The
Silent Power
Selections from
The Mountain Path
and
The Call Divine
SRI RAMANASRAMAM
The
Silent Power
Selections from
The Mountain Path
and
The Call Divine
SRI RAMANASRAMAM
III
Prof B.L. Atreya
A SAINT IS as great a necessity for human society as is a great
scientist, a great thinker and a great leader, nay the necessity is
even greater. For a scientist discovers the secrets of life and of
the Universe, a thinker tries to understand the meaning and
purpose of existence, and a leader tries to shape and transform
humanity or a portion of it according to his own notions of
what it ought to be.
A saint is one who makes a wholehearted effort to realise
in himself, in his own life, the highest and furthest possibilities
of human life, which in a natural course of evolution may take
centuries to actualise.
A saint is a man perfected, a fulfilled hope of humanity, a
successful experiment in human sublimation, and a source of
inspiration and guidance to the travellers on the path to
43
perfection. He is the embodiment of the highest values of
humanity, an indubitable indication that ideals can be made
real, that man can be what he ought to be, here and now.
His life is a measure of man’s manhood, when it is lived in
the midst of humanity and not in sanctified seclusion. It is a
practical solution of the various puzzles of life, provided it is a
comprehensive one. Considered from various points of view, a
saint is the greatest asset to human society. A perfected being,
he is the eternal beacon to sadhakas the world over.
I have read the biographies of many a saint, seen a number
of them and have come in contact with some. I have had the
privilege of being at the Ashram of Sri Ramana Maharshi for a
short time in March 1940 and since then have been in
correspondence with him.
He made a deep impression upon my mind, a mind that
has been moulded by a study of scientific and philosophic
writings of the east as well as of the west. The greatest peculiarity
and merit of Sri Ramana Maharshi’s life is that although he has
moulded and perfected his personality on the lines of Advaita
Vedanta, a purely Indian way of Self-realization, he is highly
appreciated and resorted to by western seekers and by those
Indians who have been educated on western lines.
One of the reasons for this fact may be that some English
and French writers happened to praise him highly in their books.
But the fact remains to be explained why these western seekers
were themselves so well impressed by the Maharshi. Mere
publicity does not in the least establish the greatness of saints,
although it may make them known, as in the case of Jesus Christ,
to a wider public.
Maharshi’s greatness is more deeply founded. It is based on
his actual living by the creed of Advaita Vedanta which holds that
44
reality is one without a second, that everything in this Universe is
but that reality which is Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.
True to his creed, he regards nothing as alien, none as
other, no event as undesirable. For him the ideal is the real and
the real is the ideal. He has no other relation with anyone but
that of love. He thinks as much of others as he thinks of himself.
Love, affection, kindness, mercy etc. which are expressions of
one and the same thing, and the feeling of unity with all, ever
flow from him. This is the secret of Maharshi’s unique greatness
and consequent popularity. The whole of humanity owes its
homage to this great sage amidst us.
Jnana is like akasha. The supreme Self which is to be known
through sadhana is also like the ether. The various objects we
see in the world as well as the souls are like the ether. Therefore,
who is to know which? What is to be known by what? The
supreme realization is that there is no plurality. True knowledge
is distinctionless. That knowledge is the Self, the light divine.
That knowledge is Bhagavan Ramana.
May we offer our obeisance to this supreme Lord who
came to save the world and who still abides and will ever abide
with us in order to make us perfect.
May we, on this auspicious occasion, renew our faith in
our Bhagavan and pay homage to him so that not only we, but
the entire world may be saved.
45
IV
Anonymous
WITH THE INCREASE in distant visitors, the atmosphere at
Ramanashram is growing more lively and Sri Maharshi often
brings home a point by narrating stories from the past.
One day, last week, the photo of a piece of architecture at
the Madurai temple was missing. A few minutes earlier, it had
been seen by many people who had gathered in the hall but
when Mr. Maurice Frydman wanted to see it, the photo could
not be traced. The Maharshi asked some of the inmates what
had become of it and the most surprising part of it was that the
French lady who was stated to have obtained it was not herself
aware of having done so.
Mr. Frydman utilised the occasion to ask a pointed question
as to how this disappearance was viewed by the Maharshi himself.
The reply was, “Suppose you dream that you are taking
me to Poland. You wake up and ask me, I dreamt so and so.
Did you dream so or know it? And how do you view it?”
Frydman further asked, “But are you not aware of the
happenings in front of you?”
Sri Maharshi replied, “These are all workings of the mind
and the questions also.”
Then Sri Maharshi narrated a story.
“When Sita was missed and Rama went about in search of her,
Parvati was surprised and asked Siva, ‘You had praised Rama as the
perfect being. See how he behaves now and grieves at the loss of Sita.’
“Siva replied, ‘If you are sceptical about Sri Rama’s
perfection then put him to the test. Transform yourself into
Sita and appear before him.’
46
“Parvati did so and to her astonishment, Rama ignored
her appearance and still cried. ‘Ha Sita, Ha Sita’, and moved
like a blind man. Parvati was then convinced.”
In the course of a conversation Dr. Henry Hand asked
Maharshi, “Are you conscious of a brotherhood of invisible
rishis?”
Sri Maharshi replied with a question, “If invisible, how to
see them?”
Dr. Hand, “In consciousness”.
Sri Maharshi continued, “In consciousness there is nothing
external.”
Dr. Hand asked, “Is there not individuality? I fear to lose
my individual being.”
Sri Maharshi, “Why fear to lose individuality? What is your
state in dreamless sleep? Are you conscious of your individuality
then?”
Dr. Hand, “It is possible.”
Sri Maharshi, “But what is your experience? If the
individuality be there would it be asleep?”
Dr. Hand, “That depends on the interpretation. What
does Maharshi say?”
