Fw: [RamanaMaharshi] AS I SAW HIM-4 , by Swami Viswanatha

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Friday, September 14, 2001 4:09 AM

[RamanaMaharshi] AS I SAW HIM-4 , by Swami Viswanatha

***AS I SAW HIM -4***by swami Viswanathafrom :

http://www.sentient.org/newslet.htm MY FIRST darshan of

Bhagavan Sri Ramana was in January, 1921 atSkandashrama,

which is on the eastern slope ofArunachala and looks

like the very heart of the majestic hill. It is abeautiful quiet spot

with a few coconut and other trees and a perennialcrystal-clear

spring. Bhagavan was there as the very core of such naturalbeauty. I

saw in him something quite arresting which clearly distinguished him

fromall others I had seen. He seemed to live apart from the physical

frame,quite detached from it. His look and smile had remarkable

spiritual charm.When he spoke, the words seemed to come out of an

abyss. One could seeimmaculate purity and non-attachment in him and

his movements. I sensedsomething very refined, lofty and sacred about

him. In his vicinity themind's distractions were overpowered by an

austere and potent calmness andthe unique bliss of peace was directly

experienced. This I would callRamana lahari, 'the blissful atmosphere

of Ramana.' In this ecstasy ofgrace one loses one's sense of separate

individuality and there remainssomething grand and all-pervading,

all-devouring. This indeed is the spiritof Arunachala which swallows

up the whole universe by its graciouseffulgence. There were about ten

devotees living with him there, including his motherand younger

brother. One of them was Vallimalai Murugar, who for a whileevery

morning sang the Tamil songs of the Tirupugazh with great

fervour.These well-known songs, the remarkable outpourings of the

famous devotee,Sri Arunagirinatha, are songs in praise of

Subrahmanya. When he sang,Bhagavan used to keep time (tala) by

tapping with two small sticks on thetwo rings of an iron brazier of

live coal kept in front of him. Fumes ofincense spread out in rolls

from the brazier, suffused with the subtle holyatmosphere of

Bhagavan. While Bhagavan's hands were tapping at the brazierthus, his

unfathomable look of grace gave one a glimpse of the Beyond insilence.

It was an unforgettable experience. There was also a devotee from

Chidambaram, Subrahmanya Iyer, who often sangwith great fervour

Tiruvachagam, hymns in praise of Arunachala by Bhagavan,and songs in

praise of Bhagavan also. One morning when he began a song withthe

refrain, "Ramana Satguru, Ramana Satguru, Ramana Satguru

Rayane,"Bhagavan also joined in the singing. The devotee got amused

and began tolaugh at Bhagavan himself singing his own praise. He

expressed hisamusement and Bhagavan replied, "What is extraordinary

about it? Why shouldone limit Ramana to a form of six feet? Is it

not the all-pervadingDivinity that you adore when you sing 'Ramana

Satguru, Ramana Satguru'? Why should I not also join in the

singing?" We all felt lifted toBhagavan's standpoint. The inmates of

the Ashrama used to get up at dawn and sing some devotionalsongs in

praise of Arunachala and Bhagavan Ramana before beginning theirday's

work. Niranjanananda Swami told Bhagavan that I could recite hymns

inSanskrit, and Bhagavan looked at me expectantly. Seeing that it

wasimpossible to avoid it, I recited a few verses in Sanskrit. When I

hadfinished, Bhagavan gently looked at me and said, "You have learned

allthis. Not so, my case. I knew nothing, had learned nothing before

I camehere. Some mysterious power took possession of me and effected

a thoroughtransformation. Whoever knew then what was happening to me?

Your father,who was intending in his boyhood to go to the Himalayas

for tapas, hasbecome the head of a big family. And I, who knew

nothing and plannednothing, have been drawn and kept down here for

good! When I left home (inmy seventeenth year), I was like a speck

swept on by a tremendous flood. Iknew not my body or the world,

whether it was day or night. It wasdifficult even to open my eyes-the

eyelids seemed to be glued down. My bodybecame a mere skeleton.

