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

 

Devotion, basic theme of the scriptures

 

CHENNAI, DEC. 29. Devotion to God is the underlying theme of the

scriptural texts like the Puranas. They describe the glory of the

Supreme Being, especially in His incarnations, with the objective

of helping devotees to attain concentration of mind and thus

enhance their devotion. The scriptural tradition owes it origin

to Veda Vyasa whose pioneering work was the codification of the

Vedas into four.

 

His original name Krishna Dwaipanya has almost been forgotten as

he came to be called as Vyasa after the marathon task he did of

dividing the Veda, which existed till then in one whole, into

four sections for the purpose of easy mastery as he intuited with

his foresight that human beings with passage of time will not be

able to master the entire Veda and perform all the prescribed

sacrifices. Then he completed the epic Mahabharata which is

hailed as the digest of the Veda for the laity.

 

Even after accomplishing all these great tasks the sage did not

get peace of mind and he sat reflecting about it on the bank of

the river, Saraswati, when the divine sage, Narada, appeared

before him and he voiced his predicament to him after receiving

him with due respect.

 

In his discourse, Sri S. Jayarama Sarma said that Narada pointed

out that he had not adequately sung the glory of the Lord in his

works and hence he had not achieved the peace of mind he yearned.

The sage told Vyasa, ``With a concentrated mind recall the

exploits of Sri Hari... with a view to the liberation of the

entire humanity. The wise have declared that the abiding purpose

of man's austere penance, sacred knowledge, sacrificial

performances, recitation of the Vedas with correct intonation,

enlightenment and bestowal of gifts is to recount the virtues of

that Lord of excellent fame.''

 

It was to highlight that devotion to God was the central theme of

the scriptures that Vyasa composed the Bhagavata Purana at

Narada's behest. This Purana is glorified as the very essence of

the Vedas and the Narayaneeyam written by Bhattatri about four

centuries ago within the precincts of the Guruvayur temple is

venerated with equal respect and is a condensation of the

Bhagavata Purana.

 

Tradition recounts that this devotee while composing this work

paused at the end of every canto of 10 verses by posing a

question to the Lord whether He had performed the deeds related

in it and He acknowledged them and thus the work got the seal of

approval from the Almighty Himself. Just as Vyasa composed the

Bhagavata at Narada's instance, Bhattatri composed the

Narayaneeyam at the Lord's behest.

 

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