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Hope for mankind

CHENNAI: The teachings of the Upanishads impart the knowledge of the Self and also help us to follow the path of dharma and uphold it. Once it is realised that the purpose of life is to seek salvation, one directs the search towards the means for attaining this goal. The Isavasya Upanishad pinpoints ignorance as the primary obstacle in the path to Self realisation and shows that the Jivatma is totally enveloped in this darkness. Under the influence of greed, lust, anger, egoism, etc., the Jivatma is led into evil actions, and thus condemned to the cycle of birth. The awareness of the Self is totally lost in such a situation.

When the ignorance of the knowledge of the Self is compounded with bondage of the Jivatma’s Karma and the quest for salvation is prevented, it is God’s grace that intervenes to save the Jivatma from this lot in life, pointed out Asuri Sri Madhavachariar in a discourse. The principle of surrender promises a sure means for salvation for mankind for the Lord Himself volunteers to liberate the Jivatma from the bondage of Karma. In His incarnations as Varaha, Rama and Krishna, the Lord promises succour to those who offer unconditional surrender at His feet with total faith. Lord Varaha promises to remain by the side of His Bhakta at the time of death, even if he fails to remember Him then. This vow is reinforced and validated during His incarnations as Rama and Krishna. Both Vibhishana and his daughter Trijata are able to recognise the Lord and the Divine mother. Lord Rama accepts the former’s surrender while the latter urges the ogresses to seek asylum in Sita, for she is capable of protecting them from the impending danger facing Lanka.

The hymns of the Azhwars are charged with emotional fervour and resonate with the truth that the Lord is the means and goal for the Jivatma whose faults are innumerable. The longing of the Jivatma to become liberated, the plea to the Lord to remove the sense of I and Mine that is a hurdle, and the direct experience of God’s compassion and grace are the recurrent themes that serve to inspire true Bhakti, the most indispensable requisite in this quest. The Lord chastises and corrects the errors of the Jivatma so that the path becomes easy.

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