|| śrīramaṇacatvāriṁśat ||

I bow to the lotus feet of the spiritual teacher Rishi Sri Ramana,
who showed me the Lord, shining, transcending darkness.

1. The story of his own life removes impurities. He is an ocean of compassion, taking delight in the red mountain (Arunachala). He knows the truth spoken by the bird (Gauruda)-born Vishnu, and bears the mystery of the silence of the bull(Nandi)-born Siva.

2. He is the guru of an assembly of learned men beginning with Ganapati, he is a great repository of a wealth of virtues. Just as the thousand-rayed one (the sun) is hidden by a cloud, his true greatness is hidden by the garb of the body.

3. Ingenious at defeating the roving senses, he is skillful in praising the merits of others. He delights in the peace of silence which is without deceit, and is the slayer of the strong,reviled, frightening passions.

4. He fills his stomach only at the proper time, undertaking inflexible vows,he lives on the slope the mountain (Arunachala). His heart is unable to be won over by the arrows of Cupid (the God of Love). He is leading his devotees,and giving them the method for Self-Knowledge (Atma Vichara).

5. He has crossed the fear producing ocean of worldly life. He has a hands as delicate as a lotus, which serve him as a bowl. His own gaze is unsurpassed in calmness and brightness, and he removes the fear of those who resort to his lotus feet.

6. He is a store-house of divine treasure for adoring devotees, his presence destroys dense misery. He maintains the duties of the ascetic, and he is preventing darkness all around.

7. Having a flood of virtues able to be described only by Sesha, the leader of the serpents, he speaks words that are pleasing, beneficial and true. He is not governed by that happiness which is influenced by respect and honor (from others), nor does he have distress due to dishonor (from others).

8. He is the Lord of Ascetics. With his sharp and brilliant intellect, he has with firmness destroyed the ego. He is always bearing a wave of joy, and he has killed the array of inner enemies (the six passions).

9. Having transcended all by his own merits, he wins the supreme feet of the Lord, (which are) not easily accessible by others. He is free from the feeling of ’’mine'' and is the friend of the virtuous. He is treasured at heart by the Lord of the Ganas, Ganapati.

10. Abandoning the lap of his Mother Parvati, he dwells on earth for the removal of darkness. He is Skanda (the mountain-splitter), having the appearance of a man. This world has found a Lord in Ramana!

11. He is an ascetic, wearing only a white piece of cloth adorning his loins. He is the Supreme guru, he is the peacock-riding Skanda, wearing the guise of a man. In him the world has a Master!

12. Prostrations to him who has transcended the multitude of gunas and is the perfect brahmachari! To him who is mortal by the workings of Maya, to the Guru, the enemy of Tarakasura (Skanda), prostrations!

13. Here there is no king of the peacocks for riding, nor a celestial river for bathing, nor is there the nectar of milk from the breast of the daughter of the Mountain-Lord (Parvati). The divine vina-playing attendants of Shiva, who are your contemporaries, are not even here to sing to thee! How is it then O Bhagavan, Pounder of Krauncha hill, that you make your dwelling upon Arunachala ?

14. You have one face, you are separated from Mother Uma's lap! You do not have a spear in your hand. You are mortal, and there are no flag bearing armies of the gods on either side! This disguise is enough to cover the eyes of those unwary ones who delight in the world, but how will you, O enemy of Tarakasura (Skanda), escape the notice your brother (Ganapati)?

15. Some (know you) as ’’the foremost of the knowers of yoga'', others as ''gyaani'', some others as ’’sadhu'', while some thinking of you as ’’guru'' worship your lotus feet. Ramana, born on earth for the peace of men, (only) two or three know you as Lord Skanda, resting on the lap of Girija, the Divine Mother.

16. The meaning of OM was explained (by you) to Lord Brahma. (Opening) your mouth, you had undertaken to explain something to even your father (Shiva). O Subramanya, even though you are the youngest, by your merits you have become greater than all! By the weight of your wisdom, you have obtained the state of Guru to your elder brother (Ganapati.)

17. That Lion's seat of honor which was previously mounted by the wise Vyasa, who saw the fullest extent of the Vedas, was afterwards occupied by fear destroying Sankara, who with a single portion of his knowledge dispelled the darkness (of ignorance). Now that throne of Acharya (to save) those who are suffering in the world awaits thee, O Lord embodied as man, O Army Chief of the Gods (Skanda)!

