Guest guest Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 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 Produced & Edited byDennis HartelDr. Anil K. Sharma Start your day with - make it your home page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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