FOREWORD

Ramana Ashtothara is being chanted daily at the Samadhi Shrine of Sri Bhagavan during the pujas with offerings of flowers, both in the morning and in the evening.

Though Ramana Ashtothara, in booklet form, has always been available in Sanskrit, for the benefit of devotees a lucid commentary in English on the significance of each Name is brought out for the first time. We are grateful to Professor K. Swaminathan for rendering this service.

In ‘Ramana Kendras’ and ‘Ramana Sat Sangs’, Ramana Ashtothara is being chanted as adoration to the Master. Now, devotees have the benefits of chanting these Holy Names with full understanding of their import.

February 29th 1984 (Maha Sivaratri) Publisher

The 108 Names of Ramana

Viswanatha Swami, a great devotee and scholar, composed twenty slokas containing the 108 Names of Sri Bhagavan which are used in formal puja. As each Name is uttered by way of invocation, a flower is offered in worship. The choice and the arrangement of the Names provides an exquisite blend of biography, mythology and loving adoration and thus create the proper atmosphere for devotees invoking and enjoying the Presence of Sri Bhagavan.

What is most evocative about the string of Names is the strong thread, the steady undercurrent, of identity between Bhagavan and Kumara, the son of Siva and the embodiment of heroic youth pointing to and working for a future brighter than the past. This association, hallowed and enriched by Ganapati Muni and Muruganar, suggests without explicitly asserting the profound significance of Bhagavan’s advent and its possible impact on the future of mankind.

The creative mystery that binds together God and man, Heaven and earth, spirit and master, purusha and prakriti, is embodied in every human child, father of Man and potential Sage, the seed from which emerge the tree of dharma and the fruit of moksha. No man is mere man. He is a tree plus, an animal plus, a bird plus, a god manque, a sage who is a child again. Ever growing, from good to better, daily self-surpassed, even the Sage becomes a seed for a new dharma, a new sangha, a new humanity.

In this transitory condition of human beings and of the human race, the spiritual energy and direction, the teleological urge, the play of purusha in prakriti, of the Timeless in time, of Awareness in action, of the Future in the present, of the child in the family, of the individual in society, of the sun’s rays on the moving waters, all this play is symbolised by the six-faced Kumara, Muruga, Subrahmanya, Mahasena, Devasenapati, the Lord of the Divine Hosts waging perpetual war against the asuras, the dark, divisive powers of the mind and memory. Love is divine and becomes many in order to reunite as one. Power, even intellectual power, is asuric, mistakes play for war, difference for conflict and perpetuates division. Arising from Pure Awareness and merging in Pure Awareness, heroic love is a sport divine like any game we choose to play for the fun of it, regardless of the result. Skanda stands for the perennial ananda, enjoyed here and now by those who love beauty (Ramaniya) and war against the man-made evil which mars the natural beauty of the world.

Ganapati Muni and Muruganar love to sing of Ramana Maharshi as Skanda. As in the Chhandogya Upanishad Narada learnt from Sanatkumara (unageing youth) the mystery of Bhuma Vidya, the light beyond the darkness of unknowing, even so these erudite scholars gained from the young Swami the transcendental knowledge not found in any book. Sankara in Subrahmanya Bhujangam describes how Father Siva called “Come hither, child” and, stretching out his arms, caught and clasped Kumara as he leapt up from his Mother’s lap. This scene is re-enacted, according to Ganapati Muni, in the youngster’s “response to the Father’s call”, and his tranced journey from Madurai, his Mother’s home, to Arunachala, his Father’s presence. Siva (or Sat) and Sakti (or Chit) are blended in Skanda, the embodiment of ever-fresh Ananda. Again and again the Maharshi uses Guhesa (the Lord of the Cave) as the name of both the Heart and the Son.

“RAMANA ASHTOTHARA”

In order to perform archana (changing — with flowers) of these 108 Names of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi - Ramana Ashtothara — ‘Om’ should be added before each Name and Namaha after it, as shown under the explanation of the namavali.

I

1. MahÅsena mahom±ena jÅtah: One sprung from the resplendence of Mahasena.

[Skanda, commander of the divine forces, destroys the vasanas, the asuric desires and memories, that turn the mind away from the Self within].

Om MahÅsena mahom±ena jÅtÅya namah

2. Sri Ramana:

[The Name, conferred on the young ascetic by Ganapati Muni and now universally accepted, reminds us that Bhagavan rejoiced in the Self of Pure Awareness and that his message is Ramaniya, the experience of bliss or beauty, inherent in good but not evil, in the true but not the false, in love but not in hatred, in peace but not in conflict. The inner comprehends and transcends the outer. Hence introversion, or turning towards the Self within, restores wholeness to the psyche and finds joy in work in the world as well as in pure contemplation].

Om Sri RamanÅya namah.

3. Guru:

[The sadguru is like the sun, self-luminous, and like the Self, an inner light. Wholly identified with Awareness-Bliss, he is at once universal in the validity of his teaching and uniquely efficacious in drawing the disciple towards the Self].

Om GuravÉ namah.

4. Akhanda samvidÅkÅrah: The Embodiment of whole, unbroken Awareness.

[He perceives no separation between his being and the universal Being, between his life and the life Eternal. He is not a knower knowing the world. He is the world aware of itself as I, I].

Om Akhanda samvidÅkÅraya namaha

5. MahoujÅh: The Great Light.

[He is the light of Awareness which operates as Grace and draws all living beings to itself. Why divide his being into teacher, pupil and teaching; or knower, knowledge and that which is known? He is whole, unbroken Awareness, the sole Reality. The Father is in the Mother and both are in the Son, who is in the world as the Centre of Awareness to transform it. In this mahouja, in this living brightness, Father and Mother are both present in their entirety and the Son rejoices in manifold function. Heaven and earth have merged into one single entity].

Om MahoujasÉ namaha.

6. KÅranodbhavah: One whose birth was for a purpose.

[This child was born, not as a result of past Karma, but for the divine purpose of renewing human life and transforming the world. His birth can be explained only teleologically. It is wrong to conceive of time as the past flowing into the present and causing the future. The Timeless flows perennially into time as Awareness for transforming the world and creating a future more human and therefore more divine than the past].

Om KÅranádbhavÅya namaha.

II

7. Jagat-hitÅvatÅrah: One whose advent is for the wellbeing of the world.

[The karana, the purpose for which he was born, is the welfare and salvation of the world. Bhagavan has this stanza about avatars.

When dharma wanes and evil reigns,

You appear to vanquish evil,

Restore dharma and give strength

To the virtuous and renew

Earth’s life. Who are we, after all,

To know in what illusive form

You come to save the world?

