In 1952, Ram Surat Kunwar travelled widely to several holy places connected with the gurus and saints in India, in search of God. In spite of his vast travelling and seeing several holy places and holy men, he was not able to feel his oneness with God. He accumulated great knowledge of the scriptures and other holy works of great masters. Yet he was not able to realise God. Sometimes he felt as if he attained everything, but within a short time, when the life challenged him in a mysterious way, all the attainments vanished. He then became dejected and depressed. One moment he was at the top of spiritual wisdom and the next moment he was again at the same level where he had been earlier. He understood that one should transcend body-mind-intellect consciousness to merge with God. The self identity should go, he realised. He also realised that visiting various holy places and bathing in the holy rivers would only help to purify the mind to certain extent, but they would never help one to transcend mind and body. All the rituals would strengthen the self and could never erase the self, he realised. Finally he got the awakening that only GURU AND GURU ALONE could merge his disciple in divinity eternally. Without the help of GURU nothing could be achieved, he realized. After realizing the value of Guru, he immediately decided to go to Anandashram once again to see Papa Ramdas and not leave him till Papa Ramdas showered his grace upon him and merge him with GOD.

Ram Surat Kunwar took long leave on 11/8/1952 from Navalgad High School, leaving his wife and children at Dahiya. (His wife Ram Ranjini Devi was then pregnant with her fourth child. The child was born in 1953 and was named ‘Beena’ by her mother.) He went directly to Anandashram. There he was provided accommodation inside the ashram premises. He met Papa in the bhajan hall and prostrated before him. Papa Ramdas patted him in appreciation with great joy. Papa Ramdas was waiting for his beloved devotee and as soon as he saw Ram Surat Kunwar, he expressed his joy. The joy of Papa was contagious and it affected everybody assembled there. Ram Surat Kunwar also could feel it. He felt secure as if he was sitting in the lap of his Father. Papa freely interacted with Ram Surat Kunwar. Papa penetrated into his beloved disciple and induced passionate aspiration to attain God Realization. Papa showered his grace on Ram Surat Kunwar that enabled the latter to have the deep devotion and immense faith on him.

It was in the last week of August 1952 or the first week of September 1952, Ram Surat Kunwar got the passionate urge to get initiation from his Guru Swami Ramdas. But he felt shy to demand Papa to initiate him. He hesitated to approach Swami Ramdas. Somehow he was able to convey his desire to his friend Swami Satchidananda and the latter encouraged him to approach Swami Ramdas with sincere prayer. The Swami assured Ram Surat Kunwar that Papa was always waiting to help and improve the devotees by initiating them with Ram Mantra.

Ram Surat Kunwar finally got the courage and he followed Swami Ramdas wherever Papa went. Papa knew the intention of Ram Surat Kunwar for quite sometime. One day while Ram Surat Kunwar was following Papa silently, Papa suddenly turned towards Ram Surat Kunwar and asked him, “Do you want Ramdas to initiate you?” Ram Surat Kunwar was thrilled and he nodded in affirmative. Swami Ramdas commanded, “Sit down” and he also sat there just before Ram Surat Kunwar. “Repeat what Ramdas says,” Swami Ramdas again commanded. Then slowly Papa uttered word by word, “Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram.” With all the reverence and attention Ram Surat Kunwar repeated the words his guru uttered. Thrice the mantra was uttered by Swami Ramdas and thrice it was repeated by Ram Surat Kunwar. Swami Ramdas loaded the words with all his being full of divinity. The divinity of Swami Ramdas was unloaded on the small frame of Ram Surat Kunwar’s being. The transferring of divinity from the Guru to disciple was complete. Swami Ramdas got up and said, “Go and chant this mantra all the 24 hours.”

The seed of divinity was sown in the fertile being of Ram Surat Kunwar. His whole frame was thrilled and shattered. The divine energy of his guru was seated in his being. It was heavy and fully charged. The small frame of Ram Surat Kunwar struggled to bear the pure and infinite divinity. He slowly stood upon and left the place with great difficulty. He went to a lonely place and sat there. He was able to perceive a divine power seated in his being after the initiation. He wept uncontrollably for no reason for a long time. Then after some time he felt that a deep peace prevailed upon him. He walked in slow pace without aim. He climbed to the top of the hill near Anandashram. There was a bench at the top of the hill. He sat there for the whole day. Again he cried. Suddenly he stopped crying. A divine bliss flowered in his being and he then laughed loudly with all joy.

