mere mention of it, numerous
disputations will ensue.’) Mudaliar understood this to mean
that Bhagavan was occasionally circumspect about giving out
some aspects of his teaching to people who were not ready
for them because to do so would merely provoke pointless
arguments.
The real ‘I’ and the spurious ‘I’
There was once a discussion in the hall about the true
meaning of verse ten of Ulladu Narpadu Anubandham which
states:
The body is like an earthen pot, inert. Because it
has no consciousness of ‘I’, and because daily in
* ‘Karunakarakkadavul’, verse 7.
† My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, p. 91.
bodiless sleep we touch our real nature, the body is

not ‘I’. Then who is this ‘I’? Where is this ‘I’? In the
Heart Cave of those that question thus, there shines
forth as ‘I’, Himself, the Lord Siva of Arunachala.*
Dr. Srinivasa Rao asked whether [this stanza] does not
teach us to affirm soham [repeating ‘I am He’ as a spiritual
practice]. Bhagavan explained as follows.
It is said that the whole Vedanta can be compressed
into the four words, deham [the body], naham [I am not the
body], koham [Who am I?], soham [I am He]. This stanza
says the same. In the first two lines it is explained why deham
is naham, i.e., why the body is not ‘I’ or na aham. The next
two lines say, if one enquires ko aham, i.e., Who am I?, i.e.,
if one enquires whence this springs and realises it, then in
the heart of such a one the omnipresent God Arunachala will
shine as ‘I’, as sa aham or soham: i.e., he will know ‘That I
am,’ i.e., ‘That is “I”’.
In this connection Bhagavan also quoted two stanzas,
one from Thayumanavar and the other from Nammazhvar,
the gist of both of which is: ‘Though I have been thinking
I was a separate entity and talking of “I” and “mine”, when
I began to enquire about this “I”, I found you alone exist.’†
This is the Thayumanavar verse:
Searching without searching who this ‘I’ was,
soon I found You alone
standing as the heaven of bliss,
You alone, blessed Lord.‡
The following morning§ Bhagavan showed Devaraja
Mudaliar the written texts of both these verses, and he also
* The Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 124
† Day by Day with Bhagavan, 23rd January, 1946.
‡ ‘Paraparakkanni’, verse 225.
§ Day by Day with Bhagavan, 24th January, 1946.
added the following Thayumanavar verse which, in its middle

portion, expounds the same theme:
Though you dwell as space and the other elements,
as all the worlds in their tens of millions,
as the mountains and the encircling ocean,
as the moon, and sun, and all else that is,
and as the flood of heaven’s grace;
and though, as I stand here as ‘I’,
you dwell united with myself,
still there is no cessation of this ‘I’.
And since I go blabbering ‘I’, ‘I’,
undergoing countless changes,
ignorant in spite of knowing all this,
will be it be easy to overcome the power of destiny?
Is there any means of awakening one,
who even before the day has ended,
remains, feigning sleep, his eyes tightly closed?
What, then, is the way that may be taught?
Yet, this vileness in unjust, so unjust.
Who is there to whom I might plead my cause?
Supreme One, whose form is bliss,
whose unique fullness encompasses
this universe and that which lies beyond!*
Mauna and the thought-free state
Mr Nanavati asked Bhagavan, ‘What is the heart referred to
in the verse in Upadesa Saram where it is said, “Abiding in
the heart is the best karma, yoga, bhakti and jnana?”’
Bhagavan: That which is the source of all, that in which all
live, and that into which all finally merge, is the heart referred
to Nanavati: How can we conceive such a heart?
Bhagavan: Why should you conceive of anything? You have
only to see wherefrom the ‘I’ springs.
* ‘Anandananaparam’, verse 7.
Nanavati: I suppose mere mauna in speech is no good; but

we must have mauna of the mind.
Bhagavan: Of course. If we have real mauna, that state in
which the mind is merged into its source and has no more
separate existence, then all other kinds of mauna will come
of their own accord, i.e., mauna of words, of action and of
the mind or chitta.
Bhagavan also quoted in this connection the following
from Thayumanavar:*
If the pure silence [suddha mauna]
arises within me,
my mind will be silence,
my actions and words, all
will be silence.†
In Talks Bhagavan mentions that Thayumanavar mentions
mauna in many places, but only defines it in one verse. The
definition, given in Talks, is that ‘Mauna is said to be that
state which spontaneously manifests after the annihilation of
the ego’.‡
The specific verse is not given, but in the Tamil edition of
Talks, Viswanatha Swami identifies it as ‘Payappuli’, verse 14:
The unique source [tan], fullness [purnam],
prevailed within, in my Heart
so that the ‘I’ which deemed itself
an independent entity
bowed its head in shame.
Conferring matchless bliss,
consuming my whole consciousness
and granting me the state of rapture,
it nurtured in me the condition of mauna.
This being so, what more is there to be said?
* Day by Day with Bhagavan, 29th April 1946.
† ‘Paraparakkanni’, verse 276.
‡ Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no. 122.
This verse, a clear expression of the state that

Thayumanavar finally reached, closely parallels the idea
contained in Ulladu Narpadu, verse thirty, in which Bhagavan
describes how the individual ‘I’ subsides into its source, the
Heart, leaving only the perfection of the Self:
When the mind turns inwards seeking ‘Who am I?’
and merges in the Heart, then the ‘I’ hangs down
his head in shame and the one ‘I’ appears as itself.
Though it appears as ‘I-I’, it is not the ego. It is
reality, perfection, the substance of the Self.*
The similarities are so marked, it should come as no
surprise that Bhagavan once commented that this was his
favourite Thayumanavar verse.† It was included in the Tamil
parayana at Ramanasramam, along with the nine verses from
‘Akarabuvanam-Chidambara Rahasyam’ that have already
been given.
The subject of silence and the thought-free state came
up again after Bhagavan had cited, with great approval, a
passage by Gandhi in which the latter had given a description
of his own experience of this state:
Sri Bhagavan referred to the following passage of
Gandhiji in The Harijan of the 11th instant:
‘How mysterious are the ways of God! This journey to
Rajkot is a wonder even to me. Why am I going, whither am
I going? What for? I have thought nothing about these things.
And if God guides me, what should I think, why should I
think? Even thought may be an obstacle in the way of His
guidance.
‘The fact is, it takes no effort to stop thinking. The
thoughts do not come. Indeed, there is no vacuum – but I
mean to say that there is no thought about the mission.’
* The Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Ulladu Narpadu

verse 30, tr. K. Swaminathan.
† Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, talk no. 122.
Sri Bhagavan remarked how true the words were and

emphasised each statement in the extract. Then he cited
Thayumanavar in support of the state which is free from
thoughts:*
The state in which you are not,
that is nishta [Self-abidance].
But, even in that state,
do you not remain?
You whose mouth is silent,
do not be perplexed!
Although [in that state] you are gone,
you are no longer there,
yet you did not go.
You are eternally present.
Do not suffer in vain.
Experience bliss all the time†
Two days after Bhagavan had cited Thayumanavar to
illustrate Gandhi’s thought-free experiences, a visitor returned
to the subject:
Devotee: Is not what Gandhi describes the state in which
thoughts themselves become foreign?
Bhagavan: Yes, it is only after the rise of the ‘I’-thought that
all other thoughts arise. The world is seen after you have felt
‘I am’. The ‘I’-thought and all other thoughts had vanished
for him.
Devotee: Then the body sense must be absent in that state.
Bhagavan: The body sense is also a thought whereas he
describes the state in which ‘thoughts do not come’.

† ‘Udal Poyyuravu’, verse 53. The last line may also be translated
as ‘You can have bliss. Come!’ Bhagavan mentioned two other
Thayumanavar verses on this occasion (‘Udal Poyyuravu’, verse 52
and ‘Payappuli’ verse 36) but since they feature elsewhere in this
article, they are not repeated here.
Devotee: He also says, ‘It takes no effort to stop thinking’.

Bhagavan: Of course no effort is necessary to stop thoughts
whereas one is necessary for bringing about thoughts.
Devotee: We are trying to stop thoughts. Gandhiji also says
that thought is an obstacle to God’s guidance. So it is the
natural state. Though natural, yet how difficult to realise.
They say that sadhanas are necessary and also that they are
obstacles. We get confused.
Bhagavan: Sadhanas are needed so long as one has not realised
it. They are for putting an end to obstacles. Finally, there
comes a stage when a person feels helpless notwithstanding
the sadhanas. He is unable to pursue the much-cherished
sadhana also. It is then that God’s power is realised. The Self
reveals itself.
Devotee: If the state is natural, why does it not overcome the
unnatural phases and assert itself over the rest?
Bhagavan: Is there anything besides that? Does anyone see
anything the Self? One besides is always aware of the Self.
So it is always itself.*
33. Bhagavan and Peacocks†
I t was about 10 a.m. Bhagavan was in his place in his usual

reclining posture. There was quite a large gathering that
day. Nobody spoke. The smoke from the agarbathi curled
silently and gracefully upwards and away. There walked into
Bhagavan’s presence, two peacocks – one white and the other
multi-hued. Knowing Bhagavan’s silent wish, the attendant
nearby put a handful of grain for each of the visitors. The
coloured peacock began to peck away at his ‘prasad’ while
the white one, without touching his share, stood watching the
other feeding himself with relish. Suddenly he (the white)

† Sri Prasad, The Call Divine, January 1955.
flew at the other and drove him away from his food. The one,
thus driven, looked up at Bhagavan and one could quite easily
feel the appeal and the silent query in the bird’s attitude.
Bhagavan smiled and spoke thus to the mischief maker,
even as a loving mother might to a mischievous, little son!
“Come here. You have your share. Why do you trouble him?”.
Everyone was intently watching. The white peacock took
a few dignified steps towards Bhagavan and gazed at Him
with shining eyes. Bhagavan, extending his hand, said softly:
“Yes. Eat your share. Leave him alone. Go, Go”. Obediently,
the white peacock retraced his steps to his share of food,
while the other which had, all this time, stood at a distance,
came back to his share of the grains. It seemed as if a highly
tensed spring had been gently, yet firmly released. Nobody
spoke. Silence had become more silent. Everyone, including
the peacocks, understood.
This demonstration of pure love and understanding was
appealing to one’s heart. The incident is noteworthy because
one saw in it the Unity of the trainer and the trainee as the
unity of the River in the ocean.
34. Bhagavan and the Bhagavad Gita*
I t is well known that the Bhagavad Gita is one of the

main scriptures of the Hindu religion (Prasthana Traya,
the threefold authority). It is a universal scripture, a ‘Song
Divine’. Bhagavan Ramana used to say that the Gita and the
Bible are one and one should read the Gita always (Talks with
Sri Ramana Maharshi). He often used to quote verses from
it and explain them in his own inimitable and illuminating
way in reply to various questions of seekers. The light that
he has thrown on the teaching of the Gita is simply unique,
extremely clear and very penetrating. This is perhaps because
* G.V. Kulkarni, Ramana Smriti, 1980.

he lived the scripture in toto and hence had the authority to

elucidate it like Bhagavan Krishna or Jnaneswara. He spoke
from his plenary, first-hand experience and not from verbal
erudition.
Bhagavan was asked by a devotee to give in brief
the contents of the Gita. He selected forty-two verses and
arranged them in an appropriate order to serve as guidance.
Another devotee complained that it was difficult to keep all
its seven hundred verses in mind and asked if there was not a
verse that could be remembered as the gist of the whole Gita.
Bhagavan immediately mentioned Verse twenty of Chapter
ten:
Aham Atma, Gudakesa, Sarvabhutashayasthitah Aham
Adischa Madhyam cha bhutanam anta eva cha.
I am the Self, O Gudakesa, dwelling in the
Hearts of all beings.
I am the beginning, and the middle and the end
of all beings.
Another time Bhagavan summarised the purpose of the
Gita in a reply to a question by a devotee:
Devotee: The Gita seems to emphasise karma, for Arjuna
is persuaded to fight. Krishna Himself set the example by an
active life of great exploits.
Maharshi: The Gita starts by saying that you are not the
body, that you are not therefore the karta (doer).
D.: What is the significance?
M.: That one should act without thinking oneself to
be the actor. The person has come into manifestation for a
certain purpose. That purpose will be accomplished whether
he considers himself the actor or not.
D.: What is karma yoga?
M.: Karma yoga is that yoga in which the person does
not arrogate to himself the functions of being the actor. The
actions go on automatically.
D.: Is it the non-attachment to the fruits of action?
M.: The question arises only if there is the actor. It is said

throughout that you should not consider yourself the actor.
D.: The Gita teaches active life from beginning to end.
M.: Yes, the actorless action. Bhagavan Krishna is an
ideal example of such a karma yogi.
Maharshi clarifies it thus:
The Self makes the universe what it is by his Sakti and
yet he does not himself act. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita,
‘I am not the doer and yet actions go on’. It is clear from the
Mahabharata that very wonderful actions were effected by
him. Yet He says that He is not the doer. It is like the sun and
the world action.
There are certain apparent contradictions in the Gita
which baffle an ordinary reader. Maharshi in his replies
removes such contradictions. In reply to a question he said:
The answers will be according to the capacity of the
seeker. It is said in the second chapter of the Gita that no
one is born or dies; but in the fourth chapter Krishna says
that numerous incarnations of His and of Arjuna had taken
place, all known to Him but not to Arjuna. Which of these
statements is true? Both statements are true, but from different
standpoints. Now a question is raised, how can jiva rise up
from the Self? Only know your real Being; then you will
not raise this question. Why should a man consider himself
separate? How was he before being born and how will he be
after death? Why waste time in such discussions? What was
your form in deep sleep? Why do you consider yourself as
an individual?
On another occasion a devotee asked Maharshi, “Why
does Krishna say, ‘After several rebirths the seeker gains
Knowledge and thus knows me?’ There must be evolution
from stage to stage.”
Maharshi replied:
How does Bhagavad Gita begin? ‘Neither I was not,
nor you nor these chiefs, etc. Neither is it born, nor does it
die, etc.’. So there is no birth, no death, no present as you
look at it. Reality was, is and will be. It is changeless. Later

Arjuna asked Krishna how he could have lived before Aditya.
Then Krishna, seeing Arjuna was confounding Him with the
gross body, spoke to him accordingly. The instruction is for
one who sees diversity. In reality there is neither bondage
nor mukti for him or for others from the jnani’s standpoint.
Abhyasa (practice) is only to prevent any disturbance to the
inherent peace. There is no question of years. Prevent this
thought at this moment. You are only in your natural state
whether you make abhyasa or not.
Here Maharshi refers to his famous dictum, “You are
already realised.”
People generally consider Krishna as a personal God.
They overemphasise the physical form of the Lord. According
to them He is a mythological God of the Hindus; and thus
they miss the real teaching of the Gita. What does Krishna
say about Himself throughout the Gita? Bhagavan clearly
removes the doubt and explains the real nature of Krishna.
He points out even the limitations of the cosmic form shown
by Him to Arjuna, as described in the eleventh chapter.
Once a devotee said, “There is a very remarkable girl of
eleven at Lahore. She says she can call upon Krishna twice
and remain conscious, but if she calls Him a third time she
becomes unconscious and remains in trance for ten hours
continuously.”
Maharshi commented, “So long as you think that Krishna
is different from you, you call upon Him. Falling into trance
denotes the transitoriness of the samadhi. You are always in
samadhi; that is what should be realised. God vision is only
the vision of the Self objectified as the God of one’s own
faith. Know the Self.
Another devotee asked, “What is visvarupa?”
M.: It is to see the world as the Self of God. In the
Bhagavad Gita God is said to be various things and beings
and also the whole universe. How to realise it and see it so?
Can one see one’s Self?
D.: Is it then wrong to say that some have seen it?

M.: It is true in the same degree as you are. Realisation
implies perfection. When you are limited, your knowledge is
thus imperfect. In visvarupa darshan, Arjuna is told to see
whatever he desired and not what was presented before him.
How can that darshan be real?
On another occasion a devotee asked, “Is Divya chakshuh
(divine sight) necessary to see the glory of God? This physical
eye is the ordinary chakshuh.”
M.: Oh! I see, you want to see the million sun-splendour
and the rest of it.
D.: Can we not see the glory as million sun-splendour?
M.: Can you see the single sun? Why do you ask for
millions of suns?
D.: It must be possible to do so by divine sight.
M.: All right. Find Krishna and the problem is solved.
D.: Krishna is not alive.
M.: Is that what you have learnt from the Gita? Does
he not say that He is eternal? Of what are you thinking, His
body?
D.: He taught others while alive. Those around Him must
have realised. I see a similar living Guru.
M.: Is Gita then useless after He withdrew His body?
Did He speak of His body as Krishna? ‘Never was I not, etc.’
Later Bhagavan said that divine sight means Self-luminosity.
The full word means the Self.
In this dialogue Bhagavan has very logically and
mercilessly removed the common ignorance about the real
nature of Krishna and has clearly indicated Him to be the all-
pervading Self, residing in the Heart.
The three yogas, karma, bhakti and jnana (which
includes dhyana) given in the Gita are meant for seekers of
different temperaments, says Maharshi. Karma yoga is meant
for men of active tendencies. It is calculated to eliminate
the idea of doership in the seeker. Bhakti yoga is meant for
men of powerful emotions. It dissolves the ego in supreme
devotion for God. Jnana yoga is meant for men of reason

and understanding capable of Self-enquiry. When the mind
wanders, it should be controlled and brought back to the Self.
It eliminates the individual ‘I’, the spurious ego. This is the
direct path and all other yogas ultimately lead to this. When
the false ego is understood and hence removed, the Reality
shines in all its glory automatically. To understand this truth
and experience it here and now is the purpose of the teaching
of the Gita, says Bhagavan.
In the words of Saint Jnaneswara, “It is easy to make
the earth golden, to create great mountains of desire-yielding
jewels, to fill the seven seas with nectar, but it is difficult to
indicate the secret of the meaning of the Gita”. Bhagavan
Ramana has definitely done it. No wonder it is identical with
his main teaching, “Either know who you are or surrender”.
From the great Adi Sankara down to Dr. Ranade and
Swami Swaroopanand, many scholars and sages have written
works on the Gita. In this galaxy, Bhagavan Ramana’s
contribution to the Gita, though couched in a few words, is
remarkable and true to the original. It is at once universal and
beyond the categories of time and space, and yet practical in
the everyday life of man.
Let us pray to him to shower his grace and blessings on
us all to help us understand this truth and experience it here
and now. A thousand pranams to him!
35. Bhagavan is Bhagavan*
S ri Ramana has been hailed as Gem (Spiritual Teacher or

Master) by people professing various creeds and cults
throughout the world. It must however be remembered that
he has never given ‘Upadesh’ (initiation) to any person and
* Sri G.V. Subbaramayya, M.A. (HONS.), Nellore, The Call Divine,

October 1954.
never designated any one as his ‘Sishya’ (disciple). All of us

who revere and adore him might call ourselves his Bhaktas
(devotees). But no one can claim to be his ‘Sishya’ (disciple)
in the sense of imbibing and carrying on his particular
teaching and tradition. The reason is obvious. Sri Ramana
has been a unique phenomenon in the realm of Spirituality.
He has not initiated any school of thought or philosophy.
While he clearly and sympathetically expounded the different
faiths and systems of philosophy and gave practical help and
guidance to spiritual aspirants of various sects and religions,
he never identified himself with any one of them. As a true
Jnani, he was all-comprehensive but transcendental, universal
but essentially inimitable. He was above every limitation.
While all creeds and cults existed in him, he did not exist in
them. So, it is impossible to identify Sri Ramana with any
one creed or doctrine, however lofty.
As so many staunch adherents of several creeds and
doctrine cherish devotion to Sri Ramana, it is perhaps to be
expected that they would look upon him as the best exponent
and exemplar of their respective creed or doctrine. Sri Ramana
has been praised and addressed under various names and
incarnations. Worshippers of different Gods or Sages have
seen in him their favourite God or Sage. Sri Ramana has not
repudiated any of them, because he as Jnani sees nothing other
than the Self. Out of his overflowing Grace, he has accepted
the homage fervently offered under any name or form. Sri
Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni has praised Sri Ramana in many
beautiful verses as the incarnation of Sri Subrahmanya or
Skanda. One devotee hailed him as Sri Dakshinamurti, one as
Sri Sankara, another as Sri Jnanasambandhar and still another
as Lord Venkateswara. This writer acclaimed twice as Lord
Krishna incarnate. Sri Ramana has not denied any of them.
At the same time, he has disclaimed for himself all name
and form. Before Self-realisation at seventeen, he bore the
name ‘’VENKATARAMAN’ which his parents had given him.
It was Sri Kavyakantha that started calling him “BHAGAVAN
SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI”, and other devotees followed

suit. We read in the Scriptures that ‘Maharshi’ means the chief
of those who have realised the Truth and can help others to
do the same, and that ‘Bhagavan’ means one who possesses
‘Aiswarya’ (Divine Power), ‘Dharma’ (Righteousness),
‘Yashas’(Renown). ‘Sri’ (Affluence), ‘Jnana’ (Knowledge)
and ‘Vairagya’ (Detachment) in parted measure. ‘Ramana’
sounds more euphonious and Telugu-like than ‘Venkataraman’.
Possibly Sri Kavyakantha was impelled by the above ideas
to coin the name which has become universally current. In
conformity with the Sastraic injunction against the utterance
of Guru’s name, the Ashramites and intimate devotees used
to address Sri Ramana as ‘Bhagavan’ only.
This title ‘Bhagavan’ would have a two-fold reaction
upon strangers. In common parlance it means ‘Supreme
God’. So, the stranger would first think that the devotees
are perpetrating a gross exaggeration in calling a man that,
however great as ‘Bhagavan’. When the stranger learns that
the term ‘Bhagavan’ has come to be used as an honorific title
like “His Holiness” or “His Worship” and has been applied
to Maharshis like Valmiki and Vyasa, he gets reconciled to its
application to Sri Ramana.
On the other hand, Sri Ramana’s detachment to these
names and titles was so complete that he would join at times
in reciting the poems of praise to any of those names, as if they
did not relate to himself at all. After Self-realisation, he never
signed himself under any name. When people occasionally
approached him for a message, he would decline, saying that
any message had to go with some name and he had no name.
They found it hard to believe him while he spoke this fact.
Leaving the names aside, who or what was Sri Ramana?
Who could tell except Sri Ramana himself. Fortunately for us,
Sri Ramana like Sri Krishna revealed himself in an incident
that happened forty years ago. One day, in the Virupaksha
cave, when Sri Ramana had gone out, Amritanadha Yatindra
wrote on a slip of paper a verse in Malayalam saying that his
heart was consumed with the desire to know who this Ramana
of Arunachala was. Was he Hari, Sivaguru, Vararuchi or some
great sage? The scribe placed the slip on Sri Ramana’s seat
and went away. Sri Ramana on his return noticed it and wrote
on its back another verse in Malayalam replying as follows:
“Ramana of Arunachala is but the Over-Self sporting
as Awareness in the cavity of the lotus-shaped heart of all
Jivas (living beings) beginning with Hari. The truth of it will
become patent to the eye of Knowledge as it opens when with
perfect earnestness you enter the inner recess of the Heart
where He reigns supreme.”
This stanza in its Tamil version has become part of the
daily ‘Parayana’ (recitation) in the Ashram. So here is the
revelation that Sri Ramana is none other than the Supreme
Self. Who could say it in so many words except the Supreme
Self called as Sri Krishna, Sri Ramana or by any other name.
One morning, Sri Ramana himself approvingly quoted to
this writer a Tamil verse of Sri Muruganar which utters the
following warning:
“Like the cock that throws out a diamond taking it for a
pebble, you too may slight the Supreme Self named Ramana of
Arunachala, mistaking him for a mere fellow-man. Therefore,
beware.”
One evening, in the Jubilee Hall, Sri Ramana was
repeatedly pressed by a young French visitor to declare his
favourite verse in Bhagavad Gita. After long parrying, Sri
Ramana cited the verse in the tenth canto:
“I am the Self, O Gudakesa, dwelling in the Heart of
every being; I am the beginning and the middle and likewise
the end of all beings.”
This stanza Sri Ramana had also included in the edition
of his “Selections from Bhagavad Gita.”
Such categorical declaration by Sri Ramana of who or
what he is must be reckoned the greatest boon to the world. It
is like Lord Krishna’s ‘Viswarupa Darsanam’ (Revelation of
the Universal Self) to Arjuna. It teaches us the right attitude
in which we should approach Sri Ramana. It puts our mind

on the alert not to mistake him for any individual being-God
or man. For that would be doing wrong to Sri Ramana and
pulling on ourselves down spiritually. Sri Ramana was not
a mere ‘Guru’ (Teacher) in the ordinary sense of the term.
Nor was he a mere saint or sage or prophet or founder of a
new faith or cult. It would be doing him injustice to tie him
up to any creed or doctrine however exalted in the eye of its
observers.
The simple fact is this. Sri Ramana is BHAGAVAN in
the truest sense of the term, not with inverted commas. To put
it better Sri Bhagavan, out of his infinite Grace, incarnated as
Sri Ramana to proclaim, more by silence than by speech, more
by practical living than by theoretical instruction, the Truth
of the Supreme Self and how to realise the Supreme Self.
And as they say ‘paramountcy is paramount’, BHAGAVAN
is BHAGAVAN.
36. Nine Stray Verses
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
These verses were written at different times and having

been collected were arranged in this order by Bhagavan:
1. ‘Tis the one syllable that shines as Self in Heart for e’er;
That can this syllable write down who is there anywhere?
2. For those not firm in Consciousness which is of “I” the source,

Than Japa tracing whence starts sound is far the better course.
3. This excreta-making body for Self he who mistakes

Is worse than one who, born a pig, for food excreta takes.
4. Incessant search for Self the love supreme of God we call,

For He alone as Self abides within the Heart of all.
5. What introverted mind calls Peace, outside as power is shown:

Those who have reached and found the Truth their Unity
have known.
6. He who’s contented with his lot, from jealousy is free;

Balanced in affluence and mishap; not bound by action he.
7. By him alone who’s saved himself can other folk be freed;

The help of others is as if the blind the blind would lead.
8. Question and answer are of speech, duality their sphere;

Impossible in Monism to find them anywhere.
9. Nor creation nor destruction, bond nor freedom-wish is,

Nor Sadhana nor Siddha. Of all the final truth this.
37. Light on the Path*
T he technique of the spiritual path advocated by Bhagavan

Ramana Maharshi is well known to be the path of Self-
enquiry, though Bhagavan often directed particular aspirants
to other paths, mainly devotion. It may be helpful to seekers
to know about the experience of one who has tried to follow
the path of Self-enquiry for some years.
Though I have always been vitally concerned with
religion, the position I had come to in middle age was
one of agnosticism. I had totally lost faith in the Christian
dogma which had been taught to me as a child. The nearly
one hundred denominations of Christianity nauseated me.
All external forms of religion I held in utter contempt as the
* I.S. Varghese, The Mountain Path, July 1965.

domain of old women and fools. It was at this time that I

accidentally read Paul Brunton’s A Search in Secret India.
This book produced a deep impression on me. I re-read it
carefully, and some sections I read a large number of times,
and found that I was on very shallow ground.
Being trained in the modern scientific method it had
been my outlook that nothing is knowable beyond the things
experienced by the senses. The very first fruit of Self-enquiry,
after the practice had proceeded for a few months was a total
change of this attitude, and the conviction grew more and
more that there is a realm of reality which I would call the
realm of the Spirit. This conviction was very strong during the
periods of meditation when the mind was quietened. During
other times the mind tried to take revenge on this assault of
its domain and tried to reassert its supremacy, especially by
suggesting doubts about the validity of this conviction. To my
scientifically trained mind this took the form of a persistent
query “Cannot this conviction itself be an illusion?” Further
meditation on the theme “To whom does this illusion appear?”
reduced the frequency of this assault. I now realise that this is
a doubt that must last so long as the mind exists.
Another aspect of Self-enquiry that became apparent after
some months of practice was the assurance of being taken care
of by some Higher Power. There was a feeling of power all
around, but always subtle power. In very complex situations
totally unexpected solutions have automatically appeared.
Some experiences which may be classed as miraculous have
also come unbidden. It is not relevant to discuss these here. In
short, I could personally testify to the findings of one of the
earliest of Bhagavan’s disciples, F.H. Humphreys:
“Though it takes years to find that ‘That’ (the Self), the
result of this concentration will be seen in four or five months’
time – in all sorts of unconscious clairvoyance, in peace of
mind, in power to deal with troubles, in power all round, yet
always unconscious power.” (Osborne.)
Still a further fruit of Self-enquiry was the total change of

attitude to people and events. As Bhagavan told Paul Brunton
“When you proceed with this enquiry your attitude to people
and events will change.” I was particularly wonder-struck
at the disappearance of the hostility I had towards certain
persons, whom I had counted as my enemies. I had never
thought that this was possible or even desirable. But now I
found that instead of my previous interpretation of the actions
of these ‘enemies’ as deliberate and calculated to harm me, I
began to realise that they were acting according to their lights
and their nature, and no other course of action was possible
for them. With this disappearance of hostility, a thing I had
not at all bargained for happened. I found that my ‘enemies’
were now becoming less hostile to me. Actually, after a
period, the chief of them got quite reconciled to me, and
went out of his way to help me on a number of occasions. It
confirmed the findings of many spiritual masters that the only
thing that has to be attended to and changed is oneself, and
all else will follow. For me, it also confirmed the aphorism in
the Yoga Sutras “When non-violence is fully established, all
beings discard their hostility in his (the aspirant’s) presence.”
(Yoga Sutras, 2-35).
An aversion to the eating of non-vegetarian food began to
manifest itself only after a period of some years. It was to all
appearances sudden. I had developed a distaste for beef much
earlier, but fish and eggs continued to be indispensable items.
It was at this time that I read R.L. Stevenson’s Travels in the
South Seas. The chapter on cannibalism and meat eating in
general affected me powerfully. And I found that I could no
longer relish non-vegetarian dishes. It was rather hard at first
to enjoy a vegetarian meal. But by and by I felt quite at home
among vegetarian dishes. I must here state that incidentally
my general health improved, and some digestive complaints
I used to have disappeared altogether.
One of the most salutary changes in my attitude to things
in general has been a growing capacity to treat so many
complex situations with equanimity and without being unduly

perturbed by them. This I sense to be due to the growing
inward certainty about the course of events not being under our
control at all and the conviction that we are only infinitesimal
functionaries carrying out the behest of the Supreme One.
And I have found that many complex situations have resolved
themselves without any interference on my part.
Another thing that has changed has been the clinging to
personal possessions. The tyranny of the world diminishes
in exact proportion to our indifference to its value to us. In
the last resort, when one becomes like a ‘fakir’ (one who
possesses nothing and desires nothing) one is free of the world
and the world has no hold on one. All our apprehensions, fear,
planning and scheming are based on our overvaluation of the
worth of worldly things, and the result of our considering
ephemeral things of permanent value. If a man grows to the
stature of a ‘fakir’, he is free of all fears and apprehensions,
as the phenomenal world does not bind him. He is indeed free
in the most comprehensive sense of the word and moves as
a feather carried on the wings of the wind. He is indeed the
jivanmukta – the one who has attained freedom while yet in
the body. We are all treading the Path to that Beatific State.
May the Grace of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi be with
all who read this.
38. Bhagavan Sri Ramana – As I Knew Him*
R amana is the Self of all. What one sees, what one bears,
what one speaks or does anything is guided by His
presence. None can do anything without His guidance. He is
speechless and actionless; yet by mere presence of His, one
is able to do anything he likes. One’s very life has its root
in Him. He is eternal and all pervasive. Every activity of all
* Swami Abhedananda, Proddatur – The Call Divine, January 1955.

beings takes its source from Ramana. The knowledge infused

by Lord Buddha is that of Ramana. The mysterious miracles
caused by Lord Christ were with the Divine help of Ramana.
Lord Gaurarga’s matchless self-surrender was to realise
Ramana, otherwise called Lord Krishna. Every trance of Sri
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is plunging himself on the Divine
Nectar of Ramana or the Supreme Mother. The teachings and
preachings of Swami Vivekananda are about Ramana only.
The inimitable self-sacrifice of Mahatma Gandhi is to reach
Ramana or to get himself merged in Him. Dissemination
of knowledge by Swami Sivanandaji of Rishikesh and the
inspired talks of Sri Swami Rajeswaranandaji of Madras are
of Ramana. Blessings of late Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati
Swamiji of Sringeri Mutt conferring speech to the mute and
ability to walk to the lame, were by the grace of Ramana.
Every action of mine, yours and others has Ramana’s
guidance. All the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas etc., speak of
Ramana or show the path to realise Him. All the sciences
of the East or the West said to have been invented are only
discoveries ever existing in Ramana. The knowledge, action
or desire arise from Ramana. Nothing exists without Ramana.
Nothing existed without Ramana. Nothing will ever exist
without Ramana’s presence; whatever observed by the naked
eye or heard by the human ear becomes insignificant when
one closely follows Ramana’s magnificent teachings with
intuitional vision. Let His teachings to the mankind take
their roots deep in the bottom of one’s heart and get well
nourished by ever remembering the name of Sri Ramana
which is Brahman of the Upanishads, Paramatman of the
Yogis and God of others. Ramana alone exists. There is only
one Ramana who resides in all things and all beings. Sarvam
Ramanamayam Jagat. All are Ramana – the one Truth.
39. Arunachala! The Spiritual

Axis of the World*
Reading the following extract from A Sadhu’s
Reminiscences, by Sadhu Arunachala (Major A.W.
Chadwick), it would appear that Bhagavan was
quite certain about a corresponding holy hill exactly
opposite the globe to Arunachala. Major Chadwick
writes:
“H e used to say that Arunachala was the top of the

spiritual axis of the earth. ‘There must,’ he said, ‘be
another mountain corresponding to Arunachala at exactly the
opposite side of the globe, the corresponding pole of the axis.’
So certain was he of this that one evening he made me fetch
an atlas and see if this was not correct. I found, according
to the atlas, the exact opposite point came in the sea about
a hundred miles off the coast of Peru. He seemed doubtful
about this. I pointed out that there might be some island at
this spot or a mountain under the sea. It was not until some
years after Bhagavan’s passing that a visiting Englishman had
a tale of a spot, supposed to be a great secret-power centre,
in the Andes somewhere in this latitude. Later I found that
though a centre had certainly been started, it had failed. Since
then I have been told of another person who is practising
meditation in solitude in the region of the Andes in Ecuador.
So it does appear as though there were some strange attraction
about that part of the globe. The earth is not an exact sphere
and maps are not so accurate as all that, so we are unable
to pin it down to any definite point. It is quite possible that
more is going on in that part of the world than we know and
this would fit in well with what Bhagavan said. However, I
could never discuss the matter with Bhagavan, as it was not
until many years after his passing that I had any indication
* Major Chadwick and Ravi Iyer, ‘The Maharshi’ newsletter, Mar/
Apr. 2003.
that anything of this sort was happening in those parts. I had

many years ago travelled extensively in that country but had
never seen anything which would lead me to think that there
might be important spiritual centres there.”
Following the thread of Major Chadwick’s
research, Dr. Ravi Iyer of Virginia writes about his
investigation into Machu Picchu, an ancient, sacred
mountain in Peru.
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi always insisted that the
Holy Hill Arunachala was the spiritual axis of the world,
even in a physical sense, similar to the geographical North
Pole, with a South Pole axis. So strongly did he maintain
the view that another holy hill existed on the opposite side
of the globe to Arunachala – which was itself remarkable
since he normally did not take very rigid positions except
on matters concerning the Self and the Heart – that he once
made a devotee pull out a world atlas and look for a similar
mountain opposite to Arunachala. The only mention we have
of this endeavour was that the search indicated a spot on the
continental shelf beneath the Pacific Ocean immediately off
the coast of Peru. No further effort seems to have been spent
after this, though it appears that Bhagavan may not have
supported the conclusion of that research, since he seemed
convinced that a land-based mountain existed at the other end
of this “spiritual axis”.
The Latitude/longitude Coordinates of Arunachala
(Tiruvannamalai) are: 12n13, 79e04
Recently I came across an article about a place in the
high Andean mountains of Peru that is reputed to be a site of
great spiritual force, called Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu was
discovered by Yale archeologist Hiram Bingham in 1911, and
is the site of an ancient Inca temple city. This city appears
to have evaded discovery by the marauding armies of the
Spanish Conquistadors, yet it represents one of the immense

mysteries of the Inca civilisation. It appears the Machu Picchu
Mountain itself was known as sacred to the Incas from a time
before their own civilisation, since the Incas speak of the
mountain as the “Ancient One,” who preceded the civilisation
of their ancestors.
There are several striking parallels between the Machu
Picchu site and the Sakti culture. The Incas worshipped Machu
Picchu as the manifestation of the Divine Mother Goddess of
the Universe. They referred to Her as “Paachamama,” a name
that bears a striking similarity to the name “Pachaiamman”
used for Parvathi in South Indian shrines. [In the early 1900s,
the Maharshi spent many months at the Pachaiamman Temple
at the foot of the Hill, in the town of Tiruvannamalai.]
The architecture of the temple city was astrologically and
astronomically determined. Various points of the city serve
as a kind of giant sextant or observatory from where specific
constellations and celestial objects can be plotted and
observed. A closer look at the topology of the city reveals a
striking resemblance to the Sri Chakra, the Meru architectural
topology that characterizes Indian Sakti shrines.
On the psychic plane, multiple individuals with siddhic/
occult capacities have separately asserted on visiting Machu
Picchu that the city is a place where the feminine aspect of
the Universe is especially palpable.
Lastly, the Latitude/longitude coordinates of Machu
Picchu are: 13s07, 72w34. While the geographical coordinates
are not exactly opposite of those of Arunachala, it would be
unreasonable to expect it would be exact since the earth is not
a precise sphere.
I share this with the general community of Ramana
bhaktas as an item of spiritual and historical interest. While
ultimately there is nothing but the Self, as long as the
manifested world is our framework of reference then we will
be confronted by the dual pairs of balancing opposites. There

can be no Siva without Sakti, and vice versa.
References & Notes:
The URL to the astrodienst website for latitude-longitude
determinations is: http://www.astro.com/cgi/aq.cgi?lang=e
The global coordinates for Tiruvannamalai and Machu Picchu
are as follows:
Tiruvannamalai: 12n13, 79e04
Machu Picchu: 13s07, 72w34
If you do a precise reversal of Tiruvannamalai’s
coordinates you will indeed fall off the coast of Peru. You can
confirm this by going to the following website and entering
the precise reverse coordinate of Tiruvannamalai: http://
www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vlatlon.html (The site shows a
satellite view. Make sure you are viewing earth from a 10
km height).
Regarding information on Machu Picchu, check out:
sacredsites.com Machu Picchu
http://www.he.net/~mine/inca/ [stale as of Jun-2009]
Machu Picchu Crown Jewel In The Clouds – This site
had the Meru like (Sri Chakra architecture of the city)
ifp.com://MachuPicchu
40. Bhagavan Sri Ramana:

His Marvellous Love*
“H e who has got into the Grace of the GURU will never
be forsaken even as the prey which has entered the
jaws of the tiger will never be given up,” said Sri Bhagavan.
Has the love of a master ever been expressed in terms stronger
than these? Sri Bhagavan’s love was indeed marvellous in
measure and extent, transcending space and time.
His love was equal to all, regardless of differences in
caste, colour, creed, culture, position and the like. His warm
welcome, usually expressed in a genial smile, extended to all
who came to visit him. He made kind enquiries, now and then,
of their welfare, comforts at the Ashram and sometimes, even
of apparently insignificant matters, out of pure Love. All had
easy access to him without any introduction or intermediary.
He listened to their tales of sorrow with sympathy and gave
them the needed comfort and courage to face their trials.
Experience has it that many who went to him had their
troubles diminished, if not completely cleared. Unexpressed
anxieties were dispelled, and untold problems solved. The
beauty of all such things is the silent and unostentatious way
they occurred without the others knowing about them. It was
quite a familiar sight to see Sri Bhagavan caressing a babe
resting on his lap. He never took anything which could not
be shared with those about him. And in the way he moved
with them, there was not a tinge of patronage, a sense of
superiority or anything of the kind. He sat with all and took
his meal with all. No special dish for him at any time.
His brief conversations included amazing details of his
early Sadhana up the hill, absorbing anecdotes about his
animal children, humorous remarks about men and things
and profound truths about the mystery of life, His master-
* V. Venkataramier, B.A., L.T., Madras, The Call Divine, February

1953.
mind observed our moods, straight struck home with thought-

provoking and soul-lifting words, that had the immediate and
almost magical effect of lifting us from our depression. Our
mental weakness would disappear in due course.
The phenomenal love of Sri Bhagavan extended not only
to his human children, but to all creatures who came in contact
with him. The cows and the calves of the Ashram would go
straight to him, and receive, as if of right, his love in the
shape of fruits, sweets and gentle stroke on their bodies. His
caressing them was something bewitching and they seemed
so delighted with it. The dogs also had their share of his love
in no small measure. A remarkable instance I shall relate
here. A disciple of Sri Bhagavan had brought a dog with him.
It looked very bright and striking, with Kumkum glistening
on its forehead. It was not attracted to food of any kind, as
would naturally be expected of an animal, but was almost all
the time gambolling at his feet in sheer joy. This rapturous
scene set me thinking rather vigourously, and wondering
what might be the reason.
Late that night when all alone with Sri Bhagavan, he
voluntarily said, referring to the dog that “He was an advanced
soul who had put on that skin and that is why he was not
eager about his food.’ On hearing this, I was speechless
with emotion. His love has created tombs for his departed
canine children in the Ashram premises itself. The deer and
the peacock also have enjoyed the plentifulness of love. Of
all these, monkeys have, it appears, had the greatest share
of his affection. I am told that they formed his body-guard
during his rambles on the hill in earliest days. His moving
anecdotes about their love and gratitude would make us
blush with shame at the poor stock of the noble qualities in
us humans. Even of the proverbially fierce leopard, he had a
good word when he said that it made a “gentle” growl and
left, while referring to its visit at the Skandasramam high up
the hill, years ago. The enthralling story of Sri Bhagavan’s
animal children reveals our callousness and density to their
real selves, which his transcendent love alone was capable of

sensing.
The potency of Sri Bhagavan’s love transcends space
and time. His disciples the world over have experienced it
and testified to it. To those who have known him well, this
is a patent truth beyond argument or discussion. Instances
of immediate response to remote calls are too numerous to
relate. Something good you wish for is granted, sometimes,
the very moment, wherever you may happen to be. Bhagavan,
it is stated, used to say during his last days, “They say I am
dying, I am going away. Where can I go? I am not going
away. I shall be here.”
Sceptics might say that it was just a word of consolation
from him to those dear ones gathered about him in intense
anxiety and nothing more. Assuredly not so. Scriptures say
that it is the gross body alone that dies, and that the soul
being unborn is eternal. The lives of saints of all creeds prove
this fact. The great ones live more dynamically, on being
freed from the limitations of the flesh. Why then doubt Sri
Bhagavan’s assuring words to us? They are literal truth. I will
quote here his words at a leave taking by me after a fairly
long stay at the Ashram. Said He, “You say you are going
home, where are you going? Where can you go? Your body
may go here and there. But, really, all your going and coming
are only here (meaning himself), even as the pictures in the
cinema are only on the screen. You are always here.” These
profound words uttered by him with an unforgettable smile
have proved literally true. To get away from His Infinite Self,
any time or place is well-nigh impossible.
41. Bhagavan is Everywhere*

The most wonderful consequence that comes from being
aware of Bhagavan’s presence is the realisation that he is
accessible everywhere. As we go through life like trapeze
artists at the whim of fate it is reassuring to know that the
safety net is always there to catch us if we fall. How else
can one explain the unmistakable experience of Bhagavan’s
Grace regardless of wherever we may be in the world? Such
incidents are so common, be it in the waking state or the
dream world, that it no longer surprises us but confirms his
omnipresence. The implication is that there are no barriers
in time and space to what we call the presence of Bhagavan.
That presence is ever available like the very air we breathe.
There is an interesting discussion about Bhagavan’s
pervasiveness which gives us some idea of how we may
boost the frequency of these surprising epiphanies:
“Siva Mohan Lal asked Bhagavan, ‘When I concentrate
here in Bhagavan’s presence, I am able to fix my thoughts on
the Self easily. But in my home it takes a long time and much
trouble to do so. Now why should it be so, especially as I feel
convinced that Bhagavan is everywhere and is my antaryami?
[indweller; inner guide].’ He continued, ‘It must of course be
so. Though we are told that God is everywhere, are we not
also told that he is more manifest in some objects or places
than in others, e.g., in temples, and images or avatars?’
“Bhagavan said, ‘Ask Muruganar, who is here. He has
sung a song where he says Ramanasramam is not simply here
for him, but everywhere.’ Thereupon Muruganar read out the
following stanza from Ramana Devamalai [which translated
means]:
“‘Because (by His grace) the mind has attained
quiescence and remains calm everywhere as it used to remain
* Christopher Quilkey, ‘Editorial’, Mountain Path, October 2015

at Ramanasramam, wherever I may go in this world it is to me

Ramanasramam, to which even devas go with keen desire.’
“In other words, Ramanasramam is chidakasa which is
everywhere and to which we gain access by killing the mind.
“Bhagavan added, ‘Time and place really do not exist.
Even in the radio we have a hint of this truth. We have
Hyderabad here. What is sung there, we hear here at the same
time as it is sung there. Where is time and place?’*
We tend to assume that Bhagavan has some type of
form that can be defined by size and density, even though we
have been told again and again that Bhagavan was not to be
confused with the physical body we called Ramana Maharshi.
He never was and is still not that body which expired some
sixty-five years ago!
Though we pay lip-service to the fact that Bhagavan
is no longer present in a physical body we still associate
him with a form we can relate to. We look at Bhagavan’s
photo and this brings us a measure of calm and reassurance.
We stand before his samadhi and it fills us with peace and
well-being. Is this all there is or have we yet to understand
something fundamentally deeper which the normal mind
cannot comprehend?
There is nothing wrong with our approach because it is
much easier to personalise our relationship with Bhagavan
rather than consider the nirguna or formless aspect of his
presence. Bhagavan is available in whatever aspect can bridge
the gap of ignorance we believe separates us. He can be a
father, a confidante, a friend, an older brother, a forbidding
authority. It all depends on our attitude, which with time and
maturity changes and becomes more refined.
What is clear from the above anecdote is that within
the space of Ramanasramam there is a chid akasa (space
of awareness) which draws us inward. It is an unforgettable
* Mudaliar, Devaraja, Day by Day with Bhagavan, 2006, p.41-2,

21-11-45 Afternoon.
experience. Like a seed once planted it will grow according

to how much it is nurtured by our sadhana. One day, through
the Grace of Bhagavan, it will swallow us till we know no
difference between our inner and outer dimensions, nor will
we discover any external difference between the tranquil
space at Arunachala and the turbulence of New York city.
Whether we are fully aware of it or not, the inner
compulsion of our heart is to reside in that spaceless and
timeless awareness. Once tasted it is never forgotten. It
overrides all other impulses. It is an almighty impersonal
wave that we ignore at our peril and yearn to experience and
make our own.
If we keep our minds fixed in one-pointed awareness
using the remembrance of Bhagavan, activities will still go on
and their ultimate outcome will not affect us. It is important to
remember that we are not the doer, things happen. That power,
by whatever name we call it, which created this world and
brought us into existence will see that our destiny is fulfilled.*
We may pretend we are masters of our destiny but there
is a higher and unseen force which knows and does otherwise.
We may as well try and stop the wind for all our vain attempts
to control the unstoppable.
Again, what we can do is fix our minds and hearts on
Bhagavan in whatever shape or form or bhava (attitude)
suits us best. With practice we can overcome the pramada
(wilful forgetfulness) that makes us think we are separate.
Our devotion is answered though not necessarily in the form
or result we imagined. That our sorrow is lessened and our
* “Two birds, companions [who are] always united, cling to the

self-same tree. Of these two, the one eats the fruit and the other
looks on [as a witness] without eating. On the self-same tree,
a person immersed [in the sorrow of the world] is deluded and
grieves on account of his helplessness. When he sees the other, the
Lord who is worshipped and his greatness, he becomes freed from
sorrow.” Mundaka Upanishad, 3.1.1-2. The Principal Upanishads,
S. Radhakrishnan, Harper Collins, Delhi, 1994. p.686.)
doubts and confusion cleared to the point where they seem

quite irrelevant in the face of an overwhelming sense of
peace, is evident to all who enter the ambit of Arunachala
Ramana.
On a purely physical level we know that the speed of
light is some 186,000 miles per second. We also know that
the speed of thought is faster than light. What if there is
something which is faster than thought? How to think of it,
or imagine it? We cannot because our mind is an instrument
of thought. But what if there is ‘something’ which transcends
all sense of difference?
Bhagavan said repeatedly that he and the Self are one
and the same and our mistake is to identify him with a body
and mind. Let us accept for a moment that what he says is
true and not just nod our heads blindly and pay lip service to
this insight. If Bhagavan is not the body or the mind then who
is ‘he’? And if we are to believe him, that he and we are one
and the same, who then are we?
Consider. We cannot know it with our physical bodies,
that is, wherever we travel we will not find it. We cannot
know it with our minds because whatever we conceive
with thought is partial and transitory. Thought, to extend a
physical analogy, is not fast enough to catch it. Then how can
we ‘catch’ it? It is not a thought. And this is the clue: ‘we’
cannot catch it. It catches us.
We think we can do it and that is our delusion.
What we can do is develop one-pointed attention for ‘it’
to find and catch us. By this practice we learn that the one
absolute essential of sadhana is to be still (summa iru).
That is as far as we can go with our minds. It is here that
surrender or the practice of self-enquiry keeps us quiet. Their
purpose is to purify our minds. We are creating the conditions
for Grace.
Someone asked Bhagavan to bless them upon their
departure knowing that possibly they might never get the
chance to be at Ramanasramam again:
“M.: You do not go anywhere away from the Presence as

you imagine. The Presence is everywhere. The body moves
from place to place; yet it does not leave the one Presence.
So no one can be out of sight of the Supreme Presence. Since
you identify one body with Bhagavan and another body with
yourself, you find two separate entities and speak of going
away from here. Wherever you may be, you cannot leave ME.
“To illustrate it: The pictures move on the screen in
a cinema show; but does the screen itself move? No. The
Presence is the screen: you, I, and others are the pictures. The
individuals may move but not the Self.”*
So when we say Bhagavan is everywhere what do we
really mean? Bhagavan is telling us that our goal is here and
now but we keep identifying with the pictures and not the
screen on which it happens. Bhagavan does nothing. How
can he when he is not identified with or controlled by a body?
This may sound strange because the power of Grace which
we ascribe to ‘him’ works wonders but it is true.
It is ‘automatic divine action’ which happens because we
are receptive. For a moment we are in tune with this stillness
and are not identified with any thought or feeling. There is
no sense of opposition or separateness. There is no desire, no
fear. This simple step is the beginning.
We slowly come to understand that Bhagavan is not bound
by time or space nor our concepts as to who ‘he’ is. Once that
indelible revelation is given to us through an unmistakable
encounter at the Samadhi, or a dream, or an instant of
recognition when we see his photograph or a sentence in his
teachings, we are joined to his Name. We begin to realise that
Bhagavan is everywhere and wherever any of us gather in his
Name he is there; wherever any one of us prays to him, he
is there; wherever any one contemplates him, he is there. For
* Venkataramiah, M., (comp.), Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi,

Talk 470.
each one of us, we only need to remember him any time and
in any place, he is always there.
We may not always be aware of Bhagavan but Bhagavan
is certainly aware of us.
42. Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi*
B hagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi is no name in mind and

no form in matter. He is no theory in name nor practice
in form. He is the Substratum, the Bed-rock of Truth in all
names and forms.
HE is the life in all individuals and the only light in all
souls. He is the Divine Presence in one and all. He is the Basic
Principle, the fundamental fact in our everyday existence.
HIS is the province of spiritual life ever abiding in,
through and beyond the passing and perishable, the fickle and
fleeting. He is not external to us but ever present in us though
we might fail to realise Him as such. He is awake in us while
we are asleep.
HE is in all that was, that is and that will be. He is the
ancient and yet the only modern. He is the soul of the whole
within and without man, bird and beast.
HE is the wise and solid silence of the Supreme in the
ignorant and shallow sound of the senses. He shines on the
brow of immortality in the firmament of the Self with freedom
and peace.
IN Him neither the sun, nor the moon nor the stars nor
lightning shine, whereas He is shining and all these shine
after Him.
HE is in the ether, air, fire, water and earth but these
do not and cannot recognize Him, being inert. The speech,
the mind and the intellect do not touch even the border of
* Sri Swami Rajeswarananda, The Call Divine, January 1954.

His immensity; He is the very embodiment of Existence-

Knowledge-Bliss ever and ever.
BIRTH and death of the mundane world exist not in
Him or for Him. We cannot seek Him anywhere but can see
(realise) Him everywhere. He alone shines forth from every
face.
HE is the wisdom of the wise, the strength of the strong,
the brilliancy of the brain and the illumination of the soul.
Sound, touch, taste, form and smell fall flat to taint Him. He
is the real “I”, the One in all our apparent “I-s”, the many.
HE is the Supreme Consciousness, that includes and
transcends all the lesser forms of consciousness, such as
inward or outward, intermediary or homogeneous.
HE is the only reality in us and we are merely an
expression of Him. We may not everyone of us be capable of
realising the truth of it but we should not at any time lower
it down.
AN individual is for a society, society for a community,
community for a country or a nation, a nation for humanity
and humanity for the realisation of Divinity. Thus, a true
individual is universal. And true universal is the only
individual.
FALLING short of realising the Light of Truth, the Light
of the Self that lie is, we should not get upset nor upset
others with the shadowy shapes of ‘I’ and ‘Mine’, the outer
conditions of the material glitter and glamour.
BUT we should radiate an unshaking and unshakable
calm, peace and bliss of the Beyond. We have thus to express
the Divine Presence of our Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
as a living reality in our lives.
HE is the Absolute and lives in the Infinite. He is the
Eternal rooted in Immortality.
HE is the Centre to which all radii of individual souls
come and converge. He is the Centre of an infinite circle
without a circumference. In other words, He is Centre and
Circumference as well. He is awake to the Centre located
everywhere whereas we are conscious of our Centre being

located in a particular body, mind and world. Shifting this
individual Centre from the particular and identifying It with
That of the universal is the truth of religion and religion of
truth.
BREAK the seeming structure of an individual
consciousness, there shines forth Sri Ramana in His Holy
Majesty, in all glee and glory. We then come face to face
with Him.
HE is the harmony and peace in the melody of the
cosmos. He is the One and Only in the shrine of wisdom, in
the temple of every soul and in the temple of the universe.
HE sees without eyes, speaks without tongue, hears
without ears, and thinks without mind. Though with eyes, we
see not; though with ears, we hear not; though with tongue,
we speak not; though with mind, we think not, as these are
mundane and material. He hears unheard and sees unseen. He
is far and He is near. He is the means and He is the end in the
goal of life with no dualistic make-up.
WHERE one sees another, hears another and knows
another, that is small and finite. Where one sees no other,
hears no other, and knows no other, that is great and infinite.
Sri Ramana is such Light that cannot but be the Ideal of
humanity.
HE is the underlying Unity in the midst of all diversities
that exist on the surface. He is above all isms, schools,
caste, creed, colour and the like. He is the sexless Self in
us, the immortal and eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent and
omniscient.
LET us therefore stand with noble and sublime fixity of
purpose and not waver in life. Let us flower into perfection
with the manifestation of Sri Ramana, the Living Free, in us.
Let us not rob ourselves of the blessings of our own Ideal, the
realisation of the Supreme Self.
THE truth of Sri Ramana is not provincial or parochial.
Provincialism in truth is a contradiction in terms. The Highest
Truth knows no boundary lines and does not limp from limit
to limit. There is no division in the Infinite.
LET no darkness of human weakness blind us to the
Divine Presence of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, hearing
Whom everything becomes heard, seeing Whom there remains
nothing else to be seen, and knowing Whom everything is
known. He is the Seer in all sights; the Hearer in hearing, and
the Knowledge in knowing.
How to see the Seer, hear the Hearer and know the
Knower when there is no other? Knowing Him, the wise
melt in Silence, melting in Silence with no trace of the ego,
root and branch, is to know Him. Knowing is being and not
even a process of becoming. Let us simply BE HIM through
His own grace and the riddle of life and death is solved on
earth without an iota of doubt. It is then the whole universe
becomes our own Home and all the inhabitants our very
Self, the One without a second, which Bhagavan Sri Ramana
Maharshi is.
43. The Sat-Guru*
“F rom darkness lead me to light,” says the Upanishad.

The Guru is one who is competent to do this; and
such a one was Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. The Guru
is the dispeller of ignorance and awakener of understanding.
Throughout the ages India has produced such.
The Sat-Guru, who is Divine Consciousness in human
form, is the one guide to Enlightenment, the only bridge
from the mental concepts in which the disciple is enclosed
to spiritual consciousness. Said Sri Sankara: “Even though
you possess learning and all gifts and endowments, it will
not avail you unless your mind is protected by the Guru and
absorbed in him.” And again, in Vivekachudamani, he says:
* Dr. T.N. Krishnaswami, The Mountain Path, July 1965.

“There are three things that are rare and acquired due to the
Grace of God: a human birth, thirst for Liberation and the
protective care of the Guru.”
Were it not for this manifestation of absolute Reality or
pure Consciousness (which are the same) in human form,
spiritual knowledge would be lost to the world. The Guru,
who is a knower of Brahman, is equated in the Upanishads
with Brahman Himself. Though living as a man in our midst,
he is conscious of his Divine Identity. Were there none such
as he, the doctrine of the Self would remain a mere theoretical
concept for the discussion of philosophers. The mind of man
has to be shown the way. For this, the pure Consciousness
embodied in the Guru mingles with the same Consciousness
awakened by him in the disciple. The Guru is ever ready to
help and uplift those who appeal to him. To disregard such
help would be folly. It is vanity and pride to suppose that
one’s own unaided efforts will suffice. To accept a Guru
does not mean accepting the guidance of another man, but of
pure Consciousness, shining through a human psychosomatic
instrument.
Spiritual tradition has always accepted the need for
initiation and guidance by a Master. “What is commonly
called ‘self-reliance’ is only ego-reliance,” the Maharshi said.
And again: “God, Guru and Self are the same.” Only he in
whom this Divine Consciousness is awakened can lead us
beyond the range of human perception. There are various
ways in which the Guru can initiate and guide the disciple,
but that he should do so has always been held necessary.
Those who attack this tradition are really only attacking their
own false conception of it.
The Guru has already trodden the path and can show it to
the seeker. Even if he has arrived spontaneously at the goal,
as did Bhagavan, he can still see and indicate the approaches
to it. He may even transmit direct experience to the disciple
as Sri Ramakrishna did for Vivekananda. However, this
can never be stabilised so long as the disciple’s vasanas or
inherent tendencies remain, since they drag him away again

to the illusory world of sense-perception. There is no wisdom
that can be given to all alike, says the Gita: “This wisdom
must not be given to one who has no tapas, is not a devotee
and is not in earnest.” This does not mean that the Guru holds
guidance or Realisation back from anyone. The Maharshi
once said that if the Guru could simply give Realisation there
would not be even a cow left unrealised. Most people do not
want spiritual knowledge, and it cannot be given to those who
do not try to awaken it in themselves. It cannot be grasped
by reason. Therefore, the Guru will not respond to those who
question him or try to argue with him out of mere academic
curiosity: “This wisdom is not to be had by reasoning.”
A Guru is only for those who seek contact with him
for the sake of spiritual understanding, because this means
seeking contact with the Truth in one’s own Heart through
him. One who lives at a distance and approaches him in this
way may receive guidance, while one who lives near him
may not know how to ask. “The real Guru is in the Heart,”
the Maharshi said. And “The task of the outer Guru is only
to turn you inward to the Guru in your Heart.” We are told
that the Divine dwells in the innermost recess of the Heart,
but how many of us are competent to look inward and realise
it? The power of the Guru in helping one to do so is far
more important than any mere verbal explanation he may
give, for the latter touches only the mental understanding.
The Maharshi said, “A silent Guru is very potent. His work
goes on inwardly where it is not apparent to the disciple.”
And he gave assurance that “As the disciple dives inwards
in search of the Self, the Guru will do his part.” But can this
not be done without the intervention of an outer Guru? The
Maharshi admitted that it can, but he added that there are
very few who are so close to Enlightenment that they can
dispense with the need for an outer Guru. This is because
it is not a case of something new to be discovered but of
the removal of obstructions to realisation of the ever-existing
Self. And since these obstructions are more emotional than

theoretical, rooted in the desires rather than the intellect, outer
aid is usually necessary to destroy them. “Sadhana is for the
removal of ignorance, which is ingrained wrong ideas. It is
not for acquiring the Self, because the Self is always there,
but for becoming aware of it.”*
Even though the disciple believes that Consciousness is
One, he accepts the duality of Guru-disciple relationship in
order to transcend it. He serves the outer Guru in order to
realise the inner. “The disciple must work inwardly, but the
Guru can work both inwardly and outwardly,” the Maharshi
explained.
One should approach the Awakened and listen to his
teaching, then dwell on it as a guide to sadhana. When
instruction comes from a Guru it carries power. Out of the
relationship of Guru and disciple realisation is born, as the
fire of knowledge from the former is kindled in the heart of
the latter.
The Upanishad says that the knower of Brahman is
Brahman Himself. This is an indication that if we are unable
to meditate on the formless Brahman we should meditate on
a knower of Brahman. He teaches right doctrine, but it is
very different from the same doctrine learned from a book.
He himself is the living teaching. His presence inspires and
strengthens us. His teaching has the authority of experience.
It does not matter if the disciplines prescribed by the Masters
vary or even if their doctrines differ on the mental plane; the
essence of their teaching is the same, just as the milk from
cows of different colours is all white.
“The spirit of the disciple is moribund owing to
forgetfulness of his true nature. The Guru revives him by
removing his supposed identity with body and mind.” The
* While speaking thus of the need for an outer Guru, it is to be

remembered that the Maharshi himself still acts as Guru even
without a human body. (Editor)
mind is apt to deny the existence of the Self because the Self
is not an object of the senses. It can never be the object of
knowledge but is itself the sole knower. Therefore, a search
for it by the mind can never succeed. “Logical explanations
have no finality. Why look outward and explain phenomena?
One should learn to attend to the knower of the phenomena.”
The knower of the phenomena is Reality. It just is; it is not
affected by discussions or logical conclusions. It is the Grace
of the Guru that enables us to realise our identity with this
Reality. Since it is the Reality, it is not something to be
acquired in the future; it just is, now, eternally.
So long as the disciple lives in duality and seeks to
transcend it, he feels oppressed by burdens and hindered
by obstacles. These are in fact mere manifestations of
the tendencies in his own mind that hold him back from
Enlightenment and make him cling to the duality he seeks to
escape from. To such a one the Guru appears as the bearer
of burdens and remover of obstructions: the destroyer of
ignorance and giver of Liberation. But effort must be made
by the disciple to remove the obstructions. And although it is
true to say that the Guru is the giver of Liberation it is also
true to say that the disciple must earn it by making himself
fit to receive it.
The Guru does not add to the ideas or theories with
which the mind of the disciple is already cluttered. Rather
he induces cessation of thought. “The mind creates the world
and life and obscures the Self. Becoming obscures Being.”
It often happened that someone came to the Maharshi with
a whole list of questions that he had drawn up and, sitting
before him, found not so much that the answers came as that
the questions faded out and ceased to be important.
Life has plunged us into a state that can be called sleep
– spiritual sleep. All our life activities are done in this sleep.
The Guru is the Awakened; he does not become involved in
this sleep but helps us to awaken from it. You encounter life
through a thing called ‘yourself’, that is through a fictitious
apparatus for living. It is this which takes charge of body and

senses, thinks through your mind, talks through your mouth,
uses your name and mistakes itself for you. But just as it
mistakes itself for you, so it mistakes the Guru for another
separate self outside of you; and that is its fatal error and also
your salvation, for the Guru, having freed himself from the
clutches of this fiend, can free you from it and lead you to the
experience of the One Self.
Thereby he gives a new meaning to the word ‘I’. Before
meeting him, you attributed it to this pseudo-self, but ‘I’
or ‘Aham’ is the name of Being, of God. He alone can call
Himself ‘I’. You only can insofar as you are One with Him.
Individual human life goes on like a dream. In a dream you
mistake the dream-self for ‘I’. Similarly, in this life you
mistake the fictitious pseudo-self for ‘I’. The Guru helps you
to awaken from this illusion. “To keep the I-thought alert is
the only upadesa (teaching).” He teaches you to abide in and
as the Self while apparently living in the world. “One should
not lose consciousness of this ‘I’ under any circumstances.
This is the remedy for all the ills of life.” “The ‘I’ springs up
from the centre of our being and our only concern should be
with this ‘I’.”
The true Self is quality-less and therefore beyond
description or even knowledge. It is thought that obscures it.
“Give up thoughts. You need not give up anything else. The
body and the comforts of life are no hindrance to realisation.
The loss of the body is not Enlightenment, it is death. The
loss of the ego-sense, the I-concept, is what is required.” The
very presence of the Guru calms down the waves of the mind
and brings it to that condition of stillness in which it is simply
aware.
Those who saw the Maharshi sitting in samadhi were
moved and awed by it. He radiated peace as the sun radiates
light. His imperturbable composure impressed some, his lively
explanations others, his grace and compassion yet others;
some enjoyed his conversation and some his tremendous
silence. Thousands flocked for a sight of Him. People felt

that here was God incarnate walking on earth. He assured us
when leaving the body that he was not going away. “People
say that I am going away, but where can I go? I am here.”
Being universal, there was no going from here to there for
him. Having realised that he was not this body, there was no
return to any other body. He has assured us that “he who is
ready for Divine Knowledge will be led to it.”
44. The Uniqueness of Sri Maharshi’s

Realisation*
T here have been many teachers of jnana yoga in our

country, but very few jnana yogins, many teachers of
Advaita, but very few who had the realisation of Advaita.
Sri Ramana Maharshi, on the other hand, was not only a
great teacher of jnana yoga all his life, but also a great jnana
yogin. To use the figure employed by Sri Ramakrishna, he
was a man who described Benares after seeing the Holy
City with his own eyes and not after-seeing only a map of
it. The remarkable power which he exercised over the minds
of men for generations was due to the fact that all his life
he was describing an experience of his own and not merely
expounding a doctrine.
It may be said that the Maharshi was a jnana yogin by
birth. For, even while he was a lad of sixteen, illumination
came to him suddenly, without any previous training or effort,
and at once he became firmly established in the very centre of
Reality for the rest of his life.
The remarkable passage in which he describes his
illumination deserves to be quoted:
“I felt I was going to die ... I did not however trouble
myself to discover if the fear was well grounded. I felt ‘I’ was
* Prof. D.S. Sarma, The Mountain Path, April 1977.
going to die’, and at once set about thinking out what I should
do. I did not care to consult doctors or elders or even friends.
I felt I had to solve the problem myself then and there.
“The shock of fear of death made me at once introspective,
or ‘introverted’. I said to myself mentally, i.e., without uttering
the words – ‘Now, death has come. What does it mean? What
is it that is dying? This body dies.’ I at once dramatized the
scene of death. I extended my limbs and held them rigid as
though rigor-mortis had set in. I imitated a corpse to lend an
air of reality to my further investigation. I held my breath and
kept my mouth closed, pressing the lips tightly together so that
no sound might escape. Let not the word ‘I’ or any other word
be uttered. ‘Well then’. said I to myself, ‘this body is dead.!
It will be carried stiff to the burning ground and there burnt
and reduced to ashes. But with the death of this body, am “I”
dead? Is the body “I”? This body is silent and inert. But I feel
the full force of my personality and even the sound “I” within
myself, – apart from the body. So “I” am a spirit, a thing
transcending the body. The material body dies, but the spirit
transcending it cannot be touched by death. I am therefore the
deathless spirit’. All this was not a mere intellectual process,
but flashed before me vividly as living truth, something
which I perceived immediately, without any argument almost.
‘I’ was something very real, the only real thing in that state,
and all the conscious activity that was connected with my
body was centred on that. The ‘I’ or my ‘self’ was holding the
focus of attention by a powerful fascination from that time
forwards. Fear of death had vanished at once and forever.”
There have been other instances, in the lives of the mystics
and saints of the world, of commonplace things like a tree in
full blossom in spring, or a flight of white cranes across the
clear blue autumnal sky, or a silvery cascade running down a
mountain-slope bringing about the realisation of the Universal
Spirit. But they have been more or less temporary experiences.
In the case of some, the experience never repeated itself. In
the case of others, it needed extraordinary efforts to bring
it back and make it steady. That is why in the literature of

mysticism the so-called mystic way is described as consisting
of three stages, after the initial awakening – namely, purgation,
illumination and union. In our own religious tradition, we are
familiar with long periods of tapas which the aspirants had to
go through before they could have a vision of the Deity they
wanted to see. And it is well known how Patanjali in his Yoga
Sutras has mapped out the entire way leading to samadhi or
union and described its eight stages beginning with Yama
and Niyama. But, in the case of the Maharshi, there were
no periods of sadhana, no stages of the mystic way and no
laborious practice of yoga. The realisation that came to him
with the thought of death came once for all and it became an
abiding possession. The present writer, when he went to pay
his respects to the Maharshi in September, 1946, put to him
the following question:
“In the lives of the western mystics we find descriptions
of what is called the mystic way with the three well-marked
stages of purgation, illumination and union. The purgatory
stage corresponds to what we call the sadhana period. Was
there any such period in the life of Bhagavan?”
And without the least hesitation came the following reply:
“I know no such period. I never performed any pranayama
or Japa. I knew no mantras. I had no idea of meditation or
contemplation. Even when I came to hear of such things later
I was never attracted by them. Even now my mind refuses
to pay any attention to them. Sadhana implies an object to
be gained and the means of gaining it. What is there to be
gained which we do not already possess? In meditation,
concentration and contemplation, what we have to do is only
not to think of anything, but to be still. This natural State is
given many names – moksha, jnana, Atma, etc., and these
give rise to many controversies. There was a time when I
used to remain with my eyes closed. That does not mean that
I was practising any sadhana then. Even now I sometimes
remain with my eyes closed. If people choose to say that I am
doing some sadhana at the moment, let them say so. It makes
no difference to me. People seem to think that by practising
some elaborate sadhana the Self would someday descend
upon them as something very big and with tremendous glory
and they would then have what is called sakshatkaram. The
Self is sakshat, all right, but there is no karam or kritam about
it. The word karam implies one’s doing something. But the
Self is realised not by one’s doing something, but by one’s
refraining from doing anything – by remaining still and being
simply what one really is.”
The audience assembled in the Hall were astonished at
the vehemence with which the Maharshi spoke these words.
He spoke, of course, in Tamil. The present writer later on
put the speech into English and sent it to the Maharshi for
approval. He approved it and it was published in Vedanta
Kesari with the caption: Nastyakrltah kritena. The latter is a
quotation from the Mundaka Upanishad. It means that what
is Uncreated cannot be gained by anything that one can do.
45. Dreams*
‘We are such stuff
As dreams are made of and our short life
Is rounded by a sleep’.
S hakespeare really did know what he was talking about

and it was not just poetic effervescence. Maharshi used
to say exactly the same.
I suppose I questioned Bhagavan more often on this
subject than any others, though some doubts always remained
for me. He had always warned that as soon as one doubt is
* Sadhu Arunachala (Major Alan Chadwick), The Call Divine,

March 1954.
cleared another will spring up in its place, and there is no end

to doubts.
“But Bhagavan,” I would repeat, “dreams are disconnected,
while the waking experience goes on from where it left off
and is admitted by all to be more or less continuous.”
“Do you say this in your dreams?” Bhagavan would ask.
“They seemed perfectly consistent and real to you then. It is
only now, in your waking state that you question the reality
of the experience. This is not logical.”
Bhagavan refused to see the least difference
between the two states, and in this he agreed with all the
great Advaitic Seers. Some have questioned if Sankara did
not draw a line of difference between these two states, but
Bhagavan has persistently denied it. “Sankara did it apparently
only for the purpose of clearer exposition,” the Maharshi
would explain.
However, I tried to twist my questions, the answer I
received was always the same: “Put your doubts when in the
dream state itself. You do not question the waking state when
you are awake, you accept it. You accept it in the same way
you accept your dreams. Go beyond both states and all three
states including deep sleep. Study them from that point of
view. You now study one limitation from the point of view
of another limitation. Could anything be more absurd? Go
beyond all limitation, then come here with your doubts.”
But in spite of this, doubt still remained. I somehow felt
at the time of dreaming there was something unreal in it, not
always of course, but just glimpses now and then.
“Doesn’t that ever happen to you in your waking state
too?” Bhagavan queried. “Don’t you sometimes feel that the
world you live in and the thing that is happening is unreal?”
Still, in spite of all this, doubt persisted.
But one morning I went to Bhagavan and, much to his
amusement, handed him a paper on which the following was
written:
‘Bhagavan remembers that I expressed some doubts about

the resemblance between dreams and waking experience.
Early in the morning most of these doubts were cleared by
the following dream, which seemed particularly objective and
real:
‘I was arguing philosophy with someone and pointed out
that all experience was only subjective, that there was nothing
outside the mind. The other person demurred, pointing out
how solid everything was and how real experience seemed,
and it could not be just personal imagination.
‘I replied, “No, it is nothing but a dream. Dream and
waking experience are exactly the same.”
‘’You say that now,” he replied, “but you would never
say a thing like that in your dream.”
‘And then I woke up.’
46. Sunk in the Ocean of Bliss*

“Those who take refuge at the lotus feet of the supreme
Lord of Mercy … seeking Thy benign grace … abide happy,
sunk in the ocean of bliss.”
– Sri Ramana Maharshi, Necklet of Nine Gems, v.3
I am indebted to my Sadguru, Sri Sainathuni
Sarath Babuji, whose depth of love and knowledge
launched me on a thrilling voyage of discovery of
the fullness of Bhagavan. This article draws greatly
from his satsangs and unpublished biographical
work, Ramana the Maharshi.
S ri Ramana Maharshi and the path of Self-enquiry – these

two are almost synonymous and Bhagavan’s name will be
forever associated with that practice. He is generally regarded
as a peerless jnani and a masterful exponent of Advaita and
* Alison Williams, The Mountain Path, July 2003.

Self-enquiry, and Arunachala is said to be the centre of that

practice. However, to view this as the totality of Bhagavan
and Self-enquiry as the only way he advocated is to do him
a disservice, and to deprive ourselves of some of the beauty
and riches of his gift to us – for Bhagavan shows us so much
more.
Undoubtedly Bhagavan was a jnani of the highest order,
but he was also a consummate bhakta – and far too great to
confine himself to one path. He fully recognized that different
seekers require different methods according to the individual’s
need and nature. Thus we find Bhagavan giving advice on
diet, lifestyle, posture, worship, attitudes to work and family
life, as well as on pranayama and yoga, and answering
questions on texts, scriptures, and various spiritual practices.
If Bhagavan our master did not limit himself exclusively to
Self-enquiry, then need we do so? It is the purpose of this
article to question whether, in our zest to follow the practice
of Self-enquiry, we have inadvertently overlooked other
aspects of his wonderful life and teachings, equally powerful,
sublime and beneficial to the seeker.
A Higher Power
Not only were Bhagavan’s teachings not limited to one
practice, but he valued what could not be practised, and
pointed out that grace is the key. When questioned as to
whether he himself did any sadhana replied, “I know no such
period… I had no rules of meditation or contemplation.”* He
often spoke about the significance of surrender and reassured
devotees that everything would come to them through the
grace of the Sadguru and unfold according to the will of
Iswara. In one dialogue Bhagavan said that instructions are
necessary only for those who do not believe in the guidance
of God,† and that those who seek freedom from misery are
* Sri Ramana Reminiscences by G.V. Subbaramayya, p.153, 1994
edn.
† Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi no. 596, p.591, 2000 edn.
told that God guides everything and they need not worry about
what happens. “If they are of the best type,” he says, “they
at once believe it and firmly abide by faith in God.”* When
Prajananda wrote asking to become Bhagavan’s disciple,
Bhagavan indicated that all that was needed was faith and
love towards the guru.† Therefore, according to Bhagavan,
the “best type” of sadhaka is one who can hand over the
reins to the Guru (or God or Self which, he said, were all
synonymous) and leave him to do the work. It is interesting to
note here, that with regard to his own case Bhagavan stated,
“The fact is I did nothing. Some higher power took hold of
me and I was entirely in its hand.”‡
The Longing for Bhakti
Before probing further into the role of practice and Self-
enquiry let us first take a closer look at the part Self-enquiry
played in Bhagavan’s own realisation and how he spoke of
it with his visitors and devotees. When we read Bhagavan’s
description of that famous event in that small room in Madurai
over one hundred years ago, it is clear that the enquiry –
“Who is it that dies? Is it this body? What is it that remains?
Is it me? What is this thing I call ‘I’ anyway?” – lasted only
a few moments. Similarly, the fear of death passed quickly,
the same day. Bhagavan said he would lose himself “in the
all-absorbing concentration on myself, on the spirit, current
or force (avesam) which constituted myself,”§ and that it
remained with him ever after. This dramatic and transforming
experience was expressed in Bhagavan as a kind of indefinable
longing. His mood became withdrawn and pensive. He tried
* ibid.,
† Conscious Immortality by M. Venkatramiah and P. Brunton, p.139,
1996 edn.
‡ Day by Day with Bhagavan, by Devaraja Mudaliar, 4-10-46.
p.317, 2002 edn.
§ Self-Realisation by B. V. Narasimha Swami, Ch. 5. p.18, 2002
edn.
to give an explanation for his behaviour that would satisfy his

family and told them he had an unbearable headache. “But,”
he said, “it was not a headache but an inexpressible anguish
which I suppressed at the time.”* He also commented later
that the event of his awakening started two new “habits”
in him: introspection, and a tendency to weep whenever he
stood before the images of the sixty-three Tamil Saivite saints
(Nayanmars), and the deities (Siva, Meenakshi, Nataraja) in
the big temple in Madurai. Until then he had occasionally
visited the temple with his playmates, but had not felt any
emotional response. Now, however, he would go almost
every day and stand before the images, which triggered in
him a spontaneous upwelling of emotion. “Without feeling
pain or pleasure tears would flow.”† He also prayed, not for
anything in particular, he said, but he longed for the grace and
blessings of Iswara. There was, however, one specific thing
he would pray for, ardently and tearfully: the same bhaktas
the sixty-three saints. He tells us that he yearned for that kind
of bhakti and that, “Going to school, books in hand, I would
be eagerly desiring and expecting that God would suddenly
appear before me in the sky; and so I would be looking up
at the sky. What sort of progress could such a one make in
his studies at school!”‡ It is to be remembered that all this
came after his death experience. The sequence of events and
Bhagavan’s description of them clearly show that this was a
unique spiritual experience, rather than any kind of intellectual
conceptualisation or the result of any practice. If we pause
for a moment here, we cannot help but be touched by the
beauty and poignancy of the situation. There is wonder at the
might of the grace which struck the young Venkataraman like
a thunderbolt and claimed him as its own. At the same time
* Talks, no.419., p.404, 2000 edn.

