Lord Srinivas's Mercy - The Only Saviour!

We might think that those with wealth are lucky. Others may think that those with power or fame are wealthy. But the really lucky ones are those who think of nothing but Lord Srinivasa's mercy, said Valayapet Ramachariar.

They are like the chataka bird, which is different from other birds. It is, in fact, different from any living thing. Every living thing, animal, bird or human, needs water to sustain itself. And every one of these, bird, beast, or human being, will go in search of water to quench thirst. But the chataka bird will not drink any water, but rainwater. It will look up at the sky, and await the arrival of rain bearing clouds. And when they shed rain, the chataka bird will open its beak, and receive the rain water directly in its beak. Lucky human beings are those who, like this bird, are always looking to be recipients of the grace of Lord Srinivasa.

The Lord's mercy is certainly like life giving rains, because without His mercy, life becomes meaningless. But the rain that is His mercy, is different from the monsoon rains that we get every year. While the monsoon rains often wreak havoc, either by coming down in torrents, or not raining enough, His mercy is there in abundance, but is not shown in such a way as to cause us distress. His mercy is gentle, overlooking our faults, condoning our mistakes, if we only surrender to Him, and like the chataka bird, seek nothing but the comforting rain of His mercy.

When it has been a hot summer, we find the rains most welcome and refreshing, because the rains give us relief from the heat. The Lord's mercy gives us relief from the heat of worldly life. Worldly life is full of difficulties, and there can be no greater sorrow than to be born repeatedly, and go through the problems, trials and tribulations that are a daily feature of life.

Only the Lord's mercy can save us from these ills. If we think there are other means of liberation, we would only be fooling ourselves. So like the chataka bird, we must look only towards the pouring of the Lord's mercy. To receive this relieving mercy, we must surrender at His feet.

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Religion has a place too!

In a Tamil work of literature, a story is told of how a discussion was once organised, in which many scholars participated. One of them was a devotee of Lord Siva, and He described Siva's qualities to the assembled gathering. He said that Siva was seen in eight things- the Sun, Moon, the five elements- namely earth, space, water, air and fire, and also in all atmas. He has no death. He has no birth. He lasts always and always has the same qualities.

Devotees sing of Him. But He is beyond our reach and beyond description. True devotees of the Lord do not even seek moksha. All they want is to worship Him in temples. It is said, for example, that the Linga in the Madurai Meenakshi temple in Tamil Nadu, is older than even the Himalayas. When compared with other mountains in this world, the Himalayas are younger. The Himalayas are a recent formation due to tectonic activity,. So Madurai, the Lord's abode is even older than Mount Kailas. No wonder then that the Lord's devotees want to worship Him there, and even prefer places like Madurai and Chidambaram, famous for Lord Nataraja, the Cosmic Dancer, to moksha.

True devotees are so immersed in thoughts of Him, that to them all else in this world is unimportant, said K.Sambandan. If, while walking on the road, we were to see anything that glistens, our first reaction would be to think that it is perhaps a gold ornament that someone has lost. We may even try to take possession of it, if here is no one to claim it. But to one who has bhakti, a gold bar and a cake of mud have the same value. If such a one were to pass by a gold ornament, he would not even notice that it glistens. He will be indifferent to it.

And yet we cannot understand the Lord. That is because we try to analyse Him through our intellect. He can be known only through devotion, not through the intellect. Even scientists have professed their belief in God. Albert Einstein said, "Science without religion is blind." So while we must have regard for science, we must also realise that there are some things that even science cannot explain. So religion has a place too in life.

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