Poetry Chaikhana Blog

Ivan M. Granger October 6th, 2008

The Song of the Poppadum
by Ramana Maharshi

English version by Ramanasramam

      No need about the world to roam
And suffer from depression;
Make poppadum within the home
According to the lesson
Of ‘Thou art That’, without compare,
The Unique Word, unspoken
‘Tis not by speech it will declare.
The silence is unbroken
Of Him who is the Adept-Sage,
The great Apotheosis,
With His eternal heritage
That Being-Wisdom-Bliss is.

Make poppadum of self and after eat;
Of Perfect Peace then you will be replete.

— from The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi, Edited by Arthur Osborne

/ Photo by Matt Seppings /

I got so many responses from the commentary on fasting I sent out a few weeks ago at the beginning of Ramadan, that I thought this week we should consider the relationship of food and eating to spirituality. I wanted to start things off with this playful song of realization and food preparation by the great non-dualist sage, Ramana Maharshi.

The story is told that the Maharshi’s mother, who lived at her son’s ashram, one day asked him to help in the preparation of poppadum, a spicy lentil-flour cracker. Instead, Ramana Maharshi composed this poem, comparing the preparation of the poppadum with the process of Self-Realization.

I’ll admit, this English translation is more than a bit forced in order to get its singsong rhyme, but I can imagine a kirtan hall filled with people laughing and joyously singing these words… all the while growing hungry supper. Maybe a few are even contemplating the consummation of awareness that food, attentively prepared and eaten, can be to us.

Next time you go to your local Indian restaurant, order some poppadum. And contemplate what you are really consuming.

Eat, so your cravings you may satisfy…

Ramana Maharshi India (1879 - 1950) Timeline Yoga / Hindu : Advaita / Non-Dualist Yoga / Hindu : Shaivite (Shiva)

Ramana Maharshi was a guru of international renown from southern India who taught during the first half of the twentieth century. He was born in 1879 near Madurai, Tamilnadu. His father was a farmer. He was the second of three sons. The family was religious, giving ritual offerings to the family deity and visiting temples. One unusual aspect of his family history was a curse that was put on the family by a wandering monk who was refused food by a family member. The monk decreed that in every generation, one child in the family would renounce the world to lead a religious life.

Ramana was largely disinterested in school and absent-minded during work. He had a marked inclination towards introspection and self-analysis. He used to ask fundamental questions about identity, such as the question “who am I?”. He was always seeking to find the answer to the mystery of his own identity and origins.

One peculiar aspect of Ramana’s personality was his ability to sleep soundly. He could be beaten or carried from one place to another while asleep, and would not wake up. He was sometimes jokingly called “Kumbhakarna” after a figure in the Ramayana who slept soundly for months.

In the summer of 1896, Ramana went into an altered state of consciousness which had a profound effect on him. He experienced what he understood to be his own death, and later returned to life.

He also had spontaneous flashes of insight where he perceived himself as an essence independent of the body. During these events, he felt himself to be an eternal entity, existing without reliance on the physical body or material world.

Along with these intuitions came a fascination with the word “Arunachala” which carried associations of deep reverence and a sense that his destiny was closely intertwined with this unique sound. At the age of sixteen, Ramana heard that a place called Arunachala actually existed (the modern town’s name is Tiruvannamalai) and this brought him great happiness.

Ramana was nearing the end of high school when a careless criticism describing him as a person not fit to be a student jarred him into making a final decision to leave school. He had been reading a book on famous Tamil saints and resolved to leave home and lead the life of a religious seeker. Naturally, he planned to go to Arunachala, the place which was the focal point of all his religious ideals.

When he was seventeen years old, Ramana left for Arunachala, arriving after four days of mostly train travel. He went directly to the central shrine at the temple and addressed the Shiva symbol (linga) stating he had given up everything and come to Arunachala in response to the god’s call.

Ramana spent ten years living in temples and caves meditating, and pursuing spiritual purification, keeping the disciplines of silence and non-attachment. At this point, his reputation as a serious teacher (he was called Brahma Swami) began to grow and other seekers began to visit him. His disciples, some of whom were learned individuals, began to bring him sacred books. He became conversant with the religious traditions of South India written in the different regional languages.

Early disciples had a difficult time learning about Ramana’s background and even his native language because he was silent and refused to speak. As time passed he ceased his ascetic phase and began to live a more normal life in an ashram setting. Many people came to visit him with a variety of problems, from both India and abroad.

Ramana’s disciples constructed an ashram and temple, and space the accommodate the many visitors. All ate the same food and Ramana sat with the rest of the people during meals and did not expect special treatment. The ashram was a sanctuary for animals and Ramana had great fondness for the cows, monkeys, birds, and squirrels that inhabited the grounds.

Ramana continued to practice the method of inquiry into the nature of the self best expressed by the question “who am I?”. He recommended renunciation of enjoyment of physical and mental pleasures as a means of entering into a state where the oneness of the self and cosmos could be perceived. He also felt that a person who is not attached to the results of his actions can live in the world like an actor that plays his or her part but is immune to emotional disturbance, because he realizes he is only play-acting on the stage of life.

Ramana was able to demonstrate his own non-attachment when thieves broke into the ashram and he counseled the disciples and visitors to let them have anything they wanted. He remained calm during the incident even when struck by one of the thieves. He also displayed no loss of equanimity at the death of his mother, who had come to live at the ashram after selling the family home.

Ramana developed cancer and when his devotees voiced concern about losing him, he responded with the statement “I am not going anywhere, where shall I go? I shall be there where I am always.” He died in April, 1950, sitting in lotus position. The final word that passed from his lips was the sacred syllable OM.

– from OM-Guru.com

More poetry by Ramana Maharshi

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