Sri Ramana Gita appears to be a commentary on the sloka “Hridaya kuhara madhye”. The fifth, sixth, and sixteenth chapters entitled respectively, Hridayavidya, Manonigrahopaya and Bhakti make this plain. Sri Ramana Gita is a Yogasastra supplementing the Bhagavad Gita. Also, the book dispels the doubts of the seeker. In Sri Ramana Gita the names of the questioners are merely indicated by their respective gotras.
Scholars of Tamil extol Sri Ramana’s poetic style as one of surpassing excellence. The language employed is the ordinary day to day one but the style has lilting beauty. The words used have various meanings some of them have exalted concepts hidden beneath the surface. The words are simple but with profound and vast connotations. The meaning of the poems can be grasped according to the capacity of the reader. Elaborate commentaries have been written on Bhagavan’s works. Bhagavan’s devotional hymns have a beautiful cadence and convey emotions which can overwhelm anyone. They have an attractive brevity too.
If to the inhabitants of Arunachala the Maharshi was the sun, Seshadri was the moon. Both were unique, each in his own way. Seshadri was born an Ashtasahasram Brahmin in1870 at Vazhur of Vandavasi taluq. As he lost his father quite early his mother’s uncle Kamakoti Sastriar, a musician, pouranic and scholar brought him up. Seshadri had a retentive memory and, was proficient in vocal music, and puranic lore. At a very early age he mastered the principal Sanskrit classics and was able to compose poetry in Sanskrit.
Round about 1916, a group of sadhus planned to abduct the Maharshi. They came to him at the Virupaksha cave in a drunken state and said, “We are from Podigai the place where the sage Agastya is still in penance. He ordered us to take you to Srirangam first, where a meeting of the siddhas is on, and later bring you to him. He said that there were some elements still in your body which were preventing your attaining complete Siddhi and that he would remove them for your own benefit. He also said that he would initiate you in the proper manner.”
The one upadesa Bhagavan gave to Iyer was, “Never forget your Self, any forgetfulness is harmful.” Here are some extracts of Ramaswami Iyer’s diary to show his attitude:
Ganapati Sastry stayed for some hours there and after ascertaining the name of the Brahmama Swami he composed extempore five slokas in praise of “Ramana”. At that time Sastry was not aware that Lakshmana Ayyar had referred to the boy Venkataraman as Ramana. Ganapati was instrumental in reviving the name which had fallen into disuse. The next day, Ganapati gave the upadesa to his disciples and told them that it was given by Ramana. He also enjoined on them to refer to the Swami as Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. This name became world famous.