question to hindus .,most of you know/read about bhagawan sri ramana maharshi?

An interesting question. i answer. First all must know one thing.. The greatest personality Kavyakantha ganapathi sastri done to the vedic world, the himalayan task works.. More than the service he did for Bhagavan, Ganapati's service to the nation in propagating Bhagavan's message is greater. The answers Bhagavan gave to the questions of the disciples were incorporated as slokas in Sri Ramana Gita composed by Ganapati Sastry. This book is an invaluable guide to all.

Maharshi seldom talked. Kavya Kanta Ganapathy Sastri, the great Sanskrit scholar, came to Ramana’s Ashram in 1908 and stayed with Maharshi and wrote the 'Ramana Gita'. Ramana was a living example of the teaching of the Upanishads. His life was at once the message and the philosophy of his teachings. He spoke to the hearts of people.

Vasistha Ganapati Muni (1878-1936), famed as Kavyakantha , and popularly addressed as Nayana, was a mighty spiritual personality in his own right and had a large following of illustrious disciples. It is a standing testimony to his spiritual sincerity, humility, and intellectual honesty that he recognized the uniqueness of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi's teaching , accepted Him as his Guru, and proclaimed him as the Maharshi to the whole world.

Much of the Tantric knowledge presented here, particularly relative to the Ten Wisdom Forms of the Goddess, is based upon the work of Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni (1878-1936). Ganapati was perhaps the foremost disciple of Ramana Maharshi, whom many regard as the foremost guru and sage of modern India. In fact it was Ganapati who gave Ramana Maharshi his name, as previously the boy sage was called Brahmana Swami. Ganapati and Ramana were regarded as modern incarnations of Ganesh and Skanda. Nearly all these works are in Sanskrit, mainly in out of date editions or as copied by hand by Natesan from Ganapati's own handwritten manuscripts.

Ganapati Muni was a great Tantric and wrote from his own experience. He was one of the greatest of all Sanskrit poets and understood the entire tradition, back to the oldest Vedas. He presented all the correlations of Tantra from outer ritual to the highest spiritual knowledge, and from its ancient Vedic roots. In his own life Ganapati had a unique yogic experience that indicates the extent of his realization. After years of intense yogic practice he experienced the opening up of his skull, the loosening of the suture at the top of his head. After that a light and energy radiated from the top of his head. He lived in that state transcending the ordinary mind-body complex, not just as an idea, but as a physical fact. ref..http://shastrix.blogspot.com/2008/04/kavyakanta-ga...

IT was 1903. Bhagavan was seated at Adimudi shrine surrounded by disciples. A scholar from Andhra came and interpreted the famous invocatory sloka "Suklambaradharam Vishnum sasivarnam catur bhujam prasanna vadanam dhyayeth sarva vighnopasantaye" as if it applied to Bhagavan in this manner:"He also wears a white cloth (Kaupina); as he abides in the Self he is Vishnu (all pervading), he has devoured (destroyed) Manas, Buddhi, Chitta and Ahamkara. He has a peaceful countenance, he removes all obstacles in the way of those who meditate.'

The following year the same scholar visited Arunachala during Kritikkai and recited the one thousand slokas, entitled Sivasahasri, extolling the Deity. The listeners were very pleased with the scholarship and beautiful style of the composition.

Everyone wondered who that person of simple appearance but with profound scholarship was. They came to know that he was from Andhra and belonged to Kaluvarayi agraharam near Bobbili. His name was Kavya Kantha Ganapati Sastry. They expressed their appreciation of the gifted and blessed being of rare talents.

Truly Ganapati was a blessed child. In 1878 his father Narasimha Sastry was performing japa at Kasi in front of Vinayaka's image. He suddenly felt that a small boy was advancing towards him fromVinayaka. That was also the time when his baby son was born back home. The father named the child Ganapati.

Till he reached the age of five all kinds of ailments including dumbness troubled Ganapati. In his sixth year he was branded with a hot iron rod upon which all ailments left him. He was also able to speak thereafter.

