The Mountain Path Vol. 37 No. 1‑2, Aradhana 2000
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"Arunachala! Thou dost root out the ego of those who meditate on Thee in the heart, Oh Arunachala! " — The Marital Garland of Letters, verse 1 June 2000 Aradhana Issue Vol 37, Nos. 1 & 2 In Search of the Eternal Truth — Editorial 1 A Dialogue with the Maharshi — B.V. Narasimha Swami 7 Vivekachudamani of Shankaracharya — Introduction by Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi 22 A Story from Srimad Bhagavatam 25 A Hindu Saint: A Sign to Indian Christians — Laurence Freeman 29 Ramanuja: His Life and Philosophy — Raman 35 Editor: Ramamani Sri Ramana and the Holy Mountain — Eugene Lawrence 45 Publisher: Swami Pranavananda — T.R. Kanakammal 48 V.S. Ramanan Bhagavan Ramana: The Sun of Knowledge — Prof. K. Swaminathan 53 Letters and remittances should be sent to: Holy Tiruchuli: Birthplace of Maharshi 57 The Publisher, "THE MOUNTAIN PATH" Manuscripts of Sri Bhagavan 61 Sri Ramanasramam P.O. ^ . ^ Tiruvannamalai 606 603 The Last Days and Maha Nirvana of Bhagavan Sri Ramana 77 S. India. Reality in Forty Verses: Supplement 87 A Millennial Meditation — I.S. Madugula 89 Together and Apart — Prof K. Swaminathan 95 e mail: [email protected] Can Ajata Really be? — J. Jayaraman 100 Website: Gaudapada and Non-origination — Dr. T.M.P. Mahadevan 101 http://www.ramana-maharshi.org Sridhara Ayyaval of Tiruvisanallur — N.R.S. Manian 111 The Confluence of All Paths — P. Sridharan 116 Cover Transparency Xhe Mystic Poetry of Wiiiiam Wordsworth — Alan Jacobs 123 Dev Gogoi — Book Reviews — Compiled and Edited by J. Jayaraman 131 Sketches ' Maniam Selven Ashram Bulletin 139 Contributors are requested to give the exact data as far as possible for quotations used, i.e. source and page number, and also the meaning if from another language. It would simplify matters. ®t|E Mountain $atl? Articles should not exceed 10 pages. 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ARADHANA ISSUE JUNE 2000 Vol. 37, Nos. I & 2 EDITORIAL In Search of the Eternal Truth AN is at the crossroads in a higher, One should rise above the may a of samsara Mideological sense, as far as rituals are and the world by embarking on a search concerned. for the Eternal Truth. This lies beyond limi• tations and illusion. Most rituals are performed with a cer• tain desire in mind. And they are done in The Upanishads have the sole aim of endless, mechanical fashion. One can ex• leading man to the Eternal Truth within him. pect to reap their results, or enjoyments, in• One can understand the true meaning of cluding life in a higher world. These have the search for the Eternal Truth through the effect of perpetuating the transmigra- the well known episode concerning tory existence of the individual. Nachiketas, son of Vajasravas. We have Alternatively, it is upto the individual to a detailed account of this in the Katha seek the means of freedom from the laws Upanishad. of karma, that is freedom from the cycle of Vajasravas, a poor brahmin, performs a birth and death. sacrifice. The presents he offers the priests For the real seeker, it is only a Hobson's are just old, feeble and barren cows. choice. There is no alternative to seeking Nachiketas, struck by the unworthy na• the means for ending relativistic existence. ture of the gifts felt his father's action had 2 THE MOUNTAIN PATH June only a limited, ritualistic content. He felt Yama replied: hurt thereby. Even the gods of old had doubt on this As a dutiful son, Nachiketas thought that point. It is not indeed, easy to under• he can himself be given as a gift! The son stand, (so) subtle is this truth. Choose is the property of the father, so why not he another boon, O Nachiketas! Do not be offered as such? When he questioned his press me. Release me from this.2 father, 'To whom are you giving me as a Nachiketas would not give up. He felt gift', Vajasravas replied, 'To Death shall I that Yama, the Lord of Death was the most give thee.' qualified one, to teach him on this subject. Accordingly Nachiketas arrived at the He wanted no other boon. abode of Yama, the Lord of Death. Yama Death thereupon offered Nachiketas (Death) was not at his abode just then. He various material objects or sources of en• returned after three days. Seeing Nachiketas joyment by way of land, elephants, horses, he felt there was a transgression of dharma gold, noble and lovely maidens, long life in that Nachiketas had not been attended to and the like. or fed, all the time. Nachiketas said all these are transient. So Death offered three gifts (boons) to Man whose life is brief does not profit by Nachiketas by way of recompense. these. He would have nothing less than the Nachiketas prayed that his father may be instruction regarding samparaya (the great relieved of his anger and be kind to him passing on), the mystery behind death. (Nachiketas). This of course meant his ar• Yama then instructed Nachiketas on the rival back on earth. This boon was granted. immortal nature of the Self. (Some select As a second boon, Nachiketas asked for verses are given here). knowledge of the fire (sacrifice) which He said: leads to heaven — where one rejoices leav• Both the good and pleasant approach a ing sorrow behind — without fear of old man. The wise man, pondering over age, hunger and thirst. Life in heaven is them discriminates. The wise chooses long. However it is terminable. It is not the good in preference to the pleasant. The immortality in the real sense. This boon was simple-minded, for the sake of worldly also granted by Death. well-being, prefers the pleasant.3 Then Nachiketas prayed to Death as (Having seen) the fulfilment of (all) de• follows: sire, the support of the world, the There is this doubt in regard to a man who has departed, some (holding) that (Footnotes 1 to 6 refer to the Katha Upanishad). he is and some that he is not. I would be 1 1.1.20. instructed by thee in this knowledge. Of 21.1.21. the boons, this is the third boon.1 3 1.2.2. 2000 IN SEARCH OF THE ETERNAL TRUTH 3 endless fruit of rites, the other shore himself) has examined the highest state pos• where there is no fear, the greatness of sible of attainment by man — (upto) the fame, the far-stretching, the foundation, state of Hiranyagarbha — and renounced O wise Nachiketas, thou hast steadfastly it (The state of Hiranyagarbha is the limit let (them) go.4 of worldly enjoyment). Instead he was de• sirous only of the Supreme One. The Self Realising through self-contemplation is hard to see because of its subtle nature. that primal God, difficult to be seen, Concentration of the mind on the Self — deeply hidden, set in the cave (of the withdrawing it from the senses — is heart), dwelling in the deep, the wise adhyatma yoga. The Self is eternal. If one man leaves behind both joy and sorrow.5 looks upon the mere body as the Self and The knowing Self is never born; nor does thinks 'I shall kill It', one is wrong. If the he die at any time. He sprang from noth• one who is killed thinks T am killed' he ing and nothing sprang from him. He is too is wrong. Both of them do not know — unborn, eternal, abiding and primeval. He their own Self. The Self is subtler than the is not slain when the body is slain. subtle — for example, the syamaka grain. It is greater than the great — the earth, for If the slayer thinks that he slays or if the example. And It is located in the heart of slain thinks that he is slain, both of them all beings — beginning from Brahma upto do not understand.