18. When dharma has been destroyed, when the three worlds are bewildered by wrong doing, When everywhere the way of words (polemics) has been brought together by men in vain as true knowledge, When the true existence of the supreme Lord the Father is doubted, Who but you is the refuge of the good, O peacock-mounted one (Skanda), disguised as a man?

19. Dispassion may be your weatlh, but how can you forsake compassion? Great effort may seem reprehensibile, but what of meditation on the feet of the Father? Desire may by prohibited by you, but is protection denied to your devotees? O Skanda, in the disguise of a man, do you await a proper opportunity?

20. O detraction, go far away! Bull of dharma, henceforth you will not be lame! Leave the world, O confusion, may association with the virtuous increase everywhere! In association with his brother (Ganapati),this world has obtained the chief of gurus (Ramana), the destroyer of the demon Sura and of the amorous passions, Lord, son of the Divine Mother Parvati.

21. He who has shaken off all duality having obtained the great secret of the place of birth (of the ’’I'' thought), and who shines as the very self in the various intellects of sentient beings, he who having pervaded the world and all bodies shines forth with his glory, oh men! salute that one, in the form of the Guru, the brother of Ganapati!

22. He who removes the darkness from within and without, having obtained that eternal state made of light, who uproots the ignorance of his devotees, who though seeing and sporting in this universe is beyond the universe, to him, Sri Ramana, the Guru of the world and destroyer of sorrow, salutations!

23. Oh Ramana, now, by the flowing forth of your splendid gaze, may I at once be blessed!

24. Oh Ramana, you are the Guru of men. Infinite is your heart, in which there is no differentiation.

25. Your word destroys for me the triad of ’’world'', ’’I'', and ’’the Supreme'', (and there remains) the one reality without differentiation, without doubt.

26. From your teaching, by knowledge inseparable from me, the difference between the reality and the ego is lost.

27. Oh (Ramana), if your grace (extends to us), we could experience the supreme self in the pure heart, hidden within the ego.

28. Oh Lord of the wise! Compassion is not just a quality of yours. It is natural for you, as the effulgence of your Heart.

29. Oh spotless one, your body blazes like lightning. Bright and pervasive is your look.

30. Your mind has been dissolved by the heart, oh Lord! You are eternally shining with bliss.

31. For the Divine Universal Lord of mankind, you are the cook, oh Lord of the self-controlled!

32. Slaying the ego of these man-beasts (humans steeped in ignorance), and cooking them, you prepare food for the supreme Shiva.

33. I bow to the guru Bhagavan Ramana, who destroys the darkness prevailing in the hearts of men, not only by his words, but by his sidelong glances of grace and compassion.

34. Oh Bhagavan Ramana, diving again and again into the ocean of the world, we are extremely tired. Now, at this moment, we approach the island of your lotus feet for refuge.You, the merciful abode of virtues, please protect us with the grace that pours out to your devotees from the glances of your eyes.

35. If the mother would not give milk, alas, what would be the fate of the child? If the cowherd would be angry, where would be protection for the cow? If you Teacher, do not dispel the doubts of those resorting to your feet, how will those overcome by multiple confusions cross over this worldly existence?

36. In your moon-like splendid smile peace reigns. Your large broad eyes are steady and unequalled in luster. You are eternally abiding in the lotus of the heart with your splendor outwardly flowing. Oh Bhagavan Ramana! What Sage on earth is possibly your equal?

37. In your eyes is Devi Shakti, effecting the end of the man's ignorance. In your face of a thousand expressions is Lakshmi, the wife of the lotus-eyed Vishnu. Concealed in your utterance is victory-causing Saraswati, supreme. Oh universal teacher Ramana of great experience (of Being)! What ordinary man could praise you?

38. Even though I myself am very far away from your holy feet Oh Bhagavan Ramana, when on this great occasion the dance of Shakti commences, the knowledge that your power, blazing as the sun and foremost in the universe, is not remote from me, has caused the sorrow of my mind to vanish.

39. Verily, that good fortune accquired by the red colored mountain (Arunachala), gained by the dwelling there of many sages, is now unequalled, because Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi has chosen this (dwelling) from among other holy places.

40. For his extraordinary peace, supreme power, most extraordinary dispassion, intense compassion, for knowledge that has banished hypocrisy and for his sweet conduct, Ramana Maharshi is indicated (as the ideal) for mankind.

Vasistha Ganapati, son of Narasimha, has praised with forty measured verses the Rishi, the incarnation of Skanda, Guru Ramana.