The play with mythology and metaphysics now becomes localised. The human child divine is born at a hallowed spot and gains illumination in another, both appropriate and well prepared by centuries of tradition, to re-establish the rule of dharma and ensure the world’s welfare. An avatar helps moksha-siddhi (the attainment of liberation by persons) and jagat hitam (the well-being of the world). Bhagavan fulfils both these purposes, which are indeed mutually complementary.

Om JÅgathitÅvatÅraya namaha.

8. Sri BhâminÅthasthalotthitah: He who sprang into being in the holy spot of Bhuminatha, or Tirumeninatha.

[The name of Siva in Tiruchuzhi is the “navel of the universe”].

Om Sri BhâminÅtha sthaláttitÅya namah.

9. Parűara-Kulottam±ah: Crown-jewel of the Parasara Kula.

[Parasara was the Maharshi who worshipped the Supreme as Agni and Bhagavan saw in Arunachala, the frozen column of fire, the symbol of the Supreme. The place and the family of his birth were both significant].

Om Parűarakuláttam±Åya namah.

10. SundarÅrya tapah phalam: Fruit of Sundara Iyer’s tapas (penance).

[Sundara, Alagu and Ramana are three words all meaning beauty or sweetness. A worthy father and a worthy mother were needed even for a Karanodbhava, and they must have accumulated much merit to have such a child].

Om SundarÅrya tapah phalÅya namah.

III

11. Kaman≠ya suchÅritrah: Charming person of excellent behaviour.

[As a child, comely to behold, bright-eyed, sweet of speech and ever smiling, Bhagavan was a great favourite of the whole neighbourhood].

Om Kaman≠ya suchÅritrÅya namah.

12. SahÅyambÅ sahÅyavÅn: One who enjoyed the help of Mother divine, the helper of all.

[Sahayamba is the name of the goddess of Tiruchuzhi. Once as a child Bhagavan left his house in a huff and ran off to the temple opposite and sat in front of the Mother’s image. In a moment he was not only calmed but felt a thrill of joy profound].

Om SahÅyambÅ sahÅyavatÉ namah.

13. ÷onÅchala mahálina mÅnasah: One whose mind was merged in the effulgence of Arunachala.

[From childhood Bhagavan was haunted by the name, the light, the glory of Arunachala].

Om ÷onÅchala mahálina mÅnasÅya namah.

14. Swarnahastakah: Gold-handed.

[Dextrous in deed, victorious in games, lucky in every task he undertook, Bhagavan turned whatever he touched into the gold of Awareness and Bliss. Compare the epithet Hiranyabahu for Siva.

Om SvarnahastakÅya namah.

IV

15. Srimad dwÅda±Ånta mahÅsthalÉ labdha-vidyodayah: He who gained enlightenment in the most holy dvadasanta mahasthala (Madurai).

[In the stuti which is a fine blend of biography, geography and mythology, three places are important: Tiruchuzhi, Madurai and Tiruvannamalai. But the highest dramatic significance attaches to Madurai, the venue of the sports of Siva (Thiru-vilayadal), because it was here, in the shadow of the temple of Minakshi-Sundara, that eternity broke into time, Siva-Sakti entered human history and the one “event” in Bhagavan’s life occurred. The illumination that came to young Venkataraman (mid-July, 1896) was so sudden and striking, so complete and permanent, that it takes its place in human history alongside the Buddha’s awakening beneath the Bodhi tree and the Crucifixion on Mount Calvary. The spot, 11, Chokkappa Naiken street, has become a place of pilgrimage and is bound to attract millions in the centuries to come.

The phrase Srimad dvadasanta mahasthala explains why this world-transforming event took place in this town of Madurai where Siva as Somasundara and Sakti as Minakshi played their games divine. Over and above the six chakras (Yogic centres) from muladhara to sahasrara in the human body, there are six more subtle chakras. The highest of these, the twelfth and last (dvadasanta), is in the cosmic order identified with the most ancient and holy city of Madurai. Here in this peeta (throne) Sakti is most potent and dynamic, as legend and literature, the lives of saints and singers, testify in ample measure. It was only appropriate that when Mahasakti chose to take hold of a human body and make it her own she descended as mahavidya (the supreme knowledge) on this youthful but spiritually mature lad of sixteen. As the natural and supernatural met in Tiruchuzhi, the cultural matrix of Madurai provided the proper setting for the youngster’s sudden awakening to the Truth].

Om Srimad dwÅda±Ånta mahÅsthalÉ labdha vidyádayÅya namah.

16. Mahűakti nipÅtÉna prabuddhah: One whose awakening was perfect and permanent owing to the descent of the supreme power.

[Mahasakti nipatah - It is a descent of the divine, not an ascent of the human being. The Upanishad says, “He whom the atman chooses, he alone attains the atman”. The choice was Mahasakti’s, not the youngster’s, that he should become a channel of her Grace].

Om MahűaktinipÅtÉna prabuddhÅya namah.

17. ParamÅrtha vit: One who has realized the supreme value, one who knows the ultimate reality.

[That the meaning of I is Being-Awareness-Bliss, the identity of self and Self, this is the supreme truth that Bhagavan realized and taught. From that day in July 1896 when he transcended the upadhis (attributes of limitation and separation) and attained complete identity with Universal Awareness, he enjoyed the unbroken bliss of Eternal Being. Man has become God without ceasing to be man. An ordinary schoolboy has been chosen by Mother Sakti to be and function as Kumara, a perennial source of spiritual energy and a living centre of creative goodness].

Om ParamÅrthavidÉ namah.

V

18. T≠vrah: One intensely active (far from inert).

[The paramarthavit, the knower of the Supreme Truth, seemingly inert, but in reality intensely active. His restfulness is only apparent, like the stillness of a top spinning fast. The jiva, the individual soul, touched by jnana, becomes “critically” and creatively alive with bhakti (love of God) and karuna (compassion). The youngster moves very fast towards his final, geographical destination on earth, Arunachala, the symbol of moksha, the ultimate goal for all mankind].

Om T≠vrÅya namah.

19. PitrupadÅnveshi: One who seeks the Father’s abode, the Father’s presence.

[Now the mind, already with the Father, draws the body after it. Withdrawing the mind from outward objects and seeking the Self within is seeking the Father’s abode. “I go in search of my Father,” wrote Bhagavan when he left Madura. In Arunachala, Siva withdraws Sakti into Himself and stands as pure Being and Awareness. After reaching Arunachala Bhagavan ‘does’ nothing. His story is the story of his devotees and the story of the whole world].

Om PitrupadÅnveshinÉ namah.

20. Indu-moulinÅ pitrumÅn: Son of the crescent-crowned God.

[Siva is Chandrasekhara].

