Devotion only matters to God

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Devotion only matters to God (An Article from the Religious Section of The

Hindu taken with permission: "Copyrights 2000 The Hindu & Tribeca Internet

Initiatives Inc.")

 

The Almighty's manifestations in the world have been for the sake of His

devotees especially to save them when they were under duress. Even though they

are all hailed by saints, His incarnation in human form as Rama is given a

special status as the Lord relegated His divine nature to the background and

showed by example the ideal way of human conduct in the world. The very

composition of the epic by Valmiki was meant to highlight His auspicious

qualities.

 

All the other versions of the Ramayana are based on Valmiki's and it continues

to inspire poets. Saint Tyagaraja who lived close to our times has in his

songs brought out the nuances of the original Ramayana which show that his

devotion to Rama and study of the epic must have given him the rare insight

to highlight subtleties. Just as Bhattathri composed the Narayaneeyam on the

lines of the Srimad Bhagavata Purana, Tyagaraja also composed his Kirtanas

inspired by the Ramayana as the saint echoes the poet's sentiments in most of

his songs.

 

In his discourse Kalyanapuram Sri R.Aravamudan said, Rama was not only best

suited for praise as He was the repository of all auspicious traits, but He

was also the darling of His enemies. A perusal of the Ramayana would

highlight how even those He punished for their mistakes like Virata,

Surpanaka and Vali could not help praising His matchless qualities.

Likewise, His nature of treating everyone alike has been hailed by saints and

they highlight it to prove that He is accessible to His devotees irrespective

of their standing in life. What matters to the Lord is only devotion. Vedanta

Desika cites how Rama graced Guha, Sabhari and Sugriva by befriending them.

Guha belonged to the hunter tribe while Sugriva was a monkey-chief. To Rama

only their devotion mattered. The case of Sabhari has few parallels in the

spiritual tradition. She had no pretensions to scholarship or lineage in a

good family to aspire for liberation, but out of inclination started serving

Sage Matanga by keeping his hermitage tidy, without his knowledge. After he

left for the heavenly abode she continued to serve his disciples with the

same devotion and they bade her to stay on and await Rama's arrival.

 

With implicit faith she waited for Rama to visit her and served Him with great

joy when He came there saying, ``Today my birth has borne fruit and my elders

have been duly adored. My asceticism too has become fruitful today and heaven

too will definitely fall to my lot, now that I got your blessings."