Tag: ram

Swami Ramdas was born in Kerala, India in 1884 under the original name Vittal Rao.

He worked as a spinning master in a cotton mill and in 1908 he married.

He experienced difficulties, both in his financial pursuits and domestic life, and seeking relief from his circumstances, he began to chant "Ram" – a name of Hindu God. Soon after, his father gave to him a holy mantra to repeat, the ram mantra.

He quickly became detached from the material world and left on a pilgrimage, taking on the name Ramdas, and living on charity (though he never accepted money). His practice was to view the world as forms of Ram – and thus to see everything that might befall him as the will of God.

In 1922 he encountered the sage, Ramana Maharshi, and received his grace. As a result of this, he went into his first retreat, living for 21 days in solitude in a cave in Arunachala. Upon leaving this cave he was filled with the realization that, “All was Rama, nothing but Rama”

After continuing to live on the roads for many years, his devotees established an ashram called Anandashram for him in Kanhangad, Kerala in 1931. The ashram worked to improve the living conditions of the local people, and continues to this day to share Swami Ramdas’ vision of Universal Love and Service.

Swami Ramdas left his body with the name of Ram in his mouth in 1963.