SARANAGATI

SRI RAMANASRAMAM

VOL. 10, NO. 3

IN THIS
ISSUE

MARCH 2016
VOL. 10, NO. 3

Dear Devotees,
The month of February proved poignant and heartrending with the loss of several devotees amidst the tragic
events of 8th February at the sacred Ayyankulam Thirtha
near Arunachaleswarar Temple. (See pages 7-9.) And
yet, Lord Arunachala and Bhagavan Ramana find ways
of granting blessing even in the midst of sorrow.
On Friday, the 12th February, Munagala
Venkataramiah Day was observed at his samadhi
and on 27 February puja in memory of Sundaram
Iyer was performed in the Mothers Shrine.
Featured in this issue is the story of early Ashram
publications beginning in the late 1920s with the arrival
of scholars and scribes from around South India, and
eventually, from around the world. (See In the Kitchen
with Bhagavan, pt. XIV: Floodtides from the Pen on page 2.)
For videos, photos and further news of events, go to
http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org or write to us at
[email protected]. See our YouTube
channel
at: https://www.youtube.com/c/sriramanasramam.

In the Kitchen with Bhagavan, pt. XIV: Floodtides from the Pen 2
Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi (148): Nada
3
Wordwise: Nada
4
Events in Tiruvannamalai: Durga Amman Mahakumbhabhishekam 5
Events in Tiruvannamalai: Pavala Kunru Repairs
5
Announcements: Krishna Das Concert Videos and Audio 5
Mahodaya Maha Punyakala Puja

6
Events in Tiruvannamalai: Remedial Rites at Ayyankulam Tank 8
Obituary: Sri Manikantan

8
Obituary: Smt. Savitri Sabhahit

9
Announcements: Ramanasramams YouTube Channel 9
Obituary: Sri M.G. Balu

9
Saranagatis Suggestion Box

9

In Sri Bhagavan,
The Editorial Team

Calendar of Upcoming Events

7th March (Mon) Mahasivaratri
18th March (Fri) Sri Vidya Homa/Punarvasu
22nd March (Tues) Full Moon
8th April (Fri) Telugu New Year
14th April (Thurs) Tamil New Year/Punarvasu
15th April (Fri) Rama Navami

17th April (Sun) Major Chadwick Day

21st April (Thurs) Full Moon
4th May (Weds) Sri Bhagavans 66th Aradhana
11th May (Weds) Punarvasu
21st May (Sat) Full Moon
30th May (Mon) Mahapuja

In the Kitchen with Bhagavan (Part XIV):

Floodtides from the Pen

ith his relocation to the foot of the Hill in

1922, the Maharshi began to be known to
seekers all over South India. People now made
pilgrimage to Tiruvannamalai not just for Lord
Arunachalas blessings but to see Bhagavan Ramana.
As newcomers arrived and experienced for the first
time the Swamis grace and beneficence, the word
soon spread. Rumours of things said, seen and done
in the Maharshis presence rippled out and caught the
ears of seekers, soon to be visitors, who came in everincreasing numbers. Some would never leave again,
or did so only in order to make preparations to come
and stay permanently at or near the Ashram.
Viswanatha Swami, a family relative, came in 1923
and stayed on as did Kunjuswami three years earlier.
Echammal had been there from the early days on the
Hill and continued her cooking which, though simple
and by some peoples standards, not so tasty and only
half-cooked, was nonetheless cherished by Bhagavan
who prized the love she put into preparing her food.
Rao Bahadur Veerappa Chettiar, the hereditary
trustee of Arunachaleswarar Temple, responsible
in part for getting Bhagavan to remain at Mothers
Shrine in December 1922, took it upon himself to
arrange annual bhikshas at the Ashram after Karthigai

