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

 

Surrender to God, easy means to liberation

 

CHENNAI, NOV. 12. Surrender to God by adopting Him as the means

to liberation has been prescribed in the scriptures as an easy

and alternative path to the other methods for realising Him.

Every spiritual path has certain prerequisites to be fulfilled by

the aspirant and he has to make constant effort to progress. On

the other hand, surrender to God (Prapatti, Saranagati) transfers

the entire burden of the seeker's spiritual progress on the

Almighty and hence absolves him of his efforts. The only

condition for surrender to be effective is total faith in God's

saving grace.

 

After taking refuge in the Almighty declaring his inability to

follow other prescribed paths to realise Him, the aspirant should

repose steadfast faith that God will redeem Him. The scriptures

point out that the intercession of the Divine Mother is necessary

for surrender to be effective. The Ramayana has been hailed as

the scriptural authority on the doctrine of surrender. Lord

Rama's blanket assurance to humanity in the context of

Vibhishana's surrender is considered as the paradigmatic instance

of this path to liberation. The nuances of this doctrine is also

highlighted in the context of Rama's exile to the forest when

Lakshmana refused to be left behind.

 

Lakshmana symbolises the soul constantly aspiring for God and the

privilege of performing eternal service to Him. After Sita

convinced Rama to take Her along with Him, Lakshmana who was

witnessing their dialogue was unable to bear the impending

separation from Rama and hence at once realised that Sita's

mediation was necessary to ensure that he would not be left

behind in Ayodhya. With tears in his eyes he tightly caught hold

of Rama's feet, but spoke to Sita entreating Her to allow him to

accompany them.

 

In his Harikatha, Kalyanapuram Sri R. Aravamudan said the Kamba

Ramayanam underscored the relationship between the Almighty and

human beings in Sumitra's advice to Lakshmana when he took leave

of her before accompanying Rama and Sita to the forest. She told

him,``For you, that forest shall be the city of Ayodhya. Beloved

Rama will be like our King Dasaratha and Sita will be like

mother... Follow Rama, not like a brother but like a dedicated

slave.'' Lakshmana's life centred only on service to Rama and

Sita but Dasaratha was not so privileged. Even though he was a

great emperor and sired the Lord Himself as his son, he breathed

his last without Him by his side recalling the curse of a sage

which had resulted in such a calamitous end to his legitimate

desire to see Rama's crowned as prince.

 

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