Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma

(198) FAITH

Prev Next    27th July, 1948
This morning at 8 o’clock one of the ardent devotees
brought the Tamil note book written by Bhagavan and gave
it to him. Bhagavan showed the verses he required, turned
over some of the pages, showed some more verses and
explained their meaning. I could not hear him and so looked
at him enquiringly. Noticing it Bhagavan said loudly, “Some
time ago, Muruganar wrote two verses in Tamil in praise of
Vishnu. One is a Kayikam (pertaining to the body) and the
other is a Vachikam (pertaining to the word of mouth). The
gist of those verses is:
‘1. Swami, you took the Varaha Avatar (The Boar
Incarnation), lifted the earth which was submerged in water
and saved the people. How could I, one of the inhabitants of
the earth, praise you suitably for the great good you have
done me?’
‘2. The world was one great ocean (Ekarnavam) when
the devatas prayed to you to save them. You then took the
shape of a hamsa (swan) and when with both wings fanned
the water, the water gave way and the earth came out of it.

For what you have done for us, how can I sufficiently praise
you?’
“This is the purport.

“After writing those two verses he insisted on my writing
the third one Manasikam (pertaining to the mind). So I could
not help writing it. It was only then that I wrote the verse,
the purport of which is:
‘O Swami, to relieve the burden of the earth, you took
the avatar of Krishna and by your teaching through the Gita,
like, “whenever there is decline of righteousness,” “for the
protection of the virtuous”* you assured us that you would
have several other incarnations. To praise such a Lord and
his various forms, who am I?’
“These words of praise or ‘Who am I?’ have several
meanings and could be interpreted in different ways by
different people. I wrote this verse on Vishnu mainly on
Muruganar’s insistence. He wrote Kayikam and Vachikam and
said that Bhagavan alone should write the Manasikam. What
could I do?”
I said, “Who else could possibly write the Manasikam?”
Looking at a gentleman sitting opposite, Bhagavan said,
“Look, that Krishnaswami Iyer wrote a commentary on
Bhagavad Gita, attached a picture of Krishna on the front
page of the manuscript and pressed me to write something
underneath. Then I wrote the verse ‘Parthan Therinal’ (in
Tamil) and then changed it into a sloka in Sanskrit reading:
pawRsariwêpe[ ïaviyTva zuÉa< igrm!,
pawRSyaitRhrae dev> k«pamUitR Ss patu n>.

As the Charioteer of Partha (Arjuna), the Lord gave him
the divine teaching. May He, who is compassion incarnate
and who resolved the distress of Arjuna, protect us!
“It is found in Bhagavad Gita Ratnamalika. These are
the only two I have written in praise of Vishnu and I had to
write them under the above circumstances.”
- - -
* Gita, IV: 7 & 8


(c) Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi | Words of Bhagavan Ramana | Bhagavan Ramana Photos

Prev Next    TOC 197. A Poor Old Woman 198. Faith 199. Commentary on Sankara’s Atmabodha 200. Appropriate Teaching 201. Ardhanareeswara (A Form of Siva — Half Man and Half Woman) 202. Love of Animals 203. What is Happiness? 204. Where is the Swami? 205. Astrology 206. Life on the Hill 207. Playing with Children 208. Sadhu Sangam