God saves those who think of Him constantly, even when they are in danger. Normally, when we are in danger, we can think of nothing else but how to save ourselves. God is certainly not in our thoughts at the time. But Prahlada thought of Lord Narayana, even when he was put in dangerous situations by his father. He cared for nothing, but to think of Lord Narayana. That kind of unshakeable faith in the Lord is what we should have. He even came to the rescue of an elephant, when it called to Him for help. Devotees like Prahlada and Ambarisha kept their minds focussed on the Lord, said M.V. Anantapadmanabhachariar, and were, therefore, saved by Him.
But the Lord is great, not because He saves such loyal devotees, but because He saves sinners too. Vedanta Desika sees this as one of the most endearing and astonishing traits of the Lord. After all what is the merit in saving the blameless? Greatness lies in showing mercy to even the undeserving and this is what He does, provided the undeserving surrender to Him. All that He expects of us is unconditional surrender. Once we surrender, He saves us though we are not great devotees like Prahlada. He never abandons those who surrender to him. This mercy, however, is not to be wrongly taken to be a licence to indulge in wrongdoing. Since there is the guarantee that He saves those who surrender to Him, we must not wrongly assume that we can get away with sinful acts, since we anyway plan to surrender to Him. Moksha is not denied to those who surrender to Him. We must, through moral uprightness and rectitude, and by proper adherence to the sastras, make ourselves worthy of receiving His embrace.
It is because He does not abandon those who surrender, that he is known as Achyuta. No one but God can grant us moksha, and there can be no goal worthy of pursuit than moksha and the opportunity to serve the Divine Couple. Although the Lord has stated that He will be by our side and liberate us, provided we surrender to Him, we still do not. We let our pride rule us. If we are governed by faith in the Lord, then liberation is assured.
