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

 

Sincere devotion will please the Almighty

 

CHENNAI, FEB. 23. Does God judge and grant favours only on the

basis of the conduct of austerities and religious rites by His

devotees? Should one's faith in His supreme powers be

demonstrated only by an ostentatious display of these spiritual

exercises? Far from it. These religious duties will certainly

take one nearer God. But the benevolent God will be highly

pleased if an uneducated, unsophisticated layman offers His

prostrations by simple means like placing a flower at the feet of

the idol in which he believes God exists. Any sincere attempt

will surely fetch response and rewards from the Almighty. What is

needed is to show the intensity and depth of one's devotional

fervour and not extravagant and pompous methods, only to invite

the attention of others.

 

A story is told of a hunter who wanted to escape from the attack

by a tiger chasing him, climbed a tree and took shelter on a

branch. Lest he should fall asleep and hence to keep vigil he

plucked one leaf after another and started throwing down each one

of them carefully and leisurely. By the grace of God and due to

luck, the branch on which he was perched was that of a ``Vilvam''

tree and the leaves he was throwing fell on a ``Siva Lingam''

which was beneath it. What more, the day chanced to be

``Sivarathri''. Even without his knowledge and though not done

without expecting any return, his act made Lord Siva treat it as

a devotional exercise and save him from the jaws of death.

 

Hinduism has given ample freedom to everyone of its followers to

worship the God of his choice. Saivites praise the glory of Siva

in different forms, visit His temples, recite the Sivapuranam and

other hymns and spend their time also at their respective

residences, observing vows. One of the most important days on

which they dedicate themselves totally every year is

``Sivarathri'', on which occasion, they know that Siva will

remove their ignorance and darkness surrounding them and show

them the light, making them experience Bliss. They stick to the

dictum that while one goes about earning wealth and food, one

should also visualise God residing within.

 

As Tirukkural says ``Many are poor and weak, many do not care for

penance. Only a few observe enduring austerity. Brighter and

brighter like gold purified in fire, souls who bear the varying

pains of penance, shine``, explained Sri C.V. Sadanandam in a

lecture on the significance of this auspicious day. Scriptures

refer to the details as to in what manner people should offer

their salutations and how the night has been divided into four

periods and what is the most auspicious time among them.

 

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