Ramana Maharshi (30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was a Hindu sage and jivanmukta (liberated being). Ramana Maharshi was born Venkataraman Iyer on 30 December, 1879 in the village Tiruchuzi near Aruppukkottai, Virudhunagar District in Tamil Nadu. He was the second of four children in an orthodox Hindu Brahmin family.
His father was Sundaram Iyer (1848–1890), from the lineage of Parashara, and his mother was Azhagammal (1864–1922). He had two brothers Nagaswami (1877–1900) and Nagasundaram (1886–1953), along with a younger sister Alamelu (1887–1953). His father was a court pleader.
Venkataraman’s family belonged to the Smarta tradition, and regularly worshipped Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesha, Surya and Shakti in their home. When Venkataraman was seven years, he had his upanayana the traditional initiation into Brahmanical learning and the knowledge of Self. He had a very good memory, and was able to recall information after hearing it once, an ability he used to memorize Tamil poems.
When he was about eleven his father sent him to live with his paternal uncle Subbaiyar in Dindigul as he wanted his sons to be educated in the English language, so that they would be eligible to enter government service. In 1891, when his uncle was transferred to Madurai, Venkataraman and his elder brother Nagaswami moved with him. In Dindigul, Venkataraman attended a Hindu School where English was taught, and stayed there for a year. After their father Sundaram Iyer’s, sudden death on 18 February 1892, Venkataraman and Nagaswami continued their stay with their paternal uncle Subbaiyar in Madurai. Venkataraman first attended Scott’s Middle School and then the American Mission High School where he became acquainted with Christianity.
Divine destination Arunachalam
In November 1895 Venkataraman realized that Arunachala, the sacred mountain, was a real place and was overwhelmed. During this time he also read Sekkizhar‘s Periyapuranam, a book that describes the lives of the 63 Nayanmars (group of 63 Tamil Hindu saints lived during the 6th to 8th centuries CE who were devoted to the Hindu god Shiva) which “made a great impression” on him, and revealed to him that “Divine Union” is possible. A new current of awareness started to awaken during his visits to the Meenakshi Temple at Madurai, “a state of blissful consciousness transcending both the physical and mental plane and yet compatible with full use of the physical and mental faculties”.
According to B. V.Narasimha (who wrote the biography of Ramana Maharshi) , in July 1896, at age 16, he had a sudden fear of death. He was struck by “a flash of excitement” or “heat”, like a “current” or “force” that seemed to possess him, while his body became rigid. A process of self-enquiry was initiated, asking himself, “what it is that dies?” He concluded the body dies, but this “current” or “force” remains alive, and recognized this “current” or “force” as his Self, which he later identified with “the personal God, or Iswara“. After this event, he lost interest in school studies, friends, and relations.
He was absent-minded at school, avoiding company, he preferred to sit alone, absorbed in concentration on this current or force, and went daily to the Meenakshi Temple, ecstatically devoted to the images of the 63 Nayanmars and of Nataraja, wanting “the same grace as was shown to those saints”, praying that he “should have the same bhakti that they had”. Knowing his family would not permit him to become a sanyassin and leave home, Venkataraman slipped away, telling his brother he needed to attend a special class at school. Venkataraman boarded the train on 29 August 1896 and reached Tiruvannamalai on 1 September 1896 where he remained for the rest of his life.
Arunachaleswara temple (1896–1897)
When Venkataraman arrived in Tiruvannamalai, he went to the temple of Arunachaleswara. He spent the first few weeks in the thousand-pillared hall, then shifted to other spots in the temple, and eventually to the Patala-lingam vault so that he could remain undisturbed. There, he spent days absorbed in such deep samādhi that he was unaware of the bites of vermin and pests. Seshadri Swamigal, a local saint, discovered him in the underground vault and tried to protect him. After about six weeks in the Patala-lingam vault, he was carried out and cleaned up. For the next two months he stayed in the Subramanya Shrine, so unaware of his body and surroundings that food had to be placed in his mouth to keep him from starving. People used to call him Brahmana swami.
