Miscellaneous - Religion   

Embodiment of grace

CHENNAI : To err is human and the Divine Mother, Sri (Lakshmi), who is the embodiment of compassion has acknowledged it. In the Lakshmi Tantra, which is a Pancharatra Agama, there is a statement attributed to Her in which She declares that a person who commits a sin must surrender to Her, the consort of the Supreme Being, for Him to atone the sin.

Surrender to the Almighty is also a means to liberation (Saranagati, Prapatti) advocated in Visishtadvaita theology in which the Divine Mother assumes the role of a mediator (Purushakara) between man and the Lord. It is Her compassion that is responsible for the Lord to accede to Her plea to pardon the sins of man. When Saranagati is adopted as a means to realise God, He deigns to reveal His divine nature to man. Lord Krishna has stated in the Bhagavad Gita, "My divine Maya (potency) constituted of the three Gunas is difficult to overcome. Whoever takes refuge in Me alone, in utter devotion, overcomes it."

In his discourse, Sri M.V.Ananthapadmanabhachariar said the Paduka (sandals) of the Lord are revered as manifestation of the Divine Mother, which was very significant in the context of Prapatti. Vedanta Desika in his hymn Paduka Sahasram mentions the transforming grace of the Paduka in Ahalya's case. Her husband Sage Gautama cursed her to become a stone for her transgression with the promise of atonement by the grace of Lord Rama. When Sage Viswamitra escorted Him to their hermitage, by the touch of His feet Ahalya emerged from the stone. This happened before Rama married Sita and hence has been interpreted by scholars to highlight that the Lord and the Divine Mother are inseparable. Thus it was His Paduka (Paduka Devi), whose gracious touch rejuvenated Ahalya.

Another example for the efficacy of surrender through the intercession of the Divine Mother is that of Lakshmana's. Rama wanted him to remain in Ayodhya to take care of their parents. But Lakshmana who did not want to be left behind supplicated to Sita while beseeching His brother and hence his surrender bore fruit.

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