Removing the poison

By Adur Asuri Madhavachari
God thinks of the welfare of all. So everyone can worship Him, and crave salvation. There is no distinction of caste or creed or gender when it comes to seeking the Lord's protection. When the Lord states His willingness to liberate us and further demonstrates it by liberating even a venomous snake like Kalinga that wrought havoc among the people, surely there is no reason to doubt His words.

And yet, we never tire of asking questions and doubting the Lord. So it was with the disciples of the Vaishnavite Acharya Vedanta Desika. They first asked their preceptor how the Lord could let off Kalinga. When the Acharya answered citing further examples of the Lord's benevolence, they had a further query. Why did the Lord have to make the snake spit out the poison? The Lord danced on each hood and made the snake spew out all its poison through each of its mouths, until it no longer had any poison. Why did He do this, the disciples wondered. The Lord is the remover of all manner of poison. So what is there to be surprised at His removal of the snake's poison? Is there a bigger poison than samsara? Does the Lord not rid us of this poison, if we request Him to? So getting rid of Kalinga's poison was but a minor matter for the Lord.

The list of people saved by the Lord is big. Kshatrabandhu, a robber, Kakasura, who hurt Sita, Guha, Sugriva, Vibhsihana are some of the many liberated by Him. And it can be seen that this is just a sample of a heterogeneous set of those liberated by the Lord. He blesses sinners too, if they place their faith in Him.

Few of us can see the Lord in everything. Lord Krishna Himself points to this. Attachment to the Lord does not come easily. We may have to take several births before we realise that we need Him to grant us moksha. But moksha is our birthright, and we must seek what is rightfully ours. But every right carries with it responsibilities and duties. Our duty is to surrender to Him unconditionally, and then moksha automatically follows. The Lord shall not waver in His promise to liberate us, if we surrender to Him.