Gurumurtam temple (1897–1898)
In February 1897, six months after his arrival at Tiruvannamalai, Brahmana swami moved to Gurumurtam, a temple about a mile away. Shortly after his arrival a sadhu named Palaniswami became his permanent attendant. Besides physical protection, Palaniswami would also beg for alms, cook and prepare meals for himself and Brahmana swami, and care for him as needed. In May 1898 Brahmana swami moved to a mango orchard next to Gurumurtam.
Gradually, despite Brahmana swami’s desire for privacy, he attracted attention from visitors who admired his silence and austerities, bringing offerings and singing praises. Eventually a bamboo fence was built to protect him. While living at the Gurumurtam temple his family discovered his whereabouts. First, his uncle Nelliappa Iyer came and pleaded with him to return home, promising that the family would not disturb his ascetic life. Brahmana swami sat motionless, and eventually his uncle gave up.
Virupaksha Cave
In September 1898 Brahmana swami moved to the Shiva-temple at Pavalakkunru, one of the eastern spots of Arunachala. He refused to return even though his mother begged him to. Soon after this, in February 1899, Brahmana swami left the foothills to live in Arunachala. He stayed briefly in Satguru Cave and Guhu Namasivaya Cave before taking up residence at Virupaksha Cave for the next 17 years, using Mango Tree cave during the summers. The fourteen questions put to the young Swami and his answers were Brahmana swami’s first teachings on Self-enquiry, the method for which he became widely known, and were eventually published as Nan Yar?(Tamil), or in English, Who am I?.
Many visitors came to him and some became his devotees. Kavyakantha Sri Ganapati Sastri a Vedic scholar of repute in his age, with a deep knowledge of the Srutis, Sastras, Tantras, Yoga, and Agama systems, came to visit Brahmana swami in 1907. After receiving upadesa from Brahmana swami on self-enquiry, he proclaimed him as Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. Ramana Maharshi was known by this name from then on.
In 1911 the first westerner, Frank Humphreys, then a police officer stationed in India, discovered Ramana Maharshi and wrote articles about him which were first published in The International Psychic Gazette in 1913. In 1916 his mother Alagammal and younger brother Nagasundaram joined Ramana Maharshi at Tiruvannamalai and followed him when he moved to the larger Skandashram Cave, where Bhagavan lived until the end of 1922. His mother took up the life of a sannyasin and Ramana Maharshi began to give her intense, personal instruction, while she took charge of the Ashram kitchen. Ramana Maharshi’s younger brother, Nagasundaram, then became a sannyasi, assuming the name Niranjanananda, becoming known as Chinnaswami (the younger Swami). Starting in 1920, his mother’s health deteriorated. She died on 19 May 1922 while Ramana Maharshi sat beside her.
Ramanasramam (1922–1930)
From 1922 until his death in 1950 Ramana Maharshi lived in Sri Ramanasramam, the ashram that developed around his mother’s tomb. At first, there was only one hut at the samadhi, but in 1924 two huts, one opposite the samadhi and the other to the north, were erected. In due course Matrubhuteswara temple, was constructed over Mother Alagammal’s burial place and daily worship continues to be carried out there. The so-called Old Hall was built in 1928. Ramana Maharshi lived there until 1949. Birds and squirrels built their nests around him.
Cows, dogs and monkeys found asylum in the Ashrama. All of them behaved intelligently — especially the cow Laksmi. Maharshi knew their ways quite intimately. He would see to it that they were fed properly and well. And, when any of them died, the body would be buried with due ceremony. Sri Ramanasramam grew to include a library, hospital, post-office and many other facilities.