† Self-Realisation, Ch. 5. p.19, 2002 edn.
‡ Day by Day with Bhagavan by Devaraja Mudaliar, entry for
18-3-1945, p.2, 2002 edn.
there is the image of the teenager, till then seemingly quite

normal and enjoying the usual schoolboy activities, suddenly
swept off his feet by an overwhelming and life-changing
experience, possessed by something that was compellingly
fascinating (that “higher power” or avesam) yet for which he
had no words and apparently nobody he could turn to for an
explanation or guidance. In addition, the boy had to endure
hostility from his schoolmates and older brother towards his
abstracted demeanour, as well as waves of intense longing.
Arunachala drew me to him*
After about six weeks of struggle, stung by a comment
from his brother, Bhagavan immediately resolved to leave
home for Arunachala, which had held a strong attraction
for him since he was a young boy. He felt that his brother’s
taunts were a call from his divine father. As he wrote in his
farewell note, “In obedience to his command, I am going in
search of my father” (italics added). But it was not his own
father he was seeking. It was rather that he had undergone a
transformation that had changed him forever and had awakened
him to the presence of something immense, mysterious, and
great; that “something great” he called the father. This was
his personalized way of expressing whatever it was that had
possessed him for the last six weeks, and his urge to make
it more concrete and go deeper into that experience. To him,
Arunachala was the concrete form of this inner experience
and an outward symbol of what he had realised. He simply
had to be united with it. In Madurai he was unable to interest
himself any longer in mundane or domestic matters, and until
he arrived at the feet of the object of his love – that for which
he had felt sphurana† for as long as he could remember –
he remained restless and, as he said, suffering inexplicable
anguish. When Bhagavan finally arrived in Tiruvannamalai
* ‘Eight Stanzas to Arunachala’, v.1, Collected Works of Sri Ramana
Maharshi, p.101, 2002 edn.
† Sanskrit: throbbing, glittering, springing forth.
it was like a homecoming for him. He hurried straight to

Arunachaleswara Temple, where all three compound doors
were open, as also the inner sanctum, yet curiously there
was not a single other devotee present. Arunachaleswara
welcomed its son with immediate darshan. Later, it blessed
him with a natural abhishekha in the form of a brief shower
of rain. We might say that Bhagavan’s arrival at the feet of his
divine father, Arunachala, was in a sense the culmination of
his own enquiry into his identity: “Who am I? – Ah, I am the
loving son of That, Arunachala.” Arunachala had pulled him
all his young life and he was now able to fulfil that pull by
staying in its proximity. He expressed his identity in various
ways: he called Arunachala his Beloved, his bridegroom,
his Guru, his father, his mother, Siva, his lodestone, and the
remainder of his life was spent in unending expression of
this love. Bhagavan first lived at the foot of the Hill, then on
it, then again at its base. He frequently walked around the
Hill on giripradakshina, he climbed all over it as if unable to
caress it enough – in fact he once claimed that there was not
an inch of the Hill he had not explored. Even in his last days
when his body was weak and wracked by rheumatism and
sickness, he insisted on strolling on his beloved Hill as long
as he could walk. He wrote exquisite poems of adoration to
Arunachala and he attributed his own attainment solely to its
grace. As Bhagavan lay on his sick-bed shedding his grace
on devotees to the last, he spent his final moments in the
body listening to the chanting of “Arunachala-Siva”, tears of
emotion trickling down his cheeks.
Was this not a great love affair? If Bhagavan had realised
the Self solely through Self-enquiry, what need would there
have been for him to come to Arunachala? He could have
stayed more comfortably in his home and avoided distressing
his family by his sudden disappearance. If he came only to
honour the Hill and pay tribute to Lord Arunachaleswara,
why did he stay on? During the more than fifty years he spent
there, why would Bhagavan not leave the Hill even for one
single day?
Taking Refuge – the Beginning and the End
It is commonly held that Bhagavan’s state was complete
after his “death experience”. Of course, this is true in one
way, but in another way, it was a beginning rather than an
end – the beginning of finding love, living in love, of falling
into his true identity – and then the ongoing enjoyment of
the expression of that identity with his divine father. It seems
that Bhagavan lived in an ever-deepening, ever expanding,
experience of that. With every breath he inhaled his Beloved,
drew closer and experienced it more and more, enjoying
that experience until his very last breath. If it is true that in
poetry a person comes closest to revealing their soul, then
even a cursory glance at Bhagavan’s poems would identify
Arunachala as the core of his being. See the outpouring of
love and ardour in the Five Hymns! How full of passion they
are and how complete – could anybody express it in a better
way or add anything further? They are almost the definitive
word in devotional love poetry and emotional expression. And
it is significant that these were the only works that Bhagavan
wrote spontaneously, without being asked by devotees. The
poems clearly indicate Bhagavan’s disposition for surrender to
one’s object of love (Arunachala, in his case) and dependence
on the grace of the Guru.
“Those who take refuge at the lotus feet of the supreme
Lord of Mercy presiding over Arunachala – their minds free
of attachment to riches, land and relatives, and to caste, and
made ever purer by seeking Thy benign grace – these rid
themselves of darkness, and in the steady light of thy ever-
protecting grace, which shines like the golden rays of the rising
sun, they abide happy, sunk in the ocean of bliss.”* Observe
how Bhagavan reassures us: if we take refuge and seek
* ‘Necklet of Nine Gems’, stanza 3, Collected Works of Sri Ramana
Maharshi, p.95, 2002 edn.
grace, we will be happy and blissful. It is so simple! In Five

Stanzas to Sri Arunachala, Bhagavan first acknowledges that
meditation practices may bring us to fulfilment: “Abandoning
the outer world with mind and breath controlled, to meditate
on thee within, the yogi sees your light, oh Arunachala, and
finds delight in you.”
But in the last verse Bhagavan leaves no room for doubt
over what is the ultimate and what should be our highest goal:
“He who dedicates his mind to you, and seeing you
always beholds the universe as your figure, he who at all
times glorifies you as none other than the Self, he is the
master without rival, being one with you, oh Arunachala, and
lost in your bliss.”
When we investigate the daily life of this “master
without rival”, we see that every moment was indeed an
expression of his remarkable joy in and love for Arunachala
– a “glorifying” of his god. Thus to me, Bhagavan’s greatest
and most powerful teaching is his life itself, not the answers
he was prompted to give to questions on philosophy and
various practices, inspiring though they are. His love for
Arunachala was revealed in his love for all and everything,
including plant and animal life. We see him leading a life
supremely carefree and happy. There was a majesty in his
self-containment and dispassion, needing nothing and sharing
everything. Bhagavan himself spoke about the exhilaration
of living off alms, with no possessions. Of his early days on
the Hill, he said, “I felt like a king, and more than a king.”*
When he tells Devaraja Mudaliar, “You cannot conceive of
the majesty and dignity I felt while begging,” we too can
sense the thrill of his blissful liberated existence.†
* Ramana Maharshi, Ch. 3, p.17 by K. Swaminathan, 1979 edn.,

pub: National Book Trust.
† Day by Day with Bhagavan, 30-5-46. p.240, 2002 edn.
Love…in everything you do

Bhagavan never gave himself any airs or graces; he
participated fully in ashram chores and was conspicuous for his
refusal to allow the ashram authorities to give him any special
treatment. What was good enough for him was good enough
for all the devotees, and vice versa. His compassionate love
showed itself in his round-the-clock accessibility and he had
nothing of what we would call a personal life. All were received
equally, and his consideration for animals is well-documented.
“You cannot love God without knowing Him nor know Him
without loving Him. Love manifests itself in everything you
do,” said Bhagavan.* In a continuous glorifying of his God
and manifestation of love, Bhagavan would undertake the
most mundane tasks with utter care and attention. With what
focus would he prepare the lunchtime rasam, or carve a stick,
or polish a cooking pot – diligence and dedication were not
confined to discussions of lofty spiritual matters! Indeed, we
may discern that Bhagavan’s entire life was one continuous
flow of worship. Nor was Bhagavan always serious. On the
contrary, he delighted his devotees with his wit and keen
sense of humour. He enjoyed a joke and was himself a great
story-teller and gifted mimic.
If you could trust your guru…
Thus in Bhagavan we have a fully-rounded human being,
living in love, inspired by a divine love, and radiating a divine
love that touched the hearts and minds of thousands – and
still does – yet leading a simple and natural life. Bhagavan
shows us the way to be fully human, to realise our full
‘human-hood’; he is an example of fully realised humanity.
His life is an intimation of what is possible for each of us.
By steady moment-to-moment example, as one who realised
his full human potential, he shows us the way. His awakening
* A. Ramanananda Swarnagiri, Crumbs from His Table, p.31, 1995

edn.
was truly an awakening of the heart, in the fullest meaning

of the word – his heart’s desire and his heart’s subsequent
fulfilment.
So what is the place of Self-enquiry in all of this? We have
already seen that for Bhagavan it lasted just a few seconds.
What about Bhagavan’s teachings – how do they apply to
us? “Submit to me and I’ll strike the mind,” Bhagavan has
promised.* He even told us to be like the 1st class railway
passenger who tells the guard his destination, locks the doors,
and then goes to sleep. “The rest is done by the guard. If you
could trust your Guru as much as you trust the railway guard,
it would be quite enough to make you reach your destination.
Your business is to shut the doors and windows and sleep.
The guard will wake you up at your destination.”†
Despite this firm assurance from our Master, we find it
difficult to really close the doors and sleep. We strive and
get frustrated and anxious. The ego turns us into 2nd class
passengers, unable to let go and trust the Sadguru to take
us to our destination. As Bhagavan said, “The ego is a very
powerful elephant which cannot be brought under control by
anyone less than a lion – who is none other than the Guru.”‡
Just as a mother gives her child some toy to keep it occupied
so that she will not be hindered in her work of taking care of
the child’s needs, the guru prescribes some spiritual exercises
so that we will not create new obstacles (vasanas) and hinder
him in his work of shaping us to spiritual perfection. The
practice of Self-enquiry can help to loosen the ego’s grip and
is useful in bringing the wandering mind back to its source,
where Bhagavan, the inner guru, can pounce on it and destroy
it. As Bhagavan says in Eleven Verses, “What a wonder it
* Arthur Osborne, Ramana Arunachala, ‘The Direct Path’, p.39,
1961 edn.
† Krishna Bhikshu, ‘The Bhagavan I Knew’, Ramana
Smriti, Centenary Souvenir, 1980. Also in the author’s Telugu
biography Sri Ramana Leela.
‡ Talks, Talk 398.
is! Such a destroyer of lives is this magnificent Arunachala

which shines in the heart.” And how does it work? – we don’t
know! Even Bhagavan declares, “Its action is mysterious,
past human understanding.” We only know that the moment
we get to the source, the enquiry ends.
Meaningful Self-enquiry
Though this enquiry seems to be a simple and direct
method, by itself it does not suit everyone. Bhagavan
acknowledged this several times and said that Self-enquiry
suits only mature souls.* The trouble starts when we are all
prone to list ourselves in this category, subconsciously or
otherwise. One of the reasons for this may be the mistaken
notion that Bhagavan taught and favoured only Self-enquiry,
and that to follow Bhagavan is to be constantly reiterating,
“Who am I?” so we stick to it rigidly, when our personality,
or even our mood, is not really suited to it. This may lead to
unspoken frustration with our spiritual progress.
Bhagavan told us, “Enquiry is not the only way. If one
does sadhana with name and form, or japa, or any of the
methods with determination and perseverance, one becomes
THAT. According to the capacity of each individual, one
spiritual practice is better than another and several shades
and variations of them have been given. Everyone is born
with the samskaras of their past lives. One method will be
easy to one person and difficult to another. There can be no
general rule.”† (italics added). There are many instances
of Bhagavan encouraging seekers to stick to other forms
of sadhana. Clearly, he never prescribed an all-purpose rule
for his devotees.
In that case, why the common impression that Bhagavan
taught only Self-enquiry? It is true that Bhagavan repeatedly said
in reply to questions, “Know, or find out the questioner first.”
* Spiritual Instruction, Chapter 2, p. 53, 1999 edn.
† Suri Nagamma, Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, letter of 29th
Nov 1947, p.275, 1995 edn.
However, if we examine the recorded dialogues, it is evident

that Bhagavan did not relish being dragged into theoretical or
academic discussions. Speculation on metaphysical concepts
such as the origin of the universe, the occult, etc., did not appeal
to him. Very pragmatically he would bring the questioner to
their senses by saying, “First find out to whom the question
arises,” or “First know the Self and everything will be known.”
It was an effective technique of stopping the questioner in his
or her tracks and turning them inwards to the source of Self.
His close devotees were well aware of this and used to call it
his Brahmastram (invincible divine weapon). Whenever they
wanted an answer from Bhagavan they would first beg him
not to use his Brahmastram; Bhagavan would laughingly agree
and then give them the detailed explanation they were after. At
this point we may feel that there is an apparent contradiction:
on the one hand Bhagavan is saying that Self-enquiry is only
for a few, for the mature, and on the other hand, he says that
the best sadhaka is one who surrenders and depends solely
upon the guru’s grace, leaving everything to him. We may
wonder whether such childlike dependence can ever be termed
“mature”. In fact, the answer is a resounding “Yes!” Actually,
it is the spiritually mature soul who realises the futility of his
or her own efforts, recognizes their helplessness, and learns to
depend on the grace that will be showered on them more and
more. At this stage the practice of enquiry may arise naturally
and spontaneously, as it did with the mature soul called
Venkataraman, at the extraordinarily tender age of sixteen. If
the enquiry takes form in this way, then it will undoubtedly
bear fruit and propel us towards our goal.
Finding Our Own Arunachala
Once Duncan Greenlees, a British devotee, was alone
with Bhagavan in the hall. He was reading a book and
Bhagavan asked him what it was. When Greenlees told him
it was about Vedanta, Bhagavan retorted, “Read Milarepa!”
(Bhagavan was referring to the biography of the Tibetan yogi,
Milarepa, which the editor, Oxford don W.Y. Evans-Wentz,

had recently presented to the ashram).* This apparently small
incident tells us much (for one thing, it was very unusual
for Bhagavan to speak English). Milarepa is renowned as an
extraordinary saint, who as a seeker was so severely tested
by his guru, Marpa, that it seemed practically like torture.
However, perseverance and the longing to reach his goal
triumphed – but only when backed by the grace of his guru.
It is as if Bhagavan is saying, “Get some juice into you!
Understand what it is really like to live and suffer through
love and to experience devotion to one’s Beloved and an
intense desire for fulfilment; see how the realisation comes
only at the instant the guru bestows his grace!”
To his close devotees Bhagavan would often recommend
reading the lives of saints and he was fond of recounting
stories of their lives (at such moments he would sometimes
be moved to tears and unable to continue). Bhagavan said
that the only sacred text he had read before coming to
Tiruvannamalai was the Periya Puranam – the lives of the
sixty-three Saivite saints referred to above – and the Bible.
Let us read the lives of saints, learn from their struggle and
its resolution and go into it deeply. Let us not limit ourselves
to a dry practice that shields us from truly experiencing life’s
vicissitudes or feeling the highs and lows of this human
existence, nor use sadhana as an excuse to cower from life.
Don’t let’s worry about becoming divine, let us first try to
become fully human.
Ramana himself said he never knew of any philosophy
until he came to Arunachala. It was not a philosophy that
drove him out of his house in Madurai and he had no longing
or prayer to be released from samsara. “All that idea and talk
of samsara and bondage I learned only after coming to this
place and reading books”.† It may have appeared that, for
* Golden Jubilee Souvenir, p. 342, 1995 edn.

† Sri Sainathuni Sarath Babuji’s unpublished ‘Ramana the Maharshi’.
the first few years after arriving at Arunachala, Bhagavan

mortified his body (“seeming tapas” as Arthur Osborne
aptly termed it), but Bhagavan tells us this was not the case.
Rather, he was simply immersed in and enjoying the bliss that
engulfed him. We have seen how, later, this was expressed in
myriad ways in his daily life.
Let us take our cue from Ramana and try to discover what
it is that triggers our own love and desire for union, what it
is that inspires us. And when we find it, we should stop at
nothing to foster it and allow it to rule our lives. The object
may be Arunachala, it may be Bhagavan, our guru, a deity,
or any other form. Bhagavan said even an idealized form of
beauty would do, but we should stick to it one pointedly.*
Once that love, that passionate interest is triggered, there is
no need for any other practice. Or rather, it is then that the
real practice begins, the real sadhana.
Being a I class passenger is not so easy – can we sleep?
Can we trust the conductor? Are we sure we are on the right
train? Why is it going so slowly? Sometimes it even seems
to stop or go backwards... we will occasionally be assailed
by such doubts and even despair. But when we have such
a magnificent example in the life of Bhagavan, when he
has clearly shown us the way, and when we still have the
palpable presence of his being, is it not perverse to turn away
from this? By all means let us make use of whatever tools
we can, including Self-enquiry, but the backdrop of all our
activities should be the object of our love, the sruti note of
our existence.
So let us take up the challenge and aim for the highest;
to be, in Bhagavan’s words, masters without rival. Let us pray
for the grace of Bhagavan that we may glorify him at all
times, see the whole universe as him, and truly become one
with our own Arunachala.
* Talks, no.27, p.27, 2000 edn.

47. God and Destiny*
T he debate between which is greater fate or free-will

occurs sometime or the other to most of us. The following
article on this issue by a great devotee of Bhagavan Devaraja
Mudaliar is very instructive.
“The moving finger writes and, having writ,
Moves on; nor all thy piety nor wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.”
In my opinion, Omar, the poet, was not a scoffer when
he wrote this but an earnest seeker brought up against the
impenetrable wall of predestination. The majority of Hindus
also believe that destiny cannot be overcome. They speak
of God having written their fate in life on their foreheads,
so that all events, pleasant and painful, will come to them
as ordained. Those who have studied the question of karma
declare, however, that destiny is not anything imposed on
them by an arbitrary God but is a result of the law of cause
and effect, each man having to go through such experiences
as his past actions have provoked. Each action of a man is
followed by its consequences, whether pleasurable or painful,
and no man can escape them. If it is not possible to exhaust
all the consequences of one’s actions in one lifetime, one may
have to pass through successive lives to exhaust one’s karma.
Serious thinkers have welcomed this doctrine because
it gives some rational explanation for the great differences
between man and man that we find in the world. How could
one explain otherwise the vast differences in a world created
and governed by a just, impartial and loving God? The
doctrine of karma is so basic to Hinduism that we cannot
conceive of Hinduism without it.
* Devaraja Mudaliar, The Mountain Path, April 1967.

Karma is classified into three categories: prarabdha,

agami and sanchita. When a man is born, the amount of his
accumulated karma, which is to be worked off in this lifetime,
is called his prarabdha karma, and the residue is sanchita.
That which he accumulates in this life is called agami. It is
generally held that prarabdha at least, must be gone through
by everyone and that there is no escape from it. I will give
here Bhagavan’s teaching on the matter.
Referring to Sri Krishna’s telling Arjuna: “Deluded by
Maya you refuse to fight, but your own nature will force you
to fight;” a devotee asked Bhagavan whether we have no
freewill at all. Bhagavan replied: “You always have freedom
not to identify yourself with the body and the pleasures and
pains that come to it as per its prarabdha.”
One summer afternoon I was sitting opposite Sri
Bhagavan in the Old Hall with a fan in my hand and said
to him: “I can understand that the outstanding events in a
man’s life, such as his country, nationality, family, career or
profession, marriage, death, etc., are all predestined by his
karma, but can it be that all the details of his life, down to the
minutest, have already been determined? Now, for instance,
I put this fan that is in my hand down on the floor here. Can
it be that it was already decided that on such and such a day,
at such and such an hour, I would move the fan like this and
put it down here?”
Bhagavan replied: “Certainly.” He continued: “Whatever
this body is to do and whatever experiences it is to pass
through was already decided when it came into existence.”
Thereupon I naturally exclaimed: “What becomes then of
man’s freedom and responsibility for his actions?”
Bhagavan explained: “The only freedom one has is to
strive for and acquire the Jnana which will enable him not
to identify himself with the body. The body will go through
the actions rendered inevitable by prarabdha (destiny) based
on the balance sheet of past lives, and a man is free either to
identify himself with the body and be attached to the fruits
of its actions or to be detached from it and be a mere witness

of its activities.”
From various other talks that I had with him, I am
convinced that this was Bhagavan’s teaching. I will only refer
here to the classic reply he gave to his mother when, as a
young Sage, he rejected her tearful request to go back home
with her. “The Ordainer controls the fate of man according
to his prarabdha. What is destined not to happen will not
happen, try as you may. What is destined to happen will
happen, try as one may to prevent it. This is certain. So, the
best course is to remain silent.”
However, if the law of karma as pure cause and effect
is so supreme as to be absolutely inviolable and inexorable,
one may ask of what use is religion, God or prayer. There
seems to have been no time when man did not turn to an
all-powerful and all-loving God who could save him from
his sins and suffering and give him peace and bliss. Starting
from the Vedic times and passing through the period of the
great bhaktas, both Saivite and Vaishnavite, and down to
comparatively recent times, there is a great mass of religious
literature which states quite clearly that whatever sins a man
may have committed, God in His mercy can save him. They
have also stated that all karma, including prarabdha, can be
destroyed by the Grace of God, like cotton by fire. Western
saints and mystics have said the same thing and have ridiculed
the idea that because God is just, impartial and righteous
He cannot save the sinner but must punish him first for his
transgressions. For if that were so, what would become of the
other attributes of God such as Mercy, Love, Fatherhood and
Motherhood? The Vaishnavites stress the quality of Vatsalya
or loving-kindness in God and illustrate it by the vatsalya of
a cow which, as soon as its calf is born, begins to lick it all
over, oblivious to the fact that it is unclean. They say God
does not wait for the sinner to become pure before He can
save him but saves him just as He finds him if only the man
desires, cries out for and supplicates salvation. If a man who
is suffering turns to God for help and relief in full faith that
God can save him he is sure to be saved. That is what the
scriptures say and what countless saints have declared. Christ
said: “Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Fear not.” Lord Krishna said almost
the same thing. When Arjuna, after hearing what Krishna had
to say about all the different kinds of yoga which could secure
Liberation, complained that he was confused by all these
instructions and felt that he could not follow them, Krishna
said: “Then give up all dharmas and take refuge only in Me.
Grieve not. I will save you from all your sins.
What is demanded here is total surrender to God by
throwing oneself completely on God’s Mercy and not desiring
anything for oneself. Leaving everything to God the all-loving
and all-knowing is not so easy as it may sound. However, the
point I want to make here is that Grace is all-powerful and
that even the law of karma by which, they say, a man must
reap what he has sown, with no exception whatsoever, can be
overcome. I am strongly inclined by temperament to believe
this, and I believe that Bhagavan has confirmed it for me.
I will quote here what I wrote on the subject on pages 100
and 101 of my little book My Recollections of Bhagavan Sri
Ramana:
“Another point on which I more than once argued with
Bhagavan is the extent to which Grace can override prarabdha
or destiny. My main line of argument throughout was (and
my conviction now as ever is) that God is all-powerful and
that nothing is impossible for Him, and that if one got and
could get only what one had worked for and merited, there
would be no place at all for Grace. Most often Bhagavan
remained silent when I indulged in such arguments either by
myself or with others, some of whom took my side and others
the opposite side; but from various remarks and observations
that he made on different occasions I have come to the
conclusion that the following is his attitude in the matter: ‘Of
course, nothing is impossible to God, but everything happens
according to the order established by God’s will or plan and

exceptions are very few. How many Markandeyas, are there
in our Puranas?’
“On the other hand, many authoritative books have
clearly said (and Bhagavan has quoted them with approval)
that one look from a Jnani can save us from the effects of
all our karmas, past or present, prarabdha included. And Sri
Janaki Matha has published in her Tamil journal that when
she discussed this question once with Bhagavan, maintaining
that His Grace can help one even to overcome prarabdha, he
told her: ‘If you have such faith it will be so.’ “
I find that I cannot usefully add anything to this quotation,
but I should perhaps explain the reference to Markandeya.
It is said in the Puranas that Markandeya was destined to
live for only sixteen years and that he prayed to Siva and
received the boon that he would be perpetually sixteen.
Bhagavan mentioned it to stress his point that the obvious and
spectacular intervention of Divine Grace is very exceptional.
It is said in the Upanishads that one cannot say when
or why or to whom Grace will come. It is said that it will
fall only on him whom it chooses. A hundred might make
the effort and yet only one or two of them might be chosen.
No one can predict anything about Grace except that it is
unpredictable.
It will be interesting here to turn to the following
quotations from Paul Brunton given in my book Day by Day
with Bhagavan.
“Divine Grace is a manifestation of the cosmic free will
in operation. It can alter the course of events in a mysterious
manner through its own unknown laws, which are superior to
all natural laws, and can modify the latter by interaction. It is
the most powerful force in the universe.
“It descends and acts only when it is invoked by total
self-surrender. It acts from within, because God resides in the
Heart of all beings. Its whisper can be heard only in a mind
purified by self-surrender and prayer.”
The above two quotations were contained in a book

called Divine Grace Through Total Self-Surrender by one
D.C. Desai, and Bhagavan himself, on going through the
book, read them out to us.
My saying that God’s Grace is unpredictable and has
power to remit sins and erase karma should not be taken to
mean that this Grace can be obtained without effort. On the
contrary, great effort is necessary. A man, recognising that he
cannot raise himself by himself, must fall at the feet of God
and cry: “Lord, I am weak and powerless. You alone can save
me. I take refuge in You. Do what You will with me.” This is
the effort that must be made: an effort towards attainment of
effortlessness after realising the uselessness of our own puny
efforts.
Bhagavan has strongly commended the path of total self-
surrender as a sure way to salvation and has called devotion
the ‘Mother of Jnana’. That well-known early devotee of
Bhagavan, Sivaprakasam Pillai, for whom Who am I? was
written, says in one of his poems: “To everyone you give
only this instruction: ‘Find out who you are.’ If, after that,
they humbly ask for more guidance, you tell them as your
final word: ‘There is a power which moves you and me and
all others. Lay your ego at the feet of that Mother.’ “
From various actions and remarks of Bhagavan I have not
the slightest doubt that he regards the path of surrender as the
best way for me. It is true that he maintained quite definitely
that final Liberation is only possible through Knowledge of the
Self, which is being the Self, because Knowing is Being; but
that comes inevitably to one who has completely surrendered.
48. Sri Bhagavan’s Love for Arunachala*
W hen an earnest devotee took the liberty of challenging

Bhagavan and asked: “Bhagavan! I do not want any
metaphysical argument. Give me some tangible evidence. Is
there God? Can you show me God?” Sri Bhagavan gave a
broad smile and said: “What else do you think it is?” and
pointed His fingers to the Holy Hill, Arunachala!
“Someone from abroad has asked for a stone from the
holiest spot in Arunachala; perhaps, he doesn’t know that
every inch, every pebble, every grain of sand in Arunachala
is holy,” Bhagavan joyously confirmed once!
These statements coming from the purest Advaitin –
one “Established in the Bliss of indissoluble Union” – show
how love matures into God-experience and God-experience
makes the heart melt in love. With the mention of the mere
name ‘Arunachala’ and with every look He had at the form
‘Arunachala’ Bhagavan melted with ecstasy! To this visible,
tangible God He makes supreme self-surrender, and declares:
“Let your will be my pleasure, Oh Arunachala!” (Padikam,
v. 2). Sri Ramana, the living embodiment of Love, merged in
that natural manifestation of Supreme Love, Arunachala. “As
soon as You did claim me, my body and soul became Yours.
What else can I desire?” (Navamanimalai, v. 7)
Love implies duality. Personal love is a double movement,
to love and to be loved. Impersonal love surges from the
Centre, yet remains in the Centre as the Centre: it has no
periphery or circumference. There is no “other” to love or
be loved. When one takes one’s self to be a body, one takes
another body as the “other”. But, when one is not limited
to a body, That alone exists and That is Love, the sphurana
within, the throbbing which is the movement of the Self
towards the Self.
* Prof. K. Swaminathan, ‘Editorial’, The Mountain Path, July 1988.

Sri Bhagavan’s love for Arunachala was thus at once

impersonal, and yet charged with connotations intensely
personal. Here is a grand example of Non-duality blossoming
into duality to teach us all the presence of the many in the
One as Love Supreme! His Five Hymns to Sri Arunachala
reveal Sri Ramana as the master composer of the most
moving bhakti songs. Our founder-editor of The Mountain
Path, Arthur Osborne, an erudite scholar himself, asserted
that the Marital Garland of Letters of Sri Bhagavan was “the
greatest and most moving literary piece of poetry I have come
across in the world’s various religious texts.” Bhagavan’s
love for Arunachala fills and overflows every verse of
Aksharamanamalai, which “tells in glowing symbolism of
the love and union between the human soul and God”. Bride,
son, friend, pupil, servant – Sri Ramana finds His bridegroom,
Father, Guru, Master, in Arunachala-Siva.
A well-known incident illustrates the Son’s willing
surrender to the Father. When the image of Arunachala was
being taken in procession round the Hill (giripradakshina),
puja to It was performed in front of the Ashram gate.
Bhagavan was then going towards the gosala and, noticing
the puja, He sat on the pial near the tap by the side of the then
Book Depot. The aarti (burning camphor) plate offered to
Arunachaleswara was brought to Bhagavan. He took a little
Vibhuti and applied it to His forehead, saying: “Appaavukku
pillai adakkam” – “The Son is subject to the Father”!
Once when Muruganar asked Bhagavan to explain the
significance of Arunachala Giripradakshina, the reply was:
“Go round It yourself and find out for yourself!” Bhagavan
often declined to elaborate the meaning of the verses in Five
Hymns to Sri Arunachala. But once or twice He did spell out
the meaning of Arunachala:
“Aruna = Red, bright like fire.
This is jnana agni (Fire of Wisdom)
which is neither hot nor cool.
Achala = a hill.
Arunachala means ‘Hill of Wisdom”’
“A=Sat; Ru=Chit; Na=Ananda:
A=Siva; Ru=Jiva; Na=their Union.
Hence Arunachala – tat-twam-asi.”
Every syllable of the Holy Name is charged with a
meaning and a message.
In another place He says: “People think It to be an
insentient Hill. How do they know? It is the Self Itself in
the shape of the Hill” In his Ashtakam (v. 1) He exclaims:
“Hearken! ....
I realised that It meant Absolute Stillness!”
To Sri Bhagavan the great “experience” came first and
expositions of it, He found later in books. This supreme
experience He never hid from others. Though the sastras
prohibit revealing higher spiritual knowledge to those not
ready to receive it, Sri Bhagavan threw open and brightly lit
up the Royal Path for the whole, wide world. He even begged
Arunachala’s pardon for having done so: “I have revealed
Your secrets. Be not offended, Arunachala!”
The compassion Bhagavan had for yearning souls
was mingled with the intense love He had for Arunachala.
‘Ignorance’ and ‘Knowledge’ were mere words for Him, for
He saw no ajnana except a temporary or partial absence of
the light, the all-encompassing light of Jnana. In the one vast
ocean of Love, concepts, dogmas, theories, all differences of
high, low, big, small, learned, unlearned, ripe, unripe bore no
significance for Him. The Love that filled Him as Arunachala
sphurana, He shared with all, for what is Arunachala but
Love embodied, solid, strong, the Love that moves the Sun
and the stars and also shines as the Sun and the Moon, and
makes every human heart blossom like the lotus? Arunagiri is
at once the Mountain, Being, Sat; the Sun, Awareness, Chit;
the ocean, Bliss, Ananda, grace, compassion, showers that
bathe and bless our earth. Where is the secret here and why
not reveal it to all? Is the Self any one’s private possession?

It is the Self, the one universal Self, our own Self, that Sri
Bhagavan ‘gives’ or ‘brings’ to us!
Firm as the Mountain, bright as the Sun, vast as the
Ocean, the Self is Love as the sole Reality. The Advatin is the
only true lover, as he loves the Self which is the Self of all.
Yet, in this phenomenal, vyavahara, world, He prays: “(Shine
as) my Guru”. Sri Bhagavan calling Arunachala as “my
Guru” reveals the mystery of His accepting dualism in His
bhakti-grantha (gospels of Devotion). He Himself justifies it
in Supplement to Forty Verses, v. 39: “My son, the sense of
non-duality may apply to the three worlds, but it is not to be
used towards the Guru.”
If Bhagavan, bhakta, pupil, son, bows before Arunachala,
Bhagavan, the Jnani, speaks thus to a devotee: “The universe
is like a painting on a screen – the screen being the Red
Hill, Arunachala. That which rises, and sinks is made up
of what it rises from. The finality of the universe is God
Arunachala”. He explains further how one has to link oneself
with Arunachala by way of practical sadhana. “Meditating on
Him (Arunachala) or on the screen, the Self, there is a mental
vibration ‘I’ to which all are reduced. Tracing the source of
‘I’, the primal I-I alone remains over, and it is inexpressible.
The seat of Realisation is within and the seeker cannot find
it as an object outside Him. That seat is bliss and is the core
of all beings. Hence it is called the Heart. The only useful
purpose of the present birth is to turn within and realise it.
There is nothing else to do.”
Bhagavan Ramana is a perfect example of nirguna jnana
issuing as saguna bhakti. His absolute surrender to Arunachala
and His praises of Arunachala as God are quite consistent
with His definition of Arunachala as “the Self within”. The
pure Advaitin’s way of showing that the Self is Love is to act
as the Lover loving all other manifestations of the Self.
The following dialogue between Dr. Hafiz Syed and Sri

Bhagavan explains how down the ages the Hill of Dawn has
stood as a symbol of the Self:
“D.: I have been reading the Fine Hymns to Sri
Arunachala. I find that the hymns are addressed to
Arunachala by you. You are an Advaitin. How do
you then address God as a separate Being?
B.: The devotee, God, the Hymns are all the
Self.
D.: But you are addressing God. You are
specifying this Arunachala Hill as God.
B.: You can identify the Self with the body.
Should not the devotee identify the Self with
Arunachala?
D.: If Arunachala be the Self why should it be
specially picked out among so many other hills?
God is everywhere. Why do you specify Him as
Arunachala?
B.: What has attracted you from Allahabad
to this place? What has attracted all these people
around?
D.: Sri Bhagavan.
B.: How was I attracted here? By Arunachala.
The Power cannot be denied. Again Arunachala is
within and not without. The Self is Arunachala.”
(Talks, No. 228).
Love and Wisdom, bhakti and jnana, warmth and
brightness, fill the following gem-like Hymn where the Bliss
of the Universe is reflected in the heart-lotus as Love:
“Oh Arunachala! In Thee the picture of the universe is
formed, has its stay, and is dissolved; this is the sublime Truth.
Thou art the Inner Self, who dancest in the Heart as I. ‘Heart’
is Thy name, Oh Lord!” (Five Stanzas to Sri Arunachala, v.2).
49. Broken Pieces of Thosai (Dosa)*
T his happened long long ago when Sri Bhagavan was in

what was later known as the Golden Jubilee Hall.
My wife had prepared in my house rice flour enough to
prepare a hundred thosais (dosas, rice-cakes). At about 12 noon,
she had put the iron pan over the oven and was going to print the
first ladle of flour over the pan and spread it evenly. Gratified
at the love with which she was preparing these to be taken and
offered to Sri Maharshi, I said in an ecstatic mood, “All broken
pieces of thosai must be offered to Chokkanathar”. Of course,
I had in mind the story of the old woman (Puttu Variichi) and
Chokkanatha of Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam equating Bhagavan
Sri Maharshi with Chokkanatha Swami (the Lord in Madurai
Meenakshi temple). As if it were the result of my utterance,
every one of the thosais that my wife prepared broke and not
one came off whole. My wife and I were greatly surprised to
see the heap of the one hundred cakes all in broken pieces. We
gathered the whole thing and carried to Sri Maharshi, of course
with enough chutney. It was about 2 o’ clock when we reached
Sri Maharshi’s hall. He gave us a beaming smile, and asked us
what it was that we carried with us. My wife told Sri Bhagavan
the whole story and added that Chokkan must consume all the
broken pieces.
Bhagavan said, “Chokkan must have the broken pieces,”
stretched his hand and took a big handful of the broken pieces
of thosai from the basket and put it on to a plate. My wife put
enough chutney and Bhagavan had a hearty meal of it causing
the remaining to be distributed amongst all the devotees that
were there.
He was my remembrance
One fine morning, I was in the assembly of Sri Bhagavan’s
devotees. Sri Bhagavan was expounding to us some remote
* T.K. Sundaresa Iyer, The Call Divine, September 1954.

point in philosophy. He went on talking till it was 10:45. We

were all so much absorbed that we had no sense of time and
space. At 10:45, Sri Bhagavan turned to me and said, ‘‘Why
fellow, you have not left for the school yet?”
I said, “Why Bhagavan, it is Sunday today.”
Bhagavan gave a broad laugh and said, “It is a funny
way you do your school work. It is Monday today. Run up.
Your Headmaster is waiting there at the gate looking for you
to come.”
So I hurried up and reached school exactly at the
stroke of the recess bell. As I reached the gates, I found the
Headmaster standing at the gates of the school with his usual
pinch of snuff in his hand, his eyes turned towards the path to
the temple eagerly expecting me to come. As I neared him, he
said in a serious mood the same as Sri Maharshi said, “Why
Sir, you have forgotten that it is Monday and perhaps you
required the Maharshi to remind you that today is a working
day.”
And I answered neatly, “Too true Sir, I did forget and Sri
Maharshi sent me for duty.” And my Headmaster laughed a
hearty laugh and answered, “Go to your classroom.”
Introduction to Ramana Nool Thirattu
It was about 1927 that Sri Bhagavan’s collected Tamil
works were under preparation for publication. There was a
talk among the pundits of the Ashram that the book must
have a preface, although the devotees of Maharshi considered
that nobody was qualified to write out a preface to Maharshi’s
works. Though the pundits proposed writing out a preface,
none of them came forward to write, each one excusing
himself that he was not qualified for the task. It was a drama
of several hours, one proposing the other for the purpose and
each declining. Sri Maharshi was watching all this.
At about 10:30 in the night as I was passing the way of
the hall, Sri Bhagavan looked at me and said, “Why not you
write the preface yourself?”
I was taken aback at Bhagavan’s proposal but meekly

said, “I would venture to write if I had Bhagavan’s blessings
in the task.” Bhagavan said, “Do, and it will come alright.”
So I began writing at the dead of night, and, to my great
surprise within three quarters of an hour, I wrote out a draft as
if impelled and driven by some Supreme Force. I altered no
comma of it and at 2 o’clock early morning, I placed it at the
feet of Bhagavan. He was happy to see the arrangements of
the contents and the simplicity of the expressions. He passed
it on as being alright, and asked me to take it away. But as I
went away a few steps with the written sheets of paper, Sri
Maharshi beckoned to me to produce the sheets once again. I
had concluded the preface in the following tenet: “It is hoped
that this work in the form of Bhagavan’s Grace or Prasada
will give to all aspirants after eternal truth, the liberation in
the form of Paramananda prapthi which is in the shape of
sarva dukka nivarini.”
Maharshi said “Why have you put ‘it is hoped?’ Why not
say ‘It is certain?’” So saying he corrected my “Nambugirane”
(hoped) into “tinnam” (certain) with His own hands. Thus
Maharshi set his seal of approval to the book and gave his
devotees the great charter of liberation in the form of His
Upadesa which leaves no trace of doubt about it.
50. The Path of Enquiry*
S elf-enquiry is not analysis; it has nothing in common

with philosophy or psychology. The Maharshi showed
this when he declared that no answer the mind gives can be
right. (And, indeed, in this it resembles a Zen koan.) If it
had a mental answer it would be a philosophical conundrum,
not a spiritual practice; and it was as a spiritual practice that
* Arthur Osborne, an excerpt from ‘The Maharshi’s Place in History’,

The Mountain Path, July 1968.
the Maharshi prescribed it. So anyone who tells you what

the answer to the enquiry is shows by that very fact that he
has not understood it. It does not mean arguing or saying
that I am not this or not that; it means concentrating on the
pure sense of being, the pure I-am-ness of me. And this, one
discovers, is the same as pure consciousness, pure, formless
awareness.
So far is it from being a mental practice that the Maharshi
told us not to concentrate on the head while doing it but on
the heart. By this he did not mean the physical heart at the
left side of the chest but the spiritual Heart on the right. This
is not a physical organ and also not a yogic or tantric chakra;
but it is the centre of our sense of being. The Maharshi told us
so and those who have followed his instructions in meditation
have found it to be so. The ancient Hebrews knew of it: “The
wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart is
at his left,” it says in the Bible. It is referred to also in that
ancient Advaitic scripture, the Yoga Vasishta, in verses which
the Maharshi quoted as Nos. 22-27 in his Supplementary
Forty Verses on Reality. Concentration on the Heart does
not mean thinking about the heart but being aware in and
with the Heart. After a little practice it sets up a current of
awareness that can actually be felt physically though far more
than physical. At first this is felt in the heart, sometimes in
the heart and head and connecting them. Later it pervades and
transcends the body. Perhaps it could be said that this current
of awareness is the ‘answer’ to the question ‘Who am I?’,
since it is the wordless experience of I-ness.
There should be regular times for this ‘meditation’, since
the mind accustoms itself and responds more readily. I have
put the word ‘meditation’ in inverted single quotes, since
it is not meditation in the usual sense of the word but only
concentration on Self or on being. As Bhagavan explained:
“Meditation requires an object to meditate on, whereas in
Self-enquiry there is only the subject and no object.” Good
times are first thing when you wake up in the morning and
last thing before going to sleep at night. At first a good

deal of time and effort may be needed before the current of
awareness is felt; later it begins to arise more and more easily.
It also begins to occur spontaneously during the day, when
one is not meditating. That explains Bhagavan’s saying that
one should keep up the enquiry constantly, not only during
meditation. It comes to be more and more constant and, when
lost or forgotten, to need less and less reawakening.
A man has three modes of manifestation: being, thinking
and doing. Being is the most fundamental of the three, because
he can’t think or do unless he first is. But it is so covered over
by the other two that it is seldom experienced. It could be
compared to the cinema screen which is the support for the
pictures without which they could not be seen, but which is so
covered over with them that it is not ordinarily noticed. Only
very occasionally, for a brief glimpse, does the spiritually
untrained person experience the sheer fact of being; and when
he does he recalls it afterwards as having been a moment of
pure happiness, pure acceptance, pure rightness. Self-enquiry
is the direct approach to conscious being, and therefore it is
necessary to suspend thinking and doing while practising it.
It may lead to a state when conscious (instead of the previous
unconscious) being underlies thinking and doing; but at first
they would interrupt it, so they have to be held off.
This is the path; the doctrine on which it is based is
Advaita, non-duality, which might be rendered ‘Identity’ or
‘No-otherness’. Its scripture for the Maharshi’s followers is
his Forty Verses on Reality together with the Supplementary
Forty Verses which he later added.
In this he declares: “All religions postulate the three
fundamentals; the world, the individual and God.”
Not all in a formal way, for there are also non-theistic
religions; but essentially this is what we start from. Whether
I am educated or uneducated, my own existence is the basis
from which I start, the direct awareness to which everything
else is added. Then, outside myself, my mind and senses
report a world of chairs and tables and trees and sky, and
other people in it.
Mystics tell me that all this is illusion, and nowadays
nuclear scientists agree with them. They say that the red book
I am holding is just a cluster of electrons whirling about at
high speed, that its redness is just the way my optic apparatus
interprets a vibration of a certain wavelength, and similarly
with its other qualities; but anyway, that is how it presents
itself to my perception. I also have a feeling of some vastness,
some power, some changeless Reality behind the vulnerability
of the individual and the mutability of the world. It is about
this third factor that people disagree, some holding that it is
the real Self of the individual, others that it is a Being quite
other than him and others again that it does not exist at all.
The verse continues: “But it is only the One Reality that
manifests as these three.” This implies that Self-enquiry is
the quest for the one Reality underlying the apparent trinity
of individual, world and God.
But the mistake inherent in dualism does not consist
in supposing that God is a separate Being from you but in
supposing that you are a separate being from God. It is not
belief in God that is wrong but belief in the ego. Therefore,
the verse continues: “One can say, ‘The three are really three
only so long as the ego lasts’.” Then the verse turns to the
practical conclusion, as Bhagavan always did in his teaching:
“Therefore, to abide in one’s own Being, where the ‘I’ or ego
is dead is the perfect State.”
And that is what one is trying to do by Self-enquiry:
to abide as the Self, the pure Being that one essentially is,
casting aside the illusory reality of the ego.
Feeling one’s insignificance before that mighty Power,
one may worship It in one of Its manifestations, as Krishna,
say, or Christ or Rama, but: “Under whatever name and form
one may worship the Absolute Reality, it is only a means for
realising It without name and form.” That means appreciating
Its Infinity, realising that It alone is, and leaves no room for
a separate me subsisting apart from It. Therefore, the verse

continues: “That alone is true Realisation wherein one knows
oneself in relation to that Reality, attains peace and realises
one’s identity with It.”
And this is done by Self-enquiry. “If the first person, I,
exists, then the second and third persons, you and he, also
exist. By enquiring into the nature of the I, the I perishes.
With it, ‘you’ and ‘he’ also perish.” However, that does not
mean blank annihilation; it only means annihilation of the
illusion of separate identity, that is to say of the ego which is
the source of all suffering and frustration. Therefore, the verse
continues: “The resultant state, which shines as Absolute
Being, is one’s own natural state, the Self.”
Not only is this not a gloomy or dismal state or anything
to be afraid of, but it is the most radiant happiness, the most
perfect bliss. “For him who is immersed in the bliss of Self-
realisation arising from the extinction of the ego what more
is there to achieve? He does not see anything as being other
than the Self. Who can apprehend his State?”
Note that in speaking of the unutterable bliss of Self-
realisation Bhagavan says that it is achieved through the
extinction of the ego, that is the apparent individual identity.
So that, although nothing is lost, something does have to
be offered in sacrifice; and while being offered it appears a
terrible loss, the supreme loss, one’s very life; only after it has
been sacrificed does one discover that it was nothing and that
all has been gained, not lost. This means that understanding
alone cannot constitute the path. Whatever path may be
followed, in whatever religion, the battle must be fought and
the sacrifice made. Without that a man can go on all his life
proclaiming that there is no ego and yet remain as much a
slave to the ego as ever. Although the Forty Verses on Reality
is a scripture of the Path of Knowledge, Bhagavan asks in
it: “If, since you are a single being, you cannot see yourself,
how can you see God?” And he goes on to answer: “Only by
being devoured by Him.”
This brings the path of enquiry to the same point as

the path of surrender, since in either case the ego must be
sacrificed. It is a very profound verse. It recalls the Hebrew
saying: “No man can see God and live.” Many people see
visions of God in one form or another, but that is not seeing
God. The mind and senses of a man knot themselves together
into what wrongly supposes itself to be an individual entity
separate from the Universal Being which it aspires to see.
But that Universal Being is the true Self of it. Only by
surrendering their illusory individual entity to be devoured out
of existence can the mind and senses become true instruments
for perception by what is thereafter understood to be their
true Self, so that, as the Maharshi sometimes said, the only
way to see God is to be God.
51. Visit of a Moulvi from Peshawar*
W e were sitting one morning in the hall in deep meditation.

Suddenly there was the sound of the tap-tap of a stick.
A tall blind Muslim was trying to find the entry to the hall
with his stick. I helped him to come inside. He asked me in
Urdu where Bhagavan was sitting. I made him sit right in
front of Bhagavan and told him, “You are now sitting just in
front of Bhagavan. You can salute him.” The Muslim told his
story. He lived near Peshawar and he was a moulvi (teacher)
of repute. Once he happened to hear somebody reading in
Urdu about Bhagavan and at once he felt that Bhagavan was
his spiritual father and that he must go to him. Blind as he
was, he took the next train and travelled thousands of miles
all alone, changing trains many times, till at last he reached
Ramanasramam. When asked what he was going to do next,
he said. “Whatever Bhagavan tells me, I shall do.” His
immense faith made me ashamed of myself. How little did the
* Chalam, Ramana Smriti, 1980.

man hesitate to place his life in the hands of a South Indian

swami? And what a mountain of doubts and hesitations I had
to wade through before I came to Bhagavan’s feet in earnest!
52. Outside the Scriptures*

A special transmission outside the scriptures;
No dependence upon words or letters;
Direct pointing at the Heart of man;
Seeing into one’s own nature, and the attainment of Liberation.
T hese are the reflections of a traveller on the Mountain

Path laid down by the Maharshi.
The Maharshi’s wordless doctrine is unlike the usual
traditional teachings. There are no creeds to be elaborated,
so there is no need for preaching. There is nothing for the
mind to theorize or philosophize about. What is needed is
immediate, intuitive understanding of the heart. “The intricate
maze of philosophy of the various schools is said to clarify
matters and to reveal the Truth, but in fact it creates confusion
where none need exist. To understand anything there must be
the Self. The Self is obvious. So why not remain as the Self?
What need to explain the non-self?”†
What the seeker has to do is rather to unlearn and let
go all his preconceived ideas about the Self. Indeed, the
Maharshi has been known to say that in the end even the
scriptures must be given up and unlearned. “All scriptures
without exception proclaim that for attaining salvation the
mind should be subdued. And once one knows that control of
the mind is their final aim, it is futile to make an interminable
study of them. What is required for such control is actual
enquiry into oneself by self-interrogation: ‘Who am I?’ How
* Dr. T.N. Krishnaswami, The Mountain Path, January 1964.

† The Teachings of Ramana Maharshi in His Own Words, p. 15,
Rider’s edition, p. 10, Sri Ramanasramam edition.
can this enquiry in quest of the Self be made by means of a

study of the scriptures?”*
This reminds one of Chuang Tsu’s saying that if one
gets rid of small wisdom great wisdom comes in. There are
no precepts for special austerities, while at the same time
indulgence is not condoned. The question always is: who is
it that seeks all this. To refer a second time to a Taoist Sage,
it is like Lee Tsu’s story of the animal trainer who subdued
his tigers (the vasanas) by treating them quite impersonally,
neither gratifying their desires nor provoking their anger.
All thinking is out of place as a means of sadhana. It is
not one’s true nature. It creates all errors and, what is worst
of all, creates, as the father of them a false entity, the ego or
individual being. “Concentration is not thinking of one thing.
On the contrary it is excluding all thoughts, since all thoughts
obstruct the sense of one’s true being. All efforts are to be
directed simply to removing the veil of ignorance.”†
The Maharshi says that the Self is not in books; if it were
anybody might become a Sage by study. Also it is not in any
hermitage, and going to live in solitude will not help. “Why
do you think you are a householder? The similar thought that
you are a sannyasin will haunt you even if you go forth as
one. Whether you continue in the household or renounce it
and go to live in the forest, your mind haunts you. The ego
is the source of thought. It creates the body and the world
and makes you think of being a householder. If you renounce
it, it will only substitute the thought of renunciation for that
of family and the environment of the forest for that of the
household. But the mental obstacles are always there for you.
They even increase greatly in the new surroundings. Change
of environment is no help. The one obstacle is the mind and
this must be overcome whether in the home or in the forest.
If you can do it in the forest, why not in the home? So why
* ibid., p 57.
† ibid., p. 127.
change the environment? Your efforts can be made even now,

whatever be the environment.”*
Nor is the Self something to be attained at some future
date. “No one is ever away from his Self, and therefore
everyone is in fact Self-realised; only – and this is the great
mystery – people do not know this and want to realise the
Self. Realisation consists only in getting rid of the false idea
that one is not realised. It is not anything new to be acquired.
It must already exist or it would not be eternal, and only what
is eternal is worth striving for.”†
All doctrines are made by the ego and for the ego. The
ego flourishes on them. But on the Maharshi’s path the very
existence of the ego is denied right from the start, both that
of the teacher and that of the taught. “There is no ego. If
there were you would have to admit of two selves in you.
Therefore, there is no ignorance. If you enquire into the Self,
ignorance, which is already non-existent, will be found not to
exist and you will say that it has fled.”‡
Is there anything in the human body that can be called
‘I ‘? There are mental and vital processes but investigation
reveals no person there to be designated as ‘I’.§
The negative process consists of intellectually eliminating
the not-I so that one can see that he who eliminates everything
else cannot eliminate himself. Such intellectual investigation
may prepare the way for Self-enquiry but is not the enquiry
itself.
Visitor: “I begin with asking myself ‘Who am I? ‘and
eliminate the body as not-I, the breath as not-I, the mind as
not-I, but then I am unable to proceed further.”
Bhagavan: “Well, that is all right so far as the mind goes.
Your process is only mental. The Truth cannot be directly
* ibid., p. 78/94.
† ibid., p. 23/21
‡ ibid., p. 25/23.
§ It will be observed that this is the same as the Buddhist doctrine of
‘anatta’. (Editor)
indicated; that is why this mental process is used. You see, he

who eliminates all the not-I cannot eliminate the ‘I’. In order
to be able to say ‘I am not this’, or ‘I am That’ there must be
the ‘I’ to say it. This ‘I’ is only the ego or the I-thought. After
the rising up of this I-thought all other thoughts arise. The
I-thought is therefore the root thought. If the root is pulled
out the rest is at the same time uprooted. Therefore, seek the
root ‘I’; question yourself: ‘Who am I?’; find out the source
of the ‘I’. Then all these problems will vanish and the pure
Self alone will remain.”*
Why was the Maharshi so against thought? Why was he
not satisfied with mental investigation? Because it cannot see
beyond itself. It is created by the ego and therefore cannot
pierce to the Self underlying the ego. But will its renunciation
not result in a mere blank? It can; that is what happens in
deep sleep. But it can also result in awakening into pure
Sat-Chit-Ananda, Being-Consciousness-Bliss. This is what
is called Realisation. “Absence of thought does not mean
a blank. There must be someone to be aware of that blank.
Knowledge and ignorance pertain only to the mind and are
in duality, but the Self is beyond them both. It is pure Light.
There is no need for one Self to see another. There are no two
selves. What is not Self is mere non-Self and cannot see the
Self. The Self has no sight or hearing; it lies beyond them, all
alone, as pure Consciousness.”†
Then does one who has realised the Self remain absorbed
in pure, formless Consciousness, oblivious of any outer
world? He can; that is the state of trance known as nirvikalpa
samadhi. But he need not. Full and complete Realisation
involves return to formal consciousness also, with full
perception of the outer world, not as a self-subsistent reality
but as a manifestation of the Self. The mind and senses can
still cognize; when one says that the mind is dead, that means
* ibid., p. 116.
† ibid., p. 15.
only that it no longer presumes to imagine, create or originate,

as it formerly did. This is the state the Maharshi was in. It is
known as sahaja samadhi. “To those who have not realised
the Self, as well as to those who have, the word ‘I’ refers to
the body, but with this difference, that, for those who have
not realised, the I ‘is confined to the body, whereas, for those
who have realised the Self within the body, the ‘I’ shines as
the limitless Self. “To those who have not realised as well as
to those who have, the world is real. But to those who have
not realised Truth is adapted to the measure of the world,
whereas to those who have, Truth shines as the Formless
Perfection and as the Substratum of the world. This is all the
difference between them.”*
Why is the Maharshi so insistent against the ego?
Because the ego is the usurper that claims to be the Self,
the mask that conceals the Reality. Its elimination is the
only way to realisation of the true Self that underlies it. The
seeker has no alternative. There can be no chick unless the
egg-shell is broken. The true Self cannot be realised until the
false is renounced. Therefore, the Maharshi says, since this
is ultimately necessary, why not start with it straight away;
since you must finally remain as the Self, why not do so
from the start; since other paths will lead you roundabout
and finally face you with the alternative of Self or pseudo-
self, why not go direct and face it here and now? “This is the
direct method.
All other methods are practiced while retaining the ego
and therefore many doubts arise and the ultimate question
still remains to be tackled in the end. But in this method the
final question is the only one and is raised from the very
beginning… Because every kind of path except Self-enquiry
presupposes the retention of the mind as the instrument for
following it, and cannot be followed without the mind. The
* ‘Forty Verses on Reality’, vv. 17-18, from The Collected Works of

Ramana Maharshi.
ego may take different and subtler forms at different stages

of one’s practice but it is never destroyed. The attempt to
destroy the ego or the mind by methods other than Self-
enquiry is like a thief turning policeman to catch the thief that
is himself. Self-enquiry alone can reveal the truth that neither
the ego nor the mind really exists and enable one to realise
the pure, undifferentiated Being of the Self or the Absolute.”*
Many hesitate and find this method too harsh; because
of all renunciations this seems to them the most severe,
renouncing not merely enjoyment but him who desires and
enjoys it. But this is a wrong idea. If it were true, a Self-
realised man such as the Maharshi would be the most
miserable of men, whereas in fact he is the happiest, in pure,
unbroken, unalloyed happiness, regardless of whether outer
circumstances seem favourable or unfavourable.
This is because in renouncing the ego one really renounces
nothing except a wrong conception of ‘I’, an error whose
removal reveals the eternal Truth and unalloyed happiness that
is one’s real nature. “The individual being which identifies its
existence with that of the life in the physical body as ‘I’ is
called the ego. The Self, which is pure Consciousness, has
no ego-sense about it. Neither can the physical body, which
is inert in itself, have this ego-sense.
Between the two, that is between the Self or pure
Consciousness and the inert physical body, there arises
mysteriously the ego-sense or ‘I’-notion, the hybrid which
is neither of them, and this flourishes as an individual being.
The ego or individual being is at the root of all that is futile
and undesirable in life. Therefore, it is to be destroyed by
any possible means; then That, whichever is, alone remains
resplendent. This is Liberation or Enlightenment or Self-
Realisation.”†
* The Teachings of Ramana Maharshi in His own words, p.110.

† ibid., p. 10.
It is to remove this error that the Maharshi prescribes the

enquiry ‘Who am I?’ from the very start. He had no graded
methods. Nor did he grade his disciples according to seniority.
Progress was an inner state which only he perceived. The
aspirant is expected to understand that he does not know his
real Self, to investigate into it in order to find out what it
really is. He must see: “I am possessed of a wrong view of
‘I’. I am a slave of a pseudo-I. I should not take him for the
real ‘I’ or lend him that name. This tragedy of wrong thinking
has brought on me the sickness of a wrong I. The Maharshi
has prescribed the right medicine to cure me. I am under the
spell of the ego which has hypnotized and enslaved me. I
myself gave it the power to do so by thoughtlessly bestowing
my I-sense on it. By doing so I am helping it to rob me of my
very Self.” Indeed, the Maharshi often referred to the story of
King Janaka who, on attaining Realisation, exclaimed: “Now
I have caught the thief who has been robbing me all these
years!”
Why do I thus misplace my I-sense? Because I take
sense-perceptions for true. I have to learn to realise the true
‘I’ which underlies mind and senses and the whole objective
world.
Man’s mind and senses are used to cognize objective
things, but this talent is of no use for knowing the Self, in
which there is no trace of objectivity. One cannot have a
vision of the Self or know the Self as one knows another,
because that would imply two selves in you, one to know the
other.
“You speak of a vision of Siva, but a vision always
presumes an object. That implies the existence of a subject.
The value of the vision is the same as that of the seer. That
is to say the nature of the vision is on the same plane as that
of the seer.”* “A vision of God is only a vision of the Self
objectified as the God of your particular faith. What you have
* ibid., p. 171.
to do is to know the Self.”* And to know the Self is only to

know, to be aware, to be.
Devotee: When I seek the ‘I’, I see nothing.
Bhagavan: You say that because you are accustomed to
identify yourself with the body and sight with the eyes, but
what is there to be seen? And by whom? And how? There
is only one Consciousness and this, when it identifies itself
with the body, projects itself through the eyes and sees the
surrounding objects. The individual is limited to the waking
state; he expects to see something different and accepts the
authority of his senses. He will not admit that he who sees,
the objects seen and the act of seeing are all manifestations
of the same Consciousness – the ‘I-I’. Self-enquiry helps to
overcome the illusion that the Self is something to see. How
do you recognize yourself now? Do you have to hold a mirror
up in front of yourself to recognize yourself? The awareness
is itself the ‘I’. Realise it and that is the truth.”† However the
ego is engrossed with seeing, hearing, feeling and objective
knowing. It values these functions and considers them as
belonging to the Self. Blinded by this view, one does not
experience the brilliance of the true ‘I’. One’s attention is
to be drawn away from such objective perceptions to That
with respect to which there is unknowingness.‡ If That were
known and experienced as It is, It would be recognized as
one’s very Self, and then the false ‘I’ would fade out. The
outer man is unreal and should be made passive, a mere
recipient of impressions. Self-enquiry helps to do this. The
journey is inwards through territory unknown to the senses.
So long as life remains one should strive to reach
one’s source. This is the only worthy aim in life, the only
goal worth seeking, the only use of life that can put an end
* ibid., 173.
† ibid., p.14.
‡ This expression recalls the title of the 14th Century English
mystic’s guide to aspirants, ‘The Cloud of Unknowing. (Editor)
to suffering and frustration and reveal the pure Bliss, the

radiant Consciousness, the unruffled Being that one really
is. The weapon for doing this, on the Maharshi’s path, is
concentration on the I-sense. This is not like other thoughts
that come and go and can be dismissed at will. One’s attention
must be constantly drawn to feeling of pure awareness, pure
consciousness of I-am-ness.
At first this can be done only during concentrated sessions
of Self-enquiry known loosely as ‘meditation’ but later the
awareness of I-am-ness becomes an undercurrent underlying
all one’s activities. This I-sense is the scent by tracing which
to its source one reaches the Self, as a dog tracks out its
master.
‘Am I worse than a dog? Steadfastly will I track Thee out
and regain Thee Oh Arunachala’.
(First of the ‘Five Hymns to Arunachala,’ verse 39.)*
The Maharshi says that if one earnestly seeks the ‘I’,
the false ‘I’ vanishes, leaving only the true to shine in all its
pristine glory. His teaching is based on his own experience not
on learning or reasoning, and nothing he says is for the sake
of argument. What can be more heartening to the traveller on
the Mountain Path!
53. Companionship with Bhagavan†
K avyakantha Ganapati Muni, the well-known early disciple

of Bhagavan Ramana, familiarly known as Nayana,
once lived for four months in a small tiled room facing the
Ganapati Temple of Palakkothu in the year 1929. I had the
rare privilege of sharing his room and serving him, immersed
in the spiritual aura of that great tapasvin and yogi. He was a
very simple man with few physical wants, so it was a pleasure
* The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi.

† Viswanathan, The Mountain Path, January 1966.
to serve him. It involved no physical or mental strain at all.

Having a natural inner poise, he was always relaxed, despite
his brilliance and quick wit. Everyone felt the warmth of his
friendliness and the air of purity and peace about him.
It was no wonder therefore that Bhagavan Ramana,
despite his equal vision, had some special regard and love for
him. This expressed itself in many ways. During these early
years Bhagavan used to go alone, without an attendant, for
his short afternoon stroll past Palakkothu and often dropped
in to sit for a few minutes with Nayana. It was neither what
Bhagavan did nor what he said that mattered, it was his
glorious presence that shone above all. Yet the familiarity
with which he moved with his intimate devotees was heart-
warming.
Bhagavan was opposed to any sort of waste or
extravagance. “How do you light the fire in your charcoal
stove?” he asked me one day. I told him that I used a bit
of old rag rolled up and dipped in kerosene. Smilingly he
scolded me for wasting kerosene when the fire could easily
be lit with some of the dry twigs and leaves lying around or
with bits of waste paper.
On another occasion he saw some small bits of paper,
about one inch by six, lying on the floor of Nayana’s room
and asked him if they were of any use to him. Nayana replied
that they were waste pieces that he had cut off in cutting
some sheets of paper to the required size. Bhagavan said: “I
can stitch these pieces together and make a little notebook the
size of a thumb and use it for writing something or other in.”
Nayana beamed with pleasure at this economy; but I, to save
Bhagavan the trouble, offered to do it myself and to make
use of the paper. Perceiving my motive, Bhagavan said: “All
right, but you are to show me the stitched note-book and the
use you make of it.” On my undertaking to do so Bhagavan
dropped the matter, as he had confidence in my sincerity.
As soon as Bhagavan had left I made a tiny notebook out
of the bits of paper and wrote down in it the 108 slokas of the
Indra Sahasra, Nama Stotra and its seven concluding verses

composed by Ganapati Muni in 1929.*
Bhagavan appreciated the deep spiritual significance
of these names as they were read out to him during the
composition of the work and even before. So next morning
when I showed Bhagavan the tiny notebook with the Indra
Sahasranama written in it in small script, he scrutinized, as
was his way,† not only the contents but the stitching and
general appearance as well and then exclaimed with pleasure:
“ You have kept your promise and made the best use of the
bits of paper.” I somehow lost that precious note-book handled
and perused by Bhagavan. I need not say how glad I shall be
if this lost treasure is found and restored for the benefit of all.
The present Ashram buildings had not yet been erected
and Bhagavan was living in a thatched hut adjoining his
Mother’s Samadhi (Shrine). Nayana used to sit in the
presence of Bhagavan for about two hours daily, before and
after sunset. This is a part of the day known as pradosha
in Sanskrit and traditionally held sacred to the worship of
Siva. But for Bhagavan and Nayana there was no special time
of worship since they were perpetually flaming with tapas
transcending time and space.
One evening Nayana asked Bhagavan about the forests
which at that time still existed on and around Arunachala,
saying that he had been in forests in other parts of India but
not here. Bhagavan, full of benevolence, at once offered to
take him to the forests on a fine day and said with a radiant,
almost boyish smile, “Nayana, there is no inch of ground all
over Arunachala that has not been trodden by these feet during
* The thousand names of Indra culled from the Rig Veda. Nayana
composed his litany of these, adding no other words. ‘Indra’ refers
here, of course, to the Supreme Being, not to the Indra of the Puranas
who rises to a godly state by merit and again falls from it.)
† Bhagavan was extremely observant. Even on receiving a letter
he would examine the envelope with address, postmark and stamps
before opening it.
the time when I was living on the hill, especially during the
Virupaksha period. I have been up the hills and down the
dales and roamed about the interior regions where no forest
guard would dare to go.”
One cloudy day, a few days later, I went to Bhagavan
after lunch as usual. He was sitting alone. As soon as he saw
me he asked what Nayana was doing and whether it would
suit him to go for a walk in the forest. I replied that Nayana
was writing something but would jump with joy and gladly
drop it if he heard of Bhagavan’s proposal. “Go and tell him,
then, and be ready,” Bhagavan said. “I will slip out of the
Ashram unobserved (to avoid a crowd) and meet you near
your room.”
Bhagavan joined us a few minutes later and the three of us
wended our way towards the forest, led of course by Bhagavan,
the born leader through uncharted regions, physical as well as
spiritual. We entered the second forest path, cutting through
the cattle-fair ground west of Palakkothu and the beautiful
little temple of Draupadi with an arresting atmosphere about
it. Thence Bhagavan took us to the third forest path, skirting
the slopes of Arunachala at varying heights. It was dense
forest with creepers entwining the trees and bushes. There
were a few streams, some of them flowing and some dried up.
As we proceeded along the winding, rugged path, enjoying
the beauty of the scenery and the ever-changing aspects of
the changeless Arunachala, the clouds cleared away and let
the sunlight in for a few minutes. Knowing that Nayana could
not stand the heat of the sun on his head, Bhagavan took us
to a spreading tree standing at the edge of a forest pond and
said: “ See, Nayana, this is the tree known as Ingudi famous
for its cooling shade and medicinal properties described in
Sakuntala and other famous Sanskrit works. It is called Nizhali
or Nanjunda in Tamil on account of its very cool shade which
wards off the effects of the hot sun in no time.” And five
minutes under the shade of the tree proved it to be so.
As soon as the clouds gathered over again, giving shade,

Bhagavan took us deeper into the forest. Later he found a
very pleasant place for us to rest, on the bed of a dried up
stream, shaded by a huge rock to the west.
We did not speak much. One does not feel like disturbing
the eloquent silence of Bhagavan in harmony with nature by
indiscreet talk or even thought. He teaches in silence.
Time passed unnoticed in the gripping presence of the
Lord of Silence until Nayana suggested that it was getting
rather late for Bhagavan’s return to the Ashram. Bhagavan
said that we would wait for the afternoon breeze which would
soon start up and make walking pleasant. A few minutes later
the breeze did indeed start. At the same time, we heard the
sound of someone moving through the bushes to the south
and looking that way I saw Muruganar’s head above the
bushes and announced his presence with surprise.
Bhagavan, who was a marvellous actor, placed his finger
along the side of his nose, as was his habit when surprised, and
expressed his surprise that Muruganar could have penetrated
so deep into the forest and discovered us. Muruganar had by
this time caught sight of us and heard our voices, and a few
minutes later he joined us and prostrated full length before
Bhagavan, his face flushed with emotion. Bhagavan asked
him how he had managed to find us out in this unfrequented
spot where even a forest guard would find it hard to do so.
Muruganar explained in a voice choked with emotion that
he was present when Nayana expressed his wish to see the
forests and Bhagavan proposed a walk there and he decided
not to miss the opportunity of accompanying Bhagavan
deep into the heart of Arunachala. So since that day he had
been daily coming to the Ashram as early as possible in the
afternoon from the Temple of Arunachala where he was
staying. That afternoon he had not found Bhagavan seated on
his couch as usual when he came. The people at the Ashram
had no knowledge of his whereabouts. Wasting no more time,
he went straight to Nayana’s room in Palakkothu but found
it locked. He enquired of the watchman who told him that

earlier in the afternoon Nayana and I had been seen walking
with Bhagavan in the direction of the cattle-fair ground. Some
intuition made him choose the path he did, which brought
him straight to Bhagavan.
We all three returned with Bhagavan to the Ashram
unaware of anything but Bhagavan’s Grace, the only Reality
shining through all forms and movements and playing hide
and seek with us all.
54. Some Reminiscences*
A fter spending about twelve years in personal attendance

on Bhagavan, I began to feel an urge to devote myself
entirely to sadhana, spending my time all alone. However, I
could not easily reconcile myself to the idea of giving up my
personal service to Bhagavan. I had been debating the matter
for some days when the answer came in a strange way. As
I entered the hall one day I heard Bhagavan explaining to
others who were there that real service to him did not mean
attending to his physical needs but following the essence
of his teaching: that is concentrating on realising the Self.
Needless to say, that automatically cleared my doubts.
I therefore gave up my Ashram duties, but I then found
it hard to decide how in fact I should spend the entire day
in search of Realisation. I referred the matter to Bhagavan
and he advised me to make Self-enquiry my final aim, but
to practice Self-enquiry, meditation, japa and recitation of
scripture turn by turn, changing over from one to another as
and when I found the one I was doing irksome or difficult. In
course of time, he said, the sadhana would become stabilised
in Self-enquiry or pure Consciousness or Realisation.
* Kunju Swami, The Mountain Path, July 1966.

From my personal experience, as well as from that

of others within my knowledge, I can say that before
recommending any path to an aspirant Bhagavan would
first find out from him what aspect, or form, or path he was
naturally drawn to and then recommend him to follow it. He
would sometimes endorse the traditional stages of sadhana,
advancing from worship (puja) to incantation (japa), then to
meditation (dhyana), and finally to Self-enquiry (vichara).
However, he also used to say that continuous and rigorous
practice of any one of these methods was adequate in itself
to lead to Realisation. Thus, for instance, when one adopts
the method of worship, say of the Sakti, one should, by
constant practice and concentration, be able to see the Sakti
everywhere and always and in everything and thus give up
identification with the ego. Similarly, with japa. By constant
and continuous repetition of a mantra one gets merged in it
and loses all sense of separate individuality. In dhyana again,
in constant meditation, with bhavana or deep feeling, one
attains the state of Bhavanatheeta, which is only another name
for pure Consciousness. Thus, any method, if taken earnestly
and practised unremittingly, will result in elimination of the
‘I’ and lead to the goal of Realisation.
Once some awkward problems concerning Ashram
management cropped up. Without being directly concerned,
I was worried about them, as I felt that failure to solve them
satisfactorily would impair the good name of the Ashram.
One day, two or three devotees went to Bhagavan and put
the problems before him. I happened to enter the hall while
they were talking about them, and he immediately turned to
me and asked me why I had come in at this time and why
I was interesting myself in such matters. I did not grasp the
meaning of his question, so Bhagavan explained that a person
should occupy himself only with that purpose with which he
had originally come to the Ashram and asked me what my
original purpose had been. I replied: “To receive Bhagavan’s
Grace.” So, he said: “Then occupy yourself with that only.”
He further continued by asking me whether I had any

interest in matters concerning the Ashram management when
I first came here. On my replying that I had not, he added:
“Then concentrate on the original purpose of your coming
here.”
55. Sri Ramana the Divine Sage*
B eautiful beyond all dreams, is the most enthralling inner

life of the divine sage Sri Ramana. Its spiritual adventures
and its divine achievements quicken higher aspirations and
upward urges in the depths of our being, impart to us a sense
of the significance of our life, give our existence a profound
meaning and a great purpose, show its divine possibilities,
illustrate its grand Goal, and what is more, point out the royal
path reaching it even here on the terrestrial plane and in this
very clay tenement. . .
The heavenly beauties and the ethereal glories of his
transcendent life, the divine life, are revealed only to those
who have “eyes to see those who have faith in him, pray to
him, adore him in thought and spirit can sense and feel them
and those who are absolutely pure and ripe enough to live his
life can experience them. The very thought of Sri Ramana in a
noble heart induces an attitude of adoration and beckons it to
his view and ways of life, Sri Ramana is an eternal invitation
to consummate perfection; he is the Call Divine.
For a realisation of the Self, for becoming like him, the
greatest message Sri Ramana gave to aspiring and enlightened
mankind is an individual enquiry of ‘Who am I?’ . Self
realisation or an experience of the omnipresent Reality must
always follow a preparatory peeping into the inner regions of
our deeps, a heroic battling of our way into the very meaning
and source of life, a burning love and a consuming zeal for the
* Sri Swami Sivananda, Call Divine, January 1953, pp. 146-8.

attainment of the divine light and grace; otherwise one is sure

to lose one’s way in false paths and face defeat, disillusion
and madness. So an enquiry after the subjective centre, that
Real Man, the metaphysical entity that is lurking dormant in
the heart of the intellectual, vital and physical encasements of
every individual, is the first step.
But the introspective cognition of the Self by the self
becomes possible and flowers into the most effective
operative power only after a certain necessary period of
successful psychological training and discipline of the
entire man. By conscious exercise of the power of the will,
in the light of knowledge acquired after a profound study
of prasthanathraya and of experience, one has to throw out
secret thoughts, eliminate inner hankerings, overcome subtle
desires, abandon selfish interests, and lift the soul out of
all human passions and prejudices, predilections and cross
purposes. This sadhana engenders in the aspirant an emptiness
of the heart, stillness of the mind, a philosophic poise and a
spiritual vision.
Vichara, the ever-present reflection on the why and
wherefore of life and things: Viveka, the ever-present
discrimination between the perishable and the Imperishable,
the unreal and the Real; and Vairagya, the passionate revolt
against selfishness and sensuality – these three constitute the
life-belt, the wings and the eyes of every earnest seeker after
Truth. Much of Sri Ramana’s sadhana is occult and hidden
from the ordinary view because his period of spiritual practice
was covered in his previous births and it was only in this life
that his revolutionary self-unfolding came to its acme. Without
prolonged strenuous efforts of head, heart and hand, and
continuous unique discipline involving thorough cleansing,
education and illumination of self in past incarnations, so
complete a Self-experience of Sri Ramana would have been
impossible. Even in this last physical embodiment, he took
resort to Vichara, Viveka and Vairagya. The characteristic
pose of Sri Ramana, the ‘mad man’ who lost himself in the
transcendent joy of the divine Self, is a perpetual challenge to

the pomp, glories and bliss of earthly kings and emperors. The
extreme indifference of Sri Ramana to the thrills and wonders
of the world gave us a measure of his empyrian greatness.
A simple reflection on his philosophic poise, his perpetual
peace, his inner spiritual joy, thrilled one into a possession
of a new mind, a new heart and new eyes. The heights of
discernment, the religious indifference, the profundity, the
fullness, the grace his life exhibited, are comparable to those
of Lord Dattatreya and Sri Dakshinamurti.
For contemporary humanity the life of Sri Ramana
made the unseen a living Reality, the unknown a conscious
experience. In him God became flesh; Truth found its fullest
expression; the Self manifested itself in all its completeness.
This great end is awaiting every living being. Sri Ramana is
the spiritual destiny of every man. Self-expression by self-
enquiry, self-knowledge and self-finding is the meaning and
the goal of all conscious life. Sri Ramana is the call divine.
He calls every aspirant unto himself, unto his perfection, unto
his Realisation. As a seeker he struck the path, trod it, reached
the divine destination, became what he beheld at that end,
brought its beauties into earthly life and shared his infinite
peace and joy with millions of souls groping in phenomenal
ignorance, sorrow and sickness. May Sri Ramana’s divine
grace descend upon everyone more and yet more abundantly,
to effect Self-knowledge and Self-illumination here and now!
56. The Power of Arunachala*
The Thought of Arunachala

By seeing Chidambaram, by being born, in
Tiruvarur, by dying in Kasi, or by merely thinking
of Arunachala, one will surely attain Liberation.
The supreme knowledge (Self-knowledge), the
import of Vedanta, which cannot be attained without
great difficulty, can easily be attained by anyone
who sees the form of this hill from wherever it is
visible or who even thinks of it by mind from afar.†
S uch is the assurance given by Lord Siva in the Arunachala

Mahatmyam about the power of the mere thought
of Arunachala, and this assurance has received striking
confirmation from the life and teachings of Bhagavan Sri
Ramana.
In the second line of the first verse of Sri Arunachala
Ashtakam Sri Bhagavan tells us that from his very earliest
childhood, when he knew no other thing, Arunachala was
shining his mind as the ‘most great’. And this thought of
Arunachala so worked in his mind that at the age of sixteen a
great fear of death arose in him and turned his mind Selfwards
to drown forever in its source.
In his writings Sri Bhagavan has repeatedly confirmed
the mysterious power that the thought of Arunachala has over
the mind. In his Tamil Collected Works, under the picture of
Arunachala, there is a verse that can be considered as his
dhyana sloka (verse of contemplation) upon his Sadguru,
Arunachala Siva; in this verse he sings, “This is Arunachala-
Siva, the ocean of grace that bestows liberation when thought
of”. In the first verse of Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai
* Michael James, The Mountain Path, April 1982.

