If a man has gnana and also practises that which he has imbibed from the sastras, God saves even those who are associated with him.
Sanatana dharma teaches us to adhere to the right path, for this is what is good for us. But what is good may not be what we seek. That which is good need not be pleasing to us. Yet we must follow the right path.
Moksha is what we have to seek and unless we seek it, we will not attain it, said Velukkudi Krishnan, in a discourse. A story illustrates this. A sage named Atmadeva had no children. One day he met another sage, who gave Atmadeva a fruit and told him that if his wife ate it, she would give birth to a son. Atmadeva gave the fruit to his wife Dunduli, but she did not want to have a child. So she gave it to a cow to eat. In due course, the cow gave birth to a son, who was named Gokarna.
Dunduli brought another newborn and passed it off as her own. This other child was named Dundukari. Gokarna grew up to be a great scholar, while Dundukari had all kinds of vices. Eventually, Dundukari died and Gokarna performed the prescribed rites for Dundukari, in the holy pilgrim centre of Gaya. But one day Gokarna heard a voice wailing, and discovered it was that of Dundukari, whose soul was being tormented. Dundukari appealed for help to Gokarna.
Surya, the Sun God, told Gokarna that if he recited the Srimad Bhagavatam and Dundukari listened to it, then he would be liberated. Accordingly, Gokarna recited the Bhagavatam , and Gokarna listened to it earnestly.
Along with him, many others also listened to it. At the end of the recitation, Dundukari’s soul was liberated, but the souls of the others were not. Curious about this selective influence of the Bhagavatam , Gokarna asked Brahma to explain why what had been effective in Dundukari’s case had not worked for the other listeners.
The answer was that Dundukari had listened to it sincerely, with a view to being liberated, while the others had listened superficially, without seeking to gain from the recitation.
Thus it becomes clear that we must seek moksha, in order to ultimately attain it.
