Brief Life Sketch of Bhagavan Ramana - 11

Hare Krishna Friends,
Let us continue with the divya charitram of Sri Bhagavan.

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As time went by, people throughout the world came to know that Sri Bhagavan was the living embodiment of all that is taught in the Bible, Tirukkural, Gita and Upanishads, and were attracted to His Feet. Forgetting the national differences such as Indian and foreigner and the religious differences such as Hindu, Muslim, Christian etc, from far and abroad they flocked to the Feet of the Master and adored Him, for such was their conviction that He was indeed the Guru of their own religion! Many among them achieved true knowledge, some by merely seeing Him, some by living in His divine presence, some by dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to His service and some by following His teachings.

The first president of India , Dr.Rajendra Prasad, once went to the ashram of Mahatma Gandhi and said, “Bapuji, I have come to you for peace!” The abode of peace was known well to Gandhiji and hence he advised, “If you want peace, go to Sri Ramanashramam and remain for a few days in the presence of Sri Ramana Maharshi, without talking or asking any question.” Dr.Rajendra Prasad accordingly arrived at Sri Ramanashramam on 14th August 1938. Though those who accompanied him spent their time in asking Sri Bhagavan questions regarding spiritual matters and in visiting all the places on the Hill where Maharshi had lived, Dr.Rajendra Prasad did not move away from the presence of Sri Bhagavan. Besides, according to the advice of Gandhiji, he spent the whole of that week without raising any question or doubt. At the time of his taking leave of Sri Bhagavan, he approached Him and humbly enquired, “O Bhagavan, it was Gandhiji himself who sent me here. Is there any messages that I may take to him?”

Sri Bhagavan graciously answered: “The same Power which works here is working there also! Where is the need for words when heart speaks to heart?” There are unique words of wisdom revealing the secret that it is the one Supreme Thing alone that governs the whole universe through all the innumerable jeevas! Just like Dr.Rajendra Prasad and Gandhiji, all men of high position and power, all great poets, scholars, politicians, philosophers, and religious leaders who lived in the country during His time praised the glory of His Jnana.

The golden jubilee of Sri Ramana's coming to stay at Thiruvannamalai was celebrated in 1946. From the day He set foot in Thiruvannamalai, He did not move away even for a minute, but lived there continuously for fifty-four years. In 1947 His health began to fail. He was not yet seventy, but looked much older. Towards the end of 1948 a lump appeared below the elbow of his left arm. Though at first it seemed to be very small, even after two operations it grew bigger and bigger, bleeding continuously and profusely, and proved to be a sarcoma. All kinds of treatment were tried, including radium application, but in vain. Even after the fourth operation, which was done on the 19th of December 1949, the disease was not cured. Though this operation was a major one, Sri Bhagavan still refused to be given chloroform. When asked by a devotee whether there was any pain, Sri Bhagavan replied, “Even the pain is not apart from us!” Just as the teeth which bite our tongue are not other than us, and just as the thief who beat Sri Bhagavan was not viewed by Him as other than Himself, so also, even the disease which was ravaging His body was not other than He (Self). So wonder-inspiring was His Jnana!

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Regards,
Neel

Brief Life Sketch of Bhagavan Ramana - 10

Hare Krishna Friends,

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Arunachalam, the sacred Hill, is the primal and foremost form of Lord Shiva. Indeed it is Shiva Himself. Sages not only show us the path, but also set an example by treading upon it themselves. In this manner, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Himself often did Arunachala-pradakshinam (walking barefoot around the sacred Hill having it at one’s right-hand side) in the company of His devotees. It is described in the puranas how this Giripradakshinam was the sole means by which Unnamulai Ambikai (Abhita Kuchalamba), the consort of Sri Arunachaleshwara, became Ardhanarishwari (when her form combined with that of the Lord). It was on the occasion of one such pradakshinam that Sri Bhagavan composed the renowned “Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai”. Many thousands of His devotees now recite this hymn as a means to remember Arunachalam, which bestows Liberation when merely thought of.

At Ramanashramam, the doors of the small Hall where Sri Bhagavan lived were open day and night, and to all. In a life such as His, which was shining as a vast open space of mere consciousness where was the necessity to hide Himself and how to do so? Even in the middle of the night devotees were free to go and see Him in the Hall. “Defects alone need to hide, a pure heart need not” is a wise saying of saint Auvayyar! To have the darshan of Sri Bhagavan was a great fortune which was not bound by any condition and which was open to all people and at all times. When He gave a warm welcome even to the thieves who came at night, saying, “You may come in and take whatever you want,” what better proof is required of Sri Bhagavan’s sense of equality?

