Venkataraman was the original name of the person who later came to be known as Bhagwan Sri Ramana Maharshi. Let us briefly trace the birth history of him.
Born on the 30th of December, 1879 at Tirchuli village about 50 Kms south of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India.
One day, about the middle of the year 1896 when he was not yet seventeen, he was sitting up alone on the first floor of his
uncle’s house.Though in good health, a sudden fear of death took hold of him. He felt he was going to die.
Immediately, he lied down with his limbs stretched out and holding them stiff as though death had
set in. He withheld his breath and kept his lips tightly closed, so that to all
outward appearance his body resembled a corpse. Now, what would happen? This
was what he thought:
"Well, this body is now dead. It will be carried to the burning ground, and there burnt and reduced to ashes. But with the death of this body, am I dead? Is the body I? This body is silent and inert. But I feel the full force of my personality and even the voice of the “I” within me, apart from it. So I am the Spirit transcending the body. The body dies but the Spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death. That means "I "am the deathless Spirit. "
The above incident led him to the realization of SELF which is called ATMA ( Sanskrit word meaning "SOUL") and which is actually the property of GOD. We can call this as the God's particle.
Thereafter, he
left his home without informing anybody to seek the blessings of God and set out as a saint for Thiruvannamalai, a small town about 196 Kms southwest from Chennai city, Tamilnadu. He stayed there through his life and attained the heavenly abode on 14th December1950 .
A shooting star was reported to be seen moving slowly across the sky and sinking
behind the peak of the holy mountain of Thiruvannamalai when he breathed his last. A clear indication not only of
his devotion to God Shiva but also his Oneness with it.
The Maharshi called the holy mountain Arunachala as the spiritual
Heart of the world. Aruna, which means ‘red, bright like fire’, does not
signify the mere fire that gives off heat. Rather, it is Jnanagni, the Fire of
Wisdom, which is neither hot nor cold. Achala means hill. Thus, Arunachala
means the ‘Hill of Wisdom'.
Eager to know the legend behind Arunachala.....Read on.