Arulmigu VelliangiriNathar - South Kailash

*** Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni ***

It is late nineteenth century, Navadveep, Bengal. A fourteen year old boy sits amidst a group of scholars: mathematicians, poets, a music maestro and an astrologer, among others. The mathematicians give him a six digit number to be multiplied by another six digit number. One poet recites the last two lines of a Sanskrit verse and challenges the boy to compose the first two lines in the same metre and complete it. The other poet, meanwhile, gives him a subject to immediately compose a four line Sanskrit verse on. The astrologer places before him a complex pattern of planetary positions and asks him what the consequence will be. The musician hums a few notes of a particularly obscure raga and asks the boy to identify it. Another man rattles off a random date, like February 18, 1756, and asks what day that was. As if all this weren‟t enough, another man stands behind the boy and throws tiny pebbles on his back while the others throw their challenges. The boy is expected to simultaneously keep count of how many pebbles were thrown. The boy answers all of them, instantaneously, correctly, brilliantly, to the tumultuous applause of a wonder struck audience.

This boy wonder, Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni, („muni‟ means one who is steeped in manana - contemplation) soon won acclaim all over India. He was to later become one of the foremost devotees of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. Before he was born, his pious parents had no children. His father went to Benares and prayed at the Ganesa temple there. He had a vision of the idol of Lord Ganesa coming to life and merging with him. At the very same time, back in his village, his wife saw the idol of the goddess in the local temple turn into light and enter her. Soon after, a son was born to the couple. They named him Ganapathi in gratitude to Lord Ganesa. However, to their utter disappointment, the boy could not talk at all. Until the age of five he remained mute and expressionless. Moreover, he was plagued with many diseases including epilepsy. In a desperate attempt to cure him, they resorted to the age old practice of branding him with a red hot iron rod. This treatment had far reaching effects. The shock unleashed the boy‟s latent talents and he became exceptionally brilliant. His retentive power, his concentration, his capacity to imbibe whatever he read, and quote it verbatim increased manifold.

By the age of nine, he had mastered Sanskrit literature and by the age of eleven he had memorized all the four Vedas and the Upanishads. When he was fourteen years old, Ganapati composed a drama in Sanskrit which is acclaimed even today as one of the best in that language. The ancient scriptures mention that the rishis of yore did penance and God appeared before them and granted boons. Strongly influenced by these texts, Kavyakantha sought to achieve the same. He got married when he was eighteen years old but his fervour to have God‟s darshan became more intense. He embarked on a long pilgrimage, visited temples as well as all the sacred rivers like the Ganges and did penance. His penance was rigorous: he remained silent and motionless for long periods and went without food. Though he meticulously observed all the rules of traditional penance, God did not appear before him.

When he failed to find God through one method of penance, he tried another method with equal sincerity. With every method failing, Kavyakantha finally took the last resort: doing penance in the five holy places dedicated to Lord Siva , representing the five elements - earth, water, fire, air and ether. One must visit each place in a particular order and arrive finally in the place dedicated to fire, Arunachala, where the devotee‟s penance (tapas) is said to be rewarded. Kavyakantha followed the necessary rituals in each place and finally reached Arunachala in 1904. During the course of his penance in Arunachaleshwara temple, Kavyakantha once went up the hill and saw Bhagavan sitting with eyes closed, absorbed in samadhi. Disappointed by Bhagavan‟s continued silence, he came away. He took up a job as a teacher in a neighbouring town called Vellore and continued his sadhana. In 1907, he became dejected and felt that his life was futile. Though he had mastered the scriptures and experienced kundalini, he still hadn‟t found a method that gave him permanent anchorage in the source of shakti that he called God.

He decided, “I am going again to Arunachala, the final destination for one‟s search for God according to the scriptures. If I do not attain God this time, I am going to proclaim that the Vedas, Upanishads and all the Hindu scriptures are just exaggerations of poetic minds.” With this resolve, he returned to Arunachala. A Siva shrine is located at each of the eight cardinal directions on the circumambulation route around Arunachala. Determined to perform his penance to the best of his capacity, he went southwest to the Nirudhilingam shrine. It was surrounded by forests at that time. He took shelter in the hollow of a large, dead tree and resumed his severe penance of being silent and going without food. After the fifth or sixth day, the divine Mother spoke to him: “Until you have a guru, you cannot achieve your goal. Your guru is up there on the hill. Surrender at his holy feet and you will get his grace. Go now!”