† This verse is the fifth of the seven verses which Sri Bhagavan
selected from the Arunachala Mahatmyam and translated into Tamil.
(The Marital Garland of Letters) he sings, “O Arunachala,

you root out the ego of those who think of you in the heart
as ‘Arunachala’”. In the 102nd verse of Aksharamanamalai,
he sings, “O Arunachala, the moment I thought of Arunai [the
holy town of Arunachala] I was caught in the trap of your
grace. Can the net of your grace ever fail?” And in the last
line of the second verse of Sri Arunachala Navamanimalai
(‘The Necklet of Nine Gems’) he sings, ‘Mukti Ninaikka
varul Arunachalam’ meaning, ‘Arunachala, the mere thought
of which bestows liberation’.
But only in the tenth verse of Sri Arunachala Padikam
does Sri Bhagavan actually reveal how the thought of
Arunachala works in the mind to root out the ego. In this
verse he sings:
“I have seen a wonder, a magnetic hill that
forcibly attracts the soul. Arresting the activities of
the soul who thinks of it even once, drawing it to
face itself, the One, making it thus motionless like
itself, it feeds upon that sweet [pure and ripened]
soul. What a wonder is this! O souls, be saved by
thinking of this great Arunagiri, which shines in the
mind as the destroyer of the soul [the ego]!”
The words ‘oru tanadu abhimukhamaha irttu,’ ‘drawing
it to face itself, the One,’ used here by Sri Bhagavan are a
mystic way of saying ‘drawing the soul to turn inwards and
face Self, the one reality’. Thus in this verse Sri Bhagavan
reveals how the thought of Arunachala works within the mind
to arrest its activities, to attract its attention towards Self and
thereby to make it still. In other words, Sri Bhagavan assures
that the thought of Arunachala will lead the mind to the path
of Self-enquiry, the ‘direct path for all’, as indeed happened in
his own case. Knowing from personal experience this unique
power of Arunachala, Sri Bhagavan confidently advises us in
the last line of this verse, “O souls, be saved by thinking of
this great Arunagiri, which shines in the mind as the destroyer
of the soul!”
The Form of Arunachala

Sri Bhagavan has said that Arunachala is the supreme
Self that shines as ‘I’ in the Hearts of all living beings. In
other words, Arunachala is truly the non-dual reality that
transcends time, space, name and form. Hence, many of the
verses in The Five Hymns to Arunachala, being very mystic
in nature, can well be interpreted as applying to the nameless
and formless Self, rather than to the name and form of
Arunachala. For this reason, some devotees tend to view Sri
Bhagavan’s revelation about the power of Arunachala as being
purely allegorical, and a few even ask, “When Arunachala is
the Self, why should we attach any particular importance to
this hill.”*
In order to understand more fully the importance that Sri
Bhagavan attached to the name and form of this Hill, it is
necessary for us to take a broad view of his teachings. In
verse four of Ulladu Narpadu (‘The Forty Verses on Reality’)
Sri Bhagavan says, “If oneself is a form, the world and God
will also be likewise.” That is, they will also be forms. In
the first line of the third verse of Sri Arunachala Ashtakam
he addresses Arunachala and sings, “When I approach you,
regarding you as having form, you stand here as a Hill on
earth.”
That is, so long as we identify the body as ‘I’, it is
equally true that this Hill is God. Indeed, Sri Bhagavan used
to say that because we identify the body as ‘I’, Lord Siva,
the Supreme Reality, out of his immense compassion for us,
identifies this Hill as ‘I’, so that we may see him, think of
him and thereby receive his grace and guidance. “Only to
reveal your [transcendent] state without speech [i.e. through
* In Talks No. 273 (p. 228) it is recorded that Dr. Syed once asked a
similar question to Sri Bhagavan, who in reply pointed out that the
Hill had attracted to Itself all the assembled devotees, including Sri
Bhagavan Himself, and that the power of the Hill therefore could
not be denied.
silence], you stand as a Hill shining from earth to sky,”

sings Sri Bhagavan in the last line of the second verse of Sri
Arunachala Ashtakam.
So long as we feel the name and form of our body to be
‘I’, we cannot conceive God as being anything but a name and
form. Even if we think that God is formless, that very thought
about God itself is a form – a mere mental conception. This
is why Sri Bhagavan says in the second line of the third verse
of Ashtakam, “If one tries to think of your nature as formless,
he is like one who wanders throughout the world to see the
sky.”*
Being the perfect spiritual Master that he was, Sri
Bhagavan knew well how important and necessary is the
form of God for the human mind, which is ever attached
to forms. And from his own personal experience he knew
the unique power of the form of Arunachala, a power that
cannot be found in such abundance in any other form of God,
namely the power to turn the mind towards Self and thereby
to root out the ego.
In verse eleven of Sri Arunachala Padikam Sri Bhagavan
exclaims with joy and wonder, “Lo! How many are there like
me who have been destroyed by thinking this hill to be the
Supreme… ,” thereby assuring us that if we regard this hill as
God, our egos will surely be destroyed. Though Arunachala
appears outwardly as a hill of mere insentient rock, the true
devotee understands it to be the all-knowing, all-loving and
all-powerful Supreme Lord, who is guiding him both from
within and without at every step and turn of life, leading him
steadily and surely towards the goal of egolessness. “What
a wonder! It stands as if an insentient hill [yet] its action is
* The futility of trying to conceive God as being formless when w e

are unable to know ourself as the formless Self, is well illustrated by
a dialogue that Sri Bhagavan once had with some Muslims, which is
recorded on p. 28 of Maha Yoga and in Talks No. 121.
mysterious – impossible for anyone to understand,” sings Sri

Bhagavan in the first line of Sri Arunachala Ashtakam.
The Name of Arunachala
Of all the names of God, the name dearest to the heart of
Sri Bhagavan was Arunachala. Every one of the 108 verses
of Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai ends with the name
Arunachala, and the refrain is ‘Arunachala Siva, Arunachala
Siva, Arunachala Siva, Arunachala!’ From the great love that
Sri Bhagavan had for this name, it is clear that he regarded it
as being no less powerful than the form of Arunachala. This
fact is confirmed in verse seventy of Aksharamanamalai in
which Sri Bhagavan sings, “O Arunachala, the very moment
I thought of your name, you caught me and drew me to
yourself. Who can understand your greatness?”
There are many incidents in the life of Sri Bhagavan that
illustrate his great love for the divine name Arunachala, but
perhaps the most striking occurred during his last moments.
About twenty-five minutes before he left his body, the
assembled devotees began to chant Aksharamanamalai.
Hearing the name of his beloved Arunachala, Sri Bhagavan
opened his eyes, which shone with love, and tears of ecstasy
rolled down his cheeks.
Though Sri Bhagavan never gave mantra-diksha nor
formally accepted anyone as his disciple, many devotees
believe that Arunachala is the nama-mantra that he has
bestowed upon the whole world. When a Guru formally
gives a mantra to his disciple, he explains to him the meaning
and significance of each letter of the mantra and tells him
the fruit to be gained by meditating upon that mantra. In
the same manner, in the second verse of Sri Arunachala
Navamanimalai Sri Bhagavan has explained the meaning of
each syllable in the name Arunachala and he has declared that
mere thought of this name will bestow liberation. From this
we can infer that Arunachala is the jnana-panchakshari, the
five-syllable mantra that bestows jnana. Moreover, tradition
tells us that when a mantra is given by a jnani and when he

explains the significance of each syllable of that mantra, he
is actually putting his own power into that mantra. Therefore,
if any devotees of Sri Bhagavan wish to have a mantra, they
can very well take Arunachala to be the mantra openly given
to them by him.
The power of the name Arunachala was once directly
confirmed by Sri Bhagavan. In 1948 a certain devotee came
to him from Bombay, and with him he brought a notebook
in which he had written the name ‘Arunachala Siva’ many
thousands of times. On the last page of this notebook the
devotee wrote a prayer to the following effect, “O Bhagavan,
in the life of Sarada Devi [the wife of Sri Ramakrishna] it is
written that she has said that if even an animal dies in Kasi
it will attain liberation. Therefore, graciously bestow upon
be the boon of death in Kasi,” and gave the notebook to Sri
Bhagavan.
Bhagavan looked through the notebook and when he
came to the last page he read out loud the devotee’s prayer:
at once he expressed the greatest surprise and exclaimed,
‘Smaranat Arunachalam!’
The words ‘Smaranat Arunachalam’ mean ‘by
remembering Arunachala’, and they occur in the very same
Sanskrit verse that says that by dying in Kasi one will attain
liberation. Bhagavan then turned to the revolving bookcase
by his side and took out a book, probably the Arunachala
Mahatmyam. Opening it as if at random, he read out a
sentence in Tamil that said, “One ‘Arunachala’ is equal in
power to one crore ‘Om Nama Sivaya’.” (‘Om Nama Sivaya’
is believed by Saivas all over India to be the most sacred and
powerful mantra). After reading out a few other portions of
this book that emphasized the unique greatness and power of
Arunachala, Sri Bhagavan finally laid it aside and explained
to the devotee that, not everyone can see Chidambaram, not
everyone can be born in Tiruvarur, and not everyone can die
in Kasi, but anyone, and everyone, can think of Arunachala
from wherever they may be, and thereby they will surely
attain liberation.
From this incident we can understand how unhesitatingly
Sri Bhagavan encouraged devotees to have absolute faith in
Arunachala. If devotees of a sceptical frame of mind came to
him and asked him how mere thought of Arunachala could
bestow liberation, he used to explain the allegorical significance
of this saying, since that alone would satisfy their mind. But
if devotees came to him with simple, child-like faith, he
would strengthen their faith and confirm the literal meaning
of this saying, since he knew from personal experience the
great power of the name and form of Arunachala.
The Unique Sanctity of Arunachala
In India there are countless holy places (kshetras) that
are sacred to Lord Siva or to some other name and form of
God, and many of them are more well-known and popular
than Arunachala. Yet there is a verse in the Arunachala
Mahatmyam, which has been selected and translated into
Tamil by Sri Bhagavan, that says:
Arunachala is truly the holy place. Of all holy
places it is the most sacred! Know that it is the heart
of the world. It is truly Siva himself! It is his heart-
abode, a secret kshetra. In that place the Lord ever
abides as the Hill of light named Arunachala.
Whenever Sri Bhagavan asked about the special sanctity
of Arunachala, he used to explain that other holy places such
as Kailas, Kasi and Chidambaram are sacred because they
are the abodes of Lord Siva whereas Arunachala is Lord
Siva himself. However, as the above verse of Arunachala
Mahatmyam says, Arunachala is a secret kshetra. Because
it is this place that bestows jnana and because most people
have so many other desires and do not truly want jnana,
Arunachala has always remained comparatively little known.
But to those few who seek jnana, Arunachala always makes

itself known through some means or other.
The unique sanctity and power of Arunachala-kshetra
was once confirmed by an incident that happened in the life
of Sri Bhagavan. Because of his great love for Sri Bhagavan,
a certain devotee wanted to take him to his native place,
Chidambaram. But rather than directly ask Sri Bhagavan to
come to Chidambaram, he began to ask him if he had ever
been to see Lord Nataraja in Chidambaram Temple. When
Sri Bhagavan replied that he had not, the devotee began to
describe the greatness of Chidambaram, saying that it was
the most sacred Siva-kshetra in South India, that so many
saints and sages had lived there and had sung in praise of
Lord Nataraja, and so on and so forth. Sri Bhagavan listened
to all he said with patient interest, but showed no signs of
wanting to visit Chidambaram. Seeing this, the devotee at last
said, “Chidambaram is even greater than Arunachala, because
among the panchabhuta-lingams [the lingams representing
the five elements] Chidambaram is the space-lingam while
Arunachala is only the fire-lingam.* Since the four elements,
earth, water, air and fire, finally have to merge in space, space
is the principal element.”
Hearing this, Sri Bhagavan smiled and said, “All the five
elements come into existence only when Sakti seemingly
forsakes her identify with Lord Siva, the Supreme Self
(Paramatman). Since the five elements are thus only the
creations of Sakti, she is superior to all of them. Therefore,
more important than the place where the elements merge,
is the place where Sakti herself merges. Because Sakti is
dancing in Chidambaram, Lord Siva has to dance before her
and thereby make her become motionless. But in Arunachala
* Though Arunachala is generally considered to be one of the
panchabhuta-lingams, Sri Bhagavan used to point out that It is truly
not a lingam of ordinary fire, which is one among the five gross
elements, but is a lingam of the Fire of knowledge (jnanagni), the
Fire that burns the ego to destruction.)
Lord Siva remains ever motionless (achala), and hence Sakti

automatically and effortlessly merges in him through great
love. Therefore, Arunachala shines as the foremost and most
powerful kshetra, because here Sakti, who has seemingly
created all this manifold appearance, herself merges into the
Lord. So for those mature aspirants who seek to put an end
to the false appearance of duality, the most powerful help is
to be found only in Arunachala-kshetra.”
Subsequently, on 24th June 1928, Sri Bhagavan
summarised this reply of his in the form of a verse, which later
became the first verse of Sri Arunachala Navamanimalai. In
this verse he says:
Though he is truly motionless by nature, in the court
[of Chidambaram] Lord Siva dances before Sakti, thereby
making her motionless. But know that [in Tiruvannamalai]
Lord Arunachala shines triumphant, that Sakti having merged
in his motionless form.
The Gurutvam of Arunachala
Arunachala has always been renowned as the bestower of
liberation, the destroyer of the ego, the remover of the false
notion ‘I am the body’ – as the jnana-Guru par excellence.
When Brahma and Vishnu began to quarrel, being deluded
by pride and egoism, Lord Arunachala Siva appeared before
them in the form of a column of fire, thereby vanquishing
their egoism and teaching them true knowledge. When Sakti,
Goddess Parvati, wished to attain a state in which she could
do no wrong, Lord Siva sent her to Arunachala, where she
merged and became one with him. Thus, even to Brahma and
Vishnu, Arunachala was Guru, and to Parvati it was the place
where she lost her separate individuality.
Throughout the ages saints and sages have sung verses
in Sanskrit, Tamil and other Indian languages extolling
the unique power of Arunachala to root out the ego and to
bestow Self-knowledge. All the four great Saiva sages of
Tamil Nadu, Manickavachakar, Sundaramurti, Appar and
Jnanasambandhar, have sung in praise of Arunachala. In one

verse often pointed out by Sri Bhagavan, Jnanasambandhar
described this hill as being jnana-tiral, a dense mass of jnana.
And Sundaramurti, singing in Tiruvanaikka, remembers
Arunachala and sings, “O Annamalai, you can be known only
to those who give up the attachment to the body”.
These puranic stories and songs of ancient sages all
confirm the fact that Arunachala is the supreme jnana-Guru.
But this fact has received its most striking confirmation from
Sri Bhagavan. In verse nineteen of Aksharamanamalai he
explicitly states that Arunachala shines as the form of his
Guru; and in the same verse he reveals the function of the
real Guru, namely to destroy all our defects, including the
root-defect, the ego, to bestow all good qualities upon us and
to rule over us.
In many of his other verses Sri Bhagavan has clearly
indicated that the role of Arunachala is the role of the
Sadguru. For example, in Aksharamanamalai he sings that
Arunachala roots out the ego of those who think of it (verse
1), that it annihilates those who approach it as God (verse 48)
and that it destroys the attachment of those who come to it
with attachment (verse 77). He also reveals that Arunachala
instructs through silence (verse 36), and that it teaches the path
of self-enquiry (verse 44); and he shows us the way of praying
to Arunachala to bestow jnana (verse 40), to reveal Self as
the reality (verse 43), and to make us give up the attachment
to the body (verse 75). He has also confirmed, from his own
experience, the power of Arunachala as Guru. In verse eight
of Sri Arunachala Navamanimalai he sings that, in order to
put an end to his sufferings in the world, Arunachala ‘gave
me his own state’. In verse nine he describes the wonder of
Arunachala’s grace saying, “You entered my mind, drew me
and established me in your own state.”
All that Sri Bhagavan has said about the power of
Arunachala tallies exactly with what he has said about the
power of the Guru. In verse 268 of Guru Vachaka Kovai (The
Garland of Guru’s Sayings) he says that the Guru is he who

possesses the supreme power to make any soul who comes
to him merge into Self, the knowledge beyond all speech.
The Guru works in many ways to make the disciple merge
into Self. “He gives a push from ‘without’ and exerts a pull
from ‘within’, so that you may be fixed in the Centre,” says
Sri Bhagavan in Maharshi’s Gospel, p. 36. From ‘without’
the Guru gives verbal instructions to turn the disciple’s
mind towards Self, and he also enables the disciple to have
association (satsang) with his form, and thereby to gain the
necessary strength and love to turn within and attend to Self.
To give verbal instructions it is necessary for the Guru to be
in human form, but to give satsang and subtle inner guidance
he may be in any form.
Sri Bhagavan has come as the Guru in human form
to give us all the necessary verbal instructions, and he has
revealed that Arunachala is the Guru in the form of a Hill
with which we can always have satsang. Like any human
body, the human form of the Guru will inevitably pass away
one day, whereas the form of Arunachala will always remain.
Thus, though Sri Bhagavan has left his human form, he has
provided us with all the requisite outward help: he has left us
with a permanent record of his verbal teachings, and he has
shown us a form with which we can always have satsang.
Therefore, for the devotees of Sri Bhagavan there will never
be any need to search for another outer Guru, because all
the necessary help and guidance is ever available for us in
the form of the teachings of Sri Bhagavan and the satsang of
Arunachala.
The power of the satsang of Arunachala was often
confirmed by Sri Bhagavan. Dr. T.N. Krishnaswamy records
in the Ramana Pictorial Souvenir, p. 7 that Sri Bhagavan
once said to him:
“The whole Hill is sacred. It is Siva himself. Just as we
identify ourselves with a body, so Siva has chosen to identify
himself with this Hill. Arunachala is pure wisdom (jnana) in
the form of a Hill. It is out of compassion to those who seek

him that he has chosen to reveal himself in the form of a Hill
visible to the eye. The seeker will obtain guidance and solace
by staying near this Hill.”
Arunachala-pradakshina
Arunachala is the physical embodiment of Sat, the reality,
and hence to have contact with it in any manner is satsang. To
think of Arunachala is satsang, to see Arunachala is satsang,
and to live near Arunachala is satsang. But one very special
way of having satsang with Arunachala is to do Arunagiri-
pradakshina, that is to walk barefoot round the hill keeping
it to one’s right side.
The great importance that Sri Bhagavan attached to
giripradakshina is well known to all the devotees who lived
with him. He himself did pradakshina countless times, and
he actively and spontaneously encouraged devotees to follow
his example.
“Bhagavan, who scarcely ever gave advice to devotees
unless asked, wholeheartedly encouraged their going round
the hill as conducive to progress in sadhana,” writes Lucia
Osborne in The Mountain Path, January 1974, p. 3.
Devaraja Mudaliar records that the importance of
pradakshina became evident to him “from the frequent
references by Bhagavan himself to its great significance,
and from the fact that thousands of people do it, including
almost all the close disciples of Bhagavan, even those who
may be considered the most advanced among them.” (My
Recollections of Bhagavan Sri Ramana, p. 64)
Though comparatively little has been recorded of what
Sri Bhagavan used to say about the power of pradakshina,
there is no doubt that he considered it to be an act having
great spiritual efficacy. In fact, he used to say that the benefits
which can be gained by meditation and various other forms
of mind-control only after great struggle and effort, will be
effortlessly gained by those who go round the hill.
“Bhagavan often said that those unable to meditate would

succeed in their endeavour by circumambulating Arunachala,”
writes Suri Nagamma in My Life at Sri Ramanasramam, p.
144.
Kunju Swami records on p. 108 of Enadu Ninaivugal that
Bhagavan once told him, “What is better than pradakshina?
That alone is sufficient.”
While extolling the spiritual efficacy of pradakshina,
Sri Bhagavan sometimes used to narrate the story of King
Vajrangada Pandya, which is told in the Arunachala
Mahatmyam. Vajrangada Pandya was a powerful monarch
who ruled over most of South India, but one day he was told
by some celestial beings that in his previous birth he had
been Indra, the ruler of heaven, and that if he worshipped
Arunachala he could regain his former position. On hearing
this, he at once renounced his kingdom and, with the intense
desire to become Indra, he began to worship Arunachala by
going around the hill three times a day. After three years of
such worship, Lord Siva appeared before him and offered
him any boon he wished to pray for. Though his original
ambition had been to become Indra, his mind had been
matured by doing so many pradakshinas, he now realised
that it was worthless to pray for such a transitory pleasure.
He therefore prayed to Lord Siva for the eternal happiness
of Self-knowledge. This story thus aptly illustrates that even
if a person begins to do pradakshina for the fulfillment of
worldly desires, his mind will in time be matured and he will
gain proper discrimination (viveka), desirelessness (vairagya)
and love for Self (swatma-bhakti).
Generally, whenever sages or scriptures prescribe any
form of dualistic worship, whether for the fulfillment of
worldly desires or for the attainment of Self-knowledge, they
always say that it must be done with faith. But Sri Bhagavan
used to say that the power of Arunachala is such that even if
one does pradakshina with no faith, it will still have its effect
and will surely purify the mind. Devaraja Mudaliar records
on p. 64 of My Recollections that Sri Bhagavan told him,

“For everybody it is good to make circuit of the hill. It does
not even matter whether one has faith in this pradakshina
or not; just as fire will burn all who touch it whether they
believe in it or not, so the hill will do good to all those who
go round it.”
Because Arunachala is the ‘fire of knowledge’ (jnanagni)
in the form of a hill, the outgoing tendencies (vasanas) of
the mind are automatically scorched when one goes round it.
When damp wood is brought close to a fire, it will gradually be
dried, and at a certain point it will itself catch fire. Similarly,
when the mind which is soaked with worldly tendencies goes
round the hill, the tendencies will gradually dry up and at a
certain point the mind will become fit to be burnt by the fire
of jnana. That is why Sri Bhagavan said to Kunju Swami,
“This Hill is the storehouse of all spiritual power. Going
round It benefits you in all ways”. (The Mountain Path, April
1979, p. 75)
The spiritual benefits of pradakshina have been described
by Sri Sadhu Om in one of his Tamil poems, Sri Arunachala
Pradakshina Manbu. In verses six and seven he says, “A
cow grazing round and round its peg, does not know that the
length of its rope is thereby decreasing. Similarly, when you
go round and round Arunachala, how can your mind know
that it is thereby subsiding? When the cow goes round more
and more, at one point it will be bound tightly to its peg.
Similarly, when the mind lovingly goes more and more round
Annamalai [Arunachala], which is Self, it will finally stand
still in Self-abidance, having lost all it movements [vrittis].”
In verse eight he says, “It is a well-proven truth that
the minds of those devotees who ever go round Annamalai
achieve great love to turn within towards Self. Annamalai is
the blazing, wild Hill of fire [the fire of Jnana] that burns all
our worldly desires into ashes.” And in verse nine he gives the
simile of a piece of iron being rubbed against a magnet; just
as the scattered atoms of iron are all aligned by the magnet to
face in one uniform direction, thereby transforming the iron

into a magnet, so, when a person goes round Arunachala, the
divine magnet, his scattered mind, is turned towards Self and
is thereby transformed into Self.
Sri Muruganar, who was a great sage and one of the
foremost disciples of Sri Bhagavan, was noted as a staunch
lover of pradakshina. In the days of Sri Bhagavan he used to
write to any friends who were coming to see him, “You will
find me either in Bhagavan’s hall or on the giripradakshina
road,” and it is said that at one time he even used to go
round the hill daily. How he first came to know about the
greatness of giripradakshina is related by Kunju Swami in
The Mountain Path, April 1979, p. 83, as follows:
“Sometime after he came here, Sri Muruganar asked
Bhagavan about the spiritual benefit of going round the hill
(giripradakshina). Bhagavan asked him to go round it first
and them come to him. Sri Muruganar followed his advice
and told Bhagavan that he lost his dehatma buddhi [sense
of identification with the body] after a while and regained it
only after reaching Adi Annamalai [a village on the way]. He
reported to Sri Bhagavan that the experience was unexpected
and unique. Sri Bhagavan smiled and said, ‘Do you now
understand?’”
This incident proves very clearly the power of
pradakshina, and it shows that mature souls can even lose
their sense of identification with the body by going round
the hill. It also illustrates what Sri Bhagavan meant when he
used to say that while going round the hill one can experience
sanchara-samadhi, a thought-free state of bliss while walking.
Though such a thought-free state is not experienced by
all devotees when they go round the Hill, that does not mean
that their pradakshina is not yielding fruit. The main benefit
of pradakshina is that the tendencies (vasanas) are slowly
made to lose their grip over the mind, but just as a child
cannot easily perceive its own growth, so the mind cannot
easily perceive the weakening of its own vasanas.
However, one very notable feature about pradakshina

that can be perceived by anyone and which clearly indicates
its spiritual efficacy is the extraordinary power of attraction it
exerts over the minds of devotees. For no special reason one
feels attracted to go round Arunachala again and again.
“Go round the hill once. You will see that it will
attract you,” said Sri Bhagavan to Devaraja Mudaliar (My
Recollections, p.65).
“Bhagavan used to say that if one went round the hill once
or twice, the hill itself would draw one to go round it again.
I have found it true. Now this is happening to Dr. Syed,”
writes Devaraja Mudaliar in Day by Day with Bhagavan,
19th December, 1945.
In Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, volume 2, letter 98,
Suri Nagamma records Sri Bhagavan as saying, “The dhyana
[meditation] that you cannot get into while sitting, you get
into automatically if you go for pradakshina. The place and
atmosphere here are like that. However unable a person is to
walk, if he once goes round the hill he will feel like going
again and again. The more you go, the more the enthusiasm
for it. It never decreases. Once a person is accustomed to the
happiness of pradakshina, he can never give it up.”
Just as the mind is automatically attracted to the Guru,
knowing intuitively that he can bestow eternal bliss, for
the same reason, the mind feels automatically attracted to
giripradakshina.
Arunachala-Ramana
To understand the power of Arunachala, it is first
necessary to understand the relationship that existed between
Arunachala and Bhagavan. To Bhagavan, Arunachala was
Mother, Father, Guru and God – it was his all in all, his own
Self.
Sri Bhagavan often said, “God, Guru and Self are one
and the same”, and to him Arunachala was all three of
these. In verse forty-eight of Aksharamanamalai he refers to
Arunachala as his God, in verse nineteen as his Guru, and in

verse five of Atma Vidya Kirtanam (The Song on the Science
of Self) as “Annamalai, my Self”.
Truly, Arunachala is Ramana and Ramana is Arunachala.
The two are inseparable. Arunachala is Ramana in the form
of a Hill, and Ramana is Arunachala in human form. The
oneness that Sri Bhagavan felt with Arunachala is disclosed
in many of his verses.
When a devotee enquired about his true nature, he
replied, “Arunachala-Ramana is the Supreme Self who
blissfully abides as consciousness in the Heart-cave of all
souls beginning with Hari (Lord Vishnu)….”
The same name, ‘Arunachala-Ramana’, which he used
while referring to himself, he also uses while addressing
the hill in the last verse of Aksharamanamalai, and in verse
ninety he calls the hill ‘Ramana’. When Sri Bhagavan
composed Sri Arunachala Pancharatnam (The Five Gems)
in Sanskrit, a devotee composed a concluding verse in which
he said that these five verses were an Upanishad revealed
by Srimad Ramana Maharshi. Later, when Sri Bhagavan
translated this hymn into Tamil, he adapted this concluding
verse and substituted the name ‘Arunagiri-Ramana’ for the
name ‘Srimad Ramana Maharshi’, thereby indicating that it
was Arunagiri (Arunachala) itself in the form of Ramana who
sang this hymn. From all this, it is clear that Sri Bhagavan
experienced no individuality or existence of his own separate
from Arunachala.
Though Bhagavan Ramana has left his human form, he
will always remain shining here in the form of Arunachala,
giving guidance and solace to his devotees. Therefore, the
power of Arunachala is the power of Ramana – the power of
the Sadguru’s grace.
O Arunachala, Ocean of Grace in the form of a Hill,
bestow Grace upon me!
– Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai, verse 17.
57. Kannapa Nayanar narrated by Bhagavan

In the biography of Bhagavan we read:
“Towards the end of 1895 (perhaps a few months
after hearing about Arunachalam from a relation) he
found at home a copy of the Periya Puranam which
his uncle had borrowed. This was the first religious
book that he went through apart from his class
lessons and it interested him greatly.... It transported
him to a different world.... As he read on, surprise,
admiration, awe, reverence, sympathy and emulation
swept over his soul in succession... but when the
book had been quickly read through and laid aside,
the new impulses and ideals disappeared leaving him
as he was before that study.”
* * *
The Periya Puranam is the song describing the
lives of sixty-three Saivite saints of the ancient Tamil
land. Sekkizhar named it Tiruthondar Puraanam
(Legend of the Holy Servitors). He narrates very
briefly the lives of the servitors of Siva. Thus one
has Sundaramurthy Naayanaar Puraanam, Kannappa
Naayanaar Puraanam, Tirumula Naayanaar Puraanam
and so on.
The grace of Siva is very potent when received
through his servitors (Nayanmars). The Periya
Puranam is therefore ‘big’ in the sense of being very
important as it deals with the lives of such servitors.
Sundarar, one of the Trinity, had himself
composed a short poem on the Lives which is called
Tiruthondattogai.
Sekkizhar, a contemporary of the Chozha king
Anapaya, had composed the Periya Puranam,
basing it on the two earlier works. He visited the
various holy places associated with the saints and

gathered many details and legends. He was thus able
to compose a considerably larger poem on the Lives
than did his predecessors. He was however able to
derive poetic inspiration only after Lord Siva gave
him the lead with the word ‘Ulagelaam...’ (All of
Creation).
We give below some of the stories of the saints
of Periya Puranam as narrated by Sri Ramana
Maharshi. These stories inspire devotion to Lord
Siva in those who read and follow them.
I n the book “At the feet of Bhagavan”, T.K. Sundaresa Iyer

recounts how Bhagavan narrated the story of a nayanmar
as follows: “Once someone placed the Periya Puranam in
Tamil prose in Bhagavan’s hands, and He began reading out
of it. Now Bhagavan was a past master in story-telling, and
he used to tell stories in hundreds. His solo-acting was ever
the admiration of His devotees; His modulation of voice for
different characters, suiting gestures and postures for each
incident, was wonderfully effective. His devotees never
missed a chance of being in the Hall on such occasions, so as
to enjoy and benefit by the recitals.
Bhagavan began to read out the life of Kannappar, the
great devotee saint. He went on reading incidents in his early
life, and how he went to the forest and found Kudumi Devar,
the Sivalinga, his Lord, up the Kalahasti Hill in the Chitoor
district (of Andhra state). Then he told how Kannappar
worshipped the Sivalinga with water carried in his own
mouth, flowers taken from his own hair, and the well-cooked
and tasted beef prepared for his own meal – knowing no
better and having nothing better to offer his beloved Lord.
The way in which the ordained priest, Siva Gochariar,
resented the intruding defiler of the sacred Sivalinga was so
characteristically brought out by Bhagavan, with His own
explanations of the rites and the meanings of the mantras
used in the worship, that it enriched the recital greatly to the

benefit and admiration of the devotees.
Then came the scene of scenes, when the Lord in that
Sivalinga tested Kannappar and incidentally revealed to Siva
Gochariar the intensity of the forest hunter’s worship from
a place of hiding. He saw the unexpected trickling of blood
from one of the eyes on that Sivalinga; he saw Kannappar
running to and fro for herbs, and treating the Lord’s eye with
them. Then he saw how, finding them all useless, Kannappar
plucked out one of his own eyes and applied it to that in
the Sivalinga; then, seeing the treatment was effective, he ran
into ecstasies of joyful dance.
When Bhagavan came to the story of how Kannappar
was plucking out his second eye to heal the second of the
Lord, and of how the Sivalinga extended a hand to stop
him, saying “Stop, Kannappar!” Bhagavan’s voice choked,
His body perspired profusely, His hairs stood on end, tears
gushed out from His eyes; He could hardly utter a word,
and there was silence, pin-drop silence in the Hall. All were
dumbfounded that this great Jnani could be so overpowered
by emotion and ecstasy at the great hunter-saint’s devotion.
After a while Sri Bhagavan quietly closed the book, dried the
tears in His eyes with the ends of His towel, and laid aside
the book, saying, “No, I can’t go on any further.”
In the ‘Letters from Sri Ramanasramam’, Suri Nagamma
writes about Bhagavan’s narration of the lives of the great
saints of Saivism. Bhagavan narrated the story in Tamil which
was written down in Telugu by Nagamma and later translated
into English. The stories as recorded by in the “Letters” are
given below:
58. Dravida Sishu*
Y esterday Bhagavan said that Sankara sang about

Sambandha in ‘Soundarya Lahari’ referring to him as
‘dravida sishu’, didn’t he? Last night I took out ‘Soundarya
Lahari’ with a Telugu commentary and saw the sloka written
by Sankara about Sambandha which is as follows:
tavastanyaṁ manye dharaṇidharakanye hṛdayataḥ
payaḥ pārāvāraḥ parivahati sārasvatamiva|
dayāvatyā dattaṁ draviḍaśiśurāsvādya tavaya-
takavīnāṁ prauḍhānāmajani kamanīyaḥ kavayitā|| 75||
“O Daughter of the Mountain, I fancy that the ocean of the
milk of poesy rising out of Thy heart verily caused the milk
of Thy breasts to flow. On swallowing this milk given by Thy
grace, the Dravidian child became a poet among great poets.”
The Telugu commentary stated that the word ‘dravida
sishu’ in the sloka meant Sankara himself. I mentioned
this to Bhagavan next day. Bhagavan replied, “the Telugu
commentators must have stated it wrongly. The Tamil
‘Soundarya Lahari’ stated that the words ‘dravida sishu’
meant Sambandha and not Sankara” and he sent for the Tamil
book and read out all that was written in it about the reason
for Sambandha receiving the title of ‘dravida sishu’, and
explained it to us as follows:
“Sambandha was born in an orthodox Brahmin family
in the town of Sirkazhi, to Sivapada Hridayar and his wife
Bhagawatiyar. The parents named him Aludaya Pillayar.
One day, when the boy was three years old, the father took
him to Tiruttoni Appar Koil. While immersed in the tank
for a bath, he began repeating the aghamarshana mantram.
When the child could not see the father in the tank, it looked
around with fear and grief. There was no trace of the father.
* Suri Nagamma, Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, 1st February

1947.
It could not contain its grief and so wept aloud looking at

the temple chariot saying, ‘Father! Mother!’ Parvati and Lord
Siva appeared in the sky, seated on the sacred Bull and gave
darshan to that little child. Siva directed Parvati to give the
boy a golden cupful of her breast milk, the milk containing
Siva Jnana (Knowledge of Siva). She did accordingly. The
boy drank the milk and became free from sorrow, and the
divine couple disappeared.
“Having drunk the milk of Jnana, and feeling quite
satisfied and happy, Sambandha sat on the tank bund with
milk dribbling from the corners of his mouth. When the
father came out from his bath, he saw the boy’s condition and
angrily asked, flourishing a cane, ‘Who gave you milk? Can
you drink milk given by strangers? Tell me who that person
is or I will beat you.’ Sambandha immediately replied by
singing ten Tamil verses beginning with: tōḍuḍaiya ceviyaṉ
viḍaiyēṟi ōr tūveṇ madisūḍi. . .’ “The gist of the first verse
is: ‘The Man with Kundalas (sacred ear-rings), the Man who
rides the sacred Bull, the Man who has the white moon on his
head, the Man whose body is smeared with the ashes of the
burning ghat, the thief who has stolen my heart, he who came
to bless Brahma, the Creator, when Brahma, with the Vedas
in his hand, did penance and he who occupies the sacred seat
of Brahmapuri, he, my Father, is there, and she, my Mother
who gave the milk, is there!” So saying he described the
forms of Siva and Parvati as he witnessed with his eyes and
who gave him milk to drink, and also pointed towards the
temple chariot.
“It was clear from the verses, that the people who gave
milk to the child were no other than Parvati and Lord Siva.
People gathered round. From that day onwards, the boy’s
poetic flow began to run unimpeded. That is why Sankara
sang, Thava Stanyam Manye. The commentators therefore
decided that the word ‘dravida sishu’ referred to Sambandha
alone. Nayana also wrote of him as ‘dravida sishu’ in Sri
Ramana Gita.”
59. Jnana Sambandhamurthy
A fter Bhagavan had read out from the Tamil commentary

of Soundarya Lahari and told us that the words dravida
sishu referred to Sambandha himself, the discussion on
that subject continued in the Hall for the subsequent 2 or 3
days. In this connection a devotee asked Bhagavan one day,
“Sambandha’s original name was Aludaya Pillayar wasn’t it?
When did he get the other name ‘Jnana Sambandhamurthy?’
and why?” Bhagavan replied, “As soon as he drank the
milk given by the Goddess, Jnana Sambandha (contact with
Knowledge), was established for him, and he got the name
Jnana Sambandhamurthy Nayanar. That means, he became
a Jnani without the usual relationship of Guru and disciple.
Hence, people all over the neighbourhood began to call him
by that name from that day onwards. That is the reason.”
I said, “Bhagavan too acquired knowledge, without
the aid of a Guru in human form?” “Yes! yes! That is why
Krishnayya brought out so many points of similarities between
Sambandha and myself,” said Bhagavan.
“In Sri Ramana Leela it is stated, that while Sambandha
was coming to Tiruvannamalai the forest tribes robbed him
of his possessions. He was a man of wisdom and knowledge.
What property had he?” I asked. “Oh! that! He followed
the path of devotion, didn’t he? Therefore, he had golden
bells and a pearl palanquin and other symbols of that nature
according to the injunctions of Iswara. He had also a Mutt (an
establishment) and all that a Mutt requires,” said Bhagavan.
“Is that so? When did he get all those?” I asked.
Bhagavan replied with a voice full of emotion, “From the
time when he acquired the name of Jnana Sambandha, that is,
even from his childhood, he used to sing with uninterrupted
poetic flow and go on pilgrimage. He first visited a holy place
called Tirukolakka, went into the temple there, sang verses
in praise of the Lord, beating time with his little hands. God
appreciated it and gave him a pair of golden bells for beating

time. From that day onwards the golden bells were in his
hands whatever he sang and wherever he went. Thereafter he
visited Chidambaram and other holy places and then went to
a pilgrim centre called Maranpadi. There were no trains in
those days. The presiding deity in that place observed this
little boy visiting holy places on foot. So His heart melted
with pity, and He created a pearl palanquin, a pearl umbrella
and other accompaniments bedecked with pearls suitable for
sanyasis, left them in the temple, appeared to the Brahmin
priests there and to Sambandha in their dreams and told the
Brahmins, ‘Give them to Sambandha with proper honours,’
and told Sambandha, ‘The Brahmins will give you all these:
take them.’ As they were gifts from Gods he could not refuse
them. So Sambandha accepted with reverential salutations by
doing pradakshina etc., and then got into the palanquin. From
that time onwards, he used to go about in that palanquin
wherever he went. Gradually some staff gathered around him
and a Mutt was established. But whenever he approached a
holy place, he used to alight from the palanquin as soon as he
saw the gopura (tower) of the shrine and from there onwards,
he travelled on foot until he entered the place. He came here
on foot from Tirukoilur as the peak of Arunagiri is visible
from there.”
A Tamil devotee said that this visit was not clearly
mentioned in Peirya Puranam to which Bhagavan replied as
follows:
“No. It is not in Periya Puranam. But it is stated in
Upamanyu’s Sivabhaktavilasam in Sanskrit. Sambandha
worshipped Virateswara in Arakandanallur and won the
God’s favour with his verses and then he worshipped
Athulyanatheswara in the same way. From there he beheld
the peak of Arunagiri and sang verses out of excess of joy and
installed an image of Arunachaleswara in the same spot. While
he was seated there on a mantapam, God Arunachaleswara
appeared to him first in the shape of a Jyoti (light) and then in
the shape of an old Brahmin. Sambandha did not know who

that old Brahmin was. The Brahmin had in his hand a flower
basket. Unaccountably, Sambandha’s mind was attracted
towards that Brahmin like a magnet. He at once asked him
with folded hands, ‘Where do you come from?’ ‘I have just
come from Arunachalam. My village is here, nearby,’ replied
the Brahmin. Sambandha asked him in surprise, ‘Arunachala!
But how long ago did you come here?’ The Brahmin replied
indifferently ‘How long ago? Daily I come here in the morning
to gather flowers to make a garland for Lord Arunachala and
return there by the afternoon.’ Sambandha was surprised and
said, ‘Is that so? But they said it is very far from here?’ The
old Brahmin said, ‘Who told you so? You can reach there
in one stride. What is there great in it?’ Having heard that,
Sambandha became anxious to visit Arunachala and asked,
‘If so, can I walk there?’ The old man replied, ‘Ah! If an
aged man like myself goes there and comes here daily, can’t
a youth like you do it? What are you saying?’
“With great eagerness Sambandha asked, ‘Sir, if that is
so, please take me also along with you,’ and started at once
with all his entourage. The Brahmin was going in advance
and the party was following behind. Suddenly the Brahmin
disappeared. As the party was looking here and there, in
confusion, a group of hunters surrounded them, and robbed
them of the palanquin, umbrella, golden bells and all the
pearls and other valuable articles, their provisions and even
the clothes they were wearing. They were left with only their
loin-clothes. They did not know the way; it was very hot and
there was no shelter, and all were hungry as it was time for
taking food. What could they do? Then Sambandha prayed
to God. ‘Oh! Lord, why am I being tested like this? I don’t
care what happens to me, but why should these followers of
mine be put to this hard test?’ On hearing those prayers, God
appeared in his real form and said, ‘My son, these hunters too
are my Pramatha Ganas (personal attendants). They deprived
you of all your possessions as it is best to proceed to the
worship of Lord Arunachala without any show or pomp. All

your belongings will be restored to you as soon as you reach
there. It is noon time now. You may enjoy the feast and then
proceed further.’ So saying he disappeared.
“At once, a big tent appeared on a level space nearby.
Some Brahmins came out of the tent and invited Sambandha
and his party to their tent, entertained them to a feast with
delicious dishes of various kinds and with chandanam
(sandal paste) and thambulam (betel leaves). Sambandha who
was all along entertaining others, was himself entertained
by the Lord Himself. After they had rested for a while, one
of the Brahmins in the tent got up and said, ‘Sir, shall we
proceed to Arunagiri?’ Sambandha was extremely happy and
accompanied the Brahmin along with his followers. But as
soon as they set out on their journey, the tent together with
the people in it disappeared. While Sambandha was feeling
astonished at those strange happenings, the guide who had
been leading them to Arunachala disappeared as soon as they
arrived there. Suddenly, the tent along with the people in it
and the hunters who had robbed them previously appeared
from all sides and restored to Sambandha all his belongings
which they had robbed previously, and vanished. With tears
of joy, Sambandha praised the Lord for His great kindness,
stayed there for some days, worshipped Him with flowers of
verses and then proceeded on his journey. Out of His affection
for Sambandha, who was serving Him with reverence, God
Himself, it would appear, invited him to this Hill.”
So saying, Bhagavan assumed silence, with his heart filled
with devotion and with his voice trembling with emotion.
60. Saint Appar
A ppar was born as Marul Neekkiyar in a village called

Tiruvamur in the Thirumunaipadi region of a Vellala
family of Saivaites. His father’s name was Pugazhanar and
mother’s name was Madiniyar. He had only one sister by name
Tilakavati. As he grew up he became proficient in all studies.
When Tilakavati was 12 years of age, the parents decided
to give her in marriage to a commander in the king’s army.
Just then there was a war and that commander went away
saying he would marry her on his return. In the meantime,
Pugazhanar passed away and his wife Madiniyar committed
Sati. The brother and sister were left alone. They awaited
the return of the commander, but after some time they heard
that the commander had died in the war. Tilakavati wanted to
commit Sati as her parents had decided to give her away in
marriage to that commander and she felt that her body was
therefore his. Marul Neekkiyar with great grief, fell at the
feet of his sister and told her that he looked up to her as his
father and mother, and if she insisted on dying on the funeral
pyre, he would also commit suicide. As she was anxious that
her brother should live and prosper, she gave up her idea of
committing Sati. She however did not marry but remained at
home absorbed in the service of the Siva temple and in her
own Tapas (austerity).
Marul Neekkiyar realised that material wealth was
transitory. Whatever money, gold and other valuables he
had, he gave away, became a sannyasi, left home and in his
wanderings reached Patalipuram (Tiruppadiripuliyur, i.e.
Cuddalore). There the most important place at that time was
the Samana Mutt. As fate would have it, he went there and
joined the Samana cult (a Jain cult), was given the title of
Dharmasena, and became the Head of the Mutt, the Purohit of
the Rajah and the Poet Laureate of the kingdom. He therefore
stayed on there.
Tilakavati, who was staying at her native place, heard

this news and felt sad. She went to their family deity,
Veerattaneswara, on the banks of the river Gedilam and prayed
to God several times to save her brother from following the
ways of the heretics. One day Parameswara appeared to her
in a dream and said. “O Tapaswini you can now give up your
mental agony. In his last birth, your brother was a sannyasi,
but did not perform tapas properly. There was a flaw in his
tapas. As a result of that, he has now joined that heretic
(Pashanda) cult. I shall now save him by making him suffer
from stomachache. Give up your grief and relax.”
Immediately thereafter, Dharmasena had a violent
stomach ache. Several people in that Mutt who were well
versed in Mantras and Tantras tried best to cure him but
could not succeed and so gave up all hopes. Dharmasena
could not bear the agony any longer. He then remembered
his sister. Hoping she might be of some help, he sent a man
to fetch her. She refused to give up her own Dharma and go
to the Samana Mutt. On hearing that, Dharmasena regretted
his having given up his own Dharma, namely Saivism, and
without the knowledge of other people in the Mutt, left the
Mutt at night, with two servants for his native place. When
he tapped at the door and called his sister, she recognised his
voice and opened the door. He fell at her feet and requested
her to forgive him. She received him with open arms and
overjoyed at the kindness of Parameswara, and after giving
him holy ash, taught her brother the Panchakshari Mantra.
He smeared the holy ash all over his body and repeated the
Mantra.
Tilakavati took her brother to the temple of Veerattaneswara.
When he prostrated and got up, Marulneekkiyar began
composing songs in Tamil in praise of Siva. The first of the
Ten Verses (Padigam) begins with ‘Kootrayinavaru’. His
stomach ache ceased immediately. That is why there is a
belief that whoever recites these songs gets relief from all
illness.
After that, he took up Sannyasa and went on a

pilgrimage singing his Padigams (containing 10 verses each).
In due course he reached Chidambaram. After worshipping
Nataraja there, and singing, he went with his followers to
nearby Sirkazhi. He had heard that Sambandhar had become
a saint by drinking the milk of the mother of the universe,
Parvati, when he was a little child. Hearing that he was
coming, Sambandhar with his followers went out to meet
him. As soon as they met, Marul Neekkiyar fell at the feet
of Sambandhar. The latter lifted him up with his hands with
great affection, and as a show of respect, called him ‘Appah’.
Appar immediately claimed that he was the Dasan (servant)
of Sambandhar. From that time onwards, Marul Neekkiyar
came to be known as Appar. Subsequently both of them went
together to the temple of Brahmapureeswara. Sambandhar
then asked Appar to worship the Lord, which Appar did
with his Padigams. After that, they went together to several
temples and sang Padigams in praise of the Lord. You have
already heard of Vedaranyam and the sovereigns. There are
several other stories like that. After his contact with Appar,
Sambandhar went to Patalipuram, defeated the people of
Samana Mutt by arguments and established Saivism. They
always used to be together.
61. Sambandhar and Appar
W hile on a pilgrimage, the twelve-year old Sambandhar

and Appar reached Vedaranyam. The main gate of
the Vedaranya temple was found locked. It seems that long
ago the ancient Vedas took human shapes. They worshipped
the Lord in the temple with sprinkling or pouring of water
(abhisheka) and puja, and leaving, closed the main gate and
sealed it. Since then no one had the courage to open it and so
a hole was bored through the wall and a side gate improvised
for people for coming and going out. When Appar and
Sambandhar enquired about the closure of the main gate, the
watchman told them this story and suggested that they could
go in by the side gate. They did not feel like using that gate
and so decided to pray to Iswara for the opening of the main
gate. Sambandhar suggested that Appar should pray. It was
then that Appar sang a hymn of ten verses. Iswara is fond of
Appar’s songs and it seems He was so absorbed in hearing
them, that He forgot to open the gate. When the gate did not
open even on singing the ninth verse, Appar was overwhelmed
with grief and sang the tenth verse saying: “Oh Lord, has
not your heart melted yet?” When even that had no effect,
he sang a eleventh verse beginning: “Avakkanai Vavalaladar
Thittaneer”, the purport of which is: “When Ravana lifted
Mt. Kailasa with his hands you struck him down with your
little finger and inflicted trouble on him for a thousand years.
That being so, how will you have compassion for me?” When
this was sung, it seems that Iswara regretted the delay and
immediately opened the doors.
After entering the temple and worshipping the Lord
therein, they came out. Appar requested Sambandhar to pray
to Iswara to close the door and when Sambandhar sang only
one verse, the doors closed with a bang. On this occasion,
Iswara tested Appar by not answering his prayers until he
sang eleven songs and favoured Sambandhar by promptly
closing the doors when he sang only one song.
On another occasion, it was Sambandhar that was put to
a severe test while Appar was readily granted favour. From
the time Iswara put him to a severe test at Vedaranyam. Appar
felt aggrieved and began worshipping Iswara with greater
devotion than ever. Subsequently both Appar and Sambandhar
went on a pilgrimage with their respective retinues and
reached a village called Tiruveezhimizhalai. At that time the
village was in the grip of a famine. Unable to bear the sight
of the sufferings of the people they decided to stay in two
different Mutts along with their attendants and distribute food
to the people. They had of course no money with them and

so went to the local temple to pray to Iswara. Pleased with
their devotion, Iswara gave them a sovereign each and every
day. The sovereign used to be kept on the doorstep. The one
given to Appar was accepted by the vendors of foodstuffs
and the required articles were readily supplied. Food could
therefore be given to the people before the afternoon set
in. The sovereign of Sambandhar was however below the
standard purity of gold and so the dealers offered to take it
only at a discount. The attendants had therefore to come back
to the Mutt to obtain Sambandhar’s consent, then return to the
shop, buy the required articles and then feed the people rather
late, by about 2 p.m. every day.
In due course this delay came to the notice of Sambandhar.
On enquiry he found that it was all due to the bad coins he
was getting from the Lord daily. He went to the temple and
sang ten songs beginning with “Vasiteerave Kasunalguveer”,
which means: “Swami, why are you giving me coins which
are not pure gold?” Then the Lord who is the embodiment
of kindness, said: “Appar is worshipping me with his mind,
speech and deed, while you are doing it with your mind and
speech only”. Appar was daily cleaning the temple grounds,
making them neat and tidy. “It was only to point out the
difference that I have been doing like this. Henceforth, I shall
give you also good coins. Don’t worry”. And from that day
onwards good coins were given.
62. Siva Bhakta Sundaramurthy*
Y esterday Bhagavan while going through Tiruchuzhi

Puranam, spoke thus regarding the events connected
with the visit of Sundaramurthy to this holy place:
* Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, 26th January 1947.

“The venerable Sundaramurthy, born in the amsa of

Aalaala Sundara, who emanated from the reflection of Lord
Siva the Somasekhara (with moon in his crown), acquired
the friendship of the Kerala king, Cheraman Perumal Nainar,
in the course of his wanderings as a pilgrim. Then they both
went to Madurai on a pilgrimage. The Pandyan king as well
as his son-in-law, the Chola king, extended a very warm
welcome to them and expressed their happiness at being their
hosts. Sundaramurthy worshipped God Sundareswara the
husband of the goddess Meenakshi and sang the praise of
the god with his poetic skill. Accompanied by the Chera king
he visited and worshipped at the sacred shrines of the south,
namely Tirukuttralam, Tirunelveli, and Rameswaram. From
there he visited the sacred shrine of Tirukkedeswara in Lanka
Dwipa (Ceylon) and offered worship. There he remembered
Trisulapuram (Tiruchuzhi) which is the Muktinagar (city of
salvation) and proceeded thither. As they approached that
city, the crowds saw them both resplendent as though the sun
and the moon appeared at the same time. Sundaramurthy was
happy to have the darshan of Lord Bhuminatha and offered
worship with the song beginning ‘Unaye Uyir Pugalai’ and
was overwhelmed with devotion. He decided to stay in that
holy place for a while, and so resided in a Mutt on the bank
of the river Koundinya.
“One night during his stay there, Lord Siva appeared to
him in a dream with a ball in his hand (ball is the symbol of
kingship) and a crown on his head, as a youth of incomparable
beauty and with a smile dancing on his lips, and said, ‘We
stay in Jyotivana (Kaleswara)’. On hearing these words,
Sundaramurthy woke up with excitement, and recollected the
glorious kindness of the Lord who appeared and showered
benevolence on him, and narrated the wonderful vision to the
Chera king with joy. There and then he sang, overwhelmed
with devotion, the Tevara Padigam commencing with the
words, ‘Tondar Adithodalalum’ on Lord Kaleswar.
From there they started to visit the far off holy place,
Tiruppunavayil, and even as they started, God Kaleswara,
who had appeared in the dream of Sundaramurthy, and Amba
approached them in the guise of an old Brahmin couple.
When Sundaramurthy asked them, ‘Who are you? Where do
you come from?’ they replied, ‘We shall talk about that later.
First give us food. We are hungry.’ Sundaramurthy consented
and got food prepared and looked for the couple to serve it
to, but they were not to be seen anywhere. All the lanes and
by-lanes of the village were searched but they could not be
found anywhere. They came back to the Mutt only to find that
the food that was cooked had all disappeared and the leaves
in which the food was eaten were thrown all over the yard.
Sundaramurthy was wonderstruck and exclaimed, ‘Ah! What
a wonder is this! What can this be except the Leela (game) of
the Lord of the Universe?’ As he arrived at this conclusion, he
heard an invisible voice: ‘Where do you intend going without
seeing us that reside in the Jyotivana?’ Sundaramurthy was
wondering where that Jyotivana was and how to go there,
when the invisible voice once again said, ‘We are proceeding
there on the vehicle of the sacred bull Nandi. You may also
come there, following its footsteps.’
“Sundaramurthy followed the footsteps accompanied by
the devotees there; but suddenly the track disappeared. As he
stood there in confusion, the invisible voice was heard to say,
‘Look carefully.’ As he followed carefully the footsteps he
saw a particular place full of Siva Lingas. There was no space
even for a single step forward and he and the other devotees
stood there in confusion. Suddenly he saw a narrow footpath
and they went along it, on and on until at last they beheld the
temple of Kaleswara. They all took their bath in the tank in
front of the temple and, as they were thinking of going into
it, all on a sudden, the temple with its tower disappeared.
Sundaramurthy was wonderstruck and sang some songs in
praise of the Lord, conveying the idea ‘Is this the result of my
not having come for worship in your temple before bathing?’
At once, a whole view of Jyoti (light) appeared and the peak

view of a temple tower and then the temple itself with its
compound wall. He was overjoyed, had a darshan of God,
worshipped him and sang songs in praise of him, and then
proceeded on his pilgrimage. This is a wonderful story. There
are many more stories of him,” said Bhagavan.
He is the same Sundaramurthy that was referred to
in my letter printed earlier under the heading, “Swami is
everywhere,” (No. 70, Part I). His story is given in detail
in the Sanskrit works “Siva Bhaktha Vilasam”, “Upamanya
Bhaktha Vilasam” and in the Telugu works, “Panditharadhya
Charitra” and “Basava Puranam” of the poet Palakurthi
Somanatha.
Bhagavan told us once before that the devotion
of Sundaramurthy to the Lord is that of a friend, of
Manickavachakar that of the beloved, of Appar that of a
servant, and Sambandhar that of a son.
63. Sundaramurthy’s Bond of Servitude*
Y esterday, after hearing Bhagavan’s narration of

Sundaramurthy’s story, which I have mentioned in my
letter to you, I was desirous of hearing the story of that
devotee’s younger days and so went to Bhagavan’s presence
early this morning at 7.30 a.m. Bhagavan had already
returned from the hill and was reading some book. There
were not many people in the hall at that time. Having made
my obeisance, I asked Bhagavan what the book was that he
was reading. He replied, “Periya Puranam. I am just going
through the story of the younger days of Sundaramurthy.” “It
is all very interesting, isn’t it?” I asked. “Yes. Would you like
to read it?” asked Bhagavan. “I should very much like to but
I do not know Tamil sufficiently well,” I replied. “All right.
* Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, 27th January 1947.

I will tell you the story briefly,” said Bhagavan and, with a
smile, proceeded with the story as follows:
“Sundaramurthy was born in the sacred place Tirunavanur
in Tirumunaippadi country in the Siva Brahmana caste
called Adi Saivam, to the Siva priest called Chadayanar
alias Sivacharya and his wife Isaijnaniyar. He was named
by his parents Nambiyarur. One day, while he was playing
in the street with a toy cart, the king of the place, by name
Narasinga Muniyar, saw him and took a fancy to him. He
requested the father, Sivacharya, to let him have the boy. The
father agreed and the boy was brought up by the king as his
foster son. Even so, the Brahminical usages as regards thread
ceremony and vedic instructions were carefully observed and
he became well-versed in all the Sastras.
“When he came of age, his marriage with the daughter of
a relative by name Chatangavi Sivacharya was decided upon,
and invitations were issued to all relatives for the function.
Sundaramurthy went through the usual premarital ceremonies
a day before the marriage, and on the marriage day proceeded
properly dressed as the bridegroom along with his relatives,
to the bride’s father’s house in Puttur village on horseback
quite early in the morning. On reaching the bride’s house, he
alighted from the horse and sat on the wedding seat in the
marriage pandal in accordance with the usual custom. There
was a blare of music and the arrival of the bride was awaited.
“Just then, Lord Siva approached the marriage pandal in
the garb of an old Brahmin, and announced, ‘All of you please
listen to what I say.’ On their assenting, the old man told the
boy, ‘Look here, there is an agreement between you and me.
First fulfil it and then marry.’ The boy replied, ‘If there is
an agreement let it be so but tell us first what it is.’ The old
Brahmin told the audience, ‘Sirs, this boy is my servant. I
have with me the deed of service executed by his grandfather
in my favour’ Sundaramurthy replied, ‘Oh! Madman, enough!
We are hearing for the first time that a Brahmin is the servant
of another Brahmin. Go, get away!’ The Brahmin replied, ‘I
am neither a madman nor a devil. I am not offended at your

remarks. You have not understood me at all. Stop this childish
talk and come and serve me.’ Sundaramurthy then said,
‘Show me the deed.’ ‘Who are you to decide after seeing the
deed?’ said the old man. ‘If the people in the audience see the
deed and agree that it is true, you should begin to serve me.’
Sundaramurthy got very angry and pounced upon the man to
snatch the deed from him. The Brahmin however ran away
but the boy pursued him, snatched the deed at last, and tore
it to pieces. The old man caught hold of Sundaramurthy and
began shouting. The marriage guests got agitated over that,
separated the two and said to the Brahmin, ‘You are speaking
of arrangements unheard of in this world. Oh! Quarrelsome
old man! Where do you come from?’ The Brahmin replied,
‘I belong to the village of Tiruvennainallur. Don’t you agree
that this boy Nambiyarurar has confirmed his servitude to
me by unjustly snatching away the service deed from my
hands and tearing it to pieces?’ Sundarar replied, ‘If indeed
you are a resident of Tiruvennainallur village, your claim
can be decided there, can’t it?’ The Brahmin replied, ‘Yes.
Come with me. I shall produce the original deed before the
Council of Brahmins there and establish my claim that you
are my servant.’ Accordingly, the Brahmin walked ahead and
Sundaramurthy and all the other Brahmins followed him.
“As soon as they all reached the Council of Brahmins
in the other village, the cunning old Brahmin filed his claim
petition before them to the effect that the boy Nambiyarurar
tore up the service deed in his favour. The councillors said,
‘We have not heard anywhere in this world that Brahmins
become servants of Brahmins.’ The Brahmin replied, ‘No.
Mine is not a false claim. The deed that this boy tore up is
the deed of service executed by his grandfather to the effect
that he and all his successors are to be my servants.’ The
councillors asked Sundaramurthy, ‘Can you win your case
by merely tearing up the deed executed by your grandfather?
What do you say?’ He replied, ‘Oh virtuous men, learned in
all the vedic lore! You all know that I am an Adi Saiva. Even
if this old Brahmin is able to establish that I am his servant,
you must please consider it a piece of magic, beyond the
reach of mental reasoning. What can I say of such a claim?’
The councillors told the Brahmin, ‘You must first prove to
us that he is your servant. To decide an affair of this nature,
three things are needed, custom, written evidence and oral
evidence. Should you not produce at least one of these three
items?’ The Brahmin replied, ‘Sir! what he tore up is only the
duplicate copy; the original deed is with me.’ The councillors
demanded the production of the original deed, and gave him
an assurance that it would not be torn up by Sundaramurthy.
The old man took out the original deed from the folds of the
cloth around his waist, and showed it to them. The village
Karnam who happened to come there unexpectedly then, was
asked to read it. He bowed before the councillors, opened
the folds of the original document and so as to be heard by
all, he read it out aloud as follows: ‘I, Adi Saiva by caste
and Arurar by name, residing in Thirvennainallur village have
executed this deed of service gladly and out of my own free
will, undertaking to do service by me and by my successive
descendants, to pitthan (madman) residing in Tiruvennainallur
village, (Sd.) Arurar.
“The witnesses to the deed were those very councillors,
and they all identified and confirmed that the signatures were
their own. The councillors asked Sundaramurthy to verify if
the handwriting in the deed was his grandfather’s. The man
pretending to be a Brahmin said, ‘Sir! This is a mere boy. How
can he identify his grandfather’s writing? If there is any other
paper available, containing his grandfather’s writing, please
send for it, and compare.’ They all agreed, and the relatives
of Sundaramurthy searched, and produced a paper containing
his grandfather’s handwriting. The councillors compared the
two papers, and confirmed that the writings in the two papers
agreed. They told Sundaramurthy ‘Boy! There is no way of
escape for you. You have lost. It is your duty to do service
according to this old man’s orders.’ Sundaramurthy was

stupefied at this and said that he would obey the order, if fate
had decreed that way. They had compassion on the boy, and
had still some doubts about the Brahmin, and questioned him,
‘Sir! This deed says that you belong to this very village. Can
you show us where your ancestral house and property are?’
The Brahmin pretended surprise, and said, ‘What! You are
all of this village, so learned, so intelligent, so elderly – does
not even one among you know my house? How surprising are
your words! Come with me then!’ So saying, he led the way,
and they all followed. They all saw the God in disguise enter
the Siva’s temple called ‘Tiruvarul Turai’ in the village, and
were stupefied.
“Sundaramurthy thought: ‘The Brahmin who made me
his servant has entered the temple of my God Parameswara!
What a wonder!’ So thinking, he followed alone eagerly,
the footsteps of the Brahmin and entered the temple with
great desire and shouted, ‘Oh Brahmin!’ At once Lord Siva
appeared in the company of Goddess Parvati, seated on the
sacred Bull, and said, ‘My son’ You are Aalaala Sundara, one
of my Pramatha Ganas (chief attendants). You were born here
as a result of a curse. You requested me to have you as My
own, wherever you might be, even during the period of the
curse. I therefore made you my servant here.”
Thus Bhagavan narrated to us the earlier story of
Sundaramurthy. He continued:
“As soon as Sundaramurthy heard those words of the
Great Lord, he was overjoyed like the calf that hears the
mother’s call. With his voice trembling with emotion and
eyes filled with tears of joy, he made prostrations to Him,
and with folded hands said ‘Oh Lord! You are gracious to my
worthless self, hold me fast to you like the cat holding on to
its kitten, and make me your own. What gracious kindness!’
and praised Him. The Great Lord was pleased and said, ‘My
son! Because you have disputed with me, you shall have the
name of ‘Vanthondan’. The service to be rendered hereafter
by you to me, is to worship me with flowers of verses.

