Ramana Maharshi's life, teachings and devotees
The Shining of my Lord
By Muruganar
Edited by David Godman
Translation by T. V. Venkatasubramanian and David Godman
Paperback
279 pages
Published by David Godman, Avadhuta Foundation, Colorado, USA
ISBN 9780988528543
When Muruganar away in 1973, the task of preserving and organising the approximately 20,000 verses of his that had yet to be published fell to Sadhu Om, his literary executor. Over the next decade he edited this body of work, eventually bringing it out in a series of nine Tamil volumes entitled Sri Ramana Jnana Bodham. This title can be translated as The Experience of Jnana Bestowed by Sri Ramana, or Experiencing the Jnana that is Sri Ramana.
Padamalai, a collection of Bhagavan’s sayings recorded by Muruganar, is the only substantial part of Sri Ramana Jnana Bodham that has so far appeared in English. It was published in 2003 and is available elsewhere on this site.
The Shining of my Lord is an anthology of just over 1,000 Muruganar verses that have primarily been taken from the first eight volumes of Sri Ramana Jnana Bodham. They have been selected, translated and edited by T.V. Venkatasubramanian and David Godman. The book also includes a long introductory biography that chronicles Muruganar’s association with Sri Ramana Maharshi and the literary works that were the fruit of that relationship.
Unlike Padamalai, where the emphasis is on recording Bhagavan’s teachings, the theme of this new book is the state of liberation that Sri Ramana bestowed on Muruganar. In verse after verse Muruganar attempts to describe the state of the Self and the grace of his Guru, Sri Ramana, which enabled him to become established in it.
