Abide As That

by Jason Brett Serle

There are some writings that transcend time and tradition and speak to the ever-present heart of the human experience. Simple yet profound, challenging yet compassionate, the Song of Ribhu is one such example of this. In the same tradition as the Bhagavad Gita or the Ashtavakra Gita, the Ribhu Gita, literally the Song of Ribhu represents the highest declaration of Advaita Vedanta, spoken by the enlightened sage Ribhu to his disciple Nidagha on the slopes of Mount Kedara in the Himalayas. Some 2,500 years later, another awakened master, Sri Ramana Maharshi was touched by these same words, considering them to be one of the most sublime expressions of the awakened state that humanity had ever produced. He spoke of it reverently and would even give copies to his devotees to read. The version that follows is a selection, made by Sri Ramana Maharshi himself, of 45 verses that capture the very essence of the Ribhu Gita - an essence that this fresh and masterful modern translation manages to communicate in simple and elegant English, perfectly adapted to the Western reader. The book also contains the story of Ribhu and Nidagha as told by Sri Ramana Maharshi, as well as excerpts from informal talks with his students to further clarify the themes.

88 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2019

Reviews

[Callum · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 star for the Ribhu extracts, 5 star for the Q&A.

Minor disagreements with the Q&A, but mostly agree.
A great distillation of key Vedanta pointings and some parables.

[Rosemarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know enough about the original to give a comment on the translation, but I did find it interesting to read and think on. The question and answer at the bag made no sense to me.