Miscellaneous - Religion   

Hymn for solace

CHENNAI: The traditional system of worship of deities in temples has helped to foster devotion among people. The Almighty is believed to reside in the Archa form in temples and the chanting of hymns is a suitable mode to propitiate God and develop devotion. Great saints and savants, who have realised God through austere practice and single-minded devotion, have felt the divine presence of the Supreme Being in the deities in the temples. In their devotional hymns they have depicted their unique visions and experiences of God, singing eloquently of the captivating forms of the deities and eulogising their auspicious attributes. It is natural to seek solace and guidance from such devotional hymns that are believed to have the divine power to alleviate the sufferings of people and offer peace to the distressed minds.

In a lecture on the Subrahmanya Bhujanga of Adi Sankara, Sri R. Krishnamurthy Sastrigal said that this hymn, a unique blend of the esoteric and the mystic, is not only capable of helping people cope with the troubles and anxieties of day-today living, but also leads them towards liberation from the cycle of birth.

He has depicted his rare vision and the direct experience of the divine form of Lord Subrahmanya at the shore temple of Tiruchedur in this hymn. Set in Bhujanga metre, similar to the gait of the snake, the opening verse is in praise of Lord Ganesa. The seashore location of the temple is symbolic of His grace and power to grant liberation to those who seek surrender at His feet. Crossing the ocean of Samsara becomes easy to His devotees. The waves of worries that haunt the minds of devotees get destroyed like the waves of the ocean when they hit the shore.

As a preceptor, Adi Sankara's mission was to enable people strive for salvation, and he upheld the path of Bhakti as the most efficacious and practicable for this purpose. The two way bond that devotion builds between the Lord and His devotee is highlighted in the hymn.

The Lord's readiness to help His devotees is central in the descriptions of the exploits of this Lord and of His divine form from His feet to His head.

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