He who removes the darkness

He who removes the darkness from within and without,
having obtained that eternal state made of light,
who uproots the ignorance of his devotees,
who though seeing and sporting in this universe
is beyond the universe,
to him, Sri Ramana,
the Guru of the world and destroyer of sorrow,
salutations!

~ Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni, Sri Ramana Chatvarimsat (Forty Verses in Praise of Sri Ramana), Translated by Dr. Anil K. Sharma

not an inch untrodden

One evening Nayana asked Bhagavan about the forests which at that time still existed on and around Arunachala, saying that he had been in forests in other parts of India but not here. Bhagavan, full of benevolence, at once offered to take him to see them.

He said with a radiant, almost boyish smile, 'Nayana, there is not an inch of ground on Arunachala that has not been trodden by these feet during the time when I was living on the hill, especially during the Virupaksha period. I have been up all the hills and down all the valleys. I have roamed about in the interior regions where no forest guard would dare to go.

~ Viswanatha Swami's account in The Power of the Presence, Part Two, by David Godman

Tomorrow is Nayana Day!

(Above: part of Vasistha Ganapati Muni's original Invocation Verse of Sri Ramana Chatvarimsat)


The story of his own life removes impurities. He is an ocean of compassion, taking delight in the red mountain (Arunachala). He knows the truth spoken by the bird-borne Vishnu, and bears the mystery of the silence of the bull-borne Siva.

He is the guru of an assembly of learned men beginning with Ganapati; he is a great repository of a wealth of virtues. Just as the thousand-rayed one (the sun) is hidden by a cloud, his true greatness is hidden by the garb of the body.

Ingenious at defeating the roving senses, he is skillful in praising the merits of others. He delights in the peace of silence which is without deceit, and is the the slayer of the strong,reviled, frightening passions.

He fills his stomach only at the proper time, undertaking inflexible vows; he lives on the slope the mountain (Arunachala). His heart is unable to be won over by the arrows of Cupid (the God of Love). He is leading his devotees, and giving them the method for Self-Knowledge (Atma Vichara).

He has crossed the fear producing ocean of worldly life. He has a hands as delicate as a lotus, which serve him as a bowl. His own gaze is unsurpassed in calmness and brightness, and he removes the fear of those who resort to his lotus feet.

He is a store-house of divine treasure for adoring devotees, his presence destroys dense misery. He maintains the duties of the ascetic, and he is preventing darkness all around.

~ Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni, Sri Ramana Chatvarimsat (Forty Verses in Praise of Sri Ramana), Translated by Dr. Anil K. Sharma

to see the full text (and the original Sanskrit) please visit: http://www.arunachala.org/downloads/docs/catvarimsat/verses/