think of me and you will be alright

I had also at this time a more serious trouble. I had been practising breath control (pranayama) as taught by Swami Ramtirtha in his works. There came a stage when I felt a terrible sensation as though my head would crack and break into pieces. Then I stopped doing it, but every day the sensation was recurring at the time of practice and the fear was growing that disaster was imminent. So, at dead of night, when Bhagavan was alone, I approached him with my tale. He said laughing, "What! Again you are seized with fear! These are the usual experiences of people who do yogic exercises without the immediate guidance of a Guru, but having come to me, why should you fear?"

Then Sri Bhagavan added in an undertone: "Next time you get that sensation, you think of me and you will be all right." From that moment to this I have never felt it again.

~ G. V. Subbaramayya, Sri Ramana Reminiscences (As I Saw Him, from The Maharshi)

His tears of love

Sri Bhagavan himself once observed that he could sit unmoved through any amount of philosophical discourse, but he could not remain unresponsive to a passage, however small, that stirred the sentiment of devotion or sorrow.

I once managed to make Sri Bhagavan cry as a result of one of my own readings. I had been asked to translate one of Major Chadwick's poems in praise of Sri Bhagavan into Telugu verse. It had been written to commemorate Sri Bhagavan's sixtieth birthday. The fifteenth verse contained the following sentiments:

On this occasion as we gather at the feet of Sri Bhagavan we should neither discuss philosophy nor estimate our individual progress in spirituality but simply pour our hearts out to him who has graciously lived with us and befriended us these sixty years ...

I could read no more. My voice became choked and I began to cry. Sri Bhagavan looked at me lovingly, with tears of his own streaming down his cheeks.

~ G.V. Subbaramayya's account in The Power of the Presence by David Godman

O Self of self!

That the mere thought or remembrance of you suffices to still the mind
and harmonize the heart, I hereby testify.
That your invisible presence, spreading a spell of Silence, resolves all doubts,
dissolves all distractions, charms away all unhappiness and radiates peace and bliss,
I hearby testify.
That your angelic countenance and radiant look breathes compassion on all,
I hearby testify.
That you who were incarnate in a mortal mould are in truth the embodiment of Truth itself,
the supreme God walking on this earth,
moving and suffering with us all to sanctify and save all souls,
I hearby testify.
That you are the quintessence of all greatness and goodness,
of all knowledge and wisdom, of all merit and worthiness,
I hearby testify.
That you are all Gods, all Prophets, all Sages, indeed all beings and all worlds,
rolled into ONE,
I hearby testify.
O Self of self!

~ G. V. Subbaramayya, Ramana Pictorial Souvenir, 1967

My heaven is only in Your smile

O my Divine Love! People run to the forests and mountain caves for solitude to practice meditation, but You drew me to meditate on You, without effort, everywhere.

People renounce their possessions, mortify their flesh and do hard penance to achieve self-control. But without the least deprivation, denial or suffering, You control me.

People seek a Master and serve him, longing for initiation into the spiritual mystery. But You, my Master-Mistress, seek and serve me in order to reveal Yourself fully to me.



I know not what other people call love. My love is only to serve and suffer and die for You.

I know not what other people term devotion. My devotion is only to bind my eyes to Your blessed feet and follow them always.

I know not what other people name heaven and hell. My heaven is only in Your smile, and my hell is only in Your tear.

I know not what other people call life and death. My life is only in Your presence, and my death is only in Your disappearance.

I know not what other people mean by war and peace. My war is only to fight against the obstacles in my way to You, and my peace is only to reach You and fall at Your Feet in one everlasting prostration.

Indeed, I know nothing. I only know that you are everything to me.

~ G. V. Subbaramayya, The Power of the Presence, Part Three, by David Godman