The Maharshi's Way

One of the foremost devotees of Sri Ramana Maharshi and a great Tamil poet, Sri Muruganar, while writing his epic Tiruvundiyar, came to the point where Lord Siva, after vanquishing the rishis of the Daruka forest and accepting their surrender taught them the central core of Vedanta. He could not proceed with writing the part pertaining to the teaching. He besought Sri Maharshi who was Siva incarnate, to compose in verse form the teaching given by Lord Siva to the Rishis. Sri Maharshi then composed in twenty-nine verses the Upadesa Undiyar in Tamil. The last verse was composed by Sri Muruganar. Sri Maharshi later translated this poem into Sanskrit as Upadesa Saram and also into Telugu and Malayalam. This poem details the various methods of spiritual practices that are available to the seeker and explains their relative merits. The Maharshi emphasizes that Self-enquiry encompasses action, devotion and knowledge and leads the seeker surely and directly to Self-realization. This is the Maharshi’s way. The Sanskrit poem in the lilting Suprathishta metre is chanted before dusk at the Samadhi shrine of Sri Maharshi along with the Vedas. It is revered as scripture.