Miscellaneous - Religion   

Company of saints

CHENNAI : The emphasis given in spiritual tradition to listening to the exposition of scriptural texts like the Puranas and the epics (Sravanam) is for developing devotion to God. These works highlight the efficacy of devotion to God as a means to liberation from bondage through the lives of exemplary devotees from time immemorial. Sravanam is a lived experience of devout company (Satsangh) wherein the narrator and the listeners are at once transported to the level of the subject of the discourse thereby heightening devotion. This is the objective of the whole exercise and thus the storyline becomes incidental to this practice.

In his discourse, Sengalipuram Sri B. Damodara Dikshitar said Satsangh by itself was capable of leading to liberation. The classic example is the child-devotee Prahlada whose devotion elicited the Supreme Being's incarnation in the form of a man-lion— Narasimha. And, it was due to Sage Narada's grace that Prahlada excelled in devotion to Lord Narayana from birth though he was born in the lineage of demons as the son of Hiranyakasipu, who hated God.

That one has to suffer for any offence meted to a devotee to God can be seen from the lives of Jaya and Vijaya. They were the Lord's attendants in His transcendental abode, which is a position they had earned by spiritual merit. But they committed the mistake of stopping the mind-born sons of Brahma, Sage Sanandana and his three brothers from entering the gates. The sages cursed them to be born as demons for not recognising devotees like them and later mitigated it to three births. They had the good fortune of meeting their end at the Lord's hands. Hiranyakasipu was one of their births.

In Lord Krishna's final teaching to Uddhava (Uddhava Gita), after expounding many philosophical topics, He highlighted the glory of Satsangh by citing devotees like Prahlada, Hanuman and the Gopis who, "although they had never studied the scriptural texts, had not observed any of the sacred vows nor practised any austerities, they nevertheless attained Me through the fellowship of saints alone."

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