Ramana’s written works

Downloadable text files in the original languages

The files linked below contain Ramana’s most important writings in Tamil and Sanskrit, the languages in which he wrote them. Even if you don’t know those languages these files can be very useful. You can load them into an AI and ask questions about the exact literal meanings of words and sentences. You may be surprised to see how far you’ve been misled by published English translations.

Some interesting things you can learn this way: The I-thought isn’t a “thought”; Ramana didn’t use the words “I Am” to refer to what we are or what we should focus on (in fact it would be awkward to write that phrase in Tamil); “I-I” is a mistranslation of “I am I”, a technical term he opposed to “I am the body”; and the name of Ramana’s method is “self-investigation” or “self-examination” not “Self-enquiry”.

For versions of these writings in English with user-friendly formatting and commentaries, go here.

This page was first published on February 14, 2025 and last revised on February 15, 2025.