[Advaita-l] On the forms of Guru

[V Subrahmanian]

Namaste.

Here is a beautiful verse from Bhagavan Ramana's pen:

http://happinessofbeing.blogspot.com/2009/06/upadesa-tanippakkal-explanatory.html

// In the second and third sentences of this verses he says that ‘you want
[me] to write that which is one letter (*akshara*) in this book’ and that
the ‘one letter (*ezhuttu*), which is imperishable (*akshara*), is that
which always shines spontaneously [or as self] in the heart’, and in the
final sentence he asks rhetorically, ‘Who is able to write it?’, implying
that it cannot be written by anyone.

The origin of this verse is as follows: On 30th September 1937 a devotee
called Somasundara Swami asked Sri Ramana to write ‘one letter’ in his
notebook, and he responded by writing a *kural venba* (a two-line verse in *
venba* style) that means:

One [unique or peerless] letter (*or ezhuttu*) is that which always shines
spontaneously [or as self] in the heart. Who is able to write it?

Sri Ramana later explained more about the nature of this ‘one letter’, and
Sri Muruganar recorded his explanation in verse 1172 of *Guru Vachaka
Kovai*<http://www.happinessofbeing.com/guru_vachaka_kovai.html>,
in which he incorporated this *kural venba* as the last two lines:

One letter is that which always shines spontaneously [or as self] in the
heart as that which is [absolutely] pure, as that which bestows the clarity
of true knowledge, and as the source of all the letters that are formed [or
appear as sounds or symbols]. Who is able to write it?

Sri Ramana also translated this *kural venba* into Sanskrit as follows:

*ekam aksharam hridi nirantaram* |
*bhasate svayam likhyate katham* ||

This Sanskrit version means:

One letter shines incessantly [and] spontaneously in the heart. How is it to
be written? //

एकमक्षरं हृदि निरन्तरं
भासते स्वयं लिख्यते कथम्

In this verse too, Bhagavan shows the 'heart', hRdayam, in the locative
case, as the locus where the Atman is experienced.

Om Tat Sat


On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 4:21 PM, V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>wrote:

> PART 2
>
> To conclude, according to Bhagavan Ramana too, as per the verse he has
> composed himself, the word 'hRdaya', in both the usages, one in the samAsa
> as well as the one in the locative case, is heart/mind/intellect alone and
> not the Atman.  If he has used the word hRdayam to mean the Atman in any
> other compositions, it is to be investigated and the contextually
> understood.
>
> Another very important feature of that verse is:  Ramana is prescribing the
> role of the mind, 'manasaa', in the sadhana for realizing the Atman: 'Hridi
> Visha Manasa'. He is thereby teaching the inevitability of the
> instrumentality of the mind in Atma saadhana.
> (concluded)
>
> Om Tat Sat
>