Ramana Maharshi Biography Quotes 4 Report mistakes

Early Life
Ramana Maharshi, born Venkataraman Iyer on December 30, 1879, in Tiruchuzhi in what is now Tamil Nadu, India, grew up in a traditional South Indian Brahmin family. His father, Sundaram Iyer, worked as a pleader; his mother, Alagammal, was known for her devotion. Venkataraman spent his early years in the Madurai region, receiving a conventional education and displaying no marked interest in religion or philosophy until adolescence. After his father died, he lived with relatives in Madurai. Friends remembered him as healthy, athletic, and unassuming, but also prone to unusually deep states of sleep and a quiet, introspective temperament that would later define his life.

Sudden Awakening and Journey to Arunachala
In 1896, at about sixteen, Venkataraman experienced an intense and transformative fear of death while alone in his uncle's house in Madurai. Rather than seeking help, he lay down, enacted the rigor mortis of a corpse in his imagination, and turned inward to discover what died and what remained. The sense of a personal, mortal identity dissolved, leaving an abiding certainty of the eternal Self, a quiet, lucid awareness that he later described as the natural state. Soon afterward he heard the name "Arunachala" with a magnetic force and understood it to be the holy hill at Tiruvannamalai, long revered as a manifestation of Shiva. He left home in silence, traveled by train and on foot, and arrived at the great Arunachaleswara Temple. Renouncing personal possessions and family ties, he entered a phase of continuous absorption in the Self.

Early Years in Tiruvannamalai
The young ascetic settled in temple precincts and nearby shrines, often oblivious to the body. He spent a period absorbed in meditation in the cell-like Patala Lingam; his fragile condition drew the attention of Seshadri Swamigal, a respected local saint who quietly protected him from harassment. Palaniswami, an early attendant, became a devoted caretaker, finding places for him to stay and procuring food. As his inward absorption deepened, the youth's aura drew seekers and the curious, though he rarely spoke. He moved among several hermitages, including Gurumurtam, before ascending the slopes of Arunachala to dwell in caves.

Life on the Hill
From roughly 1899 he lived for years at Virupaksha Cave, and later, from 1916, at Skandashram higher on the hill. During these years he largely maintained silence, though he would respond to questions when necessary. His mother, Alagammal, joined him and stayed at Skandashram; he instructed her gently in inward turning and surrender. Under his watchful and compassionate presence, she grew in devotion. When she passed away in 1922, he oversaw her funeral rites and burial at the foot of Arunachala, transforming her grave into a shrine. That spot soon became the nucleus of an ashram. His younger brother, Nagasundaram, later took monastic vows and became known as Swami Niranjanananda, or more familiarly, Chinnaswami; he assumed managerial responsibilities as the ashram took form.

Formation of Sri Ramanasramam
Following his mother's samadhi, Ramana moved down the hill and resided near her shrine. The place grew into Sri Ramanasramam, a simple community where he exemplified humility and equality. He personally helped in the kitchen, cut vegetables alongside devotees, and insisted that all be fed without distinction. He was known to care for animals with the same tenderness he showed people; the ashram cow, Lakshmi, monkeys, dogs, and peacocks received his attention and compassion. Practical tasks and spiritual inquiry were not separate in his presence; both were opportunities to abide in the Self.

Teachers, Devotees, and Associates
Although he never claimed a formal guru, the circle around him included influential figures. Sivaprakasam Pillai recorded his early answers to spiritual questions around 1902, producing the short text later known as "Who am I?" (Nan Yar?). The esteemed scholar-poet Kavyakantha Vasistha Ganapati Muni recognized the depth of his realization in 1907 and conferred the honorific "Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi", a title by which he became known thereafter. The Tamil poet Muruganar, one of the most beloved close devotees, prompted him to compose key verses and later compiled "Guru Vachaka Kovai", a systematic presentation of his teachings. Annamalai Swami and Kunju Swami served as attendants and builders; their reminiscences preserve daily details of ashram life. Devaraja Mudaliar, Suri Nagamma, and Munagala Venkataramiah carefully recorded his conversations and interactions, yielding "Day by Day with Bhagavan", "Letters from Sri Ramanasramam", and "Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi", which have introduced generations of seekers to his method.

