Srimad Bhagavatam has a story that shows the danger of over attachment to one’s family, said P.T. Seshadri in a discourse. A male and female pigeon doted on their babies and looked after them well. One day, when both the adult birds were away looking for food, a hunter trapped the baby birds in a net. The mother bird tried to rescue them and was caught in the net too. The male bird flung itself against the net in a vain bid to save them, but it also got trapped in the net. Ultimately, familial attachment only brought sorrow to the two birds. Being attached to one’s family also keeps one from thinking about moksha. Like the birds, we too spend our lives providing for our families, and worrying about them. This leaves no time for us to even think about moksha, leave alone seeking it.
But those with jnana do their duties, but remain unattached. Andal was the wife of Kooratazhvan, the disciple of Ramanujacharya. Andal survived her husband, and lived with her two sons, one of whom was Parasara Bhatta. One day, when Parasara Bhatta went to the Srirangam temple, Lord Ranganatha said to him, “ I now give you the boon of moksha. Prepare to come to Paramapada.” Parasara Bhatta was delighted at the prospect of departing for Sri Vaikuntha. But how was he to convey this to his aged mother? He went home hesitantly. But Andal knowing what had happened, welcomed her son and told him she was happy for him. Her son was blessed to go to Paramapada, and she was going to willingly and happily part from him.
Andal’s jnana was such that she did not let maternal affection cause grief to her, for she knew that being in Sri Vaikuntha was what one should aspire for. Now that that prospect had come to her son, she was not going to weep.
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