True devotee pines to reach God

September 10, 2002

CHENNAI SEPT. 10. One of the distinguishing features of a true servant of God,

who is ever immersed in meditating on His effulgent forms and retaining them in

his mind is the unimaginable grief that he will experience, when by an

unfortunate circumstance, he is deprived of enjoying this glorious vision. A

saint, who was privileged to witness God's various postures (in idols) presented

before him was once totally upset that he could not see Him. When there was a

serpent, which moved nearby, he imagined that it was the Divine Couch of the

Lord. That was the state of mind of Nammazhwar. It is the mind that entertains

noble as well as vicious thoughts. To explain how it behaves among different

creations, a verse refers to a scene of a woman taking rest underneath a tree.

An ascetic who passed by the place presumed it to be a corpse and walked away. A

layman, given to worldly pleasures, felt happy that it was an object for

enjoyment. A dog that went there was delighted that the flesh from the body will

be available for it to satiate its appetite. This shows how both corrupt

influences and good ideas occupy a mind. The saint believed that the reptile he

saw was Lord's servant.

Elucidating this theme and citing a verse from "Subhashitanivi", the Jeeyar

Swami of the Ahobila Math, in a lecture, mentioned the details of the life of a

sage, (who was named Markandeya). He saw a huge banyan tree at a distance.

Though it had many branches, yet in one among the leaves he saw a child lying on

it. There was an aura around it and this bewitching form filled his heart with

joy. He treated the child as a manifestation of the Lord Himself and rushed to

embrace it, but it vanished. His love for the Divine Child increased

thousandfold and his entire attention was riveted to it and he pined to witness

its dazzling form again. He was so enamoured of the child that he recalled how

the Lord is described as reclining on the serpent couch (Adisesha).

With the hope of witnessing the Lord in this posture, the sage continued to

cherish and take care of every huge tree before him. His poignant feeling

reveals how a true devotee will pine to reach the Divine Empire to serve the

Lord permanently as against the thoughts of a man with base instincts awaiting

to seek the company of the woman whom he noticed from a distance. This sloka

reflects the intensity of devotion of all penitents as demonstrated by

Nammazhwar and Markandeya.

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