It was at 11:30 in the middle of the night of the 26t of June 1924. Though at that time Sri Ramanshramam consisted of only a few thatched sheds, some thieves came thinking it to be a rich mutt. They tied to break in through the windows by smashing them, and threatened to destroy everything. The noise woke up the devotees who were sleeping in the shed where Sri Bhagavan was lying. Bhagavan invited the thieves to come in through the proper doorway and asked the devotees to give them a hurricane lamp so that they could look for whatever they wanted, yet they shouted angrily, “Where are you keeping your money?” “We sadhus who live by begging have no money. From what you can find here, you may take away anything that you want. We will come outside,” so saying, Sri Bhagavan came out of the shed. Fnding that there was very little for them to take, the thieves bet the Ashramites with sticks, and one blow even fell on the thigh of Sri Bhagavan. “If you are still not satisfied, beat the other thigh as well,” said Sri Bhagavan feeling sorry for them!

Was this to be the limit of His kindness towards the thieves? No, He also prevented a young devotee who, unable to bear the sight of Sri Bhagavan being beaten, jumped up with an iron bar in retaliation. Sri Bhagavan advised him, “Let them do their dharma (i.e.role). We are sadhus, we should not give up our dharma. In future, the world will blame only us if any wrong happens. When our teeth bite our tongue, do we break them and throw them away?”

“Though others do wrong to one, it is best not to return the same in wrath.”
-Tirukkural, verse 157

Some days later the police caught the thieves and brought them before Sri Bhagavan, and an officer asked Him to identify the one who had beaten Him on that night. Sri Bhagavan at once replied with a smile, “Find out whom I beat (in a previous birth), for it is he who has beaten me now!” He never denounced the criminal!

“Conquer the foe by your worthy patience and for ever forget the wrong done to you on account of ignorance.”
-Tirukkural, verse 157

“The right way of punishing the wrong-doer is to do good to him and to forget his wrong.”
-Tirukkural, verse 314

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Regards,
Neelakantan

Brief Life Sketch of Bhagavan Ramana - 08

Hare Krishna Friends,


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Around 1907, a great Sanskrit poet Ganapati Shastri known also as Ganapati Muni because of the austerities he had been observing came to visit Sri Ramana. He had the title Kavya-kantha (one who had poetry at his throat), and he was also addressed as Nayana (father) by many. He was an ascetic (tapasvi) who had performed many millions of Mantra Japas, but he was still not able to understand what real tapas is. Hence he approached Sri Ramana and said: “I have learnt all the Vedas, performed million of Mantra Japas, undergone fasting and other austerities, yet I still do not know what tapas really is. Please instruct me.” Sri Bhagavan replied “If watched where from the “I” starts, there the mind merges; that is tapas.” However when Ganapathi Shastri further asked, “Is it possible to attain the same state through Japa?”, Sri Ramana replied: “When a Mantram is pronounced, if watched where from the sound starts, there the mind will merge; that is tapas”. To the scholar this came as a revelation; he felt the grace of the sage enveloping him. Sri Kavyakantha Ganapathi Shastri declared: “He is no ordinary Soul. He is the perfect Jnana Guru. Since He ever remains in natural Self-abidance, He is verily Bhagavan Maharshi”, and praised Him in verses as “Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi”. It is only from that day Sri Ramana was known by this name. He composed hymns in Sanskrit in praise of the sage, and also wrote the Ramana-Gita explaining His teachings.

Bhagavan Sri Ramana Himself is a unique and divine poet. His poetic genius in Tamil, His mother-tongue, breathes a fresh life into the sacred style of the poets of the yore. Besides being compact and terse, the flow of His sublime Tamil poetry is noble and pregnant with new and rich import. To say the truth, Bhagavan Raman is a Vedic Rishi who has given us Tamil Upanishads. Further, not only was He a poet in Tamil but also in Sanskrit, Malayalam and Telugu. He was the first to have been able to compose Telugu verses in Venba, an extremely difficult Tamil metre.

