Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

(79) OMKARAM–AKSHARAM

Prev Next 24th January, 1947
Recently, as I was returning home from the Ashram
one evening at about 5 p.m., I heard two young men having
some discussion between themselves. One of them said, “I
questioned Ramana Maharshi very boldly as to what remains
after the Omkaram is crossed. He was unable to reply and so
closed his eyes and slept. It is all a pose with him.”
Though, at the outset, I got angry at their speaking
disparagingly about my Guru, I subsequently felt amused at
their foolishness and said in a mild tone: “Sir, why do you
decry your elders? Do we know, first of all, what Omkaram is,
that we should venture to ask what remains after Omkaram?”
The young man replied, “I asked him only because I do not
know. Why should he not reply suitably?” I said, “Please do
not be impatient. If you ask him once again, with patience,
you will know.” They went away that day, but were present
in the hall the next day. Unexpectedly, some one else
questioned Bhagavan thus: “Swamiji, it is said that Akara,
Ukara, Makaras make up Omkaram. What is the meaning of
these three letters? What is the embodiment of Omkaram?”
Bhagavan replied: “Omkaram itself is Brahman. That
Brahman is the nameless and formless pure SAT. It is that
that is called Omkaram. Akara, Ukara, Makara or Sat, Chit,
Ananda — any three of these two groups is Brahman.

Omkaram which is beyond the speech or the mind and which
can only be experienced, cannot be described by word of
mouth — one cannot say what its swarupa (shape) is.” This
reply also served to clear the doubts of the two youths who
questioned him yesterday evening.

Similarly, someone or other used to ask Bhagavan, now
and then, “What is the form of Akshara? What does it look
like? How can we know it?” Bhagavan’s reply to all such
questions was: “In accordance with the saying in the Gita,
‘aksharam brahma paramam’, ‘that which is supreme and
permanent is the form of Akshara’. As for the question how
we can know it, the SELF is Akshara. That which is
indestructible is Aksharam. How to know it? That question
should arise only if Akshara were different from the Self. But
the two are not different, but only one. That which is, is only
one. That is SAT. That SAT is SELF; there is nothing else
other than the Self. The proper thing to do is to enquire
and know who the Self is and to remain in the Self.

Prev Next TOC 78. Andavane 79. Omkaram–Aksharam 80. Anecdotes Regarding Life at Virupaksha Cave 81. Siva Bhakta Sundaramurti 82. Sundaramurti’s Bond of Servitude 83. Nature 84. Who is Ramana? 85. Dravida Sisuhu 86. Jnana Sambandhamurthy 87. Divine Force 88. Sleep and the Real State 89. The Incarnation of Sri Dakshinamurthy