Miscellaneous - Religion   

Efficacy of worship

CHENNAI: Scriptures stress the value of true devotion as something beyond the performance of acts of worship, rituals or prayer, where the quality of the devotee's feeling and involvement (Bhava) is the touchstone rather than the ostentation or quantity of articles used in worship.

In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna makes explicit the quality of true devotion. Even a flower, a fruit or a drop of water is acceptable to Him, as long as it is offered with true love and faith. Kalyanapuram Sri R. Aravamudhachariar pointed out in a discourse on Tiruppavai that Andal echoes the same sentiment that involvement is very crucial for spiritual practice with harmony in one's thought, word and deed, when she entreats her friends to sing the praises of Lord Krishna in the mornings as part of vow undertaken in the month of Marghazhi.

She makes it clear that seeking refuge at the Lord's feet is the ultimate purpose of life, for only with His grace can the Jivatma gain salvation. If the baggage of sins is the cause of diffidence in the quest of God realisation, Andal claims that the Lord is the eternal brightness which dispels the darkness of ignorance and His grace is capable of not only destroying all the sins the Jivatma committed before seeking refuge, but also those that accrue after.

When the unlimited extent of the Lord's compassion is internalised in the individual's consciousness, Bhakti Bhava springs in the heart. The devout, who wish to serve God with utmost humility, always conscious of their undeserving state, exemplify this Bhava. When there is no ego, all the hurdles in the path to liberation are removed.

Surety of success in worship is attained with absolute genuineness, whether one recites the Lord's name in prayer, or meditates on Him or offers flowers at His feet and not merely in adherence to the externals of worship.

Spiritual tradition recognises Ahimsa (non-violence), ability to control one's senses, patience, showing concern for others, charitable disposition, practice of penance and meditation, and upholding truth as the symbolic flowers to be offered.

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