Sri Maharshi, “Maharshi does not speak for your
experience. He does not force anything down your throat.”
Dr. Hand, “I know. That is what I like so much about the
Maharshi and his teachings.”
Sri Maharshi, “Do you not really take great care to get
sound sleep? Do you not prepare your bed carefully? And are
you not anxious to lose your individuality in deep steep? Then
why fear it?”
One visitor asked him, “How can one root out the sex
idea?”
47
Sri Maharshi’s reply was, “By rooting out the false idea of
the body being the Self. There is no sex in the Self.”
The visitor again asked, “How is one to realise it?”
Sri Maharshi said, “Because you think you are the body,
you see another as the body. Difference in sex arises. But, you
are not the body. Be the real Self and there is no sex.”
V
Anonymous
IN 1943 (OR 1944), Dr. Jesudasan, known as Peria Annan
(the Chinna Annan being Dr. Paton), accompanied by Dr.
Raja went to Sri Ramanasramam. Peria Annan who was a highly
qualified doctor and who had done his medical studies at
Edinburgh, wanted to serve the poor. At the same time he had
a deep spiritual longing, and spent long hours in prayer,
meditation, and reading the scriptures. Some accused this odd
sanyasi doctor of not giving his full attention to medical work
and wasting his expert talents. He himself was disturbed about
this seeming dichotomy in his life.
He went to Sri Ramanasramam and sat in silence before
the Maharshi amidst several devotees. Solemn silence prevailed
and after some fifteen minutes, Periannan ventured to speak
out and seek Bhagavan’s guidance. Smiling, the Maharshi said,
“Some call me also a lazy fellow. Do what you feel like doing.”
Periannan realized in a flash that there was no real dichotomy
in his life.
48
VI
WHEN IN ANCIENT DAYS even Sri Dakshinamurti the Adiguru,
guru of all gurus was able to reveal the truth of that one
Self only through silence, the speechless speech, who else can
reveal it through speech?
In this connection, Sri Bhagavan once told the following
story to Sri Muruganar. When the four aged Sanakadi rishis
first saw the sixteen-year-old Sri Dakshinamurti sitting under
the banyan tree, they were at once attracted by him,
understanding him to be the real Sadguru.
They approached him, did three pradakshinas around him,
prostrated before him, sat at his feet and began to ask very shrewd
and pertinent questions about the nature of Reality and the means
of attaining it. Because of the great compassion and fatherly love
(vatsalya) which he felt for his aged disciples, the young Sri
Dakshinamurti was overjoyed to see their earnestness, wisdom and
maturity, and hence he gave apt replies to each of their questions.
As he answered each consecutive question, further doubts
rose in their minds and still they asked further questions. Thus
they continued to question Sri Dakshinamurti for one whole
year, and he continued to clear their doubts through his
compassionate answers.
Finally, however, Sri Dakshinamurti understood that if he
gave more answers to their questions more doubts would rise in
their minds and hence there would never be an end to their
ignorance (ajnana). Therefore, suppressing even the feeling of
compassion and fatherly love which was welling up within him,
he merged himself into the supreme silence. Because of their
great maturity (which had been ripened to perfection through
their year-long association with the Sadguru), as soon as Sri
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Dakshinamurti thus merged himself, they too were automatically
merged within, into silence, the state of Self.
Wonder-struck on hearing Sri Bhagavan narrating the
story in this manner, Sri Muruganar remarked that in no book
is it mentioned that Sri Dakshinamurti ever spoke anything.
“But this is what actually happened” replied Sri Bhagavan.
From the authoritative way in which Sri Bhagavan thus
replied and from the clear and descriptive way in which he had
told the story, Sri Muruganar understood that Sri Bhagavan
was none other than Sri Dakshinamurti himself.
VII
The author of this reminiscence is not known, but the
events took place in 1935. Maurice Frydman eventually
became a resident of Sri Ramanasramam for a period of nearly
three years and during the later stages of his stay, he compiled
“Maharshi’s Gospel”.
ONE MORNING IN September, one Maurice Frydman, a
consulting and electrical engineer announced himself before
Sri Bhagavan. He entered the hall, hat in hand but with shoes
still on. The Maharshi ordered a stool for him upon which he
seated himself cross-legged for a short time and then he withdrew.
After a wash and light refreshments he came back without shoes
and squatted on the floor.
He stayed three days and was quite social and genial and
friendly to everyone who responded similarly towards him. He
tried to learn our ways and adapt himself to them. His clumsiness
often evoked the good humoured laughter of the Maharshi who
always put him right, as a father would a child.
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He tried to learn from Maharshi something about realisation,
raised doubts and had them cleared. Once he asked why there
should be illusion if the individual soul is identical with the Supreme.
Bhagavan gave him the usual answer (the answer is not given in the
text) and then began to chew betel leaves. In the meantime,
Mr.Frydman was ruminating and with dramatic gestures wanted
to know why the ego should not be cut down at one stroke and
destroyed so as to gain supreme bliss. The Maharshi stopped chewing
his betel leaves long enough to smile, and then broke out into
laughter and asked the questioner to hold out his ego so that the
Maharshi could strike it down. Everyone in the hall laughed
including Mr. Frydman and at the conclusion of the laughter Mr.
Frydman addressed the Maharshi and said, “Yes, now I understand.”
VIII
Varadachari
THOUGH I HAVE HAD unique opportunities of studying
some of the characteristic works of Sri Ramana, yet it was only in
April 1947 that I had the good fortune of beholding him face to
face. This darshan of the sage is an experience in itself. It is not
capable of being described. So very casual yet pregnant, so very
unobtrusive yet deeply significant, almost everything that occurs
in the Ashram seems to be inundated with the quiet consciousness
of the Master. Such indeed was my reflective impression. Pleasant,
deeply penetrating and inspiring somewhere in the depths, it
showed that the activity of the spirit is of a different order and
kind from what we know to be ‘activity’.
