The 108 Names of Sri Bhagavan (Ramana Ashtothara 92-95) Original Sanskrit by Sri Viswanatha Swami and English Translation & Commentary by Professor K. Swaminathan

92.  Antastimira chandamsuh: 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 chandamsave namah.

93. Samsararnava tarakah: 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 Samsararnava tarakaya namah.

94.  Sánadrisa 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 Sánadrisa stuti drashtre namah.

95. Hardavidya prakasakah: 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 Hardavidya prakasakaya namah.