Ramana Maharishi 

Early Life

On 30th December 1879 a child named Venkataraman was born to Sundaram Aiyar (father) and Alagammal (Mother) in the village of Tiruchuli, 30 miles south of Madurai, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in India. This boy was destined to be later called as the sage Ramana Maharshi. 

However growing up there was nothing unusual or distinctive about the boy. He grew up like any other kid and went to school like other kids of his age. At the age of 12 his father died and this required the family to move from the village into the town of Madurai to be with a paternal uncle.

Though highly intelligent and blessed with a powerful memory, he was an indifferent student with nothing notable about his academic performance. He was a strong and healthy lad and his classmates were afraid of his strength. No one dare mess with him. The only notable thing about this lad was that he had an unusually deep sleep. He could be carried in his sleep, or even mishandled, without his waking up or his sleep being disturbed.

One day a relative was visiting when Venkataraman was about 16 years old. When he learnt that his relative was from a place called “Arunachala” it was as if the name cast a spell on him. This was the first time Venkataraman realized that he had some kind of connection with this place called Arunachala.

Shortly after this incident Venkataraman came across some religious texts that aroused his intense curiosity and excitement. It was as if these texts awakened within him his deeper spiritual tendencies.

His First Self Awakening Experience

One day in 1986 when he was not quite seventeen, and was sitting alone on the second floor of his uncle’s house, when a sudden and overwhelming fear of death came over him. He was sure he was going to die. The feeling of his imminent demise however did not unnerve him. He calmly lay on the ground and stretched out his limbs, holding them stiff, as if rigor-mortis had set in. A wave of realization soon hit him and he came to a deep realization that he was not his mind-body. The fear of death vanished forever from his life. Venkataraman found that from now on he was on a higher spiritual plane than normal and his life was forever changed. Somehow Venkataraman had stumbled into a kind of “self-awakening”, a process that normally is difficult for most of us even under the guidance of an expert Guru. From now on nothing that he had valued earlier mattered. School, friends, relatives, nothing of this mattered to him anymore. All he was concerned about was all things spiritual. He would go to the temple everyday and be so moved by the images of saints and gods that tears would flow freely. He now avoided company and instead preferred to sit alone and meditate.

His decision to become a Renunciate

His older brother noticed these changes and was concerned. He chided Venkataraman to pay attention to his studies. One day, about 6 weeks from his experience, he was working on some homework and he suddenly realized the futility of what he was doing and threw away his books and paper and began meditating. His brother saw this and rebuked him. This was a turning point and Venkataraman decided then to leave home and become a renunciate.

He finally admitted to himself that there was no use pretending to study and be his old self and carry on a fruitless charade. It was immediately apparent to him that he should go to Arunachala though he had no idea where this place was or how to get there. He looked up an old atlas in the house and determined the nearest station to Arunachala. His opportunity came when he was given 5 rupees for his college fee. Calculating that he only needed 3 rupees he left the balance with a note in a place where it would be found and quietly left his home. He did not want his family members to know where he was going and his note did not mention his destination.

Reaching Arunachala

As he started out, he decided to wait till noon to get his food and then embark on his walk. After having his food he proffered payment but the restaurant owner refused to accept the money when he realized that that was all the money he had. It was from the restaurant owner that he learnt that he should go back to the station and get on a train that would take him to a closer point to Arunachala. He went back to the station and purchased a ticket to a station in the direction of his destination with all the money he had left. When he reached this place he set out to walk towards Arunachala and after walking about 10 miles he saw a temple built on a large rock. He entered the temple as soon as the gates were opened and sat down in the pillared hall. Here he had a vision and a bright light enveloped him. After the vision faded he continued to sit in meditation till he was roused by the temple priests who had to lock the doors and go to another temple. Venkataraman followed the priests to the next temple and once again got lost in meditation. After finishing their duties the priests once again asked Venkataraman to leave but they offered him no food. The temple drummer saw the rude behavior of the priests and gave his share of food to this strange boy.

Beginning of His Spiritual Journey

He stayed overnight at the temple and the next morning he got the thought of disposing off his gold earrings to raise the money to buy food and fare to the station that would take him closer to Arunachala. He went to the nearest house and gave up his earrings in return of money. He walked back to the station and purchased his ticket only to realize that the train was due next morning. He slept in at the station and boarded the train next morning. He reached his destination a short while later and he hastened to Arunachala reaching the more than 1000 year old “Great Temple of Arunachala” with its 1000 pillared hall. He found the temple completely deserted and even the priests were missing. As he entered the temple, all the gates spontaneously opened for him including the doors to the inner sanctum. He entered the inner sanctum and embraced the lingam and experienced great ecstasy and joy. A strong internal burning sensation that had been part of his experience since his self-awakening dissipated and melted away when he touched the lingam. He had reached home.

Venkataraman was never initiated into a formal order of monkhood. As he exited the temple someone called out to him and asked if he wanted to have the hair on his head shaved off. He consented readily and was directed towards the barber. He then stood on the steps of a nearby tank and threw away in the water his remaining money, the food he had, and all his clothes. He stood there utterly naked and happy knowing that this was the start of a new life for him. An epic spiritual journey was about to begin.

A new Journey

Once he arrived in Arunachala, Venkataraman completely lost all interest in worldly affairs. He sat in deep meditation in the hall of thousand pillars for long periods. He maintained complete silence and felt no urge to speak to anybody. Soon he moved to a remote location in the basement of the temple so that he would not be disturbed. He spent days in meditation and was absorbed in such deep Samadhi that he was unaware of the bites of vermin and pests.

