Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi Complete ... - BrahminVoice.org

Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
INTRODUCTION
These ‘Talks’ cover a period of four years, l935-1939, and were
all recorded by Sri Munagala S. Venkataramiah (now Swami
Ramanananda Saraswati), a very old disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi.
Though a Telugu by birth he speaks English and Tamil fluently and
is conversant with Sanskrit. These are necessary qualifications for
one who wished to record the conversations of Sri Bhagavan with
his various disciples and visitors.
The four years that are covered here, were the days when the Asramam
reached the summit of its glory. Maharshi’s health was on the whole
good and the Hall where he sat was open day and night to welcome
one and all. Visitors flocked there from every corner of the world, there
was hardly a country that was not represented at one time or another.
The war naturally interfered with this influx, though the number of
Indian visitors steadily increased as time went on. But it was these
conversations, many with Westerners, that were especially interesting;
the modern tendency towards materialism and irreligion, on which
the West often prides itself, met its match here. Sri Bhagavan glowed
like the sun, and even those who did not understand him or agree
with his words were fascinated and could not help but be elevated
by his presence.
Though Sri Venkataramiah was fully qualified for the work, to follow
Sri Bhagavan was no easy task when he once started to talk. He
had such a command of his subject that he was never at a loss for
a word in whichever language he might happen to be speaking; so,
few notes could be taken, the listeners being too busy trying not to
lose a word of what was being said, added to which it was not always
easy to understand. Sri Venkataramiah acted as interpreter for the
many English-speaking people who flocked to the Asramam, as Sri
Bhagavan was reluctant to say more than a few words in that language,
though he knew it sufficiently well to read the English newspapers and
magazines. But to act as interpreter was an even more difficult task
than just recording; the flow of words was so steady that no interval
was left in which their meaning could be conveyed to the ardent
* Originally written for the First Edition.
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