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

 

Chanting the Divine name, easy means to liberation

 

CHENNAI, JUNE 18. The potency of the Divine name has been

reiterated in the spiritual tradition and the method of chanting

His names as the most effective and easy means to liberation

exemplified in the lives of devotees. The crux of devotional

literature is the depiction of the glory of the Lord's names. One

of the Dasas, asks with anguish in a song, that after having been

fortunate to be born as a human being, what is the use of having

been endowed with a tongue if it is not utilised in chanting the

names of God? Thyagaraja, a sterling devotee of Lord Rama,

observes in a Kirtana that chanting the name, Rama, liberates man

from bondage.

 

``Rama'' is not just a Divine name but a mantra (incantation) by

itself and hence is referred as Taraka mantra. The authority for

this is the scriptural reference to Kasi as the pilgrim centre

capable of delivering man from rebirth. According to the Puranic

tradition, Lord Siva initiaties a devotee during his last moments

into the name Rama here and hence the association of this name

with this place has gained great sanctity in the spiritual

tradition.

 

In his Harikatha, Kalayanapuram Sri R. Aravamudan said that in

the Ramayana a subtlety was conveyed in the context of Sage

Viswamitra's arrival in Ayodhya and asking Dasaratha to send Rama

with him to guard his sacrifice. Sage Vasishta was the preceptor

of the emperor and it was he who had chosen the names for the

princes when they were born. Rama which happens to be one of the

innumerable names of the Almighty, was aptly chosen by the sage

during the naming ceremony because the first-born son of

Dasaratha was the Lord-incarnate.

 

Viswamitra was aware of Rama's divine nature and it was with the

intention of being in His company and initiating Him so that he

would gain renown as the Lord's preceptor, at least for a brief

period, that the sage asked the king to send Him along with him.

That he was capable of protecting his sacrifice becomes apparent

when as soon as he left with the princes they halted about 12

miles from Ayodhya along the bank of the river, Sarayu, and the

sage made haste to initiate Rama and Lakshmana into two mantras.

The manner in which the sage bade the princes to wake up the next

morning by addressing Rama as Kausalya's son, also speaks volumes

of the sage's desire to enjoy the Lord's company in the same

manner as His mother must have did. Further, the sage desired to

atone for the grief he had caused to Harischandra, a king of the

solar dynasty, who was wedded to righteousness, by bringing about

the marriage of Rama and Sita.

 

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