New on David Godman's site: Sri Ramana Paravidyopanishad

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New on David Godman's Site:

 

Sri Ramana Paravidyopanishad:

http://www.davidgodman.org/rteach/rpv_intro.shtml

In the late 1920s Lakshman Sarma had the rare privilege of having private lessons from Bhagavan. Their subject was the philosophy and practical teachings expounded by Bhagavan in Ulladu Narpadu. Lakshman Sarma subsequently summarised the essence of these lessons in two works: his Tamil commentary on Ulladu Narpadu and Revelation, his expanded Sanskrit rendering of the original Ulladu Narpadu verses. In the 1930s Bhagavan remarked that Lakshman Sarma’s commentary on Ulladu Narpadu was the best available on that work. In the late 1930s Lakshman Sarma put many of these ideas and explanations into Maha Yoga, his English presentation of Bhagavan’s teachings.

In the 1950s Lakshman Sarma made a further attempt to explain and summarise Bhagavan’s teachings. He composed a Sanskrit work of over 700 verses, entitling it Sri Ramana Paravidyopanishad. This work was serialised in The Call Divine, a Bombay magazine that regularly featured articles by Bhagavan’s devotees. The material was never published in book form, although I have been told that Lakshman Sarma’s family are now looking into the possibility of publishing the whole work. I should like to thank Lakshman Sarma’s grandson, Vijay Sarma, for permission to post this version of the work here on this site.

The text I am giving here is an edited version of the English text that appeared in the 1950s serialisation. I have omitted the Sanskrit and revised the remaining English translation by Lakshman Sarma since his English style in this work style was at times very eccentric. The square brackets in the translations of the verses were mostly put there by Lakshman Sarma in order to expand and clarify the original Sanskrit, which was occasionally terse and sutra-like. The intervening comments, which feature in coloured italics, are his own comments and explanations. My own comments appear in the footnotes.The subtitle that Lakshman Sarma gave this work – ‘The Supreme Science of the Self as Taught by Sri Ramana’ – is a slightly expanded version of the main title.

 

 

 

 

1.

Sri Ramana Paravidyopanishad 1-321 (Verses 1-321)

 

2.

Sri Ramana Paravidyopanishad 322-701 (Verses 322-701)