Ramana Maharshi's Biography-Death Experience

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This part of Ramana Maharshi's biography deals with His death experience.

A significant event occurred in Venkataraman's life (Ramana Maharshi's biography) sometime in 1886, which changed the entire course of his life. He was sitting alone in a room. He had no illness and that day in particular there was nothing wrong with his health. He was suddenly overpowered by the fear of death. He felt he was going to die. As he himself narrated it later:

“The shock and fear of death drove my mind inward and I said to myself mentally ... 'Now death has come. What does it mean? Who is it that dies'? The body dies.' And at once I dramatized the occurrence of death. I lay with my limbs stretched out ... and imitated a corpse to give more reality to the enquiry. ..."Well then,' I said to myself, 'this body is dead. It will be carried to the burning ground and then burnt and reduced to ashes. But with the death of the body, am I dead? Am I this body? It is silent and inert but I feel the full force of my personality and even the voice of 'I" within me apart from it. So I am the spirit transcending the body. The body dies but the spirit transcending it cannot be touched by death. That means I am the deathless spirit.' All this was not dull thought; it flashed through me as a vivid living Truth which I perceived directly, almost without thought process. ... From that moment onwards the 'I" or Self focussed attention on itself by a powerful fascination.

This (death) experience, which lasted hardly half an hour, left a deep and lasting impression on his personality. The fear of death vanished for him and Venkataraman grew more and more contemplative. He lost all interest in studies and his playful and retaliative mood gave place to calm forbearance. He did not have any like or dislike for food any more. His visits to Meenakshi temple (Madurai) became more meaningful now. Earlier he visited the temple occasionally with friends. But after the awakening, his visited it daily. He would stand motionless for hours in front of Mother Meenakshi, Sri Siva and the sixty-three Nayanmars. With great depth of feeling he would pray for the Lord's grace so that his devotion would increase and become continual like that of the Nayanmars.

In his own words, 'The soul had given up its hold on the body and it was seeking some fresh anchorage; hence the frequent visits to the temple and outpouring of the soul in tears.'

About the author

Swami Yuktatmananda

Swami Yuktatmananda of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore, is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order. This article is an excerpt from His 'The Holy Beacon of Arunachala,' which is a narration of Ramana Maharshi's biography. In this article he describes about the death experience of Ramana.