Every day we do things that must result in the Supreme One’s anger and it would be only natural if He punished us for it. But He forgives us, said Bhooma Venkatakrishnan in a discourse.
In his Peria Thiruvandadi, Nammazhvar says that He takes avataras to correct us and to grant us moksha. But how many people recognise His Supremacy? Not many. But He consoles Himself that if everyone were to become His staunch devotees, then the world will be empty for, everyone will be in Sri Vaikuntham. “So, perhaps, these people have not become My devotees in order to keep the world populated,” He tells Himself!
In his Rahasyatrayasara, Vaishnavite Acharya Vedanta Desika says that the Lord gives us only mild punishments for our transgressions. Where He should use a spear to hurt us, He merely uses a thorn to prick us, says Vedanta Desika.
If the Lord’s mercy is so inestimable, His Consort is even more merciful. In the Ramayana, we find examples of this. When Sita was kept captive by Ravana, She was treated very badly by the demonesses Ravana had appointed to guard Her. A total of 700 such demonesses tortured Her for 10 months. They abused Her. They beat Her. But Sita did not tell either Rama or Hanuman about Her ordeals at the hands of these demonesses. She did not want to expose them to the wrath of Hanuman or Rama.
After the killing of Ravana, Hanuman took a message to Sita from Rama, telling Her that all was well with the Lord. Having conveyed this message to Her, Hanuman expressed a desire to kill the demonesses. He had overheard them threatening Sita and he now wanted to hurt them in every possible way. But Sita told him that they had only carried out Ravana’s orders and were not at fault. She said She had probably been paying the price for some past mistake of Hers and hence had suffered at the hands of the demonesses. Thus, the Lord and His Consort both compete with each other when it comes to forgiving.