Kavyakantha leapt out of the hollow. It was one o‟clock in the afternoon, and the sun was beating down hard. The Karthikai festival was on and hundreds of people thronged around the hill. Undeterred, he ran up the hill to Virupaksha cave and found Bhagavan sitting alone outside. Bhagavan directed his glance of grace at Kavyakantha. Like many devotees before him, he was transfixed and could not take his eyes off Bhagavan. Kavyakantha, an erudite scholar, had never prostrated himself before any human being. Suddenly, he found himself flat on the ground in front of the young ascetic. He held Bhagavan‟s feet tightly and cried, “I have read all that has to be read. I have fully read Vedanta, I have performed japa to my heart‟s content, yet I have not understood what tapas is! Therefore, I have sought refuge at your feet. Pray, enlighten me as to the nature of tapas.” The word „tapas‟ in Sanskrit literally means „striving for the realization of truth through penance and austerity‟. However, Bhagavan imparted its deeper meaning to Kavyakantha. Helping him rise to his feet, Bhagavan looked into his eyes and after some time slowly replied, “If one watches from where the notion „I‟ arises, the mind is absorbed into that. That is tapas.” And since Kavyakantha had himself revealed that he practiced mantra japa - repeating mantras thousands of times every day, the master added, “When repeating a mantra, if one watches the source from which the sound is produced, the mind is absorbed in that. That is tapas.” These revelations thrilled Kavyakantha.

He finally understood how to be in touch with the truth through a practical method. Wave after wave of ecstasy flooded through him for hours in the presence of the ascetic. At last, when he opened his eyes, he asked the attendant, Palani Swami, for the ascetic‟s name. Though he was then called Brahmana Swami, Kavyakantha learnt that his real name was Venkataraman. Kavyakantha took „Ramana‟ from his name and since he had seen God in this ascetic, he named him „Bhagavan‟. Bhagavan in Sanskrit means God. As he had also given a revelation about tapas which no scripture had ever explained so clearly before, to Kavyakantha, Bhagavan was also a Vedic rishi. (Rishi means sage and is derived from drashta, which means seer - one who has seen with the inner eye and not with just the physical eyes. A rishi is he who is ever connected to the original, inexhaustible source of wisdom.) But, to Kavyakantha, Bhagavan was not only a rishi but a maharshi - a great rishi. Therefore, he named the ascetic Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. This name, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, the chanting of which has lured countless people to the silent, still truth, was given by this gifted genius, Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni.

At that time, he had over two hundred disciples of his own, including noble scholars like Daivarata and Kapali Shastri. He wrote a letter to them saying, “I have found my guru. Henceforth, it is not I but Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi who is our guru.” The next day, he went to Bhagavan and said “Bhagavan, please accept me.” Bhagavan graciously conceded to his request and said, “Stay in the cave that is adjacent to Virupaksha cave.” Called Mango Tree cave, its proximity to Virupaksha cave allowed the guru and disciple to visit each other every day. Bhagavan continued to pour his grace and help Kavyakantha mature spiritually. Bhagavan held Kavyakantha in high esteem and addressed him with much respect. One day, Kavyakantha held Bhagavan‟s feet and begged, “Please Bhagavan, do not address me respectfully! I am your disciple and your child. Do not address me in such reverential terms!” But, Bhagavan continued to do so. He then learnt from his other disciples and Kavyakantha‟s admirers that they referred to him as „Nayana‟ which means „father‟ in Sanskrit. Bhagavan told Kavyakantha, “Hereafter, I will call you Nayana.” Nayana accepted this because in Telugu the word also meant disciple or child. It is interesting to note that Kavyakantha was a staunch devotee of Siva , the formless father aspect of God.