Compose verses on me, and sing them.’ With folded hands,
Sundaramurthy said, ‘Oh Lord! You came in the guise of a
Brahmin, and preferred a claim against me, and I contested
and argued with you, not knowing your greatness. You are the
great Lord that gave me recollection of my past, and saved me
from falling into worldly actions and behaviour and getting
drowned therein. What do I know of your limitless great
qualities, and what shall I sing of them?’ Iswara said, ‘You
already called me Pitthan, madman. Therefore, sing of me
as the Madman’. So saying, he disappeared. Sundaramurthy
immediately sang the Sri Padigam, commencing with the
verse ‘Pittha pirai sudi’. His story is full of such strange
experiences,” said Bhagavan.
I asked, “Is he named Sundaramurthy as the result of the
recollection of his past?” “Yes, yes! No other reason is to be
found in his story!” replied Bhagavan.
64. Manickavachakar
F rom the time Bhagavan told me about the probable reason

for the establishment of Manickavachakar’s Mutt in Adi
Annamalai I have been keen to hear the story of his birth and
achievements. When an opportunity came I asked: “It is stated
that while Manickavachakar was singing the Tiruvachakam,
Natarajamurthy wrote it down. Is it true? Where was he
born?” BHAGAVAN: “Yes. It is true. That story will be found
in Halasya Mahatmyam. Don’t you know?”
NAGAMMA: “There is no copy of Halasya Mahatmyam
in Telugu here. So I do not know.”
BHAGAVAN: “I see. If that is so, I shall tell you the
story in brief.” So saying Bhagavan narrated the following
story: “Manickavachakar was born in a village called Vadavur
(Vatapuri) in Pandya Desha. Because of that people used to
call him Vadavurar. He was put to school very early. He read

all religious books, absorbed the lessons therein, and became
noted for his devotion to Siva, as also his kindness to living
beings. Having heard about him, the Pandya King sent for
him, made him his Prime Minister and conferred on him
the title of ‘Thennavan Brahmarayan’, i.e., Premier among
brahmins in the south. Though he performed the duties of a
minister with tact and integrity, he had no desire for material
happiness. His mind was always absorbed in spiritual matters.
Feeling convinced that for the attainment of jnana, the grace
of a Guru was essential, he kept on making enquiries about it.
“Once the Pandya King ordered the minister to purchase
some good horses and bring them to him. As he was already
in search of a Guru, Manickavachakar felt that it was a good
opportunity and started with his retinue carrying with him the
required amount of gold. As his mind was intensely seeking
a Guru, he visited all the temples on the way. While doing so
he reached a village called Tiruperundurai. Having realised
the maturity of the mind of Manickavachakar, Parameswara
assumed the form of a school teacher and for about a year
before that had been teaching poor children in the village
seated on a street pial, near the temple. He was taking his
meal in the house of his pupils every day by turn. He ate
only cooked green vegetables. He was anxiously awaiting the
arrival of Manickavachakar. By the time Manickavachakar
actually came, Iswara assumed the shape of a Siddha Purusha
(realised soul) with many sannyasis around him and was
seated under a Kurundai (yellow amaranth) tree within the
compound of the temple. Vadavurar came to the temple, had
darshan of the Lord in it, and while going round the temple
by way of pradakshina, saw the Siddha Purusha. He was
thrilled at the sight, tears welled up in his eyes and his heart
jumped with joy. Spontaneously, his hands went up to his
head in salutation and he fell down at the feet of the Guru
like an uprooted tree. Then he got up, and prayed that he,
a humble being, may also be accepted as a disciple. Having
come down solely to bestow grace on him, Iswara, by his

mere look, immediately gave him Jnana Upadesa (initiation
into knowledge). That upadesa took deep root in his heart,
and gave him indescribable happiness. With folded hands
and with joyful tears, he went round the Guru by way of
pradakshina, offered salutations, stripped himself of all his
official dress and ornaments, placed them near the Guru and
stood before him with only a koupinam on. As he felt like
singing in praise of the Guru he sang some devotional songs,
which were like gems. Iswara was pleased, and addressing
him as Manickavachakar, ordered him to remain there itself
worshipping Him. Then He vanished.
“Fully convinced that He who had blessed him was no
other than Iswara Himself, Manickavachakar was stricken
with unbearable grief and fell on the ground weeping and
saying, “Oh! my lord, why did you go away leaving me
here?” The villagers were very much surprised at this and
began a search for the person who was till then working
in their village as a school teacher but could not find him
anywhere. Then they realised that it was the Lord’s leela.
Sometime later, Manickavachakar got over his grief, decided
to act according to the injunctions of Iswara, sent away his
retinue to Madurai, spent all the gold with him on the temple
and stayed there alone.
Hearing all that had happened, the king immediately
sent an order to Manickavachakar to return to Madurai. But
then how could he go to the king without the horses? If he
wanted to purchase them then, where was the money? Not
knowing what to do, he prayed to Lord Siva for help. That
night Lord Siva appeared to him in a dream, gave him a
priceless gem and said, “Give this to the king and tell him
the horses will come on the day of the Moola star in the
month of Sravana.” Startled at that vision he opened his eyes,
but the Lord was not there. Manickavachakar was however
overjoyed at what had happened, put on his official dress and
went to Madurai. He gave the gem to the king, discussed
the auspicious time when the horses would be arriving and

then was anxiously waiting for the day. He did not however
resume his official duties. Though his body was in Madurai,
his mind was in Tiruperundurai. He was merely biding time.
The Pandyan King, however, sent his spies to Perundurai and
found out that there were no horses there meant for the king
and that all the money meant for their purchase had been
spent in the renovation of the temple. So he immediately put
Manickavachakar in prison making him undergo all the trials
and tribulations of jail life. “Meanwhile, as originally arranged,
on the day of the Moola star, Iswara assumed the guise of a
horseman, transformed the jackals of the jungle into horses,
and brought them to the king. The king was astonished at
this, took delivery of the horses and according to the advice
of the keeper of the stables, had them tied up at the same
place where all his other horses were kept. He thanked the
horseman profusely, and after sending him away with several
presents, released Manickavachakar from jail with profuse
apologies. The same night, the new horses changed into
their real forms, killed all the horses in the stables, ate them,
created similar havoc in the city and fled. The king grew very
angry, branded Manickavachakar as a trickster and put him
back into jail. Soon in accordance with Iswara’s orders, the
waters of the river Vaigai rose in floods and the whole of the
city of Madurai was under water. Alarmed at that, the king
assembled all the people and ordered them to raise up the
bunds of the river. For the purpose, he ordered that every
citizen should do a certain amount of work with a threat of
dire consequences should he fail to do his allotted work.
“There was in Madurai an old woman by name ‘Pittuvani
Ammaiyar’. She was a pious devotee of Lord Siva. She was
living alone earning her livelihood by daily preparing and
selling ‘pittu’ (pittu is sweetened powdered rice pressed into
conical shapes). She had no one to do her allotted work on
the river bund nor had she the money to hire a person to do
it. She was therefore greatly worried and cried, ‘Iswara! What
shall I do?’ Seeing her helplessness, Iswara came there in the

guise of a coolie with a spade on his shoulder and called out,
‘Granny, granny, do you want a coolie?’ ‘Yes’, she said, ‘but I
do not have even a paisa in my hand to pay you. What to do?’
He said, ‘I do not want any money and would be satisfied if
you give me some portion of pittu to eat. I shall then do the
allotted work on the river bund.’
“Pleased with that offer, she began making pittu but they
did not come out in full shape but were broken. Surprised
at this she gave all the bits to the coolie. He ate as many of
them as he could and went away saying that he would attend
to the bund-raising work. Surprisingly, the dough with the old
woman remained intact even though she had prepared and
given bits of the pittu to the coolie. The coolie went to the
work spot, but instead of doing the work lay down there idly
standing in the way of others doing their work.
“The king went round to inspect the progress of the work
and found that the portion allotted to Ammaiyar remained
unattended to. On enquiry, his servants told him all about
the pranks of that coolie. The king got infuriated, called the
coolie and said, ‘Instead of doing the allotted work, you are
lying down and singing.’ So saying he hit the coolie on the
back with a cane he had in his hand. The hit recoiled not only
on the king himself but on all living beings there and all of
them suffered the pain on that account. The king immediately
realised that the person hit by him was Parameswara himself
in the guise of a coolie. The king stood aghast. Parameswara
vanished and soon a voice from the sky said, ‘Oh king!
Manickavachakar is my beloved devotee. I myself did all this
to show you his greatness. Seek his protection’. Soon after
hearing that voice, the king went to see Manickavachakar, and
on the way he stepped into the house of Pittuvani to see her.
By that time, she had already got into a vimanam (a heavenly
car moving through the skies) and was on her way to Kailasa.
The king was greatly surprised and saluted her and from there
he went straight to Manickavachakar and fell at his feet.
Manickavachakar lifted him with great respect, and enquired

of his welfare. The king entreatingly said, ‘Please forgive me
and rule this kingdom yourself.’ Manickavachakar, looking at
the king, said with kindness, ‘Appah! (a term of endearment)
As I have already agreed to serve the Lord, I cannot be
bothered with the problems of ruling a kingdom. Please do
not mistake me. Rule the kingdom yourself looking after the
welfare of the people. Henceforth you will have nothing to
worry about.’ So saying, smilingly, he put on the dress of a
sannyasin, went about visiting holy places singing the praise
of Siva. There are several stories like this.”
NAGAMMA: “When was the Tiruvachakam written?”
BHAGAVAN: “No. He never wrote. He merely went
about singing his songs.”
NAGAMMA: “Then how did Tiruvachakam get to be
written?”
BHAGAVAN: Oh that! He was going from one place
to another until he came to Chidambaram. While witnessing
Nataraja’s dance he started singing heart-melting songs and
stayed in that place itself. Then one day Nataraja, with a view
to making people know the greatness of Manickavachakar
and to bless those people with such an excellent collection of
hymns, went to the house of Manickavachakar in the night, in
the guise of a brahmin. He was received cordially and when
asked for the purpose of the visit, the Lord smilingly and
with great familiarity asked, ‘It seems you have been singing
Hymns during your visit to the sacred places of pilgrimage
and that you are doing it here also. May I hear them? I have
been thinking of coming and listening to you for a very long
time but could not find the required leisure. That is why I
have come here at night. I suppose you don’t mind. Can
you sing? Do you remember them all?’ ‘There is no need
to worry about sleep. I shall sing all the songs I remember.
Please listen’. So saying Manickavachakar began singing in
ecstasy. The Lord in the guise of a brahmin, sat down there
writing the songs on palm leaves. As Manickavachakar was in
ecstasy he hardly noticed the brahmin who was taking down

the songs. Singing on and on, he completely forgot himself
in the thought of God and ultimately became silent. The old
brahmin quietly disappeared. “At daybreak, the dikshitar
(priest) came to the Nataraja Temple as usual to perform the
morning puja and as he opened the doors he found in front of
the Nataraja idol a palm-leaf book on the doorstep. When the
book was opened and scrutinised there were in it not only the
words ‘Tiruvachakam’, it was also written that the book was
written as it was dictated by Manickavachakar. It was signed
below ‘Tiruchitrambalam’, i.e., Chidambaram. The stamp of
Sri Nataraja also was there below the signature. Thereupon,
all the temple priests gathered in great surprise and sent word
to Manickavachakar, showed him the Tiruvachakam, and the
signature of Nataraja and asked him to tell them about the
genesis of the hymns.
“Manickavachakar did not say anything but asked them to
accompany him, went to the temple of Nataraja and standing
opposite to the Lord said, ‘Sirs, the Lord in front of us is the
only answer to your question. He is the answer.’ After having
said that, he merged into the Lord.” As he narrated the story,
Bhagavan’s voice got choked. Unable to speak any more he
remained in ecstatic silence.
65. Sri Muruganar
S ri Muruganar was one of those devotees who received in

full measure the Grace of Sri Bhagavan and who thereby
attained the supreme experience, Brahmanubhava. Countless
verses in his great work Sri Ramana Jnana Bodham give
clear expression to his rich and perfect experience of Sri
Bhagavan’s Grace and leave the reader convinced that he
was not only an inspired poet of unsurpassed excellence but
also an Atma-Jnani. On understanding the meaning of these
verses one is filled with the greatest hope and encouragement

as Sri Muruganar never tires of affirming again and again the
greatness and power of our Sadguru, Bhagavan Sri Ramana.
Indeed, he repeatedly asserts that all that he attained was a
pure gift of Sri Bhagavan’s Grace and that he himself never
did anything. In one verse, for example, he says that without
ever making him close his eyes or do any meditation, Sri
Bhagavan made him realise the Truth.
It was Sri Muruganar’s overwhelming love for Sri
Bhagavan that made him a fit vessel for His Grace. In Sri
Ramana Sannidhi Murai he has sung nearly two thousand
heart melting verses in praise of Sri Bhagavan and praying
for His Grace to root out the ego. From the day he came to
Sri Bhagavan, his love for Him was wholehearted and one
pointed, and never again did he turn towards any other God
or Guru, nor did he care for any other thing in this world.
He once told Sri Sadhu Om: “I had not only heard of Sri
Bhagavan before coming to Him, I had also read some of
His works. Therefore, I had already decided that he alone
should be my Guru. I was simply sitting in His presence. I
did not see any vision or such things at that time, nor did I
like to have any such experience. I was confident that even
the mere Presence of this great Sadguru would do everything
for me. Sri Muruganar continued: “Be not disheartened. No
mediator is necessary for us in order to obtain the light of his
Grace. It is certain that Sri Bhagavan, the Ocean of Grace, of
his own accord and without the intercession or interference
of anyone else, directly contacts the heart of each one who
comes to him.”
It was always the nature of Sri Muruganar to rely upon
no one and nothing except Sri Bhagavan. In 1926 he left
home and came to settle permanently at the Feet of Sri
Bhagavan, and with him he brought all his worldly wealth
and possessions, which he gave to the Ashram as his Guru-
dakshina. For a while he lived in the Ashram, but being a free
bird by nature he did not like to depend upon anyone or to
be bound by anything, so after six months he found it more

congenial to stay outside the Ashram and to beg his food
along the streets of Tiruvannamalai. Thus, for many years he
lived a free and independent life, sitting at the Feet of Sri
Bhagavan and drinking the nectar of His Grace.
However, because of the jealousy of a few of his
contemporaries, Sri Muruganar had to undergo many
troubles. And though most of these troubles were known to
Sri Bhagavan, He generally did not interfere in any way but
allowed things to take their own course. Nevertheless, there
were some occasions when Sri Bhagavan showed that He was
by no means indifferent to Sri Muruganar, and the following
is an example of one such occasion:
Once when some jealous devotees were talking amongst
themselves in a very mean and belittling way about Sri
Muruganar, Sri Bhagavan happened to overhear them. “Yes,
yes, they may belittle Muruganar as much as they like. But
when Sannidhi Murai and Guru Vachaka Kovai came out,
his position among the very foremost devotees became firmly
established. Whatever they now say about him, they cannot
shake him down”, remarked Sri Bhagavan.
From this remark we can understand how much love
and regard Sri Bhagavan had for Sri Muruganar. Though Sri
Bhagavan generally spoke kindly of everyone, it was very
rarely that He ever used superlatives in this manner. And
when He thus spoke of Sri Muruganar as one among “the
very foremost devotees” it was far from being an ordinary
compliment, for it ranked him on a par with such eminent
devotees as Manickavachakar and other great saints of yore.
Moreover, in the path of Sri Ramana love and knowledge,
bhakti, and jnana, are inseparable; hence, being a great devotee,
Sri Muruganar was ipso facto a great disciple also. Indeed, he
may very well be regarded as the most eminent disciple of Sri
Bhagavan, for it was through him that many of the principal
works of Sri Bhagavan came into existence. Within five years
of his coming to Sri Bhagavan he had become instrumental
in bringing into existence Atma Vidya Kirtanam, Upadesa

Undiyar and Ulladu Narpadu, and during the twenty-eight
years of his association with Him he collected and recorded
most of His important upadesas in the form of more than one
thousand two hundred Tamil verses, which now make up the
priceless work Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru’s
Sayings). The indispensable role that he played in the genesis
of Ulladu Narpadu – namely, his collecting the stray verses
of Sri Bhagavan, selecting the essential ones, arranging them
in a coherent order and requesting Sri Bhagavan to compose
the links necessary to form a complete though terse revelation
of the truth – itself proves what a profound insight he had
into the heart of Sri Bhagavan’s teachings.
Though Sri Muruganar thus played such an important role
in making the pure teachings of Sri Bhagavan available to
the world, for many years his true greatness remained known
to only a very few of the more discerning devotees of Sri
Bhagavan – so self-effacing and unobtrusive was he. But real
greatness cannot remain hidden forever. The pre-eminence of
Sri Muruganar is nowadays becoming known to an ever wider
public and devotees are able to appreciate now more than ever
before that he was indeed a perfect disciple of Sri Bhagavan.
Hence it may be worthy in this context to relate one more
incident which illustrates what great esteem Sri Bhagavan had
for Sri Muruganar. Though Sri Muruganar renounced his family
and all worldly ties in 1926 and came and settled permanently
at the feet of Sri Bhagavan, for many years he did not bear the
outward signs of renunciation. He continued to have long hair,
to wear a sacred thread and to observe some useful acharas
(orthodox practices). His was primarily an inward renunciation,
for he knew well that outward signs are immaterial to true
renunciation. Indeed, according to Sri Bhagavan, the outward
signs of renunciation such as a shaven head and kashaya cloth
come according to prarabdha, and hence they can neither help
nor hinder true, inner renunciation. One morning, however,
sometime in the year 1947, when Sri Muruganar entered the
Hall as usual and prostrated himself before Sri Bhagavan, his

long hair was not to be seen. His head was clean-shaven, and
his sacred thread had also vanished.
Peering down at the prostrate figure lying before Him,
Sri Bhagavan smilingly remarked, “Oho, even that has
gone!” What is to be inferred from these gracious words
of Sri Bhagavan? Do they not mean that Sri Muruganar’s
inner attachments and tendencies (vasanas) had already been
renounced, and that now even his long hair and outward
acharas had gone? From this remark of Sri Bhagavan and
from His remark about Sri Muruganar being one among “the
very foremost devotees”, is it not clear that Sri Bhagavan
recognized and openly approved the supreme devotion and the
complete renunciation of Sri Muruganar? And since supreme
devotion and complete renunciation are both but other names
for true knowledge, can we not infer from these remarks
of Sri Bhagavan that Sri Muruganar had indeed realised
the Truth? However, what gives Sri Muruganar his unique
position among the devotees of Sri Bhagavan is not only
his Self-realisation, for countless must be the devotees who
have realised the Truth through the Grace of Sri Bhagavan.
“Because the ever-unborn (self) has taken birth (in the form
of Sri Ramana), many of the ever-undying (egos) have died”,
sings Sri Muruganar in one verse of Sri Ramana Anubhuti.
Indeed, when Sri Bhagavan gave Liberation even to Cow
Lakshmi, how can we doubt that He would also have given
Liberation to many human beings? However, most of those
who thus attained Liberation by the Grace of Sri Bhagavan
will remain ever unknown to the world, for the death of the
ego is an inward change and can seldom be noticed outwardly.
To explain this point, Sri Bhagavan sometimes used a simile
given in the scriptures, namely that of the vilampazham, a
hard-shelled, wood-apple fruit which is swallowed by an
elephant. When the fruit comes out in the elephant’s dung
it is seemingly unchanged. Its shell remains unbroken, and
not even a crack can be seen from outside. However, if one
breaks the shell one will find it to be empty, all its contents
having been digested by the elephant.
Similarly, though the ego of a ripe soul will be completely
destroyed by the Sadguru when he comes and sits for even a
few moments in His presence, he will nevertheless go away
as if unchanged and will never show any outward mark to
indicate to others what a tremendous change has taken place
within. In this way many devotees would have realised the
Truth in the Presence of Sri Bhagavan without ever being
noticed by others.
Therefore, it is not only the fact that Sri Muruganar
realised the Truth that gives him his unique place among
the foremost disciples of Sri Bhagavan. What makes him
infinitely important to us, the devotees of Sri Bhagavan, and
what makes us revere him so highly is the fact that we too
can derive actual benefit from him and from his Realisation.
Though many devotees have realised the Truth through
the Grace of Sri Bhagavan, only a few rare souls like Sri
Muruganar have been chosen by Him as instruments for the
bestowal of His Grace on others.
The Grace of the Sadguru functions in ever so many
ways. It functions through His Silence, it functions through
His having assumed a human name and form which we can
adore and glorify, it functions through the example of His
life, it functions through His teachings, and it also functions
through His devotees. The Sadguru uses the mind, speech
and body of His egoless devotees as the pure instruments of
His Grace. At the instance of such devotees He bestows His
true teachings upon the world, through them He afterwards
expounds and makes clear those teachings, through them
He reveals the greatness and power of His Grace, and
through them He sets a pure example of devotion and self-
effacing conduct which can be seen and followed by less
mature devotees. In all these ways, Sri Bhagavan’s Grace
has functioned through Sri Muruganar. At the instance of
Sri Muruganar Sri Bhagavan bestowed upon the world such
precious works as Upadesa Undiyar, Ulladu Narpadu and

Guru Vachaka Kovai, which enable us nowadays to know the
true teachings of Sri Bhagavan in their authentic, unalloyed
and undiluted form. Through Sri Muruganar Sri Bhagavan
has given us a rich, profound and authoritative commentary
upon Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai, the moving hymn
through which He teaches the path of pure devotion and self-
surrender. Through the works of Sri Muruganar such as Sri
Ramana Sannidhi Murai and Sri Ramana Jnana Bodham Sri
Bhagavan has revealed the greatness and power of His Grace.
He has set a shining example of dedicated and one-pointed
devotion, He has demonstrated how the paths of bhakti and
jnana are inseparably interrelated, and He has thereby shown
the true and practical spiritual path to be followed by all of
us who aspire for egolessness. And above all, through the
humble and self-effacing life lived by Sri Muruganar Sri
Bhagavan has exemplified how a true devotee should live his
life in this world: unattached to the world, unknown to the
world, and uncaring for the appreciation of the world – in the
world but not of the world!
It is because the Grace of the Lord thus works through His
true, egoless devotees, helping to uplift us less mature souls,
that devotion to the devotees is so highly prized in the Indian
tradition. Indeed, in the Saivite tradition of Tamil Nadu, which
provided the cultural background for both Sri Bhagavan and Sri
Muruganar, one is taught to revere the devotee as God Himself,
and the greatness of the devotion to the devotees is one of
the principal themes of the Periya Puranam, the great poem
which recounts the lives of the sixty-three Saivite Saints and
which moved Sri Bhagavan so deeply when, as a fifteen-year
old schoolboy, He first read it. This ancient custom of revering
the devotees of the Lord so highly has also been approved and
sanctioned by Sri Bhagavan in verse 104 of Sri Arunachala
Aksharamanamalai, in which He sings. “Oh Arunachala, bless
me so that I may become the devotee of the devotees of the
devotees who hear Your name with love! “Let us therefore
become the devotees of the devotees of Sri Muruganar, the

great devotee who always heard the name of Sri Arunachala-
Ramana with heart-melting love!
66. On Birthday
By Bhagavan
T hese verses were written by Bhagavan when it was

proposed for the first time that his birthday should be
celebrated:
1. All you who would a birthday celebrate
Should first find out whence we are really born.
For that alone of birth is the true date
Whereon one enters the eternal state
That transcends birth and death, which is indeed
Eternal Being, when the soul is freed.
2. Upon this day at least you ought to mourn
Your entry in the world. To celebrate
And glory in the day when you were born
Is like a man delighting to adorn
A putrid corpse. To seek the Self, this is
To merge within the Self. True Wisdom this!
In reply to this the translator handed Bhagavan the
following:
You tell me not to celebrate
The day when I was born.
Seeing it led me to Thy Feet
Why, therefore, should I mourn?
Births in the past were filled with woe
But this one’s free from pain;
For having Thee I surely know
That Freedom I’ll attain.
67. The Grace of Arunachala Siva*
I t has been said that the work of healing is often the work
of narration. With this thought in mind I have written my
story, my memories of a major accident, treatment and my
return to Tiruvannamalai. These events were borne from
devotion and love. The manifestation of the Self through love
is what has given me strength. This love has been selflessly
given by those who knew me either little or not at all. It
is this simplicity of giving, of time, thoughts, prayers and
even blood that has helped me become stronger and kept my
hopes light and full. I have been shown that the heart of a true
sadhaka shines forth in coming to the aid of another through
the gift of selfless service.
A few minutes past 5 am, on a Tuesday in February 2010,
I left my room with the intention of meeting my friends for
pradakshina of the holy mountain Arunachala. A few days
previously I had organized this walk as I wanted to share
some time with two very dear friends, Purnima and Ryan. I
had set the time, the date and the meeting place, something
I had never done before. It is only now in retrospect that it
seems as if the drama was being written then. A few days
before I had moved into the ashram, celebrated my 40th
birthday and Mahasivaratri by walking around the mountain
barefoot chanting the Mrityunjaya mantra! I had begun to
make plans to settle and make a home at the foot of my
beloved mountain. And yet I still felt something empty inside
me. There was a persistent sadness and a longing for union,
connection and love. I felt distant, separate and alone. The
night before the accident my thoughts were heavy and I
walked around Bhagavan’s samadhi feeling impelled to walk
one more time as if asking for a blessing to keep me safe,
just in case.
* This is an edited version of an article by Anna Du Chesne, The

Mountain Path, April 2011.
Leaving my room took a few moments longer than usual,

still half asleep after a restless night, I forgot my key and
then had to go back again for water. I made my way out of
the library compound, towards the ashram gates, thinking of
the coming walk and feeling the coolness of the morning.
As I walked past the Dakshinamurti shrine I did pranam,
requesting a blessing.
The following moments are a blur. My head still cloudy
with sleep, I heard a loud sound behind me. This is not unusual
in India as often the roadsides are full of screaming horns and
rattling lorries. I turned slowly to see what the commotion
was, impelled by some sense on the street, from others who
were also walking. I turned to face the centre of the road.
In the next moment I found myself on the ground and
everything that followed happened slowly and simultaneously...
Fireworks! The electrical power board is hit and it is as if
it is diwali! The visual impact of the flashing lights, the aural
impact of the screaming sizzling wires initially superseded
the physical.
Sitting in the dirt on the side of the road, slowly coming
to realise what was happening, it was as if this was God/
Siva/Swami’s way of announcing this super real moment in
my life.
My instant reaction was to get up, to stand on my own
two feet and move on. I placed my hands on the ground to
lift myself up, to stand up. It was only then that I realised
the intensity of the situation. I looked down at my leg and
I knew. I knew that my life would never be the same again.
I knew that I would lose my leg. This strong inner knowing
broke through the chaos and confusion. It was then that I
looked at my sweet hill of grace, Oh Arunachala! I think I
may even have smiled. It was as if I knew I was caught. I
knew I had been bitten. I saw the mountain shining down
on me. I may have laughed and said to myself – “Well, you
wanted something? You were looking for love? You want to
grow? Well WAKE UP!.... BOOM!!! What are you teaching
me dearest mountain?” I remembered the previous evening’s

parayana, in which I had joined with others singing of my
love for the mountain and bemoaning my fate as a prisoner
bound by this love. This silent roar from the mountain would
keep me connected and open to what was to come.
“Help!” The lessons began now. Never wanting to ask
people for anything, never wanting to cause bother and priding
myself on my independence, my first impulse was to simply
move on, on my own. It was only after the few seconds of
shock, and silent communication with the mountain, that
reality took her firm grasp on me and I cried out “Help!”. I
think I began to scream. The pain started to get very real and
I became scared, realising I was helpless. That such a strong
impulse (to look after myself) had been torn from me was
what struck me the deepest. I need other people! I had to
call for help. Due to my great love and respect for the people
who work in the ashram, my heart turned to them. I called
out “Ramanasramam! Get the ashram people!” or some such
thing as I was afraid I would be left. I did not know who was
already there and already looking after me...
From here I believe the love started to flow. Again it was
the mountain speaking to me, “You wanted love? Well here it
comes!” I felt that through tearing off my leg, love was able
to flow. I am not sure from where it came but it came. People
started to appear.
A man who owns the fruit stand opposite the ashram
gates came and cradled me, letting me place my weight on
him as he supported my back. It was so dark that the faces
who appeared where a blur. A few I recognized in the small
crowd at the ashram gates. A devotee whom I had recently
met, came and sat beside me. She took my hand and repeated
gently, “You are going to be ok! You are going to live!”
My friend Ryan appeared and it was such relief to see him.
Finally, my friend Purnima appeared, with her presence I felt
I could relax a little, as I knew she would do everything that
was needed to keep me safe.
Pain! In the moment there was pain that is difficult to

describe, pain that took my breath away, pain that took me
out of my body so that the only way I could comprehend it
was to float above myself watching, dissecting and dissociating
myself from the physical body. In these moments there was
a great awareness of the nature of the body as a vessel or a
shell, nothing more. And then BOOM! the pain would wrack
though my body and my mind would again be overcome. I
would swing back to observing. I was thinking, “Well, this is
it! Here is my chance to really observe, to examine the pain of
the body and see where it comes from.” I repeated to myself,
“I am not this pain, this pain is not me. There is just pain...”
And then Bang! I would be back deep in the mind of the pain.
In the moments my mind detached itself from the body,
my thoughts became enormous. I was only able to understand
or relate at a deep universal level. I felt such overwhelming
compassion for all those who must experience this pain. I was
struck by the injustice of it. I felt nothing of myself. I could
only use my experience to feel and understand the horror that
is senselessly inflicted on others. It was as if I had a deep
insight into the minds, emotions and hearts of so many, as if
I were linked into their suffering. Why must others, victims
of war or land mines experience this? How is it possible that
this kind of pain is experienced by so many soldiers, innocent
civilians, animals...?
Finally, the ambulance came and the commotion
continued. There was no stretcher initially and as they were
attempting to lift me I had to instruct them to bring something
to lift my leg. I was fearful as they seemed ready to just throw
me onto the stretcher without a thought for the lower leg that
was barely connected to the rest of me. I was reminded of a
teacher of mine who once told a story of a woman in a terrible
situation. She maintained her peace of mind by directing the
attackers, telling them how the event was to be handled. I
remained conscious throughout this event as I too wanted to
ensure that this horror would be my responsibility.
I think the worst part of the whole morning was lying

in Tiruvannamalai hospital. I can clearly remember the pain,
coming in crashing waves. The shock and nausea was made
worse by not trusting that I was in the right place and then
not quite believing what was happening. I was also feeling
annoyed and agitated by the overly curious people in the
waiting room where I was left. I have a strong image of lying
on the stretcher in what seemed like a waiting room. The
walls were green and it was dark. I could not move for the
pain and had been left, pushed to the side of the room, near
a corridor. The people in the waiting room began to come
and peer at me. I remember moaning and just wishing they
would all go away and leave me alone. All I wanted was
to retreat, to disappear, to go into hiding. I remember biting
Purnima’s hand in an effort to quell the pain. I remember the
dissociation I was experiencing in my mind and my body.
And yet, in spite of this tremendous fear and pain, I felt the
presence of the mountain. I remember knowing God was
with me and realising that God never leaves. Those moments
of silent communication had calmed the core of my mind.
I had no concept of what was to come yet I knew God was
with me. In the worst moments I found myself chanting “OM
nama sivaya!”, over and over in a effort to further calm my
mind and to call on his grace to help me through this torment.
When I arrived at the Christian Medical College (CMC),
Vellore I was even telling the nurses not to throw away my
clothes, that I would not need a ventilator and making sure
my mother was called. In the first few days at the hospital,
I did not really care or understand what was happening. It
may have been the morphine or it may have been the shock
of the intensity of the situation. The fuse box fireworks for
me seemed to be the visual equal of my emotional impact.
I was lost somewhere in another world. My visitors were
so concerned for my wellbeing that I was delighted to see
them. I never felt much sadness at my situation and was often
more concerned for the plight of others. At the same time as
my amputation was to take place a woman was brought into

the HDC. There had been a terrible road accident and her
husband and child had died. As I lay waiting for my operation
I could hear her inconsolable wailing! My heart went out to
her...I had just lost part of my leg and yet she had lost her
whole family.
Finally, the time came for the amputation and I was
again blessed to have my eldest sister with me. Her love
for me, coupled with her training as a clinical psychologist,
provided me with the firmest foundation of emotional support
imaginable. In preparation for this major operation we sat for
a few minutes praising and honouring my beautiful left leg.
We spoke about the joy I felt feeling sand between my toes,
diving off rocks into the ocean, the freedom my foot had
given me and the great distances this foot had taken me – the
sights I had seen!
The operation was very long and traumatic. I woke up
in ICU in terror as I had had hallucinogenic nightmares of
running, climbing and moving about with two legs. These
dreams were so real that upon waking at 2 a.m. I became
quite hysterical and started to go into shock. My sister was
called and I fell into her arms crying, “I don’t know what is
real anymore! I don’t know what is real anymore!”
The final operation was the worst. The heat was unbearable
and as with all the previous operations I was not allowed to
drink water or take any food for hours beforehand. My sister
came with me and I was lead through the maze that is CMC.
We arrived at the theatre and had to wait in the corridor. I still
had the memory of the previous three operations in my mind
and was scared that there would be more pain. I closed my
eyes and meditated. As I calmed my mind, I imagined angels
holding me, sweet doves with the eyes of love of Ramana.
I went to God, and felt God holding me, soothing me in the
heat...
The doctors and nurses who cared for me were incredible.
I feel very fortunate to have had such a professional and
experienced team of doctors looking after me. One of the

senior doctors admired my pictures of Ramana that had
been put up in my room. He told me of his recent visit to
Tiruvannamalai and his day spent in the ashram. Again, I
realised here was God looking after me. As the CMC is a
Christian hospital the nurses would sing hymns of Christ in
the morning. Before every operation they would stand around
me and pray for a ‘safe’ result.
People were so generous with their time and energy. A
relay of people gladly came from Tiruvannamalai to give blood.
In the days after the operation and my return to Australia
I found the intensity of the love continued to flow.
Below are some entries from my diary and from letters
received and sent.
One of the messages read: “Nevertheless the events
that happened to Ms. Anna is not mysterious at least to me
because in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna has said that he would
indeed go to any extent, including ruining the life of someone
who is dear to Him. In so many saint’s lives He has come to
accept them by similar means of diverting them to Him by
giving them troubles. If some such thing should happen to a
devotee who was planning to go for a pradakshina that too
early in the morning certainly it is only a blessing though it
may look different in the eyes of others....”
More from Letters and Diary
4th March to Rose:
“I believe that this event is a blessing, a kiss from Siva,
waking me up to my true nature and bringing me closer and
closer into the Heart. I would love to speak with you and hear
any wisdom you may be willing to share with me.
“I am learning that nothing is certain and I have no idea
of what is to come – so I can only focus on what is happening
right now...liberating really!”
12th March to Ryan:
“Some of these images that kept me going...I will write

again with a list of things I want you to do, like listen to
a peacock for me, gaze at the monkeys being naughty and
smile as the ghee is poured on your rice at lunch...the glance
upwards at the hill...magnificent green against the soft blue.”
14th March:
“... in these moments no predictions or reflections of past
or future make much impact...nothing can be as great or as
real as what is happening in my life right now! Every day is
uncertain and fresh, the pains come and go, sleep comes and
goes...being so still I must sit and observe my friends and
family as they rush in and out of my view from the couch…
“Emotionally I am pretty numb, I have not yet cried or
felt much sadness over the loss and the chaos of the accident.
There is such a feeling of perfection about all this – as if it
COULD NOT BE ANY OTHER WAY – that sadness seems
impossible. I feel held, loved and cared for...which allows
stillness and surrender to unfold sweetly. I have never been
at a place in my life where I have known less about what is
to come – before I always had an (often fear filled) image of
possible future events – and now? I really don’t know...and
as a result there is no fear! I project and plan for difficulty
– learning to walk again, falling over, possible pain of the
prosthesis? but really I don’t know...YEAH! It is good not to
know.”
23rd March to Thomas:
“...I feel like cutting off the lower leg (it’s really just a
1/4! – about 10 cm below my knee) was like cutting open
a reservoir or spring of LOVE – people from all over the
world have sent me love, blood, flowers, friendship...and I am
learning to receive, to be gracious and invite this in...
“I will slowly begin to learn how to walk again, find my
balance...I feel as though all the years of yoga, meditation,
self-enquiry and observation are my strength now – now I
must use them as I begin to swim...many of the old mind

games and crazy insecurities that kept me small have
completely been blown up, destroyed – this is the joy of this
madness! Now I see what is really important...”
5th April to Clive and Miranda:
“I have been overwhelmed by the grace of a very very
dear group of friends – so much support! so much kindness!
This whole event really has brought me to my knees...in truth
I am humbled and find myself at the beginning of a frustrating
yet beautifully essential opening and LETTING GO!!!!
“It is incredible how many beliefs and concepts are
falling away – those that keep me fearful and doubting are
losing their grip! How can this not be grace. So there is joy
in this madness...even living in Sydney!”
23rd April to Ryan:
“When I read your letters I am instantly with Arunachala,
thank you. I am crying – it is obviously Arunachala tapping
my heart open....”
17th May:
“This step on the spiritual path is all about stillness...
this stillness being reflected in an acceptance of what IS!!!!!!!
How wonderful: No grasping, comparing, wishing or hoping
for difference – rather a peace filled stillness in the present...
“So challenging!!!!”
30th May to Purnima:
“When I really think about (returning to TVM) I get
a little scared and am aware that I still ‘jump’ whenever I
hear a truck bang past me – if I am inside or on the street...
so there is still work to be done on releasing some of the
trauma that I am holding onto...A thought just occurred to
me – I am living my life like a person practising a walking
meditation – awareness, awareness, awareness...step by step...
the destination is no longer my focus...”
7th June to David:

“I am doing very well, walking around on my new leg
– still a little clumsy and using crutches. The doctors are all
amazed at my determination and fast recovery. I tell them
that it is because I have so much love in my life, so many
wonderful people who have shown me friendship....thank
you!”
19th June to Bobbie:
“Ahhhh...a day does not go by in which my heart flies
to Tiruvannamalai....And you are there!!! I think of walking
around the mountain with you...resting (because I am learning
to slow down!) on the rocks...sitting under the mountain.”
5th August to Gita:
“I am walking with such ease that I am often surprised
and laugh at the simplicity of my mind – that forgets the
trauma, the frustration and the difficulty it once faced. I have
found enduring love and support from all my friends, family
and colleagues. A day does not go by in which I am not
greeted by friends and acquaintances delighted to see me and
thrilled at my recovery! How lucky am I!!!!”
68. My Pilgrimage to Sri Ramanasramam*
Crisis in Life
A few years ago, I reached a crisis in my life. After years of

anguish and sleepless nights, I was in a critical condition.
When things seemed darkest I had an unusual feeling that
I should go away. I discussed it with my twin, Betty, and
decided to take a trip around the world. After making the
reservation I became very ill and had to cancel it. One obstacle
after another presented itself until it seemed as though I were
* Eleanor Pauline Noye (California), Golden Jubilee Souvenir.

not to go and being so ill I did not care if I went or not. Still
there always seemed to be something urging me to go and my
sister also felt that I should. After a few weeks of rest, I felt
better and made reservations on another ship that was to sail
a month later, but when the time arrived for sailing I was still
not able to leave my bed. The boat sailed from San Francisco
through the Panama Canal reaching New Orleans a month
later. The steamship agent suggested my going there by train,
which takes three days instead of one month, hoping I would
feel better in the meantime.
I had a very trying trip to New Orleans, and upon
arriving I collapsed and was taken to a Christian Science
practitioner’s home, where they put me to bed and took care
of me. They thought I was in no condition to take a long trip,
but I felt as though I must. I could not turn back. Fortunately,
the boat was two weeks late; otherwise I would not have been
able to sail. The steamship agent said, “You do not look very
well. If the Captain sees you I am afraid he will not take
you, as we do not carry a physician.” However, finally he
agreed to my going but said, “Do not let the Captain see you
until we are out at sea.” Though outward conditions were
very dark, I went, knowing that God would take care of me.
I felt as though I were led and if I had not followed that
inner voice which prompted me I would never have had the
blessed experience of finding the happiest part of my life in
the presence of Bhagavan Sri Ramana.
I Want to Find Myself
The doctor who vaccinated me before I left, knew that
I was not well. He said, “Why are you taking the trip?” I
replied, “I want to find myself.” I was seeking something I
had not found – Peace. Somehow my mind would always
turn to India, especially during those days when I was in bed.
We sailed from New Orleans to Cape Town, South
Africa, a three weeks’ trip without a stop. Providence was
with me again, for had the boat stopped, I believe, I would
have returned home. But God had other plans for me. I was
torn between conflicting emotions and became worse again.
My prayers seemed of no avail. I would have the most
dreadful nightmares and wake up crying. I could not bear it
any longer; so, I sent a radiogram to the doctor: “Need help
in every way, especially at night. Cold much worse; filled
with fear. Will write from Cape Town.” I don’t know what I
was afraid of, but my mind was never at peace. I felt better
for a while but found it necessary to send a second cable.
Therefore, had the boat stopped on its way to Cape Town, I
should have disembarked and returned home. But Providence
has always the upper hand. When we reached Cape Town, I
felt much better; but as I did not like that ship I disembarked
at Durban, South Africa, where I spent one month waiting for
another boat.
Arriving in India
As we approached India I decided to get off at Madras,
instead of going on to Calcutta, where the ship would be in
dry-dock for two weeks. The people on board gave all sorts
of reasons why I should not get off at Madras. It was very
difficult to leave them; nevertheless, I did, so they took me
to the Connemara Hotel, saying it was not safe to stop at a
second-rate hotel because of the food, etc. After my friends
had gone I felt lost and went to my room and, with tears in
my eyes, prayed for guidance. All night the heat was intense,
so the next morning I asked the proprietor if he could suggest
a cooler place. He said the hill station Kodaikanal was lovely
and cool. So, I made my plans to leave Madras immediately.
Motoring there, I found it to be a charming place. The very
first day I met two Hindu brothers and I asked them if they
knew any Seers? I have no explanation to offer as to why I
put that question. I anticipated nothing. They said they knew
of one at Tiruvannamalai, Sri Ramana Maharshi. “People
come from far and near to see Him. He left home,” they said,
“when he was twelve-years old and never went to school.
He is the greatest Seer in India. It is difficult to find one that

is genuine.” This is what they told me about Bhagavan; of
course, these facts are not accurate.
I decided to leave for Tiruvannamalai the next day.
My friends helped me in every way, told me to buy some
bedding, etc., but did not tell me that it was the custom to
take a gift to the Holy Man; in fact, I knew nothing about
life at an Ashram. When I left Madras I had no idea I would
have this experience, but was eager to go, and felt as though
something momentous was about to happen.
When I told the guests in the hotel my plans, they said it
was not safe to go alone, as the place (the Ashram) was in a
jungle, and I would not endure the hardships and humidity, as
I had been in India only a few days and was not acclimatized.
An English official and his wife insisted upon getting all the
details in order to keep track of me. I bought a ticket for
Madurai as my friends told me to see the temples there, but
I decided not to go to Madurai, as I was anxious to reach my
destination. So, I left the car at Kodaikanal Road and took the
train for Tiruvannamalai.
At the Ashram
After arriving there I engaged a bullock cart to take me
to the Ashram, where I was greeted by some of the inmates,
including Niranjanananda Swami, brother of Sri Bhagavan.
They told me that Sri Bhagavan was on the hill, but would
be in the hall shortly, and graciously invited me to have my
breakfast. My heart throbbed with expectation as I was taken
to the hall. As I entered it I felt the atmosphere was filled with
Sri Bhagavan’s purity and blessedness. One feels a breath
of the Divine in the Sage’s presence. He was sitting on a
couch, clad only in a loincloth, surrounded by His devotees.
When He smiled it was as though the gates of Heaven were
thrown open. I have never seen eyes more alight with Divine
Illumination – they shine like stars. He greeted me very
tenderly and made some enquiries about me, which put me
at ease. His look of Love and Compassion was a benediction

that went straight to my heart. I was immediately drawn
to Him. His greatness and kindness is all embracing. One
feels such an uplifting influence in His Saintly Presence and
cannot help but sense His extraordinary spirituality. It is not
necessary for Him to talk. His silent influence of Love and
Light is more potent than words could ever be. I did not know
what manner of man I expected to find. But once I saw Him,
I said to myself, ‘Surely, there is no one like Sri Bhagavan!’
I do not think there is another like Him on earth today. To see
Him is to love Him. After spending the morning with Him,
I had lunch at eleven o’clock and rested until 2 p.m. Then I
returned to the hall. As I looked upon Sri Bhagavan’s serene
face and into His eyes, which beamed with mercy, my soul
was stirred. He knew how much I needed Him, while He
looked straight into my heart. Everyone who comes to Him
is blessed; the inner Peace, which is His, is radiated to all.
A beautiful sight are the little children, kneeling before the
Master as He blesses them and smiles so tenderly, sometimes
taking one in His arms, reminding me of the painting, “Christ
Blessing the Children.” Later I walked around the grounds,
talked to the devotees. At seven o’clock I had a light meal;
then I had the opportunity to say just a few words to Sri
Bhagavan about my journey. Sometime later I went to the
Traveller’s Bungalow, as ladies are not allowed to stay in the
Ashram at night.
I would like to say here, that the one reason why I had
been in such a rundown condition was that I had not slept well
for years, although I had been taking medicine, which never
gave me any relief. Although I said nothing to Sri Bhagavan
about this, the amazing thing was that I slept soundly the
first night and thereafter without taking any medicine, though
I lacked the many comforts I had been accustomed to. I
received “the Medicine of all medicines, the unfailing grace
of the Lord, whose name is Heart.” I arose next morning,
feeling refreshed, as though I were born anew. Soon after,
one afternoon, as I was standing by the gate, Sri Bhagavan

stopped, while on His way to the Hillside, and asked me if I
had more peace. His loving solicitude made me feel quite at
home; and when He smiled, my joy knew no bounds.
During those sacred hours with the Master I unconsciously
absorbed the Truth, which He embodies; it filled all my being.
My love blossomed into deep devotion and I was filled with
ineffable peace. The things which seemed so vital before
were no longer of any importance. I could see things in their
correct perspective; the heartaches of yesterday and thoughts
of tomorrow faded into oblivion. Here, in the Ashram, far
away from the noise and confusion of the busy highways,
silence reigns. It is broken only by the bleating of the sheep
and goats and the songs of the birds and the shepherd’s song
as he takes his flocks home to rest. Time seems to stand still
in this peaceful, sacred retreat, amidst the beauties of nature,
with its lovely flower gardens and beautiful pools, which are
surrounded by knarred oak-like trees, that greet you like old
friends. It is so primitive, but therein lies its charm. It is truly
the Holy Land. The air is permeated with His peace and love.
Looking upon eternal Arunachala, ‘The Hill of Light,’ one
is filled with awe and is overwhelmed by a great Spiritual
Power. Everything is vibrant and speaks to us in Silence.
On full-moon night it is especially inspiring to go around
the hill. In this deep silence and quietude, one readily hears
the voice of God. In the inspiring words of the Master from
the Five Hymns to Arunachala: “Only to convey by Silence
Thy Transcendent State Thou standest as a Hill, shining from
heaven to earth.” One may also say with the Psalmist, “Be
Still and Know That I Am God.” These were among the first
words spoken to me by Sri Bhagavan and the last ones before
I left for America. I had always loved to meditate upon them,
but now they seemed to take on a new meaning and filled my
heart with bliss. I had been at the Ashram for two months,
then made arrangements to sail one month later. I wanted to
know more about India before going home. So, I reluctantly
made plans to leave the place. I had grown to love it and was
very sad during those last days. Bhagavan said, “I will always
be with you, wherever you go.”
When the last day arrived, I could not stop crying.
Therefore, I did not go to the hall but sat by the pool. In the
afternoon when I sat before Bhagavan, He smiled and said,
“She has been crying all day; she does not want to leave Me.”
He was so sweet and tender. Later I went to Him for His
blessing; the pain of parting was almost more than I could
bear; with tears in my eyes I knelt in deepest reverence and
devotion before my Beloved Master. May He always be my
Father, Mother and God; and may I always be His child, and
whatever I do, may it be in His Name!
I then said goodbye to the devotees who had been so
kind to me. As I drove to the station in the little cart, my heart
grew heavy because I was leaving my Bhagavan, but I had
so very much to be thankful for, having had the privilege of
spending two months in His presence and been blessed beyond
measure. Indeed, I was not the same person who had come
to Him two months earlier. When I reached Madras I wanted
to return to Bhagavan, I really did not want to tour India;
nevertheless, I went from Madras to Srinagar in Kashmir,
then to Calcutta (wherefrom I expected to sail for America).
I had a pleasant trip, stopped at many interesting places along
the way and was led to many people who were helpful and
kind. What I would like to bring out is the way in which I
was guided and protected. I had some blessed experiences,
also two breathtaking ones on the train, and on one occasion I
narrowly escaped death. It was the hottest season of the year,
yet I felt no ill effects. A physician who was stopping at the
same hotel in Agra said it was miraculous the way I travelled
in the heat; he had seen strong Hindus drop like flies owing
to the heat, which did not seem to bother me. I could hear
Bhagavan’s words: “I will always be with you, wherever you
go.” His dear face was always before me, no matter what I
was doing. His presence filled all my heart. My eyes were
filled with tears many times as I thought of returning to

America without seeing Him again. One day I seemed to hear
Him say, ‘Come back to Me again’. During the time I was
separated from the Master my love and faith had deepened,
and I decided to return to Him as soon as possible.
Returning to the Master
I changed my plans. Instead of going back to America
by the next boat, I took the train, leaving Calcutta for
Tiruvannamalai. Queer to say, I felt as though I were going
home! The tender way Bhagavan greeted me, as I stood before
him, will live in my heart always. I wept with joy knowing I
was thrice blessed in being able to return to him. As I basked
in his Eternal Sunshine in those silent hours of communion I
was filled with his Grace.
It is a privilege to have some meals with the Master; to
eat the food that he has handled is in itself a blessing. He
would rise at dawn and help cut the vegetables, very often
helping also to prepare special dishes that were delicious. The
devotees prepared special food for me, and it was wholesome
and good. Bhagavan was always considerate to everyone,
he wanted to be sure there was plenty of everything; and
the rich and poor received the same kind attention, as also
the animals; no distinction was ever shown. One day I saw
Bhagavan stoop down and pick up three grains of rice. That
simple act taught me much more than what I could have
learnt by studying ten volumes on domestic economy which
is so essential in present day life but is so difficult to practice.
Each day brought new lessons and Blessings. He grew nearer
and dearer to me as time passed and my only wish was to be
by his side.
Silent Adoration
The monsoon was on, the air was fresh and clean, and
all the earth seemed radiant. Whenever it rained Bhagavan’s
attendants put a white cloth on his chest to protect his body
from the cold weather. He looked like a sweet child wearing

a bib, and with all his wisdom and greatness one is struck by
his childlike nature. At other times he looks like the King of
kings; His poise and dignity are outstanding. When sometimes
at night he would throw a shawl over his head, he looked
like the Madonna. I would stand outside in silent adoration.
Again, at other times he looked like a devoted father, smiling
upon his children. I loved to watch him as he walked up the
hill, just when the sun was setting. And it was my greatest
delight when I could go with him.
One morning I picked a lovely rose; my first thought was
to give it to the Master. A devotee said, “What a beautiful
rose!”
I replied, “Yes, it is for Bhagavan.” I sat in the hall,
wondering if I should give it to him. After a few minutes I
laid it on the small footstool near his sofa, and he said, “What
is that?”
I replied, “Only a rose.”
He said, “Give it to me.” He took the rose and touched it
to his forehead and cheeks. I was so deeply touched, I wept.
The 1939 Jayanti
I had the great privilege of being at the Ashram in 1939
for Sri Bhagavan’s birthday celebration when, as on such
occasions, thousands of people were fed. He is, indeed, a
friend of the poor. A special leaf-covered shelter is erected
for the occasion, so that many devotees who come for the
celebration may sit in the presence of Bhagavan. One can
never forget the Master as he sits there on his couch so
majestically, amidst garlands of flowers, surrounded by his
loving devotees, who are so happy to be with him at that
time. It is a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving for everyone,
even the animals.
As I walked along that night and looked at Arunachala,
so silent, I was held spellbound by the beautiful sight. The
brightest star in the heavens shone directly above its peak,
like a great Beacon Light to tell us, as it were: “This is the

Holy Land, the abode of Bhagavan, the Lord of the Universe,
whose greatness and spiritual power have drawn men from
the remote parts of the earth, who come and kneel down
and worship him, singing songs of adoration and praise to
proclaim his glory.”
Lord of Love
When I left America, I longed for Peace; there was a
yearning in my heart that would not let me rest. Here at the
feet of the Lord of Love, peace and happiness garlanded me
and enriched my being. I know that Bhagavan led me to this
haven of rest. In the words of Sri Bhagavan himself:
To quote a letter from the Ashram: “So then, Sri Bhagavan
will guide you at every step; for, has he not guided you even
before you knew you were really in search of him?”
Leaving the Ashram
I had been planning to leave the Ashram for five months,
but each time I thought I was going, something unforeseen
presented itself. It was not his will that I should go. Bhagavan
says, “Your plans are of no avail.” I did not want to go but
felt I should. My twin sister wrote several times and said
there were matters which needed my attention; and she was
very ill, although I did not know it at the time, somehow, I
sensed it. That was probably the reason why I felt I should
leave.
As the time to leave drew near I was very sad; I knew
this time I would really go. It had been eight months since I
returned to the Ashram for the second time! Those last days
I spent with the Master were blissful. He was so kind and
tender, and when he smiled at me, tears would fill my eyes.
I wondered how I could ever leave the place. When the day
of parting came, I could not stop crying. In the morning, I
walked on the Hill with Bhagavan and some other devotees;
then again in the afternoon, when we had our pictures taken
with him. As I walked down the Hill with him for the last
time he alone knew what was in my heart.
The little monkeys were all lined upon either side of
the hill-path. Bhagavan told them to come and say goodbye
to me. He knew I loved them also. When we reached the
hall, Bhagavan read a few comforting passages from Psalms,
Chapter 139, verses 7, 8, 9, and 10.* He invited me to have
supper with him, as ladies are not allowed in the dining hall
at night. It was blessed joy to have that last meal with the
Master. I shall never forget it.
Just before I left I went to him for his blessing and wept
at his feet, as my heart overflowed with adoration and love.
He is dearer to me than life itself. May I consecrate my life
to him! Then I said good-bye to the devotees in the Ashram,
who were invariably kind to me.
I have tried in my humble way to tell about the wonderful
experience I had when I was at Sri Ramanasramam with the
Enlightened One, but mere words can never express the peace
and joy one feels in his Presence; it must be experienced.
There, one truly has a glimpse of the Eternal.
As I am writing this article in 1946 (six years after I left
the Ashram), I would like to say that I have felt the Master’s
Presence more and more with the passage of time, just as
he said I would. My devotion and faith have grown through
the years and will never be shaken under any circumstances.
I am very happy to say that I shall be returning soon to my
Beloved Master. I hear his call!
* Psalms, Chapter 139, verse 7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit?

Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
verse 8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed
in hell, behold, thou art there.
verse 9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost
parts of the sea;
verse 10. Even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall
hold me.
Needless to say, this was the most blessed experience

of my life, my stay at the feet of Bhagavan Sri Ramana
Maharshi, the Lord of Love and Compassion. May I be
worthy of the many blessings and the great Love he has so
graciously bestowed upon me!
To Beloved Bhagavan, the Lord of Love

Oh Lord of Love, Who dwells within my heart!
May I sing Thy Praise through all Eternity,
Thou, the Adorable One, the All compassionate,
Whose Loving smile illumines all the world,
Who art tender as a mother and strong as a father,
Thou, whose sublime life is an inspiring sermon,
Fill me with Thy Presence, Beloved Master, with the
Nectar of Thy Grace;
May Thy great Love and Light fill my heart to the full.
Resting secure in Thy Presence
And knowing whence cometh Peace,
Guidance and Strength,
May I always listen; for, in the Silence
I hear Thy Voice, –
The Voice of God.
– Eleanor Pauline Noye
(California)
69. Merits and Demerits (Fruits of Karma)*
B hagavan was most tender with people who thought

themselves for some reason or other to be miserable
sinners and who went to him torn by repentance.
During summer evenings we used to sit in the open space
near the well. We would collect in the dining hall for dinner
and come back to the well. Suddenly, one day, a visitor started
weeping bitterly, “I am a horrible sinner. For a long time, I
have been coming to your feet, but there is no change in me.
Can I become pure at last? How long am I to wait? When
I am here near you I am good for a time, but when I leave
this place I become a beast again. You cannot imagine how
bad I can be hardly a human being. Am I to remain a sinner
forever?”
Bhagavan answered: “Why do you come to me? What
have I to do with you? What is there between us that you
should come here and weep and cry in front of me?”
The man started moaning and crying even more, as if his
heart were breaking. “All my hopes of salvation are gone.
You were my last refuge and you say you have nothing to do
with me! To whom shall I turn now? What am I to do? To
whom am I to go?”
Bhagavan watched him for some time and said, “Am I
your guru that I should be responsible for your salvation?
Have I ever said that I am your master?”
“If you are not my master, then who is? And who are
you, if not my master? You are my guru, you are my guardian
angel, you will pity me and release me from my sins!” He
started sobbing and crying again.
We all sat silent, overcome with pity. Only Bhagavan
looked alert and matter-of-fact.
Bhagavan: “If I am your guru, what are my fees? Surely
you should pay me for my services.”
* Krishna Bhikshu, The Power of the Presence – Part 3.

Devotee: “But you won’t take anything,” cried the visitor.

“What can I give you?”
Bh.: “Did I ever say that I don’t take anything? And did
you ever ask me what you can give me?”
D.: “If you would take, then ask me. There is nothing I
would not give you.”
Bh.: “All right. Now I am asking. Give me. What will
you give me?”
D.: “Take anything, all is yours.”
Bh.: “Then give me all the good you have done in this
world.”
D.: “What good could I have done? I have not a single
virtue to my credit.”
Bh.: “You have promised to give. Now give. Don’t talk
of your credit. Just give away all the good you have done in
your past.”
D.: “Yes, I shall give. But how does one give? Tell me
how the giving is done and I shall give.”
Bh.: “Say like this: ‘All the good I have done in the past
I am giving away entirely to my guru. Henceforth I have no
merit from it nor have I any concern with it.’ Say it with your
whole heart.”
D.: “All right, Swami, I am giving away to you all the
good I have done so far, if I have done any, and all its good
effects. I am giving it to you gladly, for you are my master
and you are asking me to give it all away to you.”
Bh.: “But this is not enough,” said Bhagavan sternly.
D.: “I gave you all I have and all you asked me to give.
I have nothing more to give.”
Bh.: “No, you have. Give me all your sins.”
D.: The man looked wildly at Bhagavan, terror-stricken.
“You do not know, Swami, what you are asking for. If you
knew, you would not ask me. If you take over my sins, your
body will rot and burn. You do not know me; you do not
know my sins. Please do not ask me for my sins.” And he
wept bitterly.
Bh.: “I shall look after myself, don’t you worry about

me,” said Bhagavan. “All I want from you is your sins.”
For a long time, the bargain would not go through. The
man refused to part with his sins. But Bhagavan was adamant.
Bh.: “Either give me your sins along with your merits, or
keep both and don’t think of me as your master.”
In the end the visitor’s scruples broke down and he
declared: “Whatever sins I have done, they are no longer
mine. All of them and their results, too, belong to Ramana.”
Bhagavan seemed to be satisfied. “From now on there
is no good nor bad in you. You are just pure. Go and do
nothing, neither good nor bad. Remain yourself, remain what
you are.”
A great peace fell over the man and over us all. No one
knows what happened to the fortunate visitor; he was never
seen in the Ashram again. He might have been in no further
need of coming.
Another time, a visitor started wailing before Bhagavan
that he was being quite crushed under the enormity of his
sins.
Bhagavan asked: “When you sleep, are you a sinner?”
D.: “No, I am just asleep.”
Bh.: “If you are not a sinner, then you must be good.”
D.: “No, I am neither good nor bad when I am asleep. I
know nothing about myself.”
Bh.: “And what do you know about yourself now? You
say you are a sinner. You say so because you think so. Were
you pleased with yourself, you would call yourself a good
man and stop telling me about you being a sinner. What do
you know about good and evil except what is in your mind?
When you see that the mind invents everything, all will
vanish. The good will vanish, the evil will vanish, and you
will remain as you are.”
Once a visitor said: “I have been coming to you, Swami,
many times, hoping that something will happen and I shall be
changed. So far I do not see any change in me. I am as I was,
a weakling of a man, an inveterate sinner.” And he started

weeping piteously.
“On this road there are no milestones,” replied Bhagavan.
“How can you know in which direction you are going? Why
don’t you do what the first-class railway passenger does? He
tells the guard his destination, locks the doors and goes to
sleep. The rest is done by the guard. If you could trust your
guru as much as you trust the railway guard, it would be quite
enough to make you reach your destination. Your business is
to shut the door and windows and sleep. The guard will wake
you up at your destination.”
70. Excerpts from a Video Interview with

Padma Venkataraman*
Part I
I first went to see Bhagavan in the year 1947. On that

occasion, after going in the morning, seeing Bhagavan and
having his darshan, when everybody, all the devotees, were
sitting all together, a desire arose within me to be alone with
Bhagavan and tell him what was on my mind. My husband
then approached the ashram manager, Niranjanananda
Swami, and spoke to him about my indifference to worldly
life (virakti), and about my desire for the grace of the guru.
When my husband, whose name is Ramani, went and enquired
with Niranjanananda Swami about these matters, he replied,
‘Bhagavan, actually, will return to the hall at a quarter past
two. But the devotees will not come in till half past two. At
that time, then, if there is anything you want to ask, you can
ask it in private.’
* ‘First Meeting with Bhagavan’, Transcript from July and October

2016 Mountain Path, Translated by Robert Butler.
What happened then was, when the two of us were sitting

together, I said, ‘Buy one of Bhagavan’s books...’ – the time
would have been gone half past one – ‘…go and buy one of
Bhagavan’s books.’ I had not read any of the shastras. I had
not read any of the works on Vedanta. But in all situations a
profound desire for a teacher is required. Through Bhagavan,
through his grace, I think he called me to him. I bowed
my head to him, so to speak. He (my husband) bought the
book ‘Nan Yar?’ (‘Who am I?’) and gave it to me before the
bookstore closed, it being the lunch hour. So that was what I
was reading. Previously all I knew was that I wanted a good
guru. I did not know what I needed to do; how and by what
means, to subdue the mind, such as sadhana chatushtaya*
(the prerequisites for initiation into Vedanta) and all the rest.
What I did then, he and I first sat down, as soon he had
returned with the book ‘Who am I?’, and by a quarter past
two I had read it ten times over. Through reading it those
ten times, by Bhagavan’s grace, through which I was able to
understand all the ideas contained in the works of Vedanta,
even those that cannot be [easily] understood, some kind of
deep certainty arose in me. The time reached a quarter past
two and permission was given for us to go inside and speak.
I and he, my husband, entered the hall. As soon as
Bhagavan arrived, some people who were there said, “They
have come from Madras. It seems they have something
serious they want to say.” They were speaking from memory.
Then what I did, I had a very strong sensation … as soon
as I saw Bhagavan … I had a very strong sensation of my
consciousness being overpowered. He too, very strongly,
his consciousness… my husband’s consciousness … was
overpowered. He (my husband) spoke first, saying, “She
* sadhana chatushtaya are the four means of salvation in Hinduism:

discrimination, non-attachment, the six virtues (tranquillity,
training, withdrawal, forbearance, faith and focus) and the desire
for liberation.
has no interest in the household; no desire to be involved in

worldly affairs. She would like to be alone somewhere. From
an early age she has been desperate to find a guru. [I don’t
know what to do],” he said. What I...Bhagavan was looking
at me. That day under his gaze … my … whatever I wanted
to ask, Bhagavan was the one who entered within [me] …
“What is it?” he asked. As soon as Bhagavan asked, I said
that I wanted atma sakshatkara (realisation of the Self). Even
I have no idea how I came to ask that. ‘Is that so (appadiya)?’
he said. Bhagavan’s way of saying the word, appadiya would
sound so beautiful. Whatever anybody asked, whoever it was,
he would say, appadiya. It would be very sweet. No sooner
had he said that – “Is that so? Take a seat,” – than it was
half past two. Consequently, when we went in and sat down
at a quarter past two, everything, those words themselves,
whatever words I used and how, whatever questions, we had
only just read them in the ‘Who am I’ book. Do we have
the spiritual maturity to go and ask questions of such a great
sage?
Bhagavan, very peacefully, with great compassion,
looking at me as if giving initiation through his eyes and
granting me freedom from fear (abhaya), said, “Is it so?
Please sit.” When he said pleasantly, “Please sit down,” I sat
down.
I remember nothing after seeing [Bhagavan]. My husband
had to leave for Madras that same day. He (my husband)
realised that I wouldn’t go and that he needed to put in place
arrangements for me somewhere or other, because I said I
was determined to stay there with Bhagavan. That afternoon
he found a room somewhere, a small room, took me there left
me, and went to tell Bhagavan. Saying he had taken me there
and that’s where I was, he left, after taking me and settling
me in Gothami Lakshmi [house].
All that time I gave up eating, because all that was
problem. Staying alone somewhere … I was just having
milk to drink. It went on like that for several weeks, once in
the afternoon and once in the morning. After Bhagavan had

spoken to me, what happened was, he (my husband) came
in the evening and said to Bhagavan, “I am leaving now. I
am leaving her and going. Now Bhagavan must take care of
her.” [Bhagavan] replied, “Just so!” as if to say, “She must
remain here.”
At half past three Bhagavan related an incident from
[Yoga] Vasishta. (Padma relates Bhagavan’s account of what
Dasaratha said:) “Rama has become very detached from
worldly things. He keeps to himself; he is always sitting alone;
he does not take part in games; he has no companions, and no
interest in or desire for anything. That’s how he is.” With these
words, Dasaratha burst into tears. When [The sage] Vasishta
came and straightaway asked where Rama was, [Dasaratha
said,] “Rama doesn’t get involved with anything. He remains
very alone. He no longer associates with anyone,” he said.
“That’s what he has become, the child I was at pains to sire.”
So saying, Dasaratha wept. However, the newly arrived
Vasishta, was delighted and said, “Is it so? Such is the level of
spiritual maturity Rama has attained. I must go and see him at
once.” Guru Vasishta was happy. [Yet as for] Dasaratha, [he]
was weeping. While [Bhagavan] was relating that incident,
some lady who was there that day, along with a few other
people, asked me what I had asked. But I didn’t know what
to say to her. When the devotees who were present asked me
what I had asked Bhagavan at a quarter past two, [I could
not say because] it was something I had never even thought
before, never mind spoken. The reason why is that it did
not belong to me. It was Bhagavan who inspired me to ask
that question. Otherwise I would probably have asked for
something different, like ‘peace of mind’.
When I decided [what to ask for], what I asked for was
atma sakshatkara. If I am to say how it was when Bhagavan
said these words, he (my husband), was weeping. I was happy,
at peace. Then Bhagavan spoke. “Is that so? Please sit..,” he
said. When I think about it, it was extremely appropriate to
that situation, the way Bhagavan told this story. A lady also
who was there said, “He told the story for your sake.” She
[also] said, “He [Bhagavan] willed that you should come and
stay here, young as you are, and then, for that same reason,
he told that divine tale [to] everyone. After that, day after
day…” [video breaks off here in mid-sentence].
Part II
To what extent grace can be gained, to what extent it must
save (meaning and context not clear), he (my husband) came
once a month to see me. He provided me with what I needed.
As for Bhagavan, he, Bhagavan, noticed his visits. He knew
about it. When I was within sight of him [Bhagavan], when
I fell under his gaze, he would fix that gaze upon [me] for a
short while. All that was a great experience, to be removing
all the mind’s impurities from day to day.
Speaking of food, on one occasion, during the time I
wasn’t taking food…very…...one day [I thought], “Till now
I have not brought anything, anything at all for Bhagavan;
I haven’t obtained anything for him.” What to give to
Bhagavan? What is there that, if I give it to him, he will eat?
If Bhagavan ate, he would only eat if the food was served
to all. Such was his egalitarian nature. I thought about how
I could ask Bhagavan and what I might give him. I asked
everyone; all who were in the kitchen, I asked them.”
They replied, “What could you do, young lady? You
yourself are not taking food. What are you going to prepare
to give to him? It’s not important. What would it achieve?
Your devotion is enough.” I could not accept that answer.
What I did later was that I asked what he would eat at one,
or half past one, in the afternoon.
They said that in the hot season, summer time, he
would eat Palmyra fruits…But to manage to get 100 of
them somewhere or other…I had no knowledge of the place,
nothing to help me. I was determined to offer some kind
of food to Bhagavan, so I spoke to someone, somewhere,
somehow, made the arrangements and bought a 100 [fruits],

at which point, what they all said was, “If you bring them
and hand them over at two o’clock, we’ll get them peeled
and give them to Bhagavan.” I don’t recall how I got them
for Bhagavan to eat, nor do I remember who brought them. I
don’t recall how I managed to get that many palm fruits. Nor
did I get help from anyone else.
They arrived somehow. (Padma uses her tone of voice
here to indicate the idea of “somehow or other”). The sun
was really hot. I took them to the kitchen, to the rear entrance
at the back, handed them over and came away, having asked
them to give them to Bhagavan. Afterwards, at half past two,
we went for darshan, as was the usual practice. Later on, after
6.30 p.m., ladies were not allowed to remain [in the hall],
they used to say. So what he [Bhagavan] did – Satyananda
Swami was there – he said to him, whilst I was performing
namaskaram, “Bring the dish from inside.” By “the dish from
inside” I thought he probably meant ‘that (Padma points with
her finger) dish from inside.’ I thought, ‘Presumably he means
the one in the kitchen.’
He takes the dish with the palm fruits and comes and
places it at the foot of the sofa. Accepting it, he says to
Satyananda Swami, “Tell [her what] I said.” He (Bhagavan)
is very near [to Satyananda Swami] and speaks in a very
low voice. What he [Satyananda Swami] did then was, [he
said], “You should not have delivered the fruits and then
come away in this manner, without eating.”... [unclear]...
It seems that, just after I had given the palm fruits in the
kitchen, Bhagavan went in and asked, “Who has brought the
nungu?”... [unclear] …When Bhagavan asked, [they said],
“The not-eating Padma.”
There were two people called Padma. One was an elderly
lady and I [was the other]. Bhagavan apparently asked, “Who
is the one who came just now?” “She is called “the Padma
who does not eat”.“She just drinks milk,” [they said]. Then
he took that vessel and placed it, brought it and placed it,
beneath this sofa. At six thirty, when I performed namaskaram

and stood up, Bhagavan looked [at me].
“Bring it out,” he said. Satyananda took the dish and
came next to me. Bhagavan was there, seated. What he did
was, [he said], “Just as Bhagavan does not wish devotees to
eat when he, the guru, is not eating, equally, if the devotees
do not eat, then Bhagavan will not consent [to eat]. From now
on you must eat.”
“Furthermore, there is a sloka in the [Bhagavad] Gita:
“hunger, starvation… is not appropriate for the spiritual
aspirant, the practitioners of both yoga and meditation.
Neither is it acceptable for them to eat till the stomach is
full. There should be neither overindulgence in sleep, nor
deprivation of it.”
Having spoken thus, having said those words and said
that they came from that sloka, he gave me that yanai mandai
[earthen] vessel, the big yanai mandai as it was always called
at that time, which he held in his hands. Giving it to me, he
told me to eat.
“Tell her that Bhagavan will be pleased if she eats.”
That’s what he [Bhagavan] told him [Satyananda Swami]
to say. After that, that fast was automatically brought to an
end, by his very presence, when I looked at him, by the very
words from his mouth.
At the same time, the puja [was going on] in the
Matrubhuteswara temple. It was as if I were receiving anna
prashana, when swami suddenly said – I don’t know why but
Niranjanananda Swami was very fond of me – “Tomorrow
you really must start eating. This is Bhagavan’s will. It
was Bhagavan’s intention [uddesam],” he said. “Very well,
Swami,” I said. That day I sat down and ate a little boiled
rice. As soon as I put it in my mouth – because over many
days it (Padma points to her throat) had shrunk – I got a bad
attack of the hiccups.
Niranjanananda Swami was very worried. “Just a little,
enough, whatever you eat is enough. Let’s see tomorrow,” he
said asking for water to be given to me (and a lady who was

there gave me some). “Never mind. You can start eating from
tomorrow.” He then said, “Afterwards, from then on, little by
little you will automatically begin to eat more, as Bhagavan
requests.”
71. The Crest-Jewel of Sri Bhagavan’s

Teachings*
Michael gives the following translation of the
first mangalam verse of Ulladu Narpadu:
Other than ulladu [‘that which is’ or being], is
there consciousness of being? Since [this] being-
essence [this existing substance or reality which is]
is in [our] heart devoid of [all] thought, how to [or
who can] think of [or meditate upon this] being-
essence, which is called ‘heart’? Being in [our]
heart as [we truly] are [that is, as our thought-free
non-dual consciousness of being, ‘I am’] alone is
meditating [upon our being]. Know [this truth by
experiencing it].
I n the first of the two verses of his payiram or preface to

Ulladu Narpadu, Sri Muruganar writes that Sri Ramana
joyfully composed this clear and authoritative text in response
to his request, “So that we may be saved, [graciously] reveal
to us the nature of reality and the means to attain [join, reach,
experience or be united with] it”. Accordingly, in this first
mangalam verse Sri Ramana reveals to us both the essential
nature of reality and the means by which we can experience
it, which is possible only by our being one with it. In the first
two sentences of this verse Sri Ramana reveals several crucial
truths about the nature of the one absolute reality, which is
* Michael James, Mountain Path, October 2007.

ulladu or ‘that which is’. Firstly he explains that it is not only

being but also consciousness, because other than ‘that which
is’ there cannot be any consciousness to know ‘that which is’.
Therefore ‘that which [really] is’ is self-conscious – that is, it
is absolutely non-dual self-conscious being.
Secondly he says that that truly existing reality or ‘being-
essence’ exists devoid of thoughts, or devoid of thinking. That
is, it is not a mere thought or mental conception, but is the
fundamental reality that underlies and supports the seeming
existence of our thinking mind and all its thoughts. However,
though it supports the imaginary appearance of thoughts,
in reality it is devoid of thoughts, and hence devoid of the
thinking consciousness that we call our ‘mind’, because both
this thinking mind and its thoughts are unreal. In the clear
view of the one self-conscious reality, thoughts do not exist,
because they appear to exist only in the distorted view of our
mind, which is itself one among the thoughts that it imagines
and knows.
Thirdly he says that it exists ‘in Heart’, that is, in the
innermost core of our being. In other words, it is not merely
something that exists outside us or separate from us, but is that
which exists within us as our own essential reality. He also
adds that it is called ‘Heart’, thereby indicating that the word
‘Heart’ does not merely denote the abode in which the reality
exists, but more truly denotes the reality itself. Moreover,
since the word ullam means not only ‘Heart’ but also ‘am’,
by saying that the truly existing reality or ‘being-essence’ is
called ullam Sri Ramana reveals that it is not something that
exists as an object but is our own Self – our essential being
or ‘am’-ness.
In other words, the absolute reality exists not only in us
but also as us. It is the real ‘heart’ or core of our being. That
is, it is our own very essence, substance or reality. It is that
which we really are. Other than as the one absolute reality,
we truly do not exist.
Because we mistake ourself to be this thinking mind or

object knowing consciousness, the one fundamental reality is
said to exist within us, but this is only a relative truth – a truth
that is only true relative to the distorted perspective of our
mind, which experiences dualities such as subject and object,
‘self’ and ‘other’, ‘inside’ and ‘outside’, and so on. Since
the one fundamental reality transcends all such dualities,
the absolute truth about its nature is not merely that it exists
within us, but that it exists as us.
Finally, by asking, “ulla-porul ullal evan?”, which means
‘how to [or who can] meditate [upon this] being-essence?’,
Sri Ramana emphasises the truth that since the absolute reality
is that which transcends thought, it cannot be conceived by
mind or reached by thought. Therefore, since its nature is
such, what is the means by which we can ‘reach’ it, ‘attain’ it
or experience it as it really is?
Since it is not only that which is completely devoid of
thought, but is also that which is essentially self-conscious,
and since it is our own ‘Heart’ or essential being, the only
way we can experience it is by just being it. In other words,
the only means by which we can ‘attain’ this one non-dual
absolute reality is by simply remaining as we always truly
are – that is, as our own true, essential, thought free, self-
conscious being. Therefore, in the third sentence of this
verse Sri Ramana says, “Being in [our] Heart as it is alone
is meditating [upon this truly existing reality, which is called
‘Heart’]”, thereby declaring emphatically that this practice
of ‘being as we are’ is the only means by which we can
experience the absolute reality as it is.
Thus in this first mangalam verse Sri Ramana succinctly
reveals both the essential nature of reality and the means by
which we can ‘reach’ it, ‘attain’ it or experience it as it really
is. Hence in a nutshell this verse expresses the very essence
of Ulladu Narpadu, and all the other forty-one verses of
this profound text are a richly elaborated explanation of the
fundamental truths that he expressed so briefly yet so clearly

and powerfully in this first verse.
Indeed, since it reveals so clearly not only the nature of
the one absolute reality but also the only means by which we
can actually experience it, this verse summarises the essence
not only of Ulladu Narpadu but of the entire teachings of
Sri Ramana. Therefore, it is truly the chudamani or crest-
jewel of his teachings, and if we are able to understand its full
import correctly, comprehensively and clearly, we have truly
understood the very essence of his teachings.
As in all his other teachings, in this verse Sri Ramana
explains to us the nature of reality for a single purpose,
namely to direct our mind towards the one practice that will
actually enable us to experience reality as it truly is. Unless
we understand the real nature of our goal, we will not be able
to understand why the only one path by which we can ‘reach’
that goal is to practise just being as we always really are.
If our goal were something other than ourself, there
would be some distance for us to travel in order to reach
it. But since we ourself are the goal that we seek, there is
absolutely no distance between us and it, and hence the path
by which we can reach it cannot be essentially any different
from it. That is, between us and our goal, which is our own
real Self, there is truly no space to accommodate any path
that is other than our goal. Hence our path and our goal
must be one in their essential nature. Since our goal is just
thought-free self-conscious being, our path must likewise be
just thought-free self-conscious being. This is the essential
truth that Sri Ramana reveals so clearly in this verse, and that
he reiterates in so many different words throughout his other
teachings.
In our natural state of absolutely non-dual self-knowledge,
which is our goal, our experience of our thought-free self-
conscious being is effortless, because it is what we always
really are. However, in our present state, in which we imagine
ourself to be this thinking mind, we appear to be not devoid
of thought, as in truth we are, and hence we feel that we have

to make effort to experience our thought-free self-conscious
being. Thus the only difference between our path and our
goal is the effort that now seems to be necessary in order for
us to abide in our natural state of thought-free self-conscious
being.
In this path, the effort that we have to make is not actually
an effort to be, because we always effortlessly are, but is an
effort to avoid mistaking ourself to be this thinking mind.
So long as we imagine ourself to be this mind, we do not
experience ourself as the true thought-free self-consciousness
that is our real nature. Therefore, in order to avoid mistaking
ourself to be this thinking mind, we have to make effort to
focus our entire attention upon our essential self-conscious
being, ‘I am’, thereby withdrawing it from all thoughts.
This state in which we focus our entire attention upon
our own self-conscious being, thereby excluding all thoughts,
is the true state of ‘meditation’, which Sri Ramana describes
in this verse as ullatte ullapadi ullade or ‘only being in heart
as it is [or as we are]’. That is, since the true nature of our
essential self or ‘Heart’ is just thought-free self-conscious
being, ‘being in heart as it is’ is just the state of abiding
calmly and peacefully in our own essential self as our own
essential self – that is, free of all thoughts as our own true
non-dual self-conscious being, ‘I am’.
Thus the only path by which we can ‘reach’ or ‘attain’ our
own essential self, which is the one and only absolute reality,
is this simple practice of keenly attentive self-consciousness
– self-consciousness that is so keenly attentive that it gives
absolutely no room for the rising of any thought. Since no
thought can rise unless we attend to it, when we focus our
entire attention upon our own essential self-consciousness, ‘I
am’, we automatically exclude the possibility of any thought
arising.
That is, thoughts arise only because we think them, and
this act of thinking involves an imaginary diverting of our
attention away from our essential self-consciousness, ‘I am’.

Therefore, the only effective means by which we can remain
completely free of all thoughts – and hence completely free
of our mind, which can rise and appear to exist only by
thinking – is by just being attentively, keenly and vigilantly
self-conscious.
This state of thought-free and therefore mind-free self-
conscious being alone is the state that Sri Ramana describes
as ‘being as we are’, and it is not only our path but also our
goal. When we practise this vigilantly attentive and therefore
thought-excluding self-consciousness with effort, it is the path,
and when we experience it effortlessly as our unavoidable
natural state, it is our goal, which is the absolutely nondual
state of true Self-knowledge.
72. How I Came to the Maharshi*
P eople may say: You cannot have known Bhagavan; He

lived in India and you in France. That is true – and yet I
have known Bhagavan and He has protected me. Bhagavan
is the Self – and for the Self, time and space do not exist.
It all began one afternoon in 1942 when Camille Rao,
one of His fervent devotees, came to see us in Nice. Because
of the war, Camille, a French lady married to a Hindu, was
unable to return to India after a visit to her family in France.
Italian and German troops were everywhere in the country
bringing anguish and famine in their wake.
And there, for the first time, I heard of the existence of
the Saint of Arunachala. Camille made me positively see the
Ashram, the coconut palms, the fiery mountain; with her I
enter the large hall where He is seated on a couch, giving
darshan to the visitors. Incense sticks are lit; a light burns
near Him. I feel His Presence, His so intensely kind and
* Jean Clausse, The Mountain Path, October 1972.

loving look, His gracious smile. Camille Rao is no more than

a voice in the dark – and then the voice also is silent and
Bhagavan is there, more real than in His material form. All
troubles seem to dissolve, the very consciousness of “I” is
absorbed by this powerful Presence and a wonderful feeling
of bliss overwhelms us.
“Now, you know Ramana Maharshi. He will help you as
he helps me,” were Camille Rao’s parting words.
Did she know how true the prophecy would be?
Sometime later I was compelled by the military authorities
of occupation to work in their office as interpreter since I
knew German. This enabled me to save some lives. Later the
Communists who ruled the town after the departure of the
Germans arrested me. But as the prison was already full up,
I was put in an old disused ammunition storeroom together
with thirty other men. There was no window, no light, no
latrine – and only the cold concrete floor to sleep on. Out of
the dark came a friendly voice: “My poor friend, if they have
brought you here, you must be prepared for a prolonged stay,
eight or ten weeks at least.”
I seemed to recognise the voice. “Excuse me, are you
not...?”
“Yes, I was the ‘Chief of Cabinet’ of the last Prefect
and we often saw each other at the Franco-German Labour
Commission. By the way you are in good company here: a
colonel, two doctors, a notary, a chief accountant; all good
French citizens, – only the place lacks a little comfort!”
Well, after two days of this nightmare, my wife contrived
to see me for a few minutes. She brought me a blanket, a
candle, matches and – a photo of Ramana Maharshi. A look
at His eyes, His face, transformed everything. I was out of
space, out of time with Him who had transcended the world.
Darkness, the fetid atmosphere, the prison walls lost their
reality. When everybody was asleep Silence spoke to me of
Joy and Freedom – and Joy was in my heart.
“Jean Clausse! Jean Clausse!” My neighbor shakes me.
“You are being called outside – hurry up!”

The door opens, a ray of sun enters the den, the guard
makes impatient gestures. I am pushed out. Half-blinded by
the sudden light, I reel as if drunk.
“Come along!” shouts the guard.
A thought goes through my mind: Is it for the execution
wall? But generally this kind of walk takes place at dawn.
“Where are you taking me?”
“We execute orders.”
“What orders?”
“Superior orders.”
And so miraculously I found myself without any apparent
reason in a comfortable hospital bed with white linen, pure
air, a smiling nurse – really it was paradise!
I had accepted the ordeal – through the Maharshi. I had
gone further – it had become useless – and so it came to an
end.
Later on, in the course of the five months I spent in
custody at the hospital in the wing reserved for sick and
privileged political prisoners, I had several other proofs of
the effective protection of Bhagavan.
Once, for instance, there was panic among the prisoners
because the floor just below was in flames. We were locked
up and the warders had gone to help. Each one of us saw
himself already burnt alive. I felt inwardly absolutely quiet,
taking refuge at the feet of Bhagavan – and instead of death
– the firemen arrived!
At another time, we all expected to be shot by the
Communist soldiers who had sent an ultimatum to the Prefect.
Nobody slept that night and in all the eyes there was abject
fear. So strong is the love of this little ego, – so thick, the veil
of Maya! – But Ramana Maharshi made me see beyond – and
all was well!
73. More than a Dream*
“I s there any significance in a dream or is it a mere

phenomenon?” was the question I put to Sri Bhagavan
in writing. In those times, the subjects of ‘guru and sishya,’
of ‘initiation and diksha’ were the foremost topics of general
discussion. Does Sri Bhagavan give diksha to us and if not,
why not? In the earlier days, the presence of Bhagavan was
sought, above all, by people who desired liberation. Our
ambitious aspirations saw no bounds in the grace of his
presence. My intense feeling was, that whether there was
significance or not in all these dikshas and initiations, if Sri
Bhagavan was to give me initiation, it would be a blessing for
me in any case. His pithy utterances were very cryptic, ever
pregnant with meaning and power: “Who is the Guru? Who
is the sishya? Who is to give and to whom? What is there to
give? You think the ‘Self’ to be the body and take yet another
body for the ‘Guru’ and demand the one to bless the other. Is
the ‘Guru’ regarding the body as the ‘Self’? There is neither
Guru nor disciple other than the ‘Self’. Guru is Self.”
Though convinced by his presence and utterances, there
yet remained a lurking sense of something missing and
unfulfilled. It was at that time that I had an extraordinary
experience which left an impress on my whole being. It
was neither a dream nor a waking state experience. I was
perfectly alive to it and aware of its permeating nature, which
consumed and overpowered me. After the experience, I
immediately wrote the following in a notebook and later went
to the Ashram. Reaching Sri Bhagavan’s presence before
dusk, I left my notebook with him for his perusal. This was
the record:
* T. P. Ramachandra Iyer (T.P.R.), The Mountain Path, July 1969.

18th November 1939, 3:00 a.m.

