hindu article-Path to eternal bliss

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Path to eternal bliss

 

 

CHENNAI, AUG.13 . Man creates many avenues for

enjoying sensory pleasures and in the process gets

caught in their snare without knowing that they will

not be enduring. From the most underprivileged to the

wealthiest in society every individual is busy from

morning till night in the pursuit of material

pleasures with the belief that they will derive

happiness from them. In the process the majority of

people fritter a lifetime away. Sometimes the object,

which gives one immense joy initially, becomes the

source of great sorrow later. Does this mean that

human beings should not seek worldly joys? Scriptures

do not condemn pursuit of worldly joys but only

caution that one should be able to discern their

nature and seek that which will give lasting joy.

 

In his discourse, Sengalipuram Sri Kesava Dikshitar

said it was essential to understand why man

instinctively seeks joy. This innate urge is due to

the fact that man has sprung from the Supreme Being,

who is of the nature of infinite bliss. This

experience is embedded in his consciousness even

though he is not consciously aware of it and hence

wishes to experience it again. Spiritual yearning is

thus inborn and every individual whether consciously

or unconsciously strives towards this end only. The

objective of scriptural texts is to show man the path

to eternal joy.

 

Sage Suka was always immersed in a state of bliss and

it was out of concern for others that he shared his

knowledge and experience. His exposition to King

Pareekshit is embodied in the Bhagavata Purana. The

Narayaneeyam of Narayana Bhattatiri is a masterly

condensation of this Purana. He has summarised the

18000 verses of the Bhagavata in 1034 verses divided

into 100 cantos. Bhattatiri who lived in the 16th

Century was a great scholar and the circumstances that

made him compose this exquisite devotional hymn

wrought a transformation in him.

 

According to tradition he composed the hymn before the

Lord of Guruvayur and he who was at home with the

Upanishadic description of the formless Absolute

Reality envisioned Him in the image of the Lord there.

His rapturous depiction of the divine form in the

beginning and the concluding portions of the hymn was

that he beheld. It is this lived experience that

distinguishes this poem as an exceptional devotional

work capable of transporting a devotee from the

mundane to the spiritual plane.

 

copy right: The Hindu Daily

 

 

 

 

 

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