In 1896, a few months after his arrival at Arunachala, Ramana Maharshi attracted his first disciple, Uddandi Nayinar, who recognised in him “the living embodiment of the Holy Scriptures”. Uddandi was well-versed in classic texts on Yoga and Vedanta, and recited texts as the Yoga Vasistha and Kaivalya Navaneeta in Ramana Maharshi’s presence. In 1897 Ramana Maharshi was joined by Palaniswami, who became his attendant. As early as 1900, when Ramana Maharshi was 20 years old, he became acquainted with the teachings of the Hindu monk and Neo-Vedanta teacher Swami Vivekananda through Gambhiram Seshayya. Seshayya was interested in yoga techniques, and “used to bring his books and explain his difficulties”. Ramana Maharshi answered on small scraps of paper, which were collected after his death in the late 1920s in a booklet called Vichara Sangraham, “Self-enquiry”.
According to David Godman, who has written extensively about Ramana Maharshi, Ramana Maharshi was actually quite active in Ashram activities such as cooking and stitching leaf plates. In 1931 a biography of Ramana Maharshi, Self Realisation: The Life and Teachings of Ramana Maharshi, written by B. V. Narasimha, was published. Ramana Maharshi then became relatively well known in and out of India after 1934 when Paul Brunton, having first visited Ramana Maharshi in January 1931, published the book A Search in Secret India.
In this book he describes how he was compelled by the Paramacharya of Kanchi to meet Ramana Maharshi, his meeting with Ramana Maharshi, and the effect this meeting had on him. Brunton also describes how Ramana Maharshi’s fame had spread, “so that pilgrims to the temple were often induced to go up the hill (Virupaksha Cave and Skandashram Cave) and see him before they returned home”. The book was a best-seller and introduced Ramana Maharshi to a wider audience in the west. Prominent visitors included Paramahansa Yogananda, Somerset Maugham (whose 1944 novel The Razor’s Edge models its spiritual guru after Ramana Maharshi), Mercedes de Acosta (American poet, playwright and novelist) and Arthur Osborne, the last of whom was the first editor of Mountain Path in 1964, the magazine published by Ramanasramam.
Last days
In November 1948, a tiny cancerous lump was found on Ramana Maharshi’s arm and was removed in February 1949 by the ashram’s doctor. Soon, another growth appeared, and another operation was performed by an eminent surgeon in March 1949 with radium applied. The doctor told Ramana Maharshi that a complete amputation of the arm to the shoulder was required to save his life, but he refused. Third and fourth operations were performed in August and December 1949, but only weakened him. By April 1950, Ramana Maharshi was too weak to go to the hall and visiting hours were limited. Visitors would file past the small room where he spent his last days to get one final glimpse. He left his mortal body on 14 April 1950 at 8:47 p.m. At that very moment, a comet moved slowly across the sky, reached the summit, of the holy hill, Arunachala, and disappeared behind it.
Teachings & writings
Ramana Maharshi’s endorsement of silence as a spiritual practice stems from the belief that it facilitates a deeper immersion into the true self, beyond the distractions of the ego. Silence, is not merely an absence of speech but an active presence, a potent medium through which profound inner experiences and insights can manifest. Through silence, the practitioner can transcend the superficial layers of being and encounter the silence within, which is equated with the self or Brahman. Silence is the true upadesa. It is suited only for the most advanced seeker. Therefore, ordinary mortals require words to explain the truth. But truth is beyond words; it does not warrant explanation.
