Guided by God

The immediacy of worldly glitter casts a veil over one’s

vision and prevents the awareness of the presence of God

dwelling deep within oneself. Mere theoretical

explanations of the esoteric truth of the soul, the

unbreakable relationship between the jivatma and the

Lord, the value of self discipline, righteousness,

renunciation, etc, may not make an impact; but the

opportunity to live with a realised soul whose every

moment throbs with closeness with the compassionate

God brings about an influence on the immediate

generation and provides solace and succour to many

disheartened and disillusioned devotees. Even today, the

lives and teachings of such realised souls, such as

Arunagirinathar or Pamban Swamigal, serve as beacon

lights to many in search of peace and salvation, pointed out

Dr. Sudha Seshaiyan in a discourse. It is said that right from

his early age, Pamban Swamigal, who was born as

Appavoo, had felt stirrings of devotion to Muruga. He

showed great promise of intelligence and it was predicted

that he would become a jnani. Inspired by Arunagirinathar,

he used to compose hymns on Muruga. Soon he felt the

impact of Muruga in his daily life. At every step, it was

Muruga who guided his thought, word and deed and led

him into the inexhaustible wealth of devotional fervour. He

soon realised that his hymns and prolific compositions

that overflow with truth and practical wisdom now were

not the result of his efort at composing but of grace of

Muruga. When bhakti takes deep root, it turns into

mystical experience. It illumines one’s heart and mind

with awareness and dispels the darkness of ignorance.

Thenceforth, there is no place for joy or sorrow or for any

doubt, hurdle or obstacle in the path of God-realisation.