Om IndumoulinÅ pitrumatÉ namah.

21. PiturÅdɱatah ±ána±ailam prÅptah: He who reached Arunachala at his Father’s bidding.

[Bhagavan’s parting letter says “at my Father’s bidding”. The journey to Arunachala, like the descent of Grace, was divinely ordained; it was not due to any human effort].

Om PiturÅdɱatah ±ána ±ailam prÅptÅya namah.

22. Tapámayah: One who was all tapas, whose entire being was tapas.

[At this time, as he journeyed from Madurai to Tiruvannamalai, Bhagavan was in a state of trance. His whole body felt a burning sensation (tapas) till he reached the presence of Arunachaleswara on Sept. 1, 1896].

Om TapámayÅya namah.

VI

23. UdÅs≠nah: One who is seated high above.

[He now abides in pure Being, unattached and uninvolved in the world without, but radiantly happy within].

Om UdÅs≠nÅya namah.

24. MahÅyog≠: The great yogi, one whose whole being is in the Self.

[The summit of yoga is total abidance as the Self].

Om MahÅyoginÉ namah.

25. MahátsÅhah: The one supremely zealous.

[The jnani makes no effort and knows no fatigue; his enthusiasm, his energy is the radiance of blissful peace. His Awareness is itself energy and shines forever like the Sun, unwearied in well-doing].

Om MahátsÅhÅya namah.

26. Ku±Ågradh≠h: One of sharpest intellect.

[The intellect merged in the self is impersonal, unselfregarding and ever-blissful].

Om Ku±Ågradh≠É namah.

27. ÷anta sankalpa samrambhah: One whose actions are well begun and well done, because they are decided upon calmly and without confusion of desires.

[The jnani’s tranquil mind unperturbed by desire reflects Reality like a clean mirror and acts with certitude and precision].

Om ÷anta sankalpa samrambhÅya namah.

28. Susandrk: One with clear, auspicious vision.

[He sees only the noumenon, the reality, behind the multitudinous, phenomenal world].

Om Susandٱe namah.

29. SavitÅ: Sun of Awareness, jnana bhanu.

[Creator and beholder and revealer of the earth].

Om Savitre namah.

30. Sthirah: Firm, unmoving.

[Bhagavan is the still Being wherein all things move and live. He is achala, the stillness of pure Being-Awareness].

Om SthirÅya namah.

VII

31. Tapahkshapita sarvÅngah: One whose whole body had shrunk by tapas.

[During his first few months in Tiruvannamalai, Bhagavan was utterly oblivious of his body; he took no bath and went for days without a meal. He was thus reduced to a mere bundle of skin and bones. Six months in the great temple of Arunachaleswara, and two years in Gurumurtham and in a mango grove near it, were spent in deep samadhi devoid of body-consciousness].

Om Tapah kshapita sarvÅngÅya namah.

32. PhullÅmbuja viláchanah: One with eyes bright and beautiful like a fully blossomed lotus.

[In this unbroken and prolonged samadhi, when the body was neglected, starved and shrunk, the face was cool and charming and the eyes arresting in their brightness. The rest of the body had shrunk almost to nothing; he was just two eyes in a beaming face]

The phrase phullambuja vilochanah can also mean; one whose blossoming heart-lotus shone through the eyes. His whole heart was in the eyes. The inner brightness shone through the windows of his eyes].

Om PhullÅmbuja viláchanÅya namah.

33. ChandrikÅsita hÅsa ±r≠ manditÅnana mandalah: One whose comely face was lit up by the cool moonlight of a smile.

[The smile soothed and illumined like the cool brightness of the moon. The face lit up by the eyes was cooled by the smile. The stillness of the blissful heart was reflected in the calm, bright beauty of the face. Observers were transported by that gracious glance and bright smile, cool and calm like moonlight].

Om ChandrikÅsita hÅsa ±r≠ manditÅnana mandalÅya namah.

VIII

34. ChâtavÅtyÅm samÅs≠nah: Calmly seated in the mango grove.

[This name describes the two years’ stay in Gurumurtham and the adjacent mango grove. In this period of stillness, he bestowed as well as enjoyed profound calmness].

Om ChâtavÅtyÅm samÅs≠nÅya namah.

35. ChârnitÅkhila vibhramah: One who has destroyed all illusions.

[He had completely annihilated every kind of maya, not only for himself, but for those who sought his guidance].

Om ChârnitÅkhila vibhramÅya namah.

36. VÉda VedÅnta tattvajnah: One who has understood the inner significance of the Vedas and of Vedanta.

[Having known, enjoyed and himself become the very chidananda, Awareness-Bliss, which is the essence and import, the source and the goal, of the scriptures, he now fully embodies and directly reveals the reality to which the scriptures are only pointers].

Om VÉda VedÅnta tatvajnÅya namah.

37. ChinmudrinÉ namah: Bestower of supreme wisdom by silence.

[THAT, which cannot be imparted to others by words, can only be taught by Mouna, utter silence. The SILENT PRESENCE of Sri Bhagavan was His supreme teaching].

Om ChinmudrinÉ namah.

38. TrigunÅtigah: One who has transcended the three gunas.

[Having no ego, no ‘I’ sense, and being the pure, universal Awareness, Bhagavan is a jivanmukta, a sthitaprajna, a gunatita. His very nature and being is nirvikara chidakasa, the immutable sky of pure Awareness, transcending all particularities].

Om TrigunÅtigÅya namah.

IX

39. VirâpÅksha guhÅvÅsah: Dweller in the Virupaksha cave.

[Here Bhagavan lived for about 16 years, 1900 - 1916. Virupaksha is one of the names of Siva, the god with a third, supernormal eye. The word also means the heart-cave. During this period Bhagavan’s radiance shone at its brightest and Ganapati Muni hailed him as Bhagavan Maharshi. If the power of the presence was most obvious and compelling then, it was because clouds had not begun to hide the Sun which shines for ever the same. The cloudless sky in which to see this sun is the devotee’s own heart].

Om VirâpÅksha guhÅvÅsÅya namah.

40. VirÅjadachalÅkŸtih: One whose form is radiant stillness.

[During the Virupaksha days, not only men, women and children, but even monkeys and other animals stood transfixed in blissful stillness in the presence of Bhagavan. Arunachala is ‘frozen fire’ and people saw in Bhagavan a human embodiment of this blend of brightness and stillness].

Om VirÅjadachalÅkŸtaye namah.

41. Uddipta nayanah: He of lustrous eyes.

[The Grace rising like a fountain from his heart streamed out through those lustrous eyes. The phrase also means : Distinguished leader on the well-lit spiritual path, one who leads others to the ever-present glow of the Heart].