51
IX
Maurice Frydman
JUST SIX MONTHS after I came to India, I was left alone
and had no friends. The person whom I loved died and I had
nothing to attract me in life.
Quite accidentally, just for fun, I dropped in at
Tiruvannamalai. I went direct to the swami but I was ordered
out by his disciples as I had not taken off my shoes.
After bathing and other preparations, I went again to the
hall and remained there with the Maharshi for two hours.
Then I understood that I had met someone, the likes of
whom I had never met before.
I did not then know what was meant by words like
Maharshi and Bhagavan. I had no preconceived ideas and yet I
felt that there was something extraordinary in that man.
I was told about his teachings but they were far too high
for me. I did not understand what they meant but I felt a strong
and lasting affection for him. I was alone in India and I attached
myself to him just as a homeless dog would to his master.
Afterwards, whenever I felt worried, I used to go to
Arunachala, and sit in his presence. In the early days I would be
asking questions, but later when I began to visit him more and
more, the discussion with him grew less and less.
Then I began to visit him almost every month. I knew no
sadhana or dhyana. I would simply sit in his presence. To my
questions, Sri Maharshi would say: “Find out who you are.” I
could not make out anything but all the same I felt happy.
Slowly some change came in me. Just as the egg grows and
hatches only with the aid of the warmth of the mother I was
also getting into shape slowly and steadily in his presence.
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My mind became more quiet than before. Previously it
was unhappy and never satisfied. Now a kind of security and
peace began to be felt spontaneously.
I felt that Sri Maharshi was coming nearer and nearer as
time passed. Afterwards I used to think of him whenever I felt
unhappy. He used to appear before me and ask if I have not
committed any sin. If I had erred or sinned, he used to hide
himself for a time but later on appear and reply.
His affection was always there and as fire melts ice so his
affection made my worries melt.
X
Swami Madhavananda
ON ONE OCCASION, probably in 1939, Sri P.M.N. Swamy,
a staunch devotee of Bhagavan and secretary of Sri Ramana
Satchidananda Mandali, Matunga, went to the Ashram at
Tiruvannamalai to have darshan of Bhagavan and stayed for
the day there with his wife and nine month old child, Ramanan.
They had their breakfast in the common dining hall in
the morning. After finishing they went to wash their hands at
the tap outside, leaving the child in the hall. By this time
Ramanan crawled away somewhere and could not be seen. The
perturbed father called out to the child as ‘Ramana, Ramana’.
Bhagavan, who was then passing on his way to the
meditation hall immediately responded to the call and the child
also was found near the well in the Ashram compound. The
response from Bhagavan naturally created a little puzzle in Sri
53
P.M.N. Swamy’s mind because he thought that the call ‘Ramana,
Ramana’ intended for his child might have been wrongly
interpreted by Bhagavan.
Bhagavan was quick to read Sri Swamy’s mind and told
him, “Why do you feel puzzled when I responded to the call? Is
there any difference between this Ramana (meaning himself )
and that Ramana (meaning the child)?”
XI
K. R. K. Murthy
AN OLD WOMAN bent double with age used to go round
and round Sri Bhagavan’s hall and finally go near Bhagavan’s
seat and loudly sing songs composed extempore by her. Her
spontaneous compositions used to pour forth effortlessly from
her extremely devoted heart. She was not a learned lady, there
night be some grammatical mistakes and errors in rhyme,
rhythm, etc. She used to thus sing her prayers daily for obtaining
the grace of Bhagavan.
One day Sri Bhagavan smilingly remarked that her songs
seemed to be much better than those of her son. Her son was a
scholar and from an ordinary point of view, the scholar’s
compositions ought to be superior but for Bhagavan those arising
from the bottom of the heart with great devotion and emotion
are more pleasing. Are not the standards of judgement different?
Whenever Bhagavan’s physical body appeared to suffer from
some ailment, some devotees used to prescribe medicines for relief,
forgetting that Sri Bhagavan himself was Vaidyanatha who can cure
54
all ills if he so willed. Sri Bhagavan used to take or apply the medicines
just for the satisfaction of the devotees who prescribed the same
and not for curing himself. He never wanted to wound the feelings
of even the humblest devotees and he used to accept the medicines,
though there was no necessity for any of them as far as he was
concerned. Though the act is the same, the object is different.
One lady devotee was one day expressing to Bhagavan
that she had come that day from a long distance. Bhagavan
suddenly remarked, “You did not come. The train brought you
here.” The other side of the picture is more real to Bhagavan.
She did not come there perhaps by her individual exertion but
was brought by Bhagavan’s grace.
In the early stages, Sri Ramanashramam was a lonely
cottage in the burial ground. As the number of devotees
frequenting the Ashram was increasing, so also was the joy of
the thieves in the neighbourhood at the prospect of getting easy
money from the Ashram.
They waited for an opportunity and one day suddenly
broke into the Ashram at the dead of night. They freely used
their sticks on every one of the inmates including Bhagavan.
They enraged the devotees who were preparing to pay them in
the same coin. Sri Bhagavan who was unmoved pointed out
that, “sahanam was sadhu dharma”, and that they should
patiently bear with the thieves.
“We should not swerve from the path of our dharma
irrespective of the acts or behaviour of evil doers, further it is
not wise to knock down the teeth that bit the tongue”, he said.
These words disarmed the devotees, who kept quiet while
the thieves were busy. The thieves expected to go back with a
fortune but with all their efforts could not secure more than
ten rupees worth of valuables from the whole premises.
