One Who has Realized the Supreme Value, One Who Knows The Ultimate Reality

The 108 Names of Sri Bhagavan (Ramana Ashtothara 15-17)Original Sanskrit by Sri Viswanatha Swami and English Translation & Commentary by Professor K. Swaminathan

15.  Srimad dwadasanta mahasthale 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 dwadasanta mahasthale labdha vidyádayaya namah.

16. Mahasakti nipatena 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 Mahasakti nipatena prabuddhahaya namah.

17.  Paramartha 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].