Guest guest Posted July 9, 2009 Report Share Posted July 9, 2009 Hari OMThe Garuda Purana states that those who have spent several years in the dreadful hell and have no descendents to perform Sraddha (prescribed rites) in their favour become messengers of Yama, god of death. The Padmapurana states that one who is cremated with Tulsi twigs for firewood would attain a permanent place in Vishnuloka. It is said that even great sinners would be absolved of their sins if their dead bodies are cremated with Tulsi Twigs. Even a peace of Tulsi twig at the bottom of the funeral pyre is stated to grant Moksha even to a hardcore sinner. A small piece of Tulsi twig has the power of purifying the firewood in the pyre in the same way the water of river Ganges purifies all waters mixed with it. It is also said that servants of Yama,god of death keep away from one whose body is cremated with Tulsi twigs. In one of the earlier postings,declarations of the Lord in Bhagavad Gita in regard to last minute thoughts of a dying person were dealt with. At the time of death one is certainly bewildered because his /her bodily functions are in disorder. At that time even one who has been chanting of Holy names of God throughout his life would not be able to chant the name of the Lord very distinctly. Hence, dear brothers and sisters, why not chant the name of the Lord when our faculties are in order? In the composition entitled, "MUKUNDAMALA" the Devotee composer Kulasekhara Alwar, a King, prays to Lord stating," at the time of death my throat will be choked by on account of various bodily obstacles and I will not be able to even utter your name. Hence right now I am taking your name.Pl. accept my prayer......." It is said that even if one dies in a freakish accident, if he utters the Holy name of the Lord, he will be saved from hellish life, even if he had been sinful while living. The Garuda Purana holds,"if one chants the holy name of the Lord, even in a helpless condition or without desiring to do so, all the reactions of his sinful life are nullified. The Skanda Purana declares, by chanting once the the two-syllabled name of the Lord,viz., Ha-ri, one makes sure of his path to Moksha. We can go on multiplying such authoritative declarations from our scriptures. Our problem is that we understand these declarations very well when we read. But that we are finding difficulty in putting them into practice. Obviously, this is attributable to our lack of faith(shraddha) in our Scriptures and our tendency to choose the easier of the options by not resorting to proper Sadhana. (to be continued)G.Balasubramanian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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