Cherished Memories
Chapter 06 - Sri Ramana Sannidhi Murai
Sri Ramana Sannidhimurai is a work of unparalleled beauty and immeasurable depth of meaning. Sannidhimurai is a Tamil word meaning “listing out one’s grievances in the Presence of God.” In other words, it is a form of poetry in which the devotee prays to the Almighty and begs for His indulgence. The same phrase can also be translated as ‘a set of rules for the conduct of worship in the Divine Presence.’
The author of this work is Sri Muruganar, a highly learned Tamil scholar of eminence and a poet. More importantly, Muruganar was an ardent devotee of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. His was an absolute and unconditional surrender at the feet of Bhagavan. So much so that he could not even think of any other deity. Sri Ramana Sannidhimurai is in praise of Bhagavan. It captivated the hearts of Bhagavan’s devotees to such an extent that they used to memorise long passages from the book and recite them in Bhagavan’s presence.
In the olden days, Saivite saints used to compose hymns on the presiding deities of every temple they visited. All these hymns were gathered together and compiled into what came to be called the Panniru Tirumurai, (Panniru means twelve in Tamil). These hymns are all inspired poetry of the highest order. The sweetness of language and the beauty of expression are such that these songs have survived all these years, inspiring generation after generation of Lord Siva’s devotees.
Apart from the Panniru Tirumurai, there are a number of individual Sannidhimurais, sung by various poets through the ages. Even in modern times, the practice of composing Sannidhimurai continues. The Tirupporur Sannidhimurai was composed by Sri Chidambara Swami in recent times. When Muruganar composed Sri Ramana Sannidhimurai, he was only continuing a well-established tradition. Sri Ramana Sannidhimurai, however, has some unique characteristics which set it apart from all other Sannidhimurais. The songs in the Panniru Tirumurai were sung by several different poets, at several different temples, over a long period of time. The Ramana Sannidhimurai (except for the 12th chapter) is the work of a single poet, with all the poems extolling the praises of a single Deity. Moreover, Sri Muruganar has included some songs in verse-forms that are not found in the Panniru Tirumurai. The crowning glory of the Ramana Sannidhimurai is the chapter describing the extraordinary power of Bhagavan’s “Glance of Grace” (Kannokkam). Bhagavan had the power to transport a devotee to a higher plane through a mere glance of his eyes. Sri Muruganar tells us that a single glance from Bhagavan’s eyes can grant Liberation to a devotee, and free him from the cycle of birth and death.
The story of how the Ramana Sannidhimurai came to be written is very interesting. Even before his first visit to Tirvannamalai, Sri Muruganar had developed a very high regard for Bhagavan, hearing about him from his devotees and from reading Bhagavan’s works. Every time he read the Tiruvachakam (a devotional song composed by the poet-saint Manickavachakar), Muruganar would be filled with the longing that, just as Manickavachakar had found a suitable Guru, he too should have the good fortune to find a Guru soon. It was in this state of mind that Muruganar came to Tiruvannamalai.
On reaching Tiruvannamalai, Muruganar went to the Arunachaleswara Temple to thank God for making his trip to Tiruvannamalai possible. While in the temple, he felt that he should take some suitable offering for Bhagavan. So he sat down in the temple hall and composed a decad of verses and took it with him to Ramanasramam. These are the ten verses known as the Desika Padikam. (In Tamil and Sanskrit, the word Desika means Guru).
Upon entering the Ashram, Muruganar was assailed by doubts. He felt that he was ignorant about the etiquette to be followed when meeting a great sage. As Muruganar stood hesitating at the entrance to the hall, Bhagavan himself came out of the hall and came towards the spot where Muruganar was standing. It was as if the Guru had come to welcome his disciple!
The sight of Bhagavan took Muruganar’s breath away. For a few minutes, he just stood there, drinking in Bhagavan’s form with his eyes. Suddenly, he remembered the verses he had written. He took out the piece of paper and tried to read from it. But his eyes were flooded with tears and his voice was choked with emotion. He was incapable of reading anything. In the end, Bhagavan himself had to take the paper from Muruganar’s hands and read the verses himself. So great was Bhagavan’s compassion for his devotee that he took the trouble to read all the ten verses, standing at the entrance of the hall, while the author of those verses just stood and gazed at him!
Afterwards Muruganar would write poems once in a while and lay them at Bhagavan’s feet. Upon reading one of these poems, Bhagavan significantly remarked with grace, “These lines are just like the verses in Manickavachakar’s Tiruvachakam. Why don’t you write some more verses like these? If you continue to compose verses in the same way, you can write another Tiruvachakam!” Hearing these words, Muruganar was overcome by emotion. He was so moved by Bhagavan’s confidence in him that he broke down. Through his sobs he stammered, “Bhagavan, in your compassion, you have compared me to the great poet-saint. It is true that you are the Lord Siva Himself. But I am a worthless creature. I am not worthy of being compared to Manickavachakar. Where is the shining star and where is the firefly? I am not capable of emulating Manickavachakar on whom divine grace had descended in abundance.”
Bhagavan listened to Muruganar but did not answer in words. His only response was a long deep look into Muruganar’s eyes. This one glance was powerful enough to inspire in him the confidence to start writing poetry of rare beauty. He started composing verses regularly. Coming to know of this, a devotee, N.R.Krishnamoorthy Iyeri said to him, “These poems are quite good and it would be good idea to systematically compile them into a Sannidhimurai.” Thus the Ramana Sannidhimurai started taking shape. Muruganar firmly believed that Bhagavan made use of him as an instrument for the creation of this work. Several stanzas in Ramana Sannidhimurai bring out this idea.
Bhagavan’s glance of grace had the power to uplift a person and impart spiritual knowledge. Through more than thirty verses titled Thiruk Kannokkam (Divine Glance), Muruganar describes the power of Bhagavan’s Glance of Grace, and ends each verse with a plea for the bestowal of this Glance on the devotees.