According to Ramana Maharshi, the I-thought is the sense of individuality: “(Aham, aham) ‘I-I’ is the Self; (Aham idam) “I am this” or “I am that” is the ego.” By paying attention to the ‘I’-thought, inquiring where it comes from, the ‘I’-thought will disappear and the “shining forth” (sphurana) of “I-I” or Self-awareness will appear. This results in an “effortless awareness of being”, and by staying with it. This “I-I” gradually destroys the vasanas “which cause the ‘I’-thought to rise”. When the vasanas disappear, the mind, vritt also comes to rest, since it centers around the ‘I’-thought, and finally the ‘I’-thought never rises again, which is Self-realization or moksha:
If one remains still without leaving it, even the sphurana – having completely annihilated the sense of the individuality, the form of the ego, ‘I am the body’ – will itself in the end subside, just like the flame that catches the camphor. This alone is said to be moksha by great ones and scriptures. (The Mountain Path, 1982, p. 98). Consciousness is the screen on which all the pictures come and go. The screen is real, the pictures are mere shadows on it. When the subtle mind emerges through the brain and the senses, the gross names and forms are cognized. When it remains in the Heart names and forms disappear… If the mind remains in the Heart, the ‘I’ or the ego which is the source of all thoughts will go, and the Self, the Real, Eternal ‘I’ alone will shine. Where there is not the slightest trace of the ego, there is the Self. For all thoughts the source is the ‘I’ thought.
As one practises like this more and more, the power of the mind to remain as its source is increased. There is no difference between the dream and the waking state except that the dream is short and the waking long. Both are the result of the mind. Our real state is beyond the waking, dream and sleep states, called turiya. The state we call realization is simply being oneself, not knowing anything or becoming anything.
“Know Thyself. All else will be known to thee of its own accord. Discriminate between the undying, unchanging, all-pervading, infinite Atma and the ever-changing, phenomenal and perishable universe and body. Enquire, ‘Who am I?’ Make the mind calm. Free yourself from all thoughts other than the simple thought of the Self or Atma. Dive deep into the chambers of your heart. Find out the real, infinite ‘I’. Rest there peacefully for ever and become identical with the Supreme Self.” This is the gist of the philosophy and teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Maharshi said that if we consistently practice self-inquiry, we can break free from the endless cycle of being born over and over again. This freedom is known as moksha, which is a state of true understanding and happiness. Maharshi encouraged people to look inside themselves to understand their true nature, rather than focusing solely on external religious practices.
Ramana Maharshi made a distinction between samadhi and sahaja samadhi. Samadhi is a contemplative state, which is temporary, while in sahaja samadhi a “silent state” is maintained while engaged in daily activities. Ramana Maharshi himself stated repeatedly that samadhi only suppresses the vāsanās, the karmic impressions, but does not destroy them. Only by abiding in Self-awareness will the vāsanās, which create the sense of a separate self, be destroyed, and sahaja samadhi be attained.
Ramana Maharshi considered the Self to be his guru, in the form of the sacred mountain Arunachala, which is considered to be the manifestation of Shiva. Asked about the special sanctity of Arunachala, Ramana Maharshi said that Arunachala is Shiva himself.
One of the works that Ramana Maharshi used to explain his insights was the Ribhu Gita, a song at the heart of the Shivarahasya Purana, one of the ‘Shaiva Upapuranas‘ or ancillary Purana regarding Shiva and Shaivite worship. Another work used by him was the Dakshinamurti Stotram, a text by Shankara. It is a hymn to Shiva, explaining Advaita Vedanta.
In contrast to classical Advaita Vedanta, Ramana Maharshi emphasized the personal experience of self-realization, instead of philosophical argumentation and the study of scripture. Ramana Maharshi’s authority was based on his personal experience, from which he explained classic texts on Yoga and Vedanta, which he came acquainted with via his devotees. Arvind Sharma in his biography on Ramana Maharshi qualifies Ramana Maharshi as the chief exponent of experiential Advaita, to distinguish his approach from Shankara’s classical doctrinal Advaita. In contrast with traditional Advaita Vedanta, Ramana Maharshi strongly discouraged devotees from adopting a renunciate lifestyle and renouncing their responsibilities.
Ramana Maharshi “never felt moved to formulate his teaching of his own accord, either verbally or in writing”. The few writings he is credited with “came into being as answers to questions asked by his disciples or through their urging”. Only a few hymns were written on his own initiative.
Writings by Ramana Maharshi are:
- Gambhiram Sheshayya, Vichāra Sangraham, “Self-Enquiry”. Answers to questions, compiled in 1901, published in dialogue-form, republished as essay in 1939 as A Catechism of Enquiry. Also published in 1944 in Heinrich Zimmer’s Der Weg zum Selbst.
