Everlasting bliss at the end of royal road

Whatever may be a person's academic distinctions, he cannot, by his wisdom and self-education alone understand the import of the several doctrines and the purport of numerous incantations, embedded in the sacred works. Such an attempt may even lead to a confusion of his thoughts. It requires a spiritual teacher to unravel the mysteries and explain why several restrictions have been placed even in the matter of religious pursuits. For instance, Valmiki says the life of one who has not seen Sri Rama or on whom the Lord has not showered His grace, is not worth living. Is it then possible to have a vision of sri Rama? Answering in the affirmative, Thyagaraja (in his song “Apparamabhakti” and “Chakkanirajamargamu”) says if one thread royal road of devotion, without anticipating immediate returns, there is a  bound to be everlasting Bliss. Sri Rama will protect his devotees like the eye lids safeguarding the cornea, enabling them to conquer the three foes within, the uncontrollable mind, the impure body and ignorance. Short-cut methods to seek Divine blessings are there no doubth, but they are like bylanes.

In his discourse Sri, T.S. Balakrishna Sastrigal said if Anjaneya's glory was being sung even now, it was because of his intimate-association with Sri Ram. While all his comrades were assessing their strength, be was steeped in meditation Backed by the courage that the Lord was with him, be leapt cross the ocean to land in Lank. Distressed at not being able to locate Sri Sita, be envisaged the chain of consequences resulting out of the failure of his mission He invoked the blessings of Sri Ram and other deities, when it dawned upon him to search Ashokavana, where to bi, joy, be found the Divine Mother held captive.
                                                                          February 19, 1971

With God's grace humans can get Divine traits

Incarnation of God implies His descending from His bode to the world donning the garb of a human being Why should He adopt this step and what is the necessity are the questions that may be asked By this, God provides human beings - rare opportunity to rise to the level of Divine creation. God lends a helping hand to lift a sincere per-on and give him the necessary wherewithal to turn himself into a Divine being In His incarnation, God demonstrates how this can be achieved He will act as a human being but will not be susceptible to sentiments, nor be affected by grief or other weaknesses It is not God's intention to take us directly to Heaven, but He points out that by following the norms He had set in His life, a person can outshine others by developing certain distinguishing Divine trait. No one is born with such outstanding qualities, but in the course of one's life, one can acquire them. The essential requirements for such a distinction are adherence to the principles of righteousness, respect for Moral Law, reverence to truth and submission to justice.

The Darwin theory of evolution points out how the animals are endowed with five senses and man with six faculties, while the Divine being possess an extraordinary seventh sense. Scriptures mention how a man can lift himself from his ordinary level to that of a Divine being and God, as Sri Rama, gave a practical illustration of reaching this high standard, through the character of Vali. As a beast, he committed the misdeed of terrorising his brother and driving him away, making him desert his wife. But on his being punished by Sri Rama and realising his error and knowing His identity, he turned a human being and owned his fault. By displaying the rare gesture of requesting Sri Rama (while dying) to forgive his brother, Sugriva, should he err, Vali became a Divine being.

Sri Keeran in his discourse said Hanuman gave to posterity, the panacea for all ills in the form of “Rama Nama”. He administered the “Tablet of Bhakti” mixed in purified honey (Rama Nama) to get rid of the impurities lurking in a person's mind-ego, anger, hatred malice and greed. Sri Rama, meeting Hanuman for the first time, was struck by his devotion and felt sure that his mission to search Sri Sita would result in success, as He deemed it an auspicious omen to be befriended by a man of sincerity.
                                                                                   October 7.

Ingratitude, worst of sins

Family heritage, wealth, official position -all these may bring a person into limelight and give him a status in society. By themselves, these factors cannot contribute to his greatness, though they can afford him a good start. What makes a man immortal are his virtues such as selflessness, compassion, honesty and magnanimity. Outstanding among these noble traits, however, are gratefulness and modesty. The scriptures catalogue a bewildering variety and range of sins which man is liable to commit and also prescribe modes of atonement. The worst of sins is ingratitude. The one who is guilty of this has no salvation. Even a small help received should be remembered for ever and paid back to the extent possible.