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Deepam. On the day of his bhiksha he set off fireworks

in the Ashram and the townspeople would invariably
know that it was Veerappa Chettiars bhiksha day.
B. V. Narasimhaswami, a lawyer and politician, came
in 1928 and built a small cottage near the neighbouring
spring called Palakothu, from where he began compiling
Bhagavans biography which would be published as SelfRealisation. Lakshmana Sarma, the lawyer who wrote
Nature Cure, also came in 1928 and, mesmerized by a
single glance from the Maharshi, settled in long-term. In
the same year, Shantammal, a widow from Muruganars
native Ramanathapuram, came to visit at the poets
suggestion and found she could not leave again. M. R.
Krishnamurthi Iyer, the first Ashram doctor, had come the
year before in 1927. Krishna Bhikshu followed in 1929,
and when seeing the manuscript of B.V. Narasimhas
biography on Bhagavan, got Bhagavans blessing to write
a Telugu biography, later published as Sri Ramana Leela.
K. Natesan came as a boy in 1923 and during his
years at the Municipal High School where Sri T. K.
Sundaresa Iyer was his teacher, began to come more
regularly at TKSs behest.
Paul Brunton (Raphael Hurst) arrived in 1931 and
went back to England to publish his best-selling A Search
in Secret India which single-handedly put Bhagavan on
the international map. In the wake of its publication in
1934, Brunton sent his scholar-friends Evans-Wentz
and Grant Duff, the former famed for his translations of
the Tibetan classicsLife of Milarepa and Tibetan Book
of the Dead; and the latter, an elderly Scots nobleman
well-connected in Raj India where his uncle served as
Governor of Madras and whose grandfather had been
Governor of Maharasthra, was a poet, translator, critic
and diplomat as well as an expert in the works of the
Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce.
Maurice Frydman (dubbed Bharatananda by Gandhi)
was the Polish polyglot and engineering genius that
designed the charka that Mahatma Gandhi would take
up as the standard model during his nationwide boycott
of British textiles. He came from France to Bangalore and
stayed three years at the Ashram during which time he
compiled and edited Maharshis Gospel. Also in the wake
of the publication of Bruntons book Major Chadwick

Muruganar

B.V. Narasimhaswami

Maurice Frydman

Munagala Venkataramiah

and S. S. Cohen appeared, devotees who would live out

their days, and finally be buried, in Sri Ramanasramam.
Munagala Venkataramiah, after an early visit as a boy in
1918, returned in 1927 and eventually shifted permanently
to the Ashram in the early 1930s. He sat in the hall and
recorded the dialogues between Bhagavan and devotees
which would later be compiled and comprise the 600plus page Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi. Along with the
Buddha Bhikshu Prajnanananda, Viswanatha Swami,
Muruganar, Ramanatha Brahmachari, Kavyakantha
Ganapathi Muni, Mouni Srinivasa Rao, S.S. Cohen and
Paul Brunton, Munagala built a kutir at the budding
sadhu colony on the banks of Palakothu tirtham adjacent
to the Ashram.
With people of such capacity appearing before the
Master, it was just a question of time before Ramana
Maharshi would become a household name the world
over. Indeed, these visitors wrote of their experiences,
transcribing the Maharshis very words, and in some
cases, succeeding in getting the Master to write himself.

Paul Brunton

Ganapathi Muni

Already in the early days at Virupaksha in 1901-02,

Sivaprakasham Pillai put questions to the Swami who
though in silence, was willing to write down his answers
in pencil. Pillai later transcribed the text that would form
the all-important twenty-eight question-and-answer
booklet published in 1923 under the title, Who Am I?.
In 1908 Krishna Iyer published the first edition of
Bhagavans Tamil translation of Vivekachudamani which
went through numerous prints before being included in
1927 in the first edition of Sri Ramana Nutrirattu (Collected
Works of Sri Ramana in Tamil prose, later translated into
English by Arthur Osbourne aided by a Tamil scholar).
These early volumes were published by individuals like
Echammal, Narayana Reddiar and the publishing house,
Vani Vilas, with proceeds going to the Ashram. Ramana
Padananda financed the publication of Muruganars Sri
Ramana Sannidhi Murai in 1931. Books like Ramana
Geeta were sold at a book shop called Ramaneeya Vaani
Pushtakaalayam in the northeast corner mantapam of
the Arunachaleswar Temple and earnings given to the