55
While the thieves were thus disappointed and dejected, Sri
Bhagavan was reported to have suggested to them mercifully
that they should take the food available in the kitchen. This
sensational incident could not upset the peace of Bhagavan even
for a while or make an impression on his mind (although it
became the talk of the neighbouring town). The importance
attached to this occurrence by the sage was nil.
Once Bhagavan, while passing through the hilly tracts
inadvertently damaged a nest of wasps. The wasps furiously
attacked the leg that pulled down their beloved home. Sri
Bhagavan bore the unbearable pain patiently without offering
the least resistance as his guilty leg which caused pain to them in
his opinion, deserved the just punishment meted out to the
same by the angry wasps. How different is Sri Bhagavan’s
reaction and his sense of justice which knows no fear or favour?
When a westerner invited the attention of Bhagavan to the
poverty of the average Indian and his poorly furnished quarters,
Sri Bhagavan replied that although the Indians did not possess
many material comforts, they are not less happy on that account.
As they do not feel the want of the same, they are able to enjoy
life with what they have. How true and how correct! Happiness is
not directly proportional to the material goods one possesses.
In Sri Ramanashram Sri Bhagavan used to occupy a sofa
and many people used to think it was very comfortable and
luxurious a seat for any person. Some used to remark why should
a sage or sanyasi require such a seat, forgetting for the moment
that Sri Bhagavan was accustomed to the roughest and hardest
possible seats throughout his life and only towards the end he
used the sofa to oblige certain devotees.
One day Sri Bhagavan was giving instructions to an
attendant about binding the books for careful preservation. To
56
supplement the instructions and show personally, he sat on the
flat floor and remarked that it was very pleasant to sit on the
ground. A high seat also was essential to enable a number of
devotees to have darshan of Bhagavan simultaneously. Sri
Bhagavan was accustomed to put up with anything which came
his way and as he was not attached to any particular seat, he
occupied the sofa for the convenience of the devotees. This was
in spite of some physical discomfort in occupying that particular
seat. Ordinary people think that the sofa is a nice seat. But Sri
Bhagavan expressed at least once that the floor was much better.
Are not the views different?
One day as usual Sri Bhagavan started for a walk towards
Arunachala. On the way, there were some steps. While crossing
over these Sri Bhagavan’s leg slipped and was injured. Some
devotees who noticed this examined the steps and found them
to be uneven. Immediately some masons were called for and
by the time they started work Sri Bhagavan returned to the
spot and observed that they were cutting off some portions of
the steps. “Why?” He questioned. “Why do you cut off the
steps? The steps did nothing. It is only this leg that is at fault.
Cut off the leg.” How different is the saintly reaction!
XII
J. Suryaprakasa Rao
IN THE YEAR 1946, a friend of mine informed me about the
glory of Tiruvannamalai and its sage. The photo of Bhagavan
in a smiling posture was secured by me.
57
It was three years later during May 1949, that I decided to
have his darshan. On entering into his presence, the general silence
and serenity captivated me. At first I was partly anxious to get
near to him and partly timid. I only mentally repeated, “Bhagavan
I have come” as though it was a long expected meeting. He looked
into my eyes. Even from the distance I could not stand the
brilliance of those eyes. I tried to meditate. Presently there was
some conversation. A European lady sat there attired in Indian
style. After a repeated jingling of her bangles, Bhagavan asked in
Telugu smilingly, “What is the matter?” Somebody replied, “She
wore bangles”, “Oh I see”, said Bhagavan. He was then looking
at some of the correspondence, at the playing of the squirrels,
and at the feeding of the white peacock.
In the afternoon, by the time we came, the sitting had
already commenced. There was no interruption to the supreme
silence. A cultured family of a mother, husband and wife came
and offered some tiffin which he took, washed his hands and
resumed his inimitable posture. We sat still in silence for some
time and took leave after prostrating to Sri Ramana Bhagavan.
XIII
K. K. Nambiar
PEOPLE WHO VISITED Sri Bhagavan during his life time,
could not have failed to observe the characteristic pose in which
he reclined on his sofa with eyes closed and his head supported
with his left arm, particularly at the time of Vedaparayana and
so on.
58
Some of us devotees sitting around used to watch him
intently during such periods. On several occasions I used to
mentally pray to him that on reopening his eyes, he should
bestow a look at me and I must say I was never disappointed.
So, it was crystal clear to me that prayers to Bhagavan need not
be vocal and he felt, knew, and answered the inner prayers of
all his devotees.
Conversely, there were also occasions when I sat at the feet
of Sri Bhagavan and intently meditated on his form with closed
eyes, and most often when I opened my eyes, Sri Bhagavan
appeared to be watching me. It is a great comfort even now to
recall the experience of those exquisite moments which stand
out so vividly in my memory. Time hasn’t effaced even a fraction
of those vistas.
XIV
P.T. Muthuswami
MY JOY FOUND no limit when I had the darshan of Bhagavan
Sri Ramana Maharshi on the 8th of June, 1947 at 9.20 a.m.
Apart from Ashram inmates, Indians and foreigners, there used
to be a stream of visitors both in the morning and the evening.
Some visitors, with the permission of the Ashram authority,
used to take snapshots of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
In my heart of hearts I was deeply thinking whether I
could be so fortunate as to have a photo taken along with Sri
Bhagavan. A good and pious idea indeed! But, the question of
its fulfilment was entirely left to the entire grace of guru dev.
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It so happened that a rich and a pious soul with a band of
devotees from Andhra, came to the Arunachala temple and then
to Sri Ramanasramam. They had the darshan of Sri Bhagavan
in the morning and they arranged for a group photo to be
taken along with him in the evening.
Sri Bhagavan stood in front of the small gate towards the
eastern side, facing Arunachala Hill. Another devotee and myself
were observing all this very keenly from a very respectful distance.
