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Source: The Hindu

(http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/03/26/stories/2002032601020800.htm)

Miscellaneous

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Religion

 

 

Prayer reinforces faith in God's saving grace

 

 

 

CHENNAI, MARCH 26. Scriptural texts like the Upanishads generally begin with an

invocatory verse because the mind of the student must get attuned to the subject

matter dealt with in them. While mental concentration is necessary for engaging

in any serious enterprise, in the case of scriptural study it is not just an

intellectual process and hence the intellect has to be honed to intuit the

subtle truth enunciated in them. These invocations are in the nature of prayer

for peace and welfare for all. The Kenopanishad has two invocations to be

chanted by the preceptor and the disciple together. They seek protection from

any obstacle that they may face in the process of learning and that the study be

enjoyable and all effort required to realise the objective of this study be

fulfilled, without slipping into disputes or bitterness between them.

 

On the face of it one may wonder why such a prayer is necessary. Any

relationship between two people requires mutual love and trust. In the world we

often see that love often changes into hate by a single action even in very

close relationships. This prayer thus gives the insight that one cannot take any

relationship for granted and it needs to be nurtured constantly. The second

invocation conveys another important truth. Here they pray that neither should

they forsake God nor the Lord abandon them. In worldly life it is very easy to

forget God especially in times of difficulty. Only one who is endowed with

unalloyed faith will remember God always.

 

God always remembered His devotee and protected him but it required faith to

understand this truth, said Swami Asutoshananda in his discourse. Once a devotee

had to cross a great desert alone and God promised him that He would accompany

him throughout the journey. He kept His word by conversing with him so that he

would not feel lonely and when they came to a place where there was quicksand

there was silence. With great difficulty the man managed to get over the

difficult stretch and then God started talking to him again. The devotee chided

God for forsaking him during the most trying phase of the journey and God told

him to look properly behind him. He saw God's footprints on the quicksand and

realised that the Lord who had kept him company all along had physically carried

him across the quicksand, which otherwise would have been his end. Prayer

reinforces faith in the mind of the devotee that God will always protect him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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