Article from The Hindu: Divine Mother, abode of compassion

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Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com)

 

Divine Mother, abode of compassion

 

CHENNAI, SEPT. 11. Scriptural texts, like the Ramayana, are

replete with worldly wisdom. Besides dealing with the main theme

of spirituality they dilate on human conduct and ethics and hence

help to handle matters of secular interest also successfully.

This goes to reinforce the fact that spiritual life cannot be

divorced from worldly life. The world is a stage for human beings

to evolve towards the goal of God-realisation which will put an

end to transmigration. Hanuman's role of an envoy depicted in the

Sundara Kanda is illustrative of the epic's appeal at different

levels.

 

Right from the moment Hanuman was chosen for the mission of

locating Sita, kept in captivity by Ravana, he braced himself for

the responsibility entrusted to him. There was no doubt that he

was equal to the task and had the sagacity of mind to tackle the

impediments on the way, but there was the nagging fear of what

would happen in case he could not find Sita. The elaborate

delineation in the epic as to how he overcame the hurdles that

arose and succeeded ultimately is a lesson on how a person

entrusted with a job must perform it with commitment. He searched

all over Lanka and found Sita just when She had given up all

hopes of Her rescue and had decided to give up Her life. Hanuman

without arousing the suspicion of the ogresses guarding Her

disclosed his identity by relating Rama's life and handing over

His signet ring and instilled hope of Her rescue soon.

 

In his Harikatha, Kalyanapuram Sri R.Aravamudan said Sita also

gave Hanuman Her ornament as a token of their meeting with the

message that She would wait only a month. She also related the

incident of Kakasura incurring the Lord's wrath, known only to

Rama and Herself, for convincing Him of Her identity. The crow,

Kakasura, had offended Sita while Rama was asleep and She had

borne the humiliation and pain as She did not want to wake Him

up. After He woke up Rama became greatly angered and discharged a

blade of grass at the bird which became a missile with the

potency of Brahmastra and pursued the bird which was actually

Jayanta, Indra's son. The bird sought asylum from the sages and

celestials in all the three worlds including its father and was

turned down by all of them. It took refuge in Rama finally and

was pardoned. An interesting insight given by commentators in

this context is that though the crow committed a graver offence

than Ravana it escaped with its life because the Divine Mother,

who is the personification of compassion, was with the Lord when

this incident happened.

 

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