One of the devotees seeing Sri Bhagavan standing, had very wisely
brought a stool from the Ashram, upon which, gurudev sat. The
photo was about to be taken when the sarvadhikari, in hurrying
up to the spot, saw me and another devotee standing, and asked
us to follow him. We both immediately followed him and joined
the group photo. The photo was taken. My happiness was beyond
expression. I have a copy of this eventful photo with me. This is
how ‘kripa’ of Bhagavan works miraculously.
Bhagavan can be compared to the saptha rishis of the ancient
times. Those who came in contact with such a great personality,
an embodiment of supreme Self-hood are really blessed. They
should consider themselves very fortunate.
Those who lived at Sri Ramanashram knew full well how
punctuality used to be observed in every activity of the Ashram.
Even breakfast, lunch, tea and supper used to be served precisely
at 7a.m., 11a.m., 3p.m., and 7.30p.m., respectively.
At the ringing of the bell, Sri Bhagavan would go to the
dining hall from the main darshan hall. The devotees would
follow him with great reverence. He used to sit in the middle of
the dining hall and of all the devotees sitting in rows.
Different varieties of delicious dishes used to be served
systematically and briskly by some of the devotees. Every variety,
each in small quantity, used to be served to Bhagavan. He used
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to mix up the food, vegetables, chatnys and other things all
into one paste and keep it ready.
When serving was finished Sri Bhagavan used to ask,
“Finished?” meaning whether serving was completed.
Sarvadhikari replying in the affirmative used to prostrate before
him. Sri Bhagavan would then cast a benign glance all round
and would nod his head signifying to commence eating. Perfect
silence would be prevailing in the dining hall, although the
number present would be more than a hundred. Sri Bhagavan
would leave the plantain leaf after his meals, in such a clean
manner, as it was placed, before meals were served. Not even a
particle of rice would be left on it.
The very life of Sri Bhagavan was itself sacred scripture.
He was moving Veda and Upanishad. His teachings were through
silence. Who could have understood his immutable silence, the
very nature of one’s own Self!
XV
N. N. Rajan
BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA is a guru to all those who have
faith in him. He is a rare combination of bhakti and jnana.
Some devotees feel that they are led through jnana towards
Self-knowledge. Each individual is helped or taught by him
either through silence or sometimes by words according to the
needs of that person. Therefore, one is not aware what another
gets by way of help from the guru and that becomes clear when
the devotees compare notes of their experience.
61
Often Sri Bhagavan clears the doubts in the minds of the
devotees even before they put questions to him. Devotees having
some problems which they themselves could not solve come
there with an ardent desire of asking Sri Bhagavan for a solution,
but often, and to their amazement, they themselves find the
solutions of the problems when they sit in his presence.
Such a method of teaching is nothing short of a miracle in
its subtlest form. Miracles, as generally understood, are
something spectacular and many persons are under the
impression that the greatness of a saint or sage is directly
proportionate to the number of miracles he performs. That
way of thinking is not correct. Sri Bhagavan says that the greatest
miracle is attainment of Self-knowledge and all other spectacular
performances are of the world, hence illusory! He does not admit
that he performs any miracles, but things do happen which we
interpret in such a way.
In this connection, it would be interesting to narrate my
experience. Once I met an old friend Mr. K. A. in Poona. In
the course of our conversation, he told me that in 1919, he was
informed by some devotees that a peacock and a cobra played
with each other in Skandasram when Sri Bhagavan was residing
there. To see this, he and a friend of his, decided to go there and
verify what they had heard.
They arrived at Skandasram in the afternoon and sat there
for a couple of hours hoping to see the bird and the snake, but
they did not appear. They felt disappointed and returned home
the same day with the belief that people circulate stories that are
not correct. I too had heard about the story of the peacock and
the snake at Skandasram, and I believed it because I had no cause
to doubt the intention of those that told me about it. I tried to
convince Mr. K.A., that miracles have no value to gauge the
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greatness of a saint, which according to him have a value, and he
put forward very strong arguments to support his own case.
Mr. K. A. is a well-read old man, and the conversation
initiated a struggle in my mind whether to believe or discard as
untrue what I had heard. My mind was very uneasy for a couple
of days and it calmed down when it occurred to me that the
peacock and the snake could not have obliged Mr. K.A. and his
friend during the very short stay they made at Skandasram.
Sri Bhagavan’s talks are very instructive and can be easily
understood by those who listen to him. He talks about his own
experience in very simple language. He generally speaks in Tamil,
Telugu or in Malayalam. He knows English but seldom speaks
in that language. People who do not know the Dravidian
languages ask questions in English and his replies are given in
Tamil which are then translated into English by an interpreter
for the benefit of the questioners. When he finds that the
translation is not correct he suggests appropriate English words
to the interpreter. He writes and composes in the three Indian
languages mentioned above and in Sanskrit too. Most of his
works have been translated into English and other languages.
From the study of such spiritual literature much benefit can be
derived, but one who is earnest in the quest of the Self, gets
abiding inspiration by personal contact with Sri Bhagavan. Since
he knows many languages, it is possible to converse with him
and get more benefit than from reading books alone.
I have had opportunities to talk to Sri Bhagavan and one
of them is mentioned here. One day I went to see Gurumurtham
and the garden near it. These two places are well known to
those who have read his biography. It is in this garden that
Bhagavan’s uncle recognised him as his nephew Venkataraman,
who had left his home some three years earlier. After visiting
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the two places I returned to the Ashram and told Sri Bhagavan
that the place now is more or less an open ground and is not a
garden as described by Sri Narasimhaswamy in his book Self
Realization. Sri Bhagavan immediately began to describe how
the garden was then and proceeded further to describe his life
during his sojourn there. He said that he was taking shelter in a
lamb pen which was hardly high enough for him to sit erect. If
he wanted to stretch his body on the floor, most of it was out in
the open. He wore only a kaupina and had no covering over
the rest of his body. If it rained he remained on the wet and
sodden ground where sometimes water stood a couple of inches
deep! He did not feel any inconvenience because he had no
‘body sense’ to worry him. He felt that sunrise and sunset came
in quick succession. Time and space did not exist for him! He
then tried to describe the state of his awareness of the Self and
his awareness of the body and things material. To him the sun
of absolute Reality made the phenomenal world disappear and
he was immersed in that light which dissolves diversity into the
One without a second!
