The Sage of Arunachal

Ramana Maharshi was hailed as one of the most remarkable practitioners of Advaita Vedanta.

Ramana Maharshi: The Sage of Arunachal
Author: Arvind Sharma
Publisher: Penguin Books India
Price: Rs 295
ISBN: 0670058300
Format: Hardcover

‘The Guru or Gnani (Enlightened One) sees no difference between himself and others. For him all are Gnanis, all are one with himself’ —Ramana Maharshi

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At the age of seventeen, sitting alone at his uncle’s house, the young Venkataraman, as Ramana Maharshi was known then, underwent a spontaneous ‘conversion experience’ that would change his life forever, beginning his spiritual quest. He left home soon after, not stopping until he had reached the shrine of Lord Arunachalesvara at Tiruvannamalai. He never left it.

Hailed as one of the most remarkable and unique practitioners of Advaita Vedanta, Ramana Maharshi saw no difference between his life and teachings. Even Mahatma Gandhi had heard that the Maharshi was ‘known to be and was perhaps . . . [a] realised soul’, and expressed a wish to meet him several times. That meeting never happened, but thousands of others flocked to him hoping to catch a glimpse of the man who is said to have experienced eternity.