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The Hindu

Ramana Maharishi

It is universally acknowledged that one is blessed to view the sight of devotees streaming into Pandharpur on Ashada Ekadasi. It is a clear, crystalline display of deep devotion. Sage Narada, widely held to be the guru of bhakti, was once asked what is bhakti and he said, 'The nature of bhakti is indefinable, one that cannot be described.' It is that love of God, that premam, which one cannot understand, unless it is manifested through a devotee, said Ramanacharana Tirtha Swami (Nochur). In his Saundarya Lahiri, Adi Sankara, speaking on how to see Siva through the heart of a devotee, says He is seen as the fruit of all the spiritual practices in, of and by a devotee. One cannot see the electricity that powers a bulb to burn, but can experience the light; similarly, one cannot see, but none can miss the devotee whose heart is in inundation (Lahiri); this ecstasy can only be experienced, something that countless devotees felt when in the presence of Ramana Maharishi. One can read tomes of articles on the life and teachings of Ramana Maharishi, but that would only be like the tip of the proverbial iceberg. His devotees maintain to this day that the saint who made Tiruvannamalai his home was not something you experienced with mere eyes. It is something that comes from the heart. People who saw him, simply absorbed him. Those who came to question him fell silent in his presence, doubts forgotten, experiencing a never before calmness. Seeing him seated in his abode, like burnished gold, he seemed like Arunchaleswara to his devotees. Unlike Buddha, Ramana Maharishi's life did not have a riveting arc, making it one for the greatest renunciation stories; on the contrary, Ramana Maharishi, sitting in a small room in Madurai, thought he was going to die. That led to the question, Who is going to die, what happens when my body is burnt. He felt the full force of consciousness (I am atma); it happened in a few minutes: this is gnana made very simple. He let go of desire and with the alignment of bhakti, vairagya and gnanam, he experienced God. He was not a scholar, but the call of Arunachala drew him to Tiruvannamalai, where he experienced a tsunami of love: the deity kept him on his lap, so to speak.