It is not possible to express exactly the thrill felt by all of
us who were listening to him. We all did feel as if we were
transported into that condition to attain that which we are
striving for. There was a deep silence in the hall for some time
during which everyone present felt peace and happiness. It
occurred to me then that Bhagavan, while narrating any incident
of his life, takes the opportunity to teach us, and I told him that
when he spoke we felt as if it was easy to experience the Self and
even as if we had glimpses of it. We asked him exactly how one
has to proceed to be in that state of continuous awareness which
he had described. Sri Bhagavan, with his sparkling eyes, looked
at me benevolently, raised his hands and said,
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“It is the easiest thing to obtain. The Self is always in you,
around you and everywhere. It is the substratum and the support
of everything. You are experiencing the Self and enjoying it
every moment of your life. You are not aware of it because your
mind is on things material and thus gets externalised through
your senses. Hence you are unable to know it. Turn your mind
away from material things which are the cause of desires, and
the moment you withdraw your mind from them you become
aware of the Self. Once you experience the Self, you are held
by it, and you become ‘That which is the One without a
second.’”
When he finished his words I again felt in the same way as
I felt on the first day I met him in 1923 — that Sri Bhagavan is
a big power house and his power or grace overwhelms us,
whatever our ideas may be and leads us into the channel flowing
into the Self. It became clear to me that we can have the
knowledge of the Self if only we take the path into which a
realised person or guru directs us.
In conclusion I wish to say that one should constantly
meditate that one is not the body or the mind. Unless the mind
is in contact with the senses, we cannot get any report from our
ears, eyes etc. We must therefore still the mind by disconnecting
it from the senses and thus get beyond them to experience the
Self. What we learn from sense perception is only relative
knowledge. Knowledge of the Self can be learnt only by sitting
at the feet of one who has realised it; what others tell you is
mere talk. Bhagavan Sri Ramana is one of those Masters who
has realised the Self and like all other Masters who preceded
him, he helps us proceed rapidly to attain Self-knowledge.
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XVI
Madhavi Ammal
Srimathi Madhavi Ammal, a staunch devotee, was
fortunate in having many opportunities to talk to Sri
Bhagavan freely and appeal to him direct for upadesa. Sri
Bhagavan made things easy for her in many ways, one of
which was talking to her in her native Malayalam. He gave
a patient hearing to her tales of woe which were many. This
is visible in a film on Sri Bhagavan which is screened
occasionally at the Ashram. The devotee seems to have almost
wrested the upadesa from the Guru by her perseverance
according to the following narrative of hers.
I KNEW FULL well that Sri Bhagavan gave no formal upadesa
(initiation) but I kept on asking for it whenever an opportunity
presented itself. Invariably Sri 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 Sri
Mathrubhuteswara I went to the old hall. Only the attendant
Madhava Swami was with Sri Bhagavan. When I made my usual
request Sri 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 Sri Arunachala by Sri Bhagavan). Sri
Bhagavan turned to Madhava Swami and said, “She has prayed
to Sri Arunachala.” This struck me as meaning that Sri Arunachala
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will give the initiation and also that Sri Bhagavan and Sri
Arunachala are not two. Sri 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? Sri Bhagavan should himself
tell me about this. Even if Sri Bhagavan confirms this how is it
that I adopted him as my Guru immediately on hearing of him
(she was just told that a Rishi lived at the foot of the Hill)? Will it
all be in vain?” Immediately on my speaking thus I found a bright
light emanating from Sri Bhagavan’s holy face, and the effulgence
filled the whole Hall. I could not see Sri Bhagavan’s body but
only the brilliance. I shed tears in profusion. The whole incident
could have lasted just two seconds! I prostrated to Sri Bhagavan.
There was a smile on his face but no movement otherwise. After
a while Sri 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. 1
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.”
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RECOLLECTIONS
K.R.K. Murthy
WITH A VIEW to record Sri Bhagavan’s voice and
preserve the same for posterity, someone raised a
discussion on the sound recording machines in the presence of
Bhagavan. Sri Bhagavan agreed with what they said, regarding
this wonderful machine. Seeing that Sri Bhagavan was very
favourably disposed towards the same, they wanted to pursue
the matter further and fix up a date for recording Sri Bhagavan’s
voice. At that moment Sri Bhagavan replied, “My real voice is
silence; how can you record that?” In this connection he narrated
the story of the saint Thandavaraya, who by his dynamic silence
stilled the minds of several people, for three full days.
Once when someone was expressing that all sensations
near his hip were not being felt for some time, Sri Bhagavan
quickly remarked, “How nice will it be if the whole body
becomes like that? We will be unaware of the body.”
One attendant of Bhagavan was reading to Bhagavan in
the night. The attendant heard snoring sounds and stopped
reading thinking that Bhagavan was asleep. Immediately
Bhagavan questioned him as to why he stopped. Again the
attendant continued and similar snoring sounds proceeding
from Bhagavan made him stop again. But Sri Bhagavan was
quite alert and asked him to continue. Is it not a job to find out
when Bhagavan is inattentive?
