27. SRI RAMANA GITA
IN July 1917, Ganapati Muni and others sat near Bhagavan.During the course of his conversation, Ganapati Muni
informed Bhagavan that while he was at Mandasa, Ramanatha
Brahmachari had showed him a sloka "Hridaya kuhara
madhye' written by the Maharshi . The sloka means:
"In the interior of the Heart-cave Brahman alone
shines in the form of the Atman with direct immediacy as
I, I. Enter into the Heart with questing mind or by diving
deep within or through control of breath and abide in the
Atman''.1
This sloka arose in the following circumstances: In
1915, the Maharshi spent the rainy season at
Skandasramam. One day Jagadeesa Sastry, sat with a paper
in his hand which the Maharshi noticed and enquired
about. Sastry said "I have commenced writing a sloka. I
could compose only the first phrase but could not go any
further' Bhagavan took up the paper containing the phrase
"Hridaya kuhara madhye' (In the interior of the Heart
cave). Thereupon he completed the sloka.
By that time the Maharshi had not become proficient
in Sanskrit. But due to the constant company of Sanskrit
scholars like Ganapati Muni several Sanskrit words struck
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him during casual conversations as also when he was in
silence. Thus he picked up certain metres like `Arya' of
Sanskrit. Bhagavan expounded his philosophy in this
single sloka and bestowed a boon on the entire country.
All his earlier works were in Tamil. The time had come
for the light of Tamilnadu to become the light of India ?
but that was feasible only through Sanskrit. There was
also a need for a book in Sanskrit which was simple, clear
and easily intelligible to people who were not necessarily
scholarly. It also had to clear doubts which arose during
sadhana. This thought crossed the minds of all the disciples
present. They begged of the Maharshi to clear their doubts
and Ganapati Muni to encapsulate them in Sanskrit verses.
Both the Maharshi and the Muni assented.
In December 1913, Ganapati Muni stayed at
Virupaksha cave with Bhagavan. During the stay he got
certain doubts cleared by Bhagavan. He made that dialogue-
chapter 1 — of the proposed book. The second chapter was
woven round the sloka "Hridaya kuhara madhye''
Actually that was the only verse of Bhagavan's in the
entire book. The book was a compilation of the conversations
between Bhagavan and his disciples during the period July
1907 to 25 August 1917. It was named Ramana Gita.
Sri Ramana Gita appears to be a commentary on the
sloka "Hridaya kuhara madhye". The fifth, sixth, and
sixteenth chapters entitled respectively, Hridayavidya,
Manonigrahopaya and Bhakti make this plain. Sri Ramana
Gita is a Yogasastra supplementing the Bhagavad Gita. Also,
the book dispels the doubts of the seeker. In Sri Ramana
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Gita the names of the questioners are merely indicated by
their respective gotras. Here are some details:
Daivaratha: Gajanana, resident of Gokarna, he
compiled Vibhaktyashtakam in praise of Bhagavan.
Proficient in Vedas and a great devotee.
Bharadwaja (Karshi): Overseer Vaidhyanatha Iyer,
son of Krishna Ayyar.
Yoganatha Yatindra: Before taking to sannyasa [?] was
known as Sankaranarayana.
Kapali Sastry: Commentator of Sat-darsan (both in
English and Telugu), Arunachala Pancharatna, and Uma Sahasri
of Ganapati Muni. Author of the biography of his
guru Ganapati Muni, Vasishta Vaibhavam. He was for some
time employed as a teacher. Became a disciple of Ganapati
Muni, later of Sri Ramana and much later of Sri
Aurobindo. A good Sanskrit poet.
Visalakshi: Wife of Ganapati Muni.
Bharadwaja Vaidarbha: Resident of Ongole. Name
prior to becoming a sannyasi, Chivukula Venkata Sastry,
and later, Upanishadbhramendra Saraswati.
Amritanatha Yatindra: A Keralite.
Ganapati Muni brought before the world the
personality of Bhagavan Ramana through Ramana Gita,
in the following passages:-
i) (I bow to) Maharshi Ramana, Kartikeya in human
form
(1.1)
ii) Oh Brahmin, through god-given vision, I behold
you again and again as Subrahmanya, the best of
Brahmanyas, in human form.
(11.7)
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iii) Lord, not on Swamimalai, nor on Tiruttani Hill,
nor on the top of Venkatachala do you now dwell. In
reality you are in Arunachala.
(11.8)
iv) Oh Lord! you taught in ancient days, the secret
bhooma vidya to Maharshi Narada, who served you as a
disciple.
(11.9)
v) Those learned in the Vedas say you are Brahmarshi
Sanatkumara.
(11.10)
vi) Only the names differ, not the person.
Sanatkumara and Skanda are in reality but synonyms for
you.
(11.11)
vii) Once before, born as Kumarila the best of
Brahmins, you re-established the dharma [?] propounded in
the Vedas.
(11.12)
viii) Oh Bhagavan, when Jains caused confusion in
the dharma [?], you came down as JnanaSambandar in
Dravidadesa and established the path of devotion.
(11.13)
ix) Now again you have come back to earth, Oh
glorious one, to safeguard the knowledge of Brahman
obstructed by those who are contented with mere scriptural
learning.
(11.14)
Sri Ramana is Kartikeya, one among the adhikara
devatas. Kartikeya also appeared as Sanatkumara and
Kumarila Bhatta. He appears on the earth whenever the
occasion demands. He has now come to save
Brahmajnana, menaced by mere scriptural knowledge.
An elaboration of this hypothesis will be found in the
chapter, `'The Nature of the Avatara":
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"This pure Ganga, Ramana Gita springs from the
majestic Mountain, Sri Ramana, and flowing
through the poetry of Ganapati, removes impurities
at every step and reaches the ocean of the devotee's
heart."
At the request of Swami Pranavananda, Ganapati
Muni composed a concluding benedictory poem called
Gurugitam. The descriptions of Ramana in Ramana Gita
are exquisite and informative; yet they do not equal those
in Gurugitam which, like the utterances of Vedic rishis,
have excellent connotations. Gurugitam is like a Vedic
verse and serves as a guide to all humanity.
One day, Bhagavan wrote a Sanskrit sloka in Arya
metre commencing with the phrase "Karuna purna
Sudhabdhey' (Ocean of nectar, full of grace) and left it like
that. It came to the notice of others during the period
immediately after Sri Ramana Gita was concluded.
Ganapati Muni thereupon requested Bhagavan to write
five slokas with the above sloka as a benediction to start
with. The other slokas would indicate the nature of the
atma, and the Vichara, Yoga (Karma) and Bhakti paths.
That is how Arunachala Pancharatna (Five Stanzas to Sri
Arunachala) came to be composed. It was Gajanana who
wrote the mangala sloka.