Miscellaneous - Religion   

Parental pride

Chennai: When Vishnu Chitta establishes the supremacy of Lord Narayana, he is taken on a procession around the streets of Madurai. The Lord is anxious to see his devotee being honoured. So He comes on His mount - Garuda, accompanied by His Consort. Vishnu Chitta upon seeing Him, sings his Thirupallandu. The Lord hastening to see Vishnu Chitta being honoured by the King, is like any parent hurrying to see his child being honoured by learned people, said Kidambi Narayanan in a discourse. The Lord is like a parent who is proud of his child’s achievements. While the Lord comes like a parent to see Vishnu Chitta, the latter himself has the attitude of a parent towards the Lord. That is why he sings the Thriupallandu and earns the name Periazhvar.

Another instance of the Lord wanting to be a witness to His devotee’s honour, is seen in the case of Nampillai. The ‘upanyasas’ of Nampillai in the Srirangam temple draw crowds that match the crowds of devotees who come to worship Lord Ranganatha Himself. One day Ranganatha decides to be in the audience to see them enjoy Nampillai’s lecture. So He gets up and tries to come out. Thiruvilakkupichan, one of the persons engaged in temple ‘kainkaryam,’ reminds Him that in the Archa form, He does not move, and requests Him to go back to His serpent bed. So anxious is the Lord to see His devotee being praised by others, that He even moves in the Archa form.

Again when He takes the Rama avatara, Lava and Kusa come to the court, and sing the story of Lord Rama. Rama does not know they are His sons. Nor do they know that Rama is their father. When they sing, Rama is so moved that He gets up from His throne and sits with the audience.

When Periazhvar sings the Thirupallandu, he first calls upon gnanis, who have only one goal, namely that of moksha, to join Him in singing the same to the Lord. Those who aspire only to attain salvation are gnanis. Those who think ‘atmanubhava’ is the ultimate end are known as ‘kaivalyarthis.’ Periazhvar invites them to join in singing the praise of the Lord for salvation.

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