Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

Is he who is in the waking state not in the sleeping state, as
well? Are you now in Atmakaravritti or in the Brahmakaravritti?
First tell me that.”
“Swamiji! I am not enquiring about myself, but about
the Jnani,” said the questioner. “Oh! Is that so? That is all
right, but you who are asking the question, first know about
yourself. The Jnanis can look after themselves. We do not
know about ourselves but we enquire about Jnanis. What
does it matter to us whether they are in Atmakaravritti or in
Brahmakaravritti? If we know about ourselves, the question
about them does not arise,” replied Bhagavan. “Swamiji, this
question is not my own, but is sent to me by a friend,” said
the questioner.

“Indeed?” said Bhagavan, “Friends have asked the
question. What are we to reply? When we say vritti, duality
is implied, isn’t it? But that which IS, is only one. The
question then arises, ‘Without the consciousness of the
Supreme Being, how can there be any movement from the
past to the present and the future? That is why we have to
call it by some name or other, such as Akhandakaravritti
(Akhanda — limitless) or Atmakaravritti or Brahmakaravritti,
just as we say that the river is Samudrakara (the shape of the
ocean). All rivers fall into the ocean, get merged, lose shape
and become one with the ocean. That being so, what is the
meaning of saying of the river that it is Samudrakara? Has
the ocean any shape, such as so much depth and so much
width? In the same way, people merely say that the Jnani
has Akhandakaravritti or Atmakaravritti but, in reality, it is all
one. All these are merely replies to questioners, but in the
eyes of the Jnani the whole thing is only ONE.”
“Have the Brahmavid, Brahmavidvara, Brahmavidvareeya and
Brahmavidvarishta and others all got a satvic mind?” some
one else asked. “It is all the same whether you say
Brahmavidvarishta, Brahmavid or Brahman itself” Bhagavan
replied. “Like Brahman means Brahman itself. We shall have
to say that the above four have satvic minds in common
parlance but, in fact, there is no such thing as mind for them.

Vasanas themselves are the mind. If there are no vasanas there
is no mind. That which IS, is Sat. Sat is Brahman. That is
self-luminous. That is Atman, and that is the SELF. Names
like Brahmavid, Brahmavidvareeya, Brahmavidvarishta are given
to those men of wisdom who, by Self-enquiry, realise the Truth
and remain firmly in that Knowledge of the SELF. The day to
day actions are said to be in Atmakaravritti or Akhandakaravritti.”