The evening sun disappeared into the western Arabian Sea. The darkness covered the place. He lay down on the bench and watched the night sky. The glittering stars seemed to be the reflectors of his state. The whole night he did not sleep. He became alert and aware of divinity within his being. He laughed again loudly. There was something, some change happened in his being. Suddenly all the emotions disappeared. There was a deep silence. From the core of his being, suddenly he was able to listen to a vibrating sound. He focused his attention on that sound. It was so feeble. Slowly the feeble sound got stronger and in a short time it was audible. That was, ‘Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram’ the mantra, which was initiated by his guru, in his guru’s voice. Slowly it became louder and louder and his whole physical frame vibrated with the mantra. There were no other thoughts, no other words other than the mantra in his being. The whole night passed in the blissful state.

In the morning he came down the hill, shouting “Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram.” He ran here and there chanting the mantra in the ashram. The people in the ashram were astonished on seeing Ram Surat Kunwar. They tried to pacify him. They made him to eat something. They took him to Papa. Swami Ramdas didn’t hide his joy on seeing the state of his disciple. He stared at his beloved disciple. After a few minutes he asked his disciple, “Where will you go?” Ram Surat Kunwar immediately responded, “Tiruvannamalai.” Even though he responded to his guru that he would go to Tiruvannamalai, he did not have the inclination to leave his guru.

The powerful initiation Swami Ramdas injected into Ram Surat Kunwar, stirred his inner being thoroughly. All his suppressed emotions and desires that were buried under the deepest core of his being, were stirred out by the powerful initiation. The virtues and sins, the ideas about the mundane life and the spiritual life and several other conditioning were destroyed. Ram Surat Kumar got stick to his own self by the initiation. There was no escape. Ram Surat Kunwar did not want to escape either. His love for God, his search for God turned into passionate love for Swami Ramdas and Mataji Krishnabai. He could not imagine a life without them. So he determined to stay with them permanently. But Swami Ramdas and Mataji had different plans. They wanted this emotional sadhaka to change into a great spiritual mystic to help the future sadhakas to evolve towards God. Ram Surat Kunwar, the brilliant youth was needed for doing God’s work. How could Papa and Mataji lose such a pure soul who spent all his life in the remembrance of God sacrificing everything he had?

Systematically Swami Ramdas and Mataji Krishnabai worked on him. They made Ram Surat Kunwar to behave like a mad man and made the world to believe that he had gone mad. They drove him out of the ashram forcibly so that he could remember them constantly. They used harsh language whenever he was before them among the crowd of the devotees. By doing so Swami Ramdas and Mataji Krishnabai removed his ego totally. But it took very long time. In the process, the pain, the sufferings he experienced were so acute that he was totally lost and gone. Finally he reached the other shore safely and became totally one with God, his guru, Papa Ramdas. Yogi Ramsuratkumar was produced by Papa Ramdas to do God’s work. In the later years Yogi Ramsuratkumar rarely said to some of his close friends, “Nobody can love this beggar like my Father Swami Ramdas and nobody can torture this beggar like my Father Swami Ramdas. My Father killed this beggar because He loved this beggar.”

Three weeks after the initiation, Ram Surat Kunwar was driven away from Anandashram. He came to Tiruvannamalai. He roamed around Arunachala Hill for a few days. He again wanted to go back to Anandashram to see Papa and Mataji. On the way at Erode Junction, while he was walking in divine madness on the railway track, a railway engine knocked him down. His left hand was fractured. His left leg also was hurt. He was hospitalized for two months at Erode. A Gujarati devotee of Swami Ramdas at Erode helped him at the hospital and informed the relatives of Ram Surat Kunwar at Dahiya. The brothers-in-law requested Ram Surat Kunwar’s friends Ramdutt Chowdry and another friend Ramjeevan Roy to go to Erode and bring back Ram Surat Kunwar to Dahiya. Both the friends went to Erode and found their friend there. They brought back Ram Surat Kunwar to Dahiya with great struggle. Ram Surat Kunwar was not able to confine himself to the house at Dahiya. He roamed along the bank of river Balan chanting Ram mantra loudly. He lost interest in the mundane life. He stopped talking to people. If anybody came to counsel him, he would laugh loudly and chant Ram mantra in high pitch. The people got frightened and ran away from him.

He spent a few months like this at Dahiya. His wife Ram Ranjini Devi and other elders of the family took painful efforts to persuade him to return to Navalgad to join the work again. He went to Navalgad and attended his work at the school. However he was able to work in the school just for two days 28/1/1953 and 30/1/1953. He received his last salary Rs.18/11. He then never worked in any institution. He roamed in the streets of Navalgad, chanting loudly, “Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram.” He slept on the roadside. He took milk and bananas, if offered. He did not talk to anybody. If anybody came to talk to him, he would chant the mantra loudly so that nobody could dare to come near him. During this period he started smoking beedies and cigarettes. The whole town was astonished on seeing the state of Ram Surat Kumar, their beloved master.

