self_enquiry.pdf

SELF - ENQUIRY

( VICHARASANGRAHAM )

BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

A new translation by

DR T. M. P. MAHADEVAN, M.A., Ph.D.

from the original Tamil

PUBLISHED BY

V. S. RAMANAN

President, Board of Trustees

SRI RAMANASRAMAM

TIRUVANNAMALAI

SOUTH INDIA.

Sri Ramanasramam

Eighth edition 1971

Ninth edition 1981

Tenth edition 1990

Reprint 1994

INTRODUCTION

The present work in prose consists of forty questions with answers covering the entire range of

spiritual disciplines required for the gaining of release ( moksha ). The questioner was Gambhiram

Seshayya, one of the early devotees of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was a Municipal

Overseer at Tiruvannamalai about 1900. Besides being an ardent Ramabhakta (worshipper of

Rama) he was interested in the study and practice of Yoga . He used to read Swami Vivekananda’s

lectures on the different yoga’s as also an English translation of the Rama-gita . For resolving the

difficulties which he came across while studying these books and in his spiritual practices, he

approached Bhagavan Sri Ramana from time to time. Bhagavan, who was only twenty-one years

old, was then living in Virupaksha cave on Arunachala Hill. As he was keeping silent at the time

not because of any vow taken but because he was not inclined to talk - he wrote out his answers to

Seshayya’s questions on bits of paper. These writings over the period 1900-1902 were later

copied in a note-book by Seshayya. The material thus gathered was published by Sri Ramanasramam

under the little Vichara-sangraham which literally means ‘A Compendium of Self-Enquiry.’ A

digest of the teaching contained in this work was later printed in English bearing the title ‘Self-

Enquiry’. In that English version, the questions were omitted and the substance of Bhagavan’s

teaching was given, classifying it in twelve short chapters with appropriate headings. The present

English translation is of the entire original text Vichara-sangraham as it is in Tamil. The Vichara-

sangraham has unique value in the sense that it constitutes the first set of instructions given by

Bhagavan in his own handwriting.

A careful study of the instructions given by Bhagavan here will reveal that they are based on his own

plenary experience as confirmed by the sacred texts which were brought to his notice by the early

devotees and which he perused for the purpose of clearing the doubts that arose in the minds of the

devotees. In the course of his instructions, Bhagavan makes use of such expressions as, ‘the scriptures

declare’, ‘thus say the sages,’ etc.; he also cites passages from texts like the Bhagavad Gita and the

Vivekachudamani and once he mentions by name the Ribhu Gita . But it is quite clear that these citations

are offered only as confirmations of the truth discovered by Bhagavan himself in his own experience.

The basic teaching is that of Advaita-Vedanta. The plenary experience of the non-dual Self is the

goal; enquiry into the nature of the self is the means. When the mind identifies the self with the not-

self (the body, etc.), there is bondage; when this wrong identification is removed through the

enquiry ‘Who am I ?’ there is release. Thus, Self-enquiry is the direct path taught by Bhagavan

Ramana. The ‘I-experience’ is common to all. Of all thoughts, the ‘I-thought’ is the first to arise.

What one has to do is to enquire into the source of the ‘I-thought’. This is the reverse process of

what ordinarily happens in the life of the mind. The mind enquires into the constitution and source

of everything else which, on examination, will be found to be its own projection; it does not

reflect on itself and trace itself to its source. Self-discovery can be achieved by giving the mind an

inward turn. This is not to be confused with the introspection of which the psychologists speak.

