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Saturday, December 20, 1997

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Compassion, a natural trait of the Lord

20-12-1997 :: Pg: 24 :: Col: c

CHENNAI, Dec. 20.

The spiritual tradition emphasises the potency of the Divine name, so much so,

it is not an exaggeration when the God-realised give more importance to it than

the Lord Himself. The incident oft-cited to attest this is the manner in which

the Lord's name saved Draupadi's modesty when she cried out to Him in the

assembly of elders and her husbands, when no one came to her rescue. That even

reciting the Divine name unintentionally gives benefit can be seen in the

instance of Ajamila who was granted salvation by the Lord at the moment of his

death when he called out to his child Narayana.

The compositions of the Alwars have been codified in the Nalayira Divya

Prabandham, which has been hailed as the Vedas in Tamil (Tamil Marai). All of

them have sung the glory of the innumerable names of Lord Narayana. Andal, the

only woman among the 12 Alwars, has in one of the opening verses of the

Tiruppavai, a hymn in 30 verses, pointed out her main objective as service to

the Lord and singing His name and glory.

In his discourse on the Tiruppavai, Nagai Sri Veeraraghavachariar said, Andal by

referring to His incarnation of Trivikrama while glorifying the Lord's name had

drawn attention to the Almighty's compassionate nature. The Lord in this

incarnation measured the entire creation in two steps and asked Bali where He

could measure the third one he had promised. It is pointed out in this context

that by this compassionate act the Lord had sanctified the entire cosmos for

the sake of His devotees.

This can be compared to a mother's natural love for her new-born which she

expresses spontaneously in her actions though the baby does not understand it.

Likewise, it was not in response to His devotees' prayer but out of His

Vatsalya (compassion), because the Almighty is the Father and the Mother of

all, that in His Trivikramavatara He touched the entire universe with His feet,

which is considered as His most graceful act by His devotees. By this it is

clear that the Lord is compassionate towards all without any partiality. On the

part of man he should realise this fact and respond to His graceful nature

through service and devotion to Him.

Another common misconception is that one need pray to the Lord only as a last

resort when in distress. While it is true that the Lord is the only panacea for

all the ills of mankind, nowhere is it said that one should remember Him only

during times of trouble. In fact true devotion is constant remembrance of the

Almighty in day-to-day life with the knowledge that He is the indwelling Lord

in all creation and guides all in their actions.

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