In 1953, Ram Surat Kunwar’s wife Ram Ranjini Devi delivered a girl baby at Dahiya. The mother named the baby ‘Beena’. Ram Ranjini Devi and her brothers heard about Ram Surat Kunwar’s indifferent attitude at Navalgad. They went to Navalgad and forcibly brought him back to Dahiya again. Here also Ram Surat Kunwar roamed and sometimes would sit alone under a peepul tree, near the Siva temple on the bank of river Balan.

In 1954, Ramchandra Roy and other brothers of Ram Ranjini Devi thought that Ram Surat Kunwar had become insane and he needed medical assistance. They admitted him forcibly in a mental hospital at Ranchi. The doctors at the hospital examined him thoroughly for two days and came to the conclusion that he was absolutely normal. The brothers-in-law were baffled. They did not know what to do further. They informed Manarakhan Kunwar, the elder brother of Ram Surat Kunwar about the condition of his younger brother through telegram. Manarakhan Kunwar rushed to the hospital. They sent Ram Surat Kunwar to Nardara along with his elder brother. There Ram Surat Kunwar lived for a few days and again went to far off places in divine ecstasy, without informing his people.

It was impossible to trace the details to the roaming life of Ram Surat Kunwar. Nobody is able to give an account of his wanderings to us. Whenever the author mentioned about a place in any corner of this holy land India, Yogi would enquire whether the author had seen a particular location in that place. It seems he had wandered throughout the country, particularly wherever a saint or a holy man lived. He had complete details about sages, saints and masters of India. He was able to narrate about the lives and teachings of those divine people of different places. It’s amazing to see the vast knowledge Yogi Ramsuratkumar had about the holy men of the world.

In spite of his divine ecstasy through the initiation, he had, still a trace of attachment for his wife and children. After a couple of years a deep desire arose in his mind to see his wife and children. In 1955, he went to Dahiya. The brothers-in-law got agitated on seeing Ram Surat Kunwar. But his wife Ram Ranjini Devi pacified them. She prayed to her husband that she was ready to accompany him with the children wherever he would go. She promised that she would be able to face any hardship in the process. Ram Surat Kunwar emotionally got touched on seeing his wife’s love and belief on him. He decided to take his wife and children to Anandashram to take refuge at the feet of his master Papa Ramdas. The brothers-in-law refused to send the first two children Yasodhara and Amitabh as they were studying in school. They allowed the parents to take the younger children Maya and Beena who were then 5 years and 2 years old. Ram Surat Kunwar took his wife and the two children to Anandashram at Kanhangod.

In 1955, Ram Surat Kunwar landed at the holy feet of Papa and Mataji along with his wife and children. He prostrated before Papa and Mataji. He begged Papa to allow him the privilege to live near Papa and Mataji in the ashram with his family permanently. He told Papa that he would do whatever work Papa asked him to do in the ashram. Mataji Krishnabai didn’t approve his idea of staying in the Ashram with his family. She said that it was impossible to live in the ashram with the children. On seeing the firmness of Mataji, Ram Surat Kunwar suggested to his wife that they would leave the children either at her brothers’ place or at his brother’s place and then come back to the ashram. His wife refused and said that she could not live without her children. (Later, during the conversation with the author, Smt Ram Ranjini Devi said with tears in her eyes that if she would have told that she could not live without Ram Surat Kunwar, he would have taken her wherever he went and it might have changed the course of his as well as her life.)

Ram Surat Kunwar again prayed to Swami Ramdas to allow him and his family to live in the ashram. He said, “Papa, I have come here with the great hope that you would allow me with my family to live here. I am not able to work anywhere since from the initiation. If you drive me away, where shall I go and how can I live?” Papa vehemently answered, “Go and beg. You cannot live in the ashram. There are enough people in the ashram to work. Remember, under a big tree, another big tree cannot grow. Only thorny bushes and grass alone can grow.” Ram Surat Kunwar was shocked on listening to the words of his Master. He exclaimed, “Papa, should I beg for my food? Am I a beggar, Papa?” Papa, without answering, went inside. From that day Ram Surat Kunwar called himself ‘beggar’. His guru, his master, his God asked him to beg and so he became a ‘beggar’. He took his wife and children to Madras on the way to his place. He had no money. He begged in the streets of Madras. He got some money. He purchased some eatables for his children and fed them. He took them to their place and left his wife and two children in the custody of her brothers and again disappeared.

