Ramana - Ramakrishna

Ramana Ramakrishna Once Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi asked a devotee who had come to him: Well, I heard you had been to Koviloor Math. You must have met the Abbot Swami Mahadeva there, didnt you? Did you offer pranams to him? Devotee: No, Bhagavan. I dont offer my pranams to anyone but you. Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi said, Good Lord! Your wisdom is unparalleled! Do you think that your Bhagavan is confined to this body that is now sitting on this couch? Is your Bhagavan not present everywhere? Look here. If your devotion, loyalty and Shraddha are totally confined to only one person, then you should not visit anybody else. If by chance you do go and visit any other holy man or holy place, then you will have to behave there exactly as the people devoted to that holy man or holy place do. However, when you offer pranams there, do so to the Guru or Ishta dwelling within you. Feel like this that you are offering your pranams to your own Guru or Ishta. When you do like this, then your pranams reach your own Guru or Ishta. This is the correct procedure. This kind of true devotion is called Nishta in Sanskrit. Such devotion to the Guru is called Guru-Nishta and to the Ishta is called Ishta-Nishta. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa conveys the same sentiment in a slightly different way. He says: Consider a lady in her house. Her husbands brothers too may be staying with them in the same house. [Note: Joint family systems were in vogue in India then]. She will arrange for their bath, for their rest, get their clothes washed and prepare food and feed all of them. Why? Because, are they not her husbands own brothers? All these notwithstanding, she cannot share the special intimacy that she enjoys with her husband with her husbands brothers! True. The Sadguru is omnipresent. He is one only, without a second. It is the same Sadguru who assumes various human forms. Hence we see many Gurus. Therefore, when we offer our salutations to any Guru anywhere, it actually reaches our own Guru! But even when we are offering pranams to any other Guru, we must remember our own Guru in our heart. This is an important point to be noted! Why? Because it is a question of our loyalty, our Guru-Nishta. At the same time, we must know that all Gurus in the world are but different forms of our own beloved Guru. Why? Because it is a truth established by philosophical reasoning! ************************

Page 1 of 5

Ramana - Ramakrishna

One day another devotee said to Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi: Whenever we go other Ashramas, people of those Ashramas ask us various questions related to Vedanta Philosophy. If we cannot give satisfactory replies, our Ashramas reputation goes down. Consequently your prestige is tarnished. Therefore, I plan to study Vedanta from Swami Krishnananda of Tirakaloor Math. Please bless me that I may succeed in my endeavour. Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi said very gravely: Today you say you would study Vedanta. Tomorrow you will want to study other philosophies. Later on it will be Sanskrit, Logic & Grammar! The list will go on like this. But if you were to establish yourself in the bliss of your own Self by practising Self-Introspection and Self-Analysis, you will have known everything! Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa said something very similar to his beloved disciple Shashi Bhushan Chakraborty. Although he said it in a slightly different way, the incident is very interesting and worthy of our attention. Shashi Bhushan was a very devoted disciple. [ Note: Later on he became famous as Swami Ramakrishnananda]. He was engaged in nursing Sri Ramakrishna during his terminal illness. The incident took place in Cossipore Garden House. Very sincerely, with utmost devotion, Shashi Bhushan was serving his Guru. One day, during some free time, Shashi was reading a book, seated a little distance away from the bed on which Sri Ramakrishna was sleeping. Sri Ramakrishna needed something and called out to him. But the young boy was totally engrossed in his book and consequently did not hear his Gurus call. Then Sri Ramakrishna called out a bit louder. This time Shashi heard him and came to him. Sri Ramakrishna asked him What were your doing, my boy? With all his boyish innocence, Shashi replied, Sir, there is a sublime beauty in Persian literature. I got some books on that subject and I was studying it. Sri Ramakrishna then said, Isnt that wonderful! You came here to realise God. If you keep on reading books, indeed, you will very quickly realise Him! Very true indeed. The same thing has been stated by the Upanishad Rishis long ago:

Na ayam Aatma pravachanena labhyaha; Na medhayaa ne bhahunaa shruthena.