Self-enquiry is not the mind’s inspection of its own contents; it is tracing the mind’s first mode, the

‘I-thought’ to its source which is the Self. When there is proper and persistent enquiry, the ‘I-

thought’ also ceases and there is the wordless illumination of the form ‘I-I’ which is the pure

consciousness. This is release, freedom from bondage. The method by which this is accomplished,

as has been shown, is enquiry which, in Vedanta, is termed jnana , knowledge. True devotion

( bhakti ), meditation ( dhyana ), and concentration ( yoga ) are identical therewith. As Bhagavan

makes it perfectly clear, not to forget the plenary Self-experience is real devotion, mind-control,

knowledge, and all other austerities. In the language of devotion, the final goal may be described

as the resolution of the mind in its source which is God, the Self, in that of technical yoga, it may

be described as the dissolution of the mind in the Heart-lotus. These are only different ways of

expressing the same truth.

The path of Self-enquiry is found difficult by those who have not acquired the necessary competence

for it. The mind should first be rendered pure and one-pointed. This is done through meditation,

etc. So, the various paths, in their secondary sense, are auxiliaries to the direct path which is Self-

enquiry. In this context, Bhagavan refers to three grades of aspirants: the highest, the medium, and

the lowest. For the highest type of aspirants, the path prescribed is Vedanta enquiry; through this

path, the mind becomes quiescent in the Self and finally ceases to be, leaving the pure Self-

experience untarnished and resplendent. The path for the medium is meditation on the Self;

meditation consists in directing a continuous flow of the mind towards the same object; there are

several modes of meditation; the best mode is that which is of the form ‘I am the Self’; this mode

eventually culminates in Self-realization. For the lowest grade of aspirants, the discipline that is

useful is breath-control which in turn results in mind control.

Bhagavan explains the difference between jnana-yoga (path of knowledge) and dhyana-yoga

(path of meditation) thus: jnana is like subduing a self-willed bull by coaxing it with the help of a

sheaf of green grass, while dhyana is like controlling it by using force. Just as there are eight

limbs for dhyana-yoga , there are eight for jnana-yoga . The limbs of the latter are more proximate

to the final stage than those of the former. For instance, while the pranayama of technical yoga

consists in regulating and restraining breath, the pranayama that is a limb of jnana relates to

rejecting the name-and-form world which is non-real and realizing the Real which is Existence-

Consciousness-Bliss.

Realization of the Self can be gained in this very life. In fact, Self-realization is not something

which is to be gained afresh. We are already the Self; the Self alone is. It is ignorance that makes

us imagine that we have not realized the Self. When this ignorance is removed through Self-

knowledge, we realize our eternal Self-nature. One who has gained this realization is called a

jivan-mukta (liberated while living). To others, he may appear to continue to tenant a body. For

the benefit of those others it is stated that the body will continue so long as the residue of the

prarabdha-karma (that karma of the past which has begun to fructify in the shape of the present

body) lasts, and that when the momentum is spent the body will fall and the jivan-mukta will

become a videha-mukta . But from the standpoint of the absolute truth, there is no difference in

mukti . What needs to be understood is that mukti or release is the inalienable nature of the Self.

This, in substance, is Bhagavan Sri Ramana’s teaching in the Vichara-sangraham .

University Of Madras.

November 15, 1965.

Note to the Eighth Edition

The earliest edition of this work in Question-Answer form, I have come across, is dated 1930,

published by A. Shivalinga Mudaliyar and V. Subrahmanya Achari and printed at Saravana Bava

Press, Madras. This bears a foreword by Muruganar which is dated June 16th, 1930. It is mentioned

in the foreword that it was Natanananda that edited the work in Question-Answer form. In his

preface, Natanananda observes that the work contains the teachings given in writing by Bhagavan

Ramana to Gambhiram Seshayya in the years 1901-1902. It is in the Question-Answer form that

this work is included in the ‘Collected Works’ in Tamil, in its early editions, published by the

Asramam. In the third edition published in 1940, as well as in subsequent editions, the Self-

Enquiry appears in the form of a digest. In the footnote that occurs at the end of the Publisher’s

Note, it is stated that the manuscript copy given by Gambhiram Seshayya’s brother was edited by

Shivaprakasam Pillai, and was put into Question-Answer form by Natanananda.