From 1955 Ram Surat Kunwar wandered again throughout the vast, holy India. He had no luggage, no money. Whenever he felt hungry, he would beg his food. Wherever he felt to take rest, he would sleep without bothering about the place. At that time his abode was mainly graveyards and other secluded places. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Dwaraka to eastern part of India, he wandered and gathered a great deal of experiences and knowledge about the saints and their teachings. He was roaming like the wind having no boundaries. Yet he was not able to see his mission. He did not bother about that too. He just obliged the divine call and he went wherever the Supreme Father wanted him to go.

In 1957, suddenly one day he got the desire to see his family again. He went to Dahiya. There he came to know that his brothers-in-law suggested their sister to join in a Bala Sevika Institution at Ranchi to get training to look after the kids at the school. She joined the institute. After completing her training in the institute, her brothers thought that she could get a government job and could maintain her family.

Ram Surat Kunwar went to the institution to meet his wife. He was able to meet his wife there with great difficulty. The principal of the institute, Smt Suseela Agarwal used very harsh language on Ram Surat Kunwar in front of his wife. She scolded him for his irresponsible and reckless attitude. His wife Ram Ranjini Devi was crying and could not defend her husband and her husband silently moved away from the place. After that event in 1957, she could not see her husband again till 1982.

In 1958, Ram Surat Kunwar again got the impulse to see his family and so he went to Dahiya. There he met Ramdutt Chowdry, his old friend. The friend also got agitated on seeing his friend. He tried to counsel his friend to bring normalcy in his friend’s life, but he could not do it. Ram Surat Kunwar was indifferent. He didn’t argue or try to defend. He was amazingly silent and didn’t express any emotions. Finally out of vexation Ramdutt Chowdry handed over Rs.64/-, which had been deposited earlier with him by Ram Surat Kunwar and settled the account and friendship. Ram Surat Kunwar took the money with him and walked on the street. He happened to see his son Amitabh on the street and handed over the money to his son and left the place. He did not come back. The family members could see him again at Tiruvannamalai only in 1982 after a gap of 25 years.

He again roamed throughout India and finally landed at Tiruvannamalai in 1959. He stayed first beneath a peepul tree just in front of the old bus stand. Then he shifted his place to the Kugai Namachivaya Cave on the holy hill. There he lived for more than six months. Then he came down and roaming in the villages around Tiruvannamalai. He knew every village around Tiruvannamalai. Till 1961, Ram Surat Kunwar wandered in Tiruvannamalai. He would occasionally take his food from Ramanashram and other ashrams but mostly he lived on the alms of devotees and common people.

After the initiation in 1952, Ram Surat Kunwar focused all his attention only on Truth and God. He never compromised on Truth for personal benefits. He was firm in his faith on God and Guru. Liberation and freedom were his prime aim of the life. So, he could not adhere to the rituals, rules and regulations of any religious institution or ashrams. He had then no heavy luggage other than a small shoulder bag, which contained a few dhotis and shirts. Wherever he went, he tried to have a simple accommodation. But the officials of the ashrams at Tiruvannamalai denied him the permission to stay in their premises. In 1955, he took a small room for rent in a secluded place, near Ramanashram and stayed there for a few months. The room was in a very bad shape. Snakes and other poisonous insects were his uninvited guests. He had no fear for anything and so he did not mind the horrible atmosphere. In due course he was not able to pay rent for the room and so the owner of the room locked the room and insisted Ram Surat Kunwar to settle the rent due. Ram Surat Kunwar was not able to settle the rent due. So all his belongings were inside the room and he was on the street with just empty hands.

From time to time, he stayed in the graveyards of Tiruvannamalai and in the caves of the holy hill, particularly in Kugai Namachivaya Cave. Sometimes in the daytime he would sit in a remote place inside the Arunachaleshwara Temple and during night he would sleep in the corridor of a vessel shop opposite to the temple. Whenever he felt hungry, he would beg for food in the ashrams and other charitable institutions. Even though he preferred milk and bananas, he did not have money to procure the same. So he accepted whatever he got as alms. His dress became dirty and torn due to over use. His look turned like a beggar.

Once, in 1962, some friend took him to Ramanashram to take meals. There he was sitting for the food in the dining hall. One devotee who was sitting next to him started advising him how to be clean and presentable to take food in the ashram. Ram Surat Kunwar who volunteered poverty for the sake of his God and guru politely told the friend, who advised him, “Ye, if you want to know anything, you come and touch this beggar’s feet and you will know everything. But don’t try to advise this beggar. It will not help you.” After saying this, he just got up and rushed away from the place without taking food in the ashram. He went to the temple and was lying down under the mahila Tree, inside the temple.

