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The Lord’s compassion

CHENNAI: Azhwars have intuitively understood the boundless compassion of the Lord and have extolled it in their fervent hymns and Acharyas have been inspired to instil this truth in their disciples. Ramanuja’s epithet for the Lord “Sarva Bhuta Sukruth” encompasses this compassionate nature that prevails because He is the indwelling spirit within all beings and supports them at all costs (whether it is acknowledged by them or not). Ramanuja explains further by pointing out that God is ever ready to help all beings and He is the only reliable and ultimate help to all beings. Moreover the Lord does not expect anything in return. If this is the case, how is it that the Lord has many enemies and has incarnated in various forms to vanquish them?

In a lecture, Kalyanapuram Sri R. Aravamudhachariar drew attention to this variance and pointed out the truth that though God does not have any enmity towards any being He considers it His duty to destroy the enemies of His Bhaktas. It is also true that the Lord does not have any enmity even to those who deny His existence; but He gets angry with those who ridicule the beliefs of His Bhaktas. This is evident in the many ways Lord Krishna helped the Pandavas.

At Yudhishtira’s bidding to manage a truce with the Kauravas, Lord Krishna agrees to go as a messenger on their behalf. But He knows the course of events that are to follow. He partakes of the simple food at Vidhura’s abode that was offered with supreme devotion. The arrogant Duryodhana indicated that he could have supplied a more distinguished spread befitting Lord Krishna’s status. The Lord refers to the custom that one should not eat in one’s enemy’s house and also one should not offer food for enemies. Though Duryodhana thinks that Lord Krishna is not his enemy and only the Pandavas as his enemy, the Lord thinks of Duryodhana as his enemy since he is an enemy of the Pandavas. He asserts that the Pandavas are dear to Him and that He considers them as His very life.

In the Tiruppavai, Andal alludes to the upright manner in which the Lord vanquishes His enemies such as Ravana, Kamsa or Duryodhana.

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