“The one imperishable which is in the Heart at all times is self-luminous. How to write it?”

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EKAM AKSHARAM - THE ONE LETTER AND THE ONE IMPERISHABLE

Letter 62, 18th August, 1946

A few days ago some Gujaratis who had come from Bombay purchased some Ashram books and Bhagavan’s photos and showing them to Bhagavan, requested him to write his name on the books. “What name should I write?” asked Bhagavan. “Your name,” said they. “What name have I?” said Bhagavan. When they said, “Your name is Ramana Maharshi, is it not?” Bhagavan said smilingly, “Somebody said so. Really what is a name or a native place for me? I could write only if I had a name.” The Gujaratis went away quietly without saying anything further.

In January 1945, you remember that you sent your book on Banking with a request that Bhagavan might be pleased to write in it the word ‘OM’ or ‘SRI’ and return it to you, and Bhagavan declined to do so. Instead, he gave me a piece of paper, on which he wrote a Telugu translation of a verse that he had written long back in Tamil when Somasundaraswami made a similar request. When I sent that slip of paper to you, you took it as an upadesa, a precept from Bhagavan, and were overjoyed. Subsequently, he made some slight alterations therein. Later on Bhagavan translated it into Sanskrit as a sloka at the request of Muruganar [...]. It means: 

“The one imperishable which is in the Heart at all times is self-luminous. How to write it?”

I was reminded of all this when the Gujaratis made a similar request today and got a refusal.

About ten months ago, Pantu Lakshminarayana Sastri, Telugu Pandit, Maharajah’s College, Vizianagaram, came here. After praising Bhagavan with verses composed extempore, he appealed to Bhagavan thus: “Please let me have something to commemorate this event and bless this poor soul.” “What shall I give?” asked Bhagavan. “Anything you please; just an aksharam (letter) by way of upadesa,” he said. Bhagavan said, “How can I give that which is ‘akshara’?” and so saying he looked at me. I said, “It will perhaps do if you tell him about the sloka Ekamaksharam.” Sastri asked, “What is that sloka?” I read out that sloka. “Where is that dwipada?” asked Bhagavan [1]. I read out that too. Sastri was overjoyed as if he had got a great treasure, and copied both the sloka and the dwipada. When I told him about the circumstances under which those two were written, he felt very happy and went away after bowing before Bhagavan. I remembered all this when Bhagavan was saying to the Gujaratis, “What is a name or a native place for me?” Not only this. I was reminded of a song which mother used to sing while engaged in her domestic work, the meaning of which is somewhat as follows:  

 “Ramanamam is the wide universe which has no name or body or work. It has a lustre surpassing the moon, the sun and the fire.”

Ramana’s name also is just like that! 

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Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma (pdf)

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[1] Dwipada: Bhagavan is meaning the Telugu version of the couplet

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🕉️  Refer also to Letter 28 and Letter 79

“Ramanamam is the wide universe which has no name or body or work. It has a lustre surpassing the moon, the sun and the fire.”

The Virupaksha Cave on Arunachala Mountain

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“Significance of Om, unrivalled — unsurpassed! Who can comprehend Thee, Oh Arunachala?”

~ The Marital Garland of Letters - Akshara Mana Malai, V. 13

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OMKARAM–AKSHARAM

Letter 79, 22nd January, 1946

Recently, as I was returning home from the Ashram one evening at about 5 p.m., I heard two young men having some discussion between themselves. One of them said, “I questioned Ramana Maharshi very boldly as to what remains after the Omkaram is crossed. He was unable to reply and so closed his eyes and slept. It is all a pose with him.”

Though, at the outset, I got angry at their speaking disparagingly about my Guru, I subsequently felt amused at their foolishness and said in a mild tone: “Sir, why do you decry your elders? Do we know, first of all, what Omkaram is, that we should venture to ask what remains after Omkaram?” The young man replied, “I asked him only because I do not know. Why should he not reply suitably?” I said, “Please do not be impatient. If you ask him once again, with patience, you will know.” They went away that day, but were present in the hall the next day. Unexpectedly, some one else questioned Bhagavan thus: “Swamiji, it is said that Akara, Ukara, Makaras make up Omkaram. What is the meaning of these three letters? What is the embodiment of Omkaram?”