One Sri Govinda Butt, owner of a hotel, (Hotel Brindavan) was a great devotee of Arunachaleshwara. He was very kind to sadhus. He used to visit Arunachala Temple daily. Sri Govinda Butt came to the temple on that day and did the daily poojas and other rituals. He used to sit under the mahila tree for some time. When he went there, he saw a sadhu lying under the tree. He sat near him. Having a kind heart, he enquired the sadhu whether he took his food for the day. The sadhu, Ram Surat Kunwar replied, “God has not given him food yet.” Govinda Butt took the sadhu to his hotel and served him with a wholesome meal. He also requested Ram Surat Kunwar, to come to his hotel whenever he felt hungry. Govinda Butt was the first among the devotees of Ram Surat Kunwar to offer food with great reverence at Tiruvannamalai. In later days, Ram Surat Kunwar would visit Brindavan Hotel rarely to take his food, which was served with all reverence.

In 1962, Ram Surat Kunwar got the opportunity to have the association of Pandit T.K.Sundaresha Iyer, who was a very ardent and close devotee of Ramana Maharishi. He was a scholar of high knowledge about the teachings of ancient masters and Ramana Maharishi. He was fondly called ‘Vathiyar’ (Teacher) by people. He would share his experiences with Ramana Maharishi to Ram Surat Kunwar, who would listen to him with rapt attention. Yogi Ramsuratkumar in later days talked about him to the author with great reverence. He told the author that very few people knew that Pandit T.K.Sundaresha Iyer was a realised soul. It is Pandit T.K.Sundaresha Iyer, who first addressed Ram Surat Kunwar as Yogi.

Ram Surat Kunwar developed a deep attachment with Sundaresha Iyer and wanted to serve him in whatever way it would be possible. But Sundaresha Iyer was a simple man and would never like anybody to serve him or help him in any way. Pandit T.K.Sundaresha Iyer taught Tamil language to Ram Surat Kunwar, to write, read and talk. He also taught Ram Surat Kunwar all the works of Ramana Maharishi. Ram Surat Kunwar passionately listened to Atcharamanamalai, one of Ramana Maharishi’s great works in Tamil and loved to listen to it again and again.

One day Sundaresha Iyer was sitting in Ramanashram near the big iluppai tree after the lunch. Ram Surat Kunwar sat near him and was looking at Sundaresha Iyer intensely. Sundaresha Iyer smiled on seeing Ram Surat Kunwar and with all love asked Ram Surat Kunwar whether he could bring betel leaf and nuts for him. Ram Surat Kunwar thrilled and immediately ran towards the town, which was two Kms away from Ramanashram. He brought betel leaf and nuts from the town and offered the same to Sundaresha Iyer. Sundaresha Iyer received the betel leaf, smiled mysteriously and enquired Ram Surat Kunwar, “Are you satisfied now?”

Even though the ashrams and other charitable institutions at Tiruvannamalai and other places did not treat Ram Surat Kunwar properly, the real sadhakas, sadhus and other great souls understood Ram Surat Kunwar as a great sadhaka and encouraged him in the path and wished him success in his endeavor. The common people and the simple village folks, on seeing Ram Surat Kunwar roaming in the hills and other secluded, dreaded places, saw in him the divinity, saluted him and invited him to their houses for food. They would also pour out their problems and pains of life to Ram Surat Kunwar. Ram Surat Kunwar would listen to them with all love and concern. The attention and listening of Ram Surat Kunwar pacified them and they left the place relieved from the pain and sorrows. In the later years Yogi Ramsuratkumar used to tell, “Faith cures, Faith brings joy of the life. Faith is God.”

In 1961, during the winter, Ram Surat Kunwar heard about the Theosophical Society at Madras. Ram Surat Kunwar went to Madras to visit the Theosophical Society. His look was dirty and he was in rags. So, he was not permitted to stay in the Society premises. He stayed in a Vinayaka temple near the Society and daily visited the library of the Society. He went through the history of Theosophical Society and several other spiritual books of various schools of thoughts of all religions.

Theosophical Society was founded by Sri Olcot and Madame Blavatsky. Mother Annie Besant became the president of the society later and spread the message of the society around the world. Along with her friend, philosopher and guide Sri Leadbetter, she was then telling people that a new messiah was shortly arriving to save and teach the world. Sri Leadbetter found Krishnamurti in the beach, behind the Society premises at Madras, playing with his brother and other friends. Krishnamurti’s father was working in the Society office. Sri Leadbetter, who was believed to have occult powers, found the new World Teacher in Krishnamurti. He informed his discovery to Annibesant, who was then abroad. Both propagated throughout the world that the world teacher arrived and it was Krishnamurti.

Both Leadbetter and Annie Besant took charge of Krishnamurti along with his brother Nithya and sent them to the UK for their education and also to groom Krishnamurti as a world teacher. But in due course J.Krishnamurti left from the grip of Theosophical Society, saying, “The Truth cannot be organized.” He also said that one could see the Holistic Immensity, not through any religion or institution, but in spite of the religion or institution.

