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Caught up in samsara

CHENNAI: What is the nature of people caught up in samsara? What characterises them? They are those who do not know themselves, do not know God and know nothing about serving God.

There are those who have the means to be generous, but lack the generosity. There are others who have the willingness to give, but lack the means.

God, however, is one who can give and is also willing to give. But here too, there is a problem. If there is a giver, there must be a receiver.

God is willing to give, but we, caught up in samsaric bonds, are not ready to receive, said Kidambi Narayanan in a lecture.

So it is to make us see that He is a benevolent giver and to make us good recipients of His grace, that God took many avatars and lived in the midst of human beings.

But not all people recognise God even when He is in their midst.

The Vishnu Puranam gives an example to illustrate the ignorance and the self-satisfied nature of ‘samsaris,’ who are under the illusion that their lives will go on without any catastrophe. But no one can afford to be complacent.

When the rainy season ends, the lakes are full of water. Fish therein enjoy the abundance of water and become as fat as elephant calves. They are so stout that they can hardly move. They think this bounty will last forever, but before they know it the water dries up and they die.

Similarly, man thinks that his cosy life will last forever, and he has no thoughts of God. In fact, he has no time to spare for God.

He does not acknowledge that his relatives will be gone one day.

He forgets his own mortality. But loss is a part of life, and one day the man so engrossed in life will also die.

Should we not then think of the Atma, instead of being obsessed with life on this earth? But we are caught in the ocean of ‘samsara,’ and do not know how to get out. In fact, we don’t even try to get out.

That is why Periavachan Pillai said a person who is involved in samsaric life is one who leaves his body in the shade and his soul in the sun.

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