Miscellaneous - Religion   

Service to God

CHENNAI: The relationship between the Supreme Being and His devotee is a dynamic one. As devotion takes root it matures into overwhelming love of God for His own sake. Devotion becomes an end in itself and is best expressed in service to Him. The devotee begins to see the transcendent Lord manifest in everything he perceives. This is devotional mysticism at its best. This insight can be seen in the hymns of the Azhwars in their extensive descriptions of nature.

Nammazhwar in his Tiruvaymozhi waxes in ecstasy thus, “I see Your resplendent form in Tirukkudandai reclining amid fertile waters fanned by whisks of paddy.” The Azhwar imagined that even nature was blessed in that it served the Lord by fanning the deity there with the cool breeze blowing from the paddy fields.

This is the acme of devotion in which the devotee considers the rationale of his existence to be of service to God. This is total dedication to Him as Lord Krishna described to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita; “Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer as oblation to the sacred fire, whatever you bestow as gift, whatever you do by way of penance, offer it all to Me.”

In his discourse, Arupathi Sri V.Srirama Desikachariar said it was possible to elicit divine grace easily if one approached God with the benediction of His devotees because the Lord is pleased with a person who venerates His devotees. This can be seen from Rama’s conduct towards Sugriva. During Sugriva’s first encounter with Vali, the Lord did not intervene when Vali rained blows on Sugriva. Sugriva had ignored Lakshmana, who was the reincarnation of Adisesha, the Lord’s foremost servitor in His eternal abode. But, Rama was not one to chastise him. He asked Lakshmana to garland Sugriva before he fought with Vali the next day. Sugriva perforce had to bend low before Lakshmana to receive the garland! The Lord thus reformed him without telling him.

But it is not easy to identify a true devotee for he would shy away from calling attention to himself. The classic example of such modesty can be seen in the case of Tondaradippodi Azhwar who preferred to identify himself with the dust of the feet of the Lord’s servants.

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