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi: Nada

M.: The adherents of [meditation on nada] claim a very special virtue for it. According to them it is the easiest
and the most direct method. Just as a child is lulled to sleep by lullabies, so nada soothes one into the state of
samadhi; again just as a king sends his state musicians to welcome his son on his return from a long journey,
so also nada takes the devotee into the Lords Abode. Nada helps concentration. After it is felt, the practice
should not be made an end in itself. Nada is not the objective; the subject should firmly be held, otherwise
blankness will result. In order to be aware even in that blankness one must remember his own self. Nada
upasana (meditation on sound) is good [but] it is better if associated with investigation (vichara).

Talks 148

page 3

Ashram. In 1925 Sri Ramanasramam got its own book

stall which was managed by Somasundara Swami (and
later by Sivarama Reddiar). Finally, by the early 1930s,
the Ashram started to publish its own books.
With Muruganar coming to stay permanently in 1926,
Bhagavan was prompted to compose. Upadesa Undiyar,
for example, came at Muruganars insistence. The poetdevotee had written prefatory verses and asked Bhagavan
to add the main portain which eventually came to thirty.
In 1927 Upadesa Saram and Arunachala Pancharatnam
appeared in Sanskrit, born of Ganapathi Munis initiatives.
Self-Enquiry, a compilation of Bhagavan teachings,
appeared in 1931 under the title, A Catechism of Enquiry.
In 1928 Muruganar pressed Bhagavan with regard to
stray verses composed by him that he feared might one
day be lost if not compiled and published. Here is one
of many instances where Bhagavan and Muruganar
collaborated, in this case, the latter serving as editor.
Muruganar urged Bhagavan to write new verses so
that the collection of stray ones might number forty.
But as Bhagavan composed, Muruganar invariably
requested additional verses, evidently having a
literary vision and strategy for the whole. About the
genesis of Ulladu Narpadu, Bhagavan had this to say:

Wordwise: Nada

[Muruganar] gathered about thirty stanzas and

requested me to compose the remainder, bringing
the total to forty. I did so, composing a few stanzas on
various occasions as the mood came upon me. When the
number came to forty, Muruganar went about deleting
one or another of the old collection, on the pretext that
they were not quite germane to the subject at hand and
requested me to make fresh ones in place of the deleted
ones1. When this process was completed2, I found that in
the forty there were but two stanzas out of the [original
thirty], all the rest having been newly composed. It was
not made according to any set scheme, nor at a stretch,
nor systematically. I composed different stanzas on
different occasions and Muruganar and others afterwards
arranged them in some order according to the thoughts
expressed in them to give some appearance of connected
and regular treatment of the subject, viz., Reality.3

(to be continued)

1 The deleted verses were compiled into a supplement called

Ulladu Narpadu Anubhandam, totaling 40 verses, and was published in 1942.
2 Most of the new verses were composed between July and August of 1928.
3 Day by Day, 7-12-45.

nad

Nada (from nad meaning to flow, as in nadi=river): sound, tone, vibration, resonance; nadabindu: the
original vibration, the primordial sound from which the universe emerged; nadabrahman or Om, the sound
of Brahman, the original sound that is Brahman.
The ancient art of nada yoga uses sacred sound as in mantra or japa. In dhyana sadhana, focusing
on sound is a means of quietening the mind and enhancing memory, hearing, concentration, mental
clarity and inner harmony. More broadly, nada is primordial sound, the adhara sruti or fundamental
note that Bhagavan refers to when talking of his boyhood death experience at Madurai. In another
place, when speaking of nada as sadhana, Bhagavan says: He who meditates on [nada] feels it.
Nada, jyoti [and] enquiry thus take one to the same place. (The former [two] are indirect and the last,
direct.) The peace gained is your natural and permanent state. By continuous practice it will become
natural. That is called the current [and] is your true nature. (Talks 303).