He had never worshipped God in the aspect of the Mother. However, from the moment the Mother showed his guru to him, he became Her devotee as well. (The side of the hill in front of which the Arunachaleshwara temple is located is called the front of the hill. The stretch from Nirudhilingam to the Eshanyalingam, south-west to north-east, is the back. A little known secret about Arunachala is that the front is the Father aspect while the back is the Mother aspect. All miracles and powers - psychic, spiritual, physical or worldly - stem from the Mother aspect. In the lives of Bhagavan‟s devotees, miracles and visions took place between Nirudhilingam and Eshanyalingam. With Kavyakantha too, it was at Nirudhilingam that the Mother aspect guided him to his guru.) He wanted to express his gratitude to the Mother by composing a thousand Sanskrit verses in her praise. He surrendered to Bhagavan and began the work after getting his permission. He chose a sacred day to complete the thousand verses. Unfortunately, he fell ill and could write only around seven hundred. The night before his self imposed deadline, he approached Bhagavan at Virupaksha cave with his problem. Bhagavan encouragingly reassured him, “Do not worry, I will come and sit with you.”

It was a wonderful sight: The young master sitting, radiating silence, his older devotee dictating extempore verses in a torrential flow and his disciples writing them down late into the night around the lantern light. Genius that he was, Kavyakantha started dictating the first line of the first verse to the first disciple, the first line of the second verse to the second disciple, the first line of the third verse to the third disciple and so on. Then, he proceeded without stopping to dictate the second line of the first verse to Kavyakantha. Helping him rise to his feet, Bhagavan looked into his eyes and after some time slowly replied, “If one watches from where the notion „I‟ arises, the mind is absorbed into that. That is tapas.” And since Kavyakantha had himself revealed that he practiced mantra japa - repeating mantras thousands of times every day, the master added, “When repeating a mantra, if one watches the source from which the sound is produced, the mind is absorbed in that. That is tapas.” These revelations thrilled Kavyakantha.

He finally understood how to be in touch with the truth through a practical method. Wave after wave of ecstasy flooded through him for hours in the presence of the ascetic. At last, when he opened his eyes, he asked the attendant, Palani Swami, for the ascetic‟s name. Though he was then called Brahmana Swami, Kavyakantha learnt that his real name was Venkataraman. Kavyakantha took „Ramana‟ from his name and since he had seen God in this ascetic, he named him „Bhagavan‟. Bhagavan in Sanskrit means God. As he had also given a revelation about tapas which no scripture had ever explained so clearly before, to Kavyakantha, Bhagavan was also a Vedic rishi. (Rishi means sage and is derived from drashta, which means seer - one who has seen with the inner eye and not with just the physical eyes. A rishi is he who is ever connected to the original, inexhaustible source of wisdom.) But, to Kavyakantha, Bhagavan was not only a rishi but a maharshi - a great rishi. Therefore, he named the ascetic Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. This name, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, the chanting of which has lured countless people to the silent, still truth, was given by this gifted genius, Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni.

At that time, he had over two hundred disciples of his own, including noble scholars like Daivarata and Kapali Shastri. He wrote a letter to them saying, “I have found my guru. Henceforth, it is not I but Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi who is our guru.” The next day, he went to Bhagavan and said “Bhagavan, please accept me.” Bhagavan graciously conceded to his request and said, “Stay in the cave that is adjacent to Virupaksha cave.” Called Mango Tree cave, its proximity to Virupaksha cave allowed the guru and disciple to visit each other every day. Bhagavan continued to pour his grace and help Kavyakantha mature spiritually. Bhagavan held Kavyakantha in high esteem and addressed him with much respect. One day, Kavyakantha held Bhagavan‟s feet and begged, “Please Bhagavan, do not address me respectfully! I am your disciple and your child. Do not address me in such reverential terms!” But, Bhagavan continued to do so. He then learnt from his other disciples and Kavyakantha‟s admirers that they referred to him as „Nayana‟ which means „father‟ in Sanskrit.

Bhagavan told Kavyakantha, “Hereafter, I will call you Nayana.” Nayana accepted this because in Telugu the word also meant disciple or child. It is interesting to note that Kavyakantha was a staunch devotee of Siva , the formless father aspect of God. He had never worshipped God in the aspect of the Mother. However, from the moment the Mother showed his guru to him, he became Her devotee as well. (The side of the hill in front of which the Arunachaleshwara temple is located is called the front of the hill. The stretch from Nirudhilingam to the Eshanyalingam, south-west to north-east, is the back. A little known secret about Arunachala is that the front is the Father aspect while the back is the Mother aspect. All miracles and powers - psychic, spiritual, physical or worldly - stem from the Mother aspect. In the lives of Bhagavan‟s devotees, miracles and visions took place between Nirudhilingam and Eshanyalingam. With Kavyakantha too, it was at Nirudhilingam that the Mother aspect guided him to his guru.) He wanted to express his gratitude to the Mother by composing a thousand Sanskrit verses in her praise. He surrendered to Bhagavan and began the work after getting his permission. He chose a sacred day to complete the thousand verses. Unfortunately, he fell ill and could write only around seven hundred. The night before his self imposed deadline, he approached Bhagavan at Virupaksha cave with his problem. Bhagavan encouragingly reassured him, “Do not worry, I will come and sit with you.”