Visitors pitied my plight as they were not awarehow blissful I was.

It was after years that I came across the term'Brahman' when I

happened to look into some books on Vedanta brought tome. Amused, I

said to myself, 'Is this known as Brahman!' " One of theearliest

devotees, Sivaprakasam Pillai, has referred to this at thebeginning

of his brief biography of Bhagavan in Tamil verse (known as SriRamana

Charita Ahaval) as, "One who became a knower of Brahman

withoutknowing even the term 'Brahman '." Sivaprakasam Pillai used to

sit in acorner in Bhagavan's presence, as the very embodiment of

humility. Finding that I knew a bit of Sanskrit, Bhagavan asked me to

take down acopy of Ramana Gita and give it to my father. I did so,

and it was onlyafter going through it that my father understood

Bhagavan. Yet I myself hadnot studied its contents. It was at the end

of 1922 that I happened to gothrough the thrilling verses in praise of

Bhagavan Ramana and, profoundlymoved, I made up my mind to return to

Bhagavan for good. Thus, Sri RamanaGita served to give direction to

me in a critical period of my life when Iwas thinking of dedicating

myself solely to the spiritual pursuit. As it was impossible to get

the permission of my father, I left homeunknown to any and reached

Tiruvannamalai on the evening of the 2nd ofJanuary, 1923. Hearing

that Bhagavan had left Skandashrama and was thenliving in a cottage

adjoining his mother's samadhi on the southern side ofArunachala, I

made my way straight to it, after meditating for a while atsunset

time. Proceeding round the Hill, I reached the cottage whereBhagavan

was then living. Entering it, I saw Bhagavan reclining peacefullyon

an elevated dais. As I bowed and stood before him, he asked me, "Did

youtake the permission of your parents to come over here?" I was

caught, andI replied that he need not ask me about it since he had

himselfirresistibly attracted me to his feet. With a smile, Bhagavan

advised me toinform my parents of my whereabouts so that they might

be somewhat freefrom anxiety. I wrote to my father the next day and

saw his letter to theAshrama inquiring about me the day after. There

was a gathering of devotees there and I came to know that it was

forthe forty-third birthday celebration of Bhagavan the next day. So

I learnedthat I had come to Bhagavan on the evening of the famous

Arudra Darshanam day. Early next morning there was a gathering of

devotees-they were sittingbefore Bhagavan. But my attention was

particularly gripped by a radiantpersonality amidst the gathering. He

was, I came to know, KavyakanthaGanapati Sastri. At once I saw that he

was not merely a sastri, a learnedman, but a poet and a tapaswin. His

broad forehead, bright eyes, aquilinenose, charming face and beard,

and the melodious ring in his voice-allthese proclaimed that he was a

rishi to be ranked with the foremost of theVedic Seers. There was

authority, dignity and sweetness in his talk, andhis eyes sparkled as

he spoke. He recited the following verse (sloka) inpraise of Bhagavan,

which he had just then composed, and explained itsimport: It is

effulgent Devi Uma sparkling in your eyes dispelling the ignorance

ofdevotees; / It is Lakshmi Devi, the consort of lotus-eyed Vishnu,

alive inyour lotus face; / It is Para Vak Saraswati, the consort of

Brahma, dancingin your talk. / Great Seer, Ramana, the Teacher of the

whole world, / Howcan mortal man praise you adequately ? Those who

have come in contact with Ganapati Muni would find this

versewell-suited to describe him as well. After the devotees who had

gathered for the birthday celebration ofBhagavan left the Ashrama, I

approached him with my problem: "How am I torise above my present

animal existence? My own efforts in that directionhave proved futile

and I am convinced that it is only a superior might thatcould

transform me. And that is what has brought me here." Bhagavan

repliedwith great compassion, "Yes, you are right. It is only on the

awakening ofa power mightier than the senses and the mind that these

can be subdued. Ifyou awaken and nurture the growth of that power

within you, everything elsewill be conquered. One should sustain the

current of meditationuninterrupted. Moderation in food and similar

restraints will be helpful inmaintaining the inner poise." It was

