Miscellaneous - Religion   

Power of devotion

CHENNAI: The incarnations of the Supreme Being clearly indicate that the establishment of dharma is His prime concern, and in Kali Yuga (characterised by a steady fall in the standards of dharma), the Lord manifests Himself as preceptors to guide and lead mankind in the path of dharma. That is why Azhwars and Acharyas are venerated in the Vaishnava tradition as direct representatives of God. The path of devotion shown by the Azhwars establishes the Lord’s supremacy and their hymns soaked in Bhakti Bhava urge people to seek refuge at His feet as the only way of salvation. Tradition has it that each Azhwar is a manifestation of an aspect of the Lord and lived as a mystic.

In a lecture, Kalyanapuram Sri R. Aaravamudhachariar drew attention to the fact that the Azhwars were blessed to be in constant communion with God whom they always beheld within their consciousness and in the Archa form in the many temples. A legend from the life of Tirumazhisai Azhwar (born in Tirumazhisai earlier known as Mahisara Kshetra to Sage Brighu) believed to be an incarnation of the Lord’s Chakra, affirms his faith and the Lord’s unfailing response to true devotion.

This Azhwar lived in Kanchi and was engaged in profound devotional service to the deity at Tiruvekka in Kanchi. Once the king banished the Azhwar’s disciple Kanikannan from the town since the latter refused to sing the king’s glory. It is said that the Azhwar was so attached to his disciple that he decided to go with him out of the town and also sang a hymn to the deity to accompany them. The Lord packed up His snake bed and accompanied them. The king realised his folly when a pervasive gloom descended on the town once the Lord was not there. So he begged Kanikannan to return to Kanchi. Once again the Azhwar sang a hymn beseeching the Lord to come back to His abode and the Lord obliged.

The path of Bhakti is as efficacious as it is exacting, for the power of devotion builds a unique relationship between the devout and the Lord.

The lives of saints and the devout illustrate the truth that God becomes easily accessible to them in response to their true devotion.

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