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Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com)

Only devotion matters to the Almighty

CHENNAI, JULY 30. Parallels have often been drawn between saints
hailing from different sects. Even though the manner in which
they realised God, the time to which they belonged and their
backgrounds differed, their spiritual experiences have been
remarkably similar. Andal, the foster-daughter of Periazhwar and
the only woman among the Azhwars, whose hymns have been canonised
in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham which is revered on a par with
the Vedas in the school of Srivaishnavism and Karaikal Ammaiyar
the lady saint among the Nayanmars of the Saiva fold, reveal the
same mystical trait as exemplified by their hymns.

While Andal pined only for the Lord and offered flowers worn by
her to Him which He accepted and poured her heart's anguish in
exquisite verses till she attained union with Him, Karaikal
Ammaiyar was devoted exclusively to Lord Siva till she attained
the object of her spiritual quest. Her unalloyed devotion earned
her the merit of being addressed by the Lord as His mother when
she reached His abode in Kailas. Both expressed their devotion to
God by offering flowers to Him for worship and composing hymns on
Him. Striking a similar note both of them express the wish to
remain exclusively devoted to Him in future births also.

In his discourse, Sri Mathivannan said that lives of such saints
proved that devotion alone mattered to God. Any amount of
intellectual reasoning will not help in realising Him and He can
be bound only with the cord of devotion. Anantazhvan, one of the
followers of Ramanuja, is cited to show how even a simple act of
worship if done faithfully can be rewarding. He lived in the
temple town of Tirupati and tended a flower garden there and
preoccupied himself with the duty of preparing garlands and
offering them to Lord Srinivasa at Tirumala everyday.

He would wake up before dawn and pluck the flowers so that bees
would not drink the nectar from the flowers which had to adorn
the Lord. Then he would carefully string them into garlands and
by that time the day would break. After finishing his morning
ablutions and rituals, he would set out to the shrine at the top
of the seven hills with the garlands and offer them during
worship. He never missed a day and meticulously followed this
practice. His devotion became known to the world when the Lord
tested him in the guise of a serpent by biting his leg when he
was plucking the flowers. Undaunted whether he would live or die
he went about finishing the ritual and the Lord revealed Himself
to Anantazhvan.

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