Mother Tamil has been adorned by Him with ever so many gems of Jnana in the form of verses of unsurpassed worth! However, Bhagavan Ramana was not a merely a writer He never had an intention (Sankalpa) to write anything. Indeed, intentionlessness (Nissankalpa) was the state in which He lived from the day He set foot in Arunachalam. However, then was the world blessed with at least some words of instruction of Bhagavan Sri Ramana. Do we not admit the existence of God, the Supreme power who creates, sustains and destroys the world? It is that same power who, having the prayers, doubts and questions of the devotees as its motive and using Sri Bhagavan’s mind, speech and body as its instruments, gave through Him spiritual instructions for the salvation of humanity. Sometimes, sweet and precious Tamil verses would flow from Him in answer to the question of devotees. The instructions of Sri Bhagavan which we now have are those which escaped from His lips in this manner. Of all of them, when collected and edited, make up His complete works. Among them five stotras (hymns) and three sastras (scriptures) are the important works. The stotras are “Sri Arunachala Stuthi Panchakam” (five hymns of Sri Arunachala) and the sastras are “Upadesha Undhiyar”, “Ulladu Narpadu” and “Guru Vachaka Kovai”.

In response to Sri Muruganar, the foremost devotee of Sri Bhagavan and a great Tamil poet, Sri Bhagavan not only composed in Tamil “Upadesha Undhiyar” but also He compiled “Ulladu Narapadu” which is an unequalled Upanishad, by revising some of His previous verses and composing many new ones. “Guru Vachaka Kovai” is the treasure house of Sri Ramana’s instructions collected and preserved in Tamil verses by Sri Muruganar, all of them being the day to day sayings of Sri Bhagavan from the very early days. These three important works of Sri Bhagavan which have come into existence having Sri Muruganar as the sole motive form “Sri Ramana Prasthana trayam” (the three works of divine authority on Moksha by Sri Ramana).

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We will continue with this the next day.

Regards,
Neelakantan

Brief Life Sketch of Bhagavan Ramana - 07

Hare Krishna,

My humble prostrations to all. Let us continue with the life sketch of Bhagavan Ramana.

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Soon after His mother’s first visit, Sri Ramana moved to Virupaksha cave. It was in those years that the swarm of disciples gathered around Him to drink the nectar of instructions flowing from the fully bloomed lotus of Jnana. Yes, ‘When the tree yields ripe fruit, does one need to call the fruit-bats?”. Sri Bhagavan’s mere gracious and silent presence shone as the Sun-of-Self and cleared the doubt of the devotees and blossomed their hearts. The young Sri Ramana was only about 20 years old at that time, but the disciples who came to Him with a hunger Jnana were much older and very learned!

chitram vata tharor mole vruddha sishya Guror Yuva
gurostu mounam vyakhyanam sishyasthu chhina samshayaha
- Dakshinamurthy Dhyana Slokas


“How wonderful! Young was the Guru who shone under the Banyan tree and aged were the disciples who came! Silence was the speech given by the beloved Guru, and the doubts in the disciple’s mind were cleared!”


-the same wonder happened in the presence of Sri Ramana!

Though the world was able to receive some instructions from Him in writing, and later orally also, there were many aspirants whose doubts have all been cleared and who have been saved by His mere silent presence.

“Silence is the unequalled eloquence-
the state of grace that raise within”

-Sri Bhagavan

‘Silence is the unfailing teaching (Upadesha). Writing or speech cannot stand equal to it; sometimes they may even be an obstruction!’ - Thus says Sri Ramana.

One of the books that was brought to Bhagavan during this period was Sankara's Vivekacudamani which later on He rendered into Tamil prose. There were also some simple unlettered folk that came to him for solace and spiritual guidance. One of them was Echammal who having lost her husband, son, and daughter, was disconsolate till the fates guided her to Ramana's presence. She made it a point to visit the Svami every day and took upon herself the task of bringing food for him as well as for those who lived with him.

In 1900, Gambhiram Seshayyar who was making efforts on the path of Raja Yoga often visited Sri Ramana and, whenever Bhagavan opened His eyes from Samadhi, would ask Him questions regarding Spiritual practices. Gambhiram Seshayyar would give Sri Ramana a piece of paper and a pen to write His replies; the replies written by Sri Ramana on such occasion were afterwards edited by Sri Natananandar and Published by the Ashram in the original Tamil under the title “Vichara Sangraham”. The work “Nan Yaar?” (Who am I?) was received from Sri Ramana in a similar manner by Sri Sivaprakasham Pillai. Though small in size, this work has now become famous on account of its power to save humanity by showing the right way to the Supreme benefit. The answer given by Sri Ramana to the questions of Sri Natananandar have become the work “Upadesha Manjari”.

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We will continue the next day.

Regards,
Neelakantan