page 4

Courtesy of arunachalagrace.blogspot.in

Events in Tiruvannamalai: Durga Amman Temple Mahakumbhabhishekam

n Friday morning the 29th, January, Mahakumbhabhishekam was performed at the Durga Amman Temple
adjacent to the Pavala Kunru Temple where Bhagavan stayed in 1898. The Durga temple has an illustrious
history and the Arunachala Puranam tells that its waters, called Khadga Tirtham, were formed when Durga plunged
her sword (khadga) into the earth to bring up fresh water to wash her hands of the sin of killing Mahishasura who,
while a demon that threatened the whole earth, was nonetheless a devotee of Mahesvara.

Events in Tiruvannamalai: Update on Pavala Kunru Repairs

wing
to major structural repairs,
Pavala
Kunrus
Mahakumbhabhishekam planned for February 2016 has
been indefinitely postponed. Repairs turned
out to be more extensive than expected
and involve key stone beam replacements.
The scheduled Mahakumbhabhishekam of
the Arunachaleswarar Temple has also been
delayed as major work on gopurams and
other temple structures is being carried out.

Announcements: Krishna Das Concert Videos and Audio

lease find below links for the remixed and professionally edited video recording of
the January 14th concert by Krishna Das at Sri Ramanasramam. This video was taken
by a professional team from Chennai videoing live-stream for the HD monitors at the
outdoor concert sites. Owing to the editing process, these final edited versions are late
in coming. For the new video, please go to: Kirtan with Krishna Das, Part I at: <https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=06okMPZo0Us>. For Part II: <https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=B6PMsCclywg>. For other Ashram videos, see: <https://www.youtube.com/c/
sriramanasramam>. For the video teams remix of audio files of the concert in mp3 format,
please go to the Ashram website for free downloading: <www.sriramanamaharshi.org>.

page 5

Courtesy of arunachalagrace.blogspot.in

Mahodaya Maha Punyakalam

and the Tragedy at Ayyankulam Tank

n the very early hours of 8th February, devotees

gathered at Annamalais Shrine for mahabhishekam
of the utsavamurti of Apeetha Kuchambal Sameda
Sri Arunachaleswarar leading to the celebrations
of the Mahodaya Punyakala thirthaurchavam (ritual
immersion). The muhurtha occurs only once in 25-30
years or longer and is considered a crore times more
auspicious than a solar eclipse. Mahodaya Maha Punya
Kalam is said to occur when at sunrise, the the middle
phase (vyathipadam) of Sravana nakshatra prevails
on a Monday or soma vaara (the day of the week dear
to Lord Siva), in the month of Thai (mid-January to
mid-February) on a New Moon day.
Following mahabhishekam at one oclock in the
morning and deeparadhana, a little after 5 am, the deities

page 6

made their way out for procession through the Big

Temple and on to Ayyankulam Thirtham (also known
as Indira Tirtham) where Arunachaleswarar and Ambal
were placed under the Ayyankulam mantapam while
the Trisulam was prepared for tirthavari (holy dip).
Ayyankulam Tirtham is where Bhagavan Ramana
dispossessed 120 years ago in September 1896 upon his
arrival to Tiruvannamalai, casting his sacred thread,
clothing and money into the waters of the tank.
By sunrise at 6.40 am on 8th February, unexpected
thousands had gathered outside the West Gate of
Ayyankulam Tank to witness the holy dip of Lord Sivas
Trident. When the gate was opened and priests entered
the water with the Holy Trisulam, the 7,000-plus crowd
of devotees outsideovercome with spiritual fervour
rushed forward, hurriedly trying to gain access to the
tanks holy waters through the narrow passageway,
inadvertently forcing participants into the water. Unaware
of the danger they were posing, the enthusiastic crowd at
the rear pressed forward as people up front were forced
into the water atop those struggling amidst the confusion