It was a wonderful sight: The young master sitting, radiating silence, his older devotee dictating extempore verses in a torrential flow and his disciples writing them down late into the night around the lantern light. Genius that he was, Kavyakantha started dictating the first line of the first verse to the first disciple, the first line of the second verse to the second disciple, the first line of the third verse to the third disciple and so on. Then, he proceeded without stopping to dictate the second line of the first verse realization? Do they become jnanis?” “Without a doubt,” the guru said. “For the soul which has to achieve realization there is no difference.” In 1922, when Bhagavan‟s mother attained mahasamadhi, it was not Bhagavan who wanted to entomb her, glorify her or build a temple for her. It was Kavyakantha who told Bhagavan, “According to the scriptures and your words in the Ramana Gita, she is a realized soul. She should be entombed with all sanctity.” He administered this task and it was over her samadhi that the Matrubhuteshwara temple was constructed. Kavyakantha even assigned the temple its name: Matrubhuteshwara, meaning „the Lord who has become the mother‟. Thus, the idea of the temple, the nucleus around which Ramanasramam was built, came from Kavyakantha.

Kavyakantha was a great man. Due to his intense penance, his kundalini rose. According to the scriptures, when the kundalini goes to the sahasrara, the crown of the head, its power passes through the head and reaches the sun. Kavyakantha did not want this to happen. Being Bhagavan‟s disciple, he wanted Bhagavan to place his hand on his head. Kavyakantha later said, “The moment Bhagavan put his hands on my head, it was like cool moon rays raining down on me. The pain completely subsided.” Prior to this, some of Bhagavan‟s other devotees reported seeing a faint vapour like substance rising from the top of Kavyakantha‟s head.

My teacher T. K. Sundaresa Iyer, Kunju Swami, and Viswanatha Swami experienced another incident involving Bhagavan‟s grace upon Nayana. At one time, while doing penance in a Ganesa temple in Tiruvottiyur near Chennai, Kavyakantha felt he was unable to progress spiritually. He prayed to Bhagavan, “Help me! Help me!” In response, he felt Bhagavan appearing before him, putting his hand on him, releasing him from his spiritual stagnation and then disappearing. Kavyakantha immediately told his disciples about what happened. At about the same time in Skandashram, Bhagavan collaborated, “I was lying down and all of a sudden my body started floating. I heard the word „Tiruvottiyur‟ and walked down the main street. I saw a Ganesa temple and entered it. Then, I was suddenly back at Skandashram.” T. K. Sundaresa Iyer asked, “How did this happen, Bhagavan?” Bhagavan replied, “It is the sankalpa of Nayana. It was not my desire to go.” He continued, “With this experience I also understood how siddhas - legendary sages and saints - travel in the astral realm. Perhaps it was the same for me. Still, it was not mine but Kavyakantha‟s desire that made it happen.”

One day, when Bhagavan was coming down the hill along with Nayana, Sundaresa Iyer and other devotees, he suddenly stopped and said, “Nayana, look at me right now! The sun, moon, stars and planets are revolving around my waist.” The onlookers could not see the spectacle but they did see Bhagavan‟s body glowing with a brilliance. Overawed, the devotees prostrated in front of the master and chanted the sacred Purusha Suktham, a chant sung by ancient sages praising the Lord of the Universe where the sun and the moon are described as the two eyes of the Lord. Bhagavan vouchsafed that after the kundalini and Tiruvottiyur experiences, an electric current had begun to pass through Kavyakantha‟s body. Consequently, he could not walk barefoot on the earth without getting an electric shock. He began to wear wooden slippers but would reverently take them off in his master‟s presence. Bhagavan would compassionately say, “Nayana is coming. He cannot walk barefoot. Place a non-conductor, a wooden plank, for him to sit on. Give him also a woollen blanket that he can walk on.”

