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Absolute surrender

CHENNAI: Mystics have highlighted the efficacy of chanting God’s names both as the panacea for all worldly sorrows and as the easiest method for attaining liberation. But the potency of the Divine name can be vouched for only by those who have unconditionally surrendered to God with the conviction that no one except God can alleviate their distress. Two devotees who have certified to this sure means of solace in moving prayer are Kunti, who recalled all acts of Krishna’s grace in the lives of her sons, the Pandavas, when He came to take leave of them after the great war, and Draupadi who appealed to Him in despair when her five valiant husbands stood helpless after Dussasana committed the ultimate sacrilege of disrobing her in the august assembly of Hastinapura.

In his discourse, Sengalipuram Sri B.Kesava Dikshitar said the hymn of the cowherd women (Gopis) expressing their agony caused by separation from Him, when Krishna disappeared from their midst to enable them to get rid of their ego as they had become proud of being His companions, was a lesson in humility. Realising their folly, the Gopis surrendered to Him expressing their unalloyed devotion to Him.

That Draupadi also was a great devotee who knew Krishna’s divine nature came to the fore in the context of the humiliation she suffered at the hands of the Kauravas when her husbands and the elders in the court stood mute spectators. Realising that it was useless to appeal to anyone when her honour was at stake, Draupadi gave up all attempts to protect her modesty.

With folded palms and tears streaming from her eyes, only her lips moved in fervent prayer, “Krishna, Vasudeva, they say that You are the last refuge of the helpless. You are everything to me. They say You are everywhere, that You are present where Your devotee sings Your praises. You must be here. I surrender myself to You. It is up to You to save me.” Krishna was in Dwaraka then but His name wrought a miracle. As Dussasana pulled at her robe, an endless stream of cloth appeared till he gave up exhausted. But even such an open demonstration of the Lord’s grace did not deter Duryodana from pursuing his agenda and so he was doomed.

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