Ramana Maharshi /rmn mhrii/ (30 December 1879 14 April 1950) was an Indian

yogi.[1] He was born Venkataraman Iyer, in Tiruchuli, Tamil Nadu, South India,[2] and given the
name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi[note 1] in 1907, by one of his first devotees, Ganapati Muni.
This would be the name by which he became more widely known.[3]
Venkataraman was said to have permanently lost his sense of individual selfhood in 1896, at the
age of 16,[3][note 2] an event which he later described as enlightenment.[4][note 3] Six weeks later he left
his family home in Madurai, and journeyed to the holy mountain Arunachala, in Tiruvannamalai,
where he would remain for the rest of his life.[3]
Although his first years in Tiruvannamalai were spent in solitude, he soon attracted devotees,[5][6]
[7]
and in later years a community grew up around him, where he was available twenty-four hours
a day.[8] Although worshipped by thousands, he never received private gifts, and treated all with
equal respect.[3] Since the 1930s his teachings have been popularised in the west.[9]
Throughout the years, Ramana Maharshi responded to many questions on spiritual matters, but
always insisted that silence was the purest teaching.[6] In response to questions on self-liberation
and the classic texts on Yoga and Vedanta, Ramana recommended self-enquiry as the principal
way to awaken to the "I-I",[web 3] realise the Self[10][11] and attain liberation.[12][note 4] He also
recommended Bhakti, as well as giving his approval to a variety of paths and practices.[web 4]

Contents

1 Biography
o 1.1 Early years (18791895)

1.1.1 Family background (1800s)

1.1.2 Childhood (18791895)

o 1.2 Adolescence (18951896)

1.2.1 Arunachala and the 63 Nayanars (1895-1896)

1.2.2 Death experience (1896)

1.2.3 Journey to Tiruvannamalai (1896)

o 1.3 Tiruvannamalai temples (18961899)

1.3.1 Arunachaleswara temple (18961897)

1.3.2 Gurumurtam temple (18971898)

1.3.3 Pavalakkunru temple (18981899)

o 1.4 Arunachala (18991922)

1.4.1 Virupaksha Cave (18991916)

1.4.2 Skandashram (19161922)

1.4.3 Mother's death (1922)

o 1.5 Sri Ramanasramam (19221950)

1.5.1 Commencement of Ramanasramam (1922-1930)

1.5.2 Discovery by westerners (1930-1940)

1.5.3 Final years (1940-1950)

2 Teachings
o 2.1 The Self
o 2.2 Silence
o 2.3 Vichara - Self-enquiry

2.3.1 Practice

2.3.2 Textual references

o 2.4 Jna Yoga

o 2.5 Bhakti

3 Devotees
o 3.1 Devotion for Ramana Maharshi
o 3.2 Ramana Maharshi did not promote a lineage
o 3.3 Indian devotees
o 3.4 Western devotees

4 Influences
o 4.1 Shaivism
o 4.2 Advaita Vedanta
o 4.3 Acquaintance with Hindu scriptures

5 Context
o 5.1 Indian context
o 5.2 Western context

6 Works
o 6.1 Writings
o 6.2 Referred works
o 6.3 Recorded talks
o 6.4 Compendia and expositions
o 6.5 Biographies
o 6.6 Reminiscences
o 6.7 Books on devotees of Ramana Maharshi
o 6.8 Children's books
o 6.9 Documentaries

7 See also

8 Notes

9 References

10 Sources
o 10.1 Published sources

o 10.2 Web-sources
o 10.3 Translations of Indian texts

11 Further reading

12 External links

Biography
Early years (18791895)