We must respect Bhagavan‟s relationship with Kavyakantha. How the master looked upon his disciples is more important than how a fellow disciple looked upon another. A sage like Bhagavan admired Nayana - that is what seekers and devotees of Bhagavan should consider. Devotees of Bhagavan are indebted to Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni: Firstly, he was the one who gave the master his celebrated, sacred name. Secondly, he was the first person who persuaded our master to start talking. Before him, Sivaprakasam Pillai, Gambhiram Seshayya and others assumed Bhagavan was in formal silence and received Bhagavan‟s answers only in writing. It was to Kavyakantha that Bhagavan started giving answers orally. He was also the one who insisted that Bhagavan write a poem in Sanskrit in the arya metre. Bhagavan replied that he knew very little of Sanskrit and its metres. Kavyakantha explained the rules of the arya metre and repeated his request. A day later, Bhagavan presented to an amazed Kavyakantha , two flawless verses.

Then, on the following day, he presented three more. These five verses form a hymn - Arunachala Pancharatnam - that is chanted daily in front of Bhagavan‟s samadhi:

“Ocean of nectar full of grace, engulfing the universe, universal splendour, Oh Arunachala the supreme Self, be thou the sun and open the lotus of my Heart in bliss.

Oh Arunachala, in thee the picture of the universe is formed, has its stay and is dissolved. This is the sublime truth. Thou art the inner Self who dances in the Heart as I-I. Heart is thy name, my Lord!”

He who turns inward with untroubled mind to search where the consciousness of „I‟ arises, realizes the Self and rests in thee Arunachala, like a river when it joins the ocean.

Abandoning the outer world, with mind and breath control to meditate on thee within, the yogi sees the light, Oh Arunachala, and finds his delight in thee.

He who dedicates his mind to thee, and seeing thee always beholds the universe as thy figure, he who at all times glorifies thee and loves thee as none other than the Self, he is the master without rival, being one with thee, Arunachala, eternally in thy bliss.”

~ V. Ganesan
From Ramana Periya Puranam Book

அண்ணாமலை ஈசனே எனை ஆளும் நேசனே சிவனடியை சிந்திப்போம்‌

போகர் பெருமானை பற்றியும் அவரின் தனித்துவத்தை பற்றியும் உள்ள அபூர்வ ரகசியம் இதோ..... இன்று சித்தர்களின் குரலில்....*

சித்தர்கள் பூமியான பழனியின் ஆச்சரியம் மற்றும் அதிசயம் *அங்கு நிறுவப்பட்டிருக்கும் சிலையே...*

அப்படிப்பட்ட அற்புதச்சிலையை பிரதிஷ்டை செய்ததோடு மட்டுமல்லாமல் அதை செயல்பட வைக்க குரு பெருமான் தன ஜீவ மற்றும் ஆத்ம சக்தியை அதற்குள் பிரதிஷ்டை செய்தார்.

ஒரு நாள் இரண்டு நாள் அல்ல *200 வருடங்கள் அந்த மாபெரும் தவத்தை* செய்து நிறைவேற்றினார்.ஒரு துளியும் அளவு தப்பாத துல்லியம் என்பது அந்த சிலையின் நிர்மாணத்தில் இருந்தது.பதினெட்டு சித்தர்களின் திறன்களும் அதில் அடங்கி இருந்தது.இந்த உலகின் பெரும்பகுதி அழிவு என்பது இந்த சிலையினால் காப்பாற்றும் அளவிற்கு அந்த சிலையானது அமைக்கப்பட்டது.

