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Friday, December 26, 1997

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God's grace redeems man from bondage

26-12-1997 :: Pg: 24 :: Col: c

CHENNAI, Dec. 26.

It is believed in the spiritual tradition that one who is spiritually inclined

and is a great devotee has already been chosen by the Lord. When a person

develops devotion it is a mark of His grace. Then the genuine doubt arises as

to why the scriptures stress the necessity of self-effort and adherence to

spiritual practices as essential to progress on the spiritual path. If only

God's grace can redeem man from bondage then where is the necessity for man to

exert himself?

Though this may appear paradoxical a little reflection will enable one to

understand that it requires a tremendous amount of faith (Mahavisvasa) on the

part of man to abstain from doing anything on his part and wait for the Lord to

claim him. Only a highly spiritually evolved person will have this kind of faith

in God's grace. So for the majority it is imperative to perform the prescribed

spiritual practices but it should be remembered that the progress they make on

the spiritual path is not due to their efforts but the result of Divine grace.

In his discourse on the Tiruppavai, Velukkudi Sri V. Krishnan said, Andal had

drawn attention to this fact in the ninth verse of this hymn. In the preceding

verses she wakes up her friends one by one to join her in performing the Pavai

nonbu and in this verse she expresses her wish to relate herself to this maiden

who is asleep blissfully with the certain knowledge that Lord Krishna would

Himself come to claim her. The sleep referred to here esoterically refers to

the Mahavisvasa of this devotee who abstains from making any effort to realise

God reposing total trust in His saving grace.

This fact can be appreciated better when the relationship between the Supreme

Being and the souls is properly understood. The souls owe their very existence

to the Almighty and He is the benevolent Lord and Master of the entire

creation. So it is in His nature to be compassionate and protective of His

creation like a mother would be of her child.

This trait of the Almighty is illustrated well in the Ramayana. When Hanuman

located Sita in the Ashoka grove he expressed his eagerness to rescue her from

her confinement in Lanka by suggesting that he would carry her on his back to

Rama which would put an end to her suffering. But Sita did not agree to his

proposal and pointed out that only Rama should personally claim her. So also

the redemption of the soul from bondage is the Lord's concern because the soul

belongs to Him. Andal in this hymn thus points out this subtle truth by

expressing her desire to relate herself to this maiden who had the Lord's grace

in full measure.

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