The mild sarcasm of his Gurus words was not lost on the sensitive boys mind. He woke up, as it were, with a jolt. Without a second word, Shashi threw those books into the Ganges. Now, this incident doesnt tell us not to read books. It doesnt denigrate the value of deep study of scriptures in our spiritual sadhana. But the drift of Sri Ramakrishnas words and Bhagavan Ramana Maharishis caution is that these habits, pure as they are, should not assume as much importance as to become obstructions to a sadhakas main aim in life which is Self Realization or God-Realization. When aspirants take a step in the wrong direction, the Great Ones are so solicitous in bringing them back to the right track. How gratifying, how heartwarming it is to note this wonderful display of Guru-Shakti! One small, insignificant action of ours, taken with the best of intentions, could make us slip from the path and miss our goal. So Page 2 of 5

Ramana - Ramakrishna

subtle is the path of spiritual life. The Sadguru however cautions us immediately and makes us realise our faults with incredible expertise! ***********************

Page 3 of 5

Ramana - Ramakrishna

One day a devotee told Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi: Bhagavan, I have got the great fortune to serve you personally. What more do I need? Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi said: I render personal service to Bhagavan; I am the chosen one who makes the bed on which he rests. It is not enough if you say this and keep quiet. As a spiritual aspirant, the main thing is to go on the path of spiritual sadhana as shown by the Sadguru, along with rendering personal service to him. To put it very plainly, no service to the Guru is more important than performing Self-Introspection and meditating on the Self, with the greatest sincerity! Once a disciple asked his Guru, Sir, by what kind of service to you can I ever repay you for the redeeming knowledge which you have so kindly given to me? The Guru replied, I have also taught you a procedure of Sadhana, along with imparting the redeeming knowledge. Dive deep into that sadhana. Meditate sincerely and steadily. This is the greatest service you could ever do to me. The Sadgurus constant thought is I am enjoying this ultimate bliss of Self-Realization. These disciples of mine too should experience it. It is the Gurus personal experience that this incomparable bliss can only be attained by constant meditation on the Self. Now, in the name of service to the Guru, if the disciple is constantly engaged in outward activities, when and how will he dive within his own self, without which his lifes aim wont be achieved? How and when will he experience the bliss of Self-Realization? If the disciple could not fulfil himself by experiencing the bliss of Self-Realization, of what use was the teaching imparted by the Guru? And indeed, of what use was the service rendered by the disciple?! Hriday Ram was a nephew of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. Hriday Ram rendered unprecedented personal service to such a Great Soul as Sri Ramakrishna himself. Indeed, what is there that cannot be achieved by such service given to such a Great One. But then, what indeed did Hriday Ram achieve? Absolutely nothing! On the contrary, he was forced to unceremoniously go away from Sri Ramakrishnas salvific presence! Why did such a sorry state of affair come about? He merely performed daily chores for Sri Ramakrishna and paid absolutely no heed to his teachings. Nor did he incorporate any of his advices into his sadhana. Therefore we find that, as a result of his peerless service to Sri Ramakrishna, instead of divine qualities of head & heart manifesting in him, Hriday Ram developed a perverted egotism which made him proclaim that he was the one who had made Sri Ramakrishna a Mahapurusha! How long can impure souls, who rigidly cling on to their perversities of character, stay with immaculately pure souls? Very soon a situation arose that led to the expulsion of Hriday Ram from Sri Ramakrishnas divine presence. Will this incident not serve as an illustration to Bhagavan Ramana Maharishis words of advice that service to Guru has to be tempered with sincere spiritual sadhana for any lasting transformation in the disciples personality? In the scriptures, we find that service to Guru is highly extolled. It is repeatedly said that one wont get salvation without being a servant or slave of the Guru. Words of all the great saints and seers too voice the same sentiment. However, if everyone gets ready for rendering personal service to the Guru, imagine the plight of a Guru who has many disciples! Although, owing to his Page 4 of 5

Ramana - Ramakrishna

spiritual realisation of the Oneness of existence, the Guru is omnipresent, yet, temporally, he possesses a human body and how much attention can it sustain? Moreover, Guru is Alpatripta that is, he is a person who is satisfied with the bare minimum. A true Gurus needs are very meagre. Such being the case, how many people can get the opportunity of rendering personal service to the Guru? Nonetheless, a Guru may stand in need of the service of one or two persons. Those who get the rare opportunity of serving the Guru are indeed extremely fortunate. But there is a danger of the disciple becoming arrogant and puffed up with the pride that nobody else got this wonderful opportunity! When that happens, onlookers get confused. They are unable to understand how this kind of perversion of mentality could develop by living in the divine presence of a Guru and rendering him devoted personal service. The answer to this doubt lies in Bhagavan Ramana Maharishis statement I render personal service to Bhagavan; I am the chosen one who makes the bed on which he rests. It is not enough if you say this and keep quiet. As a spiritual aspirant, the main thing is to go on the path of spiritual sadhana as shown by the Sadguru, along with rendering personal service to him. To put it very plainly, no service to the Guru is more important than performing SelfIntrospection and meditating on the Self, with the greatest sincerity! *********************

This is a translation of a small tract of the same title written by Swami Purushottamananda in Kannada when he was in Ponnampet. It was written to demonstrate to some devotees of the Ramana Ashrama who used to visit Swamiji that Sri Ramakrishna can supplement the teachings of any genuine spiritual teacher in the world.

Page 5 of 5