Miscellaneous - Religion   

Spirit of justice

CHENNAI: Spiritual value is associated not merely with devotion to God but also linked to the practice of dharma — the social responsibility of caring for fellow human beings, animals and other creatures as well. The depth of core values that Saiva Siddhanta embodies surfaces in Sekkizhar's Periyapuranam that contains a detailed account of the lives of the humble devotees of Siva, popularly known as Nayanmars. The many novel ways by which the Lord Himself established the unflinching faith of each of these saints can easily help individuals internalise the kind of intense devotion and high values that they stood for. Similarly, the moving account of the king Manu Neethi Chozhan's unwavering commitment to dharma that was subject to a harrowing test related in the Periyapuranam is a powerful pointer to the spirit of true justice, pointed out Sri R. Selvaganapathy in a lecture.

This king who ruled from Tiruvarur got this name because he adopted the ancient laws established by Manu as the law of the land. Such was his deep concern for the welfare of the people that he wanted to ensure that justice was rendered to one and all. For this purpose he had hung a bell in front of his palace and anyone seeking justice had the right to ring it. Once when the king's only son was riding a chariot, the young one of a cow inadvertently came before the wheels and lost its life. When all were appalled at the unfortunate incident and tried to think of ways to expiate this great sin, the grief stricken cow rang the bell, calling the king to do justice. The king's stand on justice enjoined on him to probe the spirit and truth behind it when he believed that mere charity (as suggested by the Vedic scholars in his court) as expiation was far from sufficient as this could not offer any comfort to the sorrow experienced by the cow. He ordered the chariot to run over his son so that he could at least share a similar grief by way of compensation.

The Lord blessed the king for his sincerity to the cause of justice and brought back to life the calf, the son of the king and the minister who had given up his life unwilling to abide by the king's command to kill the son.

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