How the Mantra came to me

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How The Mantra Came To Me

by T. K. Sundaresa Iyer

 

The mantra Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya fascinated me greatly in my

early days. It so delighted me that I was constantly thinking of Lord

Vasudeva. I had a premonition that this body would pass away in its

fortieth year, and I wanted to have darsan of the Lord before that

time.

I fasted and practised devotion to Lord Vasudeva incessantly; I read

the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam with great delight. Then when

I read in the Gita that "Jnani tu atmaiva me matam" (In My view, the

Jnani is My own Self) it went straight to my heart and the thought

came to me, 'While I have at hand Bhagavan Sri Ramana, who is Himself

Vasudeva, why should I worship Vasudeva separately?'

Be it noted that all this was in my early days before settling down

with Sri Bhagavan at His Ashram.

So I wanted one single mantra, a single deity (devata), and a single

scripture, so that there might be no conflict of loyalties.

Sri Ramana Paramatman became easily the God to worship, His Collected

Works the gospel; as for the mantra, it struck me intuitively that Om

Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya (Obeisance to Bhagavan Sri Ramana) might

be an exact parallel to Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.

I counted the letters in this new mantra, and was very happy to find

it also contained twelve letters (in Sanskrit); I told all this to

Sri Bhagavan, and He gave the mantra His approval.

Advanced practicers (sadhakas) may laugh at this and say: "Why do you

need a mantra while the Ocean of Bliss is there for one to be

immersed in directly?"

I confess that in this I was trying to conform to the traditional

method of practice (upasana), which forms one of the main elements in

bhakti (devotion).

Sri Bhagavan has revealed His true nature as the All-Witness; yet

there is the explicit injunction that Advaita must be only in the

attitude and never be interpreted in outer action.

"Retain at heart always the sense of non-duality but never express it

in action. My son, the sense of non-duality may apply to the three

worlds but it is not to be used towards the Guru."

-Forty Verses on Reality, Supplement

This is how the mantra Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya came to me!

 

--Mountain Path, July 1973

 

THE MAHARSHI

March / April 2005Vol. 15 - No. 2

44.25pt" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="">

Produced & Edited byDennis HartelDr. Anil K. Sharma

 

 

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