It was an apparent dream. I was in a huge quadrangle of
some college buildings. I was studying when I suddenly saw
that Sri Bhagavan had come down, youthful and vigorous
in appearance, and had the impression that he was going to
manifest himself and speak. Oh, it was a wonderful sight.
Thousands of people gathered round at a distance encircling
Bhagavan, perched on all walls, upper floors and any available
space around. I saw Dandapani sitting at a distance echoing
Sri Bhagavan’s speech which was in turn echoed by another.
It had never occurred to me that this would happen or that
Sri Bhagavan would ever come here, and I, who was at a
distance could not stand any separation. I darted towards Sri
Bhagavan and embraced him with so firm a grip, the like of
which, I have not the strength to do or achieve in physical
consciousness. And Sri Bhagavan embraced me. In each
other’s embrace, we left the place. At once I found him in
my house. First welcoming Sri Bhagavan was my mother,
more robust than she ever was in life. Then my father, calm
and unperturbed as he always was, followed by my sister.
Sri Bhagavan had a cold bath, myself pouring pots of water
over him. Then in a few moments he went up and down our
house throwing us all in confusion, but I alone followed him
without a second thought. By this time, my mother appeared
to be losing her confidence and faith. In the midst of this
embarrassment, and in her presence, Sri Bhagavan appeared
to put me to the test, as it were, and asked me, pointing to my
sacred thread and other things: “What is all this! Now I say,
throw, throw them away and I shall give you this.” He was
holding in his hands a bunch of darba (kusa grass) and I did
not perceive how it came into his hands. At first, I hesitated
for a moment to discard my sacred thread for kusa grass, but
a moment’s reflection made me surrender to his will and with
all vehemence I tore off the sacred thread and flung it on the
ground, to the dismay of my mother and perplexity of my
father. Immediately, Sri Bhagavan gave me two handfuls of

kusa grass in a ‘horseshoe’ shape, and the moment I touched
and received them, a great serenity pervaded my entire being.
Just then I experienced a descent of dynamic force into my
being, flowing as it were, from and through the sahasrara,
permeating downwards slowly to the heart-centre, at which
moment I felt apprehensive that my physical frame could
not withstand this permeation and impact any more without
jeopardy. With courage and determination, I looked up at Sri
Bhagavan to ask him what all this was about. There was no
answer, but I saw Sri Bhagavan’s form change into the shape
of Sri Rama and tell me something that I could not catch. So
I asked, “Who are you?” and the reply was “I am Sri Rama,
Sri Rama,” whereupon this vision disappeared and I saw Sri
Bhagavan in its place. My mother began to cry aloud, having
lost her balance of mind by this time, and said, “I will die, I
will die, thinking I fell a prey to Sri Bhagavan’s lures.” The
mention of death caused irrepressible laughter in me, and Sri
Bhagavan said at once, “Yes, die; you should die.” When Sri
Bhagavan said so, I turned around to my mother and with
ferocity cried out, “Yes, die! die!” She was rolling on the
ground when Sri Bhagavan asked me, “What is the earliest
train to Bombay and the cheapest route?” He said he had to
go there and to one or two more places, and then go on a tour
in the north. I was thinking how best to take Sri Bhagavan
and go with him when I felt completely awake and began
reflecting on the event. Did it have any significance or was it
merely a dream phenomenon?
As usual, the following morning I entered the Old Hall. Sri
Bhagavan’s welcome nod and penetrating look overwhelmed
me, and even as I was halfway through doing my obeisance
he turned to the shelf beside him, took out the notebook and
handed it to me. Immediately he began, “Don’t you know
what Madhavan did? One day he was massaging my limbs.
Leaving him to his job I reclined, closing my eyes. After
some time, I felt some variation in the friction, so I opened
my eyes and saw him with his head bent down clutching my
feet in his hands. I asked, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Nothing,’
he replied, resuming his task. He took it as diksha by the
feet.” Immediately I said that I had had an unusual experience
by Sri Bhagavan’s touch, which stirred my being, though in
a dreamy condition, and asked if initiation or diksha could be
had in this way also and whether these were real and effective
regardless of the swapna (dream) state? Sri Bhagavan slowly
spoke, interspersed with short intervals of silent gaze: “Jagrat
and swapna are states that come and go. If these states are
real, they must be unchanging, permanent.
“Our real nature is constant being. It never changes. Be
it upadesa or diksha, the efficacy of the Guru’s influence or
God’s grace is not conditioned by the different states. The
influence is an experience of being itself. Guru, God and Self
are one and the same. So long as the Guru, God or the Self
are deemed external, all upadesa, initiation and the several
dikshas mentioned have a relative meaning and significance.
But ‘Guru’ is external and internal and is the very Self. Such
influence is efficacious whether the experience is in the jagrat
or swapna states.”
74. How I came to Bhagavan*
I had never read anything about Ramana Maharshi, I had not

read much of anything at all. I had hardly ever heard the
name. I was not a seeker. I was five years old and I came
because my parents decided it was what they wanted to
do and at five one doesn’t have a voice when it comes to
decisions like where to live.
Memory is a curious attribute. Many things are bright and
clear throughout the river of life, while others blur and fade
or else change emphasis as well as shape and form and seem
* Katya Osborne, The Mountain Path, Jan-Mar, 2003.

to evolve into something different. My memories of arriving

in India are fractured and mainly unclear, but my memories
of arriving in Tiruvannamalai are surprisingly coherent. It
was hot, that I can clearly state, and it was also incredibly
dusty. Why the dust should have made such an impression
on me I now find hard to understand but in my mind’s eye
there is a soft pall of pale gold dust over everything. It was
in the air and on the road. After dark the dust was cool and
welcoming to the feet like puffs of talcum powder. Although
the place was new and strange, I never associate a feeling
of strangeness with Tiruvannamalai. Perhaps because it was
such a short time before it became familiar as home. In the
way of children my brother and sister and I rapidly learnt the
language and made friends with other children. It cannot have
been quite as quick as my memory recalls because my brother
Adam was barely walking when we arrived and my sister
Frania was a babe in arms. Our friends were the gardener’s
daughter and the children of the Ashram: Sundaram, who is
now the president, Ganesh and Mani, as well as their sisters.
But all that happened later.
The first time I saw Bhagavan is as clear today as it was
at the time, all those many years ago. It must have been the
day after we arrived. My father was not with us as he had
been interned in a concentration camp in Bangkok where we
had lived previously. With us three small children clustered
around her, my mother went to the Ashram for the first time
to receive Bhagavan’s darshan. As the oldest I was in charge
of the tray of fruit we were bringing. It had been explained to
us that the only acceptable gift to Bhagavan was fruit, which
could be shared in the dining hall later. The tray I bore, laden
with bananas and oranges, felt huge. My arms were stretched
around it and it threatened to wobble free and spill everything
onto the ground. It took intense concentration to keep things
from collapsing, but it was my responsibility and I took it
seriously. We walked across the open space that was occupied
by a few sleeping dogs, some squirrels and a peacock. (The
space is now a beautiful hall with a polished granite floor and

a shrine at one end where Bhagavan is buried, but was then
just bare ground inhabited by various animals waiting their
turn to seek Bhagavan’s darshan.) Then we entered the cool
hall where he sat, known now as the Old Hall but in those
days it was the only hall and the main entrance was a door
opposite the couch. It is now a window.
We entered and saw Bhagavan straight away sitting on
the couch in front of us. There he was. Seeing him, all the
rest of the room and the people faded away. There was such a
presence, and yet it didn’t feel strange. He seemed luminous
and magical and friendly all at once. I stood there staring at
him, not knowing what to do with my burden of fruit. He
smiled and pointed to a stool at the side of the couch that
was used to receive such offerings. I didn’t know that and
since there was no guard-rail around him back in those days,
I sat myself down on the stool with my back to Bhagavan
and smiled happily at all the people in the hall who were
smiling back at me. We were the first European children to
come there and a definite novelty. I was still holding the tray.
Bhagavan laughed and remarked in Tamil, which we didn’t
yet understand. It was translated to me. He had said that I was
making an offering of myself. All the rest of my life when I
have got myself into one sort of mess or another, that remark
has given me the courage to go on.
After all, Bhagavan must surely help one who has made
an offering of herself. The years of our childhood were spent
running in and out of the hall. Frania learnt to walk there,
Adam learnt to run and I learnt whatever it is one learns when
playing at Bhagavan’s feet, most of it probably by osmosis.
It was there that we saw the animals come to visit him. The
peacock would come through the door and right up to the
couch, then the beautiful tail was spread and it would dance.
Bhagavan watched – we all watched – as though it was a
formal programme, and when it was over Bhagavan gravely
acknowledged the peacock’s performance and it left. The
squirrels came to the door and glanced around nervously,

then there was a dash to the couch and up onto Bhagavan’s
hand or knee. He sometimes gave them puffed rice from a
small tin kept for the purpose. Dogs came and prostrated
themselves before the couch and monkeys chattered to him
from outside the window. They were frequently chased away
but as frequently reappeared. One time someone showed
Bhagavan a paragraph in the newspaper where there was
an announcement that vans were touring the villages and
collecting monkeys for sale abroad for experiments. Bhagavan
laughingly said to the king monkey who was clinging onto
the bars of the window beside his couch:
“Did you hear that? It isn’t safe for monkeys here right
now so you better take your tribe away.” When the vans came
there wasn’t a monkey in sight. Not one in the whole ashram
area. Later I heard someone comment that no monkeys had
been caught in the whole of Tiruvannamalai. Then of course
there was Lakshmi the cow. She would wait for Bhagavan
outside the back door or call for him to come out and then
she would snuggle up to him and rub her head against him,
or else he would go and visit her in the cowshed and sit down
beside her. They spoke together and it was obvious that she
adored him. It was also obvious that she was a very special
lady. I think that all the animals considered that he was one
of them, albeit in a special way, and come to think of it the
humans seemed to think more or less the same thing.
The amazing thing is not that all the animals came to
Bhagavan, it is that we all accepted it and took it for granted
without being amazed. Of course children believe in magic as
a part of everyday life, but even the grown-ups accepted it as
completely natural as far as I remember. Adam, Frania and I
came to Bhagavan with our toys to show him, with our books
and puzzles to share with him and with our secrets to confide
in him. He treated us children with the same courtesy and
gave us the same attention that he accorded to the adults with
their problems. He also laughed with us. With the passage
of time, and the realisation that he was the great Sadguru,

people forget in their reverence that Bhagavan had a great
sense of humour and the hall often rang with his laughter.
Our lives revolved around Bhagavan and the Old Hall.
We all played on the rocks of Arunachala and made ships or
castles out of their shapes, but we gravitated back and until
we were severally sent off to school, the hall was the focus
of our lives.
Bhagavan sat in one corner with a small revolving
bookcase beside him. He kept his favourite works there for
easy reference and he often shared something from one of
the shelves with someone who asked him for clarification,
that is, if he didn’t give his usual reply along the lines of:
“First find out who is asking the question”. He did however
occasionally get involved in points of doctrine. I was in the
hall when he was explaining about the spiritual heart on the
right side of the body. This surprised me as I had naturally
assumed, as children do, that the heart was on the right side
of the body and couldn’t comfortably imagine it anywhere
else. Why would that be spoken of as something remarkable?
I was in the hall when people sometimes came crying with
inner pain. A look from him was often all it took to heal
them. It was in the hall that I brought my new paper-folding
book. I had received it for my birthday and one of the designs
just would not work out. I tried it again in front of Bhagavan
and of course this time it worked. I knew it would. People
would show him their letters, sometimes from loved ones and
sometimes with news such as job opportunities. We showed
him everything, every part of our everyday lives.
I wrote to my mother from school and asked at the end
of the letter to be remembered to Bhagavan. She showed him
the letter and he said: “If Kitty will remember Bhagavan,
then Bhagavan will remember Kitty.” Another remark that
has given me comfort over the years.
We all, humans and animals came to Bhagavan to show
him our triumphs and our troubles and we knew he would deal
with it all and understand it all, often, in fact usually, without

a word being spoken. The long part of the hall at Bhagavan’s
feet was where people sat as a rule, the men on the left and
the women on the right with a natural passageway in between.
Some in silent meditation, some with something to say or
to ask and waiting for the moment that seemed appropriate,
and some just sitting there, luxuriating in Bhagavan’s presence.
Twice a day, morning and evening, the pujaris came and sat
up near his couch and chanted the Vedas. First it was a few
older men, and then after Chadwick inaugurated the Veda
school, there was a leavening of young boys.
Although Bhagavan could be friendly and approachable,
there were times, and usually one of them was when the
Vedas were being chanted, when he would close his eyes
and go away. To see him then was awe-inspiring. He looked
exalted. At times like that one could hear a pin drop. No one
even wanted to breathe too loud. It is strange to reflect on
how many moods and faces Bhagavan could wear and belong
to none of them. We children accepted it all without question.
Bhagavan was Bhagavan and of course he could do anything
and be anyone he chose – well naturally.
With peculiar elasticity, our time in Tiruvannamalai
seemed to both pass in a flash and also to encompass our whole
lives. It was barely a year from when I entered the hall for the
first time till I was packed off to school, a development that
seriously interfered with my education which was advancing
very well indeed in the Ashram and on the Hill. My mother
didn’t agree with my arguments, so school it was. Every
holiday back I came and Bhagavan was there, just the same
as ever, and so we slipped seamlessly into our old lives. The
Hill and the hall never changed and, as far as a child’s eyes
could judge, neither did Bhagavan. We didn’t notice that his
body was getting older. I wish now that I had spent more time
sitting in the hall instead of climbing a tree with my book.
Of course I thought that Bhagavan would be there for ever.
Of course he is.
75. Namaskara*
“Prostration means ‘subsidence of the ego’. What is
‘subsidence’?
To merge into the source of its origin.”
– SRI BHAGAVAN
A t about 3 o’ clock this afternoon a young boy, four or

five years of age, came with his mother. She prostrated
before Bhagavan and sat down. The boy prostrated likewise,
but continued the salutations over and over again. Bhagavan
laughed at that and told his attendants: “Just see. He is
prostrating to me over and over again. Perhaps he thinks that
if he does so, he may afterwards do whatever he pleases. He
is a young lad. What does he know? He is just imitating his
elders. He must however be rewarded. All that he wants is a
plantain. If he gets it he will stop. Give him one.’’ On being
given one, the boy went and sat down.
After some time, someone came and did sashtanga
namaskara (reverential salutation by prostrating with all the
eight limbs of the body touching the ground), but did not get
up for a long time. People nearby finally made him get up.
He somehow got up but began saluting again and again. He
was ultimately prevailed upon to stop saluting and sit down.
Bhagavan told the people near him: “Namaskara means
prostrating a number of times according to some. What can
be done? The real meaning of Namaskara is the dissolving
of the mind.”
“What is the meaning of ‘Sashtanga Namaskara’,
Bhagavan?’’ asked the devotee.
“It means that eight limbs of the body, namely, two hands,
two legs, two arms, chest and forehead, touch the ground while
saluting. The idea behind this type of obeisance is that the
person doing it says, ‘the body which touches the earth, will
* ‘Leaves from a Devotee’s Diaries’, The Mountain Path, October
1987.
resolve itself into that earth ultimately, and the ‘I’ in me will
continue to be ‘I’ alone’. That idea must be known to oneself
by enquiry. Without knowing it, there is no use in doing these
namaskaras. With meaningless namaskaras people want to
secure all the benefits: ‘Swami must give them whatever they
desire, be it a bag of clothes or money’. Whenever they do
namaskara, I feel afraid. I must be beholden to them. I must
act according to their wishes. I must fulfil all their desires. I
must conduct myself carefully after knowing their minds. Not
only that. Just by bowing to me, they get a sort of right over
me. When people like us suffer like this; what about Iswara
Himself? He must be beholden to ever so many; he must act
according to the wishes of people; he must give boons to
people. When Swamitvam itself has so many troubles, what
about Iswaratvam? If anyone refrains from prostrating before
me, I feel very happy because I need not be beholden to him.
A jnani need not prostrate before anybody. Nor need he give
his blessings to anybody. That is because his mind remains
always submerged. He is deemed to be doing namaskara at all
times. Some people feel offended when they prostrate before
a jnani and he does not respond with another namaskara nor
even raise his hand and bless them. But the fact is, before the
others have prostrated, the jnani will have already prostrated
lower, his mind having been dissolved. Even blessing
(asirvadham) is similar. The submerging of the mind itself is
a blessing. The jnani’s mind remains always submerged; That
being so, who is the one to bless? What is it that is done?”
said Bhagavan.
– from Letters from Sri Ramanasramam
by Suri Nagamma.
* * *
“Some go on doing a number of namaskaras, e.g.,
that Janaki, she goes on striking her head down countless
times along with namaskaras. She goes round a number of
times. At each window she falls down and does a number of
namaskaras. However much I tell her, she won’t leave off

such practices”, said Sri Bhagavan.
Somebody here interjected: “It seems she is known to
Bhagavan since her childhood.”
Sri Bhagavan said: “Yes, Yes,” and continued: “There
are others who come and fall before me while I am moving.
They lie prostrate for some minutes. I cannot stand for them
on account of my physical infirmity. So I walk on, telling
myself: ‘Only if we do namaskaras we will be benefited.
After all, true namaskara is only the giving up the ‘I’-sense,
or killing the ego’.”
– from Day by Day with Bhagavan
by A. Devaraja Mudaliar.
* * *
Sri Bhagavan often speaks of namaskara (prostration) in
the following strain: “This namaskara was originally meant
by the ancient sages to serve as a means of surrender to God.
The act still prevails but not the spirit behind it. The doer of
namaskara intends to deceive the object of worship by his
act. It is mostly insincere and deceitful. It is meant to cover
up innumerable sins. Can God be deceived? The man thinks
that God accepts his namaskara and that he himself is free
to continue his old life. They need not come to me. I am
not pleased with these namaskaras. The people should keep
their minds clean; instead of that they bend themselves or lie
prostrate before me. I am not deceived by such acts.”
– from Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
* * *
Devotee: What is namaskara (prostration)?
MAHARSHI: Prostration means ‘subsidence of the ego’.
What is ‘subsidence’? To merge into the source of its origin.
God cannot be deceived by outward genuflexions, bowings
and prostrations. He sees if the individuality is there or not.
* * *
As Sri Bhagavan was descending the Hill, one of the

workers just outside the Ashram stopped work and was about
to prostrate before the Master. Then the Master said “To
engage in your duty is the true prostration.”
The Master’s attendant asked: “How?”
Master: “To perform one’s duty carefully is the greatest
service to God. (Then, smiling, he entered the hall.)”
* * *
When I returned to the Ashram after spending some days
at Kovilur Mutt, Sri Bhagavan asked me in detail about what
I did, where I went and so on. I said: “Mahadeva Swami
made kind enquiries about Sri Bhagavan and the Ashramites.
The day I went there, Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar and his
relatives came to visit Mahadeva Swami.’’ Sri Bhagavan
asked me what Chettiar did there. I said that he prostrated
with great reverence before Mahadeva Swami and accepted
vibhuti prasad from him. Sri Bhagavan asked: “Did you
prostrate before Mahadeva Swami?” When I said no, he
asked me why. I said: “I don’t want to do namaskar to
anyone except Sri Bhagavan.” Sri Bhagavan said: “What an
intelligent, wise fellow! Is your Bhagavan only within this
body on the sofa? Is he not elsewhere? If a person is devoted
wholly to one person, he should not go anywhere. If you go
to another place, you must do what the people in that place
do. Wherever and whenever you prostrate, you should think
of your guru or your favourite god. If you do like this, your
namaskar will reach the person you have in mind. That is the
proper thing to do.” I realised my mistake. From then on I
think of Sri Bhagavan whenever I do namaskar to anyone.
– from Reminiscences by Kunju Swami (unpublished).
76. Saranagathi Song*
(Ragam: Navaroj – Composed by Manavasi

V. Ramaswamy Iyer in 1914)
English Transliteration
Pallavi
Saranagati Un Para Nān
Inippugat Tuṇaidān Yēdu
Nī Pugalāi… (Saranagati)
Anupallavi
Smaraṇāt Gadi Pala Aruṇāchala Niṛai Ramaṇā
Karuṇā… Varuṇā… Sri Ramaṇā (Saranagati)
Charaṇam
Taruṇam Idu Vanrō Un Karuṇai Nōkkavē
Kālaharaṇam Ākkiḍil Hā Hā Hā En Seyvēn
Tunbai Nīkki Inbai Aḷikka En Anbā
Innam parāmugam Ennāl

Tāḷādaiyyā Srī Vēdiyā… (Saranagati)
Translation
Pallavi
I have surrendered unto Thee. Hereafter, is there need for
me to seek any other refuge, you tell? (I Surrender)
Anupallavi
Sri Ramana, you are the fullness of Wisdom and the rain
cloud of Compassion (dwelling) in Arunachala, who bestows
Liberation on those who think of Him. (I Surrender)
* Manavasi Ramaswamy Iyer, Ramana Smriti, 1980.

Charanam
Is this not the appropriate moment for granting me your
look of Grace?
If you delay, Oh! What can I do?
My beloved, remove my misery and grant me Supreme
Happiness.
O Lord Supreme, I cannot bear your refusal to look at me
any further… (I surrender)
77. How I Came to Bhagavan*
I was born in Hungary into a warm, loving family. At the

age of sixteen I lost my parents and my only sister in
the Holocaust. I got married very young, and in 1949 we
emigrated to Israel. My husband and I built a new life and a
new family.
I began yoga training in 1969 with Swami Venkatesananda.
I learned hatha-yoga and raja-yoga, the spiritual and
philosophical part, along with meditation. I loved my teacher
very much and he inspired me to become a yoga teacher
myself. In the course of time, I left behind the physical part
of yoga and concentrated only on the spiritual yogic approach
to life with meditation and Self-enquiry.
Dreams That Changed My Life
One beautiful summer afternoon in 1972 some remarkable
things began to happen to me. It began with a dream that was
unexpected and surprising. I was lying on the hot sand at the
seashore, near Tel Aviv, with my husband and our two sons.
I fell asleep and dreamt that I was an Indian boy walking
down the street with my Indian mother. I asked her to send
me to school, but she explained that we were poor and had no
money for school. Suddenly my mother stopped and pointed
* Shoshi Shophrony, Mountain Path, April 2005.

at an old man walking in the opposite direction. She said to

me, “Run my son, run to him, because he can teach you far
more than you could ever learn in any school.” And so I did.
I ran after the old man. Hearing my heavy breathing, the old
man stopped, looked at me with a warm, loving glance and
put his hand on my head.
And that was it! I woke up finding myself with my
family beside the sea, with a very strange feeling about the
experience. But as life’s rhythm is so very fast, as we swam,
went home, prepared and ate lunch, and talked, the unusual
dream began to fade somewhat.
After lunch I went to bed for a siesta and immediately fell
asleep. Strangely, the whole dream appeared before me again,
exactly as the first time; it was as if I were seeing the same
cinema film twice. Now I became tremendously impressed,
but hardly understood the dream and what it all meant.
That was the beginning. From that day on I continued
to dream about the loving old man without any idea who he
might be, and so I referred to him as my old uncle. The man,
my old uncle, appeared in my dreams teaching, advising,
sometimes reassuring or protecting.
He appeared and reappeared more often around the days
of the Yom-Kippur War (October War, 1973, Middle East),
at which time our elder son, Reuven, served in the army. He
had been in great danger together with others, and we worried
very much about him and everyone. The news on the radio
was exciting and at times terrifying, but in my dreams my
old uncle came, comforting and consoling me lovingly. I felt
that he intended to protect not only me, but also our son, who
was in danger. Indeed, how grateful we felt later on when we
heard the story of his escape “by chance” from death.
There was another prominent dream with my old uncle
related to my younger son, Rafy, who was sixteen years old
at that time. Rafy asked for our permission to buy a small
motorcycle. He worked during the summer and had earned
the money for it. We didn’t give our permission, explaining
how dangerous it would be because of all the crazy drivers

on the roads. We asked him to wait two more years, by which
time he would be old enough, by Israeli law, to drive our car.
Rafy, however, has a very strong will. When his heart is set
on something he will not give it up easily. We, the parents,
had a serious conflict with him. On the one hand, we knew
very well how risky a motorcycle could be for a young boy,
while on the other hand, we felt that our veto might be too
much interference – that it was his life and not ours.
Once again, my old uncle appeared in my dream. The
three of us, my uncle, Rafy (holding a motorcycle) and I,
stood in the middle of a very busy street in Tel Aviv. My
uncle asked me to wait at the side while both of them rode the
motorbike in the heavy traffic. They began driving awfully
fast and dangerously. I looked at them breathless, quite
frightened. After a while they returned wearing broad smiles
and my loving uncle said to me: “I took your son into very
difficult situations. He is clever, skillful and cautious. You
should allow him to buy the motorcycle. Trust him and don’t
worry.”
When I woke up the next morning I was so happy and
felt relieved of a difficult problem. I immediately turned to my
husband, and said, “I approve, I approve of the motorcycle.”
He was the only one whom I told about my dreams. My
enthusiasm inspired and convinced him to also give his
blessing concerning the motorcycle. I sincerely believe the
dream helped me to remain calm and quiet each time Rafy
came home late. Thank God, he never had any accidents.
Old Uncle Identified
Nearly two years had passed since my first dream on the
seashore. One day I visited a library in a yoga center. I stood
in front of a bookshelf and randomly picked out one book. I
opened it up and nearly fainted! My loving uncle’s beautiful
face with a brilliant warm glance was staring at me from a
picture on the first page. The name printed at the bottom of it
was Sri Ramana Maharshi. The book’s name happened to be

Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-Knowledge, by Arthur
Osborne. I began to read the first lines and found out that
the “uncle” from my dreams is one of the greatest spiritual
masters of the century!
I can’t express in words my feelings at the moment of
this new revelation. Suddenly a curtain was lifted from my
eyes and a new kind of perception opened up in me. I felt
an enormous thirst to learn each word of Bhagavan, to live
thoroughly his teachings and to let them be absorbed in me. As
the Direct Path was being revealed through these teachings,
I never had any doubt and knew inside my heart that I had
found my way, the purpose of life. I became indescribably
grateful to Ramana Maharshi and to my fate.
Since then, Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi has been holding
me by the hand in day-to-day life and showing me the way
to Self-realisation. His teaching is complete and perfect.
His answers to devotees’ questions are the most direct and
effective, clearing every doubt or misunderstanding. There is
never an unnecessary word, nor is there ever a missing one.
I must confess, that since I found my master and
his teachings in many wonderful books, he appears very
rarely in my dreams. But from the very first dream I was
irresistibly drawn to him; I felt a natural love for Bhagavan.
That is something beyond logic: how dreams, books and the
radiating visage of my master could so greatly enrich my soul.
Previously I had never experienced anything so enlightening;
my devotion to Bhagavan is the most important happening
in my inner life. I love my family very deeply and I am
grateful for the good fortune of their company. Even so, no
one can compare this sort of love to the tie which binds me
to Bhagavan. That love is happening as if on another sphere.
Deep inside me, it plays on like constant background music,
as if I were living a double life. So anchored deep inside is
he that I feel that there is no distance, nor ever could there be
any distance, between Bhagavan and me. He is in my soul.
Visit to the Ashram

It was a great surprise to me in the early 1970s to
find out that Sri Ramanasramam had continued to grow,
more than twenty years after Bhagavan’s Maha Samadhi.
I wrote to the editor of The Mountain Path and was happy
to become a life subscriber, and also asked for a list of
available books. As I got to know that the Ashram receives
visitors, a great longing arose in me to see the places where
my master lived.
I wanted to meditate in the Old Hall where his radiation
vibrates in the air, to walk on the footpaths of Arunachala
where he walked and which he so loved. I longed to be near
to His Samadhi.
Unfortunately, I was unable to travel to Bhagavan’s
Ashram for many reasons, including family problems and
others. The greatest hindrance was the anxiety of my husband.
He feared for my safety. At that time there were no diplomatic
relations between Israel and India. A fear for my life and
security made the decision to undertake the travel more
difficult. I didn’t want to travel under these conditions and
have my husband worry. I decided to wait until circumstances
would come together to make it possible. It happened only
after sixteen years of waiting and longing. My husband gave
his blessing and let me go.
I arrived at the Ashram in December 1987, in the
middle of the night, with a million stars shining in the sky.
Immediately a strong feeling that ‘I am home!’ gripped me.
In the first days, I was so overwhelmed that I couldn’t stop
shedding tears of happiness.
By that time, I had no more questions; I only needed to
learn to strike down the restless mind and to remember to Be,
only to Be! Bhagavan’s love had brought me to Arunachala
and his Grace continued to guide me to eternal Consciousness.
The Ashram manager, Mani, received me very kindly, and I
feel grateful to him.
My good fate brought me also to Lucy Ma (Lucy

Cornelssen), an indweller devotee, with whom I had
corresponded during the following two years until she left
her body. Her letters were so wise, loving and instructive, that
some parts of them were printed in The Mountain Path, in
December 1991.
I visited the Ashram two more times, happily enjoying
the warm radiant atmosphere of Bhagavan. These days, by
Bhagavan’s grace, I don’t feel anymore the need to be there
physically, as I feel Ramana Maharshi is with me always.
What have I received from him? Inner peace during the
turmoils of life, and infinite love. What have I learned? A
new angle of vision, understanding the truth of the underlying
oneness and unity of existence and knowing the Self, the
core Being of the whole universe. I owe you all this, dear
Bhagavan. Thank you.
78. The Unity of Surrender and Self-Enquiry*
O ne of Ramana Maharshi’s most frequent comments was

that there were only two reliable methods for attaining
Self-Realisation; one could either pursue Self-enquiry or one
could surrender. An almost equally common statement was
that jnana and bhakti are ultimately the same. This second
statement is usually interpreted to mean that whichever of
the two paths one chooses to follow, the ultimate goal and
the culminating experience will be the same. It is generally
assumed that the two paths do not converge until the moment
of Realisation is reached. However, if Ramana Maharshi’s
teachings are correctly interpreted, then it will be seen that the
paths of surrender and Self-enquiry merge before Realisation,
and that in the higher levels of practice, if one follows the
* Prof. K. Swaminathan, ‘Editorial’, The Mountain Path, January

1981.
path of surrender, then one’s sadhana will be the same as that

of someone who has chosen the path of Self-enquiry. This
may seem very radical at first sight, but this is only because
of the general misconceptions that many people have about
Ramana’s teachings on the true nature, meaning and practice
of surrender. In order to eliminate these misconceptions, and
to clarify Ramana’s attitude and approach to surrender, it will
be helpful to examine some of these commonly held ideas
in the light of Ramana’s statements on the subject, firstly to
show how unfounded most of these ideas are, and secondly,
by eliminating them, to illustrate the profundity of Ramana’s
real teachings.
The most convenient starting point for this enquiry is
the relationship that exists between Ramana Maharshi, the
Guru, and the thousands of people who call themselves
his devotees. There is a long tradition in this country of
people accepting certain teachers as their gurus, and then
proclaiming immediately that they have surrendered to them.
In most cases, this surrender is only a statement of intent, or
at best, there is a partial surrendering to this new authority
figure in the hope of acquiring some material or spiritual
reward. Ramana’s opposition to this type of religious bribery
was quite clear, and it is best summed up in the following
statement: “Surrender to Him and abide by His will whether
he appears or vanishes; await His pleasure. If you ask Him
to do as you please, it is not surrender but command to Him.
You cannot have Him obey you and yet think that you have
surrendered. He knows what is best and when and how to do
it. Leave everything to Him; His is the burden, you no longer
have any cares. All your cares are His. Such is surrender. This
is bhakti.” (Talk 450). This statement, typical of many that
he made is a categorical refutation of the idea that one can
surrender to one’s God or Guru, and yet still demand that the
God or Guru fulfils one’s desires or solves one’s problems.
Despite this often repeated refutation, it is probably true
to say that the majority of Ramana’s devotees both believe
that they have surrendered to Ramana, yet at the same time,

would not hesitate to approach him with their personal and
material problems, especially if the perceived need required
an urgent solution. In Ramana’s teachings on surrender, there
is no room for stray desires, and no room for expectations of
miracles, no matter how desperate the situation might appear
to be. Ramana says:
“If you have surrendered, you must be able to abide by
the will of God and not make a grievance out of what may
not please you.” (Talk 43).
Under Ramana’s strict interpretation of absolute
surrender, the only appeals which might qualify for approval
are those where the devotee approaches the God or Guru
with the attitude “This is your problem and not mine; please
attend to it in any way you see fit.” This attitude bears the
marks of partial surrender, for it fulfils the bare minimum
requirements of Ramana’s definition of true surrender. On
this level of surrender, there is no longer any expectation
of a particular solution, there is simply a willingness to
accept whatever happens. It is interesting to note in this
connection that although Ramana clearly stated that devotees
who wanted their problems solved were not practising true
surrender, he did admit that surrendering one’s problems to
God or to the Guru was a legitimate course of action for those
who felt that they could not stick to His absolute teaching
of complete surrender. He was once asked, “Is it proper that
one prays to God when one is afflicted by worldly ills?” and
his answer was “Undoubtedly.” (Talk 518). This admission
that the Guru may be approached with personal problems
should be seen as an extension of, and not a contradiction
of his teachings on absolute and unconditional surrender. For
those who are not ready for complete surrender, there is this
intermediate practice of surrendering one’s problems to the
external “Higher Power.” It is not a dilution of his notion
that surrender must be complete and total to be effective, it
is more an admission that for some devotees, such a massive

step is impractical without some lesser intermediate stage.
If we can reach this point where we accept that we cannot
ask Ramana to solve our problems and still claim that we
have surrendered, then we move forward a few steps in our
understanding of his teachings, but if we then try to put our
new understanding into practice, we immediately encounter
a new and apparently insoluble problem. The problem is that
the desire to surrender is in itself a desire which we want
fulfilled, and since, according to Ramana, true surrender
cannot be accomplished without complete desirelessness,
the presence of this desire in us is sufficient to prevent true
surrender from taking place. It is the paradox of effort which
is inherent in nearly all forms of sadhana. Simply stated,
the problem is that there is a perception that there is an
individual self which wants to extinguish itself so that the
state of Realisation will be revealed, but anything which this
individual self tries to do to eliminate itself merely prolongs
its own existence. If one sees spiritual practice as something
that one does to attain Realisation, then there is no solution to
this problem; there is no solution because the whole problem
stems from the totally false assumption that this individual
self has a real existence. The first path along the path to true
surrender is not to throw oneself at someone’s feet and say
“I surrender,” it is the cultivation of the awareness and the
understanding that there is no individual self to surrender,
and that this individual self never at any time had, has, or
will have any real existence. When Ramana said on several
occasions: “Who is to surrender what and to whom?” (Talk
208), he was trying to drive home this fundamental point that
without this understanding that there is no individual self,
then all spiritual practices are done under false pretenses, and
that meditation, surrender or self-enquiry done without this
constant awareness are merely exercises in self-deception. The
best illustration of this point that I have come across appears
in a recent publication called The Secret of Arunachala. In it,

a devotee remarked to Ramana that a certain fellow devotee
must be well advanced on the spiritual path because he
meditated for eight to ten hours every day (Page 73). “Oh,”
replied Ramana, “He meditates, he eats, he sleeps. But who
is meditating, eating, sleeping? What advantage is there in
meditating for ten hours a day if in the end that only has the
result of establishing you a little more deeply in the conviction
that it is you who are meditating?”
This aspect of Ramana’s teachings, that one is already
realised here and now, is widely ignored when it comes to
practice, but its importance cannot be overstated. Ramana has
said: “The removal of ignorance is the aim of practice and not
acquisition of Realisation.” (Talk 354). The most fundamental
piece of ignorance is that there exists an individual self who
is going to do sadhana, and that by doing sadhana, this
individual self will disappear or be merged in some super-
being. Until this concept is eliminated on the mental level, it
is not an exaggeration to say that one is wasting one’s time
in attempts to surrender or to enquire ‘Who am I?’ Correct
attitude and correct understanding of this matter are of pre-
eminent importance if the application of Ramana’s teaching
is to be successful.
Returning now to the practice of surrender and bearing
in mind the necessity of maintaining the right attitude with
regard to the non-existence of the individual self, there
remains the problem of how to surrender since the mere
desire to surrender invents an illusory person who is going to
surrender. The key to this problem and the key to all problems
connected with the practice of Ramana’s teachings is to bypass
the mind and move to the realm of being. One cannot truly
surrender without escaping from that vast accumulation of
ideas and desires we call the mind, and according to Ramana,
one cannot escape or destroy the mind by any kind of mental
activity. Ramana’s solution is to let the mind subside to
the point where it disappears, and what remains when the
mind has subsided is the simple, pure being that was always
there. In a conversation in Talks, Ramana gives the following
illuminating answer. He says:
“It is enough that one surrenders oneself. Surrender is to
give oneself up to the original cause of one’s being… One’s
source is within oneself. Give yourself up to it. That means
that you should seek the source and merge in it.” (Talk 208).
This is an immensely profound statement which not only
sweeps away many of the myths that surround the practice
of surrender, it also shows an indication that the route to the
rediscovery of the Self is the same whether one chooses to
label it “surrender’’ or “self-enquiry’’. If we examine this
statement closely, it is possible to extract three important
conclusions regarding Ramana’s attitude and approach to
surrender. Firstly, there is no external deity or manifestation
to whom one must surrender; secondly, the source of one’s
being is within us; and thirdly, and most importantly, true
surrender is to go back to the original cause of one’s being
and remain firmly and continually rooted there.
If this is translated into terms of practical advice, then
surrender comes down to two words, being and stillness.
In Talks Ramana says: “Your duty is to be, and not to be
this or that. ‘I am that I am’ sums up the whole truth. The
method is summed up in ‘Be still’.” (Talk 363). The stillness
and the being of which Ramana speaks co-exist with each
other and reveal themselves in their full radiance whenever
interest in one’s thought stream dries up. Thus, for Ramana,
the practice of surrender is to find within oneself this feeling
of beingness and surrender oneself completely to it. On this
level of surrender, practice consists of giving up wrong ideas
by refusing to give them attention. Ramana’s statement that
“The removal of ignorance is the aim of practice and not
acquisition of Realisation.” (Talk 354) is extremely relevant
in this connection, for it is only wrong ideas that separate us
from a full awareness of our natural state. This final stage of
surrender is simply a giving up of attachment to ignorance by
bypassing the mental processes which cause and perpetuate it.

The practice is the fruit of the conviction that there is nothing
to surrender, for by denying attention to the mental processes,
one is finally surrendering the erroneous idea that there is an
individual self to surrender.
When one attempts to practice this conviction by putting
attention on the feeling of being that is within us, thoughts
and desires will initially continue to flow at their normal
rate, but if attention is maintained over a period of time,
the density of thoughts decreases, and in the space between
them, there emerges the clarity, the stillness and the peace
of pure being. Occasionally this stillness and this peace will
expand and intensify until a point is reached where no effort
is needed to sustain the awareness of being, the attention
merges imperceptibly with the being itself, and the occasional
stray thoughts no longer have the power to distract.
When this point of surrender has been reached, all the
ignorant misperceptions which constitute the illusory ego
have disappeared, but this is not the final state of Realisation,
because the misconceptions are only in suspension, and sooner
or later, they will emerge again. Ramana has stated that the
final, definitive elimination of ignorance is a matter for Self.
He says that effort can only take one to a certain point, and
then the Self takes over and takes one to the goal. In the
case of surrender, the initial effort is the shifting of one’s
attention from the world of thoughts to the feeling of being.
When there is no attention on it, the mind subsides revealing
the being from which it came, then in some mysterious way,
the Self eliminates the residual ignorance and Realisation
dawns. Ramana summed it all up very neatly when he said:
“Just keep quiet and Bhagavan will do the rest.” (Ramana
Maharshi and the Path of Self-Knowledge, p. 147).
This shifting of attention is the ultimate act of surrender. It
is an acknowledgement that the mind, it’s concepts and desires
are all ignorance, and that involvement in and attachment to
the ignorance is all that prevents a full awareness of Reality.
It is an acknowledgement that nothing that is understood or

believed is of any use; that no belief, theory, idea or mental
activity will bring one any nearer to Realisation. It is an
acknowledgement and a final acceptance of the idea that all
striving and all notions of attainment are futile and illusory.
This simple shifting of attention constitutes the culmination
of surrender, because it is the final surrendering of the
ignorant notion that there is an individual self to surrender. It
is the final acceptance in practice of the conviction that there
is only attachment to wrong ideas and that this attachment
can be severed by refusing to give these ideas any attention.
This final level of surrendering ignorance represents the full
flowering of Ramana’s teachings on surrender, and any less
absolute interpretation merely entangles one in the meshes of
the ignorant ideas he was striving so hard to eliminate. It is
admitted that as a concession to weakness, he occasionally
permitted and approved lower levels of surrender such as
devotion and worship, but for those who could comprehend
and practice his more absolute teachings, he would be satisfied
with nothing less than the total unconditioned surrender which
is implied in the practice of being and the detachment from
ignorance.
Bearing this in mind, it will now be constructive to have
a closer look at the practice of self-enquiry, and to focus
attention on the large overlap that exists between enquiry and
surrender. Ramana’s advice on self-enquiry was clear, simple
and direct, but like his advice on surrender, it has often been
misunderstood and misrepresented.
The easiest way to avoid errors is to remember three
simple but fundamental tenets of Ramana’s teachings; firstly,
that we are all Realised here and now, and that the only
purpose of sadhana is to remove the idea that we are not;
secondly, there is no individual self to extinguish, because
the individual self never at any time existed; and thirdly, no
amount of mental sadhana is helpful because the mind cannot
do anything except extend the frontiers of its own ignorance.
If an awareness of these points is continually maintained,

then the most obvious errors in practice can be avoided. One
immediately sees that concentration on a point in the body
is counter-productive because it involves mental effort. One
can also eliminate the idea that self-enquiry is a mantra or
an exercise in self-analysis because both of these approaches
involve mental activity. On a subtler level, if one maintains an
awareness that the individual self at no time ever exists, then
one can avoid the dangerous but often deeply-rooted notion
that self-enquiry involves one-self looking for another self.
To cut through the entanglements of these and similar
misconceptions, and to find out what positive practical advice
Ramana had to offer on self-enquiry, one cannot do better
than go back to the words of Ramana himself. In Maharshi’s
Gospel he says that “The purpose of self-enquiry is to focus
the entire mind at its source.” (p. 48). The purpose of this
focussing is the same as that which has just been outlined
for the practice of surrender. According to Ramana, the mind
is only a collection of ignorant ideas, and unless one steps
completely outside this mental realm by keeping attention on
the being from which the mind emerges, then the ignorance
and the wrong ideas will inevitably continue. It is important
to note that Ramana never explains self-enquiry as a practice
by which an individual self is eliminated, he always phrases
his advice to indicate that when one looks for the source of
the mind or the ego, then both disappear, and it is discovered
that neither of them ever existed. This stepping outside the
mind is as crucial to an understanding of self-enquiry as it is
to an understanding of surrender.
In a passage in Talks he says:
“The fact is that the mind is only a bundle of thoughts.
How can you extinguish it by the thought of doing so or by
a desire? Your thoughts and desires are part and parcel of the
mind. The mind is simply fattened by new thoughts rising up.
Therefore, it is foolish to attempt to kill the mind by means of
the mind. The only way to do it is to find its source and hold
on to it.” (Talk 485).
This finding the source and holding on to it is the
beginning, end and purpose of self-enquiry. The precise
method is simple and well-known. When thoughts arise, one
does not allow them to develop, one asks oneself the words,
“To whom do these thoughts occur?” and the answer is “to
me,” and then the question occurs, “then who am I? What
is this thing in me which I keep calling ‘I’?” By doing this
practice, one is shifting attention from the world of thoughts
to the being from where the thought and the thinker first
emerged. The transfer of attention is simply executed, because
if one holds on to the feeling “I am” the initial thought of ‘I’
will gradually give way to a feeling of ‘I’, and then sooner
or later, this feeling “I am” will merge into being itself, to a
state where there is no longer either a thinker of the thought
‘I’, or a feeler of the feeling ‘I am’; there will only be being
itself. This is the stage where attention to the feeling of “I
am” has merged with the being from which it came, so that
there is no longer the dualistic distinction of a person giving
attention to the feeling of “I am”. There is only being and
awareness of being.
If this practice is done persistently, then the verbal
redirection of attention soon becomes redundant; as soon as
there is the awareness of attachment to a particular thought,
then attention is immediately switched back to the being
from which the thoughts and the imaginary thinker came. It
is important to stress that the verbal preliminaries of asking
“Who am I?” or “To whom do these thoughts occur?” are
simply tools to redirect the attention, the real self-enquiry
begins with the subsequent witnessing of the disappearance
of the thoughts, and the re-emergence of being as the mind
subsides into temporary abeyance. Ramana summarised this
very succinctly when he said in Talks: “Abhyasa (spiritual
practice) consists of withdrawal into the Self every time you
are disturbed by thought. It is not concentration or destruction
of the mind, but withdrawal into the Self.” (Talk 485). Since,
in Ramana’s terminology the terms being and Self are virtually
synonymous, what he is describing here is the practice of
withdrawing into being and remaining there, undisturbed by
the transient distractions of thoughts. This practice may be
viewed from two perspectives. In the higher levels of surrender,
maintaining awareness of being can be seen as a surrendering
of wrong ideas, including the wrong idea that there is someone
to surrender, whereas in self-enquiry, one reaches this same
point of being by actively discarding thoughts, and by tracing
back the feeling of ‘I am’ until it finally subsides into the
being from which it came. Though the two descriptions might
appear to be describing two completely different approaches,
particularly in the preliminary stages, if the practices of
surrender and enquiry are persistently and earnestly pursued,
then the two approaches finally merge imperceptibly into the
single practice of being. To surrender false ideas is simply to
be, and that same state of being is the point where thoughts
and the idea of a thinker disappear. This point, this state of
being, is beautifully described in Talks when Ramana says:
“It is the state of perfect awareness and perfect stillness
combined. It is the interval between two successive thoughts,
and the source from which the thoughts spring… Go to the
root of the thoughts and you reach the stillness of sleep. But
you reach it in the full vigour of search, that is, with perfect
awareness. (Talk 609).
This point which Ramana describes so graphically is the
point of convergence between the path of self-enquiry and
the path of surrender. The final, definitive detachment from
ignorance has not yet happened, for this final elimination is
a matter for the Self. Until that elimination takes place, one
can only be, and once the awareness of being is maintained
effortlessly, then the being of surrender in which one has given
up all ideas, is the same being which results from witnessing
the disappearance of the ‘I thought’. This state of being is
still a stage of sadhana, for it lacks permanence, and the mind
is liable to reassert its dominance at any time. However, it is

the final stage, and as such it is the purest and deepest level
of both surrender and self-enquiry. It is a state which belongs
neither to the world of ignorance nor to the Absolute Reality,
but somehow, mysteriously, according to Ramana, it provides
the link between the two.
When Ramana said on one occasion, “Do not meditate,
be, do not think that you are, be,” (Secret of Arunachala, p.
73), he was summarising the whole of his practical teachings,
because for Ramana, it is only in this state of effortless
awareness of being that the final Realisation will be revealed.
79. Conversation with Sri Kunju Swamigal*
W hen Kunju Swami was living in Palakkothu (near the

Ashram), he was going to Skandasramam daily to take
his bath in the springs there. On those occasions he used to
adjust his return from Skandasramam after his bath in such
a way that he would invariably meet Bhagavan on the Hill
itself.
Once, Bhagavan asked him what he was doing while
going to Skandasramam and coming back. Kunju Swami
answered that he was chanting stotras, like Aksharamanamalai.
Bhagavan approved of it and added, “Yes, when one is alone,
either walking, sitting, etc., one should engage one’s mind in
stotras or japa, to prevent the mind from getting distracted.
As far as possible one should see that the mind is kept
introverted, and for that stotras and japa are the best aids.”
Ever since, Kunju Swami has kept up the habit of
chanting stotras or doing japa, while alone, especially while
taking a walk.
Kunju Swami said, “Once, Bhagavan pointed to the
Holy Hill, Arunachala, and said: ‘This is the storehouse of
* Darlene Delisi, The Maharshi, Jan-Feb 2013.

all spiritual Power. By going around it you benefit in all

ways. Just as when you perform japa in Kasi, Varanasi, it is
particularly beneficial; going around the Hill you get countless
benefits thereby. It is called sanchara samadhi. While walking
round the Hill the body is active but the mind is at rest at
its source. The mind is then free from distractions. Through
sanchara samadhi one easily gets sahaja samadhi. Hence our
forefathers praised the value of pilgrimages; a pilgrimage (on
foot) enables one to get established in sanchara samadhi.’”
Sometime after he came here, Muruganar, one of the
oldest devotees of Bhagavan, asked Bhagavan about the
spiritual benefit of going around the Hill (giripradakshina).
Bhagavan asked him to go round it first and then come to
him. Muruganar followed his advice and told Bhagavan that
he lost his dehatma buddhi (body-consciousness) after a
while and regained it only after reaching Adi Annamalai. He
reported to Bhagavan that the experience was unexpected and
unique.
Bhagavan smiled and said, “Do you now understand?”
Once Kunju Swami asked Bhagavan, “If thoughts rise
while doing pradakshina, what are we to do?” Bhagavan
replied: “Just do nothing. Ignore them. Keep yourself away
from them, as you automatically do when a donkey or dog
crosses your path while walking round the Hill. If you ignore
them they will go away of their own accord.”
Bhagavan also joked at that time “For you the problem
is how to eradicate the thoughts; for us (meaning himself)
the problem is how to bring forth thoughts, how to raise a
thought!”
Ramakrishna Swami, who was known to Kunju Swami
even from his boyhood, served Bhagavan fervently and
faithfully. Once he wanted to live alone, away from Bhagavan,
and hence with the permission of Bhagavan he went and
stayed at Virupaksha Cave.
While there, he had the experience of seeing Chidambaram.
He saw as in a movie, but clearly, the temple entrance and
then finally the interior and the sanctum sanctorum. Elated at

this vision, he hurried to the Ashram to tell the other devotees
and Bhagavan.
As he narrated the experience, Bhagavan was far from
pleased, and said, “Was that what you went into solitude for?”
His reprimand brought Ramakrishna Swami to his senses, and
his elation disappeared and he became normal again.
Bhagavan never fully stretched Himself on the bed like
anyone of us to sleep at night. It was a marvellous phenomenon
which perhaps might not have been noticed by many. He used
to have a few round pillows for his back to recline on, in
which position he used to remain all night. Sometimes he
used to support his head with his hand also, but always only
in the reclining pose. We have never seen him sleeping on his
back fully stretched out or lying down full on his side!
Bhagavan is the most natural person one can ever conceive
of. He had a very subtle sense of humour; it never hurt anyone
and was never aimed at anyone. He also appreciated others’
jokes, even those at his cost!
Once, a boy was seated in front of Bhagavan. Flies were
troubling him and he was killing them. Seeing this Bhagavan
told him: “Don’t kill them; it is wrong.” After some time,
the boy looked at Bhagavan intensely and remarked: “You
say killing is wrong. I was only killing little flies which were
giving me trouble, but you have killed a big tiger and you are
sitting on its skin. How can it be?” Bhagavan laughed and
said, “Yes, what he says is quite right!”
The same boy had the habit of wasting food served on
his leaf plate while seated with others. Once, Bhagavan told
him that he should not leave anything on the plate when he
finished eating. That day too the boy could not eat everything
but stuffed something into his mouth and took out the empty
leaf. Bhagavan saw him take out the empty leaf. However, the
boy after throwing away the leaf also spat out the food that he
had stuffed into his mouth. It was reported to Bhagavan. He
enjoyed the trick of the boy and gave a hearty laugh.
Another boy who used to go around the Hill with Bhagavan

and other devotees was always silent though others used to
sing hymns and prayers and chants. (Bhagavan sometimes
even used to hold this boy’s shoulder while walking round
the Hill.) One day Bhagavan, after every one of the party had
sung some song or other, asked this boy why he alone did not
sing. The boy’s spontaneous reply made Bhagavan laugh to
his heart’s content. It was: “Do jivanmuktas ever sing?”
The author of Sat Darshana Bhashya, Kapali Sastriar, was
very close to Bhagavan from his early youth, so much so he
was one of the very few whom Bhagavan addressed intimately
without prefixing or suffixing respectful terms. (Bhagavan
was very particular in addressing all, even children, only with
respect.) His parents were very keen to get him married and
he himself was stoutly opposing it. They even approached
Bhagavan to persuade him to marry. One day, Kapali Sastriar
went near Bhagavan and said, “Bhagavan, tomorrow I intend
taking up ashrama (stage in life).” Bhagavan, who knew
his aversion to marriage and the anxiety of his parents, was
surprised and said “Kapali, what are you saying? Have you
taken the permission of your parents?”
Meekly he replied: “Yes, Bhagavan! I am going to enter
into the second ashrama (meaning, marriage)!” Bhagavan
laughed heartily and enjoyed the joke.
A young girl, named Rukmini, aged ten, the daughter of
Vilacheri Ranga Iyer, used to meditate in front of Bhagavan,
seated like a statue. Same-aged boys or girls sitting next to
her used to tickle her to disturb her. Bhagavan used to watch
all this in amusement. One day, after having had her bath,
Rukmini sat for meditation, as usual in right earnest (like a
yogi). A boy nearby (who had not had his bath yet) teased her,
saying: “I am going to touch you.” Rukmini firmly replied:
“No one can touch me!” Bhagavan was looking at them. She
turned to Bhagavan and then asked “Yes, none can touch me;
they can touch only my body. How can anyone touch ME?”
Bhagavan expressed wonder and appreciation at the depth of

her statement!
Bhagavan was always very considerate towards his
devotees in all matters. It was the practice of Bhagavan’s
devotees to take his permission before proceeding to
circumambulate the Hill and to prostrate before him on their
return. Many came to the Ashram all the way from the town
for this purpose even late in the evening and then proceeded
immediately to their homes in the town. Bhagavan advised
such devotees to break their circumambulation in town in the
evening and to complete it on the following day when they
came to the Ashram as usual.
When women devotees were ready to return to town
at dusk he would always make certain that none of them
went alone. If any of them found no company, he would ask
someone to go with them and leave them at their house.
There were some devotees employed in Madras who
used to come every weekend to Tiruvannamalai and return
to Madras in time to go to their offices on Monday morning.
Sometimes some of them were so reluctant to part from
Bhagavan that they continued to overstay their time. They
would go as far as the railway station only to return to the
Ashram on some pretext or other. Bhagavan, therefore, in
such cases used to send someone with them to the railway
station to see that they actually got into the train and left for
Madras. He did not like that anyone should neglect his duties!
When a devotee came late in the evening after everyone
had taken his meal and gone to bed he was not allowed to go
hungry on this account. Bhagavan always saw to it that some
food was kept for such late-comers and that they had their
meals. When such a visitor arrived Bhagavan simply looked
at some of us. That was enough for us to take him to the
dining hall and give him his meal!
Bhagavan never started to eat before all those who were
present were served. The beggars waiting at the gate are even
now given their food before inmates and visitors are served.
No exception is made to this rule even on crowded occasions
like the Jayanti and the Aradhana. All these instances will
show how considerate Bhagavan was to others!
80. The Unexpected Feast*
O ne day two destitute-looking Brahmins entered the hall.

It was known that they earned their livelihood by the
wretched and socially demeaning occupation of bearing the
dead to the cremation grounds. Both were extremely hungry
after having discharged their duties.
Custom demands that anyone entering a house recently
visited by death should take a bath immediately upon leaving.
This stricture applies particularly if one steps into the
cremation ground, and more particularly if one is involved
in removing and physically transporting the departed to this
place.
A heated argument had ensued between the two men
about the propriety of coming to the Ashram to have a meal
without having bathed. While one of them keenly felt the
unseemliness of transgressing this hallowed custom, the other
dismissed it as impracticable in view of their acute hunger.
Assured of a meal in the Ashram, which was on their way
home, they thought they might appease their appetite. They
came to the hall and sat down. One of them excitedly and
abruptly said to Bhagavan:
“Swami, I have been insisting on the customary bath
before we sit for our meal. Is that not but just and proper?”
Bhagavan responded in a very soft tone, “No one can say
you are unjust.” The other at once, in a greedy agitated voice,
burst forth:
* Smt. T.R. Kanakkammal, Mountain Path, April 2007.

“The pangs of hunger are so intense that our entrails

are being devoured. Is it wrong to eat when hunger is so
gnawing?”
Bhagavan quietly replied, “Who says it is wrong? Not
at all.” Shocked, looking at one another, they asked in one
voice, “But then who is wrong?”
Bhagavan answered:
“Don’t think you alone are pall-bearers. All of us are
carrying these lifeless corpses. This body is a veritable corpse.
Everybody carries it saying ‘I, I’. Whoever has the ‘I-am-
the-body-feeling’ is but a pall-bearer. As long as one has not
gone beyond this, one remains as impure and polluted as a
pall-bearer. The pollution of bearing this dead body cannot be
washed away by a dip in any tank. Bathing in the holy waters
of the Atman alone can remove this pollution.”
The Brahmins, though initially feeling vindicated, were
now startled and stared at each other. In an instant, the entire
complexion of the issue stood transformed. Everyone without
exception was equally polluted! All people shared their fate!
Rid of their social inferiority they felt lifted up. The
felicity with which atma bodha – the eternal truth – was
transmitted to them and others in the hall, and the sama
drishti of Bhagavan, that knew no distinction between regular
devotees and stray visitors, however socially unsavoury their
vocation might be, left those seated in the hall astounded.
That we are all bound to die is known to everyone. But even
before we die, if we have not yet bathed in the waters of
the Atman, we are already as though dead, bearing with us
lifeless corpses lost in ‘I-am-the-body’ consciousness. This
was a revelation for one and all gathered in the hall.
The next minute, the two Brahmins were nowhere to be
seen. No one knew where they had gone, to the dining hall
for food or elsewhere. But one thing was certain; for their
spiritual hunger, Bhagavan’s words had been an unexpected
feast.
The exalted and unique greatness of a realised guru is

sung gloriously in Guru Gita (Chapter 1, verses 25 and 26)
from Skandapurana:
kāśīkṣetraṁ nivāsaśca jāhnavī caraṇodakam |
gururviśveśvaraḥ sākṣāttārakaṁ brahm niścayaḥ || 25 ||
The place of residence of a guru is verily
kashi kshetra. His charanamruth (water dripping
off his feet) is verily the holy Ganges. He is verily
Visweshwara, Taraka Brahman, the Saviour.
guroḥ pādānkitaṁ yattu gayāste’kṣayovaṭaḥ |
tīrtharājaḥ prayāgo’sau gurumūrtyai namo namaḥ || 26 ||
His footprints are verily holy Gaya, Akshayavata
(the imperishable banyan tree) and Prayag, the king
of holy waters. Salutations to such a guru again and
again.
The preceding story is not a mere instance of poetic
flamboyance, but a stark truth in relation to a jnani like
Bhagavan. No wonder that whoever had but a look from
Bhagavan – being Brahman in manifested form – enjoyed the
purificatory effect of oblations in the holiest of holy waters.
Need we doubt that the two pall-bearers were purified the
moment they came in for Bhagavan’s darshan?
81. Rajapalayam Ramani Ammal*
I nterviewer: Please tell us about how you first came to

Ramanasramam.
Ramani Ammal: My chosen deity in childhood was Lord
Krishna. From my youth I had very pleasant dreams and
would sometimes see Lord Krishna or other familiar deities
in these dreams. But at the age of sixteen or seventeen I once
* She briefly told her life story in an interview videotaped in
December 1989.
saw a strange sage-like person coming down a hill and was

captivated by his grandeur. I later came to realise that this
sage was Sri Bhagavan.
After having that vision of Bhagavan in my dream,
a certain fear that had gripped me for some time all of a
sudden disappeared. My relatives and others noticed this and
commented how I was now moving about freely. This was
Bhagavan’s first influence on me.
Also, at the age of sixteen I was reading the Jnana
Vasishta. While reading it I experienced that I was enveloped
in jyoti, a bright white light. I thought that if this is what
happens just by reading it, how much more wonderful would
it be if we practised dhyana and the other spiritual injunctions
taught in the book. I used to be thrilled simply by reading
those ancient Tamil scriptures. But it wasn’t until I was
twenty before I got hold of a book on Bhagavan.
Kumaraswami Raja, the Chief Minister of Madras, who
was a cousin of mine, brought me Suddhananda Bharati’s
biography of Bhagavan, Ramana Vijayam, in 1946. Mrs.
Kumaraswami Raja was very fond of me, and though other
relatives prohibited me from reading spiritual books, she used
to stealthily supply me with them. The day she sent this book
over with a boy, I was sitting in the house with a friend, a
headmistress, who though Christian, was sincerely interested
in our religion.
The boy who brought the book said, “Mami said to hand
this book to you.” I got up and went up to the gate to receive
it. The moment I touched the book I lost body consciousness.
My whole body became stiff. I somehow managed to return
and sit next to my friend. Noticing my plight, she commented
that I shouldn’t read such books that make me forget myself.
Everyone was complaining about this same thing, for in those
days most of the time I would be sitting quietly, alert to my
spiritual aspirations. All thought that I was simply idle with
no work to do.
With difficulty I opened Ramana Vijayam to the first page

and was met by the photo of the young Ramana. I became
speechless. My friend, who was somewhat alarmed at my
condition, had to leave and I somehow saw her off. With
great reverence I took the book and started reading it. As I
read, my eyes kept closing involuntarily, and I was drawn
within, which I later came to know was meditation. Bhagavan
taught me meditation in this way.
After reading this book, I felt I should leave home and go
meet Ramana Maharshi. It is my family custom that women
never even leave the house, not to mention leaving the town.
That vairagya, or desperate determination to leave my house
for spiritual fulfilment, was implanted in me by this book;
and I am sure it was by the direct influence of Sri Bhagavan
himself.
Because of my intense desire to go and see Bhagavan,
my younger brother was moved to help me. He is a very
pious person, with a soft nature. With his help I secretly left
home and reached Tiruvannamalai and the holy feet of Sri
Bhagavan. But after reaching there, I was overcome with
a sense of guilt for running away from home. This feeling
of guilt, and a sense of bringing ill fame to the respected
Rajagopalan family, was uppermost in my mind when I first
came into Bhagavan’s presence. I felt depressed because of
this.
When I arrived, I went to the office to inquire where
Bhagavan was. I was told that Bhagavan was near the well.
When I came near the well, I saw a thatched shed next to it and
all I could see in it was a flaming fire. I thought to myself, “I
asked for directions to go to Bhagavan and they have sent me
to a sacrificial place where there is a fire.” It was only after
a few minutes that I saw Bhagavan’s comely form emerge
from those flames. Even when I had the Jyoti Darshana I was
blaming myself, thinking that I had this delusion of seeing
a fire instead of Bhagavan because I was foolish enough to
come out into the hot sun. It was only afterwards I realised
Bhagavan had bestowed upon me this great boon of Jyoti

Darshana. Next I heard Bhagavan saying to me, “You have
now come home. Why don’t you sit down?”
Coming from a family where women never go out, and
having never gone out myself, I did not know how to behave
in company. When Bhagavan said “You have now come
home. You can sit down,” I sat down right in front of him
and not in the place reserved for women. For three days I
kept sitting in front of him and all the while the feeling of
guilt for running away from home was haunting me. I kept
sitting in front of Bhagavan, not knowing how to act or ask
questions, or anything else.
On the third day I heard Bhagavan telling someone: “I
also ran away from my home, and at the railroad station I
was so frightened that anyone could have identified me as a
runaway, caught hold of me and sent me home. I ran away
like a thief.” When Bhagavan narrated this, it completely
wiped out all my guilt feelings from that moment onwards.
This was an act of pure grace directed towards me. It is very
strange that by those few words Bhagavan entirely removed
any residual fear in me. Bhagavan later said that sometimes
you have to do a wrong thing to achieve the ultimate right
thing. He even commented that there is nothing wrong in a
woman running away at the tender age of twenty to come
here.
I should narrate how my first Giripradakshina took
place. I was not accustomed to walking at all, but whenever
people came to tell Bhagavan that they were going on a
Giripradakshina, I longed to go too. One day Venkataramayya
and others were going around the hill, and in this group there
were two devotees who were over eighty years old. I did not
say anything to Bhagavan but was all the time praying that I
should be included in that party. Immediately Bhagavan said
to Venkataramayya “Take this girl – the one seated there –
with you.” Bhagavan didn’t stop there, for he even said, “She
will walk very slowly. Will that be all right?” Then Bhagavan
turned towards me and said, “These are our own people. Are
you prepared to go with them?” Looking at me, he simply
said, “Go!”
The Pradakshina took almost six hours. At Adi Annamalai
I could move no more. I requested the group to proceed
without me and told them I will reach the Ashram later. But
they said, “How could we leave you when Bhagavan entrusted
you to us? Even if it takes you another day to complete the
Pradakshina, we will stay with you. Only with you can we
re-enter the Ashram.”
I was again feeling very guilty when we finally arrived. I
was thinking that others take three to four hours to complete
the Pradakshina and I have taken six hours, wasting not
only my time, but theirs too. I felt that they were all older
than me, and a younger person, like me, had caused them so
much inconvenience. When I entered the Ashram, my heart
was heavy with this feeling. With great difficulty we entered
into the presence of Bhagavan and as soon as I sat down,
Bhagavan started narrating how the Pradakshina should be
done by walking as slow as a royal queen in her ninth month
of pregnancy. “So, there is nothing wrong in what she did,”
he concluded. After this, many times I used to go around the
hill all alone.
I used to fast a lot in those days – almost fifteen days
out of a month. It was helping in my sadhana. One day, with
the permission of Chinna Swami, I stayed in the Ashram till
7:30 p.m., which is the supper time. Bhagavan turned to me
and said, “Aren’t you coming for supper?” Then he said,
“Sattvic food should be eaten. There is no meaning in mere
fasting.” Since then I stopped fasting. Even if I wanted to
fast, for some reason or other it would be broken. That is a
real wonder to me.
I was not aware of this Brahmin-non-Brahmin separation
in the Dining Hall. One day I entered and saw the screen
dividing the seating area. Some people were already seated.
I was in a fix as to where I should sit. Bhagavan saw my
plight and asked me to sit right next to him. He said to an

attendant, “She doesn’t know anything, so put her leaf here.”
Then he said to me, “Don’t worry about these Brahmins.”
That is how Bhagavan in his kindness used to take care of
me, for I was all alone and ignorant of the customs and ways
of the world. Since Bhagavan was showering all this personal
attention on me, Chinna Swami also took a personal interest
in my welfare. As Muruganar was away, Chinna Swami
offered me his residence to stay in, and also offered to send
someone to guard me. I told him that I was not afraid and
would lock the house from inside and needed no one to guard
me. Bhagavan overheard this and said, “She is a young girl,
and does not know the consequences. Let her sleep indoors,
behind closed doors, but you send a servant to sleep outside
on the verandah.” I did not know anything when I came here.
Even cooking I learned here and, of course, Bhagavan taught
me many things from within.
Interviewer: Since you used to sit in front of Bhagavan
quite often, could you please give a detailed description of
what is called ‘Bhagavan’s Glance of Grace?’
Ramani Ammal: Bhagavan’s look was real magic. You
could not do anything but just look into his eyes, which would
transform you into Samadhi. Everyone in the hall used to
feel Bhagavan was looking at them alone. This was the true
experience of each one of us. In his inimitable way he was
giving the glance of grace to each and every one seated in the
hall. Bhagavan’s look used to take us deep into Samadhi. Just
by looking into his eyes, we came to know what meditation
is. This was, and is, the common experience of all devotees.
You ask anyone and you will get the same reply.
Once he gave me such a look and for a very long time
I was absorbed in Samadhi. Bhagavan was reading the
newspaper, letters were being brought in, normal activity was
going on, but I was oblivious of the happenings outside of
me. In fact, I was unaware of my body.
I once remember a Harijan lady who for the past twenty-

five years was gathering honey to send to Sri Bhagavan. On
every occasion she was unable to bring the honey herself and
had to send it with someone. After waiting for twenty-five
years, she finally found the opportunity to come. The poor
lady was in tattered clothes, standing before Bhagavan. Her
eyesight was poor and I still vividly recall the unusual way
she looked at Sri Bhagavan, calling out “Oh Darling, where
are you? I want to see you.” Bhagavan in all his graciousness
said, “Granny, look this way. I am here.” Looking at the
honey she had brought with her, he said to me, “They are
Brahmins, they won’t eat this. We will share it and eat it.”
It is often said, Bhagavan did not give direct Upadesa,
but what else is all this? Although Bhagavan repeatedly
pointed out human frailty, people were not prepared to rectify
themselves.
As if talking to himself, he looked at this poor old woman
in ragged clothes and said, “Poor lady, she must be hungry.
And where will she go for clothes? Who will offer her food
and clothes?” Upon hearing this, Ondu Reddiyar got up and
said, “We will give her food and also see that some clothes
are purchased.” Then Reddiyar took the woman to the Dining
Hall and fed her sumptuously. He also sent someone to town
to buy her a sari. As the old woman had no money, she had
walked a great distance to come here. Bhagavan knowing
this, said in an impersonal way, “Would anyone be interested
in getting her a bus ticket?” Reddiyar again came forward
and said, “We will provide her with a bus ticket and see her
off.” When this lady returned from the Dining Hall she was
touching the ground, and then touching her eyes. That is a
way of prostration and thanksgiving. It is noteworthy that
whenever the poor or untouchables came, Bhagavan took a
very personal interest in them, which was a moving sight to
see.
Sri Bhagavan had absolutely no connection with either
body or mind. People used to be confused by seeing him
read letters and newspapers. His inner state never changed

since he was sixteen. This was demonstrated repeatedly, but
only those who had the eyes to see, could see and realise it.
Sri Bhagavan was also a real taskmaster. He used to quietly
move around to various places within the Ashram without
notice. So, every place had to be kept clean and neat because
Bhagavan was very particular about cleanliness. He was also
particular about punctuality. This kept every member of the
Ashram alert and on their toes, ready at all times to do what
was necessary. Look how this Ashram has grown. Unless
Bhagavan was very careful in his silent supervision, could it
have grown to this extent?
Interviewer: Where were you at the time of Sri Bhagavan’s
Maha Nirvana?
Ramani Ammal: I was at Rajapalayam. That night I saw a
blue light beautifully rising up into the sky. I knew Bhagavan
had left the body. I felt that I did not want to live after that
and started a fast. By fasting I wanted to drop the body. After
five or six days of not touching food I had several visions.
In one of them I was taken inside the Arunachala Hill and
saw there, rishis performing yagnas and yoga. I also saw Sri
Bhagavan seated there. Some munis or rishis offered some
prasad to Bhagavan. Then Sri Bhagavan himself gave it to
me, and I was made to eat. I remembered that I was fasting
but couldn’t refuse Bhagavan’s prasad. How can I say that it
was a dream? I consider it was Bhagavan’s grace alone. He
also said to me, “You say and repeat ‘I have gone away, I
have gone away’. Where have I gone? I am right here. You
are not looking inward. If you look within, I am there.” For
many days afterwards the smell of that prasad lingered. The
aroma even spread all through the house. My brother and
sisters kept talking about it. When I was fasting, my brother
and sister were also fasting with me. The morning following
that vision we started taking food again.
In the dream I also remember Bhagavan was seated near
a tank and rishis and munis were serving him. He looked
splendid, gracious, magnanimous, and magnificent. It was

a beautiful sight. I saw there Kamadhenu, the celestial cow,
the celestial tree, and many other wonderful things. It was a
divine sight indeed. From that day onwards, I had no thought
at all that Bhagavan had left us. He is all pervading, and I
experienced him particularly in my Heart. I no longer felt
sorrow. He is even here now.
When I came again to Tiruvannamalai I was filled
with bliss. You can feel Bhagavan’s presence every minute.
Right this very minute I feel his Divine Presence. I have no
unhappiness. I am happy all the time. Sri Bhagavan’s Presence
is so overpowering. See how we all are gathered here. What
have we done to deserve this?
Interviewer: To my knowledge I haven’t done anything
good and I also wonder, along with you, how Bhagavan has
gathered us here.
Ramani Ammal: I can’t say that I have ever done anything
bad. From my childhood I didn’t know what is good and what
is bad either. But doing good or bad has nothing to do with
our coming to Bhagavan’s Presence. It is only by his grace
that we are filled with his glorious Presence.
82. The Tiger’s Prey*
W hy does Ramana enter a person’s life and how? No one

but He knows the answer. The experience of many is
testimony for His silent, dew-like entry into a life to redeem
it, to make it whole. Things would be made easy for the
life giving contact, a friend would provide the fare, money
would come from unexpected quarters, bosses would not only
permit but even strongly suggest visiting the Maharshi and Sri
Ramanasramam. In far off Spain a book, to spark the interest,
would be placed in one’s hand though the why of it would
* A.R. Natarajan, The Mountain Path, July 1985.

not be known to the receiver of grace. Years in India would

have been wasted with no knowledge of the Master’s life or
teachings and then suddenly without notice every worthwhile
book would come to the person’s notice, making them ‘the
breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner’ of the fortunate one. Be it
a small village in Netherlands, or a forest hermitage Ramana
would step in quietly and claim His flock. Often He would
literally give His shoulder, strong enough to hold the burden of
the Universe, to a devotee in need of the help and solace. Not
a single word may be exchanged in months, but ‘wonderful
grace would be poured in’ through the ‘incomparable grace of
His steady and shining eyes’. Drug addiction would end just
by the penetrating look.
Looking at the mysterious ways of Ramana’s advent
into the lives of His ‘marked’ people one is reminded of the
story of Saint Sundaramurthy, narrated by Ramana to Suri
Nagamma. Sundaramurthy was seated before the sacred fire
all set for marriage, awaiting his bride. At this twelfth hour,
the great God, Siva appeared in the guise of an old brahmin
to stop the marriage and claim him as His own. Siva produced
the necessary document to prove that the bridegroom was
pledged, forever, to serve Him. Sundaramurthy reviled
Siva as a ‘madman’ only to fall headlong into devoted
service when the truth of the relationship was revealed as a
relationship which was not bound by time. Hasn’t Ramana
Himself hinted to Chadwick that the Guru and the disciple
are bound together, always, cutting through time-barriers?
Once Ramana enters a life, ‘the burning sand’ of the worldly
life would be carpeted ‘laden thick with fragrant flowers’
and a ‘strange gladness would fill the journey homeward’,
to the Heart. Not that one would be freed from Maya’s sway
straightaway, but it is certain that His grip would be tight
and firm, never letting one stray away altogether from the
quest. One becomes Ramana’s food no matter however vile,
however sinful one may be. Can a prey which has fallen into
a spider’s web or a tiger’s jaw escape?
But when? How long should one toss between the

profane and the divine? To be drawn to that great force and
yet to be denied the feel of its Presence, as it often happens, is
a torture. Ramana’s magnetic body did not go the way of all
flesh in April 1950. The vivid, tangible, even physical impact
continues to be felt sometimes through dreams and visions
but always felt by those whom Ramana has chosen to make
His for some unaccountable reason.
True, Ramana’s entry into one’s life cannot be in vain.
But for those who are content to remain in the sidelines, for
those the good and bad fruits of Karma are still tasty, the full
impact of the great Presence is not yet. Their contact with
eternity is all too brief. The time has not come for them to
taste, in full measure, the entry of the Sadguru in their lives.
It is a different story for those whom Ramana charms
totally, who are taken over body and soul, in a no holds
barred union. Such ones have no eyes except for that
indescribable wonder, the Master’s eyes. They cannot escape
the bewitchment of His smile. Nothing matters to them, save
to be His and let His Presence seep through every pore of
their body. The joy of self-forgetfulness, of oneness, fills their
Being.
This mood, however, is not for keeps, nor even ‘till death
do us part’. Imperceptibly, the bodily hunger, the demands
of flesh, stage a virulent come back to the point of negating
the joy of being Ramana’s. It is certain that Ramana will not
leave anyone by the roadside and that His succour would be
there to strengthen and sustain. But in the intermediate stage
when one is not steadfast in love for Ramana, many ego-
traps of attachments seem to be there ready to lure one away.
For, when the Sadguru’s tiger-like fangs begin to chew up
one’s ego, the job is never done at one stroke. It is often left
incomplete to be finished at a time which He alone knows
to be the best. In this half-way house when one is tossed
between the sensate and the spiritual, when one is neither His
nor the world’s, one is inclined to pray sometimes ‘Please
stop being a magnet. Do not take me at all or take all.” It

appears as if Ramana is aloof, withdrawn, unconcerned. Not
that He is really, but the dryness, the slipping away makes
one forlorn.
Sometimes then one cries out in anguish ‘where have
you gone my God, forsaking me?’ One yearns and prays
‘put out this fire, sweet, cool ocean of boundless grace, put
out this fire of separation’. One finds Ramana’s ‘Arunachala
Padigam’ replete with pleadings to the Sad-guru not to ‘stop
mid-way and leave the task unfinished’. How truly reflective
of the longing, the pining for the impersonal beloved who
walked on earth as Ramana!
Occasionally the mood of rebellion too sets in. What
else can one do except to chaff at the Master’s indifference,
except to fret and fume at His hide and seek? Must we be a
plaything of our Master if we escape being fate’s plaything?
Why should He leave one to be lost in the company of the
worldly? Why should we have to keep company with those
who know nothing of His endless beauty? Why does He not
enchant by revealing Himself in all His radiant splendour?
Why does He ‘like poison loath, the love that was once
honey-sweet?’
One may question thus: one may feel that He is not doing
enough to take over quickly. One may curse the apparently
snail-paced working of His grace. But all said and done for
those who care for Him only, there can be no question of
going back. Their boats have been burnt. Inscrutable are His
ways. There may be no holiday from the unfoldment of fate’s
merry-go-round. Fate’s whiplashes may or may not be blunted.
Loneliness may be one’s lot. Then one has to remember that
having surrendered, the right to question why has also gone.
When the dark cloud of doubt and despondency grips one,
then suddenly the Sadguru is there giving His firm hand for
the heart-ward journey. Having bartered His glorious state for
our paltry self, He steps in almost at the very last second
when one is ready to throw up one’s hand in despair. Out of
the blue the mighty, primal power of Ramana courses through

one’s vein. His tiger-like grip tightens, and one becomes,
fully, His prey. Once and for all the sorrow of a divisive life
centred on the ego ends. As one remains firmly rooted in the
natural state which he restores, happiness brims over, within,
without and everywhere.
83. In Memoriam
The Holy Cow, Lakshmi
(Archives of Sri Ramanasramam)

Passed into the Light on 18th June, 1948 at 11.30 a.m.
Harindranath Chattopadhyaya
Before the Golden Sage who reigneth still

At the wide foot of the celestial Hill
Arunachala-lord of the Beacon Light,
I bow in reverence, and then rise to write
This song about the Cow who, ere she died,
Was by His touch of mercy deified
And set among the Immortals who continue
To breathe as Light within me and within you.
Lord of Grace! thy holy Name resounds
From end to end; thy Mercy knows no bounds,
Thy Power no limitation! Through thy Peace
The struggles of thy seekers slowly cease
Leaving a large contentment in the heart:
Before thy luminous Presence glooms depart,
Clouds vanish ... In the stillness of thine eye
The all-unseeing fool grows sudden wise,
The ignorant grow learned. With a smile
Thou canst redeem us in a fleeting while,
Rendering our lives significant. O thou

Who wearest realisation on thy
Even as a jewel! With what master-ease
Thou dost immortalise thy devotees!
And thou art worshipped everywhere by all
Who, touched by thy deep Grace, have heard thee call
And gathered at thy Feet: numerous shapes
Of peacocks, squirrels, deer, and dogs and apes,
Of cows and men. And from them thou dost draw
Thy chosen few according to a Law
Known but to thee, whom, drenching in thy Love
Thou dost, to each, allot a height above
Earth’s little level, that they may arise
From hells of flesh to the soul’s paradise.
It is for her I sing who is no more
Lakshmi, the Master’s sacred Cow, who bore
The beauty of a goddess – she who was
Experience carven out of luminous pause
And moulded into creature line and curve;
Lakshmi, the Mother Cow, was born to serve
Sage Ramana
Yet, it was nothing strange,
Some say her creature form was but a change
From human, since – such is the story told –
She was a woman once, wizened and old,
Her wrinkled body all in tatters clad,
But held behind that ugliness she had
A lamplike soul that bade her self engage
In long and selfless service of the sage.
She came to Him through many noons and eves
Bringing Him simple fare of herbs and leaves
Plucked with devotion, cooked with love and care,
And, it is said, He ate the humble fare
As though it were a banquet!
Serving thus
She died and passed into the luminous
Lakshmi that she might serve Him once again

And so, through service, finally attain
Self-knowledge and release….
Great Master! thou
Art all-compassionate. Upon the brow
Of self-surrender thou dost seal thy Grace
And dost, in a miraculous while, efface
Bondage and grief. In thy compassion’s ken
Dumb creatures share an equal place with men.
Thy law is universal, working out
Even through layers and layers of lampless doubt
Ultimate faith which sees thee as thou art:
Master Illumination of the heart!
Even so did Lakshmi know thee, Master! When
She breathed and moved amidst a world of men
Who scarcely know thee. Even as a cloud
Moves in the wide horizon, glow-endowed
And solitarily she moved with Grace
Within thy Love’s horizonal embrace;
Within thy Mercy’s garden, hour by hour,
She grew from bud to flower, and then from flower
Into the ripened fruit of wisdom hued
With subtle hues of inward solitude.
And while she was a bud she lit the air
With delicate sweetness making us aware
Of some high mission to be done through her;
Then, in the flowering state, she seemed to stir
The hermitage with more-than-human power,
And everywhere she went she was a flower
Scattering fragrance drawn from inwardness;
The Master met her soul, beyond our guess,
In high communion and absolute
Love that transformed the flower into the fruit
Of ultimate ripe attainment.
She has passed
Into His shining vast
Of Essence, beyond form and name;

She has become a Flame
Upon His quiet altar which shall burn
Forevermore, lending at every turn
Light to our hearts and splendour to our minds; Dark
Death, the wind of winds,
Cannot disturb it on that altar burning:
She will no more in any form occur,
The law of evolution no more binds
her great untrammelled spirit. Lo, for her
There is no more returning!
Yet, let us see what was the heritage
Which brought Her to the all-compassionate Sage?
What strange unearthly scope
Embodied in her horoscope
And in herself? this creature made of earth,
What gave the high significance to her birth?
What penance and what prayer
In other births than this, her last,
Did she perform, scaling stair upon stair
Of pure illumination in the past
Closing in ultimate ripeness?
Let us unveil
before the world her fascinating tale:
In nineteen twenty-six, four mortal years
After the passing of the Sage’s Mother
Into the State of Light and Liberation,
Granted to Her by the great Seer of Seers,
A bhakta came to offer salutation
To Him, and brought with him a gift along,
A cow and a she-calf, lovely and strong
The rose-red season-ache in blood and limb,
With tenderness the creatures gazed on Him
And knew He was their Lord...
He only smiled
And gently said: “The Mother and her child Need
tending with devotion, love and care.

