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

 

True devotion alone matters to God

 

CHENNAI, APRIL 23. The epics and the Puranas which describe the

descents of the Almighty have highlighted that the Lord had made

Himself accessible to mankind, especially to His devotees. If the

Ramayana focusses on Rama's concern for the sages in the forest

and the manner He intermingled with them and protected them from

being harassed by the demons, the Krishna incarnation affords

insight into how His devotees were singled out for His grace. The

heights of devotion which the cowherd maidens reached, the way He

endeared Himself to them with His childhood exploits and the

singular grace showered on Yashoda as depicted in the Srimad

Bhagavata Purana have become the nucleus of devotional literature

over the centuries.

 

All these instances confirm the fact that it is true devotion

alone which matters to God and that He would go to any length to

protect His devotee. The Mahabharata centres round the bond of

devotion between the Pandavas and Lord Krishna though the

devotional aspect is highlighted more in the Bhagavata Purana. In

the case of the Pandavas His quality of easy accessibility to

devotees came to the fore when He became their messenger to avert

a war between the cousins and later as Arjuna's charioteer in the

Mahabharata war, said Smt. Sudha Seshayyan in her discourse.

 

When the Pandavas came to Hastinapura after the death of their

father, Dhritarashtra as though doing them a great favour

relegated the barren territory of Khandavaprastha as their share

of kingdom and Yudishtra did not utter a word about the injustice

meted to them. Lord Krishna was witness to this and later helped

them found the beautiful kingdom of Indraprastha with the help of

the divine architect. But their days of relative happiness came

to an end when Dhritarashtra invited Yudishtra for a game of dice

at the insistence of Duryodana.

 

The Pandava elder who was always scrupulous about propriety

accepted the invitation much against the wishes of Vidura who

brought the invitation even though he knew that he was at a

disadvantage. Events then unfolded as orchestrated by Duryodana -

Draupadi's humiliation after Yudishtra lost everything in the

game and their banishment. When they returned from their exile

Yudishtra as was his wont did not ask that Indraprastha be

returned to him but just five villages for the five brothers and

it was when even this basic right spurned that Lord Krishna

became their envoy to try to negotiate a peaceful settlement.

When they did not yield even an inch of land and precipitated the

war, the Lord stood by the side of the Pandavas.

 

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