Teaching and Method
Ramana's central teaching was Self-enquiry (atma vichara), distilled in the question "Who am I?" He invited seekers to trace the sense of "I" to its source in the Heart, not as an anatomical organ but as the center of awareness. He counselled turning from objects, thoughts, and roles to the pure consciousness in which they arise. This inquiry, he maintained, culminates in the spontaneous abidance as the Self, beyond the personal "I". He held that silence was his highest form of instruction, a radiant stillness that worked on seekers beyond words. For those temperamentally inclined to devotion, he emphasized surrender to the divine as identical in goal to inquiry. He reframed renunciation as interior freedom rather than external abandonment of duties, making his path accessible to householders and monastics alike. The terse Tamil phrase "summa iru" ("just be still") encapsulated his guidance.

Writings and Hymns
Though he never sought to found a doctrine, Ramana authorized and composed texts that became classics of Advaita. "Who am I?" and "Self-Enquiry" (Vichara Sangraham) present his method in concise form. "Forty Verses on Reality" (Ulladu Narpadu) offers a rigorous, aphoristic statement of non-dual insight. "Upadesa Saram" (also known in Tamil as Upadesa Undiyar), thirty verses on spiritual practice and realization, was composed originally in Tamil and rendered by him into Sanskrit and other South Indian languages. He also wrote devotional hymns to Arunachala, including the "Arunachala Stuti Panchakam" and the much-loved "Aksharamanamalai" ("Marital Garland of Letters"), which articulated passionate surrender to the divine presence embodied by the hill.

Reception and Global Reach
By the 1930s, his renown spread widely. Paul Brunton's popular travelogue, "A Search in Secret India", featured striking encounters with him and drew international attention. English-speaking residents such as Major A. W. Chadwick (Sadhu Arunachala) and authors like Arthur Osborne and S. S. Cohen helped interpret his life and teaching for readers abroad, while Indian scholars such as T. M. P. Mahadevan explored the philosophical implications of his non-dualism. Yet seekers found that the essence of his influence lay not in philosophical system-building but in the quiet authority of his presence and the simplicity of his guidance.

Daily Life and Guidance
In the hall where he received visitors, he sat on a couch and welcomed kings and laborers, scholars and villagers, with the same unassuming attentiveness. Questions ranged from metaphysics to household problems. He might answer at length or remain silent; he might tell a story, quote a verse, or direct questioners back to the source of attention. He emphasized that realization is not a new attainment but the recognition of what one already is. The ashram observed no rigid sectarian boundaries; visitors of many faiths felt at home. Beyond words, the everyday rhythm of work, meals, and quiet sitting in his presence shaped the community. He declined personal privileges and insisted on sharing food with all, even during shortages.

Later Years and Passing
In the late 1940s he developed a tumor in his left arm. Despite multiple surgeries and treatments, he refused special isolation, allowing devotees to continue darshan. When urged to seek a cure, he reportedly said, "They say I am going; where could I go?" On the evening of April 14, 1950, he passed away at Sri Ramanasramam. Many devotees later recounted seeing a bright light or star trace a path across the sky toward Arunachala at the time of his death, a symbolic expression of his merging with the hill he revered as the supreme Self.

Legacy
Ramana Maharshi's legacy is a rare combination of radical simplicity and universal appeal. Without forming an organization or prescribing elaborate rituals, he made the inward path of inquiry vivid and practicable for people in all walks of life. His impact on modern Advaita Vedanta is profound; teachers across traditions reference his method and example. Sri Ramanasramam continues as a living center where his teachings are studied, his hymns sung, and visitors sit in silent meditation near his samadhi and the Hall where he taught. The records kept by associates such as Munagala Venkataramiah, Devaraja Mudaliar, and Suri Nagamma, along with works inspired by Muruganar and the recognition given by Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni, preserve multiple facets of his life. Above all, his enduring contribution lies in the immediacy of the question "Who am I?" and the assurance that the peace sought through disciplines and doctrines is already present as one's own Self.

Our collection contains 4 quotes who is written by Ramana, under the main topics: Wisdom - Faith - Perseverance - Meditation.