So, take them back, and know that I am there
Wherever they may be ...”
Arunachala Pillai
“Lord, they are thine,
Have mercy and accept them. Every line
Contour and curve of them are thine alone.
It is a gift I make thee, humbly bowed
In reverence. I pray, do not disown
The humble gift....”
Out of the crowd
Emerged a little man, who hardly spoke
At other times, a puny fragile man
Whose words collected to a master-stroke
And seemed thrice pregnant with some future plan
Of which he was unconscious.
Ramanatha Dikshitar
It is my prayer
The offering be accepted in this place
They shall remain receiving love and care
Fed not on fodder merely, but Thy Grace!
84. Ramana-Arunachala*
O ne of the great epics is finished, one of the supreme

manifestations of Divine Grace, when God wore a
human body and moved and talked with men as Bhagavan
Sri Ramana, called Maharshi, the Great Rishi. This was no
case of an ordinary Guru, even though to call any Guru
‘ordinary’ may sound absurd. The Guru is on a higher plane
than ordinary mortals, but Bhagavan was not on any plane:
he was man abiding in constant, unwavering consciousness
of identity with the Self which is God or to express the same
* Arthur Osborne, The Call Divine, January 1955.

from the other side, he was God wearing a human body and
submitting deliberately to human limitations. For fifty-four
years his wearing the body was one long sacrifice for our
redemption, and at the end the sacrifice became a martyrdom.
This acceptance of the body with its limitations gave
rise to a combination of knowledge and human restrictions
on knowledge which puzzled many visitors to Bhagavan. His
spiritual knowledge was complete and constant. He spoke
always with authority. There was no question of samadhi;
because he was always in samadhi: he was always consciously
Atma, the Supreme, Divine, ‘Undivided, Imperishable Self.
Therefore, every utterance of his was a divine statement,
every explanation a scripture.
And yet he showed the same human ignorance as ordinary
mortals. He would ask whether so and so had arrived, how
such and such a sick person was faring, and so forth. Many
visitors and some devotees found this incongruous and asked
how it was that one who had Divine Knowledge should not
know whether a ship had arrived or a medicine worked.
This was because they did not envisage the magnitude of
his sacrifice and the immensity of his compassion. When
he consented to wear the human form after transcending the
human and all other states, he accepted all its limitations – to
feel heat and cold to suffer pain and sickness, to be bound
by ignorance of events. Had he won a human body but set
himself free from its conditions of pains and sickness and
ignorance of events, people would have said: “It is easy for
him to tell us to abide in the Heart, unperturbed by events,
because he has no pain or uncertainty and we have.” So, he
accepted pain and uncertainty as features of the human form
and showed that they cannot touch the equanimity of the
Jnani who remains fixed immovably in the Real. This gave
force to his teaching, since he was but exhorting his devotees
to do as he did.
Normally one who acquires great knowledge acquire
lesser knowledge by the way, as Christ said that to him who
attains the Kingdom of Heaven all else is added: but this

was neither a case of a Yogi struggling up from one state of
knowledge to another nor of one attaining a high state and
being rewarded, as it were, with all the lower states; it was
something simpler and immeasurably vaster: it was a man
dying to the body and living in absolute identity with the
Divine Self and then deliberately accepting all the body’s
limitations out of compassion for suffering mankind.
Just as Bhagavan accepted the limitations of human
knowledge, so did he accept the limitations of human powers.
There have been Spiritual Masters who have worked miracles
to exhibit the supremacy of spiritual laws over physical and
to show men what a resplendent birthright was theirs for the
taking, but the purpose of Bhagavan was different: it was to
show that it is possible to remain fixed in the Self amid all the
limitations of human life. Therefore, he used no powers that
others do not use. Therefore, he set an example of submission
not only to human suffering and ignorance of events but even
to the laws and conditions of the world in this Dark Age.
The laws and conditions which, for him were reflected in the
rules of the ashram authorities. And thus, those who found
the laws irksome had before them the example of Bhagavan’s
own submission.
It is true that sickness and misfortune often disappeared
when Bhagavan was told of them, but this was like the
involuntary miracle of Christ when a sick woman touched
the hem of his garment and was cured. It was the spontaneous
outflow of his infinite compassion. A child was in high
fever and said to his mother: “Don’t call a doctor, just tell
Bhagavan.” She told Bhagavan and next morning the child
was well; but there was no deliberate miracle, simply the
child’s faith and Bhagavan’s spontaneous compassion.
And yet, more often, the compassion worked not in
removing misfortunes but in giving peace in spite of them.
A woman bereaved of her husband, a father whose only
son had died, would come and pour out their tale of aguish
to him and he would say nothing but simply turn on them

his luminous eyes, shining with love and understanding, and
peace would fill their heart.
We, in our materialist age, have been blessed with a
ministration comparable only to that of a Buddha, a Christ, a
Sankara; and the measure of our materialism is indifference
that our world as a whole has shown. With all its talk of
ideals and causes, it has ignored the real blessedness of the
age as blindly as the Romans ignored Christ.
However, the teaching of Sri Ramana is, by its nature,
not intended to cause such an upheaval as that of Buddha or
Christ, for he did not come, as they did, to enunciate a new
doctrinal form. His purpose was to open up a new spiritual
path for men. Apart from his outpouring of Grace upon all
who turned to him, Bhagavan Sri Ramana had a definite
spiritual message for mankind. That message still continues
and is the reason why this article is necessary. It is more than
a message; it is a pathway to Beatitude.
The Sages have always agreed that the type of sadhana
suited to the Kali-Yuga is pre-eminently Nama-Japa, the
invocation of the Divine Name. They have agreed also that
the Jnana-Marga, the ‘direct path’ is not suited to the Kali-
Yuga. The task undertaken by Bhagavan Sri Ramana was
to reopen the Jnana-Marga to mankind. Throughout half a
century of teaching he constantly reiterated that this is the
best, the most direct and the surest path. “Self-enquiry is
the one infallible means, the only direct one, to realise the
unconditioned, absolute Being that you really are.” As I shall
show later, his leaving the body has not abrogated this boon
to mankind: and therefore, a brief description of the Jnana-
Marga as taught by him is here necessary.
He called it the path of vichara or self-enquiry. His
instructions were to sit in meditation, concentrating the
Consciousness on the Heart – not the physical heart on the
left, but the spiritual heart on the right side of the chest, and
at the same time to concentrate on the question: “Who am
I?” He was especially insistent on this supreme centre of

consciousness. The following is one of the simpler illustrations
that he gave of it.” When a school boy says ‘It is I that did the
sum’ or when he asks you ‘Shall I run and get the book for
you?’ does he point to the head that did the sum or to the legs
that will carry him to get you the book? No, in both cases his
finger is pointed quite naturally to the right side of the chest,
thus giving innocent expression to the profound truth that the
source of I-ness in him is there. It is an unerring intuition that
makes him refer to himself, to the Heart which is the Self, in
that way. The act is quite involuntary and universal, that is to
say it is the same in the case of every individual”.
He insisted that it is necessary to try, not to argue. “You
should try to have rather than to locate the experience. A man
need not find out where his eyes are situated when he wants
to see. The Heart is there, ever open to you if you care to
enter it, ever supporting all your movements even when you
are unaware.” After some practice this meditation awakens
a current of awareness, a consciousness of ‘I’ in the Heart
– not the ego-sense but a feeling of the essential ‘I’ who is
the universal Self – unaffected by good or ill fortune or by
sickness or health. This consciousness should be developed
by constant effort until it becomes more and more frequent
and finally a constant undertone to all the actions of life. Then
all that is needed is to refrain from interference by egoism
so that it may deepen into an ever-vaster peace beyond all
understanding until the moment when it will consume the ego
and remain as the abiding realisation of Self.
For a long time, this process requires stimulation by
the constant query “Who am I?” I am not this body which
changes but leaves me the same. Nor am I these thoughts
which pass through the mind and go out again, leaving me
the same. What then am I? If various thoughts come up
during meditation, do not get caught up by them and follow
them out, but look at them and ask; “Where did this thought
come from, and why and to whom?” And so, they pass away
and each thought leads back to the basic I-thought: and who
am I? It is of the very essence of the meditation that there
is no mental or verbal answer. There cannot be, since the
Self transcends thought and words. The answer is only the
awakening of the current of awareness, the sense of being, in
the Heart. And this awareness is neither physical nor mental,
though body and mind are both aware of it. It can no more
be described than hearing could be described to a deaf man.
If impure thoughts arise during meditation they are to be
looked at and dispelled in the same way, for in this way the
evil tendencies in one are discovered, seen and dissipated.
“All kinds of thoughts arise in meditation. That is only right,
for what lies hidden in you is brought out. Unless it rises up
how can it be destroyed?”
Every spiritual path requires both purity of living and
intensity of spiritual effort, and the vichara was given by
Bhagavan as a technique of pure and dispassionate living no
less than as a technique of meditation. If anything happens
to offend or flatter you: Who is injured, who is pleased or
angry, who am I? The word ‘frustration’ is much in vogue
nowadays, but who is frustrated?
So, by use of the vichara, the I-am-the doer illusion can
be destroyed and it is possible to take part in the life of the
world aloofly, without vanity or attachment, being, as St. Paul
said, “in the world but not of it.” Bhagavan represented it as
the bank cashier who handles lakhs of rupees unemotionally
and yet quite efficiently because he knows that it is not his
money. In the same impersonal way, a man can attend to all
the affairs of life, knowing that he, the real Self, is unaffected
by them; and every attack of greed, anger or desire can be
dispelled by the vichara. It must be dispelled, because it is
no use repeating that one is the Self and acting as though
one were the ego. Real, even partial, awareness of the Self
weakens egoism; egoism, whether expressed as vanity, greed
or desire, is a proof that recognition of the Self is merely
mental.
This twofold use of the vichara means that the perfect

Jnana-Marga which Sri Bhagavan brought to the world is
also perfect Karma-Marga.
What Bhagavan did, and what could not have been done
by any but Bhagavan himself, was to give mankind a type of
Sadhana that is peculiarly suited to our modern age. This new
dispensation goes even beyond the use of the vichara in the
relief it gives. It has always been obligatory to the sadhaka to
adhere strictly to the forms of his religion, whatever this might
be, and it has usually been preferable to withdraw from the
life of the world. But in the conditions of life in the modern
world both these obligations are often difficult and sometimes
impossible, and Bhagavan absolved those who followed him
from both. He never asked what religion any of his devotees
followed or whether they followed any formal religion at all.
He never encouraged any to profess Hinduism. He prescribed
vichara alike to all who asked him the way, whether Hindus
or of any other religion or of none. In fact, (and to this point
I shall return) by no means all his devotees practised the
vichara. Many basked in the glow of his love while making
some other sadhana or without making conscious sadhana.
His Grace was upon all alike. But for those who did practise
the vichara he held it natural for this to supersede all other
techniques of sadhana.
Also, he never encouraged any to give up life in the world.
He explained that it would only be exchanging the thought
“I am a householder” for the thought “I am a sannyasin”,
whereas what is necessary is to reject the thought “I am the
doer” completely and remember only “I am”; and this can
be done by means of the vichara as well in the city as in the
jungle. It is only inwardly that a man can leave the world
by leaving the ego-sense; it is only inwardly that he can
withdraw into solitude by abiding in the universal solitude of
the Heart, which is solitude only because there are no others,
however many forms the Self may assume.
This was Bhagavan’s purpose on earth; the opening of a

path that can be followed by the housewife, the bank clerk,
the ship’s engineer, as well as by the priest or the sannyasin.
Upadesa implies also diksha. Bhagavan was as categorical
as every other Spiritual Master that realisation is possible
only through a Guru. ‘‘It is impossible except at the feet of
the Master and in his divine Presence for the seeker to reach
and abide in that true and primal state of pure being, or the
Self, wherein the mind is entirely subdued and all its activity
has completely ceased. Although he admits that in very rare
cases no outer Guru may be necessary: ‘‘It is very seldom
that a person can realise his true Being without the Grace
of the Master.” When it was objected to him once that he
himself had no Guru, he replied simply: “The Guru need not
necessarily take human form.”
And yet Bhagavan himself did not give initiation in the
usual way. When asked whether he was a Guru and gave
initiation he always avoided a direct reply. Had the reply
been ‘no’ he would most certainly have said ‘no’. But had
he said ‘yes’ he would immediately have been besieged by
demands for initiation and would have been driven to make
a distinction between disciples and devotees, between those
who were drawn to the sadhana of the vichara and those who
were drawn to him simply by love and devotion. And his
compassionate love was too great and his wisdom too shrewd
to act in a way that would lead some to think that he ranked
them higher than others. Indeed, he did not, since he saw the
Self in all.
When asked whether he gave initiation, Bhagavan’s
most usual reply was that there are three types of initiation,
by speech, by look and by silence. This left the burden of
understanding upon the enquirer. It is an old tradition, the
three types being symbolised by the bird, which needs to sit
on its eggs in order to hatch them, the fish, which needs only
to look at them, and the tortoise, which needs only to think
of them. Initiation by look or silence is most natural to the

Jnana-Marga.
‘Bhagavan gave initiation by look and by silence’.
Initiation by look was given to those who came to the
ashram and were drawn to the use of the vichara. It was a
concentrated piercing look which penetrated into the very
depths of a man’s being. It was frequently given at some time,
such as the chanting of the Vedas, when not many would be
aware of it. Only such as had experienced the same initiation
would be aware what was happening if they chanced to be
watching. Initiation by silence was given to those who turned
to Bhagavan for guidance but were unable to come physically
to Tiruvannamalai. And once there had been initiation the
spiritual guidance was precise, subtle and continuous, even
though with no word spoken.
This initiation by silence still continues and will continue.
This was the purpose of Bhagavan in living in human form
among us. He has made true for all mankind what was true
for him; that the Guru need not take human form. Christ
enunciated a universal law of Divine Mercy when he said that
whoever seeks will find; but in order to find it is necessary
to be reborn as the spiritual child of a Guru, and in our
materialistic age there are few genuine Gurus to be found.
Only the presence of Bhagavan on earth could atone for this
paucity of spiritual guidance and open a door to those who
seek.
Before speaking of the continuance of Bhagavan’s
mouna-diksha it is best to say something, though very briefly,
of the death of his body. For years this body had been tortured
by rheumatism. The knees were swollen and he walked stiff-
legged and with difficulty and had to give up his daily walks
on the sacred hill, Arunachala. Over a year ago a small tumor
appeared on the left elbow. It was cut out but returned worse
than before. Then it was recognized as serious. Various kinds
of treatment were given, and Bhagavan submitted to whatever
was prescribed. Three more times it was cut out, and after
each operation it returned worse and higher up. Already in

December the doctors said they could do no more. The tumor,
after four operations, had reached the shoulder and gone
inwards. The doctors said that the pain must be excruciating,
though Bhagavan seldom gave any sign that he was suffering.
The whole system was poisoned, and the last months were
one long martyrdom. And yet to the last he insisted that all
those who came to him should receive darshan twice a day,
walking past the room where he lay. At the very end, when
every touch was agony, he ordered the attendants to raise him
to a sitting posture, and he died sitting.
This long agony was not his karma. It was our karma that
he took on himself. The astrologers had seen nothing in his
horoscope to indicate that he should die this year, because it
was not his karma. A lady devotee went to him and implored
him to give her the sickness, and he replied: “And who gave
it to me?” We did, as surely as though we had crucified him,
for it was our karma that he took on himself.
A few days before the end of the body he said “They say
that I am dying but I shall be more alive here than before.”
That is why it needs to be proclaimed now that Bhagavan is
still here and the doorway opened by him is still open.
Many years ago, when Bhagavan was still living in a cave
on the hill, some sadhus came and asked him for a devotional
hymn to help them in their sadhana. He walked round the hill
with them, and as he walked he composed the supreme hymn
‘Arunachala-Siva’, tears streaming from his eyes as he sang
it. It has always been the great emotional inspiration of the
devotees. Arunachala was his Guru. As soon as he had realised
the Self he came to Arunachala and he remained there ever
after. He allowed it to be known that he is Arunachala. As
he was dying a group of devotees sat outside the little room
singing ‘Arunachala-Siva’. And that night, when the body that
Bhagavan had used and now relinquished was exposed to the
view of the devotees in the great hall of the ashram, they sang
spontaneously and for the first time ‘Ramana-Arunachala’.
He is Arunachala. He will be more alive at Tiruvannamalai-

Arunachala than ever. A shrine or temple is to be raised over
his samadhi which, like his Grace, will be open to devotees of
all religions. But although he is Arunachala-Tiruvannamalai
and, as he said, more alive “here,” at Tiruvannamalai, than
before, he is spaceless Arunachala-Siva and will live in
the heart of every devotee who turns to him, initiating and
guiding even more actively than before, as he himself said;
not “as alive” but “more alive” than before. The pathway that
he opened for mankind was not for the duration of his body
only; it will grow more evident and his support and guidance
more potent now that the restriction of a body had been shed.
85. Sri Ramana and Arunachala*
T he relationship between Sri Ramana and Arunachala is

a grand mystery. To view it from our level ascribing an
individuality to both, it was surely antenatal and supramundane.
In terms of human relationship, it was that of son and father.
That is why Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni has described Sri
Ramana as the human incarnation of God Skanda the Son of
the Supreme Lord Siva.
It is commonly supposed that Sri Ramana heard the
first mention of ARUNACHALA from a relative who just
returned from Tiruvannamalai to Madurai, and that the
hearing of the name sent a thrill through Sri Ramana’s veins.
Sri Bhagavan himself told this writer that this version was
somewhat erroneous. Even from childhood, he had been
hearing the Sanskrit verse that “the mere remembrance of
ARUNACHALA confers Mukti (salvation)”. But he had
no definite notion of what ARUNACHALA meant. He had
a vague idea that ARUNACHALA might be some holiest
form of God Almighty. When his relative casually said that
* G.V. Subbaramayya, M.A. (Hons.), The Call Divine, June 1955.

he returned from Arunachala, the very thought that a mortal

could come from that Supreme Being was to him a thrilling
revelation. When the visitor further explained that ‘Arunachala’
was only Tiruvannamalai which the boy had already known
as the name of a place, it had the effect of anticlimax. It was
like a fall from the sublime to the ludicrous, and the thrill at
once subsided.
With the death-like trance which instantly snapped the
thread of the ego and gave him Self-Realisation, there arose in
the person of Sri Ramana an unaccountable pang which grew
in time till it became unbearable agony. It created an aversion
in him to his school lessons and other routine activities. It
inclined him to study the lives of saints, to visit the temple
of Meenakshi nearby and pray for Divine Grace and to sit
still in Samadhi (Self-absorption) every now and then. Thus
it transformed the nature of the boy Ramana completely and
it finally disappeared only when he entered the sanctum-
sanctorum of the great shrine at Tiruvannamalai and beheld
the ‘Lingam’ of Arunachala.
When his elder brother noticed him sitting in Samadhi
before his books and rebuked him saying. “Why should
one who behaves thus retain all this?’’, the thought of
ARUNACHALA at once flashed upon his mind and gripped
his entire being, “Yes, I must no longer be here ‘cabined,
cribbed, confined’. ARUNACHALA is calling. He shall be
my heaven, my home.” This resolve that now shaped itself
within the boy’s mind, became all-absorbing. It determined
and carried out his secret flight from Madurai without any
initiative of his own. It dictated his parting letter to his
brother. ‘I have in search of my Father and in obedience to His
command, started from here”. That was why the letter was left
unsigned. Every circumstance favoured his ‘enterprise’. The
extra class, the train’s delay, the strange Moulvi’s direction to
change at Villupuram, free feeding on the way, Muthukrishna
Bhagavatar’s loan; these and other incidents prove beyond
doubt the hand of Arunachala holding and drawing the little
one to Himself. When he arrived at the holy shrine, the gates

of the three compound walls and all the inner doors were
open at an unusual hour in the early morning and there was
no one inside. It was clear that Arunachala Himself had thus
prepared to welcome His beloved boy. Entering the Holy
Presence, Sri Ramana reported himself, saying, “O Father, I
have obeyed Your call and come leaving off everything.
The most notable event of Sri Ramana’s journey was
his vision of dazzling light (Tejo Darshan) at Arayaninallur.
It was the very spot where Saint Jnanasambhandhar had
experienced a similar vision on his pilgrimage to Arunachala.
Thus both Jnanasambandbar and Ramana had their first
glimpse of ARUNACHALA, the far-famed Tejolingam (the
sign of Light) at the identical place. So Kavyakantha has sung
that Jnanasambandhar and Ramana are both reincarnations of
God Skanda.
All the rest of Sri Ramana’s life for four and fifty years
was spent in Arunachala alone. Within the temple-compound,
in the outskirts of the town, up the Hill and down the Hill, he
dwelt throughout his life. Never once – not even during the
times when the place was declared dangerous on account of
epidemics did he stray away from the environs of Arunachala.
The very thought of leaving Arunachala never seems to have
occurred to him. From his mother down to a casual visitor, so
many people attempted to induce him to go elsewhere.
His written reply to his mother’s entreaties was typical
and significant: “Whatever is destined not to happen will
never happen, try how hard you may. Whatever is destined to
happen must happen, do what you may to prevent it.” In other
words, He declared that Arunachala and he were destined to
be inseparable.
One evening, Sri Ramana related to this writer and others
seated around him, how in his vision Arunachala appeared
a citadel of Heaven full of shrines and gods. One morning,
when Sri Ramana delayed to return from his constitutional
and this writer with another devotee went up and met him,
he said smiling, ‘‘As the weather is fine, I have been strolling

here. This Hill is like my own home. Whenever I am in
Arunachala, I forget myself.”
While relating the glories of Arunachala he would indeed
forget himself. The story of Arunachala was his favourite
theme. He often used to say that, while all other sacred hills
and shrines were but the abodes of various Gods, Arunachala
is the Supreme God Himself and that going round Arunachala
is the direct worship of God Almighty. Once, in the old Hall,
they were reciting Kavyakantha’s “Forty verses in praise of
Sri Ramana”, one of which extols the unique good fortune
of Arunachala for being the chosen abode of Sri Ramana
and attributes it to the accumulated merit of providing home
for so many sages. On hearing this, Sri Ramana smiled and
asked, “But by what merit did Arunachala provide home for
those sages?” By this question Sri Ramana meant obviously
to emphasise the fact that Arunachala is the Supreme God
and naturally therefore drew to Himself Sri Ramana as well
as all those sages of yore.
“The Five Hymns to Arunachala “are the ‘magnum opus’
of Sri Ramana in devotional, lyric poetry. Of them the first
is Aksharamanamalai (the Marital Garland of Letters). It was
composed by young Ramana in response to the request of a
devotee for a song to be sung while wandering in the town
for Bhiksha (holy alms). It is an acrostic of one hundred and
eight couplets with the initial letters in the alphabetical order,
and with a popular refrain. It unfolds an allegorical love-
story and depicts the ‘Madhura Bhava’ (erotic sentiment)
of devotion. Arunachala is the lover and the singer is the
beloved. The lover made secret love to the beloved while she
was in her paternal home. At the mere thought of his name,
he stole her heart. He eloped with her stealthily and brought
her here. While She is now harassed by so many enemies,
he remains unmoved as a mountain. She remonstrates and
complains of her lover’s neglect and indifference.
“Having entered my home and lured me to yours, why

do you keep me prisoner in your cavern?... Having seduced
and ravished me, if you deny me union and abandon me now,
would it be chivalry? Nay, such desertion will be a memorial
column of shame for you…Having called me and lured me
here, it is writ large in your forehead to look after my well-
being… If you will not unite with me, I shall be melting away
in tears of anguish... Pray rain your mercy on me else your
fire consumes me to ashes.”
So runs her love-plaint. Then for her harsh words of
remonstrance, she apologises to her lover and prays for the
bliss of complete Union and merging. “Pray close me in, limb
to limb, body to body, or I am lost… Let us embrace one in
the Real Self on the soft flower-bed of the Mind… Come and
sport with me in the open space of the Heart where there is
neither night nor day… May I be absorbed into you as food
is assimilated into the feeder.”
At last the prayer is fulfilled. The love is consummated in
marriage, and with the bride’s invocation to the bridegroom,
“O Lord Arunachala, throw around me your garland and
let me place on your breast this garland strung by me”, the
song concludes. In this poem, Arunachala is described and
addressed in the most fascinating terms. Arunachala is ‘the
real meaning of OM unexcelled, unparalleled’, ‘the magnet
that attracts the iron filings of devotees and holds them fast’,
‘the Ocean of Grace in the mould of a mountain’, ‘the gem
of fire sparkling all round’, ‘the treasure of Divine Grace
got without seeking‘, ‘the elixir of all life’s ills’ ‘the spider
whose spreading web entices into its meshes and devours
all egos, ‘the wizard who exercises the ghost of the ego and
then himself possesses the being’, ‘the mountain-drug for all
madness’, ‘the undifferentiated effulgence of final knowledge
in Vedanta’.
The word ‘Arul’ (Grace) occurs in nearly every stanza,
so that the whole song may be called a rhapsody of Grace.
This love-lyric is indeed an allegory of Sri Ramana’s own
life-story and so is full of autobiographical interest. The

initial mention of ‘Azhagu’ and ‘Sundaram’ the parents of Sri
Ramana, strikes the keynote to the personal strain running
throughout the song. Like the sonnets of Shakespeare, it
furnishes the key to unlock the treasures of the poet’s heart.
While sounding the depths of philosophical wisdom, this
song stirs the tenderest chords of human heart and makes the
most daring flights of lore-romance in the spiritual firmament.
It was and is sung on all auspicious occasions in the Ashram.
Though Sri Ramana always declined to be drawn into
a discussion of its diverse interpretations, he would sit up
in a trance of ecstasy whenever it was sung. Just before Sri
Ramana’s Maha Nirvana, this hymn was being sung in chorus
by the devotees who assembled outside his room. Sri Ramana
opened his eyes, looked at the direction from where the
voices came, and then as he closed his eyes, tears of ecstasy
gushed from their outer edges and he breathed his last. So
this song into which Sri Ramana had breathed the essence of
his Divine Spirit became appropriately the background music
to his life’s finale, like the glow of mellow light around the
Setting sun.
Next in chronological order comes ‘Navamanimalai’ (The
Garland of Nine Gems). This is a collection of nine casual
verses in various metres. Its underlying sentiment is also love
and devotion to Arunachala. It explains at the outset the idea
of ‘Achala Tandavam’ (motionless dance) of the Lord. He is
static and dynamic at the same time. The glorious Source that
absorbs and transcends both the aspects is this Arunachala.
The verbal root-meaning of A-ru-na is also set forth. It means
respectively either Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being-Knowledge-
Bliss), or the Supreme Self-the individual Self-their identity,
or That-Thou-Art. ‘Achala’ means the Great One. That is why
the mere recollection of the name ‘Arunachala’ confers Mukti
instantly. The rest of the poem is a call to complete self-
surrender and a moving prayer for forgiveness of faults and
for deliverance. It is impossible to ford the sea of samsara
and get up on the shore unless Arunachala, out of his more

than maternal love, stretches forth His hand of Grace. This
song is also autobiographical. It relates how Sri Ramana was
born of virtuous Sundaram and Azhagu in sacred Tiruchuzhi
and was rescued from the coils of Ignorance even in early
years and raised by Arunachala to his own seat. The poem is
in short, a paean of praise and thanksgiving.
The next hymn is Arunachala Padikam (The Ten Verses
on Arunachala). It really consists of one invocatory verse
and ten stanzas, all in the same metre. It observes the rule of
‘Mukta-Pada-Grastam’, that is to say: the last word of each
verse is repeated as the first word of the next verse, so that
the whole poem reads like a chain of ‘linked sweetness long
drawn out’. It is also a devotional love lyric and is fall of
autobiographical interest.
Arunachala, the lover, has stolen the guileless singer
in early youth for thinking of Him but once, and having
drawn the beloved to His Feet and keeping her long like a
frog amidst the lotus stalks, is slowly consuming her (ego).
The singer surrenders to the will of her Lord and prays for
completing the process of devouring and for changing the
frog into a bee that tastes the honey of the lotus-blossom.
The song concludes with a warning and an appeal. It warns
the worldly-wise saying, “ Lo! I have newly discovered a
magnet-mountain that attracts all beings who think of it even
once, makes them still like itself and preys upon their sweet
lives (egos). That magnet-mountain is Arunachala. So beware
and keep off’’.
At the same time, the singer makes a clarion call to all
kindred spirits who have renounced the worldly life in quest
of the means of deliverance. The singer shouts, “Here is the
panacea, the sovereign remedy, the wonder-drug for all the
distractions and ills of life. If you merely think of it but once,
it cures you. It kills without killing. It kills the ego without
killing the Self. Many have been thus saved like me. It is
none other than Arunachala. You, all afflicted beings, know

this and be saved.”
The next and grandest hymn is Arunachala Ashtakam
(The Eight Verses on Arunachala). Sri Ramana himself
related how it was composed in the course of a walk round
the sacred Hill. All of a sudden, the first word of the hymn
flashed into his mind and with an irresistible urge composed
itself into the first stanza. Then the last word of the stanza
lingered in the mind and clamoured for further expansion
into the second stanza. The same process was repeated in the
other stanzas, and at the end of the eighth stanza the urge
for expression automatically ceased. But the stanzas are of
uniform metre and observe the rule of ‘Mukta-pada-grastam’
like the previous hymn.
This hymn is a masterpiece of philosophical poetry in
which both thought and style reach their high water mark.
For its superb symphony, it is a universal favourite among
music-lovers. It is also autobiographical and reveals the
mysterious association of Arunachala with Sri Ramana from
childhood and the part played by Arunachala in his process
of Self-Realisation. Arunachala is the Real Self that manifests
Itself when the ego-mind traced back through Self-enquiry
merges in its Source. This song is distinguished for the daring
originality of its thought and imagery:
“To search for the essential Inner truth of Thyself
(Arunachala) is like going round the earth to see the sky. It is
like the sugar-doll diving to measure the depth of the ocean.”
“To quest for God elsewhere turning away from Thyself
(Arunachala) is like searching for darkness with a light.”
“Those who fail to visualise the one, matchless,
resplendent diamond of Arunachala are like the blind that
cannot see the sun before them.”
“The mind that has contacted Thee (Arunachala) and
is sparkling itself like a cut or polished gem wilt not need
another light to kindle it, just as a sensitive plate exposed to
the sun will not take on impressions afterwards.”
“A mysterious Sakti (Power) in Thee (Arunachala) which

however is not apart from Thyself, illumines with the reflection
of Thy pure Light the latent, subtle dark mists which then
manifest within as thoughts whirling in the rolls of Prarabdha
(Past Karma), and are projected without across the lens of the
mind and the outgoing senses as the passing world-picture
upon the unchanging screen of Thyself (Arunachala).”
“Whoso dives within for tracing the source of the I –
thought and attains the seat of the Heart (Arunachala) becomes
at once the sole Monarch of monarchs and transcends all
in and out, vice and virtue, birth and death, happiness and
misery, light and darkness and other dreamy dualities.”
“Just as the waters rising from the sea as vapour and
coming down as rain, must flow back into the sea in spite of
all obstacles, just as a bird soaring into the sky and fatigued,
must needs return to the earth for rest, so every being must
finally retrace its way to the Source and merge in Thee,
Thou Ocean of Bliss, O Arunachala.” It will be seen that
in the above passages the poet makes use of irony and of
metaphors called from Nature and from arts and science such
as photography and cinema. This is all the more remarkable
as Sri Ramana had never handled a camera nor had he ever
been to a cinema-show.
The last and the most famous hymn is the one entitled
‘Arunachala Pancharatnam’ (Five Gems to Arunachala).
While the other four hymns were Tamil compositions, this one
was composed by Sri Ramana in Sanskrit, at the request of
Kavyakantha, to serve as an introduction to ‘Sri Ramana Gita’.
It was later rendered into Tamil by the author himself. It has
become the daily prayer of all devotees. These ‘Five Gems’
have been praised by Kavyakantha saying that they ‘contain
the quintessence of the whole Vedanta, and though terse and
brief are all-comprehensive like ‘Sutras’ (aphorisms).’
As Sri Ramana never studied Sanskrit, how he could
compose this Sanskrit classic is a wonder which can only
be explained on the ground that he had realised ‘THAT by
knowing which everything else is known.’ As to the Maharshis

of yore, so too to Sri Ramana Maharshi, the usual order of
thought and speech was reversed. Words flashed first, and
their sense followed next. In their depiction of Arunachala
as ‘Sarvatma’ (the Universal Self) these ‘five gems’ resemble
the famous ‘Dakshinamurti Ashtakam’. The opening stanza
invokes Arunachala as ‘Nectareous Ocean full of grace by
whose splendour the entire Universe is engulfed’ and it
prays to Him, the Supreme Soul, ‘to be the Sun for the full
blossoming of the lotus-mind’.
The second stanza explains Arunachala as ‘Swaroopa’
(the Source) in whom ‘all this panorama arises ‘exists and
dissolves’. It further explains how Arunachala manifests in
the Heart as ‘I’ the Self and so is Himself named the Heart.
The third stanza describes the path of ‘Jnana’ (Self-Enquiry)
and how on knowing one’s Self one merges in Arunachala
as the river in the ocean. The fourth stanza unfolds the path
of Yoga (Meditation): ‘The Yogi with controlled breath and
concentrated mind, meditating on Thee within, beholds in
Thee O Arunachala‘” Thy Light Transcendent”. The final
stanza depicts both the paths of ‘Bhakti’ (Devotion) and
‘Karma’(Action). The devotee who with dedicated mind
beholds Arunachala alone or the man of action whoever
reverentially serves all as the form of Arunachala shines
immersed in the Bliss of Arunachala. So this hymn within
a brief compass is all-comprehensive and stands out as the
most glorious monument of Sri Ramana’s relationship to
Arunachala.
This mysterious relationship was most impressively
demonstrated by the celestial phenomenon at the time of Sri
Ramana’s Maha Nirvana. At that very moment, a brilliant
light in the shape of a huge star emanated in the south-east
corner of the horizon and trailing majestically across the sky,
seemed to merge in the highest peak of Arunachala. This was
witnessed by so many people outside. It was to all mortals an
ocular, heavenly revelation of the Life-Light of Sri Ramana
ascending and merging in the Universal Light of the Supreme

Self that is Arunachala. Indeed, Sri Ramana was Arunachala’s
Self in human shape incarnate; and Arunachala is Sri Ramana
himself in mountain-mould. In essence, both Sri Ramana and
Arunachala are one and the same, that is, the Supreme Self.
86. Saviour*
S ometimes the Lord Himself appears as guru, as He did of

yore in the form of Dakshinamurti and in our own age in
the person of Sri Ramana, who too taught through silence. On
one occasion, however, Bhagavan gave a mantra directly to
a devotee. And this was as extraordinary as it was touching
since the recipient was an ‘untouchable’ and illiterate!
Not daring to enter the Hall or speak to Bhagavan, this
humble devotee had put a picture of Bhagavan on a string
round his neck which he used to hold in his hand and gaze at
while he circumambulated the Ashram. One day, as he neared
the entrance gate of the Hall, he saw Bhagavan coming out and
fell prostrate at His feet. Bhagavan stopped and the devotee
prayed with tears in his eyes “Save me!” Bhagavan looked
with great compassion on the poor man who obviously would
not be able to meditate or follow a ritualistic path of worship,
and uttered the words: “Go on saying, ‘Siva, Siva’. That will
save you.”
As a rule, Bhagavan advised seekers to go beyond puja
and japa, ritual and mantra, and to trace all back to the
source. But on this occasion, he made a grand exception, and
taught a simple mantra straight and clear. And what he taught
was a mantra highly praised by masters, like Tirumular and
Thayumanavar, as it spells out and stands for the oneness of
‘Si’ and ‘va’, of Brahman and jiva, of Being and Awareness.
* Sadhu Natanananda, The Mountain Path, April 1972.

87. The Term Hridaya

Sri T. K. Sundaresa Iyer was one among the few
who had the privilege of not being addressed by
Bhagavan in honorific terms: He fondly addressed
him as ‘Sundaresa’ or ‘Sundaram’. However, he was
known popularly only as TKS in the Ashram. His
erudition in Vedantic literature was deep; he was
proficient in Sanskrit, Tamil and English. So, he aptly
fitted in to act as an interpreter to Sri Bhagavan,
though most of his time he spent in the Ashram office
attending to correspondence. Of course, in this also
he was blessed because he had to show the letters to
Bhagavan and get hints from Him while answering
certain letters...
“A staunch devotee living in England, Harry Dickman was

soaked in Sri Bhagavan’s teachings, though he could
not have His darshan. He wrote asking for an explanation
as to the term ‘Hridayam’ and its significance. I got from
Bhagavan hints on how the reply should be formed. The
following is the gist of the reply, which was approved by
Bhagavan and sent to Harry Dickman:” – T. K. Sundaresa Iyer
Just as there is a cosmic centre from which the whole
universe arises and has its being and functions with the power
or the directing energy emanating therefrom, so also is there
a centre within the frame of the physical body wherein we
have our being. This centre in the human body is in no way
different from the cosmic centre. It is this centre in us that is
called the Hridaya, the seat of Pure Consciousness, realised
as Existence, Knowledge and Bliss. This is really what we
call the seat of God in us.
It is this Hridaya that is said to be different from the
physical heart, regulating the blood circulation. The Hridaya
has its being on the right side and is not commonly known
or felt. The primary thought in us arising as ‘I,’ when traced
to its source, ends somewhere in us and this place, where

all thoughts die, where the ego has vanished, is the Hridaya.
From this centre is felt and enjoyed the Pure Consciousness.
Hridaya described as ‘the literal, actual, physical seat
of the intuition of the Self’ has the meaning explained
above. Perhaps the words ‘physical seat’ may create some
confusion. What it really means is that there is a centre of
Pure Consciousness in the physical body. It is related to the
physical but is not itself physical.
The word Hridaya is a composite of hrid and ayam –
“centre, this”. It is the centre on the right which we reach
as a result of meditation. From the Hridaya, consciousness
arises to the sahasrara through the sushumna and from there
spreads out to all the parts of the body through the several
‘nadis’. Then alone we become conscious of the objects
around us. Man, due to the illusion that these have real
existence, experiences suffering, as he strays far away from
his Self. The seat from where all these arise and manifest is
the Hridaya.
Whether in sleep, joy, sorrow, fear or satisfaction,
we return to this Heart and that is why we feel lost to all
consciousness of things around. If by meditation or Vichara
we attain to our centre, the Hridaya, and thus our real Self,
we will enjoy unalloyed bliss.
In the course of tracing ourselves back to our source,
when all thoughts have vanished, there arises a throb from
the Hridaya on the right, manifesting as ‘Aham’ ‘Aham’. This
is the sign that Pure Consciousness is beginning to reveal
itself. But that is not the end in itself. Watch wherefrom
this sphurana (throbbing) arises and wait attentively and
continually for the revelation of the Self. Then comes the
awareness, oneness of existence.
When we steady our breath, we feel the steadying of our
thoughts. Then the thoughts turn inward and melt away at a
point. Watching this point, where the thoughts vanish, will
also help us to merge ourselves in the Hridaya.
88. Some Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi*
S ometimes in life there is a clash between two competing

obligations, especially if both seem to be equally
important. At such times it is rather difficult to arrive at the
right decision. It has been my experience that at such times
our gracious Master leads us to the proper decision. I will
give an example from my own life.
At one time I felt that my political duty as a Gandhian
demanded that I should court arrest, but my domestic duties
bade me otherwise. As I was eager to go to jail as part of
the independence struggle, it pained me that, out of regard
for my family, I was not able to do so. I found myself in
a dilemma and I could not of my own accord see the way
out. The situation was so unbearable for me that I had to
turn to the Master for help and relief. I therefore set out for
Tiruvannamalai.
After reaching there I went and sat in the holy presence of
the Master. While I was sitting there I began to wonder how
I should place my difficulty before him because I did not feel
like broaching the subject verbally. I finally decided to pour
forth my prayer from my heart in silence in the form of a plea
for Sri Bhagavan to extend his benign help to me. I began to
pray and while I concentrated on my mental plea I watched
his radiant face and his sparkling eyes, which were full of
love and kindness. And then, astonishingly, something like
a miracle began to happen. Sri Bhagavan’s face transformed
itself into that of Mahatma Gandhiji, while his body remained
the same. As I stared at it with awe and wonder, the two faces,
those of Sri Bhagavan and Gandhiji, began to appear to me
alternately in quick succession. I felt my heart filling with joy
and yet at the same time I was wondering whether what I saw
was real or not. I turned my eyes away from Sri Bhagavan
and looked around me to see if others were seeing what I
* C.V. Yogi, The Maharshi, January 1994.

saw. Seeing no sign of wonder on their faces, I concluded that

what I saw was a picture from my own imagination. I closed
my eyes and sat quietly for some time. Then, as I began
again to look at Sri Bhagavan’s face, the vision immediately
reappeared, but this time with a slight change. In addition to
the two faces of Sri Bhagavan and Gandhiji, those of Krishna,
Buddha, Kabir, Ramdas and a host of other saints began to
show themselves in quick succession. Now all my doubts
vanished and I began to enjoy this grand and divine show.
The vision lasted about five minutes. My mind dropped all its
worries and I found myself able to hand over my problem to
the capable hands of the Master. Though he spoke no words
to me, it came to pass that the problem was solved without
infringing either of my two duties. In fact, both duties were
fulfilled satisfactorily.
I had another vision of Sri Bhagavan in 1943. During
my visit to Sri Ramanasramam that year, I visited the temple
of Sri Arunachaleswara with my family and a friend who
was a devotee from Madurai. This is the main temple in
Tiruvannamalai, the same one which Sri Bhagavan stayed in
when he first arrived here.
While we were walking through the spacious courtyards
towards the sanctum sanctorum, I did not have any inkling of
the wonderful experience I was to pass through when I finally
saw the deity.
On reaching the innermost shrine we discovered that we
were early, for the doors of the shrine had not been opened.
We decided to wait there till someone came to unlock them.
I leaned back against a pillar and began to think about
Bhagavan’s early life. Suddenly my thoughts started to
materialise physically as scenes from his early life began to
appear before my eyes as vividly as if I were watching a
cinema film.
I saw very clearly Venkataraman writing the imposition
in his uncle’s house in Madurai. Leaving it aside, he sits
bolt upright, closes his eyes and becomes absorbed in the
more congenial practice of Self-absorption. His elder brother

Nagaswami is watching him and rebukes him for neglecting
his lessons. Venkataraman then decides to leave the house. He
takes three rupees from his brother’s college fees and departs
after leaving a short note. He reaches the railway station. He
buys a ticket to Tindivanam, gets into the train and sits quietly
in one corner. A moulvi who is discoursing to other passengers
notices him and asks him where he is going…Scene by scene,
I was enjoying this wonderful divine vision when the doors
of the shrine opened and my vision was interrupted by the
loud blowing of pipes and beating of drums. The people who
were waiting with us stood up to get the Lord’s darshan. I
too mechanically stood up with the others. After this short
interruption, my vision continued. Though the idol of Sri
Arunachaleswara was before my eyes, I could clearly see
Venkataraman getting out of the train at the Tiruvannamalai
station. He then ran towards the temple. As he was coming
nearer and nearer, the noisy music rose to a higher and higher
pitch. Venkataraman entered the temple, ran to the shrine and
embraced the lingam with both his hands. My feelings were
ecstatic. My whole body experienced a divine thrill and tears
of joy rolled down my cheeks. This state of sublime joy lasted
a long time and was both indescribable and unforgettable.
One day an old lady came into the hall at Sri
Ramanasramam. After prostrating to Sri Bhagavan she placed
a slip of paper in his hands. I guessed that it contained a prayer
or doubt of some kind because it was the custom of many
devotees to offer their prayers or place their doubts before Sri
Bhagavan in this manner. However, in this particular case, it
turned out to be quite a different matter.
This old woman lived in town in a dilapidated temple
and she needed money to repair it. With this purpose in mind
she had got someone to prepare a draft of an appeal for funds.
In order to collect the required amount more easily, she had
hit upon the idea of having the appeal signed by eminent
persons of the town. She had come to the ashram because she
wanted Sri Bhagavan’s signature at the top of the appeal. This

was the piece of paper which she had presented to him. Sri
Bhagavan read it and then returned it to her without uttering
a single word.
“My work will be done if you will only put your signature
on this appeal,” the old lady said, urging him to sign.
Sri Bhagavan replied by saying, “It is well known that
I never sign anything.” She would not accept his refusal.
Repeatedly she pressed him to sign, but she could not make
him change his decision.
Finally, Sri Bhagavan told her, “Yes, yes, you want me
to sign your appeal, but how can one sign who has no name?
What name will one sign?”
The old woman was puzzled. What did Sri Bhagavan
mean by saying that he had no name? Was not his name Sri
Ramana Maharshi? Since everyone knew him by that name,
why could he not write these three words on her paper?
Because she could not understand the significance of Sri
Bhagavan’s reply, she persisted in pleading with him to sign.
Sri Bhagavan remained unmoved and kept silent. After some
time, the old woman gave up her attempts and left the hall,
without, of course, having obtained Sri Bhagavan’s signature.
Sri Bhagavan’s language was that of silence. The speech
delivered through this medium was full of miraculous potency,
as the following anecdote reveals.
When he was staying in Virupaksha Cave, a District
Collector and a Deputy Collector came there for his darshan.
After prostrating to Sri Bhagavan, the District Collector
began to speak, narrating at length all the sadhanas he had
done and all the spiritual literature he had read. At the end
of his speech he confessed that in spite of all these activities
peace was as far from him now as it had ever been.
As soon as he had finished, the Deputy Collector began
to tell his own story, which was equally long. These two
speeches took quite a long time to deliver, but Sri Bhagavan
did not interrupt them even once. He continued to remain in

silence even after the speeches had ended.
The senior Collector gave up waiting for a reply and
delivered yet another long speech. Sri Bhagavan listened in
silence and continued to remain in silence when the speech
was over.
The officer, not surprisingly, was a little put out by Sri
Bhagavan’s unresponsiveness. He said in an aggrieved tone
of voice, “We have been speaking to you for a long time, but
you don’t open your mouth at all. Please tell us something.
Anything, however brief, will do.”
Sri Bhagavan finally spoke to them saying, “All this time
I have been speaking in my own language. What can I do if
you won’t listen to it?”
The Collector was an intelligent man, well versed in
spiritual matters. He caught the meaning of Sri Bhagavan’s
cryptic reply. Suddenly overpowered with devotion, he fell
down at the feet of Sri Bhagavan and chanted a Sanskrit verse
from Sankaracharya’s Sri Dakshinamurti Stotra:
“Look at the wonder under the banyan tree! While the
disciples are old and grey-haired, the teacher is a blooming
youth. And though the Master’s speech is simple silence, the
doubts of the disciples are all resolved!”
Both of the visitors then abandoned their speeches and
questions, preferring instead to sit before Sri Bhagavan in
silent meditation. They got the peace they had come looking
for and departed fully satisfied.
89. The Silence of Bhagavan*
J ust as with Dakshinamurti, that illustrious ancient Sage,

the word ‘Silence’ is inextricably linked with the name
of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. For those of Bhagavan’s
devotees, who had the requisite depth and maturity, His Silence
was all-in-all and meant much more than any words which
were spoken. But for the vast majority of average seekers and
devotees, the Silence of Masters such as Ramana Maharshi
and Dakshinamurti, is something which is way beyond their
comprehension; something very esoteric or mysterious. Just
as a diamond is a precious jewel with numerous facets, which
are not apparent to the naked eye, but are clearly seen under
a magnifying glass, so the Silence of Bhagavan is a gem of
the rarest and most precious kind, and this article sets out to
magnify and reveal its many hidden dimensions, unknown to
most seekers and devotees.
Firstly, the Silence of Bhagavan is explored from the
standpoint of Jnana or knowledge. It is a basic truth that words
or language are part and parcel of relativity or the realm of
‘maya’; a means of conveying or expressing things which are
on the relative level. Language is a tool of the intellect which
can operate only on the plane of ordinary understanding, and
not on the plane of mystical experience. And it is the very aim
of all mysticism or spirituality to make the seeker transcend
his or her intellect or ordinary understanding, so that he or
she can directly experience the Reality which is beyond all
words. So, it is obvious that words are useful only to a certain
extent. Words can point to the Truth but they cannot actually
take seekers to the experience of that State, where words
cannot reach. But Silence is much superior to words, in as
much as Silence has the power to suck seekers into the Heart,
the seat of Reality, where they effortlessly experience their
true spiritual nature.
* A Parsi Devotee, The Mountain Path, July 1984.

Moreover, words also pose a potential danger which is

very subtle, so subtle that most seekers can’t even recognise
it as a danger, viz. the trap of learning or intellectual
knowledge. Words are only a means to an end, and not an end
in themselves. The acquisition of mere knowledge without its
practical application is of no spiritual value. The writer has
found many instances of people who originally started out as
seekers and ended up as pseudo-pundits or pseudo-scholars,
with stuffed heads and empty hearts. Instead of using words
as a map to reach the destination of Perfection, they fell
victims to the lure of learning and were content to know
everything under the Spiritual sun rather than to experience
even a fraction of the truths pointed at by the words.
The great Masters are quite familiar with this very subtle
trap of intellectual knowledge, and as with Bhagavan, they try
to minimise the use of words as far as possible, so that their
disciples or devotees may not fall into this trap. And they
always try to steer their disciples and devotees away from
this trap by invariably answering questions very briefly and
also very directly, if at all they choose to speak. For instance,
whenever Bhagavan was asked any knotty theoretical or
philosophical questions, which were actually of no relevance
to the questioner, He would either remain silent or in few
words counter-question the questioner thus – ‘’Who is asking
these questions? Who wants to know all this? First find that
out.”
This approach of Bhagavan was indeed most direct
and effective but very few questioners could fully grasp its
profound implications. When Bhagavan remained silent, it
was not because He didn’t want to answer the questions, but
He knew that answering them wouldn’t help the questioner
practically. And if He answered five of them, in due course,
another ten would arise, and if He finished answering those,
still more would come up, and the questioning game would
go on endlessly. Questions and answers exist only on the
intellectual level and not on the plane of Reality or Spirit. His
Silence was aimed at stilling the questioning intellect, so that

the Reality ever-present in the questioner’s Heart was directly
experienced at first-hand by the questioner, and in that State,
all questioning would automatically cease.
Unknown to the seekers who sat at His feet, through the
medium of Silence, Bhagavan was giving them a taste of His
own exalted spiritual State. It was thus that we find some
recorded instances of people who came to Bhagavan with
long lists of questions. But after sitting in His presence for
some time, the lists remained in their pockets and not a single
question was asked. Indeed, it was impossible for them to ask
any question at all, when through His all-powerful Silence
Bhagavan had quietly elevated them from the ordinary
intellectual level to the dimension of Pure Spirit, where there
are neither questions nor answers.
When, in response to intricate philosophical questions,
He counter-questioned the questioner, as already mentioned
above, unknown to the questioners, that was a sure-fire device
meant to draw them inwards into the Heart or Source and to
put an end to their wandering in the mental maze of never-
ending questions and answers. These counter-questions of
Bhagavan were just a slight variation of His standard ‘Who
am I?’ technique. If the questioner tried to find out who was
asking the questions, who wanted to know all that then he
or she would discover that all questions and the desire to
know, originated from his or her apparent individuality or
personality. And when the questioner persisted in tracing this
elusive individuality or personality, it would slip back into its
Source, the Heart, and with the disappearance of the phantom
of individuality or personality, there would be no one left to
ask any questions and all questioning would come to an end
in the absence of the questioner.
Now, let us see another facet of the priceless jewel of
Silence emanating from Bhagavan. As some readers may
already know, Silence is one of the recognised ways of
transmitting what is technically termed as Grace, or, in simpler
words, the Master’s Love for His disciples and devotees.

The way of Silence is the most mysterious and yet the most
powerful way in which the Master’s influence is directly
transmitted to those who are with Him. The transmission
through Silence is not so well-known as the other ways of
look and speech and touch, as the way of Silence is possible
only for Masters of the highest order, like Bhagavan and
Dakshinamurti; those Masters whose so-called individuality
or imperfect human nature is reduced to ashes, allowing their
original perfect Divine nature to shine forth unobstructed.
As Silence transcends speech, it is actually impossible to
describe the way of Silence through words. But, even then, an
attempt is made here for the benefit of those who would like
to know more on this point. In terms of power, the power of
Silence is simply unequalled as compared to the other means
of look and speech and touch. The Master just sits in silence
and the disciple also does likewise. In the utter stillness of
silence, the Master’s perfect spiritual state is openly and
fully manifest without any physical or mental obstructions or
distractions. As the disciple attunes himself to the Master’s
Silence, an invisible direct connection is established between
the Heart of the Master and the Heart of the disciple. Through
this direct Heart-to-Heart channel, the Master’s Love or Grace
silently flows into the disciple’s Heart, and depending upon
the disciple’s receptivity and spiritual ripeness, he or she is
able to absorb more or less of it. The effect of this absorption
is experienced as an immeasurably transcendent Peace and
Bliss, and at this time, the disciple has an effortless taste of
the Master’s perfect spiritual State.
Now, finally, it is time to reveal the invisible factors
which are responsible for the Silence of perfected Masters
such as Bhagavan. But, please note that in this context, the
word Silence is not just used in its restricted sense to mean
silence in answer to questions, but Silence taken as a whole,
in its entirety, as an integral part and parcel of the Master’s
total image. The first factor which forms the very basis of this
Silence is the inexpressible nature of mystical experience.

By its very nature, mystical experience, especially Advaitic
experience, transcends all relativity and all intellectual ideas
and conceptions. So, how can words, which are within the
realm of relativity and intellect, ever express the nature of
such immeasurably transcendent experience?
In this connection, there is a well-known Upanishadic
story which beautifully illustrates the truth stated above. Once,
a man sent his elder and younger son to a spiritual preceptor
for spiritual instruction. After the period of training was over,
both the sons returned to their father’s house. And their father
asked them – “Well, my sons, now that you have mastered
our ancient spiritual heritage, I would like to know from both
of you as to the nature of Brahman, the ultimate Reality”.
The elder son was the first to answer his father, and in reply
he quoted extensively from various scriptures to describe the
nature of Brahman. After he had finished speaking, the father
turned to his younger son. This boy just stood quietly in front
of his father and didn’t utter even a single word, as it he was
struck dumb. The father rejoiced to see the eloquent silence of
his younger son and said to him, “Well done, my son! Through
your silence you have most perfectly conveyed the nature of
the experience of that transcendent Reality which is beyond
all words and all descriptions. Your brother’s words show that
he has intellectually understood but not experienced, whereas
your silence shows that you have truly experienced That.”
The other factor which is responsible for the Silence of
the great Masters is so hidden that it is almost unknown and
unmentioned anywhere in mystical literature. This factor is
the ‘awakening’ of the Heart. The Heart is the seat of Reality
as well as the fountainhead of Love, and Love is an integral
aspect of Reality, together with Bliss and Peace. With the
onset of the state known as Realisation or Enlightenment, the
Heart opens up, so to say, and is flooded with a torrent of an
all-encompassing cosmic or universal Love. There is an old
saying that when the Heart is full, the tongue is still, and,
with the flooding of the Heart, the tongue is actually stilled.

The genuine Master’s Love is too deep for words and He can
express It only through Silence. Thus, Silence is the language
of Reality as well as the language of the Heart, and Heart is
but another name for Reality.
For most of His devotees, Bhagavan was just a silent jnani,
on the very summit of spiritual achievement, radiating Peace,
Power and Wisdom all around. That was His outer image. But
His hidden inner image was something else and it was seen
by only a few devotees, who were in close communion with
Him, not through words, but through Silence, at the inner
Heart-to-Heart level. These devotees knew Bhagavan as the
very Ocean of Love and saw His Silence as the most perfect
expression of That unfathomable Love. And those handful
of devotees who were gifted with deeper insight perceived
Bhagavan as the embodiment of Arunachala in human form,
and saw in Bhagavan’s Silence, the Silence of Arunachala,
whom Bhagavan has addressed in ‘The Marital Garland of
Letters’ as ‘Love Itself!’
N.B.
The silent communion of Love between Master and
devotee is based on an inner Heart-to-Heart or Spirit-to-
Spirit contact and not on an outer body-to-body relationship.
Hence, the presence or absence of the Master’s body doesn’t
make any difference to this silent communion. And so the
devotees of today, who never saw Bhagavan in His physical
form still feel the same silent Love enfolding them, and more
so especially when they are at Ramanasramam at Arunachala.
90. Ramana Sat-Chit-Ananda Guru*
W henever there are earnest seekers God manifests in

human form to guide and bestow grace upon them.
The faceless Sat-Chit-Ananda or the original name ‘I am’ has
been named differently through the ages. In the Vedas it has
been named ‘Indra-Varuna’ or ‘Indragni’. In the puranas it
was ‘Lakshminarayan’ or ‘Siva-Parvati’. Sri Ramachandra
called it ‘Maheswar’ and devotees of Rama, ‘Rama-Sita’.
Jesus called it ‘Father’ and Christians, ‘Jesus the Christ.’ Sri
Ramana Maharshi identified it as ‘Sri Arunachala Ramana’,
and his devotees, as ‘Sri Arunachala Ramana’. One is the
eternal aspect and the other is the phenomenal aspect of one
and the same thing.
What can be said about him whose voice is the
voicelessness or mouna? “The sun is ever there; to see it
you have only to turn towards it”. And man inevitably turns
towards the spiritual Sun. Somewhere in his evolution he has
to turn from the circumference to the centre and end his dizzy
circumambulation round his ego-self. Somewhere there is the
question, “Who is this ‘I’? What is its nature? And who seems
to suffer through all these changes yet remains throughout?”
A quest is launched upon, and again it is inevitable that
man must pursue the quest to the last because there lies his
supreme achievement and eternal bliss. “Though the ‘I’ is
always experienced, yet one’s attention has to be drawn to
it. Then only the knowledge dawns”. Suitable guides can be
found on the path. One such is Ramana Sadguru.
We, the latter day devotees were not fortunate enough
to be in his physical presence and yet not so unfortunate as
to miss him completely. For us he is the same all the time,
the perennial source of inspiration, guidance and grace. Many
will bear witness that even the physical manifestation was not
withheld after his death to devout seekers, if earnestly desired.
* Dr. Purnima Sircar in Ramana Smriti

What is impossible for him who is beyond any limitation –

the ever-present guru?
“Everyone has to come to Arunachala”, said he.
Whichever path may be followed it ends in ‘I’ and the
investigation of the nature of the ‘I-thought’. Its elimination
is the sadhaka’s hardest task. But what could be easier than to
fall back on the experiencer and to ask oneself who perceives
and who sees with each experience? All methods of sadhana
lead to one-pointedness of the mind; thus distraction or the
vikshepa of the mind may be overcome, but the veiling or the
avarana might still remain. If blankness prevails, unless one
persists with the question, “To whom is the blankness? Who
am I?” and holds a receptive attitude with absolute surrender
for the grace to prevail, the veiling is not removed. One day
the door is opened and the meditator is merged in the ever-
present, all-pervading peace. The peace is so profound and all
absorbing that the sadhaka cannot give up till it is constant
and abiding. A true sadhana begins and his inner monitor will
guide him till that state is reached. “My reward consists in
your permanent unbroken bliss. Do not slip away from it”,
says the guru to a devotee in Kaivalya Navaneeta. This is
endless Ramana-Consciousness.
Truth is so simple that it is hard to grasp. Sri Bhagavan
said, “Who does not know that he exists? Everyone is Self-
realised, only he does not know”. Who will believe that Self-
realisation is so simple a process? No elaborate rite and ritual,
no asana and pranayama, no dispute and dissertation, only turn
the mind to its source. Ego is not boosted, not fed, but simply
dissolved in this process. Indeed, Ramana’s teaching is hard
for the confusion-ridden, samskara-bound mind; only those
who have already exhausted them can comprehend it. But in
the spiritual world intensity is counted and not numbers, and
the few are sufficient for our ever-shining guru.
Sri Bhagavan says, “Ego in its purity is experience in
intervals between two states or two thoughts. . . Realise this
interval with conviction gained by study of the three states
(waking, dream and deep sleep). Just like the screen in the
cinema, the Self is ever there, no matter what the time or the
picture of the phenomena are. But we do not realise because
our outlook is objective and not subjective. You attach too
much importance to the body. In deep sleep there was no
world, no ego and no trouble. Something wakes up from
that happy state and says ‘I’. To that ego the world appears.
Our mistake lies in our searching in the wrong place”. His
dispassion towards his body during his last illness, “Where is
pain if there is no mind”? – is the same detachment he had
throughout his life. The Sat-Chit-Ananda Self and the body
without the intermediary ego-self and the reflecting media of
samaskaras – such is Ramana Chaitayna Guru.
Ramana removes the confusion between manolaya and
manonasa, between kevala nirvikalpa and sahaja nirvikalpa
samadhi. The wrong idea that a man will be a log or a stone after
the dawn of wisdom is dispelled categorically. “If everybody
does sadhana, who will plough the field and sow the seed”?
is the fear that assails so many and keeps them away from the
quest. “The physical body will do whatever work it has come
for, and the body is bound by the prarabdha, not your mind”,
he assures us. And then Sri Bhagavan, through his teachings
and by living among us for so long in sahaja samadhi has
set an outstanding example as to how a jnani works and lives
without feeling the burden of it. “Who is there to think about
it”? was his reply to the devotees who pleaded with him to
cure himself. An example of complete surrender to the higher
power, by Ramana, ever-compassionate guru.
The profound mouna that pervaded his holy presence
not only influenced and inspired whoever came under its
spell, but drew mature minds from all over the world to this
spiritual centre. And it shall continue to draw such competent
ones like a magnet. To understand this silence, it must be
experienced. In this age of unrestrained gibbering, lecturing
and preaching, who could have imagined the influence of
mouna upon the human mind? What transformation is brought
about by turning the minds of innumerable devotees to the

source by the peace that emanates from his profound mouna.
“The highest form of grace is silence. It is also the highest
upadesa”, said the ever blissful Guru Ramana.
Ramana’s Self comprises all and blesses all. Any attempt
on our part to extol him is like worshipping the sun with an
oil lamp. He consoled his devotees, “I am not going away,
where can I go? I am here”. So we are always at the feet
of Arunachala Ramana. To that grace personified, peace
profound, the eternal Sadguru, our heartfelt reverence and
prostrations.
91. Universal Love and Equality*
S ri Ramana’s great and central teaching was, as is widely

known today, “Know Thyself”, by enquiring within
yourself ‘Who am I?’. Next only to this is another great precept
of his, which I have rarely heard him propound by word of
mouth but which he taught every moment of his life by his
shining example, by the way he led his simple and unique life
also unostentatiously in the midst of all of us. Even the most
casual visitor or superficial observer in Sri Ramanasramam
could not have failed to observe with what perfect equality
and impartial love Bhagavan received all those who visited
him. Hundreds daily and on some occasions such as the
Jayanti and Mahapuja days at the Ashram or the Deepam
festival at Tiruvannamalai, thousands would visit him. And
towards all, rich and poor, high and low, the learned and the
ignorant, the devout and the doubting or even the scoffing,
men, women and children Bhagavan showed the same benign
and gracious disposition.
One could perceive no difference at all in the way he
treated the numerous visitors. That is not all. Even animals,
* Devaraja Mudaliar, The Call Divine, October 1952.

cows, dogs, deer, peacocks, monkeys, squirrels, tiger cubs,

snakes, birds, were all regarded and treated no different from
men, with the same unfailing tenderness and love which he
showed to his devotees. I have never known Bhagavan refer to
any animal as ‘it’, as we usually do in our Indian vernaculars
implying thereby an inferiority in them compared with the
humans to whom we refer as he or she as the case may be.
Each will be referred by Bhagavan only as he or she. Neither
in this nor in any other conduct of his towards all these would
it have been possible for the most supercilious of observant to
detect any pose or affectation or ostentation. It came to him
so naturally, so spontaneously, to treat all, human and animals
alike with the same love and equality, because all the time
he was not looking at the outer covering or garment of flesh;
which is what anybody is, but only at the dweller within, the
soul inhabiting the body either in man or animal.
Volumes could be written if only all the instances are
remembered and recorded in which Bhagavan unmistakably
manifested by his action the extreme equality or samathva
which he felt at heart for all forms of life. I shall only give
here a few illustrations out of many that could be produced
by devotees with a little effort of their memory.
Squirrels, we noticed, preferred cashew nuts to all other
feed. At one time the Ashram management felt that the
cashew nuts available in their stores should not be wasted on
squirrels, but should rather be reserved for the delectation of
men. Bhagavan could not tolerate such a view and showed by
his words and conduct, unmistakably and yet most gently and
without offending anybody holding a contrary opinion, that
in his Ashram no such preference for man should be shown.
Once when a monkey tried to bring her new born baby to
Bhagavan, through a window near Bhagavan’s couch and the
attendants nearby were preventing the monkey from entering
the hall, Bhagavan chided them as follows ‘Don’t you all
bring your new born babies to me. She wants to do the same.
Why should you prevent her? Bhagavan could see the bhakti
or love in the monkey’s soul was no less intense than in the

man’s soul and the rest did not at all matter. Once when the
Ashram wanted to celebrate the anniversary of our Indian
Independence and was planning a feast therefor, Bhagavan
intervened and said, “What about our friends, the monkeys?
They should not be forgotten, but should also be provided
with a feast.” And the same was arranged.
In his Virupaksha Cave-days monkeys had great access
to Bhagavan and enjoyed many privileges in his presence.
Bhagavan would sometimes tell his attendants when they were
harsh with the monkeys and trying to chase them away from
the precincts of the hall, “You have come now. You must have
seen them in those days. They had sway then.” Even if they
entered the hall and snatched away fruits, Bhagavan would
always take the part of the monkey and tell his attendants,
“Just as it is your duty to look after the fruits, it is their duty
to grab them. So, they have only done their duty.” The way
Bhagavan treated the cow Lakshmi in particular and the way
in which that cow also behaved would shatter once for all
our pet notions that in the spiritual sphere we are superior to
animals.
Let us turn now to another aspect of the samatva or
equality taught to us by Bhagavan. He would never tolerate
even for a single moment any preferential treatment being
accorded to him in any respect. In the dining hall nothing
could be served to him which was not served to all who were
sitting with him. Not only that, if he suspected that he had
been given a slightly bigger helping of any dish than the
others, Bhagavan would flare up and the server’s condition
would be pitiable. He would say, “They want to honour me
by this! Nothing can disgrace me more. One feels like dying
out of sheer shame for such acts.”
He would not allow the electric fan near him to run unless
all people in the hall could have the like amenity. Even when
his health was below par and doctors and others pressed him
to take special diet, he would not consent to it. I have myself
pleaded several times before him only to receive the reply “If
it is good for me, it is good for all.” Once when a devotee
got Chyavanaprash specially made for Bhagavan and brought
it with him all the way from Lucknow, I believe, and we
all added our prayers to his and induced Bhagavan to take
it, he took it for a day or two and then ordered it should be
distributed to all along with him at breakfast.
The way in which Bhagavan by his example tried to
instill the lesson of Samatva or universal love and equality
into all of us would take too long to narrate in detail. I shall
therefore restrain myself and end with giving only one more
instance of his unique samatva.
One afternoon, three Europeans, two ladies and a
gentleman if I remember right, friends of D.S. Sastri came
and sat in the Old Hall. Bhagavan was seated on his couch
facing west and the ladies were sitting along with Srimati
Nagamma at a little distance from Bhagavan’s feet leaning
on the Northern wall and facing south. One of the European
ladies, unaccustomed as she was to squatting on the floor
like us, stretched out her legs in front of her. Some attendant
of Bhagavan noticed this and made a sign to her to retract
her legs. She did so at once. She came there specially to
pay her respects to Bhagavan and now she felt that, though
unwittingly, yet nevertheless unmistakably, she has shown
disrespect to Bhagavan. She felt for this so keenly that I
believe tears gathered in her eyes.
Bhagavan was greatly annoyed at the conduct of his
attendant and chided him and even asked the lady to sit as
before, telling her it was right in her case as she was not
accustomed to squat on the floor. But the poor lady could never
again be persuaded to stretch out her legs. Then Bhagavan
punished us all as follows. He had been sitting on his couch
with his legs stretched out before him. He drew in his legs
now and folded them in the padmasana posture. This was a
painful thing for him to do as he was then having rheumatic
pains all over the body and especially at the knee-joints. And
however much we pleaded and requested him not to take

the misguided act of the attendant so seriously, we could not
succeed in persuading Bhagavan all that day and even till the
end of the next day, to stretch forth his legs again. If it is a
rule, it is a rule for all: ‘I cannot be an exception’. That will
give readers an example of the samatva Bhagavan lived and
taught by example every moment of his life.
Saint Thayumanavar sang, ‘How can I understand you, I
that have not learnt to regard all forms of life as your forms’.
Exactly the same was Bhagavan’s teaching. There is nothing
but the Self or Brahman and all this is Brahman according
to the Upanishads. The late Sivaprakasam Pillai, one of the
earliest of Bhagavan’s disciples has recorded that Bhagavan
taught him ‘There is nothing you need to give me, enough if
you get rid of all differences and also know giving to others
is giving to yourself, for in truth who are you (i.e., are you
different from others).’
But however lengthily I might write and whatever
number of instances and illustrations I might give, readers
could get only a vague, hazy and a very inadequate idea of
the unique Samatva, universal love and equality that flowed
towards all, men and animals alike from Bhagavan without
any conscious effort on his part, so naturally, so spontaneously
and so impartially. All might not have been able to benefit
in the same way or degree by His love and Grace, due to
inequalities in their capacities to imbibe His grace. But it was
there, always pouring, on all alike. The ideal of equality, so
widely taught by all great men and religions, was I believe
nowhere more actively lived and brilliantly illustrated than in
the life of the great Seer we knew as Bhagavan Sri Ramana.
92. An American Perspective*
O ver the decades Sri Ramana Maharshi’s teachings have

slowly seeped into the awareness of seekers in North
America. Though his teachings appear to be well known,
valued for their directness, purity and simplicity, the continued
presence and power of the messenger, the Maharshi, remains
yet to be discovered or understood to any great extent.
A small number of Americans, upon reading Paul
Brunton’s A Search in Secret India, did venture to make
the voyage to India and visit the Sage in his Ashram. None
returned with the ideal of spreading the Master’s teachings or
setting up an institution dedicated to him.
It was not until January 1961, when Bhagawat Singh
(known also as Arunachala Bhakta Bhagawat), on an extended
visit to India from the USA, came to Sri Ramanasramam
and Arthur Osborne planted the seed, suggesting that when
he returned to America he might start weekly meetings in
the name of Bhagavan. Bhakta Bhagawat returned in 1963,
but it was not until 1965 that the weekly meetings began.
Before long a room was rented for daily meetings and in
1966 the group was incorporated as Arunachala Ashrama,
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi Center. This appears to be
the first organized effort in the name of the Maharshi in North
America.
There was a slow, but steady, growth of interest in the
years that followed. The Maharshi never told us to go out
and spread his teachings to the world, but rather to go inward
and realise their truth. With this ideal prevailing, Arunachala
Ashrama was not inclined to take a firm outward step to
expand its activities. Nevertheless, this ideal did attract – and
still does attract – a core of serious sadhakas who realise that
to experience the Self, as taught by the Maharshi, is the sole
purpose of human existence.
* Dennis Hartel, The Mountain Path, April 2003.