- Sivaprakasam Pillai, Nān Yār?, “Who am I?”. Answers to questions, compiled in 1902, first published in 1923.
- Five Hymns to Arunachala:
- Akshara Mana Malai, “The Marital Garland of Letters”. In 1914, at the request of a devotee, Ramana Maharshi wrote Akshara Mana Malai for his devotees to sing while on their rounds for alms. It’s a hymn in praise of Shiva, manifest as the mountain Arunachala. The hymn consists of 108 stanzas composed in poetic Tamil.
- Navamani Mālai, “The Necklet of Nine Gems”.
- Arunāchala Patikam, “Eleven Verses to Sri Arunachala”.
- Arunāchala Ashtakam, “Eight Stanzas to Sri Arunachala”.
- Arunāchala Pañcharatna, “Five Stanzas to Sri Arunachala”.
- Sri Muruganar and Sri Ramana Maharshi, Upadesha Sāra (Upadesha Undiyar), “The Essence of Instruction”. In 1927 Muruganar started a poem on the Gods, but asked Ramana Maharshi to write thirty verses on upadesha, “teaching” or “instruction”
- Ramana Maharshi, Ulladu narpadu, “Forty Verses on Reality”. Written in 1928. First English translation and commentary by S.S. Cohen in 1931.
- Ullada Nārpadu Anubandham, “Reality in Forty Verses: Supplement”. Forty stanzas, fifteen of which are being written by Ramana Maharshi. The other twenty-five are translations of various Sanskrit-texts.
- Sri Muruganar and Sri Ramana Maharshi (1930s), Ramana Puranam.
- Ekātma Pañchakam, “Five Verses on the Self”. Written in 1947, at the request of a female devotee.
In addition to original works, Ramana Maharshi has also translated some scriptures for the benefit of devotees. He selected, rearranged and translated 42 verses from the Bhagavad Gita into Tamil and Malayalam. He has also translated few works such as Dakshinamurti Stotra, Vivekachudamani and Drg-Drsya- Viveka attributed to Shankaracharya.
With regard to the Sri Ramana Ashram, in 1938 Maharshi made a legal will bequeathing all the Ramanashram properties to his younger brother Niranjanananda and his descendants. In 2013, Ramanashram is run by Sri Niranjananda’s grandson Sri V.S. Raman. Ramanashram is legally recognised as a public religious trust whose aim is to maintain it in a way that is consistent with Sri Ramana Maharshi’s declared wishes. The ashram remains open as a spiritual institution so that anyone who wishes to can avail themselves of its facilities.
Maharshi’s influence on Neo-Advaita & western spirituality
Stimulated by Arthur Osborne, in the 1960s Bhagawat Singh (ardent devotee of Ramana Maharshi) actively started to spread Ramana Maharshi’s teachings in the US. Ramana Maharshi has been further popularized in the west by the neo-Advaita movement, via the students of H. W. L. Poonja; this movement gives a western re-interpretation of his teachings by placing sole emphasis on insight alone.
Though it has been criticized for this emphasis, omitting the preparatory practices, Neo-Advaita has become an important constituent of popular western spirituality. The scholar Philip Goldberg has listed Western religious thinkers influenced by Ramana Maharshi that includes Francis X. Clooney, Georg Feuerstein, Bede Griffiths, Andrew Harvey, Thomas Merton, Henri Le Saux (Swami Adhishiktananda), Eckhart Tolle, and Ken Wilber.
Ramana Maharshi followed the path of experiential Advaita which is a road less travelled that is possible only for enlightened soul in search of eternal truth as against the doctrinal Advaita that has many followers. Nevertheless, his philosophy that contains two essential elements, viz., (i) Who Am I? and (ii) silence as spiritual practice will elevate the followers of all religions to spiritual platform towards self-realisation.
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