The Hindu : Miscellaneous / Religion : God's easy accessibility

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Monday, Jul 19, 2004

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

God's easy accessibility

CHENNAI, JULY 19 . The Almighty's easy accessibility of all His matchless traits defines the bond between God and His devotee. This quality came to the fore during His incarnations among which that of Lord Krishna stands out. He lived in the cowherd community of Gokul tending the cows with them. Later, He became Arjuna's charioteer during the Mahabharata war. The Lord out of His own freewill undertook such menial tasks for the sake of His devotees. Even after Sage Veda Vyasa finished the marathon task of compiling the Vedas, composing the Puranas and the Mahabharata he did not get peace of mind till he wrote the Bhagavata Purana highlighting the childhood deeds of Lord Krishna.

In his Harikatha, Kalyanapuram Sri R. Aravamudan said as it was difficult to understand the scriptures in this Kali age, the eternal beings in the divine abode manifested in the world to teach the easier method of devotion to God for attaining liberation. Vyasa is believed to have appeared as Jayadeva to sing the glory of Lord Krishna in a town by the name Tundubilva near the sacred place of Lord Jagannath in a pious family. His phenomenal devotion was apparent even when he was young and his marriage to Padmavati was ordained, as she was also a great devotee.

Jayadeva and Padmavati excelled each other in revelling in Lord Krishna's glory through singing and dancing, and soon devotees started thronging to their home. He was a mystic at heart and soon developed a strong desire to compose in song Radha's love of Krishna as the theme on the basis of the Padma Purana. This is one of the modes of devotional mysticism known as bridal mysticism in which devotion takes on the form of conjugal love (Prema). Jayadeva composed the Gita Govinda in 24 songs and it is popularly known as Ashtapadi because each song has eight refrains (Charanam) and the Lord Himself wrote a verse in it when he had some reservation.

Andal readily comes to mind for She expressed Her love for the Lord in a similar vein in her work, the Nacchiar Tirumozhi. The Gita Govinda centres on the Rasa lila, Krishna's divine sport with the Gopis in Brindavan. Periazhwar, Andal's foster father, in his hymn the Periazhwar Tirumozhi describes that such was the magic of His flute that the moment Krishna started playing it not only the cowherd maidens abandoned their hearth and homes and rushed to His side but also all living creatures stood mesmerised.

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