Ratnammal

Saranāgatī

After Sri Ramana came from Madurai to Tiruvannamalai, he continued to be in the state of unbroken natural samadhi. While he was thus absorbed in the Self in Patala linga, a dark, dank, underground niche in the

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, where insects and vermin feasted on his thighs while he himself remained without food or care. The Divine Mother sent Ratnammal, a young dancer from the Devadasi Community which was looked down upon by society. One day, she saw some urchins throwing stones into the cave. She went inside and saw a dim figure with a faint halo sitting like a statue. She brought food and fresh clothes and left them at the entrance of the cave. Needless to say, her offerings remained untouched.

Later, Seshadri Swami discovered Ramana and for his own protection, had the corpse-like young swami in samadhi carried out to safer grounds. Seshadri Swami instructed the temple priest to give the youngster milk. Milk was brought, not from the Arunachaleshwara shrine, but from Mother Apitakuchambal’s shrine in the Arunachaleshwara temple. This milk which had been poured on Mother’s idol, with turmeric, soap nut powder and ghee mixed in was the first prasad Mother gave Bhagavan. But as he was in deep samadhi, the priest was compelled to open his mouth for him and pour in the ‘Mother’s milk’ – the first food that sustains a child. When Bhagavan resumed bodily consciousness, he stayed under an illuppai tree (madhuca indica) in the Temple premises and continued to sit in samadhi.

Once, when Ratnammal was getting ready for a dance performance, she noticed the young Swami seated there. Turning to her mother she said, “I will not eat until we have served this ascetic some food.” They tried in vain to rouse him. So they opened his mouth and placed the food there. Sometimes he would swallow it, other times, the food simply remained there till they came the next day.

Years later, in recollecting the temple dancer, Bhagavan said, “This is the Universal Mother represented by Ratnammal.” He affirmed her again in a conversation with Suri Nagamma in a way that he never did with any devotee, saying, “Ratnammal was pure.” He explained that this was not a moral or physical purity he referred to, but the fact that even in those days, she had the capacity to recognize the divine before her.

– reproduced from the June 2011 issue of Saranāgatī eNewsletter