Compassion was his watchword

Ramana Maharshi's life was one of simplicity, service and goodwill. On the occasion of the birth anniversary which falls on December 30, A. DEVA RAJU touches upon significant aspects of the great sage's life.

READING THE life sketch of a great saint like Ramana Maharshi who had devoted his entire life to propagate peace and serenity, is like going through the great epic Bhagavad Gita once again to attain peace and mental harmony. One will certainly realise the real value and significance of life if one turns some pages of Sri Ramana's life history.

First of all, let us ponder over a saying of Ramana Maharshi ``True humanity lies not in returning violence for violence, but in forgiveness''. What valuable words! The understanding and importance of the true meaning of this saying is more useful today than ever before since there is hardly any place for patience and peace in most of the present day youth. If one cultivates forgiveness in one's life, one leads a peaceful and purposeful life.

Ramana Maharshi was born on December 30, 1879, in a small village near Madurai in Tamil Nadu. His parents, Sundaram Iyer and Alagammal, had three sons, and Venkataramana, who became Ramana Maharshi later, was the second. Venkataramana had his schooling in his native village and his high school education in Madurai. When he was in his teens, Venkataramana lost his father. He, along with his mother, moved to his uncle's house in Madurai.

One day a guest came to his uncle's house from Arunachala. When Venkataramana heard that the guest was from Arunachala, he became very enthusiastic to know more details about the place. Venkataramana was so impressed that he made up his mind to visit it somehow. His firm and curious mind took him to the holy place. Though he did not have enough money to meet the travel fare to Arunachala, he left the house, leaving a small note saying ``I have left to see the Father. Nobody should worry about me. No money needs to be spent to search for me. No one should try to find me''.

He left for Arunachala by train. Since he did not have enough money for his travel, he had to get down in the middle and then walk a long distance. Finally, he had to mortgage his earrings to fetch some more money to continue his journey. He ultimately reached the Arunachalaleswara temple in Thiruvannamalai. His joy knew no bounds when he saw the holy place. Days rolled by and he became a sanyasi at the sacred place. His meditation and prayers were intense. Questions such as what would happen to the Atman after the death of the body and is the Atman also subject to death like that of the body, or is it immortal, came to his mind.

Venkataramana offered solutions to people's problems patiently and relieved them of their sufferings. The number of people visiting him with difficulties and sorrows grew every day. People who came to visit the Arunachala shrine came to pay homage to the sanyasi without fail.

A mother's agony

The efforts made by Venkataramana's mother and his relatives to bring him back from Arunachala were in vain. His mother herself went to Tiruvannamalai. Though Venkataramana saw his mother he did not utter a single word. She wept bitterly but Venkataramana was calm. After having watched this touching scene, a visitor asked Venkataramana to write on a piece of paper what his intention was and he wrote like this. ``Everyone has to work according to `Prarabdha karma'. However much one may strive, what cannot happen will not happen. In the same way, however much one may resist, what has to happen will happen. Therefore, the one and only way open to every person is to carry on with his duty''.

Once a Sanskrit scholar by name Ganapathy Sastry came to Tiruvannamalai. He was famous as ``Ganapathy Muni'' because of his rich knowledge. He stayed with Ramana for some time and discussed many things. He was astonished at Ramana's abundant knowledge. Many of his doubts got clarified. It was Ganapathy Muni, who gave this young sanyasin the title Maharshi. He also wrote hymns in Sanskrit praising Ramana Maharshi and wrote a book ``Ramana Gita'' explaining his teachings.

A Westerner, F. H. Jumphry, became a staunch disciple of Ramana Maharshi. He had been directed by Ganapathy Muni to visit Ramana. Ramana cleared many of his doubts and suggested ways to attain peace of mind. He visited Ramana as long as he was on duty in Madras.

Jumphry described Ramana Maharshi thus: ``The smile of Ramana Maharshi is exceedingly beautiful. No one can imagine anything more beautiful. It is a sweet and joyous experience to be in his presence even for a while''.

After some years, his mother unfortunately lost her eldest son. With agony, she went to Tiruvannamalai with her third son and soon fell ill. Ramana nursed his mother and prayed to Lord Arunachaleswara for her speedy recovery. When she regained her health she and her youngest son decided to stay with Ramana Maharshi at Thiruvannamalai. She took charge of the cooking in the ashram. His younger brother also took sanyas and stayed there. He was called ``Chinna Swami''. Ultimately, his mother passed away in May, 1922.

Ramana Maharshi was an embodiment of love and compassion. He was not only sympathetic towards the poor and needy but also towards those who were in sorrow. He showed care, concern and pity even towards birds and animals. His attachment for animals was such that whenever an animal or a bird died, the last rites were performed in all earnestness in his ashram.

Ramana Maharshi led a very simple life. He only pitied those who were evil. His conviction was that ``the wise should not punish bad people but should correct them through gentle persuasion''. Ramana's constant teaching to his devotees was that the way to cleanse the mind of its impurities was meditation. According to him ``the mind becomes pure by thinking over and over again about the source of evils''.

We have seen and heard disciples serving gurus. In Ramana Maharshi's case it was he who served his disciples. He used to go into the kitchen everyday at 2 a.m., in the morning to help in the kitchen work.In his last days, Ramana Maharshi fell ill. In spite of a group of doctors attending on him, he did not recover. When people from far and near flocked to the ashram to have the last darshan of Ramana Maharshi. He said to them ``Every one who is born must die. The body is not the soul. Therefore nobody needs to feel miserable for the death of the body''. Ramana Maharshi breathed his last on April 29, 1950.

Ramana's writings

Ramana Maharshi was not a scholar but scholars went to him to have their doubts clarified. Scholars were astonished at the beauty of his poetry.Ramana Maharshi did not write many books. But whatever he wrote was for his devotees and at their request.

He translated Sankaracharya's ``Viveka Choodamani'' into Tamil. He wrote much in Tamil and was well-versed in Sanskrit, Telugu and Malayalam languages also.An ashram was built for Ramana Maharshi by his own disciples who had come to stay with him. They named it ``Ramanashram''. It was the uniqueness of Ramana Maharshi that he was available for all devotees throughout the day.

No permission was needed to see him and there were no special darshan timings.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : Wizardry with wood and cane