It is common practice in presenting a literary exposition based on the writings of an eminent poet or author to sketch a brief biography of the author.
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi was more than a poet or author, for he was a Self-Realized soul, who had attained the highest level of awareness of the Divine Principle that permeates the entire universe and is the Ground and Basis and the Innermost Core of everything. Realization of Reality dawned on him suddenly and spontaneously. He never had to follow any specific process or sadhana nor did he seek or secure instruction from a Master. Yet out of his deep compassion he painstakingly clarified the processes that would help an aspirant to achieve the awareness of Reality. He was in a state of continued awareness of Reality all the time. He rarely spoke and never wrote anything out of a desire to express himself. However, the travails, the questions and the intellectual doubts of so many people moved him deeply and occasionally he would clarify some points.
Understanding his life is a means to understanding his concepts. Hence the following biography is outlined for the benefit of those who have not so far read it elsewhere.
Bhagavan was born on Dec 30, 1879 in a small village called Tiruchuzhi, about 20 km from Madura in South India. He was named Venkataraman and was the second of three brothers and a sister. His father was Sri Sundaram Ayyar who practiced as an uncertified pleader before the local magistrate. His mother Smt Alagammal was a pious and home loving lady.
Venkataraman grew up as a robust youngster full of pranks and mischief, was a good swimmer and wrestler and was not unduly attached to secular studies or to spiritual worship. After his preliminary studies in Tiruchuzhi he was transferred in 1891 to an uncle’s residence in Madura following his father’s sudden demise. There he studied in Scott’s Middle School and later the American Mission High School. He was generally indifferent to his studies.
It was in 1895 when he was about sixteen years of age that he happened to meet a friend of the family who was visiting and heard that the gentleman had come from ‘Arunachala’. Suddenly the sound of that name seemed to evoke a strange feeling in the young man. On enquiring where Arunachala was, he was told that it is the same as Tiruvannamalai. For Venkataraman it was a delightful realization to learn that it was a solid place on earth and not some intangible place in heaven.
Soon after this incident he came across a copy of a book named ‘Periya Puranam’ which contains the life stories of the sixty three Tamil Saints called the Nayanmars. As he read the book, Venkataraman was deeply moved and immersed in wonder at the remarkable experiences of the saints, which vividly described the ecstasy and bliss of true renunciation and the realization of the Divine.
From this time, Bhagavan experienced an increasing awareness of something deep within himself. For a person who would casually stop at the Meenakshi Temple at Madura on his way home, he found himself transfixed by the figures of Divinity and deeply moved from the innermost recesses of his heart.
Venkataraman became more and more introspective and withdrawn after these incidents. He became increasingly disinterested in studies and sports. He stopped his usual interactions with his friends.
It was in the middle of 1896 that a remarkable experience took place. He was sitting alone on the first floor of the house when he was suddenly overcome with the clear possibility of death. Relating the incident many years later to his earliest biographer he said that he was in perfect robust health. However this idea of death was sudden, unexpected and inexplicable. He lay himself down on the floor and came to grips with the idea of death.
He imagined his body becoming stiff and held his breath and closed his mouth and thought of the onset of rigor mortis. As he cogitated in this manner, he began to realize that although the body appeared dead, he was still fully aware of all that was happening and was fully conscious of himself or rather his Self. In that instant, he came in touch with his true Self.
He says, ‘All this was not a mere intellectual process. All this flashed before me vividly as living truth, something which I perceived immediately without 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 centered on that. The “I” or my “Self” was holding the focus of attention by a powerful fascination from that time forward. Fear of death had vanished at once and forever. Absorption in the Self has continued from that moment right up to this time’.
The experience fully transformed the young man. He often sat for hours immersed in contemplation. It was on one such occasion that a chance derisive remark by his elder brother appears to have suddenly made him decide to leave home.
With just three rupees, on August 29, 1896, he left home quietly and caught a train to the vicinity of Tiruvannamalai. Alighting at the farthermost station he could travel to, he walked on through several villages until, on Sept 01, 1896, he finally reached his sacred destination and could discern the mountain called Arunachala after which the town is called Tiruvannamalai ( Tiru- Sacred, Anna- Big Brother ( Shiva ), Malai- Mountain).
He reached the great temple of Arunachaleswara there, threw away his clothes, purse and sacred thread, and sank into deep meditation. He remained totally oblivious to the world, immersed in his Self for days together. He was molested by some boys, stung by scorpions and occasionally fed by a priest, but remained indifferent and unaware of all around him.
Someone persuaded him to wear a loin cloth which was the only article he possessed. He moved to various places in search of quietitude and peace. He finally reached a small cave on the mountain called the Virupaksha Cave. Someone took care of his body and fed him some food and he remained silent and sunk in meditation.
Meanwhile his mother learnt of his whereabouts from an itinerant traveler and came with her elder son to try and persuade him to return home. He steadfastly refused to talk or to respond but finally wrote a small epistle indicating that they should go back.
Tiruvannamalai is well known for its great temple of Arunachaleswara. In the month of Karthigai (generally late November or early December) a huge fire is lit at the top of the mountain to signify the light of knowledge. This festival is called ‘Karthigai Deepam’ and hundreds of devotees come to witness it and pray at the temple.
