RAMANA: AMANA AND SUMANA

By Ra. Ganapati

WAS Ramana only amana, mindless? Did he not manifest to
our human view the best and most beautiful of minds? Did
not the supreme Parasakti manifest through this Parabrahman
the very cream of a good, noble, virtuous and loving mind?
Himself transcending dharma ^[?], did not every act and every
word of his reveal dharma? If Rama, who averred atmanam
manusham manye (I consider myself only a human being),
personified all the noble traits of man in the Tretayuga, it was
Ramana who was ever-steeped in Atman-Consciousness,
without a trace of identification with his human habiliment,
who embodied the perfect man in the Kaliyuga. Why not write
a Ramanayana about this Sumana?

If as sky -- dahara antarakasa -- he is beyond words, as
the sea of virtues too -- sakala guna sagara -- he beggars
description. His sky-like silence silences our mouths and
minds. The variegated waves of his oceanic music, with its
different swaras pitched to the adhara sruti of goodness, also
baffles and stills our puny words and thoughts. Amana or
sumana, either way he is anirvachaniya -- indescribable; that
was Sankara's word for maya ^[?]. Strangely, that is also the apt
expression for the sage who was utterly untouched by maya ^[?].
Other sages retained a small dash of maya ^[?] for our edification.
But even the motive of edifying others was absent in Ramana.

Remembering him, in Ramana smaranam we experience
the Amana's peace and the Sumana's love -- and enjoy the
sweetness of a melody unheard.

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