Om uddipta nayanÅya namah.

42. Pârnah: The perfect one.

[Free from body-consciousness, free from any trace of ego, he is firmly established in the perfect state of Pure Awareness. Like the full moon or the bright unclouded sun, He shines in His own intrinsic splendour].

Om PârnÅya namah.

43. RachitÅchala tÅndavah: Dancer dancing the dance of stillness.

[Like the still foot of Nataraja, the state of pure Being, the bliss of Awareness, is a joyous, vibrant sphurana which is both rest and movement. Siva as Arunachala is the Master of this dance of stillness].

Om RachitÅchala tÅndavÅya namah.

X

44. Gambh≠rah: Majestic, deep and high, of vast vertical dimension.

[Jnana gambhirya is ‘the stillness at the depth of the ocean whose surface may be ruffled by waves’, the firmness of a huge mountain unmoved by the winds that blow around].

Om Gambh≠rÅya namaha.

45. ParamÅchÅryah: Supreme Teacher.

[Teacher of supreme reality, jnana guru, teacher of teachers].

Om ParamÅchÅryÅya namah.

46. Suprasannah: One whose presence is pure grace.

[One who embodies grace, the visible manifestation of Siva. Siva’s grace takes form as the Sadguru].

Om SuprasannÅya namah.

47. Abhayapradah: Giver of freedom from fear.

[Fear comes from the presence of ‘another’. When the sense of duality is destroyed, when identity with all creatures, the unity of all beings, is realized, who is to fear whom?]

Om AbhayapradÅya namaha.

48. DakshinÅsya nibhah: The equal of Dakshinamurti.

[A modern avatar of Dakshinamurti, Bhagavan was a master of mounopadesa who could teach the profoundest wisdom through silence].

Om DakshinÅsya nibhÅya namah.

49. Dh≠rah: Intrepid, imperturbable one.

[Dhiratva corresponds to the Tamil word uran, inner strength. Pure, still, firm awareness knows no change, no disturbance, no movement. Such unshakeable firmness, unclouded clarity, heroic self-reliance marked Bhagavan].

Om Dh≠rÅya namaha.

50. DakshinÅbhimukhah: One facing south.

[By accident perhaps, on most occasions Bhagavan sat facing south, as He does now in the shrine in Ramana Kendra, Delhi. Dakshina means the right side, and hence skillful, active, powerful. The spiritual heart in the right side is the home of God, Guru and Self. As the Master faces south and the disciple faces north, the two hearts meet, the flow of Grace is quickened and time and space dissolve in non-dual bliss].

Om DakshinÅbhimukhÅya namah.

51. SvarÅt: Autonomous, self-luminous one.

[He is the sole Being, hence emperor of the realm of Being. Swaraj is self-reliance, self-awareness, self-control, the inner or organic self-rule the Vedas proclaim as the human ideal and which Gandhiji pleads for in his ‘Hind Swaraj’. It is not mere freedom from control by others or freedom to control others. It is freedom from the sense of duality].

Om SvarÅje namah.

XI

52. Mahar±i: Great seer who has realized the Truth supreme and reveals it to others.

[This name was given to Bhagavan (a youth till then known as Brahmana Swami) by the eminent scholar, Vasishtha Ganapathi Muni, himself recognised as Kavyakantha by a distinguished Pandita Parishad. (Books by Wei Wu Wei and other Western scholars refer to Sri Ramana simply as ‘The Maharshi’].

Om Mahar±aye namah.

53. BhagavÅn: Master of bhaga; god or godly person.

[Bhaga stands for the plenitude of aisvarya (opulence), parakrama (heroic courage), kirti (renown), splendour, jnana and vairagya (dispassion). This title too was conferred by Ganapathi Muni. Outsiders and the general public speak of him as the Maharshi; people in the inner circle call him ‘Bhagavan’. The word Bhagavan also means one who watches as a mere witness the world process].

Om Bhagavate namaha.

54. Idyah: One worthy of praise, one able to elevate those who honour him.

[Many devotees from far and near came to him and found comfort, strength, illumination, peace and joy in his presence].

Om IdyÅya namah.

55. Bhâma-vidyÅ vi±Åradah: One well-versed in bhumavidya.

[Bhuma is the ground and Brahma is the Name of Being-Awareness, the blissful experience of the pure I AM, where one sees no other, hears no other, knows no other. This is the supreme knowledge which, according to the Chandogya Upanishad, the sage Narada sought and secured from Sanatkumara, youth eternal. In south Indian poetry and folklore, Subrahmanya, Muruga, youth eternal, communicates this supreme knowledge to even common people. If poets and people see in Sri Ramana the modern manifestation of the six-faced God ever revealing the future, it is because they find him ready and able to perform the special function and play the revolutionary role of broadcasting the highest wisdom to all and sundry and doing this without dilution or distortion. For the Truth is joy in widest commonality spread].

Om BhâmavidyÅvi±ÅradÅya namah.

56. Vimalah: The flawless one.

[The flaws in our human nature, which hide the Self as clouds conceal the Sun, are the dark shadows cast by the ego. Bhagavan, being wholly egoless, shines as pure Awareness free from every flaw].

Om VimalÅya namah.

57. Dirghadar±i: Far-sighted seer.

[One of transcendental vision who sees beyond time and space; one who looks through the phenomenal and sees the Real].

Om Dirgha dar±inÉ namah.

58. Aptah: Near and dear one.

[Closest of friends and kinsmen, dwelling in one’s own heart and ever available for help; atmabandhu; Self of the self].

Om AptÅya namaha.

59. RujumÅrga prada±akah: Revealer of the straight, direct path.

[Since he is no other than the I, the atman within each one of us, and therefore aptah, near and dear, the goal, the path, the journey and the guide, he can never mislead us. The seeker of jnana through self-enquiry, the follower of Bhagavan, can never miss the way, or be distracted, or cease to grow in wisdom and joy. Bhagavan’s path is the vertical path, the sunward path, the inward path, growth in wholeness, in freedom and responsibility alike. In such growth, one can never lose one’s way. Horizontal movement can be in any direction, but the vertical movement, the inward movement, is deep and high, pure awareness sustaining relative awareness. Bhagavan’s followers grow like giant trees, rooted in actuality and conversing with the Sun of Reality; they are not creepers running in sundry directions. Turning to the eternal Sun, the guru within, and rooted in one’s own soil, time, place, and circumstance, one grows straight in and through the strength of joy. One counts one’s blessings and spreads brightness, as one faces the Sun and lets the shadow fall behind.

Though outwardly a gloomy shroud,

The inner half of every cloud

Is bright and shining.

I therefore turn my clouds about

And always wear them inside out

To show the lining.

