Viswanatha Swami (1)

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REMINISCENCES-I

 

Viswanatha Swami

 

I

 

AT THE FEET OF BHAGAVAN RAMANA

 

My first darshan of Bhagavan Sri Ramana was in January,

1921 at Skandashram, which is on the eastern slope of

Arunachala and looks like the very heart of the majestic Hill. It

is a beautiful quiet spot with a few coconut and other trees and

a perennial crystal-clear spring. Bhagavan was there as the very

core of such natural beauty.

 

I saw in him something quite arresting which clearly

distinguished him from all others I had seen. He seemed to live

apart from the physical frame, quite detached from it. His look

and smile had remarkable spiritual charm. When he spoke, the

words seemed to come out of an abyss. One could see

immaculate purity and non-attachment in him and his

movements. I sensed something very refined, lofty and sacred

about him. In his vicinity the mind’s distractions were

overpowered by an austere and potent calmness and the unique

bliss of peace was directly experienced. This I would call Ramana

Lahari, ‘the blissful atmosphere of Ramana’. In this ecstasy of

grace one loses one’s sense of separate individuality and there

remains something grand and all-pervading, all-devouring. This

indeed is the spirit of Arunachala which swallows up the whole

universe by its gracious effulgence.

 

There were about ten devotees living with him there,

including his mother and younger brother. One of them was

Vallimalai Murugar, who for a while every morning sang the

Tamil songs of the Tirupugazh with great fervour. These

well-known songs, the remarkable outpourings of the famous

devotee, Sri Arunagirinathar, are songs in praise of

Subrahmanya. When he sang, Bhagavan used to keep time

(tala) by tapping with two small sticks on the two rings of an

iron brazier of live coal kept in front of him. Fumes of incense

spread out in rolls from the brazier, suffused with the subtle

holy atmosphere of Bhagavan. While Bhagavan’s hands were

tapping at the brazier thus, his unfathomable look of grace

gave one a glimpse of the ‘beyond’ in silence. It was an

unforgettable experience.

 

There was also a devotee from Chidambaram,

Subrahmanya Iyer, who often sang with great fervour

Tiruvachakam, hymns in praise of Arunachala by Bhagavan,

and songs in praise of Bhagavan also. One morning when he

began a song with the refrain “Ramana Sadguru, Ramana

Sadguru, Ramana Sadguru Rayane,” Bhagavan also joined in

the singing. The devotee was amused and began to laugh at

Bhagavan himself singing his own praise. He expressed his

amusement, and Bhagavan replied, “What is extraordinary about

it? Why should one limit Ramana to a form of six feet? Is it not

the all-pervading Divinity that you adore when you sing

‘Ramana Sadguru, Ramana Sadguru’? Why should I not also

join in the singing?’’ We all felt lifted to Bhagavan’s standpoint.

The inmates of the Ashram used to get up at dawn and

sing some devotional songs in praise of Arunachala and Bhagavan

Ramana before beginning their day’s work. Niranjanananda

Swami told Bhagavan that I could recite hymns in Sanskrit,

and Bhagavan looked at me expectantly. Seeing that it was

impossible to avoid it, I recited a few verses in Sanskrit. When I

had finished, Bhagavan gently looked at me and said, “You have

learned all this. Not so in my case. I knew nothing, had learned

nothing before I came here. Some mysterious power took

possession of me and effected a thorough transformation.

 

Whoever knew then what was happening to me? Your father,

who was intending in his boyhood to go to the Himalayas for

tapas, has become the head of a big family. And I, who knew

nothing and planned nothing, have been drawn and kept down

here for good! When I left home (in my seventeenth year), I

was like a speck swept on by a tremendous flood. I knew not

my body or the world, whether it was day or night. It was difficult

even to open my eyes; the eyelids seemed to be glued down.

My body became a mere skeleton. Visitors pitied my plight as

they were not aware how blissful I was. It was after years that I

came across the term ‘Brahman’ when I happened to look into

some books on Vedanta brought to me. Amused, I said to myself,

‘Is this known as Brahman’! ”

 

One of the earliest devotees, Sivaprakasam Pillai, has referred

to this at the beginning of his brief biography of Bhagavan in

Tamil verse (Sri Ramana Charita Ahaval) as, “One who became

a knower of Brahman without knowing even the term

‘Brahman’.” Sivaprakasam Pillai used to sit in a corner in

Bhagavan’s presence, as the very embodiment of humility.

Finding that I knew a bit of Sanskrit, Bhagavan asked me

to take down a copy of Sri Ramana Gita and give it to my

father. I did so, and it was only after going through it that my

father understood Bhagavan. Yet I myself had not studied its

contents. It was only at the end of 1922 that I happened to go

through the thrilling verses in praise of Bhagavan Ramana and,

profoundly moved, I made up my mind to return to Bhagavan

for good. Thus, Sri Ramana Gita served to give direction to me

in a critical period of my life when I was thinking of dedicating

myself solely to the spiritual pursuit.

 

As it was impossible to get the permission of my father, I

left home unknown to anybody and reached Tiruvannamalai on

the evening of the 2nd of January, 1923. Hearing that Bhagavan

had left Skandashram and was then living in a cottage adjoining

his mother’s samadhi on the southern side of Arunachala, I made

my way straight to it, after meditating for a while at sunset time.

Proceeding round the Hill, I reached the cottage where Bhagavan

was then living. Entering it, I saw Bhagavan reclining peacefully

on an elevated dais. As I bowed and stood before him, he asked

me, “Did you take the permission of your parents to come over

here?” I was caught, and I replied that he need not ask me about

it since he had himself irresistibly attracted me to his feet. With a

smile, Bhagavan advised me to inform my parents of my

whereabouts so that they might be somewhat free from anxiety. I

wrote to my father the next day and saw his letter to the Ashram

enquiring about me the day after.

 

There was a gathering of devotees there and I came to

know that it was for the forty-third birthday celebration of

Bhagavan the next day. So I learned that I had come to Bhagavan

on the evening of the famous Ardra Darsanam day.

Early next morning there was a gathering of devotees –

they were sitting before Bhagavan. But my attention was

particularly gripped by a radiant personality amidst the

gathering. He was, I came to know, Kavyakantha Ganapati

Sastri. At once I saw that he was not merely a sastri, a learned

man, but a poet and a tapaswin. His broad forehead, bright

eyes, aquiline nose, charming face and beard, and the

melodious ring in his voice – all these proclaimed that he was

a rishi to be ranked with the foremost of the Vedic Seers.

There was authority, dignity and sweetness in his talk and his

eyes sparkled as he spoke. He recited the following verse (sloka)

in praise of Bhagavan, which he had just then composed, and

explained its import:

 

 

“It is effulgent Devi Uma sparkling in your eyes

dispelling the ignorance of devotees,

It is Lakshmi Devi, the consort of lotus-eyed Vishnu,

alive in your lotus-face,

It is Para Vak Saraswati, the consort of Brahma,

dancing in your talk,

Great Seer, Ramana, the Teacher of the whole world,

How can mortal man praise you adequately?”

 

taken from

SURPASSING LOVE AND GRACE

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