The Ramana magic - Tribute

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mid-july that year, a sudden, indefinable fear of death gripped him, when he was

alone in the house at Madurai. Turning introspective, and dramatising the

experience of death, he addressed himself mentally, "Now death has come. What

does it mean? What is it that is dying? The body dies. It will be carried to

the burning ground and reduced to ashes. But with the death of the body, am 'I'

dead? Is the body 'I'? This body is silent and inert. But I feel the full force

of my personality and even hear the sound 'I' withinmyself, apart from the

body. So 'I' am the Spirit, transcending the body." Recalling this experience

later, he said, "All this was not a mere intellectual process. It flashed

before me as a living truth." Those who were with Bhagavan Ramana in his last

moments marvelled at his detachment from his body and his indifferance to

physical pain. He looked weak, but his luminous face and lustrous eyes

reflected

the resplendent Self within. In spite of the surgery, he insisted that his

devotees shold not be deprived of his darshan. On the morning of April 14,

1950, he graciously acknowledged the long years of service rendered by his

attendants. "The English have a word, 'thanks', but we only say santhosham ( I

am pleased )," records Arthur Osborne. On the evening of April 14,1950, his

breath started gradually subsiding. He asked the devotees attending on him to

raise him to a sitting posture. Seeing that the oxygen administered gave him no

relief, he asked that it should be stopped. It was a tense moment. Devotees,

waiting in a pensive mood for the solemn last moment started chanting

'Aksharamanamalai' composed by Bhagawan. A few tears of bliss trickled down his

cheeks and his breath stopped at 8.47. Spiritual wisdom Those who had the good

fortune of seeing Bhagawan

Ramana Maharshi in body drank of the abundant, measureless, ambrosial flow of

bliss and peace in his silent, radiant presence. The flood-gates of spiritual

wisdom opened. "The atmosphere round him was tender, beautiful, gentle and

loving. He had found the inner bliss and its radiation seemed palpable. He

sought to restore one to oneself, to set one free, not to enslave one" (Paul

Brunton, In Search of Secret India). This experiance of "the serene, blessed

mood" was not limited to the devotees who flocked to him in his life-time. It

is enjoyed even now (more than fifty years after his mahasamadhi) by devotees

all over the world, who sit before his picture, and sense his presence by

fixing their gaze on his beatific, piercing eyes. The Ramana magic still works.

Mental debris is swept away, and they bask in the spiritual sunshine of his

invisible, but 'felt' presence. [ The above article was written by

Sri.S.Jagadisan and published in 'The Hindu' April

14, 2006 ].

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