Some Stories from Bhagavan's Life

Namo Sri Ramanaya  On 23rd May, 1949, Suri Nagamma writes in her letter to her brother, about two instances of kindness and universal love Bhagavan had for animals : One afternoon in 1946, at 2 p.m. some savouries prepared in the Ashram were distributed amongst the devotees. A few of them were given to Bhagavan also. Bhagavan ate them, drank some water, went out and came back, when some monkeys came to the window near his sofa.  Seeing them, Bhagavan asked his attendants to go and bring some of the savoury preparations, saying, that the monkeys would relish them very much. The attendants returned saying that the people in the kitchen refused, saying that they had not prepared enough savouries to feed the monkeys also.  "Oho! How did we get them then?" said Bhagavan. "This is ration time," said a devotee.  "What if it is ration time? When we have rations, why should they (monkeys) not have rations as well?  "The problem will be solved if a ration card is ob...

When I came for darshan again, Bhagavan was sitting inside Virupaksha Cave facing south. In those days, Palaniswami was the fortunate sadhu who attended to Bhagavan's needs. He stayed with him night and day and served him his food. On this particular day, he was also sitting in the cave, facing east.  I slowly made my way inside the cave, placed some milk near Bhagavan as an offering, and then came outside and stood in a shady place. On seeing Bhagavan again, my mind had flowed towards him with uninterrupted, boundless love, but along with this emotion, there had been a sort of inexpressible regard and fear.  It is only natural for people to feel a sense of awe and reverence while they are near Bhagavan. It is also natural for the individual self to subside in his presence. There was a gracious power that prevailed in that holy place. It numbed the mind, the power of speech, and the body so effectively, visitors were automatically silenced. There were no rules about silence, but in...

Sri Ramana's mother came and lived with him in physically difficult conditions and in poverty in the caves of Arunachala.  Life was hard for her due to her age as well. One day, Sri Ramana's sister came and said to their mother, "Mother, you are not well. Come with me. I have a comfortable house." The Mother refused.  Turning to Ramana, she said, "I want to die only in your arms. After my death you may even throw away my body into some thorn bushes, it does not matter."  From Ramana Periyapuranam by V. Ganesan.

Soon after this incident, Bhagavan's Mother fell seriously ill. On the day of her passing away, from early in the morning, Bhagavan sat next to her with his left hand on her head and his right hand on the right side of her chest. He remained like that for nearly eight hours.  The devotees who had gathered there knew that her end had come. They observed the beauty and sanctity of a son elevating his mother's soul to the Infinite.  Kunju Swami who was present later said that the devotees observing this felt it was a physical demonstration of the soul's journey to the Absolute; it was like heat and light spreading from a flame.  When that soul and mind had merged in the Self, Bhagavan took his hands off and then said, "When the soul merges with the Self and is completely annihilated, a soft ring like that of a bell can be felt." It was a common practice that after witnessing a death, all those present must bathe.  However, Bhagavan said that in this case there was no...

                    Bhagavan's Attendants Bhagavan's attendants were always selected and recruited by Chinnaswami. To the best of my knowledge Bhagavan never asked anyone to be his attendant, nor did he ever try to get rid of any of the attendants who were given to him. People occasionally volunteered to do the job but their services were never accepted. It became an ashram tradition that Bhagavan's attendants should always be young unmarried men.  Once, when a woman who was a qualified nurse from North India volunteered to be an attendant, Bhagavan replied by saying, 'Ask the people in the hall'. Krishnaswami, the chief attendant, and some of the other people in the hall objected. 'No! No! We cannot have ladies doing service to Bhagavan. It is not proper.' Bhagavan turned to the woman and said, 'These people all think like this. What can I do?' Bhagavan was a stern taskmaster who always insisted that the jobs in the ashram be done properly and punct...

Devotee K.K Nambiar in his book of reminisences 'the Guiding Presence' writes :  1. Journey to Vellore and flood on Polur causeway To cite an instance of how Bhagavan Ramana's all pervasiveness protects the devotees.  One evening when it had rained cats and dogs, the Sarvadhikari had to go to Vellore urgently to meet a lawyer with some papers in connection with a case in the court to come up the next day. There was no suitable bus to Vellore that evening. I volunteered to drive him in my old Austin car. Chinnaswami (as the Sarvadhikari was called then),  T. P. Ramachandra Iyer and another swamiar, in ochre robes, whose name I cannot recollect, got into my car with myself at the driving wheel. As we reached Polur about 20 miles from Tiruvannamalai, it was quite dark and the Polur causeway on the Vellore Road was overflowing.  From the markings on the guard rail posts on the causeway I gauged roughly that the level of water overflowing the causeway could not be more than eigh...