Miscellaneous - Religion   

Easy way to liberation

CHENNAI : Chanting the Divine name has been advocated in the scriptures as the easiest and the most efficacious of the means to liberation in this Kali age. What is the reason for this? Adi Sankara's commentary on the Vishnu Sahasranama hymn throws light on this. To Yudhishthira's question, "Which is the mantra, reciting which, man becomes freed from the bondage of birth?", Bhishma identified Lord Krishna, who was witness to their exchange, as the Supreme Being and replied, "By meditating on Him and on His many names man can transcend all sorrows."

Sankara interprets this as chanting (japa, singing) the Lord's countless names because this can be done through the instrumentality of both the body and the mind. One can do this effortlessly, as it does not have stringent regulations. The Divine name Achyuta was proof that the Lord would never forsake His devotee who chanted His name, said Sri N.V.Devi Prasad in his discourse.

Lord Krishna classified His devotees into four types in the Bhagavad Gita. The child-devotee, Prahlada, for whose sake the Almighty manifested as Narasimha refused to seek anything from the Lord when He granted him boons saying that devotion with the expectation of something in return would tantamount to barter. His was unalloyed devotion to God though the majority of devotees turn to Him only during times of sorrow. But God comes to the succour of even such devotees. Draupadi called out to `Govinda' only after all her valiant husbands and the elders of the royal family failed to come to her aid when Dussasana started disrobing her. It was the potency of the Divine name that saved her modesty as Krishna was away in Dwaraka then.

Gajendra also surrendered to the Lord only after his kith and kin abandoned him and he became too weak to save himself. While Draupadi and Gajendra were devotees who sought refuge in the Lord with faith and the knowledge that He would save them, in the case of Ajamila it was proved that the Divine name is capable of saving a person from damnation even if he unintentionally utters it. Because of attachment Ajamila called out to his child Narayana during his last moments but the messengers of God rescued his soul from Yama because it was a Divine name.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Cartoonscape
The Hindu Crossword 8517
Solution to Puzzle 8516
Easy way to liberation
dated February 3, 1956: ECAFE meet at Bangalore
dated February 3, 1956: Bhoodan Pada Yatra
Weather

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu