Smt. Rajalakshmi and Sri. Mani share their experience with Yogi Ramsuratkumar in this series of videos. In this video, Sri. Mani describes how the famous sculptor Sri. Kalaasagaram Rajagopal made the Statue of Yogi Ramsuratkumar. Yogi Ramsuratkumar identified the location and it happened to be the exact midpoint. The challenge to install it permanently in that spot without moving it from that location. Sri Mani explains how he achieved that. More than the scientific reasons, his belief that there should be some way to execute if Yogi Ramsuratkumar wants him to do it in a certain way. Others might have thougth that it is not feasible and they would have executed their own plan. But not Sri. Mani. That is why Yogiji often mentioned that Mani has been chosen for His Father’s work.

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कृष्णाय वासुदेवाय देवकीनन्दनाय च । नन्दगोपकुमाराय गोविन्दाय नमो नमः ॥

Kr̥ṣṇāya vāsudēvāya dēvakīnandanāya ca nandagōpakumārāya gōvindāya namō namaḥ

This popular shloka is from the collection of twenty six verses called Kunti Stuti in Srimad Bhaagavadam. The highlight of Kunti Stuti is the strange request that Mātā Kunti puts forth to Sri Krishna. She prays for more and more troubling situations so that she would always remember Sri Krishna and He would always be with her family to solve their problems. She lists all the ordeals from which Krishna protected her family namely the poisoning of Bhima’s food, setting fire to the Lac palace, the threat from the Rakshasa named Hidimba, the predicaments during the stay at the forest, the humiliation of Draupadi in the Kauravas’ palace, the life threatening dangers in the Mahabharata battlefield and finally the risk of losing their only progeny, Parikshit, whom Ashwattāma strived to destroy. Kunti seems to consider herself to be much more fortunate than Sri Krishna’s mother, Devaki. Kunti indicates that Devaki had to undergo suffering for a very long time when she was kept in the prison by Kamsa where she had to even her seven children. Whereas Kunti had Sri Krishna Himself as her sole refuge. He protected Kunti and her sons instantaneously from a series of calamities.

I am able to relate to the feeling of pride and gratitude that is expressed by Kunti. It is the result of various austerities carried out across numerous births that Poojya Yogi Ramsuratkumar, Godchild, Tiruvannamalai showed such special affinity towards my family. I and my brother, Vivekānandan, were extremely blessed to experience the parental warmth and affection that Yogiji showered on us right from our school days.

Even before meeting Yogi Ramsuratkumar, we have had the blessings of many great personalities like Kanyakumari Mayamma, Swami Chinmayananda, Sri Eknath Ranade of Vivekananda Kendra and many leaders in various organisations like Rashtreeya Swayamsevak Sangh, Rāmakrishna Mutt, Swāmi Shivānanda’s Divine Life Society, etc. In fact, Yogi Ramsuratkumar had appreciated us saying that our father, Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarājan, had brought up both of us very well. So even though we were quite young, Yogi Rāmsuratkumār would enjoy conversing with us on nationalistic and spiritual ideals. Sri Rājamānikka Nādār, who recognized the importance of every word uttered by Yogiji, made us write down all these conversations. Those were also published in the quarterly magazine, Tattva Darsana and in the biography of Yogi Ramsuratkumar titled “Glimpses of a Great Yogi” by my father.

The joyful smile with which Yogi Ramsuratkumar would receive us and the unconditional love that he showered on us attracted us towards him and we used to go to Tiruvannāmalai from Chennai as often as possible. Those were the days when there were not many people queuing up at the gate of his Sannadhi Street house. So we could meet him whenever we reached Tiruvannāmalai and we got to spend a lot of time with him. There were specific instances where he had visited us at our hotel room, took us to the temple or some other place. While we would spend most of the time in the veranda of his house, during some visits, he had taken us inside his house. During our initial visits, many a times, he used to make someone get milk from the nearby tea stall and give it to us. He would also lovingly offer other edibles that could be found scattered in his place. Once he sent Sri Jayaraman to the sweet stall to get some sweets for me, mentioning my liking for sweets. He used to very fondly enquire about us and guide us on what we should be doing. Once Yogiji asked Sri Illayarājā to come back later mentioning that he was busy with us. Even when other elderly people accompanied us, Yogiji used to spend a lot of time talking to us. Yogi Ramsuratkumar would even get into friendly arguments with me. Thoroughly enjoying the conversions, he would burst into hilarious laughter bringing immense happiness to everyone present there.