*இந்த சிலை என்ன செய்யும் என்று கேட்டால் ஆச்சரியம் கொள்வீர்கள்.*

நாம் சூப்பர் மார்க்கெட் போன்ற பகுதிகளுக்கு சென்றோமேயானால் கவனித்திருப்போம் ஒரு பொருளை வாங்கியவுடன் அதை பணம் செலுத்தும் இடத்திற்கு கொண்டு சென்று அதை காட்டினால் அதில் உள்ள மின்னணு குறியீட்டை அந்த சிஸ்டம் படித்து பார்த்த உடனே அது தொடர்பான அனைத்துவிதமான தகவல்களையும் வெளியே கொண்டு வந்துவிடும்.அந்த நுணுக்கம் தான் இந்த சிலையிலும் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. இந்த சிலையின் முன்பாக யார் சென்றாலும் அது உடனே அவர்களின் எண்ணஅலைகளை படித்துவிடும். அதை அப்படியே திருப்பி பல மடங்காக தந்துவிடும். அதை தவிர அதற்கு வேறு எதுவும் தெரியாது. *நாம் அந்த சிலையின் முன்பாக சென்று கடந்து விட்ட அந்த நொடியே நாம் மாறியிருப்போம். அந்த மாற்றத்தை மட்டும் நாம் புரிந்திருக்கவே மாட்டோம்.*

இன்னும் சொல்வதானால் அதை நாம் தான் புரிந்துகொள்ளாமல் அதை பயன்படுத்த தெரியாமல் விழிப்புணர்வுத்தன்மை இல்லாத காரணத்தால் வாழ்வில் உடல் மற்றும் மனநோயால் அவதிப்பட்டு வருகிறோம். *செவ்வாயின் கதிரை உள்வாங்கும் மைக்ரோ ரிஸீவரான இந்த சிலை மட்டும் இந்த பூமியில் நிறுவப்படவில்லை எனில் நாமெல்லாம் இப்படி பேசிக்கொண்டிருக்க இந்த பூமி இருந்திருக்காது.* இந்த அளவுக்கு உலகம் குறித்து சிந்தனை செய்த குழந்தை உள்ளம் கொண்ட ஒருவரை இந்த பூமியில் இருந்தால் காட்டுங்களேன்.

உலகமெங்கும் தன்னுடைய ஆன்மீக ஆய்வுகள் அனைத்திலும் வெற்றி கண்ட நம் போகர் பெருமான்மக்களுக்கு ஏதாவது செய்ய வேண்டும் என்று எண்ணி *பூமி மற்றும் ரத்தம் சம்பந்தபட்ட கிரகமான செவ்வாயின் கதிர்வீச்சு இந்த பூமிக்கு சீராக கிடைத்தால் இந்த பூமிக்கு சுபிட்சம் கிடைக்கும்* என்று எண்ணினார் என்றும் அதன் விளைவாகத்தான் தண்டாயுதபாணி சிலை நிர்மாணம் என்று சொன்னோம். ஏனெனில் இந்த பூமியில் நடக்கும் இயற்கை மாற்றங்கள், போர் மற்றும் உடல் ஆரோக்கியம் என்பது செவ்வாயின் கதிர்வீச்சை பொறுத்தே தான் அமைகிறது .ஏனெனில் செவ்வாய் தான் அதற்கு அதிகாரி போல். அதனால் தான் அதனை சீர் செய்வதன் மூலம் பூமிக்கு நன்மைகள் செய்ய முடியும் என எண்ணினார்.

உலகம் எங்கும் சுற்றி ஆய்வு செய்து பார்த்ததில் செவ்வாயின் கதிர்வீச்சு பூமியில் வைத்தீஸ்வரன் கோவில் மற்றும் பழனி தலத்தில் மட்டுமே அதிகமாக விழுகிறது என்பதை கண்டறிந்தார். இந்த இரண்டு தலத்திலும் பழனி மலையின் மேல் பகுதியில் மட்டும் சுமார் 95 சதவீதற்கும் மேலாக விழுவதை கண்டுணர்ந்தார். அதன் பின்னர் தான் அணைத்து சித்தர் பெருமக்களையும் கூட்டி செவ்வாயின் கதிர்வீச்சை செம்மை படுத்த என்ன செய்யலாம் என ஆலோசனை செய்தார்.

அந்த ஆராய்ச்சியின் முடிவில் தான் இந்த யோசனை அவர்களுக்கு உதித்தது. பாஷாணங்கள் மொத்தம் 64 . இதில் இயற்கையாக 32 ம் செயற்கையாக 32 பூமியில் கிடைக்கிறது. அதில் அவர்கள் எடுத்ததோ வெறும் ஒன்பதை மட்டுமே. அந்த ஒன்பதிலும் 4448 மூலிகைகளின் சாரம் அடங்கியுள்ளது. 81 வகை உபரேஷன்களின் தன்மை அதில் அடங்கி உள்ளது.