Darkness is seen as only the partial or transient absence of the eternal light].

Om RujumÅrga prada±akÅya namah.

60. SamadŸk: Seer who sees only sameness, oneness, wholeness, who sees with calm, impartial eyes.

[Sama means even, not odd, balanced, not tilted. The samadrik sees things as various manifestations of one sole awareness. He sees the unity of being, the substance, not the names and forms. He takes no sides in any conflict, as he recognises no duality and is therefore ever calm, impartial, all-comprehending].

Om SamadŸ±É namah.

61. SatyadŸk: Seer of Truth, one who sees what is.

[He sees the permanent element in this changing universe. When a child scans a printed page, it recognises the letters but misses the meaning. The mother grasps the meaning at a glance and takes no notice of the individual letters, or notices them with and for the sake of the child. The letters are there, they are true, they have some satya. But they are not satyasya satya, the meaning, the spirit behind the letters. Bhagavan saw the reality behind appearances. But like the loving mother he also noticed the appearances, the satya which half conceals and half reveals the Sat. Name No. 17, Paramarthavit presented an earlier picture when the Srimad dvadasanta mahasthale labdha vidyodah and the mahasakti nipatena prabuddhah saw only the Self, the inner spirit, the total meaning of the universe, pure Awareness, and could not see what other people saw. Now, in the Virupaksha cave period, he reads the scriptures, talks to people at their level, recognises the need for letters to convey meaning, and so sees not only sat, the total truth, but satya, its actual, sensuous, mental, intellectual aspects which alone others have grasped. Thus like a good mother teaching her child the art of reading, he leads people step by step to higher levels of awareness, teaches them how to grow from satya to fuller satya within sat. Samadrik and satyadrik are mutually complementary terms. Every satya is a complete manifestation of the one sat. Bhagavan saw every satya in this light and hence did not choose as between one satya and another. He saw all things as whole manifestations of the whole Reality. He saw the beauty of the crescent moon. He made no invidious comparisons which make us ‘rich one moment, to be poor forever’].

Om SatyadŸ±É namah.

62. Satyah: One who is all satya, one who embodies Reality.

[The Tamil word Mei stands both for the body and for truth. Muruganar says, “Without explanation he reveals the simple truth (his bare body).” Bhagavan revealed reality by his mere physical presence. The paramartha sat, transcendental Being, is here present before our physical eyes as vyavahara satya, relative truth. His body embodied sat, the Being which is Awareness-Bliss].

Om Satyaya namaha.

63. Pra±Åntah: One full of peace serene, the embodiment of stillness.

[Free from all distraction and dissatisfaction, he is all peace and calmness. His presence spreads tranquillity].

Om Pra±ÅntÅya namah.

64. Amita Vikramah: Boundless victor, one of immeasurable heroism.

[Peace or santi is the inner or awareness aspect and Power or sakti is the outer or active aspect of reality. Perfect peace is boundless power. The power of Being and the energy of Awareness are potential in stillness and visible in movement. Prasantah is amita vikramah. The top surface of a very high column of water may be still, but the stillness holds and hides an enormous force. Bhagavan’s living peace brings active power and moulds heroes out of common clay].

Om Amita vikramÅya namah.

65. SukumÅrah: The comely Son, Muruga, ever fresh, ever fair, ever fragrant, ever young.

[Pranava means ever new. Om is the symbol of jnana, the awareness which is perennially fresh, spontaneous, creative, unpolluted by any contact and purifying everything it touches. Muruga, god of beauty, god of youth, god of the future, is born of the perennially renewed union of sunlight and the Ganga at its source, both ever fresh and immaculate. Amita vikrama, the ever victorious warrior, and Sukumarah, the ever youthful hero full of courage and wisdom, delights in action every moment as he faces the future, joyous, free and unafraid].

Om SukumÅrÅya namah.

66. SadÅnandah: One whose bliss is perpetually renewed.

[The sun, the Ganga, brightness, vigour, movement, joy, Being manifest as bliss in becoming, reborn from moment to moment, he is sadyojata and so sadananda].

Om SadÅnandÅya namah.

67. MrudubhÅshi: One whose speech is sweet and gentle.

[Moonlight is calm and cool but lifeless. Sunlight on Ganga water is bright, cool, sweet and vibrant and speaks to us in whispers of a bliss for ever new. Bhagavan’s speech was a gentle ripple on the surface of deep silence].

Om Mrudu bhÅshinÉ namah.

68. DayÅrnava: Ocean of compassion.

[Bhagavan’s grace makes him so accessible. Siva’s grace is embodied in Muruga, who is a visible, vibrant, adorable beam of his splendour. The terrible and the sublime are now available to us in a comely, homely, manageable human form. Bhagavan Maharshi is also soft of speech and overflowing with compassion. The Sun has been caught and tamed and brought home as agni, a flame of fire born in the waters of compassion].

Om DayÅrnavÅya namah.

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69. ÷ri ÷onÅchala hrudbhâta Skandűrama nikÉtanah: Dweller in Skandasramam, the heart of the Hill of Gold.

[Sonachala, Hill of Gold, is one of the names of Arunachala.

Name No. 39 is Virupaksha guha vasa. Thirty names have been used to describe Bhagavan as he lived during the 16 years in the cave.

Virupaksha is a name of Siva. The true Virupaksha cave is the spiritual heart on the right side where the spaceless and transcendent Being is ever present. Siva or sat is the reality, the Being-Awareness, whose centre is everywhere, in every living being and in every particle of matter, and whose circumference is nowhere. Satya is the truth whose centre is in sat, pure Awareness, and whose circumference is in relative reality, in time and space; the other centre of this satya is the individual human heart, physical and tangible. The two, sat and satya, are apparently distinct, but are clearly and closely related and ultimately identical. See No. 20 in supplement to Forty Verses.

Sat is now embodied as satya. Virupaksha or Siva has taken concrete shape as Skanda. The transcendent has been made accessible as Sukumara, as Sunlight on the Ganga, as fire on earth, as a man among men. Kumara as Skanda now lives in Skandasramam, the heart of Arunachala, the Mountain which is the very embodiment of Father Siva, and hence the centre of this universe, itself composed of pure Awareness. Skandasramam is the centre of this centre.

Bhagavan, as Skanda, lived here for six years (1915-1922). If Virupaksha is the spiritual centre, Skandasramam is the visible, tangible, geographical centre of the Hill which is the centre of this world.

The name Skandasramam and its meanings, for those who make much of mythology, come as matter of fact from a simple man, Kandaswami, a strong and sincere devotee who did the hard work of cleaning the jungle and putting up the modest structure. It was a convenient spot with a fresh water spring near it and a better place of residence than Virupaksha cave. It was higher up the Hill, more conspicuous and more easily seen from the town, and soon became an Ashram, commodious and hospitable, with the Mother as hostess.

