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The path to liberation is blessed with the grace of the Lord Who is forever ready to remove whatever hurdles beset the path. Was not the dark -skinned Gajendra with pearly-whitetusks, blessed with ms grace in overcoming the onslaught of his adversary, for his devout service of offering a lotus from the cool pond to the Lord?

Azhwar makes the point that those who have steadfast faith in the Lord and entrust their burden to Him, looking upto Him as their only recourse, will have their way cleared of any stumbling blocks, howsoever formidable or daunting, by His grace and prowess. The biggest impediment to spiritual progress is the mindset that one can achieve it by dint of one's own effort. That is removed by entrusting oneself into the Lord's hands. ' meet timeing eflCqn

N  sir  Q          Q      Q '. ' Extrication from one's own effort which goes against the grain of Lord's will, is “ prapatti “ or total surrender.' 'Prapatd nishtai ' slips away the moment one thinks that his self-e9ort can, by itself,take him to his goal. Azhwar says in this pasuram that ridding oneself of that self-delusion is not only essenhal, but what is more important,must also be accomplished for us by the Lord's will and grace. Has not Sri Krishna confirmed this in ms Charamasloka in the Gita, “ en J” bidding us only that we put ourselves at His Feet, and assuring us that He will make the effort for us ? Our task is rendered easy, and even the- difficult- to- attain hberation becomes easy enough to achieve. This is illustrated in the episode related by the Azhwar in this pasuram, of Gajendra who was a devotee of Sriman Narayana and who used to take a lotus from the pond which he used to frequent for bath for his daily offering to the Lord. Was he not blessed with the Lord's grace in his hour of desperation and distress call to the Lord, from the deathly clutches of the vicious crocodile?, queries the Azhwar.

“ mu  uJp: npnun fly                  I

en             : mJ gum a:” II ( ear.gJ 68)

 

' In the face of a grave danger, and looking upto Sriman Narayana as the supreme recourse, Gajendra thought of Hari.' Sri Poigai Piran also recounts this episode in his Mudhal Thiruvandhadhi pasuram,

 

pin›         nirCg; ”, (97). ' Oh Lord of great compassion, was not Gajendra engrossed in sensual pursuit in the company of his mate, blessed by Thygrace, by worship at Thy Feet?’

 

 

 

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The Lord Who hurled the demon-calf at the fruit-laden wood apple tree scattering away its fruits, and Who, in an earlier incarnaGon, had taken another form to encompass this earth under His Foot, blesses all beings who bow at £fis feet in keeping with their goals.

 

Bhutat Azhwar makes the point that those who turn to Him for His grace by adopting whasver means they choose to adopt consistent with their capacity like bhakthi, prapatti etc. as envisaged in the Scriptures, get their wishes fulfilled by His grace as appropriate to

their means and merit in the form of aishvarya', kaivalyat  moksha'

etc. for He is the Dispenser of rewards. Has He not said so Himself in the Bhagavad Gita (9.24), '                                      nuJexu     ñ Cmâ

w     Chen ', - ' I am the Enjoyer of all the offerings at sacrifices and the Dispenser of fruits of acion '.

 

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Oh my good heart, don't you see that He is the Dispenser of the ultimate grace of liberation as also the binding cycle of 'samsa'ra"? &n't you see that He is the inner Controller of the sense organs and the five elements of air, fire, water, ether, and earth? He is also the manifest universe, the rising mountains, and at the time of dissolution the unleasher of blazing fires capable of turning the dark oceans dry. Don't you see?

 

Azhwar addresses his heart as the good heart since it exults at the recounting of the Lord's names in a world replete with sinners who cannot bear to hear of His name. By '  q M ;Qjti3 ’, Azhwar means that the fruits of one's actions are dispensed by Sriman Narayana. As Sri Krishna says in the Gita, ( 7.14), ' mCa›su 2o

 

in mJC mmnCn ñ JJ Cg '. ' Those that surrender unto Me traverse the deceptive samsara’. Not only that. He is also the Controller of the sense organs. nJ; yen n,gi@mr mqsmñ uJg Cm Can: ' ( A.p 6.7.28). ' The mind is the cause of the human condition leading to the bondage of samsara' and liberation therefrom.'. The sense organs are under the influence of the mind. The Lord thus is the inner Controller of the mind and the sense organs.

 

 

gig(g,s@'Lamont gCgn      : éiua8ga 8g8susp* 8mioai : ”. II

 

‘be indriya's are referred to as ' hrushikangal'. As the Lord of them, Thou only, Who art known as Kesava' and Vishnu among deva's, are famed as Hrushikesa.” When that Lord is the cause of the whole manifest universe of the elements that make up the universe, and its dissolution at the time of 'pralaya', it is no wonder that He protects and fulfils the desires of those that look upto Him.

 

The Lord Who rose in anger against Lanka, and put an endto Ravana, is also the One of abidingand exalted qualities worshipped by the heavenly beings. In a manner of speaking, He is the same One Who has come to abide in Venkatam of cool ranges where bamboos rise high.

The Lord could have, if He had so desired, destroyed Ravana by His mere will. But He chose to descend from His exalted abode of Sri Vaikunta, to launch His onslaught on Lanka and Ravana as a human being under the sway of human anger.

' C         euM eunea ', - ( yn. . 59.136.). ' 6l+sii H sn 6leu r{gj Hmeiitn efgñ ' ( âoJ e6l(y. — 56 ).

 

 

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uQwoyjj ax\gé u@.                                                          2s