Swami Ramdas: The Divine Life
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Photo: Swami Ramdas
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The pagoda flower waves in the breeze and nods high above other tiny blossoms; the little bird, dark in color with a black beak and yellow patch on its glossy breast, is playing and skipping, dipping now and then its wee beak into the opened petals of the tilting pagoda. The big green leaves are throbbing to the response of the mild wind.
The distant coconut branches, long and lean, are trembling in the air: the light-tinted roses and deep red flowers, the green, yellow, and crimson leaves of crotons, lend charm to the scene. The mango and neem trees, tall and stately, seem to bend over each other for a friendly communion.
The platinum sky, in which are the floating thin and transparent clouds, bestows a subdued brightness to the landscapes down below.
Nature smiles - God smiles.
My heart is aglow with joy when I witness this wondrous phenomenon, God reveling in His own beauty and luxuriance.
On the extensive green meadows, the famished cattle graze on the lavish offering of green grass by the bounteous Mother Earth, and wax fat and strong.
O God of plenty and abundance! None can rival Thee in Thy rich, free, and reckless liberality. Thou art marvellous in Thy infinite variety - in shapes, colours, movements, ways, and natures.
I saw and saw and my dazed eyes became dim, and I beheld a halo spread over all space that resolved the multifaceted worlds into one radiance, one presence, and one truth.
Again the sun peeps out of clouds shedding luster on all the motley scenes of the earth, bringing out in soothing relief the varied beauty of nature against a splendorous background.
Oh, the bewitching pictures that flit before my wide open eyes, I gaze with unconcealed amazement, drinking in the enthralling panorama. Now my eyes close slowly, charmed with the soothing sweetness of the intoxication that is past expression.
O glorious World Master! O Thou Supreme Artist and Architect, O exquisite Dancer, the great Lover and Beloved! Thou who poureth Thy most heart-captivating celestial music, Thou art the enchanter who casteth Thy spell on all beings, drowning them in Thy eternal symphony; I bow to Thee who art divine wisdom, infinite love, almighty power, and transcendent beauty.
Then I open my eyes, O! My Mother Divine - life and soul of the Universe, Thou showereth on us all Thy love that knows no bounds - a love that encompasses and absorbs us into Thy ecstatic Being - a love that transforms us into Thy likeness that ultimately melts us entirely into Thy supreme Being.
The sun, moon, stars, and all the heavenly bodies shine in the firmament as Thyself, revealed in a million forms. Infinite Thy bodies and Thy powers while all the time Thou art nameless and formless.
I close again my eyes and lo! that moment the universe disappears in me - lost in my immutable existence - the senses stilled and body forgotten - what peace, what joy - what rare ecstasy!
(Swami Ramdas)
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Recommended Reading:
'The Essential Swami Ramdas'
By Swami Ramdas (Author), Rebecca Manring (Foreword)
Purchase Book:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Description:
In simple and eloquent language, Ramdas writes directly and from the heart and his message of certain deliverance through the unswerving remembrance of God is meant for all serious seekers of all religions.
Sri Swami "Papa" Ramdas was born Vittal Rao in the Kerala State of India in 1884. As a young man, he was employed as a spinning master in a cotton mill, married in 1908. During his life before renunciation, brief periods of employment were followed by longer periods of unemployment and idleness, affecting both his financial condition and domestic life. For relief from his outer circumstances, he began to chant "Ram," a name of God, which brought him great mental peace and joy. Soon after, his father gave him a holy mantra, and from that point on, his progress and detachment from the material world was quick. He left his worldly life and began a pilgrimage, taking on the name Ramdas and living on the road in faith. He never accepted money and no matter how badly he was treated, he responded only with love. As a result, many were transformed by their encounters with him. In 1922 he encountered the sage, Ramana Maharshi, and received his grace. In 1931, after years of living on the road in faith, his devotees established Anandashram for him in Kanhangad, Kerala, where he lived with Mother Krishnabai, who also attained the universal vision of God. They worked to improve the living conditions of the local people, founding a school for the children, establishing a free medical clinic, and setting up a cooperative for weavers. Together, they did extensive tours in India, and a world tour in 1954-55, with the purpose of sharing a message of Universal Love and Service, Sri Swami Ramdas died in 1963.
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'The Essential Swami Ramdas'
By Swami Ramdas (Author), Rebecca Manring (Foreword)
Purchase Book:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Description:
In simple and eloquent language, Ramdas writes directly and from the heart and his message of certain deliverance through the unswerving remembrance of God is meant for all serious seekers of all religions.
Sri Swami "Papa" Ramdas was born Vittal Rao in the Kerala State of India in 1884. As a young man, he was employed as a spinning master in a cotton mill, married in 1908. During his life before renunciation, brief periods of employment were followed by longer periods of unemployment and idleness, affecting both his financial condition and domestic life. For relief from his outer circumstances, he began to chant "Ram," a name of God, which brought him great mental peace and joy. Soon after, his father gave him a holy mantra, and from that point on, his progress and detachment from the material world was quick. He left his worldly life and began a pilgrimage, taking on the name Ramdas and living on the road in faith. He never accepted money and no matter how badly he was treated, he responded only with love. As a result, many were transformed by their encounters with him. In 1922 he encountered the sage, Ramana Maharshi, and received his grace. In 1931, after years of living on the road in faith, his devotees established Anandashram for him in Kanhangad, Kerala, where he lived with Mother Krishnabai, who also attained the universal vision of God. They worked to improve the living conditions of the local people, founding a school for the children, establishing a free medical clinic, and setting up a cooperative for weavers. Together, they did extensive tours in India, and a world tour in 1954-55, with the purpose of sharing a message of Universal Love and Service, Sri Swami Ramdas died in 1963.
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