From Skandasramam the next move was made in 1922 to the present site of Ramanasramam, within the municipal limits of Tiruvannamalai town].

÷ri ÷onÅchala hrudbhâta Skandűrama nikÉtanÅya namah.

70. Saddar±anápadÉshta: Teacher of Satdarshan, revealer of Reality.

[In the years following 1922 “Ulladu Narpadu” (Forty Verses on Reality) came to be written at the request of devotees. Its translation in Sanskrit by Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni is named Sat-Darshan. There are commentaries on this work by Kapali Sastri, ‘WHO’, Sivaprakasam Pillai and Dr. T. M. P. Mahadevan].

Om Saddar±anápadÉshtre namah.

71. Sadbhakta Vrinda par≠vŸtah: Surrounded by bands of lovers of Truth.

[The Sadguru attracted more and more sadhakas. These true devotees or seekers surrounded him both in the Ashram and during his frequent giripradakshina. In those years when he had come and settled down at the foot of the Hill, crowds of seekers surrounded him].

Om Sadbhakta vrinda par≠vŸtÅya namah.

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72. Ganɱa muni bhŸngena sevitÅnghri saráruhah: One whose lotus feet were sought by the honeybee Ganesa Muni.

[The bee knows which flower holds the sweetest honey and seeks and sucks the honey and stores it. Hailed by competent scholars as Kavyakantha in his 21st year, Ganapati Muni was an accomplished sadhaka and poet. When he sat at the feet of Bhagavan, gathering the sweetness and light of jnana and making music through his slokas in praise of Bhagavan, other scholars and poets were also drawn to the same source of sweetness and light].

Om Ganɱa muni bhŸngena sevitÅnghri saráruhÅya namah

73. Gitápadɱa-sÅrÅdi grantha saÚchinna sam±ayah: One who dispels all doubts by his Gita, Upadesa Sara and such other works.

[Kavyakantha’s Ramana Gita in 18 chapters and 300 slokas is a modern masterpiece answering many questions raised by Ganapati Muni, his wife and other disciples. It is absolutely original in many parts and has high metaphysical and practical value for earnest seekers because it explains the most profound truths in simple, clear, precise language.

If Ganapati Muni was responsible for Ramana Gita, another bee which sipped honey and made music at the lotus feet of Bhagavan was Muruganar, who was responsible for Upadesa Saram and Ulladu Narpadu. The former was translated into Sanskrit, Telugu and Malayalam by Bhagavan and the latter into Sanskrit by Kavyakantha. The common feature of these works, brief but clear, precise and definitive, is that they face and solve all the honest doubts that trouble earnest seekers. They are not theoretical or speculative treatises for study, but practical guides for sadhana and direct experience of Reality. They take the reader firmly by the hand and convince him that jnana is the all-pervasive basic or turiya element underlying and transcending karma, bhakti and yoga, that these other methods are concerned with ‘becoming’, while jnana, concerned with ‘being’, includes and harmonises these three modes of becoming. Bhagavan destroys every shadow of doubt by the light of jnana].

Om Gitápadɱa sÅrÅdi grantha saÚchinna sam±ayÅya namah.

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74. Varnűrama matÅtitah: One who has transcended varna (caste-distinctions) and asrama (stages of life).

[Varna and asrama are concepts based on the body-mind. When one has ceased to identify oneself with the body-mind the question of one’s conforming to or departing from the rules and limitations of this conceptual system does not arise. The experience of Reality ends all conceptual distinctions. Frontiers and boundaries, elevations and depressions, exist on earth; the ethereal sky of satchidananda is one and indivisible].

Om Varnűrama matÅtitÅya namah.

75. Rasajnah: Relisher of rasa, of enjoyment.

[There is a lot of difference between rasika and rasajna. A rasika enjoys beautiful things, he is a man of taste. A rasajna enjoys enjoyment as a mode of awareness and is therefore free from the triputi (triad) of enjoyer, that which is enjoyed and the act of enjoyment. In every act of enjoyment, his own or anyone else’s, Bhagavan saw only a manifestation of the one Being-Awareness-Bliss. He enjoyed not only what he as a person enjoyed but all the joy of all creation. God is rasa. Bhagavan as a rasajna knew God as rasa. Rasovaisah - He himself is rasa, enjoyment. He enjoys knowledge. He knows joy. He does not merely know or enjoy objects. Like a good parent who enjoys the child’s enjoyment of a story, he is sukhi sukhitva].

Om RasajnÅya namah.

76. Soumyah: Embodiment of auspiciousness, of benevolence.

[Peaceful, sweet and gentle, he is capable only of spreading goodness. Cool like the moon, ambrosial like the soma juice].

Om SoumyÅya namah.

77. AtmavÅn: Ever-composed and Self-possessed.

[Bhagavan is all atman. Not being any one single body, he is all bodies as the atman or awareness equally present in them all. He is the one indivisible Being-Awareness dwelling as Bliss in all creatures. Awareness is Bhagavan’s whole being and nature and sole possession. He knows the Self, enjoys the Self, is the Self].

Om AtmavatÉ namah.

78. SarvÅvani matasthÅnam ÅrÅdhyah: One adored by the followers of all religions in the whole world.

[Advaita sums up and transcends all the different creeds. The goal and the core of all religions is the experience of oneness, the direct realization of the Self. Bhagavan enjoyed and expressed this experience and is therefore adored by Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Hindus of all schools. In Him we find the final fulfilment of every creed].

Om SarvÅvani matasthÅnam ÅrÅdhyÅya namah.

79. Sarva sadguni: Possessor of all good qualities.

[He did not pursue, practise and acquire one good quality after another. He realized the Self, and all good qualities flocked to him unsought. Bad qualities arise from identification with the body-mind. Identification with awareness dispels all bad qualities and brings in all good qualities. One made up of awareness has all the daivic endowments, all divine, auspicious qualities, as his inherent and natural splendour].

Om SarvasadguninÉ namah

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80. AtmÅrÅmah: One who rejoices in the Self.

[The Gita praises one whose bliss is in the Self as atmarati, atmatrpta, atmasantushtah. Bhagavan was nirvikara, nityopa santa, unchanging, ever serene, because he rejoiced in the bliss, the contentment, the simple purity of awareness].

Om AtmÅrÅmÅya namah.

81. MahÅbhÅgah: One who is endowed with the noblest qualities.

[The egoless person is the dwelling place of all goodness and greatness].

Om MahÅbhÅgÅya namah.