For many devotees of the Maharshi in North America

their spiritual aspirations and practice are a private affair. They
shun organisations. This is but natural since Sri Bhagavan
bequeathed to us a path that can be followed unseen amidst
the bustle of society. It is, after all, an inner journey, which
we alone must take.
There will always be some who wish to gain inspiration
and support from like-minded seekers, following the path laid
down by the Sage, or to serve him, by serving his devotees in
an ashram where they may more easily harmonize their inner
aspirations with their outer activities. For these aspirants
an ashram dedicated to the Guru serves a definite purpose.
These ashrams are centers of distribution where what the
Sage has given to mankind is passed on to sincere seekers.
Sri Ramanasramam in India serves that purpose, and has the
distinction of being the one place on earth where the perpetual
presence and guidance of the Master is most felt.
In North America, during the last ten or fifteen years, we
have seen a considerable increase of interest in Sri Ramana,
not only as the teacher, but also as the Guru. With a greater
number of books, videos and CDs published and distributed,
organisations forming and teachers traversing the country
training students in Self-enquiry, more interest in Sri Ramana
Maharshi has been generated.
Also, the recent, large wave of Indian nationals,
especially from South India into the North American society
has brought many serious devotees to our shores. This has
resulted in greater interest in the expression of devotion to
Sri Ramana Maharshi and also a genuine sincerity to practise
the teachings while living in society. Ironi cally, many of
these Indians comment that since coming to America, or
Canada, they find better opportunities and a more conducive
environment to live a spiritual life than they did in India. It is
only in North America that their spiritual interest blossomed,
they say. These same Indians on investigating into Sri Ramana
Maharshi while abroad find little common ground with
the Western teachers and groups that profess Sri Ramana’s

teachings but have limited traditional Indian understanding
or sympathy to the path of Surrender and Devotion. Indians
appear to have an inherent understanding of the synthesis of
Devotion and Knowledge espoused by Sri Bhagavan, and have
difficulty equating seminars, lectures and workshops with
a sincere spiritual practice that they believe to be essential
for the devotee. A number of them have made the Maharshi
the guide and goal of their lives and hold Ramana Satsangs
in their homes where they recite the Master’s compositions,
read his teachings and meditate.
So what is the future of Sri Ramana Maharshi in the
West? If asked, the Maharshi would most probably assert,
“Future? Where is the future? There is only the present.”
Still, there is little doubt that Sri Ramana Maharshi’s
name and teachings will continue to grow at a steady pace,
though we cannot say whether this pace will accelerate at
some point and take the form of an organized movement.
First of all, his teachings leave little room for a formal ritual
to hold a religious movement together. Also, there exists no
scope for a successor to the Maharshi, nor has there been
an organisation formed with ordained teachers. Moreover, his
teachings stress an intense, inner sadhana, which the masses
are unlikely, or incapable, to attempt.
But there is one thing, the Living Guru. If the continued
guidance and grace comes to be understood and experienced
by a growing number of aspirants, it could possibly, at some
point, create an avalanche of interest. Furthermore, during
the last few centuries there may not have lived a spiritual
personality whose teachings were so universal and so
thoroughly rational, direct and devoid of any sectarian roots
or overtones, and whose life demonstrated the teachings so
completely as the Sage of Arunachala. All these elements
form a potential foundation for raising the recognition of the
Maharshi from the foremost Sage of the 20th Century to a
dominant influence upon the hearts and minds of millions of
seekers for centuries to come. Whether this will happen – or

can happen – we cannot say. But what we do know is that
the spiritual force released to the world during Sri Ramana
Maharshi’s physical existence is definitely gaining momentum
and will continue well beyond our generation.
Two thousand years ago a Guru lived. He was crucified,
and yet survived to ascend from the earth. Society worships
him as a saviour, one who taught the way to salvation and
can grant it, even today. Could it happen in the case of a
quiet ascetic who lived at the foot of an obscure holy hill in
South India? Is that hill still obscure now in the year 2003?
Visit it on a full-moon night and see for yourself. Anything is
possible.
93. With Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi*
My Divine Call
I n 1939, at the age of twenty, I left my home town of

Gurpur in Karnataka and went to the nearby city of
Mangalore on the west coast to pursue my higher education.
There, in my hostel, I came across a pictorial biography of Sri
Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi that was being circulated among
the students. The book simply stunned me. My immediate
reaction was to think, “A Maharshi living in India now! I
must go and offer myself at his feet.”
From that point onwards I became very restless of mind.
I was continually planning to run away from Mangalore to
Tiruvannamalai to stay with the holy and enlightened Maharshi
and to be guided by him on the path of spiritual illumination.
I was so gripped by this one thought that any other concerns
about my further education, or need to take permission from
my parents, did not even cross my mind. It just flashed from
* Swami Damodarananda, Mountain Path, October 2009.

within that, by the grace of God, I had the opportunity to be

with a sage of atma-saksatkar (self-realisation). I felt that at
all costs I must go to him and be at his feet to be guided on
the spiritual path, that being the only purpose of life.
The plan for every person’s life is based on tendencies
carried forward from previous lives. Generally, it starts getting
fleshed out during late adolescence. The force of some past
noble tendencies must have given my life this sudden turn.
Divine Guidance
I told the manager of my hostel that I was leaving, and
booked a ticket to Tiruvannamalai. A few days later I was
sitting in the corner of a compartment on the Madras Mail. It
so happened that in that same compartment an elderly brahmin
gentleman was travelling with his family. After sharing food
among themselves, the head of the family turned to me and
asked where I was going. He was surprised to learn that such
a young student as myself was going to visit the great sage in
Ramanasramam. During our conversation he kindly advised
me to get down from the train at about midnight at Villupuram
station, and then take the train from there to Tiruvannamalai.
Being overenthusiastic and inexperienced in travel, I had
bought a ticket to Tiruvannamalai on the Madras Mail which
goes all the way from the west to the east coast, without
realising that I needed to change trains for Tiruvannamalai in
the middle of the journey. His advice was a God-send. Being
so preoccupied with my final objective, I would have missed
the connecting train. I considered it to be the Lord’s grace
guiding me to my divine destination.
Arunachala and Arunachaleswara
About midnight I got down at the Villupuram station
and walked across the platform to where the train for
Tiruvannamalai was standing. After a while the train started
moving. At dawn from a great distance I was able to see
between high rising temple walls, the imposing gopuram
towers of the temple of Arunachaleswara that faced outwards

to the four directions. The temple was situated on the site
where Lord Siva is said to have manifested himself in the
form of a holy lingam nestling with Sakti at the foot of Mount
Arunachala.
In most Hindu temples the Supreme Universal Divine
Consciousness, sat-chit-ananda, is understood to be one with
parasakti, the inscrutable Divine Power. The Supreme Divine
Consciousness co-exists eternally with this Supreme Power
which projects beginningless and endless universal systems,
again and again, through the processes of evolution and
involution. In other temples, this same truth is represented as
a pair of male and female deities, such as Mahakali dancing
eternally on Mahakala; the latter understood to be ever-
absorbed in divine samadhi.
Within the great Indian temple culture are hidden eternal
spiritual truths. Unfortunately, most of these truths are buried
deep under a thick age-old crust of ritualistic tradition. Once
in a while, however, for the sake of thirsty, seeking souls, a
great spiritual giant – a masterly acharya, a devoted Mira,
a Tulsi Dasa, or a Ramakrishna – blossoms within society
as an ideal model of spiritual life. Swami Vivekananda
characterises the appearance of such ones thus: nirgacchati
jagajjalat pinjaradiva kesari (He bursts forth from the
meshes of worldly confinement like a lion out of its cage).
Sri Ramana was clearly one such spiritual giant.
Darshan and Beaming Grace
After travelling throughout the night and all the following
morning without eating any food, I reached Tiruvannamalai
railway station about midday. Outside the railway station I
found a tonga (horse carriage) and reached Sri Ramanasramam
about 2 pm. Before going into the ashram I gave away my
extra clothes and money to the tonga-wallah. He then took
me around the buildings and showed me the hall where Sri
Ramana Maharshi could be found. I took my bath at the
Mother’s temple tank, and then went straight to the small hall
where the sage was seated.
Having offered Sri Bhagavan my pranams, I sat myself
down with my back against a wall as I was very tired after
fasting and travelling since the previous day. However, as
soon as I had done this, Maharshi gazed directly at me with
unblinking, wide open eyes. I also looked into his eyes with
all humility and wonder. In this way, both of us continued to
stare into each other’s eyes for a considerable time. While this
was happening I felt ecstatic: Sri Bhagavan was showering his
grace upon me. By his mere gaze it seemed as if the Maharshi
was establishing me once and for all in spiritual life, despite
all its trials and tribulations. Perhaps he intuitively saw my
spiritual destiny. About five minutes later his eyes half closed
as he went into introspective communion with the Self. I later
learnt that it was quite common for Maharshi to remain in
such states of divine absorption throughout the day and night.
When one abides naturally in tune with the peace and bliss
of the Supreme, it is known as sahaja samadhi: “Strange, the
disciples under the banyan tree were all aged people and the
Guru was young; he taught them by keeping silence, and the
doubts of the disciples were all cleared up.” (Sankaracarya,
Dakshinamurti Stotra 12).
Staying in the Ashram
After a while, some ashramites began to distribute pieces
of fruit in leaf cups to the devotees who were seated in the
hall. I took my leave from Sri Ramana, and then with my share
of fruit in hand, slowly entered the passageway between the
hall and the kitchen. Near the kitchen Sri Ramana’s brother,
Swami Niranjananandaji, the sarvadhikari (manager) of the
ashram, was standing with a few mothers (ammas) who were
helping with the cooking. I told them of my desire to stay in
the ashram and lead a spiritual life. After some discussion
they agreed to let me stay.
I was told that there had been a young man like me in

the ashram earlier, who had had a little spiritual inclination.
Having stayed for a while it seems that doubts arose in his
mind regarding whether he should remain in the ashram. So
he approached Sri Ramana and asked him whether it was best
for him to stay, or else go home so he could serve his parents.
Sri Ramana told him that if he felt that staying in the ashram
to pursue spiritual ideals was the right thing to do, then he
should do that. Otherwise, if he felt that returning home to
be with his family and serve his parents was better, then he
should pursue that course in life. Thus, Sri Ramana allowed
the youth to follow his own preferences as dictated by his
past karma, or tendencies inherited from previous births. The
youth returned home, the pull towards family life evidently
being the strongest.
That night I slept on a veranda, the weather being hot.
Others were also spread out here and there in different areas
of the ashram.
Sri Bhagavan Watching with a Smile
I was asked to help in the kitchen. My daily duties
mostly consisted of bringing firewood to the kitchen from
the storehouse, boiling the milk that had been brought from
the gosala (dairy) and rinsing any remaining sand or mud off
enormous kitchen vessels after they had been washed by the
salaried helpers. At that time the ashram was slowly getting
built as donations came in. The kitchen was made of mud
walls with large openings for ventilation. The monkeys of the
neighbourhood would peep in and, if they saw an opportunity,
they would enter the kitchen through the openings to eat
whatever food was available. So after lunch when the sevika
mothers (that is, elderly ladies) who did the cooking, retired
to rest, one of my duties was to guard the kitchen with a stick
and drive the monkeys away.
Bhagavan Ramana used to mostly sit or recline on his
sofa in a big hall throughout the day except when he had to
go out to answer the call of nature. It so happened that the

place where I did most of my work was in a passageway
near the well, through which Bhagavan would walk to the
bathroom. One day, I was busy washing the big vessels,
unbeknown to me, Bhagavan – as usual, wearing his loincloth
– was standing a short distance away with a small towel
under his arm, holding a little water pot in one hand and his
walking stick in the other. Suddenly I looked up and had his
smiling darshan. I quickly stepped aside and requested that
he proceed through the passageway. Still beaming at me, he
indicated that it was of no concern, and asked me to continue
my seva (service). I quickly made way and again requested
him to continue. It was only then that he approached a few
steps closer and slowly went on his way. It struck me how
humble, egoless and self-effacing the great sage was.
Grinding Chutney with Sri Bhagavan
One morning at about 4 a.m. I was summoned to the
kitchen. To my surprise, when I entered the kitchen veranda
I saw Sri Bhagavan in his loincloth sitting near the chutney
grinding stone. A few other people were also sitting nearby.
I began to grind the coconut scrapings and he helped me by
pushing in the overflowing ingredients. At the same time, he
was busy putting salt, chillies and other things in the chutney
to make it tasty. When the grinding was over he placed all
the contents in a vessel. Then he went into the kitchen and
prepared the seasoning in a big spoon with oil, mustard and
dry chillies. When it was boiling, he brought it from the
kitchen to the veranda where the chutney was being prepared.
Then he began pouring the seasoning over the chutney and
mixed it well.
A Sweet Little Joke
When the chutney was ready, Bhagavan distributed a
little among the four or five people who were sitting there.
Then he lifted his face up and from above dropped a bit of
the chutney into his mouth without his fingers touching his
mouth. (This healthy principle of not contaminating food
prepared in the kitchen with one’s saliva is followed even now
in India among Hindu families.) As the devotees were tasting
the chutney, Sri Bhagavan asked them how they liked it. Out
of reverence they all kept quiet to signify approval. Then
Sri Bhagavan smiled and quipped in Tamil, “Is the chutney
asking for idlis?” Everyone enjoyed the joke and smiled.
The group of ashramites then dispersed and the chutney was
taken to the kitchen to be served with idlis when the morning
visitors arrived.
Service at the Vegetable Cutting Room
Bhagavan next entered the vegetable cutting room where
a kitchen assistant was cutting vegetables for the lunch that
was to be served to the ashramites and visiting devotees.
Bhagavan began assisting there also. He sat cross-legged and
cut up vegetables with the utmost attention. I noticed that
almost all the vegetable pieces he cut were exactly of the
same size. From this I learnt the lesson that whatever action
one performs should be done with attentiveness and energy,
for every job is worship of the Lord.
General Routine of the Ashram
As I remember it, during those days the general routine
was somewhat like this. Early in the morning at about 4
a.m. a few devotees would gather in the hall for prayer and
meditation. On one such occasion, a devotee, a Mrs. Kamakshi,
entered the hall, offered her pranams to Sri Bhagavan and then
got up. Sri Bhagavan called her over and showed her a small
strip of paper. On it he had written, “Om Namo Bhagavate Sri
Ramanaya.” He told her to chant it always. (She reportedly
did so throughout her life.) As dawn approached, the Veda
Patasala acharyas (teachers at the ashram’s Vedic school)
would bring their students to chant important Vedic mantras
such as the shanti mantras, Purusa Sukta and Narayana
Sukta. Then bhajans (devotional songs) would be sung by the

devotees in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and other languages.
All the while, Sri Bhagavan would remain seated on his sofa
with half-closed eyes absorbed in the Self. When the singing
was over, all the devotees would sit quietly and meditate for
a while. We would then disperse and attend to our morning
duties. About 7:30 a.m. of the ashramites, guests and others
would all assemble in the courtyard outside the dining hall
for the breakfast of idlis and chutney. After breakfast non-
resident visitors would begin to arrive to offer their pranams
to Sri Bhagavan in the hall where he would be sitting or
reclining on his cot sofa.
Sometimes the hall would fill up. Mostly, the visitors
would stay quiet, happy to just enjoy being in the presence
of the great brahmavit (knower of Brahman) sitting before
them ever attuned to the Divine Peace and Bliss within him.
In that spiritually surcharged hall filled with holy vibrations
many had their inner, personal doubts resolved without ever
having to verbalise them.
Once when I was a little free from my kitchen duties, I
went to sit near Bhagavan in the hall at about 11:00 a.m. Some
ladies visiting from a university in the state of Karnataka were
talking with him. While answering one of their questions on
silence, I heard him say, “Maunam [holy silence] is not just
keeping quiet without talking. Holding one thought alone is
considered to be the real maunam.” I would visit the holy hall
at every opportunity to gather such pearls of wisdom.
On one occasion I witnessed a bare-chested brahmin
standing for a long time before Bhagavan with folded hands.
Perhaps Bhagavan knew him, for he seemed to ignore him.
Then some other devotee entered the hall and began walking
towards Bhagavan. As soon as Bhagavan saw this particular
individual he began speaking to him with great joy. Thus,
during these visiting hours we could see Sri Bhagavan’s
various moods. No doubt he knew the devotees’ inner
attitudes.
All guests were offered lunch with Bhagavan, then there

was a period of rest. Later, darshan continued in the afternoon.
From about 4:00 p.m., I had the seva duty of grinding soaked
rice and dhal for the next morning’s idlis. One devoted old
lady used to help me by pushing in the overflowing, semi-
liquid dough with her right hand. As soon as I was free from
this service, I would return to the hall to enjoy Bhagavan’s
darshan. One afternoon I saw him talking to some devotees in
the hall. While seated on his sofa, he slowly stretched his legs
down until they touched the floor. He was holding his walking
stick in his left hand, and massaging his knees with his right
hand. As he did this, he slowly tried to stand up. Then, he
remembered that he was not due to go out until 5:00 p.m,
and looked up at the clock. Just at that moment it began to
strike five o’clock! He just smiled at this and got up to walk
towards the Arunachala hill for his evening ablutions in the
running stream and, as was his custom, do a little exercise.
We followed him for a short distance, and then left him to
walk on with his attendant.
Sadhu Arunachala (Major A.W. Chadwick) would
meditate in the hall leaning against a library cupboard with a
belt strapped around his back and legs. He was training himself
to sit properly in a cross-legged position while meditating,
like the other seekers. Devoted Echammal amma could also
be seen sitting quietly and praying in the hall. Having lost her
husband and her two children in quick succession, she had
gone to Sri Bhagavan seeking consolation. By his grace, she
regained her calm and normality in due course. Many such
spiritually-healed fortunates stayed in the ashram, when I was
there, quietly communing with the Divine.
Around sunset, the evening prayer and meditation session
started. It was accompanied by Vedic chanting, singing,
prayers and meditation, as in the morning. The last item in
the programme would be silent communion, when everyone
would try to meditate in the presence of Bhagavan. He would
be seated on his cot completely absorbed, like Sri Mahadeva,

Lord Siva.
Once, one of the Ashram administrative sevaks came
near Bhagavan’s sofa at this time and began calling out,
“Bhagavan, Bhagavan, Bhagavan!” – louder and louder
and louder. At first Bhagavan was unaware of his calls, as
he was totally immersed in that inner Divine Quiet of peace
and bliss. However, as the sevak’s voice became ever louder,
Bhagavan returned to everyday consciousness and responded
in Tamil, “Enna, enna” (What, what)? We used to enjoy
witnessing such incidents many times throughout the day.
During his various moods and attitudes, even though he was
dealing with all manner of people, there would never be
any expression of fatigue on his face, and I never saw him
yawning. He appeared to be unceasingly in the experience of
sat-chit-ananda.
Sri Ramana Hands Me Over to Sri Ramakrishna
It seems to me that the events in my life occurred as
the above subtitle suggests: I was enjoying my stay in
Ramanasramam and having Sri Bhagavan’s darshan daily
whenever I was free from my humble seva (service) in the
kitchen. After lunch, when I guarded the kitchen with a stick
from the monkeys who were always trying to enter it through
one of the big openings in the mud wall, I usually had some
free time to read holy books from the library. (A proper kitchen
was later built as donations and offerings came in.) The book
that made the biggest impression on me was the Life of Sri
Ramakrishna (with a foreword by Mahatma Gandhi). This
was my first opportunity to learn of the holy, inspiring and
wonderful life of Sri Ramakrishna. The book also spoke of
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda and the
other monastic disciples and lay followers of Ramakrishna.
Thus, I first came to learn about the Ramakrishna Mission and
its headquarters at Belur Mutt, Kolkata while I was staying at
Ramanasramam.
One day while I was reading this book in the kitchen, I

was shocked to look up and see my uncle standing before me.
He had come from Madras in his car to take me away. When
I told him of my desire to stay in the ashram, he got angry
and ordered me to get ready to leave.
At that moment I had a brain wave and decided to run
away from the ashram and live independently on the hill of
Arunachala. Going inside, I took my spare clothes and made
off at about 2:00 p.m. towards Mount Arunachala. I did not
want to be caught by any search party that might come looking
for me, so I kept off the main track by going through the
forest, avoiding Skandasramam and the other places where
Sri Bhagavan was known to have stayed. Sure enough – as I
was to learn later – my uncle was taken to all these places to
look for me. Since he did not find me, he informed the people
in Ramanasramam that my mother was fasting, wailing and
praying for me to come back to our house in Madras. He then
returned home empty handed.
That evening I climbed down the hill and slept on the
veranda of an old temple without having had anything to
eat or drink. Next morning after bathing, I went to the Sri
Arunachaleswara Temple where they gave lunch-prasadam
to devotees. After lunch I talked to one of the priests who
allowed me to stay in the temple for about three days rendering
some seva. It consisted of grinding sandalwood paste for
the pujas of the various deities. By this time the people at
Sri Ramanasramam had come to know that I was staying at
the Arunachaleswara Temple. They called me back to the
ashram. When I returned, they told me about my mother’s
wailing and weeping and pressurised me to go back home
to pay her a visit, and said that afterwards, I could return to
Sri Ramanasramam again. Having accepted this proposal, I
went back home to the family house in Madras where my
mother was. However, as was to be expected, my relatives
prevailed on me not to take religion to the extreme but to
continue my studies. Reluctantly, I agreed to be admitted to

the Engineering Institute and enrolled in a five-year course.
Fortunately, our house in Madras was very close to the
Ramakrishna Mutt and Mission Centre in Mylapore. I began
to visit the temple daily and started talking to the swamijis
and brahmacharis. One day I was reading the works of
Swami Vivekananda when a particular passage leapt out
at me. Swamiji had written words to the effect, “You have
devoted innumerable lives to family and material concerns.
Can you not at least offer this one life to God?” Immediately
the answer welled up from within me. ‘Yes, I can do that!’”
This idea inspired me so much that I then and there made
a firm resolution to offer myself up to Sri Ramakrishna –
instead of studying and earning for another 10, 20 or more
years as my family wanted.
I informed Revered Swami Asheshanandaji, then the
warden of the Ramakrishna Mission Students’ Home in
Madras, of my decision. I used to meet him regularly and he
inspired me very much. He gave me a letter of introduction
to Revered Swami Tyagishanandaji of the Bangalore
Ramakrishna Mission Ashram. Thus in 1940, I again found
myself running away – this time to join the Ramakrishna
Mission’s Bangalore Ashram.
My Last Visit to Sri Bhagavan Ramana
I stayed at the Bangalore ashram for about six years
studying Sanskrit, the scriptures and the Mission disciplines
of prayer, meditation and seva. In 1946 it was time for me
to go to our headquarters at Belur Mutt, in Kolkata to be
initiated. I was to receive a holy mantra from the President
Maharaj, Revered Swami Virajanandaji Maharaj, a disciple of
Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi. In a separate ceremony I was
also to dedicate myself to the holy order of Brahmacharya.
On the way to the Mission headquarters, I thought it
would be good to visit Sri Ramanasramam to have a second
and, perhaps, last darshan of Sri Ramana before he gave up
his body. I reached Sri Ramanasramam on the 17th February,

1946 along with two other devotees from Bangalore, and
stayed there for three days. On the first day I sat on the floor
for lunch with the other visiting devotees. Sri Bhagavan
sat at the head of the line. I think it was ‘Kirai Patti’ (the
‘Spinach Granny’) who came first to serve Sri Bhagavan with
a few dishes she had prepared. As she was in her nineties,
Sri Bhagavan, in a raised voice asked her in Tamil, “Enna
Kondu-vandirke” (What have you brought)? She described
her dishes. Then she slowly distributed the same simple food,
little by little, to all of us devotees.
I observed Sri Ramana as he was eating. He took some
pieces of chilli out of his curry and pushed them away to a
corner of his banana leaf. A few grains of rice happened to
get stuck to the chillies. He scrupulously returned these to
the rest of the food on his leaf, so that even these few grains
would not get wasted. When he had finished his lunch, his
leaf plate was totally clean (except, of course, for the few
chillies pieces).
After lunch Bhagavan left for the hall where he normally
sat on his sofa and gave darshan. I immediately followed
him. When he reached the sofa, I offered my pranams to him
and asked him in English to let me know the easiest path.
Although Sri Bhagavan knew English, he normally spoke
only in Tamil. He just looked at me and gestured with his
hand for me to sit down. I sat down on the floor in front of
him. Bhagavan observed the other devotees as they arrived,
sit down and filled up the hall. Disappointed that he had not
answered my question, I closed my eyes and began doing
mental japa. After a while I heard him say to some professor
who was known to him, “This boy wants to know a shortcut!”
Then Bhagavan continued, “A shortcut to where?”
One of my friends who had sat down next to me nudged
my leg and indicated that Sri Bhagavan was talking to me.
I opened my eyes and saw that he was smiling at me: he
had only been waiting for the other devotees to arrive so that
they too could benefit from his answer to my question! Of

course, I told him that I wanted a shortcut to atma-darshan
– the revelation of the Self. He asked me what method I was
presently practising. I replied that in my own humble way
I was practising japa-sadhana. Hearing this, Sri Bhagavan
responded that japa was not only simple and direct, but the
best method to use to make progress in spiritual life. He
quoted a phrase from the Bhagavad Gita 10.25: “yajnanam
japayajno’smi” (Among sacrifices, I am the sacrifice of japa).
Further elaborating, he said that of all the ways to offer
oneself to paramatman (the Supreme Being), the easiest and
the best method was the repetition of the mantra of one’s own
chosen deity. Japa promoted a constant flow of loving prayer
from within for inner illumination. This woke up a subtle
thirst that steadily increased, leading to a strong current of
continuous divine discontent known as vyakulata. When this
holy attitude developed into deep absorption (dhyana), the
divinity revealed itself from within. This was atma-darshan.
Sri Bhagavan continued to explain about japa-sadhana
and Self-realisation. However, an anxious brahmin devotee
with a thick sacred thread who was seated a short distance
away loudly interrupted to ask him a question about creation
and its cause. The brahmin said that some scriptures mentioned
that creation was due to the karma of Brahma, the creator,
while other scriptures stated that creation occurred due to the
karma of jivas (souls). He wanted Sri Bhagavan to resolve
this difference of opinion. Sri Ramana just gave him a kind
look, and then continued to explain the subject of japa by
quoting another verse from the Gita,
yogayukto viśuddhātmā vijitātmā jitendriyaḥ |
sarvabhūtātmabhūtātmā kurvannapi na lipyate ||
(Bhagavad Gita, 5.7)
(“With the mind purified, with devotion to performance
of action, and the body conquered and the senses subdued,
one who realises the self as the self in all beings, though
engaged in action, is not tainted.”)
Sri Bhagavan was evidently in a good mood and went

on expounding spiritual thoughts based on this Gita verse for
about twenty-five minutes. The devotees in the packed hall
lapped up his sacred words of spiritual revelation. Bhagavan
explained that the aspirant first repeats the mantra out loud
with diligence and devotion. Then, as his or her loving attitude
intensifies, the repetition gradually becomes internalised.
As the body, senses and mind get purified and become free
from their selfish nature, the whole being gets attuned to the
Divine. The power of the mantra enters every aspect of the
individual. The aspirant becomes mantramaya (filled with the
spiritual power of the mantra), in and through all activities.
One’s life gets transformed into a continuous offering to the
Lord, without any attachment to the results of one’s actions.
The impatient brahmin repeated his question about
creation, however. This time Sri Bhagavan graciously told
him that if he would only try to understand the method he
had just explained, the answers to all his questions would
spontaneously arise within him. As one dives deep within,
the mind dissolves into the Self, and all distinctions between
bhakta (devotee), bhagavan (the Lord) and Bhagavata (the
sacred text) vanish in divine illumination.
94. Sivanandalahari*
I t would be logical to say that the paths of knowledge

and devotion are incompatible, since Knowledge implies
realisation of the non-dual Self while devotion requires two
– one to worship and One to be worshipped. However, logic
does not always work. Human nature is not simple, and the
same mind which, holding itself in abeyance, feels non-dual
Identity to be all may also melt in devotion before Him
* Selection by Sri Ramana Maharshi of verses by Adi Sankaracharya.

who is that All. A sign of this is that Sankara Acharya, the

classical Advaitin and Vedantist, also composed devotional
songs; another is that Ramana Maharshi, the great Advaitin
of modern times, wrote in his ‘Marital Garland of Letters to
Sri Arunachala’* one of the greatest allegorical love-poems
of all times and all religions.
He also selected ten verses from Sri Sankara’s ‘Hymn
to Siva’ (of which Prof. T.M.P. Mahadevan’s translation and
commentary is reviewed in the Mountain Path July 1964
issue) and arranged them in an order which seemed to him
effective. These ten verses are given below, headed by their
serial numbers in the original poem.
61
When the flow of the mind reaches the lotus-feet of the
Lord of soul† and remains there always, just as the seeds of
the ankola tree adhere to the tree, the needle to the magnet,
the chaste wife to her husband and the river to the ocean, that
is called devotion.
76
Devotion, like the cloud in the sky of the great Lord,
emits a shower of bliss; he whose mind is a lake to be filled
by this reaps the full harvest of life: he and he alone.
83
Not the slightest happiness accrues from worshipping
gods who are born and die; of this there is no doubt. They
who here adore the birth-less, eternal Lord of Parvati† are the
fortunate ones: they it is who attain the supreme happiness.
6
Will pot or lump of clay, will atom, whether of smoke,
fire or mountain, whether of cloth or thread,‡ will any of these
* Quoted in The Mountain Path issue of October 1964.

† A term for Siva.
‡ These are conventional terms used in Hindu logic and argument.
serve as a bulwark against dread death? You only strain your

throat unnecessarily by logic-chopping. Hasten, you who are
wise, to worship the lotus-feet of Sambhu* and attain the
supreme happiness.
65
Oh Consort of Parvati*! what is impossible for him whose
mind worships Thy feet? At sight of him Yama flees, fearing
another kick in the chest†; the gods wave lamps consisting of
the flaming gems set in their crowns, and,‡ the bride, clasps
him in unyielding embrace.
10
Whether one is born a man or a god, a wild animal of
the mountain or forest, a mosquito, a cow, or a worm, a bird
or any other creature, what does it matter in what body, so
long as the heart bathes endlessly in the supreme bliss of
contemplation of Thy lotus-feet?
12
Tell me, what difference does it make whether one lives
in a cave or house or in the open, in a forest or on top of a
mountain, in water or in fire? He, Oh Sambhu,* is happy
whose mind dwells always at Thy feet; that indeed is yoga
and he the supreme yogi.
9
†
Oh Lord of Uma! What a fool he is who enters a deep
water-tank or a fearful uninhabited forest or roams over a
high mountain to gather flowers!§ He does not know how to
The meaning is: Will academic philosophy help you in facing death?
* A term for Siva.
† This refers to the myth of Markandeya, a devotee who overcame
Yama, the God of death.
‡ Liberation.
§ Flowers to be offered up in worship. The water tank is included
because it is there that lotus flowers would be gathered.
live here in happiness, offering up to Thee the single lotus of

his heart.
11
What difference does it make, Oh Lord, whether one be a
student, a householder, a renunciate or a homeless wanderer?*
Oh Sambhu, Lord of souls! When one’s heart-lotus becomes
Thine, Thou becomest his and dost bear the burden of his life.
91
O Crescent-crested Lord, through Thy Grace the
beginningless ignorance in the Heart has been dispelled and
the joy of Knowledge has taken its place. I meditate on and
adore Thy lotus-feet, bearers of welfare and bestowers of
Liberation.
95. On Dipavali
By Ramana Maharshi
Y early all over India the festival of the Lights or Dipavali

is celebrated with presents and fireworks, in many ways
it corresponds to the western Christmas. Bhagavan was asked
to explain the significance of this festival. He replied as
follows:
He who seeks whence is Naraka,
Who this hell-like world is ruling,
Mistaking the filthy body
For the Self, and after kills him
By the means of Wisdom’s Wheel,
Is Narayana. And that day
When he does it is auspicious,
Called Naraka-Chaturdasi.
* These are the four traditional stages of Hindu life, according to the
classical model.
Know Dipavali is shining

As the real Self, having sought for
Naraka, the mighty sinner,
That one who deteriorated
Taking for the Self the mansion
Of this hell-like, guileful body,
Having sought him and then slain him.
NOTE: Naraka-Chaturdasi = Dipavali. Chaturdasi =
fourteenth, as it is said that Naraka was slain by Krishna on
the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Aswija.
The story told above is that Naraka, a mighty Asura, was
ruling the lower worlds very badly and causing a great deal
of trouble and that Krishna came and slew him. On account
of that anyone who thinks of Krishna on that day will receive
his Grace. Here Naraka is identified with the person who
identifies himself with his body, and this identification is
killed by the Grace of God.
96. Visit to Bhagavan*
S wami Ramdas was born Vittal Rao in Hosdurg in

Kerala in 1884. Even as a child, people remarked on
the extraordinary lustre of his eyes. He also possessed an
unequalled wit and sense of humour. His high school career
was marked by extreme indifference to his studies. As a young
man, he was employed as a spinning master in a cotton mill,
married in 1908, and had a daughter. During his life before
renunciation, brief periods of employment were followed by
longer periods of unemployment and idleness, affecting both
his financial condition and domestic life. To get relief from
his outer circumstances, he began to chant ‘Ram,’ a name of
God, which brought him great mental peace and joy. Soon
* Swami Ramdas, The Mountain Path, January 1965.

after, his father gave him a holy mantra, and from that point
on, his progress and detachment from the material world was
quick. He left his worldly life and began a pilgrimage, taking
on the name Ramdas and living on the road in faith. He never
accepted money and no matter how badly he was treated, he
responded only with love. As a result, many were transformed
by their encounters with him.
In 1922 he encountered the sage, Ramana Maharshi, and
received his grace. He then spent twenty days in a cave on
Arunachala Hill, constantly chanting his mantra. There he
attained the vision of God, both in his heart and as the entire
universe.
In 1931, after years of living on the road in faith, his
devotees established Anandasramam for him in Kanhangad,
Kerala, where he lived with Mother Krishnabai, who also
attained the universal vision of God. They worked to improve
the living conditions of the local people, founding a school
for the children, establishing a free medical clinic, and setting
up a cooperative of weavers. Together, they made extensive
tours in India, and a world tour in 1954-55, with the purpose
of sharing a message of Universal Love and Service.
Thousands of devotees, both from India and abroad took
advantage of his most enlightening and inspiring presence till
he dropped his mortal coil in 1963.
In his early autobiography, In Quest of God, (published
by Anandasramam, Kanhangad) Swami Ramdas describes
how he attained the Divine Vision through the Grace of
Maharshi. Years later he told this story to Dilip Kumar Roy,
who reproduced it in his latest book, The Flute Calls Still
(published by Indira Niloy, Hare Krishna Mandir, Poona).
Since some parts of the story are more detailed in one account
and some in the other, we have combined them. Swami
Ramdas always referred to himself as Ramdas.
“Papa,” I (D.K. Roy) asked, “would you mind telling
us about your final Realisation which they call Vishvarupa
Darshan?”
He, Swami Ramdas readily acquiesced and gave a long

description of his burning aspiration and yearning which had
led him to Arunachala Hill, hallowed by the tapas of the
peerless saint Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. I give here only
the gist of his long narration. . .
“One day, the kind Sadhuram took Ramdas for the darshan
of a famous saint of the place named Ramana Maharshi. His
Ashram was at the foot of Arunachala. It was just a thatched
shed. The visitors entered the Ashram and, meeting the saint,
fell prostrate at his holy feet. It was really a blessed place
where that great man lived. He was young, but there was
in his face a calmness and, in his large eyes, a passionless
look of tenderness, which cast a spell of peace and joy for
all those who came to him. Ramdas was overjoyed that the
saint knew English, so he addressed him thus: ‘Maharaj, here
stands before thee a humble slave. Have pity on him. His
only prayer to thee is to give him thy blessing.’
“The Maharshi turned his beautiful eyes towards Ramdas
and looked intently for a few minutes into his eyes, as though
he was pouring into Ramdas his blessing through those orbs,
then shook his head to indicate that he had blessed him. A
thrill of inexpressible joy coursed through Ramdas, his whole
body quivering like a leaf in the breeze…
“Now at the prompting of Sadhuram, Ramdas desired to
remain in solitude for some time. . . Sadhuram was ever ready
to fulfil his wishes. Losing no time, he took Ramdas up the
Mountain Arunachala behind the great temple. Climbing high
up, he showed him many caves. Of these, one small cave
(just below the Virupaksha, called the Sadguru Swami cave
or the Banyan Tree Cave) was selected for Ramdas, which he
occupied next day. In this cave, he lived for nearly a month in
deep meditation. This was the first time he was in solitude for
his bhajan. Now he felt the most blissful sensations, since he
could hold undisturbed communion with Lord Rama. He was
rolling in a sea of indescribable happiness. To fix the mind on
that fountain of bliss, Lord Rama, means, to experience pure
joy. . . He went on taking the Name in an ecstasy of longing

when, lo, suddenly his Lord Rama . . .appeared before him
and danced and danced . . .”
“Did you see him with closed eyes or open?” I interjected.
“With open eyes, as Ramdas is seeing you,” Papa
answered. “But it was not this momentary vision that Ramdas’
heart craved. For he knew that a vision like this was unlikely
to last and so, when the Lord vanished, Ramdas reverted to
his darkness. Therefore, he prayed for the great darshan, the
vision of visions, which comes to stay forever; so that there is
no more parting, namely the vishvarupa darshan, seeing Rama
always in everything; nothing less would satisfy Ramdas.”
Papa paused and then resumed with a beatific smile:
“And it came one morning when, lo, the entire landscape
changed: all was Rama, nothing but Rama wherever Ramdas
looked! Rama – vivid, marvellous, rapturous – the trees, the
shrubs, the ants, the cows, the cats, the dogs, everything, even
inanimate things pulsated with the marvellous presence of the
One Rama. And Ramdas danced in joy, like a little boy who,
when given a lovely present, can’t help breaking out into a
dance. So it was with Ramdas: he danced with joy and rushed
at a tree, which he embraced because it was not a tree but
Rama Himself! A man was passing by. Ramdas ran towards
him and embraced him, calling out: ‘Rama, O Rama!’ The
man got scared and bolted. But Ramdas gave him chase and
dragged him back to his cave. The man noted that Ramdas
had not a tooth in his mouth and so felt a little reassured:
at least the looney would not be able to bite him!” Swami
Ramdas laughed out and we swelled the chorus.
“And then?” I asked, after the laughter had subsided.
“The bliss and joy came to be permanent, like a torrent
rushing downhill till it finds the placid level of a limpid,
purling stream. This experience is called sahaja samadhi, in
which you can never be cut off from the consciousness of
being at one with the One who has become all, in which you
feel you are one with all because you have perceived that all
is He, the One without a second.”
* * *
Finally, we end with a comment made by Swami
Ramdas in The Vision, the monthly journal published by
Anandasramam many years later.
“Ramdas went to Ramana Maharshi in a state of
complete obliviousness of the world. He felt thrills of ecstasy
in his presence. Maharshi made the awakening permanent in
Ramdas.”
Some people said to Ramdas, “You went to the Maharshi
and you got illumination. Give us illumination like that.”
Ramdas replied, “You must come to Ramdas in the same
spirit and in the same state as he went to the Maharshi. Then
you will also get it. Where was his heart? How intense was
his longing? What was the world to him at that time? If you
come in that state it is all right.”
97. The Maharshi and the Path of Knowledge*

Prof. T.M.P. Mahadevan, head of the philosophy
department of Madras University, is known not only
in India but in academic circles throughout the
world as one of the leading exponents of Advaita. He
has presented the truth of its doctrines in books and
articles and at the many international philosophical
conferences he has attended. Best known, perhaps,
of his books are Gaudapada, A Study in Early
Advaita (published by the University of Madras) and
Philosophy of Advaita (published by Ganesh & Co.,
Madras). What is perhaps not so well known is that,
behind the defensive armaments of philosophy, Prof.
* T.M.P. Mahadevan, The Mountain Path, October 1964.

Mahadevan is heart and soul a devotee of Bhagavan

Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Prof. Mahadevan has the ability, so rare among
professional philosophers, to express himself in
case of need in direct language free from academic
terminology. Knowing ‘The Mountain Path’ to
circulate far beyond academic circles, he has
written this article for us in language that all can
follow, without sacrificing anything in profundity or
exactitude.
J nana or Knowledge, according to Advaita, is the sole direct

means to Liberation. Jnana may mean Self-Knowledge or
knowledge as a path to Self-realisation. The former, svarupa-
jnana, is the Self as pure Consciousness, the latter is the
process culminating in akhandakara-vritti, that is the mode of
mind whose content is the impartite Self. Advaitic teaching is
that knowledge is the path one should follow in order to gain
Self-Knowledge, which is the same as Liberation or Moksha.
The reason why knowledge is considered the direct
means to Liberation is to be found in the conception of
Liberation itself. Liberation means release from the cycle of
birth-and-death. It is the psycho-physical organism that is
involved in this cycle. However, there is no real involvement
because the psycho-physical organism and the world in which
it is apparently involved are only projections of nescience
(avidya) and not real entities. Again, due to nescience, the
Self is wrongly identified with the psycho-physical organism
and is thought to be born and to die. This is the metaphysical
error that is at the root of all evil. The confusion between
the Self and the not-self and the erroneous mingling of their
characteristics constitutes nescience. Each earlier appearance
in the world of the apparent self is the cause of the next
subsequent appearance, so that in this sense nescience is said
to be beginningless. Nevertheless, it is not eternal but can
be destroyed. But only by true knowledge. When knowledge
dawns nescience is destroyed and it is realised that the Self

was never bound but is ever free. This is Liberation.
Action cannot cause Liberation because action is not
opposed to bondage and to its cause, nescience. When one
says this one does not mean by ‘action’ simple movement of
the body but movement with a sense of agency. ‘I act’ in this
sense implies the identification of the Self with the ego as
agent. It is this conceit of agency that constitutes the spring of
action. The wrong identification and the consequent conceit
are caused by nescience. Oblivion to the true nature of the
Self as pure Consciousness is thus what gives rise to action;
therefore, action cannot destroy nescience but only confirm
bondage to it.
Action is said to produce any of four results: origination
(utpatti), attainment (prapti), modification (vikara) and
purification (samskara). Action of various kinds is required
for, say, producing a pot out of clay (origination), arriving
at a destination (attainment), making curds out of milk
(modification), and cleaning a dusty mirror (purification).
Liberation, which is the eternal nature of the Self, belongs
to none of these four categories. The Self is eternal, so not
to be originated; it is all-pervading, being non-dual, so not to
be attained; it is uncompounded, being infinite, so not to be
modified; it is blemishless, being of the sole consistency of
Consciousness, so not to be purified. Therefore, action can do
nothing to occasion Liberation.
In fact, Liberation is not to be occasioned at all. It is
true that Liberation is said to be ‘attained’ when nescience
is ‘destroyed’ by knowledge; but the terms ‘attainment’ and
‘destruction’ have to be understood here in a figurative sense.
There are two kinds of attainment and two of destruction:
attainment of the unattained and apparent attainment of the
already attained; destruction of the undestroyed and apparent
destruction of the non-existent. For the first kind action is
needed, for the second knowledge. For instance, for getting
an ornament made out of gold action is needed. But suppose
a person thinks he has lost his gold chain when in fact he

is wearing it round his neck all the time only knowledge
is needed. Someone points out to him that he is wearing it
and it is as though he had found it. Similarly, for destroying
a real snake action is needed, but for destroying a snake
imagined in what is really a piece of rope all that is needed is
enough light to see that there is no snake. The attainment of
Liberation and destruction of bondage are of the second kind,
since Liberation is eternal and therefore ever attained. It only
seems to be unattained on account of nescience, and on, the
dawn of knowledge its eternal nature is revealed. Similarly,
bondage is unreal, being caused by nescience. At the dawn of
knowledge, it seems to be removed, but it was never there. It
follows, then, that knowledge and not action is the means of
gaining Liberation and destroying bondage.
Action, however, is not without its use. Disinterested and
dedicated action (nishkama karma, karma yoga) serves to
purify the mind and thus prepare it for the path of knowledge.
Although knowledge itself is not an act, it is the mind that
has to seek and gain it. A mind that is impure and filled with
passions and selfish desires cannot even turn in the direction
of Self-knowledge. It is only the mind that has been rendered
pure by the elimination of passions that will be inclined to
pursue the path of knowledge. The discipline by which the
passions may be eliminated is the performance of one’s duties
without caring for rewards. Craving for possessions and thirst
for sense-enjoyments are what defile the mind and make it
unfit for higher pursuits. Therefore, the mind must first, as a
preliminary, be freed from defilements, and this can be done
through action not motivated by finite ends.
Bhakti yoga (the path of devotion) and Raja-yoga (the
path of mind control) can also find a place in the Advaitic
scheme, as subordinates to the path of knowledge. Their
purpose is to make the mind one-pointed and inward-turned.
Attraction to false values, distraction and disintegration are
the characteristics of the tainted mind. The tendency of the
mind to flow outward towards finite objects of enjoyment

should be arrested, and it should be orientated towards God,
the highest value. This is the purpose of bhakti-yoga.
It is the nature of the mind to be inconstant, darting
from object to object, turbulent, obstinate and wayward. The
function of raja-yoga is to discipline it and render it one-
pointed. Constant and sustained practice of concentration
(abhyasa) together with breath-control (pranayama) and
other practices and cultivation of an attitude of detachment
(vairagya) help to subdue and purify the mind and thus make
it eligible to follow the path of knowledge.*
Liberation is not necessarily a posthumous achievement,
since it is the eternal nature of the Self. Even while in the
body one can realise the Truth. This is known as jivanmukti.
It is sometimes asked why the body should still continue in
the case of one who has attained Liberation; but the question
does not arise for the Liberated himself, since for him there is
no body. It is the unrealised who see him with a body and ask
the question. As a reply it is said that the body lasts as long
as the prarabdha (that part of the karma which is to fructify
in this lifetime), and that after that there is videhamukti
(Liberation without a body). In truth, however, there is no
distinction in Moksha.
Thus, Advaitic teaching is that knowledge, is the sole
direct way to Liberation and that Liberation is the eternal
nature of the Self.
The teaching of Sri Ramana Maharshi is in perfect accord
with this. It is of unique value as an independent confirmation
of the truth of Advaita, since he did not formulate a theory
after formal study of Vedanta but discovered the path and its
Goal afresh, gaining plenary experience through a single brief
* These preliminary exercises of karma yoga, bhakti yoga and raja
yoga are helpful but not essential; the Maharshi was quite definite
that the path of Self-enquiry as taught by him was all-sufficient and
would accomplish also the tasks here assigned to preliminary yogas.
(Editor)
act of Self-enquiry. And later, when the texts were read out to
him, he recognized that they were speaking the same heart-
language that he knew, the language of Advaita.*
The Maharshi was no writer in the usual sense of the
word. Sometimes he put in writing his occasional oral
instructions and expositions. Some of these stray writings
are in prose, some in verse, mostly in Tamil but some in
Sanskrit and a few in Malayalam and Telugu. They constitute
what may rightly be called the ‘Ramanopanishad’, since we
have in them authentic instruction in the doctrine and path of
Advaita.
Their central teaching is that the path of Self-enquiry is
the direct way to Self‑realisation. The sense of ‘I’ is natural
and common to all, but few care to enquire into the actual
nature of this ‘I’. We take it for granted and employ such
empirical phrases as ‘I came’, ‘I went’, ‘I did’ or ‘I was’.
What is this ‘I’? What am I? It is not difficult to see that the
body is not ‘I’. It did not exist before birth and will not survive
death. In deep sleep there is no body-consciousness. Even
while waking I am aware that I have the body and therefore
I cannot be the body. What is more difficult is to see that
the mind or ego is not ‘I’. It springs from ignorance, being a
superimposition on the Self. The I-thought is the first thought
to arise, and the mind is the same as the ego. Ordinarily it
goes out through the sense-channels and apprehends and
enjoys external objects, but it must be made to turn inwards
and enquire into the nature and source of itself. This can only
be done with a still mind. This enquiry “is the only method
of putting an end to all misery and ushering in supreme
Beatitude. Whatever may be said and however phrased, this
is the whole truth in a nutshell.”
Explaining the technique of Self-enquiry, the Maharshi
says: “By steady and continuous investigation into the nature
* For an account of this see ‘Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-
Knowledge, Ch. 2, by Arthur Osborne, Rider & Co., London.
of the mind, the mind is transformed into that to which the ‘I’
refers; and that is in fact the Self.” He also instructed people
to probe and find out where the I-thought arises. When the
enquiry is persisted in it transpires that the ego dissolves
in the Self which is the Heart (hridayam). It is true that the
mind often gets distracted on the way and strays outwards,
but every time this happens it must be brought back to the
enquiry into its nature. This process has to continue till it
subsides into its Source, the Self. For this there is no other
means so effective as Self-enquiry. Other means such as
breath-control and meditation for mind-control may lead to a
temporary subsidence of the mind but not to final Liberation.
It will rise up again.
On the path of Self-enquiry, it is admittedly the mind
that investigates, but this self-investigation annihilates it and
finally it gets destroyed, just as the stick used to stir a funeral
pyre is itself finally burnt. This is the state of Liberation in
which it is realised that there is no mind at all. What appeared
to be the mind is really the Self, the Self manifest as ‘I-I’. This
is aham-sphurana, prajnana, self-manifestation, wisdom.
The Maharshi’s most compact and compendious, and
indeed scriptural, exposition of the path of knowledge and
the truth of Advaita is his Forty Verses on Reality, Ulladu
Narpadu. It explains that the mind consists of thoughts, of
which the first to arise is ‘I The discipline prescribed is to
enquire with a keen mind whence this ‘I’ arises (verse 23). To
say that the ‘I’ arises means that the Self and the not-self are
fastened in a knot which is called technically ‘superimposition’
or ‘nescience’.
Bondage, soul, subtle body, egoity, transmigration,
mind, all mean the same (24). They are the I-thought or ego
functioning in various ways. So long as it dwells in the body
it acts, experiences and enjoys; on leaving the body it finds
another. But when its nature is investigated it takes to flight
and turns out to be devoid of substance (25). The ego is the
prop of all appearances. If the ego is all else is; if the ego
is not nothing else is. The ego is all. So when the ego is
investigated and its unreality perceived all phenomena are
given up (26). When, through enquiry, the state where the
ego does not rise up is reached, there is the non-dual Self.
When the ego is lost the Self is gained (27). One should dive
into oneself, with senses and mind controlled, and find the
place whence the ‘I-I’ rises in order to recover the Self, as
one would dive into water to get back some precious jewel
that had fallen into it (28). Verbal repetition of the word ‘I-I’
is not the enquiry, nor is meditation ‘I am not this, I am that’;
this may help but the actual enquiry is the direct path. It is
to be done with the mind turned inwards (29). Through the
enquiry the mind reaches the Heart, which is only another
name for the Self, and there the pseudo-I sinks crestfallen
and the real ‘I-I’, the Self, shines of its own accord. This real
‘I’ is not an object to be seen or realised; it is the plenary
Reality (30). The destruction of the ego through Self-enquiry
and the gaining of Self-awareness is the only achievement;
there is nothing else to be accomplished. Pure Self-awareness
is perfection (31). This is the realisation that one always is
and was the Self and that there is no other Reality (32).
It is useless to indulge in metaphysical speculation about
Reality. “Does anything exist or not? Has Reality form or
is it formless? Is it one, two or neither? These are questions
engendered by ignorance” (34). Similarly, philosophical
questions about time and space, the world and God, free will
and predestination, are powerless to lead us out of our state
of ignorance. When such questions occur the enquirer should
turn to the basic question: to whom do they occur? One must
question the questioner. When the questioner is known there
will be no questions left to ask or answer.
To seek the eternally achieved Self and abide in it is the
true achievement. Delusion and the misery born of it disappear
once one is established in the natural state of the Self. The
Self is not something to be newly realised; in fact, the very
expression ‘Realisation’ is inapt, for the real does not need to
be ‘realised’. The term ‘Realisation’ has to be understood in

a figurative sense only. The truth is that there is no plurality
at all: from the standpoint of the
Absolute there is neither bondage nor release; there is no
one bound and no one to be released. All that is is the non-
dual Self.
This is the theme of Ulladu Narpadu, a tremendous
poem proclaiming the Ultimate Reality and the path to its
Realisation.
In the later years at Sri Ramanasramam there used to
be a daily stream of visitors and spiritual aspirants seeking
to have their doubts clarified and difficulties removed by
putting questions to Sri Ramana Maharshi. Some of the talks
that ensued were recorded by competent resident devotees.
The largest such compendium which has been preserved and
published is “Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi”. Questions
about the path and the goal come up constantly and the
Master’s answers are always from the standpoint of Advaita-
experience.
Again and again he stresses (like Gaudapada and Sankara
and other ancient Masters) that Perfection, Moksha, is not
anything new to be acquired. “Realisation is our nature. It
is not anything new to be gained. What is new cannot be
eternal” (Talk 401). “You do not acquire happiness; your very
nature is happiness. Bliss is not newly earned. All that is to
be done is to remove unhappiness” (Talk 290).
Ajnana (ignorance) is the cause of bondage; and ajnana
is unreal. The world of duality is an illusory projection of
ajnana. When the unreality of ajnana is realised the eternal
Jnana, Knowledge, shines of itself. “To know that there never
was ignorance is the goal of all spiritual teachings. Ignorance
must be of one who is aware – Awareness is jnana and jnana
is eternal and natural. So ajnana is unnatural and unreal”
(Talk 289).
A mental support to Self-enquiry, though it cannot
be the enquiry itself, is to analyse the three states of
experience: waking, dream and deep sleep. This is also

referred to in the Mandukya Upanishad and by Gaudapada
in his Karika. The Maharshi explains that there is no real
difference between the waking and dream states and that both
are unreal from the standpoint of the Absolute. The state of
deep sleep shows that ‘I’ and the world are not real (in the
sense of permanent) since they appear only in the waking
and dream states. “How does sleep differ from the other two
states? In sleep there are no thoughts, whereas in the other
two states there are. Therefore, thoughts must be the origin
of ‘I’ and the world. What are they? They cannot be natural
(in the sense of permanent) or they could not appear at one
moment and disappear at another. Where do they come from?
They must be admitted to have an ever-present and invariable
source. It must be the eternal state . . . that from which all
beings come forth, that in which they remain and that into
which they resolve” (Talk 641).
The accepted rule is: “that which is constant in variable
things is real, that which is inconstant is unreal, ‘I’ and the
world are inconstant; the Self alone is constant”. In the
waking and dream states our bodies attach themselves to us
and we are afflicted by the I-am-the-body idea. “Because the
body exists you say that it was born and will die, and then
you transfer the idea to the Self, saying that you are born
and will die. In fact, you remain without the body in sleep,
but now you remain with it. The Self can remain without
the body but the body cannot exist apart from the Self. The
‘I-am-the-body’ thought is ignorance; that the body does not
exist apart from the Self is knowledge ... So long as there is
the sense of separation there will be afflicting thoughts. If the
original source is regained and the sense of separation put an
end to, there is peace” (Talk 396).
98. What Sri Ramana Means to Me*
A continuous awareness of the inner Reality, a mind of

supreme balance and an equal vision resulting from a
perception of the one satchidananda atma in all forms of
life. A silent expression of a cosmic outlook on life, were
characteristic of Ramana who, by the splendid example of his
daily adhyatmic life, illustrated so vividly some of the most
significant utterances of the Upanishads regarding the nature
of liberated persons.
Of Ramana, it can be truly said: “He does not desire, he
has no desire, he is freed from desire, his desire is satisfied,
his desire is the Self.” “He is the greatest among the knowers
of Brahman.” “He sees the Self in the Self and sees everything
as the Self. Evil does not overcome him; on the other hand,
he overcomes all evil. Evil does not burn him; on the other
hand, he burns all evil.” “He is the (real) Brahmin who leaves
this world, having known the Imperishable.” Such statements
of the Upanishads portray more meaningfully and even more
faithfully than the words of his biographers, what he was and
what he means.
Absolute liberation is a transcendental experience lying
beyond all conception and expression; and the internal
spiritual processes in the day to day consciousness of Ramana
consisted of the single unchanging realisation of the Absolute
Self. Established in the condition of Brahma jnana and
indifferent to the play of life and to the rhythms of law, he
was one who saw, as the Isha Upanishad would put it, “All
beings in his own Self, and the Self in all beings.” As to his
attitude to his body, there is this illuminating statement in
the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, IV, 4.7: “As the slough of a
snake lies inanimate and cast off on an ant hill, even so lies
this body (of the living liberated man). But this incorporeal,
immortal Life Principle is Brahman alone, the Light alone.”
* Swami Sivananda, The Call Divine, January 1958.

Those who have had the blessing of the darshan of

Ramana will never forget those brilliant, steady and serene
eyes, the deep sense of peace one experienced in his
presence, the compelling elevation one felt in his proximity.
The real state of a Self-knowing jnani is no matter for easy
description. The life of Ramana illustrated this passage from
the Varaha Upanishad. He rested “with an unshaken mind
in that all-pure abode which is chinmatra... free from all the
modifications of chitta...” Though participating in all the
illusory objects, he was “cool amidst them” and was “a full
atma, as if they belonged to others.” He was one, who stayed,
as the Tejobindu Upanishad states, “in chinmatra or Absolute
Consciousness alone, whose interior (was) Consciousness
alone, which (was) only of the nature of chinmatra.” In
order to know what Ramana meant to himself, and to others,
there are answers in the Upanishads. Maitreya Upanishad
says “I am ‘I’, the Eternal, the Stainless, vijnana, chaitanya,
the Light, the One.” And the Kaivalya Upanishad says, “I
am always of the form of chit; I am the One that should be
known by Self-Knowledge, by the Vedas.”
As a matter of my immediate spiritual experience,
Ramana is the living, talking, seeing, guiding transcendental
Reality, bent on transfiguring with its Light the higher levels
of our purified consciousness. Ramana is here and now with
us. He is more easily accessible to us now than he was when
environed in the limitations of a bodily mansion. He is more
palpable to our inner faith and thought and spirit now than
when the glimpses of his Godhead were given us through
the half closed eyes of the clay tenement he in dwelt at
Arunachala. Offer Ramana the conditions of the devotion of
your heart, the earnest longing of your soul, the Mountain
moving faith in him, a certain receptivity to the Light and
Grace of his all-pervading Presence. He is standing by you
as a Reality more real than your physical experiences than
your mental preoccupations, awaiting to be touched, felt and
known by you. The Powers and the Presence of the liberated
Consciousness of Ramana are here with us, to be sensed

and experienced and utilised by our aspiring natures, by our
purified hearts and minds. I know of a few sadhakas who
have been directly contacting Ramana not only in the hours
of intense meditation but in their normal life whenever they
direct a single thought towards him. We would be in perpetual
attunement with Ramana if only we can transcend the heavy
limitations of an egoistic mode of consciousness.
The Central message of Ramana was that we should
subject ourselves to psychological self-observation, liberate
ourselves from the ego idea; grow conscious of the pure
spiritual “I”-awareness and live in it as he lived in it all through
the life of his physical embodiment and is living in it now.
By the magical working offices of prayer, by the power of
the sincerity of our longing for his Experience, let us elevate
our consciousness from the base impurities of the mind. Free
ourselves from the insistent vehemence of the vital nature,
from every form of egoistic existence; this done, I assure you,
we would experience Ramana’s living Presence here and now.
It is the imperfection of our surrender unto the Maharshi, of
our faith in him, of our effort to realise him here and now,
that is obscuring our vision, the perception, and experience
of His Divine Grace, Presence and Light. Therefore, it is that
we need to make more intense, the inner spiritual sadhana, so
that Ramana may be a matter of our immediate experience.
It is then that the Light and Love of all pervading Ramana
possesses our entire being and gives us a knowledge as to
how dynamically active he is in the higher consciousness of
spiritual humanity. I offer my heartfelt prayers to Ramana.
99. Tales of Bhagavan*
P eople, who expected the Supreme to be uniformly

monotonous, acting in an invariable and stereotyped
way, could not find their bearings when they had to deal
with Bhagavan. He never reacted twice in the same way.
The unexpected with him was inevitable. He would deny
every expectation, go against every probability. He seemed
to be completely indifferent to whatever was going on in
the Ashram and would give an immense amount of care to
some apparently insignificant detail. He would be highly
critical of the Ashram manager’s passion for improvement
and expansion and yet take personal interest in the work
of the carpenters and masons. He would scold his younger
brother soundly but would rebuke anybody who came to him
with some complaint against him. He did not even want to
hear about the money coming to the Ashram, but would read
carefully the incoming and outgoing letters. He would refuse
his consent to a certain work, but if it were done against his
wishes, he would earnestly cooperate. When asked to agree
to the building of the temple, he said, “Do as you please, but
do not use my name for collecting money.” Yet he would
closely watch the progress of the work and wander in the
night among the scaffolding, with his torch in one hand and
his stick in the other. When the Sri Chakra was placed in the
sanctum of the temple, he went there at midnight and laid
his hands on it. He would deny all responsibility for starting
and developing the Ashram, would refuse to claim it as his
property, but signed a will creating a hereditary managership
for the Ashram. He would refuse all treatment when asked,
but would swallow any medicine that was given to him
without asking. If each well-wisher offered his own remedy,
he would take them all at the same time. He would relish
some rustic dish and would turn away from costly delicacies.
* Chalam, Ramana Smriti.

He would invite people for food, but when asked for a meal
he would plead his helplessness in the matter. Sometimes he
would take a man to the kitchen and cook and serve him
with his own hands. He insisted that beggars should be fed
first, but would say that the Ashram was for visitors, not for
beggars. He would be tender with a sick squirrel and would
not outwardly show any feeling when an old and faithful
devotee was dying. A serious loss or damage would leave
him unconcerned, while he may shout warnings lest a glass
pane in a cupboard should break. Greatness, wealth, beauty,
power, penance, fame, philanthropy – all these would make
no impression on him, but a lame monkey would absorb him
for days on end. He would ignore a man for a long time and
then suddenly turn to him with a broad smile and start an
animated discussion. To a question about life after death he
would retort, ‘Who is asking?’ but to another man he would
explain in great detail what death was and what the state of
mind was after death. It was clear that all he did was rooted
in some hidden centre to which none of us had any access. He
was entirely self-directed, or rather, Self-directed.
Once, somebody brought Bhagavan a wounded dove.
Bhagavan held it in his hands for some time and then asked
the devotees gathered in the hall, “Who will take good care
of this bird until it is quite well?” No offer came. Some time
back the Maharani of Baroda had presented a white peacock
to the Ashram and everybody was eager to take charge of
it. Bhagavan looked around and started talking to the dove,
“What a pity you are not a peacock. You are a mere dove, a
useless little thing, not a costly bird presented by a Maharani.
Who wants you? Who will care for you?” The dove was kept
in the Ashram in a clumsy cage, became well and flew away.
But the lesson of universal compassion remained.
An old Telugu man with a long beard, an iron pot and
chopper for cutting wood made his abode in the Draupadi
temple. He would beg some food in the town, boil something
or other in his iron pot on a small fire of wood cut with his
chopper and eat it during the day. For hours together he

could be seen standing and looking at Bhagavan. He would
spend the night in the temple, which was dilapidated and
abandoned and surrounded by jungle. Once, the writer of this
piece found him standing all alone in front of the temple and
gazing at Arunachala. “I sleep here”, he said when the writer
asked him what he was doing in the forsaken temple. “What,
sleeping here all alone? Are you not afraid?”, exclaimed
Chalam. The old man seemed indignant. “Afraid of what?
Bhagavan throws his light upon me. All through the night I
am surrounded by a blue radiance. As long as his light is with
me, how can I be afraid?” The incident made Chalam deeply
humble. Bhagavan’s love and light was given in full measure
to a poor old beggar, while those who pride themselves on
being his chosen disciples are left high and dry because they
have themselves to attend to.
Echammal was one of Bhagavan’s earliest devotees. She
regularly brought food to him when he was living on the Hill.
Her property went to help his devotees. She practised yoga
assiduously and died when in a yogic trance. When Bhagavan
heard the news, he said, “Oh, is it so?” After Echammal’s
body was burnt, Shantamma came into the hall and told
Bhagavan that the cremation was over. He said, “Yes, it is
all right.” And he added after a while, “I warned her not to
practice yoga. She would not listen. Therefore, she had to die
unconscious and not in full awareness.”
A man was telling Bhagavan that he learnt one type of
yoga under one master, some other type under a different
master and so on. The dinner bell started ringing. “Now learn
the yoga of eating under this master”, said Bhagavan, and
took the man to have his dinner.
A lady devotee prayed to Bhagavan, “My only desire
is that you may always be with us”. Bhagavan exclaimed,
“Look at her, she wants us all to turn into stones, so that we
may sit here forever.”
A friend from Bombay came to have a look at the Ashram

and to find out what it was all about. He had little faith himself
but wanted to know what exactly drew people to Bhagavan.
He would get hold of this man and that and keep on asking all
sorts of questions. A Norwegian sadhu lived at that time near
the Ashram and we went one evening in search of him. He
lived in a small cubby hole, meant for a bathroom. He slept
and cooked his food there. It was wonderful to think that an
educated European had accepted this kind of life just to be
near Bhagavan. With his beard, long hair and weather-beaten
face he looked old, but in reality he was quite young. During
his university years he had studied comparative religion and
thus was attracted to India and to Indian philosophy. Even
in Norway, whenever he would meet an Indian he would
question him eagerly, only to discover that Indians on the
whole knew very little of their glorious heritage. This had
only strengthened his desire to go to India, meet the people
who knew, and learn from them. He tried hard and got a job
as a lecturer in religion in one of the North Indian colleges.
He joined and in his spare time was searching for a Guru. He
was told that he could find one only in the Himalayas. He
roamed the mountains and at last he found somebody who
agreed to guide and instruct him. The Norwegian was very
reticent about his Guru and would tell neither name nor place.
But he gave up his job, joined his Guru in the mountains,
learnt sankhya yoga under him and was told to do sadhana
for four years and then come back. How was he to live for
these four years? Again he got a job, this time in Bangalore.
A fellow traveller in the train advised him strongly to go and
meet Bhagavan before he took up his duties. He broke his
journey, saw Bhagavan and could not leave. In Bhagavan’s
presence his sankhya sadhana became very vigorous and
speedy. He had no money and just stretched every copper.
He did not feel the need to return to the Himalayas. He
said he would go on till the goal was reached. We returned
wondering at Bhagavan’s mighty power which attracted all,
however small or great. Our Bombay friend felt that there

might be something in the Ashram beyond his ken and grew
very humble.
100. The Gift of Life*
I t was the first few weeks of my pregnancy when I was

diagnosed with an internal hemorrhage. The prognosis
was grave, and surgery was an option only as a last resort
at the risk of losing the fetus. I was ordered complete bed
rest with absolutely no movement, so to give the wound a
chance to heal itself. I lay in bed all day and night staring at
the ceiling most of the time. The only welcome distraction
to my eyes was the picture of Bhagavan and Sri Arunachala
that I had asked to be glued on the closet door at the foot of
my bed. I tried to concentrate on my prayers, repeating “Sri
Arunachala Aksharamanamalai” as much as possible. But
the physical pain was immense, not to mention the agony of
being bedridden.
Though I was under excellent medical care and had full
attention from my family, I felt my strength draining from
my body with each passing day. One afternoon, I had an
experience. I felt the heat dissipating from my body and a
chillness setting in. My hearing began losing its sharpness,
vision blurring, and a cloud of darkness set in. I could not
move my hands, nor could I voice a single word, even though
I was trying to scream from within. I felt suffocated, was
aware of my consciousness slipping away and felt myself
sinking into something that I have no words to describe. I
panicked inside, gripped by the fear of death and thoughts
of unfinished responsibilities. I experienced my life slipping
* A New York Devotee, ‘The Maharshi’ newsletter, September-

October 2000.
away. At that moment, I cried inside to Bhagavan, begging

Him, that if this was death, he should take me to Him.
Then, I had the vision of the holy Sri Arunachala Mountain
zooming back and forth and Bhagavan standing at one side of
the hill. There was an arc of light leaving my body, like what
you see in children’s fairy tale movies. Bhagavan raised his
hand and pushed the light back into my body.
He then said, “This is not the time for you to go. You
have a purpose in life. Do your duty.” Then in the most
gracious and affectionate way, he put his hand where I had
been hurting and said, “Is this where you are hurt?”
After this I became conscious. I had no idea how long
I was unconscious. All I knew was that this experience had
transformed me, for when I became aware of the world, I
had absolutely no pain. I immediately rose from my bed and
walked briskly across the room. I felt and appeared perfectly
healthy. The next visit to the doctor showed a completely
healed wound.
Now I have been blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby.
Bhagavan gave me a chance to bring a gift of life into my
family. Every day I remind myself that I live by His grace
alone.
101. The Maharshi and the Path of Devotion*
N ot only in India but in all religions the path of devotion

or surrender has been prized as a method for attaining to
God or winning Liberation. The four main paths recommended
in Hinduism are karma, bhakti, yoga and jnana representing
action, devotion, yogic development and knowledge; and it
is held that man’s business in life is to try to reach God by
one or more of them. The above four include many varied
techniques which different people practise in the hope of
* A. Devaraja Mudaliar, The Mountain Path, October 1964.

evolving spiritually and attaining perfection. Bhagavan

Ramana has often said that all of them are good and all
are difficult only according to the temperament and ability
of an aspirant one or another may appeal to him most and
look easiest. He also said that whatever method one may
practise one must eventually attain to Jnana, that is to Divine
Knowledge of the Self, the Absolute.
It is well known that Bhagavan taught that the shortest
and most direct way to attain Self-realisation is to enquire
who this ‘I’ or ego to which we refer at every turn, as ‘I
think’, ‘I want ‘I do’, etc., really is and whence it arises. This
‘I’ is another name for the mind, which again is nothing but
a bundle of thoughts. He taught that if, without allowing the
mind to go outwards and indulge in thoughts of the world,
we continuously and resolutely turn it back on itself to find
the source whence it springs it will take us to the Self. This
method is known as vichara or enquiry and comes under the
heading of jnana marga.
It is not so well known, however, that Bhagavan was
himself as much a bhakta as a jnani, a man of devotion as of
knowledge. I could write at length on this subject, but it is
hardly necessary. A perusal of his ‘Five Hymns to Arunachala’
is enough to prove what a sincere and ardent devotee he was.
What I wish to bring out here is that, when commending Self-
enquiry and telling his questioner to ask himself ‘Who am
I?’, Bhagavan often ended by saying: “If you say you have
not the strength to do this, throw yourself on the one great
Power which looks after all.” I have heard him say this not
once but a number of times. Even in his earliest book, that
great little work ‘Who am I?’, he says: “God is prepared to
take up all burdens, however heavy. Why not throw all your
burdens also on Him and be free? Don’t be foolish like the
passenger in a railway train who carries his bag on his lap
or shoulders instead of putting it on the rack.” I have never
heard him commend in this way, of his own accord, either
karma marga or yoga.
In this connection, I would like to quote a stanza

from a Tamil poem by the late Sivaprakasam Pillai, one of
Bhagavan’s oldest devotees and one whose authority to speak
on Bhagavan’s teachings it would be hard to dispute. “To all
you give only the instruction: ‘Ponder and find out who you
are’. If, after that, any one still submissively asks for more
you say as your final advice: ‘There is a power (sakti) which
moves you and me and all; surrender your ego at the feet of
that Mother.’”
Not only many ancient saints of our land, but even recent
ones, such as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami
Ramdas, to mention only two, have recommended the bhakti
path of surrender. The Puranas have even gone further and
laid down that for this spiritually dark age, the kali yuga, the
path of bhakti is the best suited and the easiest to practise.
Leave everything to God, throw yourself at His feet and just
keep calling on His Name always. You need not do anything
else. You will be saved. That is what they say.
But whatever any one may say, however easy at first
sight the method may seem, once you begin to practise it
earnestly you will find surrender, real and complete surrender,
surrender without any mental reservations whatsoever,
surrender to accept with joy, as coming from God, everything
that befalls you, good, bad and indifferent, is a very hard
thing indeed. But we are told that surrender will not work
unless it is complete. There are two stories, one from
the great epic, the Mahabharata, and the other told by Sri
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, that illustrate this. The first is
that when Draupadi was left helpless, her mighty husbands
having by then lost their freedom, and the evil Duryodhana
and his friends tried to disrobe her in court, she prayed to
Sri Krishna as her last and only refuge; but help did not
come from him until she had given up the natural and almost
involuntary effort to hold on to her sari and prevent it from
being removed from her waist. So long as she struggled to
help herself, Divine Grace could not flow to help her. The
story told by Ramakrishna is even more forceful. Someone

picked a quarrel with a laundryman when he was washing
clothes and began to beat him. The laundryman cried out to
Vishnu for help. Vishnu was at that time disporting himself
in paradise with his consort Lakshmi. On hearing the piteous
cry of the laundryman he rose and started running towards the
earth. A moment later, however, Lakshmi saw him strolling
back in a leisurely way. “What is the matter?” she asked.
“Why did you rush off so suddenly? And why do you now
come back in no hurry?”
The Lord thereupon explained: “A devotee was beaten
and prayed to me for help and protection, so I had to run to
his rescue. But before I got there he took up a stick to defend
himself, so why should I bother?”
This is what Bhagavan taught, that surrender must be
complete or it will not be effective. It is clearly taught in our
religious literature that before you can expect any progress
in your spiritual state you must sacrifice or offer all you
have, body, possessions and soul, to the Guru. We must
also remember that God, Guru and Self are equated. Such
surrender has been taught as a sure and sufficient means for
the attainment of our spiritual goal, call it Mukti, Moksha,
Nirvana, Liberation or what you will. Submission to the will
of Allah is the basic command of Islam. Jesus said: “Come
unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will
give you rest.” Krishna said: “Abandon all your duties and
take refuge in Me alone. I will free you from all sins. Do not
grieve.”
Sri Krishna definitely affirmed that if a man takes refuge
at His feet and surrenders completely he need not do anything
else, he need not bother about any other duties. This path
of utter devotion and self-surrender has been proclaimed and
followed by many a bhakta throughout India, especially by
the great Saivite and Vaishnavite poet-saints of the Tamil land,
by Tukaram, Eknath, Namdev and others in Maharashtra,
and Chaitanya in Bengal. The Vaishnavites in particular
have attached great importance to the path of surrender as

taught in the ‘Charama sloka’, as it is called, of the Bhagavad
Gita, which I have already quoted. They call this surrender
‘Prapathi’ and have developed its doctrine in great detail,
showing how far-reaching its ramifications can be.
I shall refer only to one or two aspects of this ‘Prapathi’
path which especially appeal to me. They say, for instance, that
while in other paths God is the Goal and various other things
are used as means, on the path of surrender both the means
and the end are God. Another thing they say is that whereas
on any other path more than one means may be employed
and may even be necessary, on the path of surrender no other
means are necessary or even admissible, for that would imply
that your faith in surrender was not complete, and therefore
your surrender itself was not. One illustration they quote for
this argument is that in the Ramayana Indrajit used a powerful
weapon called ‘Brahma Asthra’ with whose divine power he
bound Hanuman hand and foot. The Rakshasas, however,
seeking to make doubly sure, began to bind him also with
ropes and chains, whereupon the divine weapon ceased to act
owing to their lack of faith in it. To throw oneself completely
on God, secure in His love and mercy and power, and not to
dream of being able to do anything except by His Grace and
Will is the Prapathi method taught by the Vaishnavites, and it
has great value for the really ardent devotee.
Even recent saints have, in their great mercy, told some
lucky disciples that if they surrendered completely to the
Guru they need not do anything else. Once when Girish
Chandra Ghosh wept before Ramakrishna and declared that
he could not follow any discipline, however simple or short,
Ramakrishna was pleased to tell him: “Then give me power
of attorney”, meaning: ‘Surrender and I will do the rest!’
I once told Bhagavan: “I am another Girish. You must
save me yourself. Every saint must have a Girish.”
Bhagavan replied: “But he gave power of attorney.”
“I too have surrendered to the extent that I am capable

of,” I said: “What more can I do?”
Bhagavan said nothing.
It was not Bhagavan’s way to say, “Surrender and I will
look after you.” However, the following incident is significant
in that regard. About a year before Bhagavan left the body I
said to him one afternoon: “I am going to sing Bhagavan
three stanzas from a poem by Sivaprakasam Pillai because
they express what I want to say better than I could.” I then
sang them. Their meaning is: “I have not followed your
teaching or instructions; but is it proper for a Guru to get
disgusted with his devotee as an incorrigible beast and to give
him up? If you let me go my own way like this, what is to
happen to me? I shall not reform and you will not correct or
change me. Have I any other help in this or the other world
except you, my Lord? What, then, is your idea? Is this right
behaviour for you?”
Bhagavan did not immediately reply, which caused me
some disappointment. After a minute or two he said: “Whether
I do anything or not, your business is only to surrender and
keep still.”
Some friends have told me that I may take this to mean:
“Don’t worry; I know what to do and will do it.” On the other
hand, it may only mean: “If you really surrender you have
no right to complain; so if a devotee complains it is a sign
that he has not surrendered.” In any case, I prefer to be an
optimist and believe that, however incomplete my surrender
may be, so long as his Grace is complete he will look after
me all right.
I recently read in ‘Bhavan’s Journal’ some of the
teachings of Swami Nityananda who lived in Vajreswari for
about thirty years and died a few years ago. A disciple asked
him: “What should I do?”; and he replied: “You need not do
anything.” I take that to mean anything except surrender and
leave everything to the Guru.
Intellectuals may feel tempted to look down on the path

of bhakti, but I think I have written enough to show that such
an attitude is not justified. I will finish with one more story to
illustrate this. Totapuri was an Advaitin whom Ramakrishna
took as his guru, having already had a tantric guru. He had no
patience with people worshipping a Personal God and used
to make fun of Ramakrishna for constantly speaking of Kali
and worshipping her and calling her ‘Mother’. He had never
previously known ill health, when he was suddenly attacked
by a severe and painful form of dysentery. It was so bad that
after some days he decided to drown himself in the Ganges.
He entered the river and walked towards the opposite bank,
perhaps half a mile or so, only to find that the water never got
more than knee-deep. Finally, Kali, Ramakrishna’s ‘Mother,’
appeared before him and thus miraculously converted him.
Let no humble devotee, therefore, feel discouraged
if some philosopher or even saint condemns the path of
surrender. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. It has
worked and produced results all over the world, not only with
bhaktas in India, but with Sufis in Persia and mystics both
in the East and West. Above all, Sri Krishna has held out
the promise that He will save all who come to Him and take
refuge at His feet. Let us not doubt but let us surrender and
achieve eternal Peace and Bliss.
102. Sri Ramana’s Wondrous Grace*
E ver since I came to know of Maharshi the thought of

Arunachala had always been in my mind but it did not
give rise to any strong emotion up till now. Only, the mind
was in a gloomy mood. When we were a few stations from
Tiruvannamalai the thought of a rebuff at the Ashram became
very strong and roused a correspondingly strong emotion in me.
* Anonymous, Golden Jubilee Souvenir.