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Once Sri Bhagavan said, “If you remain quiet you do the
greatest service. One who is abiding in Atma nishtai is always
doing greater service (sishrusha) to the guru, than one who does
some service physically.” Guru is one who shows the way to
Atma nishtai (abidance in the Self ) and the disciple is one who
follows.
“If one wants to commit suicide, even a small implement
or knife is sufficient. For murdering others, bigger ones are
required. Similarly for oneself, one or two words are sufficient
but to convince others, books after books have to be written.”
“This Ashram is a place where people can stay and improve
and not remark or criticise. In the beginning people come here
with the best of intentions to secure the grace of the swami.
After a time, they begin to comment, ‘This is not right, that is
not right’, and engage themselves in some kind of activity and
run after power and position and, as it were, forget for what
they have come here.”
“Always it is safer to use cheap and ordinary items as no
one then cares to cast a greedy eye upon them.”
“One who does the work without the feeling of doer-ship
escapes misery and unhappiness; work then becomes more a
pleasure and not exacting.”
— Sri Bhagavan
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OUR NATURAL STATE
A ‘Pilgrim’
The author of this article is unknown but the incident
must have taken place some time after 1946 when the answer
to D.S. Sarma’s question was first printed. The quotation
was first printed in Vedanta Kesari in January 1947 (Vol.
33, No. 9, P. 327)
I WAS ON MY long cherished pilgrimage to Bhagavan Sri
Ramana. On the train I was chewing the cud of doubt. In
the December and January issues of the Vedanta Kesari, I had
read the answer Maharshi gave to the question put to him by
Prof. D.S. Sarma as to whether there was a sadhana period in
the life of Sri Bhagavan previous to his enlightenment. Sri Dilip
Kumar Roy had put the answer in a poetical garb under the
caption, “My yoga” and Prof. Sarma had given his question
and Maharshi’s answer under the title, ‘Sahajasthithi’. I reproduce
below the answer of Sri Bhagavan,
“I know no such period of sadhana. I never performed
any pranayama or japa. I know no mantras. I had no rules of
meditation or contemplation. 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 think of
anything but to be still. Then we shall be in our natural state.”
70
This indeed was an intriguing situation for me. I had read
in the ‘Life and Teachings of Sri Ramana’ of the severe sadhana
he did in the lonely rooms of the big temple at Tiruvannamalai
and in the caves on the hill. Now here is Bhagavan himself
denying it all! And more than that, how can illumination come
without sadhana? That was something against the word of the
scriptures. However, I consoled myself with the thought that at
the Ashram, I might have the chance of placing my difficulties
before Sri Maharshi himself.
It was one of those beautiful mornings in Tiruvannamalai.
After my daily ablutions and duties I was ready for the darshan
of Bhagavan. As I approached the Maharshi’s room I could feel
the peace that was radiating from his room. I entered the room
and then came my first shock. I expected to see something
glorious, a face surrounded by a halo, etc. I didn’t find any of
these. Has he not said, I was reminded, in his answer that Selfrealisation
does not mean that something would descend upon
us as something glorious? Has he not said, “People seem to think
that by practising some elaborate sadhana the Self would one
day descend upon them as something very big and with
tremendous glory and they would then have what is called
sakshatkaram.”
None of the biographies state that Bhagavan did any
sadhana after coming to Tiruvannamalai. I might have
interpreted Bhagavan’s period of silence and solitude as a period
of sadhana, although it has been clearly stated both by Bhagavan
and the writers who have written about him, that no sadhana
was taking place during this period.
That winning smile that accompanied his greeting me
meant more than Self-realisation. He beckoned to me to sit
down and I sat there for more than two hours not knowing
71
the passage of time. I realised then that silence is more eloquent
than words. I dared not break the silence to raise my own petty
doubts.
Later, though, I communicated my wish to place my doubts
before the Maharshi and the consent came by midday.
When we reassembled before Sri Bhagavan at three, I was
given the typescript of the question and answer to read and I
read it aloud. I had framed my question thus:
Question: “You have said here that you know no such
period of sadhana; you never performed japa or chanted any
mantra; you were in your natural state. I have not done any
sadhana worth the name. Can I say that I am in my natural
state? But my natural state is so different from yours. Does that
mean that the natural state of ordinary persons and realised
persons are different?”
Answer: “What you think to be your natural state is your
unnatural state. (And this was my second shock that shook me
from the slumber of my pet notions). With your intellect and
imagination you have constructed the castles of your pet notions
and desires. But do you know who has built up these castles,
who is the culprit, the real owner? The ‘I’ who really owns them
and the ‘I’ of your conception are quite different. Is it necessary
that you put forth some effort to come into the ‘I’ who owns
these, the ‘I’ behind all states?”
“Would you have to walk any distance to walk into the ‘I’
that is always you? This is what I mean by saying that no sadhana
is required for Self-realisation. All that is required is to refrain
from doing anything, by remaining still and being simply what
one really is. You have only to dehypnotise yourself of your
unnatural state. Then you have asked whether there is any
difference between the natural state of ordinary persons and
72
realised persons. What have they realised? They can realise only
what is real in them. What is real in them is real in you also. So
where is the difference?”
“Even then, some may ask”, the Maharshi continued,
reminding me so vividly of those Upanishadic rishis, “where is
the conviction that one’s Self is sakshat all right, that no sadhana
is required at all for Self-realisation? Well, do you need anybody
to come and convince you that you are seated before me and
talking to me? You know for certain that you are seated here
and talking to me.”
“When we read a book, for instance, we read the letters
on the page. But can we say that we are reading only the letters?
Without the page of the book where are the letters. Again we
say that we are seeing the picture projected on a canvas. No
doubt we are seeing the picture, but without the canvas where is
the picture?”
“You can doubt and question everything but how can you
doubt the ‘I’ that questions everything. That ‘I’ is your natural
state. Would you have to labour or do sadhana to come into
this natural state?”
