Swami Rama Tirtha - Modern Day Sankara

[Guest guest]

Pranaam,

 

Last week this city (Mumbai) celebrated the 60th birthday of a Hindi

film actor of yesteryears. Every newspaper in Mumbai, probably all

over India, carried articles and messages congratulating him on

completing 60 years. Without meaning to belittle this actor, if only

one pauses to wonder what has been his "real" contribution to

the country as a whole in its development and progress, one does not

find any ready answers.

 

But friends there have been innumerable masters in the past in this

great country who are not even faintly remembered. Their contribution

has been immense and immeasurable by any yardstick. The country owes

a perennial debt to these masters. Yet do we even pause for a moment

to so much as even think about them, leave alone trying to emulate

their teachings?? One such master was the great son of India, Swami

Rama Tirtha, an Advaitin par excellence, a modern day Sankara. Many

referred to him as a reincarnation of Bhagwan Sankaracharya.

(Incidentally, Rama Tirtha was a contemporary of Vivekananda, another

great master)

 

Today, 17th October, is the 96 aradhana day (death anniversary) of

the great saint of India, Swami Rama Tirtha. It was on this day in

the year 1906 that Rama Tirtha gave up his mortal body and merged

with the Supreme Self, as it were.

 

Rama Tirtha was as great a poet as a philosopher and thinker and

patriot. Some of his followers published his "complete works"

titled "In Woods of God Realisation" (9 vols.-available at

Chetana bookshop, Mumbai and elsewhere). Each of the volumes is a gem

in itself and has some of the most inspiring lectures, talks and

poems of Swami Rama Tirtha.

 

There are innumerable verses composed by him, mainly in Urdu and I am

reproducing below a couple of beautiful poems penned by him. Each

verse has a deep and significant meaning. Hope you enjoy and benefit

from these.

 

Trust, trust the Self Supreme.

The restlessness of Soul is due

To faith in things that seem—

The things that fleet as fog or dew.

The way to keep you fresh and new,

To every secret treasure clue,

Is to assert the real Self

And to deny deluding pelf.

There is no duty to be done

For you, O Everything, O One!

Why chafe and worry o'er the work,

Feel, free the Truth, anxiety shirk.

Believe not when people say,

"Oh, what a fine game you play!"

Believe not, never, in their praise,

No ne'er can acts degrade or raise.

I never did a personal deed,

Impersonal Lord I am indeed.

 

In vain the raving critics fought;

The dupes of senses know me not.

I am for each and all the home,

I am the OM! the OM! the OM!

 

O happy, happy, happy Rama!

Serene and peaceful, tranquil, calm.

My joy can nothing, nothing mar,

My course can nothing, nothing bar.

My livery wear gods, men and birds.

My bliss supreme transcendeth words.

Here, there, and everywhere;

There, where no more a "Where?"

Now, ever, anon and then;

Then, when's no more a "When?"

This, that and which and what;

That, that's above "What?"

First, last and mid and high

The One beyond a "Why?"

One, five and hundred, All,

Transcending number, one and all.

The subject, object, knowledge, sight;

E'en that description is not right.

Was, is, and e'er shall be,

Confounder of the verb "to be."

The sweetest Self, the truest Me.

No Me, no Thee, no He.

The Infinite is that, the Infinite this;

And on and on, unchanged is Infinite.

Goes out the Infinite from the Infinite

And there remains unchanged the Infinite.

The outward loss betrays the Infinite,

The seeming gain displays the Infinite,

The going, coming, substracting, adding

Are seeming mode and truth the Infinite.

O, what a charm marvellous spreads,

Over every hill and dale,

Wond'rous blue and green my beds

Charming every red and pale.

Glorious, glorious light it sheds

Over every storm and hail,

Beauteous, beauteous one and all,

Heavenly, heavenly blessd call.

Om! Om!! Om!!!

 

 

Rama was a great nationalist and patriot and had a vision for the

future of this country. He wanted to work for the upliftment of the

youth and once remarked that within 10 years he would be in a

position to solve all the problems facing India and help regain her

past glory.

 

Look at the following :

 

Rama's Clarion Call

Wanted —Reformers.

Not of others

but of themselves,

Who have won

Not university distinctions,

But victory over the local self.

 

Age —The youth of Divine joy.

 

Salary —Godhead.

 

Apply Sharp—With no begging solicitation but commanding

decision to the Director of the Universe, Your own Self.

 

Om! Om! Om!

 

 

Unfortunately for this country Rama did not live to serve and left

the scene prematurely. The purpose of this posting is to highlight in

my own small way, the tremendous contribution of Swami Rama Tirtha to

the upliftment of Advaita from the low depths to which it was

reduced. Sadly not many remeber Rama Tirtha's contribution because he

was never in favour of starting Institutions and publishing his

works. I have personally benefited greatly from his teachings and

this is my tribute to him.