82. MÅtrumukti vidhÅyakah: Ordainer of Mother’s moksha.

[In some ways, this is the most significant of the 108 Names. Biographically, as an event in human history, what happened on May 19, 1922 (Vaisakha Bahula Navami) was only next in importance to the great illumination in July 1896. Mother Alagamma had in 1916 come finally to stay with Bhagavan and, during these six years of loving service to Him and the devotees in Skandasramam, had re-established the link between nature and the supernatural. On the last day, as she lay dying, Bhagavan was by her side all the time, his right hand on her heaving chest, his left upon her head. Some devotees were chanting Ramanama, others reciting the Vedas. In such a holy atmosphere sanctified by Bhagavan’s close contact, she breathed her last. It was then 8 p.m. Bhagavan looked particularly happy, and seemed to feel free as a bird, having been released from his obligation to Mother. Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni (who was then living in Mango Tree Cave) was then present at Skandasramam, and he declared that she had attained moksha by the grace of her son. Her body was buried, not cremated. Attaining, giving ‘moksha’ are conventional terms for restoration to the original state of Being-Awareness-Bliss.

In giving mukti to his mother, Bhagavan played the part of Siva, Mrtyunjaya, the conqueror of Death. The auspicious functioning of a regular temple over Mother’s samadhi is solid proof of the supreme Grace of Bhagavan. Again, matru means ‘cow’. The Name refers also to the grace bestowed on the Cow Lakshmi, about whom there is a moving little booklet by Devaraja Mudaliar. Like the mutual love of Mother and child, the cow-calf relationship is a concrete fact, besides being a powerful symbol. Love is the living link between nature and the supernatural, between time and the timeless.

Also, matru means the measurer, calculator, knower, and refers to the jiva, the individual. Bhagavan’s grace and the gift of moksha are available to anyone who turns towards Him in love and lets His love govern one’s life].

Om MÅtru mukti vidhÅyakÅya namah.

83. Vinatah: The meek and humble one.

[Bhagavan taught and practised the utmost humility. Muruganar says, “Meeker than the meekest, through meekness the Supreme reveals his true supremacy”].

Om VinatÅya namah.

84. Vinutah: The adored one.

[Proving thus through meekness his supremacy, he was adored by all. In the last line of Siva Puranam in Tiruvachakam, those who bow in worship at the Feet of Siva are exalted by all].

Om VinutÅya namah.

85. Viprah: True Brahmana.

[Called Brahmana Swami, he was like Kumara, a true Brahmana, a seer of Reality, from early youth].

Om ViprÅya namah.

86. Mun≠ndrah: King of munis, first among ascetics.

Om Mun≠ndrÅya namah.

87. PÅvakojjvalah: Brilliant flame of jnana.

[Bhagavan, well settled in his last earthly abode, burns steadily like a flame in a windless place and never swerves from Self-knowledge, Cf. Name 96. Bhagavan is a flame which burns steadily, purifies whatever it touches and transforms it into fuel. Approaching this fire, one is caught up in it and becomes a part of this continuous process of burning. In true living, awareness is a steady fire and action only feeds and becomes awareness, as fuel turns to heat and light].

Om PÅvakojjvalÅya namah.

XVII

88. DarsanÅd agha samhÅñ: One whose very sight destroys impurity.

[Evil flees in his presence as darkness before light].

Om Dar±anÅdagha samhÅrinÉ namah.

89. Mounena swÅtma bodhakah: One who through silence reveals the Self.

[The ultimate Truth transcends thought and speech and cannot be ‘taught’. Like Dakshinamurti of old, Bhagavan reveals the ineffable Truth in silence].

Om Mounena SwÅtma bodhakÅya namah.

90. HruchchhÅntikara sÅnnidhyah: One whose very presence brings about inner peace.

[When the ego mind is still, the awareness which is our eternal being is felt in the heart as blissful peace profound. Common people, children, birds and animals all felt this peace in their inmost heart in Bhagavan’s presence. His very presence spread this supreme peace to all around Him].

Om HruchchÅntikara sÅnnidhyÅya namah.

91. SmaranÅd bandha mochakah: The very thought of whom brings about freedom from bondage.

[What has been claimed from ancient times for Arunachala applies even more aptly to Bhagavan himself. The thought and name of Arunachala brought this youngster moksha. Hence the tradition lives with renewed force in this actual concrete human person. As the column of light which is Siva froze into the holy Hill, Siva and the Hill became embodied in the human form divine of Ramana. Siva, Arunachala and Ramana are three outstanding manifestations (mythological, geographical and historical) of the one sole Reality, pure Awareness, whose nature is perennial bliss].

Om SmaranÅd bandha máchakÅya namah.

XVIII

92. Antastimira chandÅm±uh: Blazing sun dispelling inner darkness.

[The sun in the sky, the brightest object we know, is only a symbol of inner awareness. Siva-Ramana is that sun of Pure Awareness before which the darkness called a separate ego cannot stand: “We are all one awareness”. Ignorance or inner darkness is the false identification of the Self with bodies and objects].

Om Antastimira chandÅm±ave namah.

93. SamsÅrÅrnava tÅrakah: One who takes us across the sea of samsara.

[To those who struggle in the deep stormy waters of phenomenal existence, Bhagavan comes as a boatman ready and able to rescue and carry us to the safety of the other shore].

Om SamsÅrÅrnava tÅrakÅya namah.

94. Sánadr≠±a stuti drashta: One who saw and revealed the Five Hymns in praise of Arunachala.

[The Five Hymns (108 couplets, and Nine, Ten, Eight and Five stanzas) were not composed like ordinary poems; they were outpourings direct from the Heart. Like the Vedic mantras seen by the rishis, these Hymns were seen rather than composed.

The Hymns came into being because Bhagavan loved his devotees and sought to express for them their longings; He himself had none. In these hymns some passages are autobiographical, but many are philosophical and convey Bhagavan’s teachings. The Hymns serve as a bridge between Bhagavan and his devotees. Words and events which are rooted in Eternity and flower in Time should not be analysed and pulled apart and attributed to either Bhagavan, the embodiment of pure transcendent Awareness, or to the good, simple human being living on terms of perfect equality with other creatures. The drashta or the True Seer the unity of Time and Eternity, of ‘others’ and himself, of the natural and the supernatural. His words and actions reveal this unity. The Five Hymns should be studied and understood in this light, as mystical utterances comparable to the Vedic hymns].

Om Sánadr≠±a stuti drashtrÉ namah.

