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Continued from yesterday's instalment
 Total surrender. Submission. It needs a simple yet specific mental state. The person who seeks refuge in Him has to fulfil just only one condition. He or she should have total and unshakeable faith. That ‘He would not leave me; He would protect me; He would stand by my side always’ should be the sole and firm resolve of the person. Pillai Perumal Aiyangar wrote these beautiful lines on Dhraupathi’s condition when Dhuchasana was engaged in the most atrocious act of stripping her saree in the presence of all.
‘mei thavala sangu eduththaan megalai vittu angai thalai
vaithaval achang keduththaan vaazhvu’
She was praying for the divine assistance from Lord Krishna. But while her mind was intensely focussed on the prayer, she was trying to resist the act of Dhuchasana by holding the saree to her with one hand. There was no answering of the prayer. At a point of time, she unconsciously left the edge of the saree and joined both her hands above her head in total surrender, signifying ‘Nothing is in my hands. I leave everything to you. It is up to you to save me. ’Right at that moment help arrived and the entire gathering witnessed the divine event of her saree growing without end, till the ruffian was tired and could not pursue the act any more.
Dr. Jayabarathi, the most respected doctor of medicine, Malaysia - respected more for the philosopher in him - recently explained this with an anecdote in the mail group
agathiyar@yahoogroups.com
There was a mountain climber, who desperate to conquer the Aconcagua, initiated his climb after years of preparation. But he wanted the glory to himself. Therefore, he went up alone. He started climbing and it was getting very late. He did not prepare for camping but decided to keep on going. Soon it got dark...
Night fell with heaviness at a very high altitude. Visibility was zero. Everything was black. There was no moon, and the stars were covered by clouds. As he was climbing a ridge at about 100 meters from the top, he slipped and fell. Falling rapidly he could only see blotches of darkness that passed. He felt a terrible sensation of being sucked in by gravity.
He kept falling. And in those anguishing moments good and bad memories passed through his mind. He thought certainly he would die. But then he felt a jolt that almost tore him in half. Yes!! Like any good mountain climber he had staked himself with a long rope tied to his waist.
In those moments of stillness, suspended in the air he had no other choice but to shout, "Help me God, help me!"
All of a sudden he heard a deep voice from heaven..."What do you want me to do?"
"SAVE ME"
"Do you REALLY think that I can save you?"
"OF COURSE, MY GOD"
"Then cut the rope that is holding you up."
 There was another moment of silence and stillness. The man just held tighter to the rope.
The rescue team says that the next day they found a frozen mountain climber hanging strongly to a rope...TWO FEET OFF THE GROUND.
That is where the shoe pinches. If you seek refuge in Him, there is no alternative but to keep the mind free, leaving everything to His hands. Vibishana exemplifies this when he approaches the Lord, crossing the Vanara army. As we saw yesterday, his mind was void of all doubts of acceptance. He did not have an iota of doubt. As the Poet said,
‘ayirppu il sindhayaan.’
More follows…
Hari Krishnan
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