BHAGAVAN AND VINAYAKA There are a few instances where Lord Vinayaka has a connection to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. Iin his monumental composition ‘Aksharamanamalai’, the Marital Garland of Letters, in praise of Lord Arunachaleswara, Bhagavan begins the work with an invocation to Ganapati. அருணாச்சல வரற்கேற்ற அக்ஷரமணமாலை சாற்ற கருணாகர கணபதியே கரமருளி காப்பாயே “O Ganapathy, the ocean of mercy! Bless me with your helping hand and protect me as I offer this Aksharamanamalai (Bridal Garland of Letters) well-suited to the Supreme Lord Arunachala." ……………………… Once, in the year 1912, a potter came to the Virupaksha Cave with a small image of Vinayaka that he had made and presented it to Bhagavan. A devotee suggested that Bhagavan should write a verse to celebrate the occasion, and this is what Sri Bhagavan wrote. பிள்ளையாப் பெற்றவனை பிச்சாண்டி ஆக்கி எங்கும் பிள்ளையாப் பேழ்வயிற்றைப் பேணிநீர் - பிள்ளையான் கன்னெஞ்சோ மாடத்துப் பிள்ளையாரே கண் பாரும் பின் வந்தான் தன்னை நீர் பெற்று Him who begot you as a child you made Into a beggar; as a child yourself You then lived everywhere just to support Your own huge belly; I too am a child. Oh Child God in that niche! Encountering one Born after you, is your heart made of stone? I pray you look at me! Bhagavan describes himself as one ‘born afte Vinayaka’ i.e., as Lord Muruga, giving credence to the conviction of certain senior devotees that Bhagavan Ramana was an incarnation of Muruga. ……………………… We do not know when and for what purpose Bhagavan wrote the below invocation. But this is on Vinayaka and is available in his own handwriting (See image). மடல் அதனின் மாமுனிவன் வாக்கை வரைந்த அடல் அருணையார் பிள்ளையாரே - யுடல் எடுக்குங் காரியநோய் தீர்த்துக் களிந்து ஆன்மத் தேனூறும் ஆரிய மாமதம் காத்து ஆள். O! Vinayaka, who wrote on a scroll (i.e., the slopes of Mt. Meru) the words (Maharbharata) of the Great Sage (i.e., Vyasa) and presides at the victorious Arunachala, do remove the disease (i.e., maya) that is the cause of repeated births, and protect graciously the great Noble Faith (i.e., the Upanishadic philosophy and religion) which reveals the Supreme Self. Reference is made to the purānic story that Ganesha served as a scribe to Vyasa and wrote down the Mahabharata, and His grace is invoked for the protection of the highest Vedanta as expounded in the Upanishads. Bhagavan’s own handwriting of this verse is given (See images). ……………………… Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni visited Bhagavan who was known then as Brahmana Swami first in 1903, at the Virupaksha cave and upon beholding him, recited the well known stotra of Vinayaka and interpreted it differently: शुक्लाम्बरधरं विष्णुं शशिवर्णं चतुर्भुजम् । प्रसन्नवदनं ध्यायेत् सर्वविघ्नोपशान्तये ॥ suklAm baradharam viShNum sasivarNam chaturbhujam prasanna vadanam dhyAyEt sarva vignOpashAntayE The meaning of the sloka: One should meditate upon the four-armed god with the complexion of the moon, who is clad in white robes, is all-pervading and whose countenance is benign, for the eradication of all obstacles. Ganapati Muni interpreted the sloka to describe Brahmana Swami. He said, “Since the Swami is wearing a white kaupeena, he is shuklAmbharadharA. Through his Pure Awareness he is all pervading, hence he is Vishnu. He shines like the moon, hence sashivarNam, he has conquered the mind, senses, ego and thoughts, hence chaturbhujam, he sports a smiling, pleasing face, hence prasanna vadanam and he removes all obstacles on the path of those who meditate on him” hence sarvavigna upashAntayE. The Brahmana Swami smiled at this novel interpretation of the well known sloka on Vinayaka. It was four years later, in 1907, that Ganapathy Muni, after having his fundamental doubts cleared, renamed Venkataraman as Bhagavan, Ramana and Maharshi. ……………………… @nandhiji