He then began his studies. Thereafter his life was miraculous with unexcelled intellectual skills of great comprehension, phenomenal memory and amazing intuition. There was nothing he could not understand, nothing he could not commit to memory after hearing once, no sastra that was not grist to his intellectual mill. By the time he was ten, he had memorized several kavyas. In Astrology he was capable of drawing up a panchangam. He also had the capacity to compose Sanskrit verses extempore. As he studied epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata two great ambitions arose in him. One was to become a great poet like Vyasa. ref...http://bhagavan-ramana.org/ramana_maharshi/books/r...

i found many details has been ignored due to space. i will continue my service in forth coming questions..i thank you for the opportunity.

Ramana Maharshi On Astrology

Thank you!

I didn't know much about Sri Ramana maharshi, who attracted 'Chalam', leading litterateur in Telugu language who espoused the cause of 'feminism' in its earlier form. I came to know about Ganapathi muni thru' the othere replies.

Kumar has given sufficient long reply

Ganapathi muni was a great disciple of Shri Ramana

The more spiritual intrinsic objective the knowledge is the more it connects back both ways into all knowledge. It's about from the basis of any foundation, breaking down walls. Nothing is separate or dualistic. Resolution of experience and seeing it in place. All is one. Full life is all life. It's to do with the nature of "nothing" as it exists in motion and in everything in the whole of reality, the creative and loving nature, and through calm positivity undoing the ties that can keep one from that. Breaking down the walls. Or dream-realities can transform to something better more intrinsic and all inclusive. So the progressive loss of self and loss of individual life and individual reality is the progressive gaining of Self, all life and all reality. Root of self is the one that really guides and is all positive and for everything at once. And the thing about institutions is that some are elitist and deny all reality and do the opposite with double-binds and force, and some counteract that effect to protect people from it. So they both have their place in human evolution and the discernment of the difference until the hierarchy is non-competitve and the right way up and shareable and holistic, lift up, connect integrate, and inclusive of the whole of reality from a spiritual intrinsic perspective, (which the opposite secular elitist extreme image power status and control, non-reality, double-bind and harmful physical force based institutions like the least and are most persistent and aggressive about). But those kinds of institutions are powerless in the long run, because they just keep revealing what they obviously are anyway, because they always go after the most useful calm positive constructive resilient and indestructible things to try to destroy and the image mask comes off. The "spirit" can't be destroyed. It's kind of like Captain Scarlet on the old kids program, or Doctor Who going through multiple regenerations. And it's that way up really. "Spirit with body, not body with spirit" on all levels. Knowledge goes beyond knowledge and good seeds spread. Wisdom is not one sided or subjective, it's intrinsically based, empathic and all sided and applicable. Spiritual=natural, universal on a universal objective and inclusive truth basis. Nothing is ever lost. The knowledge is non-comparative and vanishing, but with all partial knowledge around it, understanding and awareness.

Ya i ve read a lot of books about bhagwan and also his teachings.ya i know about ganapathi muni.can you tell me whether you know about another pure soul who is called as sheshadri swamigal who actually raised ramana maharishi and protected him from small and big unknown guys who had thrown stones on him.later everyone realised that they are wrong in harming a great soul.but sheshadri swamigal s a mentor for ramana maharishi.

Nanba: Thaatha anaduku engal ullamarndha vazhthukal.

Sheshadri Swamigal was the first sadhu who discovered Sri Ramana Maharishi from Patala-Lingam vault. At that time Maharishi was in deep state of samadhi without knowing anything about his body and surroundings. Later he was carried out, cleaned-up and forced fed.

Later he stayed in Gurumurtam, soon Sadhu Palaniswami came there to get his darshan and since then his sole concern was to serving Sri Ramana! Palaniswami begged alms and cooked food for both and took care of him.