On learning the principles of the Theosophical Society and the teachings of J.Krishnamurti, Ram Surat Kunwar was thrilled. He wanted to listen to J.Krishnamurti. In 1961, J.Krishnamurti arrived at Madras. He gave talks at Vasantha Vihar near Theosophical Society. Ram Surat Kunwar listened to all his talks with rapt attention. On hearing J.Krishnamurti’s talks, he could not refute anything and could see only the Truth. But at the same time he was not able to tolerate the degrading remarks of J.Krishnamurti on the gurus and mantras.

One day, Ram Surat Kunwar was keenly observing J.Krishnamurti’s movements after the latter completed his talks before a huge, but disciplined audience. J.Krishnamurti casually walked among the crowd to reach the building, where he stayed. He went upstairs and washed himself and came down to go for a walk. The crowd was still there waiting to have the glimpse of him. Our Ram Surat Kunwar was also there among the crowd, passionately waiting to see him again. J.Krishnamurti watched Ram Surat Kunwar looking at him with great expectations and emotions. He came directly to Ram Surat Kunwar, gifted him with a blissful, broad smile and patted him on the back. Yogi Ramsuratkumar later narrated this event to the author, saying, “J.Krishnamurti came directly to this beggar and patted him on his back and this beggar slept.” He repeated this several times and made one understand that after the touch of J.Krishnamurti, he was able to be in the deep samadhi state.

From Madras J.Krishnamurti went to Rishivalley. Ram Surat Kunwar also followed him. There also he was not able to get the permission to stay in the premises of J.Krishnamurti Foundation, due to his dirty and different appearance. As usual he stayed in the dreaded places of Rishivalley and whenever he got the opportunity, he would go on keenly observing J.Krishnamurti.

When, once, J.Krishnamurti was talking to his friends, our Ram Surat Kunwar was staring at him from a distance. J.Krishnamurti noticed Ram Surat Kunwar and pointed him to his friends, saying something about him. When those friends tried to approach Ram Surat Kunwar, the latter slipped from them and disappeared.

J.Krishnamurti left India for the US in the summer of 1962. Ram Surat Kunwar wanted to stay at Madras. He found it difficult to live in the Vinayaka temple and so, he approached Sri Devasenapathi, a devotee of Swami Ramdas living near the Society. He requested Devasenapathi to allow him to stay in his house for some time. Ram Surat Kunwar told Devasenapathi that during his stay he would teach his children, English, Maths and History. Devasenapathi allowed him to stay in his house temporarily, but told Ram Surat Kunwar that he would write to Papa Ramdas seeking the latter’s suggestion whether to allow Ram Surat Kunwar to stay in his house. Devasenapathi wrote to Papa Ramdas, referring Ram Surat Kunwar’s request and sought his guidance. Papa Ramdas replied Devasenapathi that he should not allow and encourage such sadhus to stay in the house and he should immediately ask Ram Surat Kunwar to leave the place. As soon as Devasenapathi received the letter, he asked Ram Surat Kunwar to leave the place and Ram Surat Kunwar silently left the place.

Ram Surat Kunwar understood what Papa Ramdas meant by giving the instructions to Devasenapathi to drive him away from his house. A sadhu’s stay should be in secluded places, where there would be no disturbances so that he can contemplate deeply on God. The association with worldly good people would always kindle the desire to be a good man. Becoming a good man was not his aim. Already he was a good man. His goal was to transcend the self and become one with God. After Ram Surat Kunwar left Sri Devasenabathi’s house on the advice of Swami Ramdas in 1962, Ram Surat Kunwar found it difficult to live in Madras. He came back to Tiruvannamalai. Swami Ramdas shed his body in 1963, but Ram Surat Kunwar did not go to Anandashram to attend the funeral, because he knew that his Father Papa Ramdas was Immortal.

In the winter of 1962, Ram Surat Kunwar again went to Madras to see J. Krishnamurti. He stayed at the same Vinayaka Temple near the Theosophical Society. This time he got the opportunity to have the association of Brother Sriram, who was the then President of the Society. Brother Sriram was able to understand the burning aspiration of Ram Surat Kunwar. He helped Ram Surat Kunwar in several ways. In 1971, Brother Sriram sent Truman Caylor Wadlington, an American citizen to Tiruvannamalai to stay with Yogi Ramsuratkumar to know about the latter and write a book on him. Truman stayed with Yogi Ramsuratkumar for seven months and wrote a book on Yogi Ramsuratkumar. The book was titled ‘Yogi Ramsuratkumar, The Godchild, Tiruvannamalai’ and was published in 1972. This book helped Yogi Ramsuratkumar in several ways to do his Father’s works without any hindrance.