As I was unobserved, my one companion being fast asleep and

there being nobody else in the compartment, I gave free vent
to my emotion. After some time, it spent itself and the mind
became resigned. The train now stopped at Tiruvannamalai. I
roused my companion, who was still sleeping, and we set our
feet on the sacred soil of Tiruvannamalai.
It was already dawn and we came out of the station. The
Hill of Arunachala now caught our eyes. Silent and majestic
it stood there, as if immersed in deep meditation. We saluted
the Jyotirlingam and drove direct to the Ashram.
It happened to be the annual Birthday of Maharshi.
Bhaktas were preparing to celebrate the day on a large
scale. Huge preparations were being made for feeding a few
thousand people and a big pandal was erected for the purpose.
At the farther end of the first quadrangle a small
enclosure was erected and a seat was arranged there for
Maharshi. Leaving a small space in front of the enclosure for
the passage of pilgrims, the whole of the quadrangle and the
adjoining verandah were crowded with visitors.
Maharshi took his seat within the enclosure. Pilgrims
came in a line, prostrated themselves before him, paid their
respects and then passed out of the quadrangle. A continuous
stream of people passed in this way for a couple of hours.
I was all along anxious to catch his eyes but could not do
so. When the crowd became thinner, I got up, walked up
to the enclosure and took my stand just outside it, towards
the right of Maharshi. With folded hands and tearful eyes I
stood there, eagerly expecting to catch his eyes. Though some
people were asked to pass on to make room for others, I was
fortunately not disturbed. I continued standing there, allowing
ample room for the free passage of other pilgrims who still
continued to pass on. I waited and waited. Mixed emotions
pulsated through the body and tears flowed down the cheeks,
(I know not why). My whole being was irresistibly being
drawn towards him. At last he was turning his head towards
his right, that is, in my direction. Expectation rose high, but,
alas, his gaze passed on without falling on me! Frustration

further intensified my sense of helplessness and my whole
being poured forth silent entreaty in convulsive sobs. Ah!
now, immediately after, I seemed to obtain a side glance
from his eyes, while a sweet smile beamed on his face. A
peculiar sensation passed through my body and my whole
being seemed to be churned. A minute later I passed out of
the quadrangle.
The next morning, I got up early, and after finishing my
bath, attended the morning prayers in the hall. Well-versed
Brahmins recited Vedic Hymns. Some slokas offering homage
to Maharshi were also recited. All these were done as routine
work every morning and evening. After the prayers are over,
all assemble in the dining hall and take their breakfast with
Maharshi. Maharshi also takes the two principal meals along
with all the guests. The same food as is served to Maharshi is
also served to one and all present, and he does not allow any
discrimination in this matter.
I was eager to put my case before Maharshi and tried
to find out somebody who would introduce me to him and
speak to him on my behalf. I approached some inmates of the
Ashram but every one of them told me that no introduction
or intermediary was necessary here, any one could personally
approach Maharshi and speak to him directly. But I could not
muster sufficient courage to speak to him or rather I did not
know what to speak to him. Thus the second day also passed
away without my being able to make any contact with him. I
had only a few days at my disposal, and two days had already
gone. Would this journey, so much trouble and such a cost,
would all these be for nothing? These thoughts overwhelmed
me and goaded me to offer most earnest prayers.
Next morning, I entreated another inmate of the Ashram to
put my case before Maharshi. He looked at me for a moment,
and then advised me to write down whatever I intended to
say on a piece of paper and to place it before Sri Bhagavan.
He also gave me a piece of paper. Write down! What should
I write down? But I was not in a thinking mood then. I wrote

down whatever came to my mind. He very kindly took the
piece of paper, went to the hall, followed by me, and placed
the paper before Maharshi, speaking something to him in
Tamil. Maharshi read it and smiled, and smiling he turned
towards me. I was sitting there, with folded hands and eyes
filled with tears. As he looked at me I was overwhelmed and
a violent emotion convulsed my body which set Maharshi
laughing. He laughed merrily for some time and then silently
folded the paper and left it on a bookshelf which stood nearby.
He did not speak to me nor did he seem to pay any further
attention to me. The mind cannot remain in a tense state for
long; sheer exhaustion calms it down. My mind calmed down
after some time. The bell rang summoning us to dinner and
we followed Maharshi to the dining hall.
I had placed my case before Maharshi. He did not even
speak to me; rather he laughed at me! There was nothing
more to be done. I must return home and be a laughing-stock
also to my friends and relatives. What could be done? He
could not be forced to bestow Grace. With these thoughts the
mind became resigned.
After the night meal, the devotees used to spend half
an hour in meditation in the hall in Maharshi’s presence.
Mechanically I followed them and sat with them in the hall. A
few minutes passed. Then suddenly I felt a pleasant coolness
inundating me. It seemed to emanate from the very bones,
cooling the whole being. Is this the spiritual fragrance spoken
of as emanating from Maharshi? Whatever it might be, I had
no doubt that it came from Maharshi and at his will.
This was on the night of the third day of my visit. On
the next day, while sitting before Maharshi, I experienced a
sudden pull in the region of the heart. I was astonished and,
as I sought to observe it, it passed away. Nothing like the
experience of the previous night was repeated. The remainder
of the day passed in keen expectation, but nothing happened,
even during the meditation period after the night meal.

Perhaps expectation obstructed its manifestation.
Next morning, i.e., on the fifth day of my stay at the
Ashram news came of further heavy bombing of the Eastern
Coast-line by the Japanese, and I naturally became anxious
for my family. Moreover, as I did not experience anything
unusual during the meditation periods of the previous night
and of that morning, I thought that I had obtained what I
deserved and that nothing more would be gained by a further
stay at the Ashram. So I decided to return home. In the
afternoon I wrote out my intention to go home on a piece
of paper and placed it before Maharshi. He read it, silently
folded the paper and left it on the shelf. He spoke nothing and
did not even look at me. Another rebuff.
I made preparations for my departure, packed up my
small belongings and after taking my evening meal requested
an inmate of the Ashram to kindly get a carriage for me; but I
was told that no carriage would be available at that hour, that
I should have informed him earlier so that one might have
been fetched from the town. I was thus compelled to stay at
the Ashram for another day.
Next morning, I attended the usual prayers. I did not
experience anything abnormal during the meditation period.
Discussions generally take place when they assemble in the
hall after breakfast. Maharshi also answers questions from
earnest seekers. That morning also discussions were going
on. As they were talking mostly in Tamil (a language not
known to me) my attention was not attracted till I found some
people turning their heads and laughing at me. On enquiry
I learnt that they were discussing the subject-matter of my
first letter to Maharshi. Evidently, he had spoken something
to them regarding this letter. Though made a laughing-stock,
I was still glad to find that he had at last taken notice of
me. I took part in the discussions and, as I was in the back
row, some distance away from them, they asked me to come
nearer so that there might not be any difficulty in following

each other, and I obeyed. I was thus brought very near
Maharshi’s seat. Our discussions over, I heard Maharshi say,
“He is concentrating on the reflection and complains that he
cannot see the original.” It struck me forcefully. What did
he mean by reflection and what was the original? I shut my
eyes and tried to find out the meaning. Immediately after, I
felt a pull in the region of the heart, similar to what I felt
two days previously but much stronger in intensity. My
mind was completely arrested stilled, but I was wide awake.
Suddenly, without any break in my consciousness, the “I”
flashed forth! It was self-awareness, pure and simple, steady,
unbroken and intensely bright, as much brighter than ordinary
consciousness as is sunlight brighter than the dim light of a
lamp. In ordinary consciousness the ‘I’-sense dimly remains
in the background, as a matter of inference or intuition, the
whole of the consciousness being occupied by the object.
Here, ‘I’ came to the foreground, occupied, or rather became,
the whole consciousness and intensely existed as pure
consciousness, displacing all objects. I was, but I was neither
the subject nor the object of this consciousness. I WAS this
consciousness, which alone existed. There were no objects.
The world was not, neither the body nor the mind no thought,
no motion; time also ceased to exist. I alone existed and that
I was consciousness itself, self-luminous and alone, without
a second.... Suddenly, and again without any break in my
consciousness, I was brought back to my normal, ordinary
consciousness.
A great miracle had been performed in broad daylight in
the presence of so many people, without their knowing it. No
argument of the greatest philosophers and scientists of the
world will now make me doubt the possibility of experiencing
the ‘I’ in its pure state or pure consciousness, without any
subject-object relationship. Of course, I myself had not the
least inkling of such a state even a second earlier, and I
never expected to get such an experience. I, an insignificant
creature, wallowing in the mud of mundane existence, and

without any sadhana, being granted this supreme experience,
an experience which is rarely obtained even by great Yogis
after most austere spiritual practices strenuously performed for
ages together. Such is the wonder of His Grace immeasurable
and unfathomable Grace! Truly has it been said ‘Unasked
Thou givest, this is Thy imperishable fame.’
As soon as I was brought to my normal consciousness,
I opened my eyes and looked at Maharshi. I knew from
the heart of my heart that it was Maharshi who had very
graciously granted me this experience, but he appeared to
be quite unconcerned, as if nothing had happened! He was
not even looking at me! How could he have performed this
miracle? Was it by his Silence? Is this then what is meant by
– Sanskrit Text Sanskrit Text Through Silence is revealed the
nature of Parabrahma by the Guru. Who can comprehend?
The experience so much amazed me that I even forgot
to express my heart-felt gratitude to Maharshi. I could not
at that time even properly evaluate this supreme experience.
I looked at my comrades. They did not seem to notice me,
and so were ignorant of what had happened. In like manner,
unknown to others, to how many people has he graciously
granted this and even higher experiences? He only knows. I
looked at the clock, it was 20 minutes past ten. But as I did
not look at the clock before this state supervened, I cannot
say for how long I was in this wonderful state. A little later
we followed Maharshi to the dining hall and took our meal.
The experience left a very cheerful mood in me. I felt
completely carefree. The thought of home or of bombing did
not trouble me any further and I thought of staying in the
Ashram for a few days more. But man only proposes. Just
after the night meal was over a certain gentleman came to
me and said that he had already arranged a conveyance for
me and a carriage was waiting for me at the gate to take
me to the station! I was a little offended. Who asked him
to bring a carriage? I had given up the idea of leaving the
Ashram today. But why should I blame him? He was present

on the previous night when I asked for a carriage and saw my
plight at not being able to start home for want of a carriage.
In order that the same thing might not happen again he had
very kindly taken upon himself the duty of helping me by
arranging for a carriage. How could he be aware of the
change which had come over me? Moreover, he was only an
instrument. I therefore said nothing to him. He took me to
Maharshi, introduced me to him and explained to him that I
was leaving for home. I prostrated myself before Maharshi,
took leave of him and started for the station. The previous
day I had decided to go but was compelled to stay; this day
I decided to stay but was compelled to go! Mysterious are
His ways!
103. Maha Nirvana
T he unique manifestation of Divine Grace on earth known

and loved by us as Bhagavan Sri Ramana receded into its
Reality as night set in on Friday, April 14th, 1950. The very
moment that Bhagavan entered into Maha Nirvana, at 8:47
p.m., the skies announced the great event with a long, slow
trail of light.
Bhagavan Ramana moved with us, as one of us, though
he had, even as a lad of 17, found his Unity with the Reality
underlying all appearance and had remained ever since as that
resplendent Pure Consciousness, the Self. Though he never
left Arunachala after his first arrival there, the power of his
Light spread silently through the world during the half century
and more of his stay there. Many earnest seekers approached
him, and some found spiritual illumination in his presence.
His mode of life was natural, his ways were gracious, his
smile brought peace to the heart. His look was an initiation
into Divine Mystery; his teaching was simple, direct and
profound, based on man’s natural experience of I-ness. He

directed all to seek and find for themselves the Source of
the ego, the Reality behind their individuality, from which
all thoughts and actions proceed. His luminous abidance in
the Self was itself a teaching conveyed from heart to heart in
silence. As all his actions were waves from the Light within,
the grace of which attracted and uplifted all who came in
contact with him.*
Rajapalayam Ramani Ammal
I was at Rajapalayam at the time of Bhagavan’s Maha
Nirvana. That night, I saw a beautiful blue light going up
in the sky and I knew Bhagavan had left the body. I did
not want to live after that and so I started fasting, hoping
to drop the body that way. For five or six days, I did not
touch food. But during that time, I had several visions, and
in one of them, I was taken inside a cave on the Hill and saw
Rishis performing Yagnas. Sri Bhagavan was seated there.
Bhagavan said, “Why are you crying? You say that I have
gone away, but where have I gone? I am here.” Some Rishis
brought some Prasad to Bhagavan. Sri Bhagavan took some
and gave it to me. I could not remember in the dream that I
was fasting. For five days afterwards, the smell of that Prasad
was with me. Now was that a dream or reality? I consider it
to be Bhagavan’s Grace.
The aroma of that Prasad even spread around my house.
My brother wondered what I had eaten. That aroma was
simply out-of-the-world. The morning after the dream, I
started taking food and coffee. My brother and sister were
also fasting with me, deciding to give up their bodies if I
were to give up mine. In the dream, Bhagavan was seated
near a tank and Kamadhenu (the celestial cow) was near him.
Rishis and Munis were serving him. Bhagavan was looking
splendid, like Lord Siva. It was a divine sight indeed. The
* The Last Days and Maha-Nirvana of Bhagavan Sri Ramana.

smell of the Prasad remained for five days. How can I take
it to be a dream? From that day onwards, I had no thought
at all that Bhagavan had left us. He is all pervading. I felt no
more sorrow in my heart. He is here too. See how we all are
gathered here. What have we done to deserve this?*
Major Chadwick
O n the last night, Bhagavan was lying in the small room

which had originally been built as a storeroom when he
had moved into the big hall. We were all seated along the
verandah of the temple opposite. Our only view of the room
was through a small ventilator window about six feet from
the ground. Naturally, seated as we were on the ground, we
had no view of the interior of the room where he lay; all we
could see was the constant movement of a fan backwards and
forwards. This fan was anxiously watched by everybody, for
when it stopped we would know that the end had come.
The Ashram authorities were afraid that there might be
some trouble from the waiting crowds, as a certain clique had
arranged, if possible, to remove the body and bury it outside
the Ashram. It would have been quite impossible to do this.
There were lots of police about and the majority of opinion
was naturally against such a scandal. However, the powers
were scared. For this reason, about an hour before the end the
D.M.O., who was present, was prompted by the Manager to
come out and announce that there was no immediate danger
of anything happening that night. It was a scandalous thing to
do. Naturally many of the people went home for their evening
meal and so missed the last moments.
There were some American reporters and photographers,
who were there just out for a scoop. They were living less
than half a mile away. One of them standing outside the house
suddenly looked up and saw a very bright star or meteor move
slowly across the sky towards the North over the top of the
* Videotaped, Arunachala Ashrama.

Hill. He called out to the rest of the party, who ran out and
saw the same phenomenon. One and all agreed that something
had happened to Bhagavan. Even though they were without
special faith in him, by some intuition they were certain that
this must have been the case. It happened exactly at the time
of the passing (8:47 p.m. on April 14th, 1950) and was seen
by many people, all of whom strangely enough, associated it
with the same thing. People in Madras also saw it and some
got into their cars immediately and made their way to the
Ashram. This is a fact which I will not attempt to explain, but
must accept it as it happened.
“Go! Where can I go? I shall always be here.”
The power of Sri Ramana, who gave up his physical
form has not diminished. He is everywhere, like the light in a
room shed by an electric bulb. But the light is found to be far
stronger near the bulb, the source of light, than in any other
part of the room, though no spot is in darkness. What wonder,
then, if the power of our Guru is found near the place where
his body is interred?*
Attendant Krishnaswami
Bhagavan gave several indications that he wanted no
treatment. One day he threatened to drop his body by not
eating anything. I pleaded with Bhagavan that I would take
care of all his bodily needs, and that he should eat and stay
put inside that room. One day Bhagavan refused to drink
water, but the next day he demanded huge amounts of water.
I pleaded with him to moderate his intake of food and water.
So many things like this happened in those last days.
Two days after he drank lots of water, the end was to
come. I was with him on that day, too. In the afternoon, I
gave him the essence of pomegranate, which Bhagavan could
swallow. At 5 o’clock in the evening Satyananda Swami gave
* Major A.W. Chadwick, A Sadhu’s Reminiscences of Ramana

Maharshi.
him orange juice, which was advised by the doctors, but

Bhagavan had some difficulty swallowing it.
On the day of the Maha Samadhi, O.P. Ramaswami
Reddiyar, the retired Chief Minister, was attending to the
affairs of the Ashram. A police officer came to inquire
about Bhagavan’s condition on behalf of the District Police
Superintendent, who wanted to have Bhagavan’s darshan. I
told him to ask the Sarvadhikari. They said that only I would
be able to give them the correct picture. So I told them that as
far as I was concerned, I did not think Bhagavan’s body would
last beyond 10 o’clock in the night. So they sent word to the
District Police Superintendent to come and see Bhagavan.
There was another problem. Devotees wanted to have the
darshan of their Guru. I did not want to incur their anger by
denying them one last darshan of their Guru. I requested them
to come in a queue and not put any questions or expect any
words of wisdom from Bhagavan. Darshan continued till 5
p.m. Devotees came in large numbers, and although police kept
the line moving fast, they went back and stood in line again,
weeping and crying. It was a sight that moved me very deeply.
Seeing the difficulty that Bhagavan was experiencing,
I drew a screen across and didn’t allow any more darshan.
O.P. Ramaswani Reddiyar came, and I told him that he could
come in, but he declined. Seeing how much Bhagavan’s body
was suffering, O.P. Reddiyar requested the devotees to sing
Aksharamanamalai. He did this because Bhagavan’s body
was suffering and he didn’t want anybody to notice it.
Bhagavan had told me that a Jnani does not mind how
his body is dropped, for the body idea has already died. It
was only for the naked eye that Bhagavan was suffering. In
reality there was no suffering since Bhagavan had no dehatma
buddhi (I-am-the-body idea). Lots of pillows were placed to
prop up his head and He was sitting with his legs stretched.
Suddenly, Bhagavan asked me to seat him in padmasana
pose, and in that pose the last breath went out of him, and he
became still.
When Bhagavan dropped the body, I was holding the

head, and Subramanian was standing next to me. I was
looking at Bhagavan’s face, and when the lower jaw dropped,
I knew that he had left the body. The women outside sensed it
somehow and, beating their breasts, tried to come inside and
have one last darshan. But the police prevented it. I helped
carry the body to the Mantapam of the mother’s temple. My
service to Bhagavan ended there.*
S.S. Cohen
5th April: Yesterday, Monsieur Cartier-Brassen, the expert
French photographer, took a photograph of Sri Bhagavan,
which may prove to be the last one of him.
Maharshi’s health has remained more or less stationary
since about a week. His nausea and scanty urination have not
been persistent, yet there has been no improvement in his
general condition, which continues to prevent his coming out
for darshan.
Yesterday morning, His Excellency the Governor of
Madras, the Maharaja of Bhavnagar, and his wife had Sri
Bhagavan’s darshan in the small room, then worshipped in
the Ashram’s temple, inquired after the two white peacocks
they had presented some weeks back and left.
6th April, 1950: Symptoms of definite toxaemia have set
in Maharshi’s body. For the whole day his urinary secretion
did not exceed one ounce.... Doctors gently argue with him
that scanty urination can be relieved only by an increased
intake of fruit juice and water. ‘And if I can’t take?’ he would
answer, and there the matter must end. He leaves his body
to manage its health or diseases as best it can, without the
slightest effort of cooperation on his part. His mind is ever
sunk in bliss. It is true that his body is suffering, but that is no
reason why he should disturb his mind to oblige it. If it dies,
well and good; if it remains, so much the worse for it: it is
* Videotaped, Arunachala Ashrama.

the business of Him who made it to keep or take it away and

do all the worrying; it is none of his own business to interfere
and inconvenience himself on its behalf.
13th April, 1950: Tamil New Year, 2 p.m.
Morning observations: Maharshi’s diastole climbed up
to 46, but the systole remained stationary at 68, pulse 94,
temperature 98.4 (normal! what an irony!), breathing 22 per
minute.
Morning darshan ran for half an hour, during which
Maharshi’s eyes remained closed and when he occasionally
opened them, they looked in front rather than to the left where
the devotees were filing past him. His diet consists now of
only buttermilk.
10 p.m.: Owing to the very heavy attendance of visitors
from all over the South, nearly 1500, the evening darshan had
to be lengthened to 45 minutes.
Many devotees remained till late in the evening to
receive the final medical oral report for the day. At 9:30, Dr.
Krishnamurti, a local physician and a great devotee, walked
up to me and said: ‘My own impression is that there is no
immediate danger. Bhagavan has just told the attendants to go
to sleep as he himself was going to do. His breathing is not
laboured, and there is no gasping in evidence.’
Friday, 14th April: Maharshi is in a very precarious
condition. The whole morning has been spent by devotees in
hushed gloom and with bated breath. After evening darshan,
the unanimous verdict is that it is positively the last. The
Master is now propped on large pillows, almost in a sitting
posture, the head resting backward with open mouth, and
two attendants briskly fanning him, to enable him to breathe
freely-the battle for air, has thus started. At 7 p.m., oxygen is
administered to him for about five minutes, but seeing that it
gave him no relief, he feebly asked that it should be stopped.
The situation was tense: about five-hundred devotees
were outside in sad expectation of the solemn last moment.
Blood relations, Ashram workers, a few old disciples, and
some new aspirants went in by turn to have a last sight of

him. When the end was known to be approaching, the whole
congregation with one voice started chanting the Tamil hymns
he had many years ago composed in praise of Lord Arunachala:
“Arunachala Siva, Arunachala Siva, Arunachala!” till it came
at about 8:47. Many devotees, grief-stricken and beating their
breasts, lost control of their feelings and rushed en masse to
the small room where the sacred body lay, but police officers
immediately cordoned off the area till it was brought out and
placed in the centre of the big darshan hall in yoga asana for
all the people to pay their last respects to it. The news spread
like wildfire to the town and the neighbouring villages and
drew huge crowds. By 9:15, the crowd grew so thick, that it
became necessary to give a chance to all to pay their homage
and pass the body in an orderly manner. A queue was thus
formed-seven to ten broad-at a quick-march pace. It is still
(11:55 p.m.) continuing unabatingly.
Around the sofa sat dozens of disciples, some chanting
Maharshi’s verses and other devotional hymns, but others
remained in silent contemplation. Sandalwood paste and
jasmine flowers now cover the body and incense burns by
its side.
At about 9 p.m., Monsieur Henri Cartier-Bresson, the
French photographer, who has been here for about a fortnight
with his wife, related an experience of his to me. “It is a most
astonishing experience,” he said. “I was in the open space
in front of my house, when my friends drew my attention
to the sky, where I saw a vividly-luminous shooting star
with a luminous tail, unlike any shooting star I had before
seen, coming from the South, moving slowly across the sky
and, reaching the top of Arunachala, disappeared behind
it. Because of its singularity we all guessed its import and
immediately looked at our watches – it was 8:47 – and then
raced to the Ashram only to find that our premonition had
been only too sadly true; the Master had passed into Maha
Nirvana at that very minute.” Several other devotees in the
Ashram and in the town later told me that they too had seen
the tell-tale meteor.*
104. Readiness†
T he burning regret which many, probably, share with

me, is that full advantage was not taken of those happy
and precious days when He was with us physically also –
eating, talking, laughing, welcoming all, open to all. Reality
was there, in abundance and for the taking, but we enclosed
ourselves in timidity, in false humility, in self-deprecation
and false excuses. We took a cupful when the ocean was at
our feet.
Now He is still with us, but no longer so easily accessible.
To find Him again we must overcome the very obstacles which
prevented us from seeing Him as He was and going with Him
where He wanted to take us. It was tamas and rajas – fear
and desire that stood in the way – the desire for the pleasure
of the past and fear of austere responsibility of a higher state
of being. It was the same old story – the threshold of maturity
of mind and heart which most of us refuse to cross. ‘Ripeness
is all’, He used to say, and now ripeness is the condition of
finding Him again.
We ripen when we refuse to drift, when striving
ceaselessly becomes a way of life, when dispassion born of
insight becomes spontaneous. When the search ‘Who Am I?’
becomes the only thing that matters, when we become a mere
torch and the flame all-important, it will mean that we are
ripening fast. We cannot accelerate that ripening, but we can
remove the obstacles of fear and greed, indolence and fancy,
* Guru Ramana .
† Bharatananda ‘Maurice Frydman’, The Mountain Path, April
1976.
prejudice and pride. He is there and waiting – timelessly. It is

we who keep Him waiting.
105. Visiting the Ashram after Maha Nirvana*
O ne of the great regrets of my life is the loss of a letter,

which I received in 1934. It was in reply to a rather
hysterical missive I had dispatched addressed “Personal and
Private” to Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi at Tiruvannamalai.
This communication dealt with a serious, self-admitted
weakness of mine, which was my mother’s despair – a
combustible temper which would explode at the slightest
provocation. It was a bad time for me. I had just lost a father
I had worshipped. I was twelve going thirteen.
I desperately needed a confidante, an adviser, somebody
preferably outside the family and out of the blue the name
of Ramana Maharshi came to me. His was the only name I
had ever heard my father – a stubborn, intolerant sceptic –
mention without any codicils. I decided, therefore, to write
to the sage of Tiruvannamalai secretly. After a number of
unsuccessful attempts, I finally sent off a letter asking the
Maharshi directly to please I beg of you help me with my
temper problem. Within a week I received a reply signed
by the Sarvadhikari, informing me that my letter had been
received and placed before the Maharshi and that his message
to me was that if I myself made a constant and earnest effort
to overcome my temper I would rid myself of it, and that he
sent me his blessings. My first reaction to that letter was one
of astonishment at being treated like a grown up, since I had
always been told what to do, guided, instructed, warned, but
never challenged except on Sports Day. And here was this
great guru as good as telling me: “It is your temper, isn’t it?
So, you yourself deal with it.” He had simply batted the ball
* Santha Rangachary, The Mountain Path, Apr. 1980.

back to my court in the nicest possible way by treating me as

an individual in my own right. I rather liked that.
Ramana Maharshi entered my life again a year or so
later when my sister took our whole family on a pilgrimage.
The whole thing was going to take less than a week and we
were to stay at Tiruvannamalai only for two days. But as it
turned out we stayed at Ramanasramam for the whole week
and I wept like a lost child when we had to leave. The visit
to Ramanasramam was a shattering experience for me. I do
believe I literally fell in love with Ramana Maharshi. I was
in a daze, a trance, my tongue was gone, my mind was gone,
and I was in a state of dumbfounded ecstasy. This love, which
had been awakened, was the kind, which totally bypasses
the physical and creates an awareness of a different kind of
consciousness which can only be described as a mindless
rapture, pure joy. It is an unlocated, pervasive state of being
sparked off by some kind of recognition and it stays with you
and you are never the same again.
We arrived at Tiruvannamalai just before dawn. After
reaching the Ashram we bathed and had our breakfast, and
then made our way to the hall. My mother, brother and
sister went ahead and quickly disappeared into the hall. I
hung back, unaccountably apprehensive. Then, as I at last
composed myself and got to the door and looked in, I saw
reclining on a sofa, a golden-brown figure with the most
radiant countenance I had ever seen before or since and, as
I stood there riveted to the spot, the Maharshi turned and
looked at me. When I remember it even now, more than forty
years later, tears come to my eyes as they did then. I stood
there, God knows how long, just looking at that face. Then,
as in a trance, I moved forward deliberately towards him and
touched his feet. Fighting my way through the disapproving
glances that followed, I then made my way to a place near the
window. Once I was seated I let my tears flow. I remember
I spent a good part of that morning wiping my eyes. They
were not tears of grief nor were they tears of joy. Maybe they
were for something which I saw in the Maharshi fleetingly

and which I also want and shall forever seek. Yes, I cried for
myself then and I still do it now.
Never before had I seen in a human countenance a
more intense, inward life and yet one which remained so
transparent and childlike. There was about him an irresistible
and indefinable spiritual power, which simply overwhelmed
me. I was conscious of people sitting all around me but
was totally incurious about them. After an hour or so of
silence I suddenly felt like singing. Without hesitation or
embarrassment, I lifted my 12-year-old voice in a rendition
of Thyagaraja’s Vinanok koni Yunnanura, keeping time softly
with my fingers on my knee. The audience sat still and
unresponsive. The total lack of reaction to my performance
should in reason have embarrassed me, but I was away in a
state of mind, which recognised nobody except that reclining
figure on the sofa. After a few minutes I threw myself with
another gush of abandon into Thelisi Rama Chintana. As I
began the anupallavi which exhorts the mind to stay still for
a moment and realise the true essence of the name Rama, I
saw the Maharshi turn his eyes upon me with that impersonal
yet arresting look of his, and my heart soared and I thought:
I want to be here for ever and ever.
For three hours every morning and every evening my vigil
in the hall continued for seven days. After the first day my
family had, without any discussion, silently and unanimously
changed our planned programme and requested and got
extension of residence. I sat in my seat near the window, still
and thought free, just gazing at the Maharshi. Occasionally
somebody would ask a question and the Maharshi would turn
and look at him, and you got the feeling that the question
had been answered. Or somebody would ask for the meaning
of a particular phrase in a Sanskrit or Tamil stanza, and the
Maharshi would answer softly, briefly.
He was not a man of many words. His long years of
practised detachment from people made him laconic in
speech. His knowledge of classical Tamil religious literature

was considerable; he could himself compose verses and he
did. His enlightenment had not been directed by a guru but
had come from his own Self-consciousness. It was all there
lighting him up from inside and his most effective form of
communication was intra personal through the sense of sight
and the medium of silence. He was a very human being, who
laughed and joked occasionally, but he could suddenly plunge
deep into himself while sitting in a hall full of people and
rest in that stillness of spirit, which as he himself said, was
being in God. One afternoon somebody showed Maharshi
some verses written on paper. Maharshi read them, made a
brief comment, and then clarified it by narrating a story from
Yoga Vasishta. I listened – and felt that I could understand
the words that were being spoken though I really could not
have grasped their meaning. I wondered in retrospect years
later when I myself read that book, at the delightful ease and
simplicity with which the Maharshi had narrated that story,
going straight to the spirit like an aimed arrow, and then
lapsing into what I can only describe as a speaking silence. In
those eloquent silences that punctuated his brief remarks, one
seemed to feel unspoken thought flowing around the room
touching and drawing everybody into its illuminating course.
That was a strange experience to me, that in the presence
of Maharshi speech seemed redundant. I was totally and
blissfully satisfied just being in his presence.
That whole week we spent in the Ashram. I practically
did nothing else but sit in that hall. We attended the Vedic
recitals at dawn of the students of the Ashram pathasala. My
brother and I watched every morning the Maharshi’s gangly
walk up and down the Hill and I remember, on one memorable
occasion, the gentle sage himself smilingly stood still for a
couple of minutes as he saw my brother adjusting his camera.
I had never before spent so many days talking so little, just
sitting around so much, or so lost in a single-minded pursuit
of the Maharshi. The evening we finally left my brother and
I kept coming back to look at the Maharshi “Just one more

time” as he sat in the enclosed veranda beside the hall having
a light oil massage. I finally said: “We will go only after he
turns his head and looks at us once more.” After a minute or
two the Maharshi turned full face towards us and looked at us
and without a word we turned and walked away.
I shall not claim that my whole life was transformed after
this meeting. No. I went back to school and then to college,
got married, set up house, had children, started a journalistic
career of mine own. My grihasthasramam became my main
preoccupation. But my visit to Ramanasramam – had done
something to me. It had left a mark on my mind and heart.
The picture of the Ashram and of the Maharshi was always
in my mind like the background curtain of a stage. Whenever
I was tired or dispirited or perplexed the wish to go to
Ramanasramam would possess me like a hunger. Even when
I was so busy that I did not know whether I was coming or
going a sudden look at a picture of the Maharshi hanging on
the wall would momentarily root me to the spot and my mind
would suddenly go blank.
I did go to Ramanasramam a fortnight before death
claimed the Maharshi’s frail human body. Because of the vast
crowds which had come to visit him, the Ashram authorities
had made special arrangements for everybody to get darshan
of the white haired smiling figure who sat on an easy-chair
on the veranda of the room in which he later breathed his
last. For a brief moment I stood below and looked up at that
benign countenance, the eyes so bright and serene, and knew
it was the last time I was looking at the living Maharshi.
I went to the Ashram again some years later. As usual, as
soon as I passed through the Ashram gates, its peace closed
around me and emptied my mind. I sat on a veranda where
I had only to turn my head to the left to see the Mountain
and bring my eyes back to the samadhi to see in my mind
the Maharshi sitting on his sofa. I sat there the whole of that
day doing nothing, not reading, not writing, not eating, not
thinking, not remembering, not wondering why it was so

quiet or where everybody was. The voice of a young lad who
came running through the gate screaming: “Nehru has passed
away” was just an incidental sound. During all those hours
I never for a moment wanted to be anywhere else or doing
anything else.
Whenever I feel I want to go away somewhere, away
from home, family, friends, book, mistakes, fears, sorrows,
my mind automatically turns to Ramanasramam. And my
body follows. I make the journey to Tiruvannmalai, walk into
the Ashram, enter the Hall, and I am “home” and totally at
peace.
Every human being has really only one guru like one
mother. Some are fortunate enough to meet their gurus; some
pass them by, like ships in the night. I stumbled upon mine
when I was twelve. I now stand alone in myself. In a sense
I am twelve going on thirteen all over again, standing on
another threshold, remembering, waiting.
106. Continued Presence*

In this article Mouni Sadhu the author of “In
days of great peace” writes about the uninterrupted
availability of the Master even after Maha Nirvana.
R amana Maharshi left this world after six months after my

departure from India. Just before the end, in April 1950,
the Master said to those around him: ‘They Say I am dying,
but I shall remain here more alive than ever.’ Verily the Spirit
of Maharshi has remained with us.
Several of his disciples, residing thousands of miles
away from the Ashram, knew of his death on the very same
day. Comparing the hour with the time when this news was
* Mouni Sadhu.
mystically communicated to them, one would say that it was

‘broadcast’ several hours before Maharshi’s body breathed its
last.
Letters took a week or more to come from India and
elsewhere and they showed that no true disciple of the
Master experienced any grief or despair. The same spiritual
atmosphere of a lucid wave of peace and light was felt in the
hearts of the pupils, whether abroad or in the Ashram of the
Saint.
The sad news of Sri Ramana Maharshi’s departure from
the physical body soon reached his other devotees scattered
throughout the world and me. I do not wish to praise, or
compare with other Masters, the Great Being at whose feet
the Almighty allowed me to abide. For how could we, from
our lower level of consciousness exactly describe the being
whose mission was to give us something of his infinite light?
Adequately to assess his greatness, one must at least be on
the same level of spiritual glory. All that I can do, is to try
to convey what I found in my own heart when I received the
news.
The light from those luminous eyes of Sri Maharshi was
for ever engraved on my memory before leaving the Ashram.
And now – the account of his death lies before me. Does
it mean that those eyes cannot radiate their silent initiation
anymore? That would be ridiculous. I know this light is not a
material one, though it was conveyed through a material body.
This is a mystery but not a paradox. In my heart I found no
urge to discover that mystery through the mind. I felt that the
fact was so, even though inexplicable to the thinking process.
So his death did not deprive me of his reality.
I was quietly sitting as if in preparation for meditation.
But this time the usual process changed. Perhaps He saw
that the human heart, not yet free from all its weaknesses,
sometimes needs some consolation. And then, instead of a
void, the well-known and beloved picture arose before me.
There were most mysterious and inspiring evenings at

the Ashram when the beautiful hymn ‘In Praise of the Lord
of the Universe’ was sung in the hall. Sri Maharshi evidently
loved the hymn, for there would appear a peculiar expression
of other than human beatitude and delight on His face. I felt
that the hearts of those who were present in that blissful hour
of the evening contemplation were deeply tuned to it. Perhaps
His penetrating inner sight saw the beneficial process in us,
and His silent blessing was the answer.
How can we fathom the unfathomable? And now, as
if still in the temple hall with all those others, I once again
listened to the same beautiful melody heard before with
my outer ears. It was as if I reviewed a film. And there
was no sadness any more. It could not be otherwise! The
true legacy of the Master could never be less than joy, this
sublime and silent joy of being, untroubled by the waves of
the surrounding illusory world or Maya. This was His peace
which He bequeathed to us.
Later on letters came from devotees in other countries.
My distant friends each gave their own accounts of how the
tragic news affected them. They tried their best to console
themselves and me, by saying that the physical departure of
the Master could not break our spiritual link with Him. And
yet the ink in the last paragraphs of such letters was often
blurred as if with tears.
It is said that love was the force which created the
universe. Perhaps it is. But to me the force of such unselfish
and radiant love as His is just that power which purifies our
hearts, when all other methods prove useless.
Neither occult training nor any other method, can give
the disciple the true peace which the Master gives.
Sri Maharshi was a centre of love to his disciples. He
left us his love, and where else in the world could be found
a purifying power such as this, to bring peace to our hearts?
The photographs of Maharshi are now known all over
the world. But how many people know the light which was
brought by him from the realm of absolute bliss, the land

of the highest spirit, and of the thorny paths, which are so
narrow and difficult for most of us? Why are we so blind?
Why are we unable to see this peace and bliss, wisdom and
love expressed so clearly even in the physical features of one
who abides in that land forever? How much more resplendent
must be that light there, where the vehicles of matter does
not veil it, where shines the never setting sun, about whose
luminous rays every being dreams in the innermost depths of
his heart.
The anniversaries of the Maha Samadhi of Sri Maharshi
will come one after another. And some year will see the last
one for me on this earth.
But at the last moment He will be with me, as with every
one of you who knew Him, and you who yearn to know Him,
if you keep to the end, His legacy of love.
Sri Maharshi says: ‘He that has earned the grace of the
Guru shall undoubtedly be saved and never forsaken, just as
the prey that has fallen into the tiger’s jaws will never be
allowed to escape’. In other words, once the path is found it
cannot be lost any more, no matter how many lives still lie
before us.
It is my firm conviction, that in this world at the present
time, there are still many who would be able to enter on this
sublime path, the unique direct highway to the absolute.
107. Ramana Still Lives

In this article Arthur Osborne writes about the
continued presence of Sri Ramana Maharshi.
S ri Ramana Maharshi has passed away.... Even so, we

would still remember him with all the love we are capable
of, we would still celebrate his Jayanti as a miracle of grace
bestowed upon us, but it would all be past history. For the
benefit and the reassurance of any who may feel doubts on

the subject, I wish to record here that Bhagavan himself gave
an answer to the question.
When the sickness that had gripped his body threatened
already to be fatal, some devotee besought him to put it away
from him and to will his recovery and continued life for their
sake. Their plea was that they were utterly dependent on him
that they needed his continued grace and guidance and could
not carry on their sadhana without him.
Bhagavan’s answer was curt and to the point. All that he
said to them was: “You attach too much importance to the
body.” This then is the final and conclusive answer. Bhagavan’s
own answer to those who think that he lives in any less real
way since the body’s death, that his guidance is in any way
broken or weakened, that he is in any less complete sense the
Sat‑Guru; they attach too much importance to the body.
The grace at Arunachala is so potent, so vibrant today, so
searching and intimate in its effect, that one wonders whether
those who find a change in it have been there to see. Some
there were who even formerly were insensitive to Bhagavan’s
grace, but it is not a question of such people here, since he
who complains of having lost a treasure must once have
possessed it or at least part of it. Those who found nothing
formerly can complain of having lost nothing now. And yet,
those who really possessed the treasure know that they have
lost nothing.
What, then, is the difference today? There is a difference,
and its reality none can deny. Indeed, who most feel the
present guidance are, on the whole, those who most enjoyed
the graciousness of Bhagavan’s physical manifestation. The
very receptivity to his grace which made them so susceptible
to the beauty of his physical form, so apprehensive of losing it,
in some cases even so despondent to think what would ensue,
makes them now aware of his continued Presence. There is
difference: the beloved voice is not heard nor the divine form
seen; but this has become strangely unimportant to those who
had thought they would feel it most. For they have found a
lightness and a happiness in the very air of Tiruvannamalai,
an immaculate peace beyond the rough handling of destiny,
an immortal wealth despite their loss.
But is this the same as actual guidance by Bhagavan?
It is, and in the most direct and personal way. Indeed the
guidance seems more active now than formerly. Particularly
in those people who meditated little before but were con
tented rather to feast their eyes upon him and listen to the
sound of his voice, are now being drawn more and more
to sit in silent meditation before the Samadhi and to gather
together in the old hall redolent with his presence. As one
sits there, it is nothing vague or diffused that one feels, but
the same intense inner stirring, the same lifting up, the same
blissful certainty that was felt under his watchful eye. There
is the same variation from day to day in mode and potency of
guidance, the same response to devotion and to any earnest
plea for help.
But, it may be asked, cannot this be felt elsewhere? Is
Bhagavan now confined to Tiruvannamalai? He never was.
His grace flowed out upon all who turned to him. To imply
that the guidance was confined to Tiruvannamalai either now
or formerly would indeed be attaching too much importance
to the body. Now, as formerly, it is felt in the heart of the
devotee independent of all outer aids; but it is also true that
now, as formerly, there is great beauty and potency in a visit
to Tiruvannamalai. Many have compared it to the recharging
of their spiritual battery and the comparison is no less apt
now than it used to be. Although, Bhagavan goes out to all
who invoke him, he is no less gracious now than formerly to
those who make the effort to come to him at Tiruvannamalai.
One feels there that he is pouring out an abundance of grace
of which there are all too few recipients.
At this time of Jayanti we celebrate the birth of him
who is deathless. Many are able to pay their homage at
Tiruvannamalai as of old. Others gather together in groups in
whatever town or country they may be; and some give praise
alone with Bhagavan in the secrecy of their heart. Those who
are sensitive and watch the signs feel that the force we now
celebrate is waxing, not waning. The numbness that overtook
many after the Master’s apparent departure is wearing off. A
gladness of response is replacing it. The guidance to which
they respond is growing so potent, so intimate, that for any to
deny its existence causes them the same surprise as if a blind
man were to deny that the sun is shining.
“I am not going away,” Bhagavan said. “Where could
I go? I am here.” He is here at Tiruvannamalai, here in the
hearts of his devotees. He is Bhagavan, the Inner Guru, the
Self that guides to the Self.
108. Sri Ramanasramam Today*
T here are so many spiritual centres in India that not only

the foreign tourist but even the Indian devotee may well
be excused for wondering which one to visit. However, it is
not simply a question of duplication; each one has its own
specific character, so that while one meets the need of one
person, another provides a haven to someone else. First of all,
comes the question of the aim of a spiritual centre, because
this decides the sort of people who are likely to be attracted
to it. The Maharshi was clearly and solely concerned with
guiding people towards Liberation or Self-realisation, that
is to moksha. But is this not the case with every Ashram
and holy place? Not at all. There are places where people
go to pray for a son or a job, to win a lawsuit or pass an
examination, to obtain release from sickness or misfortune.
I do not say that no such prayers are ever answered
at Ramanasramam, but I do say that the Maharshi did not
approve of such motives in those who came to him. Rather, he
* Arthur Osborne.
tried to awaken in them the realisation that they were not the
suffering body but the eternally blissful Self and thereby to
give them serenity even in misfortune. There are also places
where people go in the hope of developing powers, obtaining
visions of the deity, reading people’s thoughts, curing
sickness, and so forth. To all such aspirants the Maharshi was
even more discouraging. Not only do such powers not lead
to Liberation, but they can actually be an impediment to it,
since men become just as attached to them, or to the desire
for them, as to worldly wealth and power.
All this implies that Ramanasramam is not a place visited
by large crowds in search of transient gains. Rather, it is for
the serious aspirant who has understood that Liberation is the
supreme goal and who seeks the grace and support of the
Master to guide him on his way.
Even if the goal is agreed upon, there are various paths or
disciplines for approaching it. The Maharshi taught the path of
Self-enquiry – Who am I? This is not investigating the mind,
conscious or subconscious, but seeking the Self underlying
the mind. Therefore, he said: “There can be no answer to the
question; whatever answer the mind gives must be wrong.”
The answer comes as an awakening of pure consciousness, a
current of awareness in the heart.
This is pure jnana, but the Maharshi also taught a path
of bhakti. He often said: “There are two ways: ask yourself
‘Who am I?’ or submit.” A philosopher could easily prove
that these two paths are mutually exclusive. If you seek to
realise your identity with the One Universal Self, which is
the Absolute, you logically cannot worship a Personal God or
Guru at the same time. Logically not, but in real life you can,
because you have different moods and are helped by different
kinds of approach. Therefore, in spite of logic, the Maharshi
said that the two paths are not incompatible; and his devotees
have found it so.
It will be seen that both these paths are direct inner
disciplines, independent of ritual; so here we have another
characteristic of Ramanasramam. There is a minimum of

ritual and organisation there. People go and sit silent in
meditation before the Maharshi’s shrine or in the hall where
he sat for so many years with his devotees. They walk on the
sacred mountain, Arunachala, or sit in their rooms. They visit
or talk. They arrange to take their meals at the Ashram or
prepare their own food, as they choose. There is scarcely any
outer discipline. The Vedas are chanted in front of the shrine,
morning and evening, as they used to be in the Maharshi’s
presence in his lifetime, but even for this attendance is not
compulsory. And those who do attend sit together, shoulder
to shoulder, brahmin and non-brahmin, Hindu and foreigner,
which would not please those who make a fetish of orthodoxy.
This, however, does not imply laxity; the discipline comes
from within.
Pure jnana marga and pure bhakti marga though it is, the
Maharshi’s path contains a strong element of karma marga
also, since he expects his devotees to follow it in the life of
the world. Time and again someone would come to him and
ask his authorisation to renounce the world, and he would
not give it. “Why do you think you are a householder? The
similar thought that you are a sannyasin will haunt you even
if you go forth as one. Whether you continue in the household
or renounce it and go to live in the forest, your mind haunts
you. The ego is the source of thought. It creates the body and
the world and makes you think of being a householder. If you
renounce, it will only substitute the thought of renunciation
for that of the family and the environment of the forest for that
of the household. But the mental obstacles are always there
for you. They even increase greatly in the new surroundings.
Change of environment is no help. The one obstacle is the
mind, and this must be overcome whether in the home or in
the forest. If you can do it in the forest, why not in the home?
So why change the environment?”
How does this affect Ramanasramam? In the first place,
it means that there are few sadhus or sannyasins to be found
there. Also, not many of the Maharshi’s devotees live there

permanently. Most of them pursue their professional life in
the world, practising his sadhana invisibly, without form
or ritual, and only coming to Tiruvannamalai from time
to time, to recharge the batteries, so to speak. Thinking of
them, a doctor, an engineer, a professor, a bank manager, an
editor, a cinema proprietor and many others come to mind.
When it becomes appropriate for one of them to retire from
active life in the world and settle down at Tiruvannamalai,
circumstances become propitious. It just happens so. Visitors
tend, therefore, to be such as have pledged their life to silent,
invisible sadhana while performing their obligations in the
world, and who seek the grace of the Maharshi, the power of
his support, to aid them in doing so.
Another result of the formless, essential nature of the
Maharshi’s path is the large proportion of foreigners both
among the visitors and the resident devotees. There is no
need to be a Hindu to follow it. Anyone, whatever religion
he professes, whether he professes any formal religion or
not, can practise Self-enquiry or can worship and submit.
Therefore, the Maharshi never expected any of his devotees
to change from one religion to another. Christians, Muslims,
Jews, Buddhists, Parsis came to him, as well as Hindus. Some
continued to practise the forms of their religions, others not;
it was up to them.
Mr. Evans-Wentz, the well-known writer on Tibetan
Buddhism, visited the Maharshi and asked whether he
recommended any special methods for Europeans, and he
replied: “It depends on the mental equipment of the individual.
There are no hard and fast rules.” Each aspirant was guided
and helped according to his aptitude, not on any basis of race,
caste, sex or religion.
While the present article was being written, it so happened
that the Ashram received a letter from an American woman
who never saw the Maharshi, and indeed has never been to
India, containing the following message: “Great blessing and
benediction was unexpectedly mine. At 7 a.m., just before

waking, a vivid vision of Maharshi, potent and powerful,
was vouchsafed briefly to me, in colour. Yes, I know visions
are not our aim and goal. However, the depth of surrender,
ecstasy, awe, wave after wave, deeper and deeper – wave
after wave of Bliss ineffable – was overwhelming, wonderful
and encouraging: almost all vestige of mind was gone. The
veil into Self was delicate, tenuous thin. Of course, thankful,
humble and grateful, my dedication deepens greatly after this.
The import and impact of it is with me still.”
Is it any wonder that people turn to him from all parts of
the world? Even from behind the Iron Curtain letters come.
Normally, it has been possible for any spiritual aspirant in
any religion to find guidance within the framework of his
own tradition. Today it is no longer easy, if at all possible,
to find a guide in any religion who has himself attained the
heights and can guide others thereto. Nor is it easy, even if
one had such a guide, to follow any strictly orthodox path
in the conditions of the modern world. However, the divine
grace always provides an answer to man’s needs, and in this
age has appeared on earth the supreme guide, bringing a path
to be followed invisibly by anyone who gives his heart to it.
The Maharshi often reminded those who came to him
that they were not the body. Now there are those who
presume that he was the body and, no longer seeing his body
at Tiruvannamalai, take it that he is not there. But not those
who have felt in their hearts the power and subtlety of his
guidance, the vibrant, all-pervading peace of Arunachala, the
sacred mountain at whose foot his Ashram is located. He used
to say: “The purpose of the outer Guru is only to awaken the
inner Guru in the Heart.” And shortly before leaving the body
he told a group of devotees: “When the Guru has awakened
the inner Guru in the heart of his devotees, he is free to leave
the body.”
Yes, it may be said, that is all very well for those who
were already his devotees when he shed the body, but what
about those others who approach him now and feel the need
for an outer Guru? It may be that in some cases he influences
them indirectly through those older disciples in whom the
inner Guru has been awakened. Certain it is that in many
cases he influences them directly and powerfully, as with the
American lady from whose letter I have quoted (though not
necessarily with any dream or vision).
A visitor asked once whether the contact with the Guru
would continue after the dissolution of his physical body and
he replied: “The Guru is not the physical form, so contact
will remain even after his physical form vanishes.” If it be
asked how he can guide individuals or perform any function
after having become One with the Absolute, the answer is:
in the first place, he has not become One with the Absolute
but simply realised his preexisting and eternal Oneness. In
the second place, he had already realised this Oneness while
wearing the body and was universal then, as he is now. He
himself told us that death makes no difference to the jnani. The
only way of understanding how the jnani, who is universal,
can perform an individual function is to become one.
Therefore, when people asked him such questions he
would usually reply: “Never mind about the jnani; first
find out who you are.” And when you have done that fully
you are the jnani. But surely this continued guidance after
leaving the body is unusual! Yes, it is unusual; but who is to
bind Divine Providence with regulations? The circumstances
also are unusual. I have remarked how the formless path the
Maharshi prescribed compensates for the modern difficulty in
finding adequate guidance within the forms of any religion;
similarly, the invisible Guru may compensate for the modern
difficulty in finding a fully potent living Guru on earth. Such
explanations are for those who like to speculate; for those
who are content to strive on the path, guidance is there.
This invisible guidance also has an effect on the Ashram.
It means that many or most of those who come, both from
India and abroad, are new people who never saw the Maharshi
in his lifetime but have been drawn to him in various ways

since then.
The conclusion, then, is that if you are a ritualist or strict
formalist, if you crave material boons, if you seek visions
or powers, there are other places better suited to you than
Ramanasramam. But if you have understood the ultimate
spiritual goal of liberation and seek grace and guidance on
the path, you will find it at Ramanasramam.
Index
A
Abhyasa 175, 383
Absolute 7, 8, 78, 96, 127, 129, 131, 200, 235, 243, 244, 251, 385,
483, 484, 485, 486, 494, 527, 531
Aditya 175
Advaita 39, 59, 208, 213, 242, 475, 476, 479, 480, 481, 483
agamas 61
agami (karma) 228
Aham 49, 166, 173, 207, 430, 481
ahankara 93
ajnana 235, 483
Aksharamanamalai 69, 73, 74, 117, 118, 121, 141, 234, 264, 265,
268, 273, 279, 280, 314, 385, 421, 492, 510
antaryami 61, 194
Appar, Saint 272, 284, 290, 292, 293, 294, 297
arati 28, 112
Arjuna 173, 174, 175, 176, 180, 228, 230
Arunachala 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 20, 21, 22, 26, 36, 38, 42, 43, 44,
45, 46, 47, 48, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 72, 73, 74, 78, 79, 99, 102, 105,
106, 107, 117, 118, 121, 127, 128, 129, 166, 180, 187, 188, 189,
196, 197, 211, 214, 217, 218, 219, 220, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226,
233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 254, 256, 257, 258, 264, 265, 266, 267,
268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280,
288, 289, 314, 315, 316, 317, 324, 330, 333, 352, 362, 368, 373,
378, 385, 399, 403, 404, 408, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422,
423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 441, 442, 443, 445, 450, 452, 454,
455, 461, 463, 468, 472, 473, 486, 490, 492, 493, 494, 499, 500,
506, 508, 511, 513, 524, 528, 530
Arunachala Ashtakam 264, 266, 267, 268, 425
Asana 50
Atman 391
Atma Vidya 53, 130, 280, 311
Aurobindo, Sri 22
avidya 476
awareness 16, 17, 18, 23, 55, 70, 100, 110, 130, 139, 152, 153, 195,
196, 241, 242, 253, 254, 319, 324, 377, 379, 380, 382, 383, 384,
385, 412, 413, 430, 450, 482, 485, 487, 490, 504, 516, 527
B
Being-Consciousness-Bliss 60, 249
Benares (Kasi) 3, 21, 23, 208
Bhagavad Gita (Gita) 15, 23, 76, 108, 172, 174, 175, 180, 322, 466,
497
Bhagavatam, the 108
Bhakta 12, 47, 294, 450
bhakti 163, 167, 176, 215, 216, 234, 236, 237, 276, 310, 314, 375,
427, 446, 478, 479, 493, 495, 499, 527, 528
bhava 196, 421
Bible, The 91, 172, 225, 241
bindu 150, 151
Bliss 37, 38, 60, 65, 140, 200, 213, 233, 235, 237, 249, 254, 423,
426, 427, 429, 439, 440, 460, 483, 499, 530
bondage 15, 16, 90, 125, 144, 152, 175, 225, 477, 478, 483
Brahmacharya 96
Brahman 4, 14, 54, 59, 60, 71, 72, 75, 90, 96, 97, 161, 186, 203,
205, 392, 428, 440, 449, 460, 485
Brahma, the Creator 2, 59, 63, 89, 157, 165, 272, 285, 466, 485, 497
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 49, 485
Brunton, Paul (Raphael Hurst) 36, 91, 93, 183, 184, 215, 231, 450
Buddha, the 104, 123, 127, 186, 411, 432
buddhi 109, 278, 386, 510
C
Chadwick, Maj. A. W.(Sadhu Arunachala) 19, 38, 187, 188, 211,
363, 401, 461, 508
Chaitanya 496
Chalam (Venkatachalam, Gudipati) 245, 488, 490
Chidambaram 3, 69, 147, 148, 264, 269, 270, 271, 272, 287, 292,
307, 308, 386
Chinna Swami 396, 397
chit 143, 455, 462, 486
chitta 168, 486
Christ, Jesus 65, 76, 79, 164, 186, 230, 243, 322, 329, 409, 410,
411, 416, 442
cinema show 198
Concentration 241, 247
consciousness 51, 55, 56, 62, 63, 70, 71, 72, 77, 80, 81, 86, 99, 100,
102, 103, 104, 107, 143, 144, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 159,
160, 165, 168, 200, 201, 202, 207, 241, 249, 254, 280, 341, 347,
348, 349, 351, 352, 353, 356, 386, 391, 393, 408, 412, 430, 462,
474, 480, 485, 486, 487, 492, 504, 505, 516, 518, 521, 527
Creation 282
D
Dakshinamurti 4, 5, 6, 38, 39, 42, 43, 47, 48, 66, 151, 160, 178, 263,
317, 428, 435, 436, 439, 456
Dandapani 356
darshan 11, 12, 65, 131, 148, 176, 218, 285, 295, 297, 303, 340,
345, 352, 359, 360, 392, 417, 420, 429, 433, 434, 455, 458, 461,
462, 464, 465, 466, 472, 473, 474, 486, 510, 511, 512, 513, 519
Day by Day with Bhagavan 35, 92, 94, 135, 140, 150, 151, 153,
155, 156, 162, 163, 164, 166, 168, 195, 215, 216, 220, 231, 279,
366
death 35, 37, 41, 55, 79, 99, 127, 150, 164, 174, 200, 202, 207, 209,
210, 215, 216, 219, 228, 264, 269, 312, 315, 331, 354, 357, 370,
390, 402, 407, 416, 419, 426, 442, 469, 476, 480, 489, 492, 493,
519, 520, 521, 524, 531
desirelessness 276, 377
desires 15, 48, 91, 96, 103, 110, 119, 124, 125, 185, 205, 229, 247,
251, 262, 270, 276, 277, 365, 375, 376, 378, 380, 382, 478
dharma 179, 291
dhyana 49, 50, 55, 176, 260, 264, 279, 393, 466
Diet 24
discrimination 262, 276, 341, 501
Divine Grace 53, 68, 100, 131, 231, 232, 408, 419, 422, 487, 495,
506
dream state 212
drishti 391
Duff, Grant 129
E
Echammal 461, 490
Ego 108, 112, 117, 118, 119, 443
Elephant 1
Europe 87
Evans-Wentz, W. Y. 96, 225, 529
F
fasting 96, 396, 399, 456, 463, 507
Five Hymns to Arunachala 8, 129, 254, 266, 330, 421, 494
Frydman, Maurice 514
G
Ganapati 36, 106, 128, 129, 178, 254, 256, 418
Ganapati Muni (Kavyakantha) 36, 106, 128, 129, 178, 254, 256,
418
Gandhi, Mahatma 94, 169, 170, 186, 462
Ganesa 1, 28
giripradakshina 218, 234, 279, 386, 395
grace 3, 9, 21, 26, 30, 34, 35, 36, 38, 52, 56, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73,
85, 102, 103, 138, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 151, 152, 153, 154,
156, 157, 158, 167, 177, 186, 194, 202, 207, 213, 214, 216, 218,
219, 220, 224, 225, 226, 235, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 273, 280,
281, 284, 303, 304, 317, 320, 324, 329, 340, 341, 344, 355, 358,
374, 395, 397, 399, 400, 401, 403, 427, 442, 443, 445, 449, 452,
454, 456, 461, 472, 493, 507, 523, 524, 525, 527, 529, 530, 532
Grace 2, 7, 8, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 43, 47, 48, 53, 56, 63, 64, 65, 68,
69, 75, 79, 89, 99, 100, 107, 114, 115, 116, 117, 123, 124, 127,
130, 131, 138, 149, 178, 181, 185, 191, 194, 196, 197, 198, 203,
206, 229, 230, 231, 232, 240, 259, 260, 280, 308, 309, 310, 312,
313, 314, 316, 332, 336, 369, 373, 397, 404, 405, 406, 408, 411,
414, 415, 418, 419, 422, 424, 438, 439, 449, 455, 470, 471, 472,
486, 487, 495, 497, 498, 499, 502, 505, 506, 507
Greenlees, Duncan 224
Guru 6, 21, 26, 39, 43, 48, 49, 65, 66, 74, 75, 79, 102, 103, 104, 111,
121, 122, 124, 127, 129, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 145,
146, 147, 148, 150, 151, 157, 158, 160, 176, 179, 181, 202, 203,
204, 205, 206, 207, 215, 218, 219, 222, 234, 236, 268, 272, 273,
274, 279, 280, 286, 303, 304, 309, 310, 311, 314, 343, 355, 358,
375, 376, 392, 401, 408, 415, 416, 417, 442, 444, 445, 451, 452,
453, 456, 491, 496, 497, 498, 505, 509, 510, 514, 523, 524, 526,
527, 530, 531
H
Hafiz Syed, Dr. 237
Halasya Mahatmyam 302
Happiness 47, 369
Harijan 169, 398

Heart 2, 5, 7, 9, 15, 47, 48, 51, 52, 55, 70, 75, 77, 78, 88, 90, 102,
105, 108, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 138, 161, 166, 168, 169, 176,
180, 181, 182, 188, 204, 231, 236, 237, 241, 246, 280, 322, 329,
348, 349, 351, 400, 401, 409, 411, 412, 413, 414, 422, 426, 427,
430, 436, 438, 439, 440, 441, 470, 481, 482, 530
Himalayas 491
Hridaya 429, 430
Hridayam 429
Humphreys, F.H. 98, 129, 183
I
I-am-the-body idea 484, 510
Ignorance 86, 102, 235, 424, 483
I-I thought 5, 49, 169, 236, 253, 481, 482
Initiation 32, 416
Islam 91, 98, 496
Iswara 144, 164, 293, 294, 302, 305
J
Jagat 186
Janaka, King 145, 252
japa 49, 50, 55, 137, 181, 210, 223, 259, 260, 385, 386, 411, 428,
465, 466
Jayanti 333, 390, 445, 523, 525
Jiva 235
jivanmukti 158, 479
Jiva position of 235
jnana 11, 12, 49, 50, 75, 130, 177, 179, 228, 232, 235, 277, 285,
286, 304, 308, 314, 393, 411, 414, 416, 427, 436, 476, 483, 494
K
Kabir 432
Kailasa 293, 306
Kailas (Mountain) 29, 88, 270, 293, 306
Kaivalya Navaneetham 55, 443, 486
kala 61
Kali, Goddess 46, 62, 105, 411, 499
karma 15, 16, 28, 41, 94, 112, 113, 114, 119, 152, 161, 167, 173,
174, 176, 227, 228, 229, 230, 232, 417, 457, 466, 478, 479, 493,
494, 528
Kashmir 331
kevala nirvikalpa 70, 444
Khanna, H.C. 154, 156
Kingdom of Heaven 410
Krishna, Sri 13, 21, 31, 58, 76, 115, 116, 173, 174, 175, 176, 178,
179, 180, 186, 222, 228, 230, 243, 322, 392, 432, 471, 472, 495,
496, 499
Krishnaswami, T.N.(Dr.) 202, 246
Krishnayya 286
Kumbhaka 49
Kunju Swami 36, 79, 106, 259, 276, 277, 278, 367, 385, 386
L
Lanka 295
Letters from Sri Ramanasramam 223, 279, 283, 284, 294, 297, 365
Liberation 114, 117, 130, 161, 164, 203, 206, 230, 232, 246, 251,
264, 312, 368, 407, 470, 476, 477, 478, 479, 481, 493, 496, 526,
527
loincloth 328, 458
M
Madhava Swami 23, 74
Madurai 10, 27, 70, 148, 215, 216, 217, 225, 238, 295, 304, 305,
328, 418, 419, 432
Mahadevan, T.M.P. (Dr.) 475
Maha Nirvana 399, 423, 427, 507, 513
Maha Samadhi 373, 510, 523
Maha Yoga 267
Manickavachakar 89, 297, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 310
manolaya 444
manonasa 444
mantras 40, 49, 60, 64, 102, 210, 260, 268, 269, 282, 316, 382, 428,
459, 464, 466, 467, 472
Matrubhuteswara 59, 65, 74, 83, 87
maya 43, 97, 118, 140, 141, 142, 152, 157, 161, 228, 354, 401, 522
Meditation, method of 241, 427
Meenakshi 147, 216, 238, 295, 419
Mees, G. H. 2, 101
Milarepa, Life of 224, 225
mind control 116, 478
moksha 133, 210, 526

moon 6, 107, 160, 167, 199, 285, 295, 330, 453
Moulvi 245, 419, 433
Mouna 66
Mouni Sadhu 80, 520
Mukta 424, 425
Mukti 120, 130, 151, 160, 265, 418, 423, 496
Muni 36, 106, 128, 129, 178, 254, 256, 418
Muruganar 69, 72, 73, 138, 180, 194, 234, 258, 278, 308, 309, 310,
311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 347, 386, 397
Muslim 57, 245
Mutt 186, 286, 287, 290, 291, 292, 294, 295, 296, 302, 367, 462,
464
N
nada 61
nadis 160, 430
Nagamma, Suri 223, 276, 279, 283, 284, 365, 401, 448
namaskar 367
Namdev, Saint 496
Nammazhvar 166
Naraka 470, 471
Narasimha Swami 89, 215
Navamanimalai 233, 265, 268, 272, 273, 423
Nayana (Kavyakantha Ganapathi) 36, 88, 89, 90, 254, 255, 256,
257, 258, 259, 285
Newton 124
Nirvana 86, 496, 506, 507, 515, 520
nirvikalpa samadhi 70, 161, 249, 444
nishkama karma 15, 114, 478
Noye, Eleanor Pauline 325
O
Osborne, Arthur 7, 75, 153, 226, 234, 240, 372, 408, 450, 480, 523,
526
P
Pachaiamman 189
Padikam 265, 267, 424
padmasana 74, 448, 510
Palakkothu 254, 255, 257, 258, 385

Pandya King 276, 302, 303
Papa 472, 474
Paramatma 6, 7, 186, 271, 466
parayana 55, 73, 141, 169, 180, 318
Parvati, Goddess 272, 285, 292, 301, 442, 468, 469
Patanjali 210
Pazhani Swami 10, 86
Peace 47, 65, 66, 81, 86, 87, 133, 149, 182, 326, 329, 334, 336, 404,
439, 440, 441, 460, 499
Peacocks 171
Periya Puranam 225, 281, 282, 287, 297, 314
Personal God 175
Pradakshina 12, 45, 159, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 287, 303, 304,
316, 322, 386, 396
prajnana 481
prana 155
pranayama 49, 210, 214, 443, 479
prarabdha 11, 12, 16, 116, 117, 124, 228, 229, 230, 231, 311, 426,
444, 479
puja 33, 234, 260, 292, 308, 346, 428
punya 114
Purusha 4, 128, 303
Q
questioner 223, 224, 437, 438, 482, 494
R
Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalle 196
rajas 514
Ramachandra Iyer of Nagercoil 6, 355
Ramachandra Iyer, T.P. 6
Ramakrishna Mission (Mutt) 462, 464
Ramakrishna Swami 386, 387
Rama, Lord 13, 21, 76, 125, 145, 243, 343, 357, 442, 473, 474, 517
Ramana Gita 130, 285, 426
Ramana Leela 222, 286
Ramiah, Yogi 23, 52
Rangan (Ranganatha Iyer, Vilacheri) 10
Ravana 293
reality 4, 5, 33, 39, 50, 53, 71, 72, 74, 77, 78, 82, 89, 90, 97, 99,
101, 102, 103, 104, 128, 129, 131, 143, 144, 151, 152, 153, 157,
159, 162, 169, 175, 177, 183, 200, 203, 206, 208, 209, 212, 236,
241, 242, 243, 244, 249, 250, 259, 261, 263, 265, 266, 273, 275,
318, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 353, 380, 385, 436, 437, 438, 440,
441, 481, 482, 483, 485, 486, 491, 506, 507, 510, 514, 521, 524
renunciation 26, 45, 91, 103, 116, 247, 249, 311, 312, 471, 528
Ribhu Gita 121
rites 102, 282
S
sadhana 6, 14, 16, 17, 18, 40, 55, 59, 60, 63, 64, 89, 110, 125, 126, 128,
138, 141, 171, 196, 197, 205, 210, 211, 214, 223, 225, 226, 236, 247,
259, 260, 262, 275, 341, 375, 377, 378, 381, 384, 396, 411, 414, 415,
417, 434, 443, 444, 452, 466, 487, 491, 505, 524, 529
Sadhu Natanananda (Natesa Mudaliar) 54, 69, 428
Sadhu Om (Natarajan) 277, 309
sage 3, 85, 86, 87, 133, 149, 180, 181, 261, 278, 342, 343, 393, 405,
454, 456, 458, 472, 515, 518
Sage 42, 82, 83, 101, 102, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 131, 149,
178, 229, 247, 261, 328, 404, 405, 407, 436, 450, 451, 452
sages 3, 71, 72, 146, 164, 165, 177, 271, 272, 273, 276, 366, 421
sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi 70, 444
Sahaja Samadhi (sthiti) 250, 386, 444, 456, 474
Saiva 3, 151, 152, 163, 272, 300
Sakti 43, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 75, 87, 105, 174, 189, 190, 260, 271,
272, 426, 455, 495
samadhi 22, 55, 70, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 148, 157, 161, 175, 195,
207, 210, 249, 250, 256, 278, 316, 386, 409, 418, 444, 455, 456,
474, 519
Samadhi 83, 86, 198, 373, 397, 419, 525
Samatva 448, 449
Sambandha 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289
samskara 63, 443, 477
sankalpa 35
sannyasa 26, 41, 292
sannyasi 91, 290, 291
Sarvadhikari 510, 515
Sastri, Kapali 83
Satchidananda 485
Sat Darshana 388

Sadguru 48, 71, 112, 127, 137, 213, 214, 222, 264, 273, 280, 309,
313, 362, 402, 403, 442, 445, 473
Satsang 122, 123, 124, 125, 137, 274, 275
Satya 89
sayujya 161
Self-experience 262
Self-Realisation 67, 89, 105, 134, 215, 216, 251, 374, 419, 425
Sankaracharya 43, 97, 435, 467
shastra 85
sheaths 86
Siddha 3, 4, 9, 128, 158, 182, 303
siddhis 59, 66, 67, 157, 158, 160, 161, 162
sishya 74, 355
Siva, Lord 44, 47, 71, 166, 264, 266, 270, 271, 272, 276, 282, 285,
295, 298, 301, 304, 305, 418, 455, 462, 507
Sivaprakasam Pillai 232, 449, 495, 498
Sivaratri 6
Sivoham 49
Skandasramam 3, 11, 12, 13, 18, 86, 106, 127, 192, 385, 463
Soham 166
solitude 24, 42, 92, 187, 247, 387, 406, 414, 473
Somasekhara, Lord 295
Sphurana 69, 217, 233, 235, 430, 481
Srimad Bhagavad Gita 15, 23, 76, 108, 172, 174, 175, 180, 322,
466, 497
Sri Ramana Gita 130, 285, 426
sruti 226
Stuti 106
Subbaramayya, G. V. 35, 65, 155, 177, 214, 418
Subramanya 64
Sundaresa Iyer, T. K. 38, 238, 282, 429
supernatural powers 159
surrender 9, 17, 20, 37, 97, 98, 100, 103, 104, 119, 125, 131, 177,
186, 197, 214, 219, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 236, 245, 314, 323,
356, 366, 369, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382, 384,
385, 406, 423, 443, 444, 487, 493, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 530
Swaminathan, K. (Prof.) 169, 220, 233, 374
swarupa 144, 476
Syed, Dr. Mohammed Hafiz 237, 266, 279
T
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi 99, 141, 143, 158, 161, 162, 168,
169, 170, 171, 172, 198, 214, 366, 367, 483
tamas 514
tantric 63, 64
tapas 14, 55, 137, 146, 160, 204, 210, 226, 256, 290, 291, 473
Tevaram 135
Thayumanavar, Saint 55, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141,
143, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156,
158, 159, 161, 162, 163, 164, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 428, 449
Tiruchuzhi 11, 135, 295, 424
Tirukoilur 287
Tirumandiram 138
Tirunelveli 295
Tiruppugazh 27, 56
Tiruvachakam 302, 307, 308
Tiruvarur 3, 148, 264, 269
transcendent 193, 261, 263, 266, 439, 440
transcendental 4, 9, 70, 99, 178, 485, 486
Trinity 281
turiya 152
U
Uma (Goddess Parvati) v, 469
universe v, 2, 5, 31, 52, 62, 64, 107, 109, 151, 167, 174, 175, 201,
202, 220, 224, 226, 231, 236, 237, 292, 374, 429, 472, 522
upadesa 74, 75, 114, 143, 150, 161, 167, 207, 240, 304, 311, 314,
358, 398, 415, 445
Upadesa Saram 150, 167
Upanishad 14, 49, 196, 202, 205, 211, 280, 484, 485, 486
V
Vairagya 179, 262
Vaishnavite 229, 496
vasana 86, 109, 117, 122, 123, 126, 130, 139, 154, 156, 203, 222,
247, 277, 278, 312
Vasishta 118, 241, 343, 393, 518
Veda 256, 363, 459
Vedanta 9, 30, 76, 129, 130, 163, 164, 166, 211, 224, 264, 341, 422,
426, 479
Vibhuti 234
vichara 72, 157, 260, 411, 413, 414, 415, 416, 494
vijnana 486
Virateswara 287
Virupaksha Cave 6, 22, 56, 88, 89, 386, 434, 447
visvarupa 175, 176
Viswanatha Swami 4, 6, 14, 36, 127, 158, 168
viveka 276
Vivekachudamani 55, 130, 202
Vivekananda, Swami 76, 104, 186, 203, 455, 462, 464
void 78, 521
vritti 476
W
waking and dream 130, 484
Who Am I? (book) 16, 48, 90, 514
Who am I? (inquiry) 15, 16, 40, 49, 54, 56, 67, 72, 77, 78, 98, 108,
126, 166, 169, 218, 223, 232, 241, 246, 248, 249, 252, 261, 341,
342, 378, 383, 411, 412, 438, 443, 445, 494, 527
Y
Yama, Lord 210, 469
yoga 12, 30, 71, 140, 158, 161, 167, 173, 176, 177, 208, 210, 214,
230, 323, 346, 369, 371, 399, 469, 478, 479, 490, 491, 493, 494,
513
yoga marga 161
Yoga Vasishta 241, 518
Om Tat Sat
Sri Ramanarpanamasthu
Bhagavan and Vaikuntavasar
Venkata, Sweet as honey and milk,
You are earth, water, air, fire, ether,
Sun, moon all beings and myself;
How and with what words can I praise you?
The freest of men, free from everything, free as the Self
Bhagavan walking past the kitchen
Bhagavan sitting on the new stone sofa in the New Hall
Sivananda Swami sitting, standing near the window Mouni Srinivasa Rao and Viswanatha Swami
Lighting the incense stick is Venkataratnam
Bhagavan going for his stroll on the Hill followed by his attendant
Rangaswami
(Background Asramam Dispensary)
Bhagavan sitting on the Yogasana in the New Hall
Oh Ramana! Who can fathom Thy greatness?
Sthapati working on Bhagavan’s model
Bhagavan with Krishnaprem
The faithful worshipping the Master
Standing near the window: Mouni Srinivasa Rao
Sitting close to Bhagavan: Muruganar
Construction of Matrubhuteswara Temple
Matrubhuteswara Temple Kumbhabhishekam – Yagasala decorations (March 1949)
Sri Ramanasramam entrance (Old Picture)
Bhagavan sitting outside the small room (later Mahanirvana room) with attendant Sivananda Swami
Bhagavan in the New Hall after the surgery
Bhagavan’s Samadhi Shrine (Old Picture)
Bhagavan with the scouts
Bhagavan surrounded by His devotees – at the background is Arunachala
Ramana, king of Sages who is beyond our comprehension.
Let us Seek His grace to ever remember Him.

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ARUNACHALA

First Edition : 2018

Hill of Patience, bear with my foolish words, (regarding

to the beauty of the moon. May you, the great ruler,

Introduction to The Guiding Presence

The articles have been culled from a wide range of

24. He Opened My Heart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

56. The Power of Arunachala . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 264

87. The Term Hridaya . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 429

O ne day a potter presented Bhagavan with a small image

I n the puranas Arunachala is referred to as the oldest hill on

* Lucia Osborne, The Mountain Path, January 1974.

Many saints and sages have sung and composed songs

like sheer rock. Going nearer Bhagavan inadvertently put his

Bhagavan, who scarcely ever gave advice to devotees

seat a piece of paper on which he told in a Malayalam verse

from the Five Hymns to Arunachala which Bhagavan wrote

O ne day Bhagavan told me “It was your mother that

* The Call Divine, January 1955.

mind is killed and Jnana is attained, there is no such thing

that it might have proven fatal. It seems that day Bhagavan’s

4. Activity, Help Not Hindrance*

T he earnest aspirant is endowed with one pointedness of

The same idea is conveyed in the Bhagavad Gita (XVIII, 61):

radiance of Pure Awareness alone remains. Sri Bhagavan has

and role in society, will undergo the requisite change either

Work, particularly systematic work, has rich rewards. In

Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark And shares the

5. How Maharshi Helps His Devotees*

S ri Bhagavan was unique, peerless. Why should I say

* Major A.W. Chadwick, Sunday Times, April 1950. Reprinted in

be provided through a direct monosyllabic answer. And

entered my mind, I saw before me the old leper woman again.

I lost my husband when I was sixteen. I went back to my

* Varanasi Subbalakshmiamma, Extracts from Ramana Smriti, 1980.

Ashram at Pondicherry and they took me along. They were

pongal (pulse with rice and black pepper) to celebrate

can’t I remember always that I am not the body?” “Because

away. Bhagavan had a hearty laugh. “Look at her – all she

satisfaction. Did he do it for himself? Of what use was it to

To serve him at mealtimes was by itself a dangerous

We were women, simple and uneducated. It was our love

I stop in the Gratitude Hut during my walking meditation.

* Ann Osborne, ‘The Maharshi’ newsletter, Nov-Dec 2011.

8. Bhagavan Sri Ramana is

B hagavan Ramana is personally present here. To demand

* Sri Swatantra, The Mountain Path, January 1974.

Truth by withdrawing himself from the physical plane. He

9. The Secret Operation of Grace*

R amana would always remind the visitors and devotees

* A.R. Natarajan, The Mountain Path, October 1982.

to His grace. Many instances are narrated in Day by Day with

countervailing force to pull the mind inward. At this juncture,

to look after it also. He bears the burden of the world, not

He was not yet aware of the transforming influence of the

10. Sri Dakshinamurti and Sri Ramana*

B hagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi has often been compared

* Sadhu Arunachala (Major A.W. Chadwick), The Call Divine, 1953.

bodies may seem different to us who are bound by the