Hindu Article-A pragmatic approach

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The Lord's accessibility

CHENNAI: Saints liken God's love for His devotees to that of parents

towards their offspring. Hence, He is concerned about man's welfare

and makes every effort to redeem him. For instance, traditional

accounts assert that the Lord performed intense penance to claim

Tiruppanazhwar as His own. He does not like His devotee to suffer on

any account and that too for realising Him. Will any parent want his

child to suffer to gain his love? If this truth is kept in mind, the

relationship between God and His devotees will become clear. One must

constantly remember that the Lord is the father, mother, and the true

eternal relation because all worldly relationships are only in this

birth.

In his discourse, Sri M.A.Venkatakrishnan said Pillai Lokacharya had

stated categorically that it was the Almighty who was happy when a

devotee attained liberation. Man rightly belongs to Him and like a

person who feels happy when he gets back something precious he has

lost, God also derives immense happiness when His devotee returns to

Him. Vedanta Desika in his hymn, Nyasadasakam, establishes the

relationship between God and soul like that between a proprietor and

his property by the use of the word "Swami" for the Lord. This is the

secret of His descents to the world — to claim the lost souls.

Kurattazhvan points out in his Varadarajastavam that the Almighty

came down from His transcendental realm and underwent suffering which

even human beings do not face in life for the sake of His devotees.

While His incarnations were only for a certain period of time, in His

image form (Archa) in temples the Lord is said to be performing

intense penance to redeem every bonded soul. Preceptors and the

Azhwars alike have glorified the Archa as the most accessible form of

the Supreme Being. In His incarnation as Krishna He showed to what

extent He would go for the sake of His devotees. Krishna revealed His

cosmic form to Yashoda and tended the cows with His friends. After

their exile when the Pandavas debated on the course of action and

Yudhishthira said that they should give Duryodana a chance to settle

their differences amicably without resorting to war, Krishna offered

to go as their envoy. And, when the war became imminent He became His

dear friend Arjuna's charioteer.

 

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