In the winter of 1962 J.Krishnamurti came to Madras from the USA. As usual he gave talks at Vasantha Vihar. Ram Surat Kunwar attended all his talks. He was astonished on perceiving the Truth, which Krishnamurti unfolded in his own peculiar way in beautiful language. But still Ram Surat Kunwar was not able to tolerate the remarks of Krishnamurti on gurus and chanting of mantras. He wanted to get the clarification from Krishnamurti. In 1963, Ram Surat Kunwar followed Krishnamurti wherever the latter went, but could not get his doubts cleared. J.Krishnamurti used to give talks in Madras, Rishivalley, Bombay, Delhi and Kasi. In the summer of 1963, Krishnamurti left India to abroad and Ram Surat Kunwar wandered here and there throughout India. Again in the winter of 1963, Krishnamurti arrived to India. As usual Ram Surat Kunwar attended all his talks. But still he could not get his doubts cleared. He went back to Tiruvannamalai and lived there with the association of the real sadhakas and great souls like T.K.Sundaresha Iyer.

In the winter of 1964, as usual J.Krishnamurti arrived at Madras to give talks. Ram Surat Kunwar also reached Madras to see him. This time he was determined to get his doubts cleared. He followed wherever J.Krishnamurti went. In February 1965 at Bombay, Krishnamurti was answering the questions of the people. Ram Surat Kunwar attended the meeting. At this gathering an elderly man asked Krishnamurti, “Krishnaji, you know well what reverence and faith we have on our gurus and mantras, but when we hear your remarks on gurus and mantras, we feel hurt and we feel pain. We know that it is not your intention to hurt us. Then why do you do this?” Krishnamurti instantly responded by saying, “Why do you come here sir? This is not the place for the people who have faith.” When Ram Surat Kunwar listened to the words of Krishnamurti, he was thrilled. All his doubts were cleared. He understood that the mission of Krishnamurti was to bring the people, who had no faith on guru and God, into the path of enquiry to reach the Ultimate Truth. Yogi Ramsuratkumar in later years told about this incident to the author and put it simpler that Krishnamurti and his teachings were meant for the non-believers. He also said about Krishnamurti that he was a great mahatma.

In 1965, after his doubts were cleared, Ram Surat Kunwar landed at Tiruvannamalai again to live there permanently. Till then Yogi was attempting all sort of Yoga and meditation to realise God. Then and there he was successful to have the Godly experiences. But still the state was not a permanent one. It came and gone. When he attempted to pursue the state through some process, the state was eluding him. He was baffled. He was totally helpless. After he listened to J.Krishnamurti, he stopped pursuing the state. He was able to realise the art of doing nothing. He just saw what was within him. He did not attempt to hold the pure energy, God, the great Vastness within him. He dissolved himself in that Immense Divine Emptiness. Lo, the veil between God and him dropped. God consumed Ram Surat Kunwar. Ram Surat Kunwar was gone once for all. Only the Supreme Father occupied the beggarly form. He became That, God. The melodious divine name “Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram” echoed in his being and he became the personification of the Holy Name and Form. HE was aware of HIS Mission. His whole being became divine. He stopped taking bath. Once in a year or sometimes once in several years he took bath.

Ram Surat Kunwar ceased to exist. His FATHER, GOD alone existed in his physical frame. The complex of His Body changed into divine brilliance. (Earlier he was dark skinned.) He climbed to the top of evolution and merged with God and all Great Souls. He could see only his Father, God, everywhere within and without. He became totally one with GOD. His whole physical frame radiated the divinity. From then, the divided name Ram Surat Kunwar got united and became the whole, Ramsuratkumar. But till now the change in name remains a mystery. No one knew who had changed the name. Yogi did not reveal it to anybody. But Yogi said in later years, “This name Yogi Ramsuratkumar is not this beggar’s name. It is Father’s Name. My Father has invested in this name. Whoever remembers this name my Father will come to their rescue.”

Ram Surat Kunwar started his journey in search of God and guru in 1947 and attained the Supreme State of “GOD Realisation” in 1965. It took 18 long years for him to reach the Supreme State. During these 18 long years he suffered and struggled both physically and psychologically. None could narrate his sufferings. God wanted Him to suffer so that he could guide the suffering people in future by leading them in the right path to reach God.