இந்த ஒன்பது வகையான பாஷாணங்கள் தனித்தன்மைகள் ஆராயப்பட்டன. ஒவ்வொரு பாசனத்தில் அளவுகள் தீர்மானிக்கப்பட்டன. செய்யப்போகும் முறைகள் தீர்மானிக்கப்பட்டன. இத்தனைவிதமான மாபெரும் ஆய்வுகளுக்கு பின்னரே அந்த சிலை நிர்மாணம் செய்யப்பட்டது.

ஒன்பது பாஷாணங்களும் அதன் விகிதாச்சாரப்படி கலக்கும்போது அது செவ்வாயின் கதிர்வீச்சை அப்படியே உள்வாங்கும் திறனை பெரும் அளவிற்கு செய்யப்பட்டது. சிலை மொத்தம் மூன்று அடுக்குகளை கொண்டு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது. *மேலடுக்கு செவ்வாயின் கதிர்வீச்சை ஈர்க்கும் விதமாகவும் அதன் அடுத்த அடுக்கு அதை கடத்தி உள்ளே கொண்டு செல்லும் விதமாகவும் உள் அடுக்கானது அதை சேமிக்கும் விதமாகவும்* உருவாக்கினார்கள். மேலும் அதிசயமாக அது கதிர்வீச்சின் தன்மையை சீர்படுத்தி வெளியற்றவும் செய்தது.

இதன் அடிப்படை தத்துவம் எளிதாக சொல்வதானால் செல்போன் டவர். அது எவ்வாறு வெளியில் இருந்து அலைகளை பெற்று நமக்கு கிடைக்க செய்கிறதோ அந்த சூத்திரம் தான்.

*தான் கற்றுணர்ந்த வித்தைகளை மொத்தம் தன் குருவிற்கு பெருமை சேர்க்கும் விதமாக இந்த சிலை செய்வதற்காக போகர் பயன்படுத்தினார் என்று சொன்னாலும் மிகை ஆகாது.*

சிலை செய்து முடித்தபின்னர் தன்னுடைய ஜீவசக்தியை கொண்டு பிராண பிரதிஷ்டையும் செய்தார். தற்போது அந்த சிலை நூறு சதவீதம் செவ்வாயின் கதிர்வீச்சை உள்வாங்கும் receiver ஆகவே மாறிவிட்டது. ஒழுங்கில்லாமல் வரும் கதிரலைகளை ஒழுங்கு படுத்தி வெளியேற்ற ஆரம்பித்தது.போகர் சாதனையும் நிறைவேறியது.

ஒரு ஆச்சரியமான உண்மை என்னவெனில் இந்த தண்டாயுதபாணி சிலை ஒன்று தான் இந்த உலகிற்கே பாதுகாவல் என்று சொன்னால் நம்பமுடியுமா? ஆனால் அதுதான் உண்மை. ஒருவேளை இந்த சிலை அமையாமல் போயிருந்தால் இந்த பூமி என்றோ தன்னுடைய அழிவை சந்தித்திருக்கும். இயற்கை பேரழிவுகள் போர்கள் என்று இந்த பூமி மிகவும் மோசமான நிலையில் இருப்பதாக சொல்கிறோமோ ஒருவேளை இந்த சிலை பிரதிஷ்டை ஆகவில்லை எனில் அப்போது இந்த பூமியின் நிலையை நம்மால் யோசிக்க கூட முடியாது.

- *சித்தர்களின் குரல்.*

நமசிவாய வாழ்க 🙏 சிவமே ஜெயம் சிவமே தவம். எங்கும் சிவ நாமம் ஒலிக்கட்டும்

அகிலம் காக்கும் அண்ணாமலையார் மலர் பாதம் சரணம்

அப்பனே அருணாச்சலா உன் பொற் கழல் பின்பற்றி 🦜🦜🦜

Since all sentient beings want [or like] to be always happy without what is called misery, since for everyone the greatest love is only for oneself, and since happiness alone is the cause for love, [in order] to obtain that happiness, which is one's own nature, which one experiences daily in [dreamless] sleep, which is devoid of mind, oneself knowing oneself is necessary. For that, jñāna-vicāra [awareness-investigation] called 'who am l' alone is the principal means.

Sri Ramana Maharshi
(Nāṉ Yār?)
(Who am I?)

