Article sent from The Hindu on indiaserver.com

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Harih Om:

 

In appearance, this article focuses on the 'Bhakti Marg' and points out His

grace is necessary for our survival. SELF is invisible to the naked eyes but

spiritual persons can experience the SELF in all names and all forms. Everyone

gets His grace but only some realizes and others ignores!

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This article is emailed to you by Ram Chandran ( rchandran )

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

 

Gem adorning Lord's chest

 

CHENNAI, SEPT. 22. An expatiation on the glory of devotion, the

purpose of God's descent from His permanent resting place to this

world out of His free will and through His wonderful creative

energy, the process of evolution, how to attain liberation, the

eight-fold Yoga, the downfall of God's creations due to

attachment, the stages of growth of a human embryo and destiny of

the souls have been dealt with, elaborately by the Divinity in

Himself is one of His incarnations. All these are detailed in the

scriptural text, the Bhagavatam.

 

This divine poem was sung for the uplift of those who suffer from

the pangs of that great python called ``Time''. One of the

Puranas says that when celestials came with elixir and offered it

to the king who desired to listen to the narration of the

Bhagavatham, he replied that this nectar was like a glass piece

when compared with the text which was like a gem adorning the

Lord's chest (The nectar would have saved him from death due to

snake bite as per a curse). In God's manifestations, the down-to-

earth teachings as Kapila spell out the tortures of the embryo.

The life in this early stage is reminiscent of a person forced to

use the same room for eating and as a toilet. After gaining entry

into the world he encounters myriads of problems. But unlike a

man, God has no sorrows and He can assume any form according to

the prayers of His devotees.

 

The Lord's advice (as Kapila to His Mother) comforts devotees

that all dynamic and static phenomena observed in life are

dependent on Him. Just as a child is initially guided to write on

a slate, by its father, holding its hand, the devotees' acts are

also under the constant and continuous care of the Lord. The

concept of ``dependence'' is better understood from this angle as

the souls are not fully aware of what they are. They are thus

enabled to grow spiritually mature, said Sri D. Prahladachar in a

lecture.

 

The mind, according to God-incarnate's message, is the cause for

an individual's attachment and his longing to secure liberation.

Only with spiritual input, the mind can be trained to shun

worldly pleasures and seek eternal bliss. When the mind is purged

of its impurities it will become indifferent to earthly

activities and get equipoised. The wise consider attachment as an

unyielding fetter while the same when directed to God and saints

serves as an open door to liberation. Devotees should contemplate

with single-minded attention on the most benevolent smile of the

Lord, a smile that dries away the tears of grief of all those who

bow to Him. No one should view death with horror nor have

recourse to stringiness in life.

 

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