The ultimate prayer

Karaikal Ammaiyar’s prayer to the Lord is an excellent
beacon light to those wishing to tread the devotional path,
said Sri B. Damodhara Dikshitar in a discourse.
She asks the Lord to grant her undying love for Him; and
then asks for release from samsara. In a thoughtful vein she
adds that in case her karma is yet to be exhausted and future births are not to be under waiver, she should never forget the Lord and always be steeped in his thoughts, whatever birth she might be destined to take.

There is a further request that she should sing in joy about
His glory and that she should be a witness to His divine
dance. 

The Lord grants her wish and directs her to go to
Tirvualankadu where He would dance and she could
continue to sing His glory. Sekkizhar chronicles the moment
of dilemma in her married life when Siva stood by her. She
had ofered a Sivan Adiyar a mango to appease his hunger
after much deliberation since it was one of the two mangoes her husband had sent home that morning. Her husband demanded to have the other mango after tasting the first one.

To her surprise she felt the impact of Siva’s grace when a
mango dropped into her hand. Any normal being would be
carried away by this miraculous manifestation. But she knew that all these are immaterial against true devotion and liberation from samsara which God alone can grant. In
contrast, the husband who ate the divine fruit was stunned
by its delicious taste and demanded that she ask God for
another one. Being a dutiful wife, she reluctantly prayed to
Siva for another mango. True enough, another fruit was
given to them but it disappeared when the husband wanted to eat it.

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