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14
A Sadhu's Reminiscences of Ramana Maharshi
by his reading of various Upanishads and other sacred writings which were afterwards brought to him to explain. Later reading these books, he realized the philosophic import of what had happened to him and so was able to co-ordinate his experiences and fit them into the Hindu tradition. But in this book we have his teachings at first hand and uncoloured. Here we find their very essence and by the help of this single brochure can learn all that is necessary. No more is needed.
As regards the period of his life, during which it is recorded that he kept Mownam or a vow of silence, I questioned him. He told me that there was never any such vow, but while living in temple at one time he found himself seated for a while by a Sadhu who was observing such a vow and saw how convenient it was as the crowds did not worry the Sadhu in the same way as they worried him. So for convenience he pretended to copy him. “There was no vow, I just kept quiet, I spoke when it was necessary,” he explained. I asked him how long this had continued. “For about two years,” he replied.
People talk about the intense Tapas he performed, but such Tapas is as mythical as his Mownam. He never performed Tapas, there was no need. His Self-realization, attained in the upstairs room of his uncle's house in Madurai was final, there was no more to be done. He was only a boy and it took him time to fit this all-embracing realization into his day-to-day life. It embraces that as it embraces everything else. It is perfection, Purna. So he just sought out quiet places where he thought that he