He became whole and started doing his Father’s work, by uplifting the sadhakas to the state of God Realisation. He helped the baffled and confused sadhakas by showing the correct path with his spiritual light. He eliminated the pains and problems of the common people by his love and compassion. He used a dry coconut shell and got his food in it by begging. He also used it for drinking water. He carried a palmyra fan which was very useful during the hot summer days at Tiruvannamalai. On seeing the great spiritual state of Ramsuratkumar, Pandit T.K.Sundaresha Iyer called him ‘Yogi’. Ramsuratkumar added it before his name and ‘Yogi Ramsuratkumar’ became one of the names of God.

Yogi Ramsuratkumar used to say that he had three fathers, Ramana, Aurobindo and Swami Ramdas. He never mentioned J.Krishnamurti as one of his fathers. But when we look closely at the life and teachings of Yogi Ramsuratkumar, we could come to the conclusion that Ramana started, Aurobindo helped a little to go deeper, Ramdas initiated him into the divinity and Krishnamurti completed the process by making him whole. Later on, Yogi Ramsuratkumar asked some selective friends including the author to go through the teachings of all these four masters and also asked them to visit those masters’ places.

Ram Surat Kunwar had been a serious bhakta earlier. After seeing Ramana Maharishi, he was attracted by the aura of total solitude, wisdom and renunciation. He heard about Sri Aurobindo and was thrilled by his wisdom, solitude and seriousness. Even though he was playful and easy in all situations by nature from his birth, (The death of the bird in the well at Nardara changed him a little.) the encounters with Ramana and Aurobindo changed him totally. He became very serious in all his endeavors. He meditated for long hours and did fasting. He also observed mouna. After both the masters dropped their bodies, he had to relay on Swami Ramdas. Swami Ramdas’ ways initially baffled him. After he got the initiation from Swami Ramdas in 1952, he became spiritually mad. He could not control himself. He developed such a passionate love for both Swami Ramdas and Mataji Krishnabai that he could not think of leaving them. He believed that he alone realised Swami Ramdas and Mataji Krishnabai and commanded the people to worship them in the way he liked. That became a big problem for both Swami Ramdas and Krishnabai. Finally they had to send him out of the ashram. He was reluctant to leave Swami Ramdas. Swami Ramdas was determined to throw him away at the mercy of God so that the young sadhaka could learn a lot. Swami Ramdas knew the potential of the sadhaka. That’s why, he asked him to wander and live in the wild. The sadhaka had to oblige, but with great protest.

As far the knowledge of the author goes, in the tradition of Swami Ramdas, Yogi Ramsuratkumar was the only person to wander like Swami Ramdas, throughout India, as a mendicant, depending on alms and gathering divine experiences. Swami Ramdas wandered as a sanyasi, wearing ocher robes and so he did not have to suffer much for food and shelter because people of India valued and revered sanyasis. But Yogi Ramsuratkumar wore normal white clothes, dirty and torn due to over use. So he had to suffer a lot for food and shelter. People considered him only as a beggar or a vagabond. Swami Ramdas has written about his experiences during wandering, but Yogi Ramsuratkumar did not record anything about that part of his life. Maybe, he felt that it was not necessary.

While wandering, he had met several saints and sadhus and learnt several aspects of spiritual life. Yogi was well versed in the stories of ancient saints and rishis. He tried to adopt all sorts of Yoga to reach the top of evolution in the spiritual sphere. That was his only aspiration. But still he could not become totally successful. Finally he reached Tiruvannamalai in 1959 and roamed around the hill. He intensified his sadhana in the early 60’s by adopting various methods. The holy hill was a great inspiration for him and it gave shelter to him. Yogi’s reverence for the Holy Arunachala Hill increased day by day. The holy hill communicated with him and guided him after the samadhi of all the three masters. The holy hill guided him to J.Krishnamurti and it seems J.Krishnamurti’s touch and teachings brought this great sadhaka to the other shore. They helped him to drop the ‘self’ that practiced several methods in succession. Once he dropped the ‘self’, which was full of desires and ambitions, lo, he was immediately on the other shore with his Father, nay, standing as Father, God. Then alone he realised the immense grace and compassion of Swami Ramdas and Mataji Krishnabai. He understood that Swami Ramdas had wanted him to know all about God and His manifestations. That’s why he gave him the madness and drove him out of the ashram. If Swami Ramdas had not given him the madness, he would have been a humble, egoistic servant, in some ashram in India.

Swami Ramdas made Ram Surat Kunwar wander all over the country and meet several sadhus and saints of different schools of thoughts. It was later helpful to him to teach different people showing them the suitable paths to ascend towards salvation. One could observe the similarity of Swami Ramdas in Yogi Ramsuratkumar in his laughing for no apparent reason - continuous, spontaneous, riotous laughter; the pure joy and bliss that is obviously seen in it. One could also see the similarity between the two great souls of not bothering about any religious rituals but just emphasizing the value of chanting God’s name throughout their lives.