Miscellaneous - Religion   

The spiritual quest

CHENNAI : The scriptures state that human life in the world is full of sorrow in order to reiterate that true joy can be found only by realising the true nature of the Self (Atman), which is eternal and blissful. But, out of ignorance, man runs after materialistic pleasures to gratify his senses and gets entrapped in an endless search of what he thinks will give him joy. The reason why the sensory objects cannot give lasting happiness is because they are themselves impermanent. Thus human beings peg their mental peace and joy on objects that are incapable of giving eternal bliss.

This primordial ignorance, which besets all human beings due to the Lord's power of Maya, can be overcome only by divine grace and not by human ingenuity. Lord Krishna has attested to this in the Bhagavad Gita, "This wonderful Maya (veil) of Mine, consisting of the three Gunas (modes of Nature), is extremely difficult to break through; those, however, who constantly adore Me alone are able to cross it." Spiritual quest begins with the search for eternal joy knowingly or unknowingly but becomes earnest when there is a shift from expecting this from worldly ends to God, who is infinite.

In his discourse, Sengalipuram Sri B.Damodara Dikshitar said the Bhagavata Purana emphasised the importance of spiritual life right at the outset. This is a scriptural text meant for spiritual seekers in this Kali age when it has become difficult to pursue the spiritual path due to several constraints. Hence the scripture highlights devotion to God as the easiest means to liberation for all. The Purana was narrated to King Pareekshit when he approached the sages to show him the path to salvation in seven days as he was cursed to die of the bite of the serpent Takshaka. The exposition of the spiritual truth in the form of a dialogue between Sage Suka and Pareekshit is in the form of answer to two basic questions that the king asked him: what should a human being do and what is the duty of one who is about to die. Through the live of devotees and the divine deeds of the Supreme Being in His incarnations the sage highlighted the primacy of devotion to God and the glory of the Lord, who is to be realised.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

CARTOONSCAPE
The Hindu Crossword 8889
Solution to Puzzle 8888
The spiritual quest
dated April 17, 1957: Nehru reappointed PM
dated April 17, 1957: Voroshilov in Peking
dated April 17, 1957: State film awards
Weather

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu