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Abode of compassion religion

CHENNAI: The Supreme Being is the abode of infinite auspicious qualities and among them it is compassion (Daya) which is very important from the standpoint of humanity. Vedanta Desika composed the hymn Dayasatakam in 108 verses as a eulogy of Lord Srinivasa’s abounding grace in which He personifies His compassion as Dayadevi (the Divine Mother is the embodiment of compassion and intercedes on behalf of erring humanity).

The cosmic functions of creation, sustenance and dissolution of the universe took place due to divine will, said Sri M.V.Ananthapadmanabhachariar in his discourse. During dissolution (Pralaya) of the world all life ceases to be and it is out of His compassion that He brings forth life once again during creation, which is a manifestation of His bliss. In the third decade of this hymn Desika underscores that the Lord makes everything favourable for those who surrender to Him.

Anger is also one of the Lord’s traits and scriptures state that even the celestials are terrified when He is angry. The Ramayana highlights that Rama knew how to control His anger. This hymn states that the Lord’s anger becomes a virtue when He has to protect those who surrender to Him. Rama expressing anger towards Vali is a case in point. Employing his poetic imagination Desika says that the Almighty’s anger serves Daya like Her servant to punish those who trouble His devotees. This is akin to destroying the weeds to ensure the good growth of the crop.

The Almighty has qualities like sovereignty, supremacy and power which make Him invincible. These are necessary to exercise His authority while protecting living beings and punishing those who commit sins. As for Daya, She knows only to be compassionate. Well aware of this difference great saints and preceptors took refuge in Her for they wanted only divine grace, not retribution (when sins are taken into account).

In an interesting twist Desika concludes that Daya is merciless in a verse; as She is inseparable from the Lord, He is called compassionate (a quality), but Daya being compassion itself She cannot have it as a trait. She can thus be merciless towards man’s sins.

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