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Yogi Ramsuratkumar

Bhakti and devotion

  • 1918–2001
  • taught in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India
  • YouTube ↗

Teaching

Remembering God through the divine name. Swami Ramdas initiated him with the Ram mantra; later he asked people to repeat his own name, 'Yogi Ramsuratkumar'. In conversation he called himself 'this beggar' and said that only his Father, God, exists. 1, 5, 6

Who it is for

For readers drawn to devotion and the repetition of a divine name rather than to philosophical texts.

Life and places
  • He went to Anandashram, the ashram of Papa Ramdas in Kerala, in 1952; after seven years of wandering he arrived at Tiruvannamalai in 1959. 1
  • In Tiruvannamalai his regular places were the railway station, the chariot mandap, places in the Arunachaleswara Temple and the outside of vessel shops; after fourteen years in the streets he began to sit under a punnai tree near the railway station. 2
  • In 1976 devotees bought a house in Sannidhi Street for him to stay in, and in 1977 he began to live there. 3
  • In November 1993, when he fell ill, he came to the Sudama house and later agreed to stay on there; soon the crowds were so large that the place of his darshan had to be shifted to the ashram. 4

Where to start

  • Start with the ashram's short biography pages. Sadhu Rangarajan's Glimpses of a Great Yogi records many conversations with dates; it is long and written by a devotee. 1, 5
Public context
  • The Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram in Tiruvannamalai keeps his samadhi and the houses where he lived; the Sannidhi Street and Sudama houses are open for darshan at set hours. 3, 4, 7

Works

  • Glimpses of a Great Yogi

    Book · About this teacher

    An account of Yogi Ramsuratkumar's life and of the author's visits to him, written by a devotee and kept up over many years. It records conversations with dates and places.

    yogiramsuratkumarblog.wordpress.com

The short summaries are ours.

In their own words

Short passages in the words of Yogi Ramsuratkumar, each with its source. Where the quoted text is not in the language of this page, a translation follows and says whose it is.

  • Renunciation is not giving up anything, nor is it taking up anything. It is just changing your attitude towards the world. My Father alone exists, no one else, nothing else.

    Glimpses of a Great Yogi · Part 1, chapter 1.6 'The Grace Abounding', pp. 43–44 (compiled edition); visit of April 1988 · yogiramsuratkumarblog.wordpress.com Recorded: Words as recorded by Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan, who was present; the language of the conversation is not stated.

  • Rangaraja, my Father alone exists. Nothing else and nobody else. This beggar died at the feet of Swami Ramdas in 1952. Now He alone is.

    Glimpses of a Great Yogi · Part 2, chapter 2.18 'Gospel of Yogi Ramsuratkumar', p. 236 (compiled edition) · yogiramsuratkumarblog.wordpress.com Recorded: Words as recorded by Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan, who was present; the language of the conversation is not stated.

Documented teaching relationships

  • Personal encounter with Ramana Maharshi

    The Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram's biography says he came to Ramana's ashram in Tiruvannamalai, sat before Ramana Maharshi and went into higher states of consciousness under his gaze, before 1950.

    Stated by an institution · yogiramsuratkumarashram.org

  • Teaching influenced by Sri Aurobindo

    The ashram's biography says he was drawn to Sri Aurobindo's book Lights on Yoga and then visited Sri Aurobindo's ashram in Pondicherry, before going on to Ramana Maharshi.

    Stated by an institution · yogiramsuratkumarashram.org

  • Personal encounter with Swami Satchidananda (Anandashram)

    At Anandashram in 1952 he asked Swami Satchidananda about initiation; Swami Satchidananda told him to ask Swami Ramdas directly, who then initiated him.

    Stated by an institution · yogiramsuratkumarashram.org

  • Learned personally with Swami Ramdas (Papa Ramdas)

    The Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram says Yogi Ramsuratkumar came to Anandashram in 1952, where Papa Ramdas initiated him with the Ram mantra; Yogi Ramsuratkumar called Ramdas his master.

    Stated by an institution · yogiramsuratkumarashram.org

Teaching relationships are documented statements. They confer no trust and do not attest realisation.

Sources
  1. Yogi Ramsuratkumar: His Early Life and His Spiritual Journey · Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram The ashram's own biography from his birth to 1959; devotional in tone; author not named accessed 10 Oct 2026
  2. Tiruvannamalai, 1959 · Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram The ashram's own page on his years in the streets of Tiruvannamalai; partly written in the first person by Ma Devaki; devotional accessed 10 Oct 2026
  3. Sannidhi Street, 1977–1993 · Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram The ashram's own page on the house where he received visitors; devotional; gives today's darshan hours accessed 10 Oct 2026
  4. Sudama, November 1993 · Yogi Ramsuratkumar Ashram The ashram's own page on the house where he lived from 1993; devotional; gives today's darshan hours accessed 10 Oct 2026
  5. Glimpses of a Great Yogi · Sadhu Prof. V. Rangarajan (compiled digital edition) Diary-based account by a devotee who visited him from the 1980s; first edition 1987; this PDF on a devotee blog gathers later parts up to 2001; no licence stated accessed 10 Oct 2026
  6. Amarakavyam, author's note · S. Parthasarathy, Gospel of Yogi Ramsuratkumar Biography by a devotee who knew him from 1976 to 2001 and spoke with his family; his own judgements accessed 10 Oct 2026
  7. Amarakavyam, chapter 28: Rituals · S. Parthasarathy The same devotee author's critical account of how the ashram administration handled the final rites and the ashram after 2001; no reply from the ashram on the page accessed 10 Oct 2026

Compiled by us from the sources listed. Last checked 11 Oct 2026.

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This description is factual. It contains no recommendation, ranking or assurance. Statements about effects are those of the respective source.