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Acme of devotion religion

CHENNAI: To remember God during the last moments of one’s life is the cherished desire of every ardent devotee. The rationale for this aspiration is the scriptural affirmation that one who casts off his body with his thought fixed on the Lord with devotion and the tongue chanting His name is released from bondage. But that it is easier said than done can be seen in reality because no one knows for certain when the end will come or whether the body, senses and the mind will facilitate loving meditation on God when they are afflicted by infirmities.

In his discourse, Sri B. Sundar Kumar said the Bhagavata Purana highlighted the significance of devotion—the central theme of this work—through Bhishma’s prayer to Lord Krishna during his last moments. Bhishma had the blessing to die at will and so it came to pass that he waited for the auspicious hour when the Sun turned north (Uttarayana) to shed his mortal coil after the Mahabharata war lying on a bed of arrows.

This interlude proved to be a boon not only to Yudhishthira but also to the entire humanity because he chanted the famous hymn Vishnu Sahasranama before Lord Krishna then. Yudhishthira who had ascended the throne after the war was depressed. When he expressed his state of mind to Krishna, the Lord advised him to learn the subtleties of Dharma from Bhishma as He was also rushing to his side knowing that his end was near.

After enlightening Yudhishthira, the grandsire summed up his teachings by stating that Krishna, whom he thought was his beloved cousin, friend and greatest well-wisher, and out of affection the Pandavas had made their counsellor, envoy and charioteer, was God Himself—the supreme Dharma. He then took refuge in Lord Krishna remembering His act of grace in the battlefield when “breaking His own vow (not to take up arms during the Mahabharata war), in order to fulfil and exalt his vow (of compelling Him to do so after Duryodana provoked him) Sri Krishna jumped from His seat and darted towards him with a wheel of His chariot in His hand, the earth trembling under His feet and His upper garment dropping behind Him,” and breathed his last.

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