this grace of Bhag-avan that gave astart to my spiritual career. A

new faith was kindled within me and I foundin Bhagavan the strength

and support to guide me forever. Another day, questioned about the

problem of brahmacharya, Bhagavanreplied, "To live and move in

Brahman is real brahmacharya; continence, ofcourse, is very helpful

and indispensable to achieve that end. But so longas you identify

yourself with the body, you could never escape sex-thoughtand

distraction. It is only when you realise that you are formless

PureAwareness that sex-distinction disappears for good and that

isbrahmacharya, effortless and spontaneous."A week after I arrived, I

got the permission of Bhagavan to live onmadhukari, i.e., begged food.

In that context, Bhagavan spoke as follows:"I have experience of it; I

lived on such food during my stay atPavalakkundru to avoid devotees

bringing for me special rich food. It isaltogether different from

professional mendicancy. Here you feel yourselfindependent and

indifferent to everything worldly. It has a purifyingeffect on the

mind." Four months after my arrival at Arunachala, my parents came

there to havedarshan of Bhagavan and take me back home. Though they

did not succeed inthis latter intention, they were somehow consoled

by Bhagavan before theyreturned. He told them, "If it were possible

to wean one from a course onehad taken with all one's heart and soul,

parents might, as a matter ofduty, try it if it was a wrong course

that one had taken; the problem didnot arise, if the course taken was

intrinsically good." My father was a cousin of Bhagavan four or five

years older than he andknew him very well as Venkataraman before he

left home for Tiruvannamalai.Though he had heard from others about

Bhagavan's spiritual greatness andhad also gone through his teaching

in Sri Ramana Gita and verses in praiseof him by his scholar-poet

disciple, Ganapati Muni, he was not sure whathis reaction would be on

seeing Bhagavan. He decided to go to him with anopen mind and see for

himself what he was. But the moment he sighted him inthe stone

mantapa (on the other side of the Ashrama), he was overpowered bya

sense of genuine veneration, fell at his feet in adoration and

said,"There is nothing of the Venkataraman whom I knew very well in

what I seein front of me!" And Bhagavan replied with a smile, "It is

long since thatfellow disappeared once for all!" My father then

explained that he did not visit him so long because he hadnot enough

of dispassion and non-attachment to approach him. Bhagavanreplied,

"Is that so? You seem to be obsessed by the delusion that you

aregoing to achieve it in some distant future. But, if you recognise

your realnature, the Self, to what is it attached? Dispassion is our

very nature." As the Ashrama cottage was being repaired, Bhagavan

stayed in the hugestone mantapa on the other side of the road during

day time and devoteeshad darshan of him there. Bhagavan used to dine

with others under theshade of a huge mango tree within the Ashrama

premises. The cool, clearwater of the Ashrama well was kept in big

pots at the foot of the tree. Weenjoyed the shade of the tree and the

grace of Bhagavan which, like a coolbreeze, blew off man's torments.As

advised by Bhagavan, I engaged myself in non-stop japa, day and

night,except during hours of sleep. And I studied Sri Ramana Gita in

theimmediate presence of Bhagavan, drinking in the import of every

sloka init. Bhagavan explained to me his own Hymn in Praise of

Arunachala. Evenduring his morning and evening walks I used to follow

him, hearing hisexplanations of his inspired words. Early one morning

there was none elsenear Bhagavan and he suggested that we both might

go round Arunachala andreturn before others could notice his absence

and begin to search for him.He took me by the forest-path and

suggested that Sankara's Hymn in Praiseof Dakshinamurti might be

taken up for discussion on the way. And withinthree hours we reached

Pandava Thirtham on the slopes of Arunachala, alittle to the east of

the Ashrama, where he used to bathe on a few formeroccasions. I shall

not pretend that I understood everything that Bhagavan said

inexplaining the import of the hymn, but there was the spiritual

exhilarationof his company in solitude and that was enough for me.

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