http://arunachalagrace.blogspot.in

to get out. Many were pulled out by onlookers. Some

were able to swim to safety. Others, lamentably, had no
chance to escape the weight of the onrushing crowd and
met with impossible circumstances, losing their lives.
Four participants perished in the mayhem, among them,
a very close devotee of the Ashram, Prof. Manikantan.
Manikantan had been one of those who bore the deities
to Ayyankulam that morning and stood in the water
behind the Trisulam. When the crowd surged forward,
the head-priest standing with the Trisulam in his hands
just in front of Manikantan was pushed over into the
water. Manikantan who was already pulling people
to safety, rescued the head-priest who by this time was
drowning. Finally, the last earthly act Manikantan was
seen performing was rescuing the Trisulam itself which
had become dislodged from the head-priests hands in
the chaos and lay at the bottom of the tank.
Manikantans cousin brother, Siva, the 28 year-old
software engineer from Chennai, devotee of Bhagavan
Ramana and Lord Arunachaleswara, also perished with
Manikantan. Venkataraman, age 41, who regularly came
for Bhagavans Jayanti and Aradhana celebrations, was
also among those who succumbed. Yet another partner
in this transition from earthly life was Punniyakodi,
the friendly mustachioed Chettiar that temple-goers
know from temple abhishekams, always serving in the
sanctum sanctorum in his signature red dhothi.

In the aftermath of the onrush, it was not immediately known that serious injuries had been sustained,
and ceremonies continued unhindered. Only later did
the reality reveal itself.
Three temple priests subsequently said that they owed
their lives to Manikantan who selflessly pulled them up
out of the water only moments before he went under.
Devotees everywhere expressed shock and sorrow
over what happened on the morning of February
8th and the grief and outpouring of emotion from
bereaved family members is heart-rending to behold.
By anyones standard, the incident at Ayyankulam is
a great tragedy. However, if one is destined to leave
this earth while still young, then a more auspicious
way to go can hardly be imagined. Those who left
us, sacrificed their lives bearing the Lord on His
Palanquin to the holy waters of Ayyankulam Tank
with the divine name on their lips and, might we
add, at a most favourable houra moment dear
to Maheswara which occurs only once in several
decades. But if that were not enough, giving your life
so that others might live in turn is singularly the most
auspicious departure any earthly soul could aspire to.
Let us trust that all that occurred that morning at
Ayyankulam Tank was the will of the Lord and that
those who gave their lives remain safely ensconced in
the Lords perfect embrace.

Announcements: Ashram YouTube Channel

ri Ramanasramam has its own YouTube channel and is regularly posting videos of events including the recent Jayanti
celebrations for free download. Please visit the channel at: <https://www.youtube.com/c/sriramanasramam>

page 7
6

Events at Tiruvannamalai: Remedial Rites at Ayyankulam Tank

P
http://arunachalagrace.blogspot.in

arihara rites were

performed
at
Ayyankulam
Tirtham
on 12th February
following
the
unfortunate events of
Monday the 8th. The
rites were intended to
clear obstacles and
difficulties related to
loss of life during the
Mahodaya Maha Punyakala ceremonies.