Madras

January 18, 1971.

SELF - ENQUIRY

(VICHARASANGRAHAM)

BHAGAVAN SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

INVOCATION

Is there any way of adoring the Supreme which is all, except by abiding firmly as that!

Disciple : Master! What is the means to gain the state of eternal bliss, ever devoid of misery?

Master : Apart from the statement in the Veda that wherever there is body there is misery, this is

also the direct experience of all people; therefore, one should enquire into one’s true nature which

is ever bodiless, and one should remain as such. This is the means to gaining that state.

D : What is meant by saying that one should enquire into one’s true nature and understand it?

M : Experiences such as “I went; I came; I was; I did” come naturally to everyone. From these

experiences, does it not appear that the consciousness “I” is the subject of those various acts?

Enquiry into the true nature of that consciousness, and remaining as oneself is the way to understand,

through enquiry, one’s true nature.

D : How is one to enquire: “Who am I?”

M : Actions such as ‘going’ and ‘coming’ belong only to the body. And so, when one says “I

went, I came”, it amounts to saying that the body is “I”. But, can the body be said to be the

consciousness “I”, since the body was not before it was born, is made up of the five elements,

is non-existent in the state of deep sleep, and becomes a corpse when dead? Can this body

which is inert like a log of wood be said to shine as “I” “I”? Therefore, the “I” consciousness

which at first arises in respect of the body is referred to variously as self-conceit ( tarbodham ),

egoity ( ahankara ), nescience ( avidya ), maya , impurity ( mala ), and individual soul ( jiva ) . Can

we remain without enquiring into this? Is it not for our redemption through enquiry that all the

scriptures declare that the destruction of “self-conceit” is release ( mukti )? Therefore, making

the corpse-body remain as a corpse, and not even uttering the word “I”, one should enquire

keenly thus: “Now, what is it that rises as ‘I’”. Then, there would shine in the Heart a kind of

wordless illumination of the form ‘I’ ‘I’. That is, there would shine of its own accord the pure

consciousness which is unlimited and one, the limited and the many thoughts having disappeared.

If one remains quiescent without abandoning that (experience), the egoity, the individual sense,

of the form ‘I am the body’ will be totally destroyed, and at the end the final thought, viz . the ‘I’-

form also will be quenched like the fire that burns camphor. 1 The great sages and scriptures

declare that this alone is release.

D : When one enquires into the root of ‘self conceit’ which is of the form ‘I’, all sorts of different

thoughts without number seem to rise; and not any separate ‘I’ thought.

M : Whether the nominative case, which is the first case, appears or not, the sentences in which the

other cases appear have as their basis the first case; similarly, all the thoughts that appear in the

heart have as their basis the egoity which is the first mental mode ‘I’, the cognition of the form ‘I

am the body’; thus, it is the rise of egoity that is the cause and source of the rise of all other

thoughts; therefore, if the self-conceit of the form of egoity which is the root of the illusory tree of

samsara (bondage consisting of transmigration) is destroyed, all other thoughts will perish

completely like an uprooted tree. Whatever thoughts arise as obstacles to one’s sadhana (spiritual

discipline) - the mind should not be allowed to go in their direction, but should be made to rest in

one’s self which is the Atman ; one should remain as witness to whatever happens, adopting the

attitude ‘Let whatever strange things happen, happen; let us see!’ This should be one’s practice. In

other words, one should not identify oneself with appearances; one should never relinquish one’s

self. This is the proper means for destruction of the mind ( manonasa ) which is of the nature of

seeing the body as self, and which is the cause of all the aforesaid obstacles. This method which

easily destroys egoity deserves to be called devotion ( bhakti ), meditation ( dhyana ), concentration

( yoga ), and knowledge ( jnana ). Because God remains of the nature of the Self, shining as ‘I’ in

the heart, because the scriptures declare that thought itself is bondage, the best discipline is to stay

1. i.e. , without leaving any sediment.

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