Miscellaneous - Religion   

Realising divine truth

CHENNAI: Scriptures view the divine in lofty terms and much of the philosophical import is couched in a maze of theoretical exegesis. Moreover, the divine truth is beyond intellectual grasp and only a few realised souls have understood it. In a lecture, Sri K. B. Devarajan drew attention to certain instances in the Ramayana when Lord Rama’s Supreme identity was recognised by some realised souls who were from the enemy camp.

The bereaved wives of Vali and Ravana, instead of giving vent to their understandable sentiments of grief and anger against Lord Rama when they confronted Him, were transported to a higher state of realisation, for they broke forth into eulogies of the Supreme Truth on seeing Him. This happened in spite of the fact that the Lord had hidden His divinity behind a human form. Tara’s address to the Lord reveals her insightful perception of the Lord’s immeasurable glory. She sees before her the quintessence of all the divine qualities of the Supreme Being. She is able to discern the very same qualities that Sage Narada had enumerated to Sage Valmiki to reinforce the nobility of the divine incarnation. The Lord’s valour, righteousness, uprightness, adherence to truth, etc., are implied in her address to the Lord.

In a similar vein, Mandodari’s impulsive outburst clearly testifies her realised state when she confronted the Supreme Being. There is no doubt in Mandodari regarding the Ultimate Truth who stands personified before her. The philosophic import of Vedanta is synoptically captured in simple terms with no loss to its essence in the four slokas that Mandodari utters on beholding Lord Rama. The Lord’s discus and the conch that remained invisible to all else were clearly seen by her. She is overwhelmed at the sight of the infinite who stands in a finite form and this recognition in her consciousness is something not easily attainable to all.

The important truth is that the Lord is not easily grasped. Neither the Vedas, nor charities nor rituals, nor worship, nor status nor birth can help in this regard. An ordinary Jivatma has thus an opportunity to realise this truth by empathising with the experience of such realised souls.

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