95. HÅrdavidya prakűakah: Revealer of the light of the Heart, Revealer of Inner Awareness.

[From very ancient times, the inner light, Purusha or Person, the ‘I-I’ shining in and as the Heart, had been identified as Sat-Chit-Ananda, Being-Awareness-Bliss. But the teaching was not precisely understood, nor was it widely taught or applied in practice. In Ramana Gita, Supplement to the Forty Verses, and many Talks, Bhagavan has clarified, simplified and driven home the teaching that the Heart, Being-Awareness-Bliss and the I are three concepts standing for one sole Reality. Bhagavan is the great and successful Teacher of this Vidya, the identity of the sphurti of I and the Heart as the seat of Being-Awareness-Bliss].

Om HÅrdavidya prakűakaya namah.

XIX

96. Avichyuta nija prajnah: One who never swerves from Self-awareness.

[Father Siva, who is absolute Awareness, and Muruga, who seems to meet and mate with the world, are in substance one. Skanda does not swerve from self-awareness; rather he shares it with others in order to enjoy all the better that sole Awareness. Absolute Awareness is beyond all categories, it is all-transcendent ananda. Relative awareness is awareness of awareness, joy of mutuality, a stirring, a movement, a ripple. The ripple, the movement, the relativity is only an appearance, it exists only for Valli and for her benefit. Valli is only the human manifestation of the divine Deivasena, as Muruga is the human manifestation of Subramanyam. Mey is the outer truth or the body, as unmai is the inner truth or the spirit. There was a visible, living body moving before our eyes like a father, mother, child, master, teacher, friend or patient. This body, this mey, was used by Bhagavan as a medium with which to perceive the world and help others to perceive it aright. All this is not swerving from, but fully experiencing and exercising, his nija prajna, his self-awareness, as the ‘I-I’, all atman, seated in all beings. (Bh. Gita, X. 20). Bhagavan is and functions as the heart of all mankind and all the world. The world was and is in him; but he was not in the world. Only his body was. The universal becomes available to each one of us as a unique possession when we see our own inmost Self in such a manifestation. Bhagavan sees all of us and the whole world as Himself. The devotee sees in Bhagavan his own self].

Om Avichyuta nija prajnÅya namah.

97. Naisargika mahÅtapah:One spontaneously blazing forth as Pure Awareness, a great tapasvi by his very nature.

[Bhagavan did not deliberately perform tapas, as the Sun does not choose to emit rays. As the last verse of Upadesa Sara declares, egoless living is itself the most excellent tapas. Bhagavan shines as the eternal I, effortlessly and without a thought, now as then. A sthitaprajna, one established in Self-awareness, he blesses the world by his mere presence, which continues even though the body is no more. It is this Presence which we invoke in this puja].

Om Naisargika mahÅ tapasÉ namah.

98. Kamandalu-dhara: One who holds the waterjug.

[The Kamandalu is a symbol of purity, simplicity and firmness. The water flows out of the vessel as Grace from his eyes. Unerringly he pours out on those he chooses the cool, cleansing waters of immortality].

Om Kamandalu dharÅya namah.

99. ÷ubhra Koup≠na vasanah: Wearer of a pure white Koupina.

[The waterjug and the clean white codpiece are marks of utmost simplicity. The barest necessities of human existence, they suggest what the renunciant can do without. This man the wisest and the happiest man we know, possessed nothing beyond a body, a water jug and a strip of cloth].

Om ÷ubhra koup≠na vasanÅya namah.

100. Guhah: Subrahmanya, dweller in the heart cave.

[Compare No. 20 of the supplement to the Forty Verses: The Lord who dwells and shines in the Heart-Lotus is worshipped as Guhesa (Guha, the Lord, or Lord of the Cave). When by continued effort, the conviction “I am that Guhesa” becomes as firm as the sense of ‘I’ in your body, and you become that Lord, the false notion that one is the body will disappear as darkness in the face of the Sun].

Om GuhÅya namah.

101. DandapÅni: Wielder of the staff of wisdom.

[Subrahmanya uses this staff to drive away the demon of ignorance].

Om DandapÅnayÉ namah.

102. KrupÅpârnah: One full of Grace.

[As Grace he pervades the whole universe].

Om KrupÅpârnÅya namah.

103. Bhavaroga bhishagvarah: Best of physicians who destroys the ego, the root-cause of all disease and discomfort.

[The disease of mistaking this phenomenal existence as real is cured radically by destroying the ego].

Om Bhavaroga bhishagvarÅya namah.

104. Skandah: Kumara, as the earthly manifestation of Siva.

[The sphurana, the vibration, of ‘I-I’ in the heart, is Skanda, God accessible and active on earth, a ray of the transcendent and unapproachable Sun who is Siva].

Om SkandÅya namah.

105. Devatamah: Best of gods, God supreme.

[The Supreme is accessible to us here and now, like this morning’s sun, not yesterday’s or tomorrow’s. This God of Every Day is immanent in us and the world. (Cf., Derek Neville’s poem in the Mountain Path, April, 1975)

I will not have God in his heaven,

And part of his creation

Still in hell.

I want God grimy with the grime of men

Hewing in face of coal;

Glistening in sweat On brows, tired of work.

I want God dirty with the dirt of towns,

All soot-encrusted there among the chimney-pots.

I want heaven and God put back where they belong Waiting on earth

Until men come to see

The glory of the every-day

Behind their greed and blindness.

Oh - he shall sing with birds upon the bough

And he shall ride up there among the blue,

In the dark night of cities,

Among the earth-bound,

And the dead.

Then, then shall he be waiting

Like a jewel

Hid in the dark, clay-shuttered

Souls of men.

Freed, at long last, from pulpit

And from pew,

From sect and creed,

From Litany and Mass;

No longer what we seek,

But what we’ve found

Here, on the common earth,

In common ways,

God of the even-day

With every heart a manger,

And every life a throne].

Om DevatamÅya namah.

106. Amartyah: Immortal one.

[One consciously identified with Eternal Awareness not the mortal body. This immortal spirit is present as ‘I-I’ within each one of us, but we forget it. Thinking of Bhagavan who never forgot it, we share his immortality].

Om AmartyÅya namah.

107. SenÅni: Commander of the army.

[Skanda is the Lord of the divine Hosts vanquishing the demons of evil tendencies, latent and patent; born of the ego. When the Self destroys the ego, the battle is won].

Om SenÅnye namah.

108. Purushottamah: The Supreme Person.

[Bhagavan is the supreme person present as sovereign awareness in all persons. He is thus the purushottama who as Awareness unites all persons in one common being. Awareness-Bliss, the great God Siva, the magnetic Mountain Arunachala, the pure awareness shining as ‘I-I’ in every human heart - all these are names and forms of one Purusha, the only Purusha, whose most glorious vibhuti and active manifestation in our age is Sri Ramana].

Om PurushottamÅya namah.