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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

God always helps virtuous men

 

CHENNAI, AUG. 10. The manner in which God extends His grace on

those who pin their faith on Him will always remain a mystery.

But it is definite that timely help will be forthcoming in some

form. Since He may not appear in person, He will depute someone.

Or instructions to avert the possible (impending) danger will be

conveyed through His representatives, invariably in an indirect

way. If He decides to protect one and if He feels that the person

concerned does not deserve it, His decision cannot be questioned

by anyone. God will make the evil forces realise that if they try

to harm the pious, their actions will recoil on themselves.

 

An illustration of Divine mercy to escape from a sinister attempt

to destroy righteous men is contained in the Mahabharatam.

Unaware of the hideous plot, the dependents on God were sincere

in obeying the suggestion of the emperor, their uncle. The

purpose behind the scheme was unfolded to them by a well wisher

in code words which could be understood by the eldest among the

victims. In days of princely rule, top men connected with

administration were taught to annotate such baffling statements,

containing a message. In this case, the words were ``The

conflagration that devastates a forest cannot hurt a rat which

shelters itself in a hole. Wise men should try to understand any

danger by forestalling it.'' This was meant to indicate that the

plan was to roast them alive in flames and that they should

escape through a tunnel. The men to be affected were the Pandavas

while the arrangement to make them stay in a palace, specially

built with highly combustible material, was by their cousins, the

Kauravas, who were inimical to them because of their popularity,

strength and intelligence.

 

In his discourse, Sri R. Kannan Swamigal explained how the

Pandavas could decode the statement and escape even as they spent

sometime in the wax palace. They made a miner dig out a tunnel

without anyone's knowledge and escaped. There were also sly

methods, when they were staying there, to poison the food or

cause bodily burns. Sensing this, the valiant Bhima brought a

rare species of monkey that can smell and reject any type of

adulteration in food. So too, he obtained a swan which could

smell the sandal paste to be applied on the body. Cold tears from

it would mean that the scent is genuine and bloodred tears would

indicate that it is poisoned and so if used, would cause burning

sensation. Overcoming all these trials, with Lord Krishna's

protection, they themselves set the palace on fire and escaped

through the tunnel.God's guidance was available for such souls

wedded to virtue.

 

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