Faith

Published: December 21, 2014 22:52 IST | Updated: December 21, 2014 22:52 IST

Subtler than the subtlest

The infinite greatness of the Supreme Brahman is the subject of contemplation and
discussion among the sages of yore as is revealed in the Upanishads. Two kinds of
knowledge are explained that pertaining to the empirical world of mutability known
as Apara Vidya and that dealing with the eternal truth about the Supreme Brahman
which is known as Para Vidya. A jivatma who tries to explore and understand for
himself the truth of ones self and of the Supreme Brahman is seeking the means to
attain the highest human goal, pointed out Velukkudi Sri Krishnan in a discourse.
But the senses, mind and intellect, the means of knowing available to the jivatma,
cannot reveal the Brahman who is subtler than the subtlest and greater than the
greatest. Brahman can be experienced in the individual inner consciousness only
when the Supreme Truth stands revealed. This is how sages have realised
Brahman. So scriptures advise the jivatma to seek Him by probing the mystery
behind creation for He is the cause and source of this creation in toto. The
uniqueness is that Brahman brings forth the infinite variety in creation including the
animate and the inanimate from Himself, giving each its individual form and name.
And Brahman withdraws all within Himself as well. There are no two entities as the
maker of the object and the source material used.
Though Brahman pervades everything and is responsible for the sustenance and
dissolution of all beings that evolve through the process of birth, growth, death etc,
He is above all this and remains unaffected. A familiar fact of a spider that emits
threads from its own body and withdraws those threads within itself is used as an
analogy to show how Brahman creates the phenomenal world.
December 19, 2014 21:11 IST | Updated: December 19, 2014 21:11 IST

Embodiment of compassion
Preceptors extol Bhu Devis incarnation as Andal as exemplifying her infinite
patience and compassion towards the countless jivatmas who are unaware of the
way to salvation when being immersed in samsara, said Sri M. A. Venkatakrishnan
in a lecture. Full of motherly compassion, she forgives the faults of the jivatma and
leads him to the right path by consolidating the traces of goodness in him. It is held
that at the beginning of the Kalpa, when the earth is submerged in the Waters, the
Lord takes the form of a huge boar to lift the earth from the region of Rasatala.
Varaha shines with His consort Bhu Devi as He holds the earth on His tusk as if it
were the root of a tiny grass. Though Bhu Devi is grateful to the Lord for being
rescued, her motherly concern for the redemption of the jivatmas makes her extract
a vow from Varaha.

The Lord assures her then that if a jivatma offers Him worship, engages in His
namasamkirtana and seeks Him as the sole refuge, He would take the responsibility
of leading him to salvation. Brooding over how this valuable truth could reach the
people whose lives are caught up only in worldly affairs, Bhu Devi leaves the comfort
of Vaikunta and the company of her Lord and incarnates as a girl baby with
extraordinary brilliance and fragrance in Periazhwars garden in the midst of Tulsi
plans. Drawing from the upadesa she has gained from Varaha, Andal herself
performs a yagna in the month of Marghazhi to instill jnana and vairagya among the
people. The Tiruppavai initiates the jivatma into this path by stressing the value of
this birth and by making it clear that ones everlasting relationship is only with the
Lord.
Published: December 18, 2014 20:18 IST | Updated: December 18, 2014 20:18 IST

Seek Him with humility

Why do we get this human birth? How did we get it? What is its purpose? These are
questions that one needs to ask repeatedly and seek to find the answers. Scriptures state that it
is because of Gods grace that we are born in this world as human beings.
It is said that there are 84 lakh species in this creation and to attain human birth is a great
boon. The purpose of human birth is to strive and attain God-realisation. This is the spiritual
quest of every individual jivatma and Saint Manikkavachagar makes it clear that it is not
ones learning, scholarship or attainments, or ones wealth that can confer this experience of
God-realisation, pointed out Swami Apavargananda in a lecture. In a hymn the saint speaks
of the expedition undertaken by Brahma and Vishnu to seek the crown and feet of Siva who
manifests as a column of fire in Tiruvannamalai to symbolically indicate that the infinite
greatness of the Supreme Brahman is not easily accessible if one does not seek Him with
humility. Saiva Siddhanta speaks of the three malams or taints that affect the purity of the
soul. Anava Malam or the sense of I and Mine, Maya malam or ignorance and Karma malam,
the fruit of good and bad deeds which accompanies a soul through the cycle of birth are the
three hurdles that stand in the way of spiritual quest. The devotional experience takes root
from the firm understanding of the divine grace that sets the Jivatmas relationship with the
Lord and its dependency on the Paramatma in proper perspective. The result is an
overwhelming feeling of humility with which the Jivatma yearns to be united with the Lord
and turns away from worldly attractions.