The legend that was Ramana Maharshi 

Though a number of biographies are available on this personality of Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai and who became a sage at the age of 16, spending the rest of his life at the feet of this mountain. In this book, the author has focused not on the biography of the saint but on the practical aspects of Ramana’s basic spiritual outlook—how he responded to human quests which are not separate from the so-called spiritual quest.

Noted psychologist C.G. Jung had observed that “what we find in the life and teachings of Ramana Maharshi is the purest of India with its breath of world-liberated and liberating humanity,” which is a chart of the millennia. Even after nearly 150 years after his advent, Ramana Maharshi resides in the heart and consciousness of every seeker of inspiration. Serene, unruffled, rock-like in the steadiness of an eternal truth, he embodied a presence that communicated without language and a peace that percolated the depth of one’s being, illuminating its interior in the most natural way.

The book talks of a crucial experience that came to him when he was 17-year old. Born on December 29, 1879 (when Ramakrishna was still alive) in Tiruchuli, Tamil Nadu, he was named Venkataraman. A good athletic frame, gregarious by temperament, loving and loveable, he had nothing in him to set him apart.

The author who is professor and head of Department of English at Osmania University, Hyderabad, says that Ramana Maharshi’s preference to communicate through the power of overwhelming slience was so deep and vibrant that it was successful in calming the minds of over-zealous seekers attracted to him from all over the world. As seen in the case of the widow, his presence was a reflection of his teaching of self-enquiry (vichara).