Obituary: Sri Manikantan

anikantan served in the Ashram and was put in charge of Sri Ramanasramams
Alankarams during the annual Navaratri festival. He also served as priest at the Ashrams
annual Sri Vidya Homam and was indispensable during Bhagavans Jayanti and Aradhana
Day pujas where he guided the very elaborate alankarams at Sri Ramaneswara Mahalingam.
Born in Tiruvannamalai in 1974 to Smt. Vimala and Sri Subramanian under Arunachalas
nakshatra, Krittika, Sri Manikantan was very close to Arunachala from his earliest years.
As a child, his father made a point of carrying him along to temple festivals and on giri
pradakshina. An inborn faith cultivated by a pious father stood the child in good stead and
the boy succeeded in every endeavour, including his early and higher studies. Eventually
he earned his Ph.D, became a professor of chemistry and was loved by students at the SKP
Engineering College where he taught. In the mornings before going to the college, he performed ancestral rites at home
followed by Sri Chakra puja at the nearby Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple. At sunrise and sunset he could be found
at the abhishekams in Arunachaleswarar Temple where he also served. The swollen humps on Manikantans shoulders
testified to his devotion as one of the bearers of the temple utsavamurties during Kartigai Deepam and other temple festivals.
On the fateful day of 8th February, at the moment of the Mahodayam Punya muhurtha, a propitious jyotishical
arrangement of the celestial bodies occurring only once in several decades, Manikantan attained jalasamadhi and
merged with the Lord at 6.40 am, just moments after rescuing drowning priests and devotees during the chaos at
Ayyankulam Tank. Those who attended the funeral saw a face of serene repose without the least sign of struggle.
Sri Manikantan is survived by his wife, Uma Parvati, his brothers, Ganesan and Hari Kumar, and his mother, Vimala.
He will be sorely missed by family, friends, Ashramites and students alike, and shall be remembered by the denizens of
Tiruvannamalai for his great witness, in life, and in the manner of his parting.

page 8
6

Obituary: Smt. Savitri Sabhahit

orn in Gokarna, Karnataka in December 1937, Smt. Savitri Sabhahit (born Prasad) first
visited Sri Ramanasramam on Deepam Day in 1981. Married in 1961, she served as
a teacher in the Education Department in the Gokarna/Kumta area and taught primary and
secondary school for 33 years. Known for her sincerity, when once in the mid-1980s, she
decided to take an early retirement, the school district opened a position at a new school to
coax her back into service in order to avail themselves of her many valuable teaching qualities.
From a family of agnihotris, she earned Arunachala-Ramanas grace and upon her retirement at
the end of December 1995, supported her husband in the decision to leave their native Gokarna
and settle at the Feet of Holy Annamalai. She served a number of years in the Ramanasramam
library. In the fall of 2015, Smt. Sabhahit fell sick and on Deepam Day, the 25th November, took to the bed. At 7pm Saturday
the 6th of February, she uttered her last words, Ramana, Ramana and just after midnight, in the presence of her caring family,
peacefully merged into the heart of Arunachala. She is survived by her husband, Vishnu Sabhahit, her son, Narayana, and
daughters, Lakshmi and Lalitha, and will be missed by devotees who esteemed her gentle and deeply loving nature.

Saranagatis Suggestion Box

Please send your comments and suggestions for Saranagati
Magazine, Sri Ramanasramams official e-monthly,
to the following address:
<[email protected]>

Obituary: Sri M.G. Balu

orn on 25th July,1942, Sri M.G. Balu graduated from the College of Engineering, Guindy,
in Electrical Engineering and started his active career with Mettur Thermal Power. He joined
Carborundum Universal Limited of the Murugappa Group and worked in Kerala in its Electro
Minerals projects in Edappallty, Koratty, and helped to set up a Hydro-Electric Project in Maniar. He
was associated with special project in Palakkad and Electrical Engineering projects in other plants
of CUMI, and was known for his systematic approaches and perfection in all activities. Drawn to
spiritualism from a very young age and in constant interaction with various spiritual persons during
his stay in Kerala, he became a devotee of Sri Bhagavan in the 1980s and dreamed of coming to
stay in Ramanasramam upon his retirement. He took retirement CUMI on 31st December 2000 and
fulfilled his dream of serving in Bhagavans Ashram. He served three years in the Ashram library and then in 2004, shifted
to the new archives building where he systematised and streamlined functioning of engineering units and instrumentation. In
2014 he suffered a minor cerebral hemorrhage and underwent treatment. His condition appeared to be stable and in recent
months he seemed to be improving. As had been his lifelong wish, he lived out his days in Sri Ramanasramam until Sunday,
28th February, when he passed away peacefully in his Ashram room at the Feet of Holy Annamalai.

page 9

Publisher: V. S. Ramanan
[email protected]