What made Lakshmana Sarma give the book such a title? Towards the end of chapter nine of the book, a beautiful chapter called The Quest, Lakshmana Sarma reveals why he called it Mahayoga. “Bhagavan once said that the question ‘Who am I?’ is the quest that one has to undertake. Since all the yogas are included in the question ‘Who am I?’ it is called mahayoga.” As usual, Bhagavan did not buy the published version of the book. He said, “Who has the money to buy it?” As was his wont, he bound the final proofs of the manuscript and preserved it since he himself had spent many hours correcting the proofs. Around this time, while going through the ancient Kurmapurana, Bhagavan found a Sanskrit verse which he transcribed at the bottom of the ninth chapter. The Sanskrit verse read, “The yoga in which one sees the Self and which Lord Siva declares is ‘me’, the one immaculate, eternal bliss, is considered to be mahayoga pertaining to the supreme Lord.”
Lakshmana Sarma and Muruganar were both great friends and ardent devotees of Bhagavan. These giants came to Bhagavan without any knowledge of Vedanta or Advaita. So, they could imbibe whatever Bhagavan told them. Muruganar had already written Guru Vachaka Kovai or The Garland of the Guru’s Sayings in the form of Tamil poetry. Muruganar and Lakshmana Sarma selected three hundred verses and the latter translated them into English prose. He named the work Guru Ramana Vachana Mala. Lakshmana Sarma also wrote Sri Ramana Hridayam in Sanskrit; he translated this into English and published it under the title Revelation. All these English books are of great value to those who know only English as it gives them direct access to Bhagavan’s teachings. When someone asked why he wrote all his books under the pseudonym of ‘Who;, he replied, “These books contain all that | have learned from my master Bhagavan and my friend Muruganar. So ‘who’ wrote them?”
Lakshmana Sarma believed in naturopathy and went back to his village in order to treat people. His book Nature Cure dedicated to Bhagavan is considered the most authoritative book on the subject. He also wrote a Sanskrit book on nature cure called Svadeena Svasthya Mahavidya. He is considered to be the father of naturopathy in India. Yet, his mind was always tuned to the teachings of Bhagavan. Even after Bhagavan gave up his body in 1950, he continued composing Sanskrit verses on the teachings of Bhagavan and gave his collection of 700 verses the title Sri Ramana Paravidyopanishad. The ashram brought out the book in English. This ‘Upanishad of Supreme Knowledge’ is a boon to Ramana devotees. The following verses from Sri Ramana Paravidyopanishad composed by Lakshmana Sarma, embody the teachings of Bhagavan beautifully:
Verse 479: “Just as waves are only the ocean and the dream world is only the seer of the dream and nothing else, so the whole world is only my Self and nothing more. This perception is the merging of the world in the Self.”
Verse 504: “Since the ancient declaration, ‘You are That’ settles one in one’s real Self, disentangled from the veiling sheaths, one is ever the supreme reality (the impersonal being) alone. Only through the quest of the Self, one experiences the identity of one’s Self and the supreme reality.”
Verse 505: “When through Self Enquiry one gives up the notion, 1 am the body’ and seeks the Self, one becomes fully aware of one’s true nature and thus is firmly established in the Heart, where the Supreme Being shines as one’s true Self.”
Verse 506: “The quest of the Self alone is the direct path to right awareness of the Self. Meditation is only a preliminary aid to this quest by way of making one transcend the hurdle that one is the body.”