Nija Ananda Bhodham
(Review by Prof. K Seshadri)
Amarakavi Sri Sangam Ramachandra Rao is a chosen
recipient of divine grace. This is
evident in every one of his utterances, and it is also the impression that one
would in his sacred charge. Indeed, he
has written a great deal more than what is contained within the restricted
dimensions of the present publication.
Such writing could not have been the outcome of unaided human effort and
it bears the seal of God. All that he
has written has come to him in a flood, making it impossible for him to pick
and choose out of the abundance of the flow or to prune and polish all that had
been received under a spell, as it were.
The book, there, wears the authentic marks of fresh and pure delivery
which assumes at several place the shape of utter rawness.
Spontaneity
of the flow of expression, especially when it is from “on high”, would not wait
for any artificial dress-up or verbal sophistication, so as to conform to the
requirements of syntax or the rules of meticulous sentence formation. The utterances of the great sages and seers
have always been spontaneous outpourings inspired by direct and immediate
experiences, and hence they are for the most part elliptical and highly
cryptic. Amarakavi Ramachandra Rao’s
writings shares in this quality of sublime uncouthness. They have a message to convey not only to the
seeker set on the path of self-realisation but also to humanity as a whole
struggling to emerge out of the meshes of Samsara. It is difficult to get at the theme hidden in
the upsurging ideas and couched in words that could by their very nature only
approximate to the meaning aimed at but not express it adequately.
Amarakavi
Ramchandra Rao himself admits that what he has written is not “easy reading”,
neither could it’s substance be got at ‘the first stroke”. It does call for persistent effort which
might amount even to a rearrangement of the sequence to suite the accustomed
ways of a measuring, pattern bound mind.
But the effort would indeed prove worthwhile.
It
is not of airy abstractions that the Amarakavi speaks but of the Ultimate Truth
in its variegated facets as he was privileged to perceive, comprehend and
transmit to his fellowmen. He speaks
from the depths of yogic absorption, in what he has himself described as “Yoga
Nidra” or “Manolaya”. The
yoga that he has achieved is described by him as integral for it is so in a
very special sense. It is a kind of Savikalpa
Siddhi into which he enters, and from the heart of which he speaks, and he
does not lose touch with the earth even in his moments of rare exaltation. His utterances have a relevance not only to
the transcendental aspirations of man but also to his actual, physical and
environmental situation. As he himself
puts it. He has “navigated” speech for progress in and through life, and the
progress leads him to a goal, that lies beyond speech and thought.
The
Amarakavi is a Tantra yogin, for the original inspiration that came to
him from “Mula Ganapathy” initiated him into the secrets of Tantra
yoga. He has touched “the shores of
Ananda” and claims also to have ridden on the “shore waves” of bliss.
The work reveals a blend of three distinct disciplines viz., Ashtanga
Yoga, Advaita Vedanta and Sri Vidya.
He describes “Sri Chakra” as the cosmic map around human life.
His yoga takes him at once to transcendental heights and leads him into the
secret recesses of the Self, thus linking the Atman and the Brahman, and hence
the core of his message is Vedantic. As
such, it comprehends both the aspects of the theory and practice of
spirituality. I do not feel competent to
make anything like a pronouncement on any of these interrelated stands of the
Amarakavi’s writings. Even to say that I
commend it to others may be sheer presumptuousness. My initial reaction has been one of utter
astonishment. But as I proceed gradually
to grasp the purport of it all, I feel steadily strengthened in the conviction
that it is a rare work and even if there happened to be but few that could
grasp its meaning here and now, it has a claim to be preserved for a more
propitious future.
K. Seshadri,
Professor
of philosophy (Retd.) & Director,
Centre
for Studies in Tradition,
Thought
and Culture of India,
C.P.Ramasswami
Aiyar Foundation.
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