 

For further readings of some of Rama Tirtha's works online please

visit : http://www.ramatirtha.org Let us pay our homage to this

great visionary, saint, patriot by imbibing some of his teachings in

our daily lives.

 

(Sorry for the long posting)

 

Hari OM

 

Kamal

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

Kamalji, you don't have to be sorry for the long post. You have done

us a service.

 

By the way, I have heard of a vedantin beedi-maker somewhere in

Prartanana Samaj, Mumbai, who imparts the advaitic vision to

listeners in a matter of about ten minutes as he rolls his beedies.

Are you aware of him and is he still there? I am a Mumbaikar of the

early seventies and hadn't heard of him in my Mumbai days.

 

Kamalji, there are so many unsung vedAntins in Mumbai and elsewhere

in India. They are not easily discernible because they are simply

ordinary and obvious. I am happy that you called our attention to

Swami Ram Tirtha and also profusely quoted his enlightening verses.

 

Thank you very much.

 

Pranams.

 

Madathil Nair

 

advaitin, "Kamal Kothari" <kamal_kothari_india>

wrote:

 

(Sorry for the long posting)

[Guest guest]

Namaste

 

Kamalji, you did the right thing to draw our attention to Sri

Rama Tirtha on the 96th anniversary day of his samadhi. In

Tamilandu I had come across some book in Tamil on Rama Tirtha,

but I can't place it now. It is by remembering these great

saints of the past who flourished in the land of Bharat that we

refresh ourselves on the spiritual path. Thank you.

praNAms to all advaitins

profvk

 

=====

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

My website on Science and Spirituality is http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and

Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site.

 

 

 

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http://faith.

[Guest guest]

Pranaam Sri Nair and ProfVK,

 

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. Swami Rama Tirtha is

a lesser known, sometimes even 'unknown', hero of Vedanta. As I

mentioned in my post, he was absolutely against setting up

any 'ashramas' or institutions for preaching his teachings. As a

matter of fact when his disciples in USA, during his long tour of

that country, presented to him all the exhaustive notes of his

various lectures, he just threw them all into the sea during his

return journey! "Hare Ganga", he said and tossed out a goldmine into

the ocean! It was only many years later that many of his disciples

painstakingly 're-gathered' all his lectures from notes of some

devotees who had preserved them in USA. He believed that he was

preaching universal truths that did not need to compiled in books

with his name as the "author"! Selfless Master!

 

I urge all list members to read his works (partly put up on the web,

project under implementation) "In Woods of God Realisation". He

always began his lectures by addressing all assembled as "My own Self

in the form of you all"! Brilliant.

 

Whenever I read any portion of his works, it always seems to me that

if Sankara were to lecture in English, maybe this is exactly how he

would have put it!

 

Thank you again and with best regards, if I may say,

 

"in the service of Swami Rama Tirtha"

 

Kamal

[Guest guest]

Namaste Shri Nair-ji,

>

> By the way, I have heard of a vedantin beedi-maker somewhere in

> Prartanana Samaj, Mumbai, who imparts the advaitic vision to

> listeners in a matter of about ten minutes as he rolls his

beedies.

> Are you aware of him and is he still there?

 

Shri Nisargadatta is the person you are looking for. I had made

reference to Him in this post

advaitin/message/13115

 

His remarkable story proves just as it did in the case of Sri

Ramakrishna that you don't have to be (and don't want to be) a big

Vedantic Scholar to progress spiritually!.

 

It is a reminder that systematic Sadhana is the most important

aspect of spiritual evelution and not scholarliness..

 

regards

Sundar Rajan

[Guest guest]

Namaste and thanks Shri Sundar Rajan-Ji.

 

I am afraid it is someone other than Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj I was

referring to. Although Maharaj was also known as Beedi-Saint as he

kept his smoking habit, he doesn't fit the description of the one at

Prarthana Samaj. It was Prof. Naimpilli (former Professor of

Mathematics at IIT, Powai) who mentioned to me about this unknown and

unsung yogi some time in 1986-87. However, I could neither locate

him nor obtain any further information.

 

Thank you once again for your response and kind thoughts.

 

Best regards.

 

Madathil Nair

 

___________________

 

advaitin, "Sundar Rajan" <avsundarrajan> wrote:

> Shri Nisargadatta is the person you are looking for. I had made

> reference to Him in this post

> advaitin/message/13115

>

> His remarkable story proves just as it did in the case of Sri

> Ramakrishna that you don't have to be (and don't want to be) a big

> Vedantic Scholar to progress spiritually!.

>

> It is a reminder that systematic Sadhana is the most important

> aspect of spiritual evelution and not scholarliness..