Temple of Tiruchuzhi, Tamil Nadu

Family background (1800s)
Ramana Maharshi was born Venkataraman Iyer on 30 December 1879 in the village Tiruchuzhi
near Aruppukkottai, Madurai in Tamil Nadu, South India. His birth came upon Arudra
Darshanam day, the day of the Sight of Siva.[web 5] Venkataraman was the second of four children
and born into an orthodox Hindu Brahmin family. His father was Sundaram Iyer (18481890),
from the lineage of Parashara, and his mother Azhagammal (?-1922). He had two brothers
Nagaswamy (18771900) and Nagasundaram (18861953), along with a younger sister Alamelu
(1891/92-1953). Venkataraman's father was a court pleader by profession.[13]
Childhood (18791895)
When Venkataraman was about eleven his father sent him to live with his paternal uncle
Subbaiyar in Dindigul as he wanted his sons to be educated in English so that they would be
eligible to enter government service. Only Tamil was taught at the village school in Tiruchuzhi.
In 1891, when his uncle was transferred to Madurai, Venkataraman and his elder brother
Nagaswami moved with him. In Dindigul, Venkataraman attended a British School.
In 1892, Venkataraman's father Sundaram Iyer suddenly fell seriously ill and unexpectedly died
several days later at the age of 42.[14]

Adolescence (18951896)

Venkataraman as a young man.

Arunachala and the 63 Nayanars (1895-1896)
See also: Nayanars, Shaiva Siddhanta and History of Shaivism
After leaving Scott's Middle School, Venkataraman went to the American Mission High School.
During this time he read a copy of Sekkizhar's Periyapuranam,[note 5] a book that describes the
lives of the 63 Nayanars,[note 6][note 7] Tamil Saivite bhakti saints,[note 8] which "made a great
impression" on him.[15][web 6] During this period he began to visit the nearby Meenakshi Temple in
Madurai.[web 5]
Death experience (1896)
According to Venkataraman, in July 1896,[15][note 9] at age 16, he initiated a process of self-enquiry
that culminated, within a few minutes, in his own permanent awakening. In one of his rare
written comments on this process he wrote:
Enquiring within Who is the seer? I saw the seer disappear leaving That alone which stands
forever. No thought arose to say I saw. How then could the thought arise to say I did not see.[web 7]
In 1930, over a period of six weeks, Narasimha Swami had a series of conversations with
Ramana on this experience. He summarised these conversations in his own words:[web 8][note 10]
It was in 1896, about 6 weeks before I left Madurai for good (to go to
Tiruvannamalai/Arunachala) that this great change in my life took place. I was sitting alone in a
room on the first floor of my uncle's house. I seldom had any sickness and on that day there was

nothing wrong with my health, but a sudden violent fear of death overtook me. There was
nothing in my state of health to account for it nor was there any urge in me to find out whether
there was any account for the fear. I just felt I was going to die and began thinking what to do
about it. It did not occur to me to consult a doctor or any elders or friends. I felt I had to solve the
problem myself then and there. The shock of the fear of death drove my mind inwards and I said
to myself mentally, without actually framing the words: 'Now death has come; what does it
mean? What is it that is dying? This body dies.' And at once I dramatised the occurrence of
death. I lay with my limbs stretched out still as though rigor mortis has set in, and imitated a
corpse so as to give greater reality to the enquiry. I held my breath and kept my lips tightly
closed so that no sound could escape, and that neither the word 'I' nor any word could be uttered.
'Well then,' I said to myself, 'this body is dead. It will be carried stiff to the burning ground and
there burnt and reduced to ashes. But with the death of the body, am I dead? Is the body I? It is
silent and inert, but I feel the full force of my personality and even the voice of I within me, apart
from it. So I am the Spirit transcending the body. The body dies but the spirit transcending it
cannot be touched by death. That means I am the deathless Spirit.' All this was not dull thought;
it flashed through me vividly as living truths which I perceived directly almost without thought
process. I was something real, the only real thing about my present state, and all the conscious
activity connected with the body was centered on that I. From that moment onwards, the "I" or
Self focused attention on itself by a powerful fascination. Fear of death vanished once and for all.
The ego was lost in the flood of Self-awareness. Absorption in the Self continued unbroken from
that time. Other thought might come and go like the various notes of music, but the I continued
like the fundamental sruti note ("that which is heard" i.e. the Vedas and Upanishads) a note
which underlies and blends with all other notes.[web 9]
According to David Godman, a more accurate exposition of this event is given in the Sri
Ramana Leela,[note 11] the Telugu biography of Ramana that was written by Krishna Bhikshu,
which "is surprisingly short, but (has) interesting additions and variations from the English
version that was recorded by Narasimha Swami ... and which has been shorn of both Narasimha
Swamis embellishments and his gratuitous insertions of the pronoun I."[web 6][n