Miscellaneous - Religion   

Purpose of life

CHENNAI: An experience of true devotion is unique and one can understand it only from the lives of saints and seers wherein it is exemplified. Since they are able to directly realise the eternal truth and also perceive that this realisation was made possible to them through God’s grace, their lives and hymns reflect a simple and honest experience of God. They are thus able to reveal the greatness of the Almighty in a more direct manner than scriptures that speak a lofty language or philosophy that makes use of argument and intellectual debate.

In a discourse on the Periyapuranam that details the lives and times of the devout Nayanmars, Sengalipuram Sri B. Damodara Dikshitar drew attention to the exemplary path of devotion of each of them which easily made it clear that there is more to life than mere sleeping, eating, earning a livelihood, etc., and that the main purpose of life is to strive to realise God and thereby attain salvation.

Their hymns are spontaneous outpourings of their immediate experience of God’s grace and one is astonished at their ability to perceive the Almighty’s presence in the deities in the temples. For instance, the moving compositions of Saint Tirunavukkarasar indicate this truth and each hymn is an excellent lesson that inculcates Bhakti.

One is initiated into Bhakti Bhava through a hymn that savours the deity’s compassion and concern for the saint when he visited Chidambaram. It looked as if God enquired about his welfare. To be able to respond to deities in temples in this manner is a sure way of cultivating Bhakti.

The dancing posture of Lord Nataraja is symbolic of eternal truth that is responsible for creation (Srishti), sustenance (Sthiti), dissolution (Samharam), destruction (Nigraham) and grace (Anugraham). Such devotional fervour alone can enter into one’s inner consciousness with an impact to motivate devotion.

The lives of the devout teach us to transcend human birth that is fraught with ephemeral joy and sorrow and show us the path to the bliss of God experience that is everlasting. To remember God is the greatest wealth and forgetting Him is the greatest adversity.

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