29. August 1896

[Guest guest]

It was about 6 weeks after Sri Ramana's enlightenment that he left home on

29th August 1896.

He was sitting upstairs. As he had failed to study English Grammar properly,

he had been given an imposition to copy a lesson from Bain's Grammar three times. He

had already copied it twice and was writing the third copy, when his soul suddenly revolted

against the sad mechanic exercise.

He bundled up Bain and his papers, cast them aside, and sat up bolt upright for his

congenial meditation, with eyes closed. His brother was watching him and then said:

"Why should one, who behaves thus, retain all this?" (in the meaning of: why should

one who is always in meditation and neclecting his domestical and social duties

stay at home and go on with his studies?)

It was not for the first time he said something like this to his younger brother.

But this time the shot went home.

Ramana thought: "Yes, what my brother says is quite true. What business have I

here any longer?" And then the thought of Arunachala came to him immediately and

it was clear that he would go there. He felt the call of Arunachala inside.

He told his brother that he should go to school at twelve noon to attend a special

class on electricity. His brother said: "Well then, do not fail to take five rupees

from the box below, and to pay my college fees in the College near your school."

Ramana went down, eat something, received the five rupees from his uncle's wife and

had a look on an atlas, which was in the house, to find out where to go by train.

The atlas noted the next station to Tiruvannamalai being Tindivanam, but there was

already a new station at Tiruvannamalai which was not yet noted in the atlas. He

thought 3 rupees would be sufficient for the journey.

Later Ramana said about this lie: "I had to tell only one lie and that was when I came

here." (Nagamma: Letters, 8th March, 1949)

To nobody he said anything as they would not have let him go, so this lie was

demanded by the situation and could not have been avoided.

Later on Ranga Aiyar, a schoolfriend of Ramana, asked him: "Why did you not tell

at least me that you were leaving home?"

Ramana replied: "How could I? I myself did not know." (Osborne, Ramana Maharshi

and the Path of Self-Knowledge)

He left a parting note:

"I have, in search of my Father and in obedience to his command,

started from here. This is only embarking on a virtuous enterprise.

Therefore none need grieve over this affair. To trace this out, no money

need be spent.

Your College fee has not yet been paid. Rupees two are enclosed herewith.

Thus,

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>From the I in the first sentence he changed to the unpersonal "this". The I has left him completely

and there is no signature to this letter.

So it was about twelfe noon when he left his home in Madurai and walked to the station

which was a mile off. The departure time of the train to Tindivanam was already over,

but the train was also late and arrived soon after Ramana. Ramana bought a ticket to Tindivanam.

When sitting in the train he was absorbed in Samadhi.

There was a Moulavi (a muslem scholar) in his cariage and asked him where he

was travalling. Ramana answered: "To Tiruvannamalai". In this talk it turned out that Ramana

has bought the wrong ticket as he also could have travelled directly to Tiruvannamalai.

Again he sank back in Samadhi.

When the train reached Tiruchiappalli Junction at sunset Ramana became hungry and bought

two country pears. One of them he ate but after he had eaten some bites the hunger had already

disappeared.

At 3 a.m. he reached Villupuram and alighted.

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according to Narasimha Swami: Self Realization

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to be continued

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