Who it is for
For readers of Ramana Maharshi who want his teachings as a close devotee recorded them in Tamil verse, read in English translation.
Life and places
- Before he came to Ramana Maharshi he was known as C. K. Subramania Iyer, a Tamil scholar who served on a committee compiling a Tamil dictionary and worked as a schoolteacher and private tutor. 1
- He first visited Ramana at Tiruvannamalai in September 1923, went back to his job in Madras and returned three months later, in December 1923. 1
- After his mother's death in 1926 he gave up his job in Madras and settled in Tiruvannamalai, where he lived as a mendicant until his death in 1973. 5
- The publisher Ramanapadananda brought out his first collection of verses on Ramana, Sri Ramana Sannidhi Murai, in 1933 and Guru Vachaka Kovai in 1939. 2, 4
Public context
- It was at his request that Ramana Maharshi composed Ulladu Narpadu and Upadesa Undiyar. 3
Works
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Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru's Sayings)
Book · 1939 · Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai
Tamil verses in which Muruganar recorded the spoken teachings of Ramana Maharshi; Ramana checked and revised them himself.
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Sri Ramana Sannidhi Murai
Book · 1933
Muruganar's first collection of Tamil devotional verses in praise of Ramana Maharshi, modelled on Manikkavachagar's Tiruvachakam.
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Padamalai
Book · 2004 · Avadhuta Foundation
More than a thousand teaching statements of Ramana Maharshi that Muruganar recorded in two-line Tamil verses, arranged by theme and translated into English.
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Ramana Puranam
Book · 2006 · Sri Ramanasramam
A Tamil poem in praise of Ramana Maharshi: Muruganar wrote the first two hundred lines, and Ramana added some three hundred lines and completed it.
The short summaries are ours.
In their own words
Short passages in the words of Sri Muruganar, each with its source. Where the quoted text is not in the language of this page, a translation follows and says whose it is.
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Ramana, Guru and God, caused clear understanding to arise in me by destroying the veiling, the rising ego-sense. I shall now relate the teachings on the Supreme Truth that I discovered through the perspective of grace granted by him, and I shall string them together as a garland.
Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru's Sayings) · Verse 7 (prefatory verses, 'Name of the Work and its Origin'), translation by T. V. Venkatasubramanian, Robert Butler and David Godman, excerpt on davidgodman.org · davidgodman.org Quoted translation: Translated from Muruganar's Tamil by T. V. Venkatasubramanian, Robert Butler and David Godman; the Tamil original was not compared. -
Upon examination, [it will be discovered that] this elegant Guru Vachaka Kovai was not sung by me, a dull-witted fool, through intellectual exertion. It was Venkatavan, divinity in human form, who, without conscious volition, caused me to sing it.
Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru's Sayings) · Verse 10 (prefatory verses, 'Apology'), translation by T. V. Venkatasubramanian, Robert Butler and David Godman, excerpt on davidgodman.org · davidgodman.org Quoted translation: Translated from Muruganar's Tamil by T. V. Venkatasubramanian, Robert Butler and David Godman; the bracketed words are the translators'. The Tamil original was not compared. -
Guru Ramana, Siva, as once you left / Mount Kailas and the company of the gods / And came to cool Perunturai to drink in / The sparkling words of Vachagar, / Now again you have come to fair Aruna town / Wishing to hearken to this fellow’s puerile words.
Sri Ramana Sannidhi Murai · Verse 184 ('Homage to the Presence of Sri Ramana'), translation by K. Swaminathan, quoted in David Godman's introduction to Ramana Puranam · davidgodman.org Quoted translation: Translated from Muruganar's Tamil by K. Swaminathan; line breaks shown as /. Godman says this was the first verse he composed in the Arunachaleswara Temple on his way to Ramana in 1923. -
Only the Self, the real Lord who exists and shines in the heart as ‘I, I’, is the Guru.
The Shining of My Lord · Section 'The Guru', verse 1 of the selection in Godman's article (The Mountain Path, April 2016) · davidgodman.org Quoted translation: Tamil verse from Sri Ramana Jnana Bodham, translated by T. V. Venkatasubramanian and David Godman. -
My God Ramana reigned over me, shining clearly within me as the Self, the formless truth of consciousness, and externally as the jnana-bestowing Guru. As I am firmly established in his feet, there is no delusion for me.
The Shining of My Lord · Section 'My Guru', verse 17 of the selection in Godman's article (The Mountain Path, April 2016) · davidgodman.org Quoted translation: Tamil verse from Sri Ramana Jnana Bodham, translated by T. V. Venkatasubramanian and David Godman.
Documented teaching relationships
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Learned personally with Ramana Maharshi
Muruganar first visited Ramana Maharshi at Tiruvannamalai in September 1923, later settled near him and recorded his teachings in Tamil verse; Ramana checked and revised Guru Vachaka Kovai himself.
Biographical tradition · davidgodman.org , davidgodman.org (2) , swarajyamag.com
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Collaboration with Sri Sadhu Om
Michael James writes that in the 1950s, after Ramana Maharshi's death, a close friendship grew between Muruganar and Sadhu Om, who worked closely with him for many years arranging his verses; at Muruganar's request he edited the final editions of two of his works, and in 1973 Muruganar entrusted his manuscripts to him.
Biographical tradition · sriramanateachings.org
Teaching relationships are documented statements. They confer no trust and do not attest realisation.
Sources
- Ramana Puranam, introduction (excerpt) · David Godman Introduction by David Godman, editor and co-translator of Muruganar's works and a Ramana devotee; draws on Kanakammal and Sadhu Om accessed 12 Oct 2026
- Ramanapadananda · David Godman (blog article of 2008) Godman's article on the devotee who published Muruganar's books in Ramana's lifetime, with publication years accessed 12 Oct 2026
- Padamalai · David Godman (book page) Publisher-editor's description of the book and of Muruganar's role accessed 12 Oct 2026
- Muruganar in His Own Words, excerpts (Sri Ramanasramam 2024) · Arunachala Ramana archive Excerpts of a 2024 book published by Sri Ramanasramam; devotional accessed 12 Oct 2026
- Muruganar: A Sage and a Tamil Poet of Ancient Wisdom, by Ramanadasan · Swarajya (31 December 2020) Magazine article by a devotee author; largely follows the Ramanasramam accounts accessed 12 Oct 2026
- The Garland of Guru's Sayings (Guru Vachaka Kovai), tr. K. Swaminathan (Sri Ramanasramam, 1990) · Open Library Library catalogue record accessed 12 Oct 2026
Compiled by us from the sources listed. Last checked 13 Oct 2026.
This description is factual. It contains no recommendation, ranking or assurance. Statements about effects are those of the respective source.