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

 

Devotion endows man with unitive vision

 

CHENNAI, JAN. 1. The Supreme Being is described in the scriptures

in paradoxical terms as the Absolute transcending the creation

and also as the invisible indwelling One in all created beings

and insentient matter. This enigma can be understood only when

one has the intuitive insight endowed by devotion to see the

underlying unity behind the diversity we perceive and see the

divinity in this unity. Then it becomes apparent that God is

immanent in His creation and it is because of Him that everything

derives its unique nature.

 

When the diversity is seen then the unity behind the manifold

forms does not become evident whereas for the mystic who sees the

unity the diversity does not bother him at all. Tirumular, the

mystic-saint, in his Tirumandiram alludes to this paradox with

the example of a wooden elephant. A child sees it as a real

elephant whereas a carpenter only sees the wood behind the form

of the wooden elephant. This phenomenon is due to the Lord's

power of Maya with which He is able to sustain the diversity of

His creation.

 

In his discourse, Sri S. Jayarama Sarma said that Kunti's prayer

to Lord Krishna when He met her and the Pandavas after the

Mahabharata battle to take leave of them dwelled on this paradox.

Krishna had seen them all through the innumerable adversities

they faced in their lives and stood by them as a friend, relative

and guide safeguarding their lives and interests.

 

Krishna's unfailing guidance and the fact that He was the Supreme

Being who had guided their destiny without making it obvious

overwhelmed Kunti when she beheld Him and overcome with gratitude

and devotion she prayed to Him, ``I, an ignorant woman, make

obeisance to You, the Prime Person, transcending Prakrti and

dwelling inside as well as outside all created beings, the

invisible and imperishable God existing beyond the range of

sense-perception and screened by the curtain of Maya. You cannot

be seen by a man of perverted vision even as a dunce would fail

to recognise an actor appearing in a garb appropriate to the

stage.''

 

``How, then, can we womenfolk perceive You, who have appeared in

our midst just to engender devotion in the heart of the realised

who are given to contemplation and purity of mind?'' The

childhood sports of Lord Krishna which form the theme of the

Bhagavata Purana are examples of this mystery every true devotee

confronts and tries to fathom during the course of his spiritual

evolution. Even Yashoda, the foster-mother of the Lord in this

incarnation, who was witness to all His divine sports and to whom

He revealed His divine nature, saw Him as her son.

 

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