Incidents Related To Ramana Maharshi In Mango Grove And Pavalakkunru

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Ramana’s disappearance and his parting note were soon noticed.His family was

stunned. His mother Alagammal, who was living in Manamadurai, was informed

and every effort was made to try and find him. But nobody, neither friends

nor neighbours, had any idea where he might be. People hoped for his return,

but in vain, as weeks and months went by without any news. Alagammal’s

anguish increased and she beseeched both her brothers-in-law, Subba and

Nelliappa Iyer, to try and find him. It was rumoured that Ramana had joined

a theatrical troupe performing religious dramas in Trivandrum. Nelliappa

Iyer twice went there to look for him among the various troupes, once

accompanied by Alagammal – but without success.

 

Almost two years went by and people started to believe that they would never

see the lost son again. On 1st May 1898 Subba Iyer died. Nelliappa Iyer and

the rest of the family came to the funeral in Madurai. During the funeral a

young man from Tiruchuli brought the unexpected news that he had met

Tambiran and had heard him talking about a young Swami, called Venkataraman,

who came from Tiruchuli. The Swami was a venerated saint in Tiruvannamalai

and was undoubtedly the person they were looking for.

 

Immediately after the funeral Nelliappa Iyer and a friend started out for

Tiruvannamalai. There they learned that the young Swami was living in the

mango grove. However, when they went there they were prevented from entering

by the owner of the garden,who said that Ramana was a mauni, a silent saint,

and should not be disturbed. Nelliappa Iyer therefore wrote the following

message ona piece of paper for his nephew, “Nelliappa Iyer, pleader of

Manamadurai,wishes to have your darshanâ€, and asked Naicker, to pass on the

message.

 

Ramana recognized his uncle’s handwriting. The piece of paper came from a

records office and had on the back some official entries in the handwriting

of his older brother Nagaswami. From this he was able to conclude in

addition that Nagaswami had become an employee in a records office. He

agreed that his uncle should enter.

 

Nelliappa Iyer argued and pleaded with all the eloquence of a lawyer. But

Ramana did not move and gave not the least sign of recognition.

 

The uncle finally had no alternative but to give up. He sent Alagammal the

joyful news that he had found her son, but that he had changed a lot and

sadly would not return. Nelliappa Iyer himself returned to Manamadurai after

five days, unsuccessful in his mission.

 

About his two uncles, Nelliappa and Subba Iyer, Sri Ramana later remarked,

“Subba Iyer had great courage and pride, but this man [Nelliappa] was very

meek and mild. If it had been Subba Iyer, he would never have gone back home

leaving me here. He would have bundled me up and carried me away. As I am

destined to stay here, my whereabouts were not known so long as he was

alive.Nelliappa Iyer, being spiritually minded and mild in his ways, left me

here saying, ‘Why trouble him?’â€

 

Later, Nelliappa Iyer visited his nephew twice while he was living in the

Virupaksha cave. Ramana had by then started to give spoken answers to his

disciples’ questions and to interpret the holy Advaita scriptures. Once,

whilst he was in the midst of an explanation about the Dakshinamurti

Stotram, his uncle unexpectedly came to visit and was astounded by his

nephew’s erudition. From that day on Nelliappa knew that he need not trouble

himself anymore and returned home deeply satisfied. Soon afterwards he died.

 

A few months after Nelliappa’s first visit, Sri Ramana left the mango grove

to live in a small temple in Arunagirinathar. He had decided that he should

no longer be dependent upon the care of others and that from now he would

look for his own daily meal. So he said to Palaniswami, “You go one way, beg

your food and get on. Let me go another way, beg my food and get on. Let us

not live together.†But Palaniswami, in the evening returned to the

Arunagirinathar temple, saying, “Where can I go? You have the words of

life.†Now Ramana felt compassion for him and Palaniswami was allowed to

stay with him.

 

After they had spent about four weeks during August and September 1898

living in the small temple, they went to live for a week in the quiet upper

rooms of the towers of the Arunachaleswara temple and in the Alari garden,

one of the temple gardens. There Ramana was again tracked down by admirers.

He withdrew from them and went to Pavalakkunru, one of the eastern foothills

of Arunachala where there was a Shiva temple, a cave and a spring.

 

He sat most of the time in samadhi in a tiny room in the temple,which was so

small that it was impossible to stand upright. Several times, after

performing the puja, the priest forgot to see if the Swami was sitting in

his room and inadvertently locked him in.His admirers also tracked him down

in Pavalakkunru. Patiently they waited until he appeared from inside the

temple or the cave to have his darshan.

 

In the meantime Ramana had decided to look for his own food and used to go

into town to beg for his meals. About the first time he went begging he

said, “The first day, when I begged from Gurukkal’s wife, I felt bashful

about it as a result of habits of upbringing,but after that there was

absolutely no feeling of abasement. I felt like a king and more than a king.

I have sometimes received stale gruel at some house and taken it without

salt or any other flavouring, in the open street, before great pandits

[scholars] and other important men who used to come and prostrate themselves

before me at the Ashram.â€

 

During the Christmas holidays of 1898 his mother came to visit him for the

first time, accompanied by her eldest son Nagaswami,who had a few days off

work. They had searched for him in the mango grove in vain. Now they had

climbed up to Pavalakkunru.Ramana was laying on a rock in a state of neglect

such that he was barely recognizable, clothed in a dirty scrap of a

loincloth only.Twenty-eight months had passed since his mother had last seen

him. Bitterly she complained about his neglected bodily condition and

implored him to come home with her, but he did not react.

 

Day after day they came up to see him, brought him sweets and entreated him

tirelessly, but all to no avail. Ramana remained silent.Alagammal tried

everything. One day when she broke down in tears, he was unable to bear it

any longer and simply went away.

 

Once she despairingly turned to the others present and asked for their

support. Then one of them said to Ramana, “Your mother is weeping and

praying. Why do you not answer her? Whether it is ‘yes’ or ‘no’, why not

give her a reply? Swami need not break his vow of silence. Here are pencil

and paper. Swami may at least write out what he has to say.†So Ramana wrote

down, “The Ordainer controls the fate of souls in accordance with their past

deeds – their prarabdhakarma. Whatever is destined not to happen will not

happen, - try how hard you may. Whatever is destined to happen will happen,

do what you may to stop it. This is certain. The best course, therefore, is

for one to be silent.â€

 

Whether this message convinced his deeply religious mother or not, there was

nothing left for her to do but to leave him to the life he had embarked

upon. Furthermore Nagaswami’s holidays were coming to an end and he had to

return to his office. Without having achieved what they had set out to

achieve and with a heavy

heart, they returned to Manamadurai.

 

Source: Ramana Maharshi: His Life A biography by Gabriele Ebert

 

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