God's Grace is All You Need

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font-variant:small-caps;font-weight:bold">God’s Grace Is All You Need

It was the battlefield

of the

Great

Mahabharata War

(an ancient battle that was

fought between Pandavas—a clan of five brothers,

symbolizing righteousness; and Kauravas—a clan of hundred brothers,

symbolizing evil). When the Pandavas were emerging victorious,

Ashwa

font-family:Garamond">t

font-family:Garamond">hamma, a great

warrior in the Kaurava army, out of

desperation,

released the

unfailing “Narayanas

font-family:Garamond">t

font-family:Garamond">ra”—a weapon that can

never fail in causing complete destruction.

The divine weapon was such that there

was no remedy, nor any protection

against its

fury. The weapon created

havoc in the Pandava army. Soldiers were dying by the

millions; it

appeared as if the entire Pandava dynasty was

in the

brink of extinction.

Finding

t

font-family:Garamond">hemselves completely

helpless, the Pandavas surrendered to Lord

Krishna, their

protector and

sole refuge. In times

of adversity, it is

only the

Lord who comes to the

rescue of his devotees.

In response to their

heartfelt

prayers, Lord Krishna advised the Pandavas to

follow the most

unusual strategy.

He advised them to drop

all weapons and humbly surrender to the

weapon. Ordinary individuals would have never followed such advice, but the

Pandavas were no such. With

implicit

obedience, they

immediately

complied with

God’s command. The weapon, though

destructive,

was one of divine origin. As soon as the Pandavas bowed to it in

reverence, it

immediately

calmed down and disappeared.

Indeed,

the

Lord’s grace had saved the entire Pandava army from destruction.

The Lord’s “will” mus

font-family:Garamond">t manifest and

even nature

will obey the

command of divinity with utmost

reverence. Such is the

power of God.

At the

beginning of the

Mahabharata War,

Lord Krishna gave an option to both Duryodhana, the Kuarava king, and Arjuna, a

Pandava prince. One would get Krishna’s

huge army and the other,

Lord Krishna Himself—unarmed, though.

Arjuna chose Krishna,

whereas Duryodhana, His mighty

army. Arjuna was wise in choosing the

Lord and hence he won despite the

mighty

forces and wicked strategies

deployed by the Kauravas. It was

only the

Lord’s grace that

helped Pandavas achieve victory.

Following Arjuna’s example, in the battle of

life, the

wise man always chooses God, and not his

mighty

army—a mere illusion of worldly pleasures. The one who chooses God and

wins his grace will always emerge victorious

in the battle of

life and attain the

final goal of liberation.

font-family:Garamond;font-weight:bold">The Sage Markandeya.

According to a

divine boon, Markandeya, an ancient sage,

was allotted a

lifespan of only 16 years. The parents of this

young boy were very perturbed

on the

arrival of the sixteenth year

of this

boy. On his sixteenth birthday, the

parents

revealed to the

young boy the truth about his

short

lifespan.

The

young lad was not disturbed.

He had firm faith in the

Lords’ grace and knew that His sankalpa [will] could alter the writ of

destiny itself.

With this faith in

his chosen deity,

Shiva, Markandeya, on his sixteenth, and

supposedly last birthday,

visited the temple of Lord

Shiva. At the temple,

he immersed himself in deep prayer and clung to the Shivalinga [a symbol of Shiva]. At the

allotted time, Yama, the God

of Death,

appeared on the

scene and cast his

noose around the

young boy’s neck. The lad, however, did not yield

and prayed to Lord

Shiva to such

an extent that he literally

became one with

Shiva. Pleased wi

font-family:Garamond">t

font-family:Garamond">h his devo

font-family:Garamond">t

font-family:Garamond">ion, Maheshwara [shiva] appeared

on t

font-family:Garamond">he scene and rescued his beloved devo

font-family:Garamond">t

font-family:Garamond">ee from

font-family:Garamond">t

font-family:Garamond">he jaws of dea

font-family:Garamond">t

font-family:Garamond">h. Not only

did he save Markandeya’s life, he also bestowed

on him the

boon of immortality—thus

overruling the writ of

destiny itself.

God’s grace had saved the

boy.

font-weight:bold">God’s grace confers all else. A mother-in-law

was complaining against her

new daughter-in-law

that she

consumed large quantities of

milk, curds, cream, butter,

and ghee. The girl’s brother,

on hearing the story,

called her, and after

reprimanding her, advised her to give

up stealing

all the items,

except milk.

“Milk, you can drink any quantity you

like but why steal these other

by-products of

milk.” (Prashanti

font-family:Garamond"> Vidwanmahaasabha, Ananthpur

font-family:Garamond">, 07/31/1967). Milk is nothing

but the

Lord’s grace and once you have it, all

other

byproducts will

naturally

follow it.

Another story

comes to

mind: A man who had four wives was once traveling

on business. When

the time to return

home came, he sent a

word to his

wives, asking each what they

desired. The three

oldest wives

sent a

long list of

desired things.

The youngest, on the other

hand, only asked for the

husband to return.

On his arrival, the

husband, sent each

of the three

wives what they

desired but,

personally, with all

his wealth, visited the

youngest wife.

God’s grace is like that. It will

confer on you whatever

you choose, but you

must ask

for the

Lord Himself, all else will follow him like loyal slaves.

font-family:Garamond;font-weight:bold">Hanuman.

Hanuman, the

great protagonist of

Ramayana was born among the

species of monkeys. Despite the birth

among monkeys, Hanuman’s devotion,

purity of

heart, and

surrender, won Rama’s heart, and

hence his grace. With this

grace, Hanuman performed the most impossible

of feats as

if they

were mere child’s play. Hanuman lifted and

transported an

entire

mountain

from Sri Lanka to Ayodhya, made rocks float on water,

and destroyed the most terrifying

demons—all because of Rama’s grace.

font-weight:bold">God’s grace is for everyone. God’s

grace, contrary to

human fancies, is not

reserved for a chosen few. He is the most

generous of givers and confers His grace on one and all.

The

door will be opened, but did

we knock yet? When

we knock someone’s door, don’t we

wait patiently till it is

opened? If there

is a delay, don’t we

keep knocking till the

call is answered? God’s door is like that. We

must knock

and wait till He

answers the

call. Till the

call is answered, we must pray

without

giving up, as He has promised to

answer every knock on His door. Patience

and faith are the twin

virtues that

Shirdi Sai Baba, Swami’s previous incarnation, taught to all

His followers.

No

karma, no sin, no imaginary shortcoming

of ours, can come in the way

of God’s grace. His grace will spare no barriers and change our lives

once and for all. Remember, our Swami can alter the writ of

destiny itself.

Why fear and despair then?

He is always with us.

Let us strive

for nothing

short of

God’s grace. God’s grace is all you need. All else will follow.

Source: http://www.omsaimandir.org/gods_grace_is_all_you_need.cfm