Question : What justification do we have for imagining that the source of all change must be unchanging?

Bhagavan : It is not mere thinking or imagining that the 'I' is unchanging. It is a fact of which everyone is aware.
The 'I' exists in sleep when all the changing things do not exist.
It exists in dreams and in waking. The 'I' remains changeless in all these states while other things come and go.

Question : But why should these things, that is the world, appear?

Bhagavan : To whom does it appear? You see and so the world exists.
Does it exist independently of the seer?
Does it (the world) come and tell you, 'I exist'?
What proof is there of its existence except that you say you see or perceive it?

- Day by Day with Bhagavan, 15th June 1946

Welcome to this page, devoted to first booklet Original Teachings of :

Sri Ramana Maharshi - Who Am I?

Introduction ;
Who am I? is the title given to a set of questions and answers
bearing on Self-enquiry.

The questions were put to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi
by Sri M. Sivaprakasam Pillai, about the year 1902.

Sri Pillai, a graduate in philosophy, was at the time employed in
the Revenue Department of the South Arcot Collectorate.
During his visit to Tiruvannamalai in 1902 on official work,
he went to Virupaksha Cave on Arunachala Hill
and met the Maharshi there.
He sought from him spiritual guidance and solicited answers
to questions relating to Self-enquiry. As Bhagavan was not talking then,
not because of any vow he had taken but because he did not have the inclination to talk, he answered questions put to him by writing.
As recollected and recorded by Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai,
there were thirteen questions and answers to them given by Bhagavan.
This record was first published by Sri Pillai in 1923 (in the original Tamil),
along with a couple of poems composed by himself
relating how Bhagavan’s grace operated in his case by dispelling his doubts and by saving him from a crisis in life.

Who am I? has been published several times subsequently.
We find thirteen questions and answers in some editions
and twenty-eight in others.
There is also another published version in which the questions
are not given, and the teachings are rearranged in the form of an essay.
The extant English translation is of this essay.
The present rendering is
of the text in the form of twenty-eight questions and answers.

Along with Vicharasangraham (Self-Enquiry),
Nan Yar (Who am I?) constitutes the first set of instructions
in the Master’s own words.
These two are the only prose pieces among Bhagavan’s works.
They clearly set forth the central teaching
that the direct path to liberation
is Self-enquiry.

The particular mode in which the enquiry is to be made
is lucidly set forth in Nan Yar.
The mind consists of thoughts.
The “I”-thought is the first to arise in the mind.
When the enquiry “Who am I?” is persistently pursued,
all other thoughts get destroyed,
and finally the “I”-thought itself vanishes
leaving the supreme non-dual Self alone.

The false identification of the Self with the phenomena of non-self
such as the body and mind, thus ends, and there is illumination,
sakshatkara.

The process of enquiry, of course, is not an easy one.
As one enquires “Who am I?”, other thoughts will arise;
but as these arise, one should not yield to them by following them;
on the contrary, one should ask, “To whom do they arise?”

In order to do this, one has to be extremely vigilant.
Through constant enquiry one should make the mind stay in its source,
without allowing it to wander away and get lost
in the mazes of thought created by itself.

All other disciplines such as breath-control
and meditation on the forms of God
should be regarded as auxiliary practices.

They are useful so far as they help the mind
to become quiescent and one-pointed.
For the mind that has gained skill in concentration
Self-enquiry becomes comparatively easy.

It is by ceaseless enquiry
that the thoughts are destroyed and the Self realised

– the plenary Reality in which there is not even the “I” thought,
the experience which is referred to as “Silence”.

This, in substance,
is Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi’s teachings in Nan Yar (Who am I?).

T.M.P. Mahadevan
University of Madras
June 30, 1982

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On this page the text is put into 30 pictures
for easy understanding / sharing :
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A PDF file of this text can be freely downloaded
at the official website of Sri Ramanasramam, India :http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/downloadbooks/whoami_all_languages/Who_Am_I_English.pdf

Also the same text can be downloaded in 35 languages :
https://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/resource_centre/publications/who-am-i-books?fbclid=IwAR0zSZ0bmlTLLvBMGIL2Ytc2LI5Dgs9dnMfTLTo0Aqq3hyKnlfC8NhPmexg

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Om Namo Bhagavathe Sri Ramanaya

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