Bhagavan replied: 

“Omkaram itself is Brahman. That Brahman is the nameless and formless pure SAT. It is that that is called Omkaram. Akara, Ukara, Makara or Sat, Chit, Ananda — any three of these two groups is Brahman. Omkaram which is beyond the speech or the mind and which can only be experienced, cannot be described by word of mouth — one cannot say what its swarupa (shape) is.” 

This reply also served to clear the doubts of the two youths who questioned him yesterday evening.

Similarly, someone or other used to ask Bhagavan, now and then, “What is the form of Akshara? What does it look like? How can we know it?” Bhagavan’s reply to all such questions was: 

“In accordance with the saying in the Gita [1], ‘aksharam brahma paramam’, ‘that which is supreme and permanent is the form of Akshara’. As for the question how we can know it, the SELF is Akshara. That which is indestructible is Aksharam. How to know it? That question should arise only if Akshara were different from the Self. But the two are not different, but only one. That which is, is only one. That is SAT. That SAT is SELF; there is nothing else other than the Self. The proper thing to do is to enquire and know who the Self is and to remain in the Self.“

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Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma (pdf)

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[1]  Bhagavad Gita - Ch. VIII, V. 3 - The Imperishable Absolute

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aksara

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”Sri Ramana Maharshi” photo - Sri Ramanasramam

BRAHMASTHRAM (DIVINE WEAPON)

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Letter 28, 22nd January, 1946

Yesterday or the day before, a boy of about 18 years of age came here on a cycle from some place. After sitting in the hall for a quarter of an hour, he went to Bhagavan and asked, “After crossing Omkar, where to merge?” With a smile Bhagavan said, “Oh, is that so? Wherefrom did you come now? Where will you go? What is it you want to know? Who really are you? If you first tell me who you are, you can then question me about Omkar.” “I do not know that even,” said the boy. Then Bhagavan said, “You know for certain that you are existent. How are you existent? Where really were you before? What exactly is your body? First find that out. When you know all that, you can ask me questions if you still have any doubts. Why should we worry where Omkar merges, and after it merges why worry about what comes next, when it ceases to exist? Where do you merge ultimately? How do you come back? If you first find out your state and your movements, we can think of the rest.” When Bhagavan said all this, the boy could not give any reply and so went away after bowing before Bhagavan. What other brahmasthram (divine weapon) is there against a questioner? If only that weapon is used, the questioner is silenced.

You may ask, “Who gave the name of ‘brahmasthram’ to the stock reply of Bhagavan, ‘Find out who you are?’.” Two or three years back, when a sannyasi boasted about having read all books on religious matters and began asking Bhagavan all sorts of questions, he repeatedly gave the same answer, “Find out who you are”. When the sannyasi persisted in his meaningless questions and arguments, Bhagavan in a firm tone asked him, “You have been asking me so many questions and entering into so many arguments. Why don’t you reply to my questions and then argue? Who you are? First answer my question. Then I will give you a suitable reply. Tell me first who it is that is arguing.” He could not reply, and so went away.

Some time later, I developed this idea and wrote five verses on ‘Divya Asthram’ and showed them to Bhagavan, when he said, “Long ago when Nayana (Ganapati Muni) was here, Kapali also used to be here. If they wanted to ask me anything, they would fold their hands first and say, ‘Swami, Swami, if you will promise not to brandish your brahmasthram, I will ask a question.’ If during conversation the words ‘Who are you?’ escaped my lips, he used to say, ‘So you have fired your brahmasthram. What more can I say?’ They called it brahmasthram and you are calling it ‘Divya Asthram’.” After that, I too started using the word brahmasthram. Really, who is not humbled by that asthram?

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Letters from Sri Ramanasramam, by Suri Nagamma (pdf)

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These are some of the many different Koottaksharangal (Alphabet Combinations) used in Malayalam. Some are common and some not. I think most consonants can be joined together in Malayalam to form a letter. Although, with the use of a Chandrakala ് (the crescent on top) a lot of these combinations can be separated to get the same sound. I’ll do a post on it next.

So this is basically how you incorporate the main consonants and the vowels. Please refer to the vowel and consonant sound descriptive posts I did earlier if you’re unsure or do ask me questions!