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Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com)

 

Only devotion matters to the Almighty

 

CHENNAI, JULY 30. Parallels have often been drawn between saints

hailing from different sects. Even though the manner in which

they realised God, the time to which they belonged and their

backgrounds differed, their spiritual experiences have been

remarkably similar. Andal, the foster-daughter of Periazhwar and

the only woman among the Azhwars, whose hymns have been canonised

in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham which is revered on a par with

the Vedas in the school of Srivaishnavism and Karaikal Ammaiyar

the lady saint among the Nayanmars of the Saiva fold, reveal the

same mystical trait as exemplified by their hymns.

 

While Andal pined only for the Lord and offered flowers worn by

her to Him which He accepted and poured her heart's anguish in

exquisite verses till she attained union with Him, Karaikal

Ammaiyar was devoted exclusively to Lord Siva till she attained

the object of her spiritual quest. Her unalloyed devotion earned

her the merit of being addressed by the Lord as His mother when

she reached His abode in Kailas. Both expressed their devotion to

God by offering flowers to Him for worship and composing hymns on

Him. Striking a similar note both of them express the wish to

remain exclusively devoted to Him in future births also.

 

In his discourse, Sri Mathivannan said that lives of such saints

proved that devotion alone mattered to God. Any amount of

intellectual reasoning will not help in realising Him and He can

be bound only with the cord of devotion. Anantazhvan, one of the

followers of Ramanuja, is cited to show how even a simple act of

worship if done faithfully can be rewarding. He lived in the

temple town of Tirupati and tended a flower garden there and

preoccupied himself with the duty of preparing garlands and

offering them to Lord Srinivasa at Tirumala everyday.

 

He would wake up before dawn and pluck the flowers so that bees

would not drink the nectar from the flowers which had to adorn

the Lord. Then he would carefully string them into garlands and

by that time the day would break. After finishing his morning

ablutions and rituals, he would set out to the shrine at the top

of the seven hills with the garlands and offer them during

worship. He never missed a day and meticulously followed this

practice. His devotion became known to the world when the Lord

tested him in the guise of a serpent by biting his leg when he

was plucking the flowers. Undaunted whether he would live or die

he went about finishing the ritual and the Lord revealed Himself

to Anantazhvan.

 

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