Gradually word spread of the young man in the cave and more and more people came to see him. Plenty of offerings poured in but he insisted on everything being re-distributed to the visitors.
In 1922 or thereabouts he shifted to another structure higher up on the mountain called Skanda Asramam. It was during the period 1899 to 1926, at Virupaksha Cave and Skanda Asramam that Bhagavan came in touch with a number of sacred texts in Tamil and Sanskrit brought by devotees. As he went through them he realized that all that was stated therein coincided with his own personal experience.
Many learned and erudite people attached themselves to him, seeking clarifications or guidance. Of them was Sri B V Narasimhaswami, a leading lawyer from Salem who, in the wake of some tragic incidents in his family, had renounced his career and home and come to Tiruvannamalai. Sri Narasimhaswami was a keen observer and was deeply moved by the young saint’s sadhana. He was the first biographer of Bhagavan.
Another remarkable person who came to the young Swami’s threshold was a great Sanskrit scholar called Kavyakanta Ganapathi Muni. Learned in the scriptures and a master of rituals and yoga, he sought clarity to achieve realization of the Self. The simple clarifications proffered by the young Swami shook Sri Ganapati Muni to the core and it was he who addressed the young Swami as Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharishi, equating him with the greatest Rishis of yore who are extolled in the Indian scriptures as the recipients of the Vedas in the form of Divine revelations.
It was also during this period that Bhagavan’s mother sought refuge at Skanda Asramam following the death of her eldest son. Bhagavan who had matured considerably in his detachment finally agreed and she spent the last three years of her life serving him and other devotees at Skanda Asramam. She left her body in 1922 as Bhagavan blessed her with Moksha.
Her body was interred in a Samadhi at the foot of the hill and around it arose what has come to be known today as the Sri Ramana Asramam.
A room was built adjacent to the Samadhi and Bhagavan resided there almost always resting on a couch which is still there. His younger brother joined him and took charge of the affairs of the Asramam. Countless people came for all sorts of reasons. Bhagavan was nearly always silent and in contemplation. However, every single person who came to his proximity was singularly blessed with tremendous peace and serenity and all the person’s questions seemed to be answered. Many resided at the Asramam for long years and attained Self- Realization.
Sri Paul Brunton was an English journalist who came to India in the mid 1920-s seeking to learn yoga and understand the experience of yogis. He was guided to Sri Ramana and at his feet he found the peace he sought and experienced Reality.
Another Westerner who found peace and bliss with Bhagavan was Sri Arthur Osborne. He was responsible for starting the publication of the quarterly magazine The Mountain Path that remains active till today and symbolizes the great catholicity of Bhagavan Sri Ramana’s attitude to all the paths and all the religions of the world.
Bhagavan’s basic teaching is a simple direct method of questioning ‘Who am I?’ that leads one to detach from the body and the external world, from the mind and its oscillations and peregrinations, and finally discovers Itself as the Self. All his guidance centers around this theme. And in the great compassion and love that flows from him, as the embodiment of the Self, he has dealt with countless questions from devotees belonging to many traditions, many different schools of thought and many religions and countries.
One such beautiful treatise which he penned to clarify the doubt of a devotee is ‘Upadesa SAram’ or the ‘Essence of Instruction’ which will be the subject of our study for the forthcoming several months.
Bhagavan attained samAdhi on April 14, 1950 and his mortal remains are interred in a hall adjacent to his mother’s memorial. A Shiva Lingam and a lovely statue of Bhagavan in his favorite sitting position mark the Samadhi.
Sri Ramana Asramam continues till today in its simplicity and its discipline. The daily routine commences at 5am with the chanting of the Vedas and the ceremonial offering of milk to Bhagavan at his Samadhi. There are special pujas on selected days in the late morning. Readings take place in the afternoon followed by Veda chanting and arathi in the evening.
I got the opportunity to visit Tiruvannamalai in Feb 2011 for a couple of days, thanks to the kindness of a young blog reader who drove me down. I managed to circumambulate the Arunachala Hill (called Giri Pradakshinam) and climbed up to the Virupaksha Cave and the Skanda Asramam.
While I meditated at Virupaksha Cave, Bhagavan who represents the Truth, the Reality, the Self, Brahman, the Divine Principle, or whatever one wants to call It, gave the following benediction that spontaneously arose in my mind:
Nirbhayatvam Nirmohatvam
Nirmalatvam Niranjanam
Niraakaaram Nirgunatvam
Para Brahma Tvam
Namo Namaha
This means
Fearless Detached
Pure Blemishless
Formless Without Qualities
You are verily Para Brahman
Hail! Hail!!
I was deeply moved and felt that he gave me guidance not only for my personal sadhana but for all who chance to read this. It is both a prayer to Divinity extolling Its nature and a Blessing from Divinity showing the Path.
May all of you be blessed to visit Tiruvannamalai and Sri Ramana Asramam.
References:
1.Self Realization - B. V. Narasimhaswami - Sri Ramana Asramam -Tiruvannamalai - 1985
2.Maha Tapasvi - Life Story of Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni - A. V. Ramana - Sri Ramana Asramam - Tiruvannamalai - 2005
3.A Search in Secret India - Dr Paul Brunton - B. I. Publications - 1970
4.Ramana Maharishi - Arthur Osborne - Jaico Publishing House - 1970
