Miscellaneous - Religion   

God's graciousness

CHENNAI : Listening to the exposition of the Supreme Being's glory and divine deeds during His manifestations is a very efficacious spiritual practice. The tradition of discoursing on the Puranas and the epics has been in vogue since time immemorial and these texts are themselves in the form of narratives. What is the rationale of this practice? Will not the devotee tire of listening to the elucidation of the same texts again and again?

In his discourse, Sri Muralidhara Sarma said the more a devotee listened to God's glory, the more he would engage in Him because His inimitable qualities and deeds have the capacity to captivate his mind. The human mind is a unique faculty in that it is not possible for anyone to know what transpires in the mind of another except the Almighty. Hence this instrument enables the devotee to engage in a one-to-one spiritual relationship with God. As the devotee evolves spiritually he will be able to understand how reciprocal this relationship is. An Azhwar has declared that his mind became totally preoccupied with the Lord. The name Krishna chosen for the Lord connotes that He attracts all to Himself. Thus listening to the Almighty's auspicious qualities and divine deeds enables the devotee's mind to dwell on God effortlessly.

It is human nature to relate to those who are of the same temperament and expect the other person to make the first move in relationships. The Lord is an exception to this. Out of compassion for His devotees He makes Himself accessible; is it possible for human beings to relate to Him otherwise as He is the omnipotent Lord of the entire creation? His gracious nature was manifest in full measure during His advent as Krishna.

During His childhood Krishna endeared Himself to one and all in Gokul and each person experienced Him according to his capacity to understand and relate to Him. Thus to the cowherd boys He was their dear companion who frolicked with them all day; He was the despair of the Gopis (cowherd maidens) always outwitting them with His pranks, yet making each one feel she was the most privileged; to the high priests who performed sacrifices Krishna was the Lord who accepted their offerings; and, to Arjuna, Krishna was his dear friend who became his charioteer and taught him the truth.

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