Hindu Article
From the Bhakti List Archives
• November 7, 1997
Dear Friends, I found the following article in today's "Hindu" on the Web and thought of sharing it with the group. Namo Narayana, Muralidhar Rangaswamy ********************************************************************** The lives of God's messengers who frequent this world to reform the erring humanity, remind us of their supreme faith in divine dispensation and their total dependence on the Almighty to complete the task for which they were deputed. By their act of surrender, they entrusted their problems to God to give them strength. Such noble souls re-appeared not because of their past actions but only to continue the job they had left unfinished. To such outstanding persons, God had revealed His presence, through indirect methods and by His timely intervention, thus belying the statements of some that God is a mythical entity. The ``Gita Govindam,'' also popularly termed as ``Ashtapadi'' by Jayadeva is a scintillating poem extolling God's qualities and His mercy extended to all those who submitted themselves to Him in His incarnation as Krishna. The main thrust of the teachings of all Godmen who were (and are) amidst us is the sanctity and efficacy of the recitation of Divine names. The Bhajan and Harikatha traditions drew copious references from Gita Govindam and from subsequent hymns like Krishna Leela Tharangini. These two works are being considered as the eyes of this Sampradaya. Jayadeva, who is the manifestation of Vyasa, propagated the Lord's message by his singing, praising Puri Jagannatha while his wife danced to the verses. The tunes adopted now in recitals have been set to a great extent, in accordance with those prevalent in the poet's days (11th century). In his Harikatha, Kalyanapuram Sri R. Aravamudan referred to the prevalence of a doubt among some whether the chanting of God's names, without knowing their meanings or contents, would fetch benefit. God welcomes any form or manner of demonstrations of faith. This has been explained by Vedanta Desika citing the example of a child that makes an appeal for alms (symbolising detachment) immediately after the investiture of the sacred thread. Women relatives know the significance of his words and grant (rice) what he seeks. So too God can understand what transpires in the minds of the devotees. The couple Jayadeva and Padmavati had naturally to face ordeals as the former's fame spread. The then king (in Orissa) who also contributed a similar hymn was jealous of the popularity of Gita Govindam but the Lord appearing in his dream made him realise about the superiority of the former's poem. Both then became friendly. The central theme of the songs which summarise Krishna's acts is that the soul always pines to reach God and the link between the two can be re-established only through an intermediary - an Acharya. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
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