There were specific instances where Yogi Ramsuratkumar demonstrated in action his extreme kindness towards us. Once we visited him, unaccompanied by any adult, without having a proper place to stay. Even before we could tell him, he took us to Sri Dwāraknath Reddy’s house and arranged for our stay there. At another instance, when we got drenched in the rain, he immediately left his house and took us to Hotel Udipi Brindavan. He made Sri Rāmachandra Upādhyāya get a set of clothes for us. He got us hot milk to drink and seriously kept observing us until he was satisfied that we were alright. It was our good fortune that even while we enjoyed this closeness, we were aware of the divine personality of Yogi Ramsuratkumar and we had learnt how to conduct ourselves in His presence. (Many years later, during the initial days of his stay at Sudhama, I had the rare privilege of staying with him for a few days along with the Sudhama sisters and Smt. Prabha Sundararaman).

Though Yogi Ramsuratkumar was hiding in the grab of an ordinary beggar, residing in a place where cleanliness did not seem matter at all, the divinity in Him was quite evident based on our experiences in His presence. It would be as if he was hearing our mind’s voice. He would talk about the solution even before we could tell him the problem as in the case where he arranged for our accommodation. In another situation, when my brother, Vivek had donated blood against Yogiji’s advice, while everyone was wondering how to convey this to Yogiji, Yogiji himself started the topic. Rather than showing any anger, he expressed his concern towards Vivek in a very lovingly manner. It was evident he knew what was happening in our lives and that he was guiding and protecting us.

Once my father, Sadhu Rangarājan almost got drowned in the Ganges. At that time, we happened to be in Yogiji’s presence at Tiruvannāmalai. All of a sudden, Yogi Ramsuratkumar gave us a packet containing flowers and asked us to go immediately to Chennai and hand it over to our mother, Smt. Bhārati Rangarājan. Later he acknowledged this event and said that it was his Father, Kāsi Vishvanātha, who sent help when my father remembered Yogi Ramsuratkumar. Also in my own case, he instructed me to stop the medication that I was taking every day for some nervous weakness. My mother was worried about the effects of suddenly stopping the medicine that I had been taking regularly. So we got the EEG test done and the doctor confirmed that the reports were normal and that I did not require any further medication. Apart from our own personal experiences, quite frequently, we heard the experiences of numerous devotees about the ways in which Yogi Ramsuratkumar solved their problems. Though we were in a very small house at Triplicane in Chennai, hundreds of devotees from various parts of the country and abroad used to visit us and share their experiences as it housed Yogi Ramsuratkumar Youth Association, a wing of Sister Nivedita Academy.

Yogi Ramsuratkumar’s way of teaching was not through lectures or explicit advice. Sometimes he would make us read from books. In particular, he had asked us to read Rajaji’s Rāmāyana in Tamil titled “Chakravarti Tirumagan” and Mahābhārata titled “Vyāsar Virundu”. At many other times, he would initiate a discussions and make us think through it and realize the point. In a seemingly causal conversation, he would bring out in my own words what he wanted to convey. Once Yogiji enquired about the meaning of my name and got me into a conversation which concluded in my understanding that since my name Nivedita means “Sacrificed to God”, I should be prepared to sacrifice everything, with the readiness to face all the hardships. In another interesting conversation which spanned across multiple visits, by enquiring whether I knew that he was a beggar, he made me describe Him as a great Yogi, one who is beyond the body, the begging Shiva, a great beggar who can give everything that we need, and that He appears to His devotees in whatsoever manner they think of Him.

The key messages of Yogi Ramsuratkumar were (1) to have constant remembrance of God by doing nāma japa, i.e., repeated chanting of mantras like Rāmnam, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, etc.; (2) to have steadfast faith in God and the unshakable confidence that He will come to the immediate rescue when His name Yogi Ramsuratkumar is called out in times of need; and (3) to lead a life that is directed towards godliness rather than accumulating material things, i.e., to have man-making ideals and not machine-making or money-making goals. For good health, he recommended the regular use of gooseberry. There was also a specific instruction given to us with all seriousness that we should never ever donate blood or any part of the body since he wanted our “blood, bones, flesh and everything.”

When we have this kind of complete assurance for total protection during the challenging times, where is the need to fear the ordeals of life? So, there is no wonder Kunti had the courage to ask for more hardships! Let us also pray to Yogi Ramsuratkumar to give us the unwavering faith in Him and seek His blessing to always remember Him while leading a life directed towards greater ideals.

Yogi Ramsuratkumar, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, Yogi Ramsuratkumar, Jaya Guru Raya!

Yogi_s handwritten blessings