RAMANA GITA STUDY GROUP -THE DHYANA SLOKA

[Guest guest]

In the final part of Kapali Shastri's Diary he told how the Dhyana Sloka came

about at Ramana's

suggestion in the Ramana Gita.A further note is appended for members .Alan

 

The famous Dhyana Sloka, by Ganapati Muni, said to invoke Bhagavan's Presence

(*)

 

 

In showering grace he is like the moon,

the friend of the blue lily.

In the same way,

in lustre he is like the sun,

the lord of the lotus;

by his abidance in Brahman

he reminds one of his Father**

under the banyan tree;

firm like a rock is this my younger brother.

Him, the moveless one we lovingly remember.

 

**Lord Shiva as Dakshinamurti.The Muni saw himself as Ganapati and Ramana as

Skanda therefore as

brothers.When they first met they became firm friends,like actual brothers,

roaming the hill

together and going swimming .The Muni had a man to man relationship with Ramana

on the human level

,but of course he also regarded him as his Sad-Guru on another level.Bhagavan

nicknmed him Nayana

which is a term of endearment and means 'father' in Telagu.Of couse it was the

Muni who named the

young Brahmanaswamy as Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi.

 

 

* THE DHYANA SLOKA: "The Tantra Shastra has devised a method of invocation,

more powerful than

an ordinary human memory or the most moving pictorial record.

 

The gods and goddesses are posited in the Supernal Ether, and they take names

and forms to

operate in this world constituted of name and form.

 

Each deity ... responds just like a person when called by name.

 

Each deity has its own nada, lines of vibration in the high supernals.

 

The Rishi, the seer when he meditates on the deity, comes into contact with

those particular

lines of vibration, and is able to formulate in human language, the name, the

form and

characteristics.

 

Such a formulation is what is usually known as Dhyana Sloka, an articulated

piece in the form

of verse for meditation on the deity.

 

The Dhyana Sloka is the voice of the seer, who has recorded in words that line

the living

experience.

 

When uttered under proper conditions it becomes a vibrant vehicle through

which the Presence of

the Deity is sensed immediately.

 

"For invoking the presence of the Maharshi we have fortunately a Dhyana

Sloka bequeathed to

us by the great Ganapati Muni.

 

This verse with slight amendment was quoted as "Sri Ramana Dhyanan" by Sri

Kapali Sastriar in

his Sanskrit commentary.

 

To quote from his Dedication of Ramana Gita Prakasha: 'When I came to this

verse, the Maharshi

(who had been silent so far) made a remark. Speaking for five to ten minutes he

stated, quoting

approvingly the opinion of another 'that the verse is quite fit to be the

Dhyana Sloka of the

whole Gita.' ... There are two elements in the verse which I may note in

passing: one is the

blooming of the eyes [like sun and moon]. The other is the Silence by which

Shiva as

Dakshinamurti teaches his disciples.

 

'(Sankaranarayanan "Bhagavan and Nayana" : Kapali Shastry "The Maharshi")

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=====

alan

 

 

 

 

 

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