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Path of true worship

CHENNAI: Human birth has an edge over all other creation because human beings are endowed with the ability to think, probe and understand God and the purpose of life. This rational power of cognition is an additional asset and has to be recognised as a God-given gift, and should motivate one to become engaged in spiritual quest in all urgency and earnestness. In a lecture, Sri Mathivannan drew attention to the significant spiritual message in all the thirty verses of Andal’s Tiruppavai wherein the ultimate goal of life is revealed. Seeking the feet of the Supreme Being is shown as the only sure path to salvation.

Like the hymns of the Azhwars, the Tiruppavai songs in simple Tamil bring out the essence of the Vedas and the Upanishads. The path of true worship and devotion helps in one’s spiritual effort and ensures that one leads a pure life. Only then will it be possible for the Jivatma to wash away the sins that it has accumulated through a succession of births. Every Jivatma is the Lord’s possession and it is He who assigns a form to it in every birth. The Jivatma is for ever bound to the Lord and the only salvation from further births is to be engaged in His eternal service.

The references to the Lord’s incarnations and His manifestations in the milky ocean bring out His boundless compassion and His concern for His devotees. The inscrutable God had incarnated as Lord Krishna and lived the simple life of a cowherd among the people of Gokul. He played on the banks of the Yamuna and revealed His divine identity even as a child to His devotees and to His enemies who tried to take away His life. Yasodha was the blessed mother to whom He revealed the truth of Himself on certain occasions.

Andal’s prescription for the right way of life is simple and rests on the practice of charity, kindness and moral values.

She asks people to follow the time tested path of the elders instead of questioning and researching it. The hymns reflect the spirit of true worship when she, along with the women in Ayarpadi, engages in worship of Lord Krishna with flowers and prayers that come from the heart. It is by His grace that one develops the spirit of true worship.

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