Tests of Faith

[Guest guest]

Tests of Faith

Monday November 22 2004 08:54 IST

Renuka Narayanan

 

When life goes off the rails, as the law of averages arranges for

each one of us, great or small, the scriptures recommend

concentration on God. When Yama came for Markandeya, he meditated on

Lord Shiva. When Mara sent his demons to threaten Sakyamuni, he

placed his hand on Mother Earth to draw strength. When the Prophet of

Islam was hounded by his enemies, he placed his heart at God's feet,

as did King David in the Psalms and Guru Tegh Bahadur in the

Vairagmayi Bani. Most haunting, the image of Yajnaseni (Draupadi)

shimmers through the aeons, her entire being focused on God as

the `law' of her epoch grinds her in its unsparing mill.

 

The stoic approach of Guru Tegh Bahadur is most appealing to the

modern mind, as indeed it was appealing to the ancient Roman emperor

Marcus Aurelius and to Adi Sankara. Hemingway would have called

it "grace under pressure". To lesser mortals like us, it means the

stiff upper lip, unless of course you're overpowered by the

unmistakable watery signs of a long overdue nervous breakdown: a

luxury that most of us take good care not to indulge in unless the

mental sinews have temporarily lost it.

 

The big emotional luxury offered by scripture is to treat God as our

friend. Bhishma, lying on his bed of arrows at Kurukshetra, does this

in the ninth canto of the first book of the Bhagvata Purana. Facing

Lord Krishna, he sings 11 verses, known as the Bhishma Stuti (verses

32-43). Bhishma was singularly fortunate that he could address

himself directly to Krishna. In this stuti he calls upon God as

Vijayasakha, the Friend of Arjuna.

 

Significantly, Bhishma takes stock of all his worldly pursuits so far

and distances himself from them to concentrate on God. He says: "Iti

matir upakalpita vitrishna bhagavati satatvapungave vibhumi svasukham

upagate kvachidvihartum prakritim upeyushi yadbhavapravaha". `Let my

mind, which has for so very long been engaged in worldly duties, now

repose in that Lord whose greatness is beyond measure, who is bliss

eternal and has made this material world merely for His own sport'.

 

Bhishma is believed to have gained the grace and favour of God by his

good karma. As M.N. Narasimhachary, editor of the Srivaishnava

magazine Nrisimhapriya explains, karma simply means `action'. It

denotes both good and bad action. One has to overcome both types to

attain liberation from the cycle of lives. Further, karma is

threefold: sanchita (accumulated over previous births); agami (to

accrue in future lives) and prarabdha (already working out in this

life). Focusing totally on God in the spirit of surrender (prapatti)

is said to wipe out the first two types of karma. But prarabdha has

to be worked out by enduring it or enjoying it, as the case may be,

so help us God.

copy right: the indian express

[Guest guest]

Thanks Vaidyanathanji.

 

Exalting thoughts - very beautifully expressed by Renukaji!

 

Madathil Nair

__________________

 

advaitin, "B VAIDYANATHAN"

<vaidyanathiyer> wrote:

>

> Tests of Faith

> Monday November 22 2004 08:54 IST

> Renuka Narayanan