A local eccentric saint discovered him and took upon himself to protect and feed him. After about 6 weeks in the underground basement the eccentric saint had his devotee carry Venkataraman out and clean him up. He personally cleaned Venkataraman’s blood oozing wounds and revealed Venkataraman as a saint to the world. It seems it was the destiny of Venkataraman to stay alive and fulfill a larger mission. That is why people around him felt compelled to take care of him. Absent this, he would have probably died of physical neglect.

His Rapid Fame

Things started looking better for the young saint. He was being looked after and fed and had some place to stay. Someone provided him with a loincloth that he began wearing. Venkataraman spent most of his time in meditation and maintained complete silence. At this point he was referred to as Brahmana Swami. (Someone who is absorbed in Brahma.) Soon a person by the name Palaniswami came to see Venkataraman and just the sight of this boy absorbed in meditation filled him with peace and bliss. From that moment onwards he became a disciple and a permanent attendant. He would go out beg for food, do the cooking and cleaning, and stand guard when Venkataraman was in deep meditation, which was most of the time. Slowly the fame of this boy-saint spread and people started visiting him.

After about 2 years of his stay in Arunachala word also reached his family about his whereabouts. Soon his mother and brother arrived to try and convince him to return home. They could not even get him to give a response. Finally somebody requested him to at least write a response out and Venkataraman complied. His reply implied that it was his destiny to stay here and not return home. This saddened his mother and brother and they returned back empty handed.

His meditation in caves

Next year Venkataraman decided to move up the hill into its various caves. They spent the next 17 years in a cave called Virupaksha and another 6 years in a cave by the name Skandasramam. For the first three of four years after his arrival in Arunachala he remained in Samadhi for long periods. He rarely ate and portions of his body began to rot. Portions of his legs had open festering sores, but this did not seem to bother him. When he would open his eyes after meditation he would have no idea how long he had been meditating. He would get up and if he found his legs not to be too wobbly then he concluded that his meditation had gone on for just a few days. If his legs buckled and he was unable to stand or walk then he concluded that his Samadhi had gone on longer, maybe weeks. Many times when he opened his eyes he would find himself in a new place and have no idea that he had been carried from one place to another while meditating.

His Recognition

In 1903 about 7 years after his arrival in Arunachala and 4 years after he moved into the Virupaksha cave a renowned scholar by the name Ganapati Sastri visited him. What he saw impressed him and he continued to pay occasional visits to Venkataraman for the next few years. But in 1907 he was assailed by grave doubts about the spiritual progress he was making. Such was his anxiety that he immediately proceeded to Arunachala and ran up the hill to Venkataraman’s cave and prostrated before him saying, “All that has to be read, I have read. Even Vedanta Sastra I have fully understood. I have done japa (japa is usually translated to “repetitive chanting”) to my heart’s content; yet I have up to this time not understood what tapas is. Therefore I have sought refuge at your feet. Pray enlighten me as to the nature of tapas.” (Tapas is usually translated as “austerity”.)

Venkataraman replied, “If one watches whence the notion “I” arises, the mind gets absorbed there; that is tapas. When a mantra is repeated, if one watches whence the mantra sound arises, the mind gets absorbed there; that is tapas.”

When Ganapati Sastri heard this reply it was as if the veil of ignorance had been lifted. He was awestruck and he felt enveloped by the grace of the presence of Venkataraman. He found the answer revelatory as it explained the practice of Tapas in yogic terms, rather than defining it as some sort of denial or ritual. Ganapati Sastri immediately proclaimed that from now on Venkataraman who was being referred to as Brahmana Swami would be known as Sri Ramana Maharshi.

Becoming famous among Westerners

Ramana is now in his 30’s and has reached a spiritual state where he is freed from the burden of having to meditate all the time to remain in divine communion. His ability to talk and interact with people, and his total access causes Ramana Maharshi’s fame to spread. The flow of disciples slowly grew from a small trickle to a steady flow. Many of these came from the west. A few of his devotees from the west wrote books about him or mentioned him in their books and the resulting fame further increased the flow of devotees. Throughout his life Ramana Maharshi never called attention towards himself nor did he ask for or allow anybody else to collect money in his name. Anybody could come and see him at any time, including late at night. He was totally accessible at all times.

His Last Years

At the age of 69, in late 1948, a tiny cancerous lump was found on Ramana Maharshi’s arm and was removed by a doctor. Next year more lumps appeared and were removed. The doctors were alarmed at the rapid spread of the cancer and recommended amputation of the arm to the shoulder but he refused. By early 1950 he was quite weak and in considerable pain. Many of his devotees begged him to cure himself by using his considerable spiritual powers, but he refused. His usual reply was, “Why are you so attached to this body? Let it go!”

On the evening of 14th April 1950 the end was near. At about 5 pm he asked help to be seated. Devotees began praying and chanting while Ramana Maharshi seemed in peace and joy. An attempt to administer artificial respiration was waved away by him. Slowly his breathing became slower and slower and at 8.47 pm it subsided completely.

Yogananda Paramahansa Meeting Ramana Maharshi

In November of 1935 Paramahamsa Yogananda visited Ramana Maharshi. In the ensuing conversation Yogananda asked Ramana, “Why so much suffering?” The reply he got, “What suffers?” Yogananda was silent and did not reply. He immediately understood that it was the ego that was suffering and not our deeper Self. The deeper Self was always in bliss and the only reason we may not be aware of this is because of the obstruction created by the ego. Ramana Maharshi was not trying to minimize or trivialize suffering. All he was doing is try and point out the root of suffering. It is because of the unfullfilled desires of the ego that we take birth with a mind-body system and we are bound to suffer physical afflictions and other sufferings arising from a mortal existence. Ramana Maharshi was the foremost non-dualist of modern times. His life was an example of what an egoless being should look like and his teachings were always aimed at the idea of realizing the Self to end suffering.