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Lord's accessibility

CHENNAI: The greatness of the Supreme Being is His Saulabhya (accessibility) — when He makes Himself attainable to His devotees with an incredible simplicity. It is indeed a great paradox that when He continues to remain beyond comprehension, when Time and Space stand belittled in His awesome presence, His Saulabhya easily dismisses any likely distance between Him and His devotees, said Sri Rangaji in a discourse.

The spiritual life of devotees is enriched by the myriad ways in which they relate to the Supreme Being. If a true devotee experiences an ecstatic joy when he sings the Lord' s glory or pays obeisance at His feet in worship, equally thrilling is Lord's unfailing assistance that manifests in remarkable ways at the opportune moment leaving one overwhelmed with gratitude and wonder. What stands out is His infinite mercy that offers to lift the suffering Jivatmas from the ocean of Samsara. The Bhagavata Purana contains accounts of many fortunate relationships between Bhaktas and the Lord — Sudhama (Kuchela), Ajamila, Prahlada, Druva, Vidhura or Draupadi to mention a few. Whether as Arjuna's charioteer, or when He joyously welcomed His childhood playmate Kuchela, or when He unassumingly graced the humble Vidhura's house, or in the promptness in which he responded to Draupadi or Gajendra, His Saulabhya stands manifest.

The common factor in all these is the unshakable faith and love that each of them had towards the Lord. It is not double-faced or tainted, but wholesome.

This devotion is an overpowering feeling in the inner self by which one unmistakably perceives the presence of God in all aspects of creation and acknowledges His supremacy. This leads to an unconditional surrender at His feet. Such a devotee is modest and compassionate to all beings, and always treads the path of righteousness.

It is genuine devotion alone that binds Him to His Bhaktas. An ideal devotee sees only God everywhere and in everything. To obtain His grace what is needed is not so much the practice of austerity or scriptural learning as sincere Bhakti.

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