As for the other major virtue humility, it is capable of elevating an individual to the stature of a celestial being. To stress the point, Thiruvalluvar asserts that the one who is arrogant will be condemned to perdition. The ego in man manifests itself in the craze for reputation and fanfare of publicity. Sometimes this unwholesome desire may drive a person to self-deception, like stage-managing award of a 'title' for some 'distinction' he has achieved. The more eminent a person is the more modest he should be. Otherwise, his noble traits will not shine. An enlightened soul that Sundaramurthi Swamigal was, he described himself as a humble devotee of the Lord's devotees. Sri Kripanandavariar, in his discourse said Kambar, in his Ramayana, immortalised the name of Sadayappa, his benefactor, as an expression of his gratitude. The bard's modesty was apparent in more than one place. For instance, even where he could have stated a fact without having to acknowledge it to some body else. Kambar mentioned that he was just repeating what the illustrious sage, Valmiki had stated. Many of the tersely-worded dicta in Thirukkural had been elaborated and embellished by Kambar-just as a son excelled his father in talents.
                                                                        February 13, 1978

Medical lore that is lost

Even from the scanty evidence in the scriptural texts still left for posterity, it is easy to infer that valuable information about the advancement of science and technology in ancient days has been lost. There is no trace, for instance, of the treatise on flora termed “Vriksha Sastra” dealing with the medicinal properties of herbs, plants and leaves. There were immediate cures for gashes and grievous injury as also treatment for fractures and dislocations. Occasions demanded, particularly during wars, that wounded soldiers should be attended to and sent to field service back within a few hours to overcome manpower shortage. The arrows which got stuck to the body had to be removed carefully and gushing of blood stopped. They were done with the help of special plants. People who fell unconscious were brought back to normalcy by making them inhale a special type of herb. The battle between Sri Raffia and Ravana in the Ramayana gives scope to reflect on the genius of our forbears and the efficacy of Ayurveda. The Brahmastra aimed by Indrajit immobilised the entire monkey legion and also Sri Raffia and Lakshmana but the medicines brought by Hanuman worked wonders and all of them were ready again to attack the Ravana warriors. The combat also proved the futility of human being's endeavour to subvert the arrangements made by God. Man has to depend on Divine strength and he cannot function on of his own will. Ravana least expected that the monkeys could face leaders on his side like Kumbakarna and Indrajit. As his plans failed and death stared at him he was reminded about the curse incurred by him for his misconduct.

In his discourse Sri D. Subramania Somayajulu said that no one who followed the path of Righteousness would be let down by the Supreme Being. This was proved by Lakshmana who released an arrow, swearing in the name of Lord Raffia that should He really be the replica of Dharma, the foe should be vanquished. The expected did happen.
                                                                                   March 1, 1978

Three great morals of Ramayana

Profundity by itself will be meaningless if a person is morally a bankrupt. Non-interference in other people's affairs and no desire to posses the property held by others and to covet wives of others are the three morals culled out from the Ramayana. A tendency exits in a man to prefer the company of women other than his spouse but he should a stranger just touch his wife. An incident usually narrated recalls how a rich man visited a friend's house, in his absence, with the sinister motive of seeking the company of his charming wife. To teach him a lesson, the sprightly girl posed as if she welcomed the proposal and invented him to dine but served a meal in which all the dishes where made of the same vegetables. Unable o relish this insipid food, the wealthy person wanted to the idea behind when she politely remained him that all women are made of the same mettle while men have a wrong notion that they differ. Sri Sita told Ravana similar weakness entertained by him would lead to his ruin. A great Vedic scholar, he was lustful and wanted to take her as his wife in spite of the of the fact of his numerous  wives quences of compelling her. He let out a treat of killing her, if she failed to yield within a stipulated time. To the guards who tried to explain to Her of the advantages of marrying Ravana, Sri Sita listed several women like Nalayini, Damayanti, Savithri and Swarchala who had undergone extreme sacrifice to preserve their chastity.

Sri Manjakkudi Rajagopala Sastrigal in his discourse referred to the Vedic mantra by which devotees daily prayed that they should listen and see only good every morning. By pleading one's helplessness to God, one could obtain Divine guidance at the appropriate time. Having failed to locate Sri Sita in the entire island, Anjaneya became dejected but he appealed to God to give him the moral courage when suddenly it dawned on him that he should search the Asokavana. He spotted the Divine Mother there kept in isolation, revealed his identity and provided Her the needed cheer.
                                                                                   April 14, 1978