73
A SPIRITUAL TORCH
Paul Brunton
THE WORLD SELDOM recognises a prophet at his true
worth during his own lifetime, but the Maharshi has been
more fortunate. His repute has begun to ripple out and is destined
to go right around the world.
He has made it possible for us to understand what seems
to exist today only as a mere echo of the words of the great
spiritual teachers of former ages; the blessed nirvana of Buddha,
the kingdom of heaven of Jesus, the liberation of Sri Krishna,
and the supreme good of the early philosophers.
The Maharshi enjoys that divine condition and
demonstrates in his own person this unique attainment. While
metaphysicians argue vainly about the reality of our world,
scientists throw wet blankets around the ardours of religionists
and the average man meekly looks on; this serene Sage knows
the eternal reality, experiences the everlasting bliss and expresses
the highest Truth in his teachings. Withal, he
radiates these things to every sensitive person who comes within
his orbit and to every humble and teachable soul entering his
sanctified presence.
His doctrine is as old as the Hill of Arunachala itself, yet,
being self-found as the result of his own overwhelming spiritual
illumination and not as the result of studying other men’s books,
it comes to us as fresh in presentation as the latest words of the
pundits of western science.
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If you can plumb the mind’s depths, he teaches, you will
eventually arrive at a point where both the thinking intellect
and personal self seem to disappear, becoming reabsorbed by
the hidden element out of which they were created. That element
is none other than the absolute Being, the partless Reality, the
one Self underlying, the birth and death of mortal men and
material worlds.
The Maharshi’s practical course of effort for discovering
this reality is extremely simple, so simple, that our modern
over-active minds may turn away unsatisfied and seek
complicated elaborate yoga disciplines and yet it is extremely
subtle. It is as effective for the devotional type of person as for
the intellectual.
Set up a mental current of self-questioning, teaches the
sage, attempt to ferret out what you really are, and to trace the
living being who thinks and feels within your body. Watch your
thoughts in the process and then endeavour to pin them down
to the stillness out of which they arise. If you persist and apply
yourself to frequent meditation on this topic, you will ultimately
track thought to its origin, Self to its lair and consciousness to
its primal partless state.
The personal sense of ‘I’ will collapse and disappear, being
replaced by the impersonal sense of That, the absolute spirit
which breathes life into us all, which not only maintains the
existence of your mind and body but also the minds and bodies
of all creatures.
This technique of Self-enquiry is really more simple than
the ancient systems of yoga, and should therefore be easy to
practise. Because of its subtle nature, however, and of our
numerous tendencies towards excessive mental and material
activity, it becomes difficult. The most effective way of
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overcoming that difficulty which I know and of which the
ancient Upanishads often remind us, is to seek out the society
of the Brahman-knowers, the spiritually illumined, and to sit at
their feet, as the same texts poetically put it.
The Maharshi, in his modesty, will hardly ever refer to this
fact, but those of us who have basked in his spiritual sunshine
have found the way to the spirit made easier. For he continually
broadcasts telepathically the divine atmosphere which has now
become his very nature. In effect, he mysteriously communicates
his spiritual calm to our troubled souls.
This investigator of the soul’s domain has solved stubborn
questions which have puzzled the thinkers amongst men since
reason first evolved. Western scientific psychology is heading
straight for the explanation which he gives of that apparent
mixture of beast and angel called man. The Maharshi’s method
of psychoanalysis is far removed from the queer, muddled
method of Freud, whose materialistic and sexual emphasis caused
him to miss the divine.
The reward which waits for those who practise the
technique advocated by the Maharshi is nothing less than nirvana
itself, at the most, and mental tranquillity at the least. Those
who think that the nirvana of the sage is a kind of never ending
boredom should spend a few months in his society. The
experience will correct their mistake and make good their
ignorance.
When I first travelled around India interviewing her holy
and learned men, I was amused to note how their numerous
theories and explanations contradicted each other. The trouble
was that the dust of so many generations has gathered upon the
sacred texts and scholarly books that the real meaning of these
volumes has been overlaid.
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Scarcely one of those who granted me audience could
speak from personal experience, and most could only quote
the opinions of others. But the Maharshi’s teachings flow out of
his own original teachings, realization of Truth, and to that
extent he stands solitary as the peak of Arunachala itself. He
illustrates perfectly those words of the great yogi, Patanjali, ‘The
seer abides within himself, for he ever dwells within that sacred
centre wherein God speaks to man’.
Even while I write, a grey squirrel hops into the Ashram
hall, plays purposelessly for a while, and then squats contentedly
under the Maharshi’s divan. You are as safe there, brother squirrel,
as on your own sheltering tree, for the sage’s attitude towards
you is no different from your Creator’s. There is nothing but
love in his heart towards all creatures and even if, perchance
you were to bite him, he would not hit you in return.
Since that day when I first found him, absorbed in the
mysterious trance of samadhi, I have travelled in many lands
but always my thoughts turned towards Tiruvannamalai as the
Muhammedan turns his face during prayer towards Mecca. I
knew that somewhere in the wilderness of this world there was
a sacred place for me. Since that day, it has become a sacred
place for many others who have never left Europe and America.
For at the sage’s feet, I picked up a spiritual torch and carried it
to waiting souls in the lands of the west. They welcomed the
light with eagerness. There should be no virtue to be accredited
to me for that, for whatsoever benefit has accrued to Western
seekers comes from the torch which was lit by the Maharshi
himself. I was only the unimportant “link boy”, the humble
carrier. And now that I have returned to the ever luring Hill of
the Holy Beacon, I pray the gods of destiny that they may keep
the captive here for many years.
(Continued ...)
and also gratitude to Bhagavan’s great devotees for the collection)
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