[Advaita-l] Sri Ramana Maharshi - A revolutionary?

[Karthik Subramanian]

Namaste,

I would like to have some clarity on the above subject. The thoughts and views presented by Sri Ramana Maharshi were not essentially told previously in the way completely presented by him (at least in documented memory/history), although there were advocates of Dahara Vidya. Although I am not too sure, and many of these maybe just hearsay, there seem to have been instances where Maharshi questioned (at least indirectly) or gave different views to the prevailing/commonly accepted shastraic interpretations. I have gone through archives of mails in this group related to this, but did not find much clarification in them. Is the Self-Enquiry method appropriate for all; does it not require a fair amount chitta shuddhi obtained through vihita karmas, in the same way that one approaches jnana marga. I have not seen Maharshi speaking much about performance of vihita karma, rather it veers back to the point of observing who is performing them. But will this
 observation bear fruit directly, without performance of the vihita karmas.

What do the Acharyas of the Sankarite institutions opine on Sri Ramana Maharshi's teachings. I read someplace that the Sringeri Jagadguru HH Sri Bharathi Tirtha Mahaswami saying that the marga for jnana prapti being taught and followed for ages by the Acharyas of Advaita sampradaya, especially Sri Shankara Bhagavadpadacharya, was most appropriate for all to follow. I may not be able to trace back to the origins of this advice of Acharyal.

Regards,

Karthik

PS: I am not looking forward to comments such as quoting the appearance of Sringeri Mutt's name in an ashtottara version of Sri Ramana Maharshi, and saying that this was enough proof of accepting the Ramana way by the Mutt. On the other hand, I have had the good opportunity of meeting the descendants of Sri Ramana Maharshi and got the information that the only accepted Ashtottara version is the one in vogue, being followed by the ashram, composed by Sri Viswanatha Swami.