Tribute to Ramana

April 28, 2011 03:39 pm | Updated September 28, 2016 01:34 am IST

Sri Ramana Maharishi.

Sri Ramana Maharishi.

One of the important messages of Ramana Maharishi is ‘Silence.' His ‘brief' verbal teachings were for those who could not understand his silence nor themselves remain silent. What Sri Ramana once wrote on a piece of paper and gave to his mother, has become almost a universal dictum: “The Ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance with their prarabdhakarma. Whatever is destined not to happen will not happen, try as you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen, do what you may to prevent it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is to remain silent.”

Like Swami Vivekananda (who visited a couple of foreign countries), the Maharishi too (by sitting on the Hill) drew people from other countries to India, Tiruvannamalai in particular. Incidentally it was on September 1, 1896, that Vivekananda returned to India after participating in the epoch-making speech at the Parliament of Religions, the same day that Maharshi set his foot on Arunachala!

Disciples from India Kavyakanta Ganapathi Sastri, Sri Muruganar (who recorded his experiences with the Maharishi in books such as Guru Vachaka Kovai and was instrumental in Sri Ramana's penning ‘Upadesa Saram' and ‘Ulladu Narpadu,' Suri Nagamma (whose Letters in Telugu summarise the Sage's conversations with devotees), Devaraja Mudaliar, Munagala Venkataramaiah, Kanakamma and those from abroad including Humphreys, Paul Brunton (whose writings drew the West's attention to Bhagavan, Arthur Osborne (the first editor of the Ramaashram's journal, The Mountain Path ), Major Chadwick (who established a Veda Patasala) , Ethel Merston, and S.S. Cohen, William Somerset Maugham and Maurice Frydman are some who have spread his message. And there were devotees, male and female, who served the Ashram in various ways.

Swami Ramdas, Paramahamsa Yogananda, Sri Narayana Guru of Kerala, Yogi Sri Ramsuratkumar Rajendra Prasad and Radhakrishnan the Presidents of India, are some of the well-known personalities who called on the Maharshi.

Familiar aspects

Among the familiar aspects of Baghavan's life such as his death experience, applapaattu , his assurance that ‘attainment of truth is very easy – athi sulabham , (through the I-enquiry) contrary to Nandanaar who put it as most difficult - meththa khadinam ), the distinct one is : “his showering compassion ( krupa or grace) on all - human beings, animals, birds and plants. He bestowed Moksha on the ashram's cow (Lakshmi) and reported to have performed obsequies to a few other animals and birds. He was friendly with squirrels, monkeys, peacocks, etc. and indeed with plants also.

Having detected a malignant growth on Sri Ramana's arm in November 1948, a series of operations were performed which worsened his health by the end of 1949.When devotees were apprehensive, he queried, ‘why they were attached to the perishable body' and ‘even if it goes, where will he go' hinting that he ( Atman ) would remain. On April 14, 1950 evening, when devotees were massaging him and reciting 'Arunachala Siva, Arunachala Siva,' his eyes were glowing with cheer shedding joyous tears.

On sipping spoons of warm (ginger) water and dissuading the doctor from resorting to give him artificial respiration, his slowed down breathing ceased at 8.47 p.m., “eternalising his silence!” Henri Cartier-Bresson, photographer from France, then staying in the ashram recorded it: “It is the most astonishing experience…I saw a vividly-luminous shooting star with a luminous tail, …moving slowly across the sky, reaching the top of Arunachala and disappearing behind it. …too sadly true: the Master has passed into parinirvana…”

The New York Times concluded: “Here in India, where thousands of so-called holy men claim close tune with the infinite, it is said that the most remarkable thing about Ramana Maharshi was that he never claimed anything remarkable for himself, yet became one of the most loved and respected of all.”

On the eve of the revered sage's (who was fondly addressed as Bhagavan, by his favourite and early disciple Kavyakanta Ganapathi) 61st Aradhana (falling on April 30) it will be appropriate to recall his words: We need not carry the head load inside a train. Just as you unburden yourself of the load, give up doership, in discharging your duties on this earth; in other words, eschew the “I am doing” thought.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.