6. REBIRTH

ONE year passed by, life went on as usual. In 1895,
Nelliappa Iyer left Tiruchuzhi for Manamadurai
where he settled down as a secondry grade pleader. In the
summer of 1896 both Venkataraman and his brother
visited the place.

      In 1896, Nagaswami married Janaki Ammal. His in-
laws also lived in Madurai. Venkataraman was in his
seventeenth year and in his tenth standard, preparing for
the public examination. Though not quite studious he had
no fear of the examination. He enjoyed games which made
him robust and healthy. It was mid-July. One afternoon,
Venkataraman was lying in the first floor room when, for
no apparent reason, he had a sudden fright that he would
die; "I am dying," he thought. Years later, Bhagavan narrated
the experience in the following manner ?

"There was no reason for me to think like that. I did
not even know what that state was nor why I was afraid. It
did not occur to me that I should consult either a doctor or
some elders. The only problem for me was what death meant
and how it could be avoided. I resolved to solve it at once.
Death meant that the limbs stiffened, lips tightened, eyes
closed and breath stopped. By intense thinking, all this
came to be experienced. But neither memory nor awareness
disappeared. In other words, the sense organs ceased to
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operate externally and an inward look established itself.
Even if the body died, the sense of `I' did not go. The
consciousness of individuality was very much there. When
the body was taken to the graveyard and reduced to ashes
`I' did not perish because `I' was not the body.

"The body was inanimate and without knowledge
but I had knowledge. Therefore death was for the inanimate
body whereas `I' was imperishable and was consciousness.

"The knowledge one had when the body and senses
ceased to function was not the product of the senses. The
awareness of `I' was direct, self luminous and not a product
of any thought. The entity which survived death was
consciousness."

      Thus in a trice, Venkataraman had new knowledge.
Though the experience was described step by step, it
all happened in a flash. With neither the guidance of a
guru nor any abhyasa, did any other yogi obtain that
knowledge?

The Bhagavad Gita says:
manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati siddhaye!
Yatatam api siddhanam kascin mam vetti tattvatah (vii.3)
(Among thousands of men scarcely one strives for
perfection and of those who strive and succeed, scarcely
one knows Me in truth)
— Tr. Swami Chidbhavananda
That knowledge is unprecedented. Such a person is
born with a purpose, he is an avatar and a teacher.

      About the knowledge of the Atman, Katha Upanishad
says:

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Nayamatma pravacanena labhyo
na medhaya na bahuna srutena
Yamevaisa vrnute tena labhyah
tasyaisa atma vivrnute tanu svam-
(2.23)
(This Atman cannot be attained by study of the
scriptures, nor by sharp intellect, nor by much hearing;
by him is It attained whom It chooses — to him this Atman
reveals Its Own true form).

— Tr. Swami Rangananthananda
It is entirely appropriate that this miraculous event
should occur at the seat of the consort of Siva and the
source of all, Sakti Meenakshi. The Bhagavad Gita says
that para-prakriti sakti dispels all ignorance. Ramana became
Self aware by the grace of the divine power. Madurai is
reputed as the dvadasanta mahasthali. (the place of the
presiding Deity of the twelve sources of power, the chakras.)
By his direct perception Venkataraman had a re-birth
and by his knowledge he attained moksha ^[?] — simultaneously.
He realized he was the imperishable "Aham." All fear of
death left him.

      Much later Bhagavan was to say in Ulladu Narpadu
(Reality in Forty Verses), "When those who are in dread of
death seek refuge at the feet of the deathless, birthless
Lord Supreme, their Ego and Attachments die and they,
now deathless, think no more of death."

— Tr. K. Swaminathan