Kavyakantha Sri Ganapati Sastri, a Vedic scholar of repute in his age, came to visit Sri Ramana in 1907. After receiving instructions from him, he proclaimed him as Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. Ramana's younger brother, Nagasundaram and his Mother, then became a sannyasin, assuming the name Niranjanananda, becoming known as Chinnaswami (the younger Swami).

Yes, Sri Ganapati Sastri was widely called as "Nayana", he is originally from Bobbili, AP. His birth history was very unique, A year before his birth his mother Narasamamba had gone to the famous temple dedicated to the Sun God at Arasavalli, in Andhra Pradesh. It was a holy day (Ratha Saptami) to offer worship to the Sun God. She stayed overnight in the temple, after worshipping the Lord in due manner. In the early morning she had a dream in which a woman of supernatural beauty emerged from the corridors of the temple, approached her with a fine shining pot, put it in her hand and vanished. To her utter astonishment the fine pitcher assumed the form of a male child the moment it came into contact with her. After her return home she became pregnant.

His father, Narasimha Sastri, also had a unique experience. He had gone to Banaras, When he was in the temple praying in the presence of the deity Ganapati, he had the vision of a little child emanating from the deity and entering into him. At the time when Narasimha Sastri was witnessing this vision in Banaras, his wife Narasamamba gave birth to a male child in her parental home. This child was born under these auspicious indications given to both parents. The father appropriately named this son Ganapati, rooted in the conviction that the child was an emanation of the Lord Maha Ganapati Himself.

He was welly educated, got married at 18 and wandered all holy places. In a dream while in Bhuvaneshwar, Ganapati saw a woman putting honey in his mouth and onto his tongue and then vanishing. Later, the Muni himself narrated this to his disciples and said that only after this incident did he gain complete mastery over poetry.

When Ganapati was staying in Kashi he came to know that there would be a great assembly of Sanskrit scholars in the famous city of Navadwipa in Bengal. On the advice of his friends he got a letter of introduction and started for Navadwipa. There he passed the difficult tests in extempore Sanskrit prose and poetry with an effortless ease that stunned his examiners. Unanimously, they conferred the title 'Kavyakantha' (one who has poetry in his throat) on him forthwith. He was then 22 years old.

He returned to South India, took a teaching job in Vellore, later resigned and arrived at Arunachala in 1907. At that time Sri Ramana was widely known as Brahmanaswami.

Though Ganapathi already an intellectual and spiritual giant, with many achievements to his credit, and a host of followers as well, Ganapati felt distressed that his life purpose was not yet achieved. He suddenly remembered Brahmanaswami, climbed the hill to his abode and prayed to him for upadesa. The meeting was of profound consequence, not only for Kavyakantha, but also for the world at large.

The Muni approached the Virupaksha Cave where Brahmanaswami lived on the 18th of November 1907. Prostrating before the young Sage, he pleaded with a trembling voice: "All that has to be read I have read. Even Vedanta Sastra I have fully understood. I have performed japa to my heart's content, yet I have not up to this time understood what tapas is. Hence, have I sought refuge at thy feet. Pray enlighten me about the nature of tapas."

For fifteen minutes Sri Ramana Maharshi silently gazed at the Muni. He then spoke: "If one watches where the notion of 'I' springs, the mind will be absorbed into that. That is tapas. If a mantra is repeated and attention is directed to the source where the mantra sound is produced, the mind will be absorbed into that. That is tapas." Upon hearing these words of the Sage, the scholar-poet was filled with joy and announced that this upadesa was entirely original and that Brahmanaswami was a Maharshi and should be so called thereafter. He then gave the name of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi to Brahmanaswami, whose original name had been Venkataraman.

Sri Ganapati passed away at Kharagpur, in W. Bengal, on July 25, 1936, when he was 58 years old. The Muni was the only know person in our times to have experienced Kapalabheda, which occurred in 1922 at the Mango Cave on Arunachala. As the result of intense tapas, the subtle knot in his head was cut and his cranium split.