ANUGRAHA----Divine Grace

We live in this world because of divine grace!  It is impossible for us to live without His Grace. It is His compassion that allows us to carry on our existence on this earth.Our defects and innumerable mistakes are overlooked by the compassionate Lord and we are able to carry on our lives. It is possible for man to surmount any difficulty or a crisis through Divine Grace. But this special Grace is a quality that one has to earn by his intense devotion or tapas. Normally one has to suffer the consequences of his past karma-- the effect of past deeds, good and bad. It is lmpossible to escape from them and thus we are born again and again to suffer and enjoy in the cycle of birth and death! God’s grace is capable of obliterating all our past karma-- and grant us salvation or mukti. This sadhana is not possible for the ordinary mortal! It is reserved for people with extraordinary devotion and love for God!

      Innumerable instances are there when the Lord has showered his Divine Grace on his chosen devotees for their rare devotion and determination to achieve their cherished spiritual goal! Child Dhruva was humiliated by his step mother and denied the love of his father!She did not allow him to sit on the lap of his father as he was not her son! Disappointed, at this humiliation, Dhruva went to the forest to perform penance. On the way sage Narada met him and gave him the Narayana mantra. He told Dhruva that he would get a much better position and salvation than the seat on the lap of his father! Dhruva was impressed and did penance with fierce zeal and concentration! Nothing could disturb him in his penance! Finally Lord Vishnu appeared before him and granted the position of the pole star permanently!  Dhruva never expected such a wonderful boon and Divine Grace from the Lord! When Divine Grace is showered it is overwhelming and beyond our expectations!

     The story of the young Markandeya is another illustration of Divine Grace showered on a devotee for his rare bhakthi and meditation! His parents had no children for long and worshipped Lord Siva. Pleased with their devotion, the Lord granted their request and asked them whether they wanted  an ordinary and long lived son or a great bhaktha but short lived for about sixteen years!  The parents preferred the latter option! Markandeya was born and from his early days exhibited exceptional devotion to Lord Siva.Days rolled on and Markandeya reached his sixteenth year!  His parents were sad and feared that what the Lord had said would surely happen.Young and innocent Markandeya questioned his parents on their sudden sadness when they reluctantly informed him about the boon granted by Lord Siva!

        Markandeya was shocked and surprised but not afraid. He wanted to change his fate by performing penance. He reassured his parents and sat with great determination to perform tapas in front of his Siblings. The end of his life was imminent and the God of death, Yama sent his kinkaras to get the life of Markandeya but they could not near him because of the heat of his penance! Yama, himself came to take the life of the young bhaktha. But it was not an easy task for him.Markandeya, seeing Yama, embraced the Siva linga. The pasa or the rope that was thrown to take his life fell on the Siva linga and Yama pulled it strongly!  Suddenly, from the Siva linga out came Lord Siva and in great anger directed his trisula or the trident towards Yama and kicked him out. He warned Yama not to near his great devotees like Markandeya! Yama begged pardon and left. Later, Lord Siva blessed Markandeya and granted him longevity for ever---to be a “ chiranjivi”.

        Thus, Divine Grace has the rare power of alteringthe fate of individuals in a fraction of a second! To be qualified for this Grace of the Divine, man has to be extremely devotional, unattached to mundane affairs and things, and spiritual! If God’s anugraha is showered on the individual, what can the “ navagrahas” do??

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