All jivas have to face the three kinds of sorrows — Adyatmika, pertaining to one’s body and mind, Adi Bhoutika, caused by the external world and Adi Daiva arising from circumstances beyond our control. To get permanent relief from these sorrows, the Upanishads have shown bhakti and prapatti as paths. They have described 32 methods of upasana, also known as vidyas, which can be practised by the spiritual aspirant. Each upasana is capable of giving salvation, but it is difficult for us who are bound by our inherent Prakriti and the influence of the three gunas that make us susceptible to ahamkara or the sense of I and Mine. Moreover, our individual karma and ajnana stand as strong hurdles and thwart our attempts to practise these kinds of upasana.
But the path of prapatti, absolute surrender to the Supreme Lord Narayana, is shown to be equally efficacious to lead to salvation, pointed out Asuri Sri Madhavachariar in a discourse. Rama’s vow to grant Abhaya or protection to all which He makes during the debate on the acceptance of Vibhishana is significant. ‘If one approaches Me for protection even once in his lifetime, and wishes to be protected by Me, I will go to any extent to protect Him.’ This promise of unconditional succour comes from the Lord’s boundless compassion towards all jivatmas, including the erring ones. Rama is aware that jivatmas are susceptible to faults. But The Lord takes the responsibility to forgive the sins of the jivatma who is truly repentant.
What would have been Sugriva’s fate if He had not protected him from Vali? As for Vali, he had failed to pardon Sugriva’s mistake even after the latter had truly repented and asked forgiveness. He nurtured revenge and Rama chose to kill him. Forgiveness and pardon are needed to make people realise their faults and also make them mend their evil ways.
