Bibliography of the Tamil Writings of
Sri Ramana

The following is a bibliography of all the works of Bhagavan Sri Ramana that I have cited and explained in Happiness and the Art of Being. This is not a complete list of his Tamil writings, so I will later expand it to include information about all his writings.

Philosophical poems of Sri Ramana

Upadesa Undiyar (உபதேச வுந்தியார்) – a Tamil poem of thirty verses that Sri Ramana composed in 1927 in answer to the request of Sri Muruganar, and that he later composed in Sanskrit, Telugu and Malayalam under the title Upadesa Saram, the 'Essence of Instruction'.

Ulladu Narpadu (உள்ளது நாற்பது) – the 'Forty [Verses] on That Which Is', another Tamil poem that Sri Ramana composed in 1928 when Sri Muruganar asked him to teach the nature of the reality and the means to attain it.

Ulladu Narpadu Anubandham (உள்ளது நாற்பது அனுபந்தம்) – the 'Supplement to Forty [Verses] on That Which Is', a collection of forty-one Tamil verses that Sri Ramana composed at various times during the 1920's and 1930's.

Ekatma Panchakam (ஏகான்ம பஞ்சகம்) – the 'Five Verses on the Oneness of Self', a poem that Sri Ramana composed in 1947, first in Telugu, then in Tamil, and later in Malayalam.

Anma-Viddai (ஆன்மவித்தை) – also known as Atma-Vidya Kirtanam, the 'Song on the Science of Self', a Tamil song that Sri Ramana composed in 1927 in answer to the request of Sri Muruganar.

Upadesa Tanippakkal (உபதேசத் தனிப்பாக்கள்) – the 'Solitary Verses of Instruction', a collection of twenty-seven Tamil verses that Sri Ramana composed at various times.

Devotional poems of Sri Ramana

Sri Arunachala Aksharamanamalai (ஸ்ரீ அருணாசல அக்ஷரமணமாலை) – the 'Marriage Garland of Letters' or 'Garland of Imperishable Union', a Tamil hymn of 108 verses addressed to God in the form of the holy hill Arunachala, which Sri Ramana composed spontaneously one day in 1914 or 1915.

Sri Arunachala Ashtakam (ஸ்ரீ அருணாசல அஷ்டகம்) – the 'Eight [Verses] to Sri Arunachala', another Tamil hymn that Sri Ramana composed at about the same time.

Prose writings of Sri Ramana

Nan Yar? (நான் யார்?) – 'Who am I?' a treatise of twenty paragraphs that Sri Ramana wrote in the late 1920's, of which all but the first paragraph are an edited version of a collection of answers that he had given to a series of questions asked by Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai in the years 1901 to 1902.

Vivekachudamani Avatarikai (விவேகசூடாமணி அவதாரிகை) – the introduction that Sri Ramana wrote, probably in 1903 or 1904, to his Tamil prose translation of Sri Adi Sankara's great philosophical poem, Vivekachudamani.

Ancient text translated by Sri Ramana

Bhagavad Gita Saram (பகவத் கீதா சாரம்) – the 'Essence of the Bhagavad Gita', a selection of forty-two verses from the Bhagavad Gita that Sri Ramana translated as a Tamil poem.

Oral teachings of Sri Ramana recorded by Sri Muruganar

Guru Vachaka Kovai (குரு வாசகக் கோவை) – the 'Series of Guru's Sayings', the most comprehensive and reliable collection of the sayings of Sri Ramana, recorded in 1255 Tamil verses composed by Sri Muruganar, with an additional 42 verses composed by Sri Ramana (of which 27 are included in Upadesa Tanippakkal, 12 in Ulladu Narpadu Anubandham, 2 in Ekatma Panchakam and 1 in Ulladu Narpadu).

The Tamil originals of most of these works are available in several books, often with basic explanations or detailed commentaries, and many translations of them are available in various languages. However, the principal source of all of them, except Upadesa Tanippakkal and Guru Vachaka Kovai, is Sri Ramana Nultirattu (ஸ்ரீ ரமண நூற்றிரட்டு), the 'Collected Works of Sri Ramana', published by Sri Ramanasramam, Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India (www.sriramanamaharshi.org).

The principal source of Upadesa Tanippakkal is Sri Ramanopadesa Nunmalai - Vilakkavurai (ஸ்ரீ ரமணோபதேச நூன்மாலை - விளக்கவுரை), a Tamil commentary by Sri Sadhu Om on all the philosophical poems of Sri Ramana, published by Sri Arunachalaramana Nilayam, Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India.

The original Tamil text of Guru Vachaka Kovai, and a Tamil prose rendering by Sri Sadhu Om, are published as two separate books by Sri Ramanasramam. A complete English translation by Sri Sadhu Om and myself, together with comments by both Sri Muruganar and Sri Sadhu Om, is published separately by Sri Arunachalaramana Nilayam, and is also available as an e-book on this website. Information about the printed book is available on David Godman's website by clicking on the link Guru Vachaka Kovai – printed English translation.