Definition of true devotion

CHENNAI, SEPT. 10. The term ``devotion'' has been described by saints and sages in many ways and it can be practically demonstrated by a person by his total submission to the Supreme Deity acknowledging that He alone is their protector. An apostle has defined ``true devotion'' as follows: ``It is the supreme attachment to the Lord based on the complete understanding of His greatness, and supremacy, which transcends the love of one's own self and possessions and which remains unaffected and unshaken in the face of thousand difficulties. It flows uninterruptedly. This kind of Bhakti secures salvation''.

According to one of the three schools of philosophy, devotion stands as the foremost in the nine modes featured in the Bhagavatham. This school also holds the view that there are also grades in its display. For instance the Bhakti of a child for whom God appeared admiring its tenacity is different from that of another child for whose sake God took an incarnation and saved it from the tortures inflicted on it.

That of Ajamila who in his previous birth was an ardent devotee and in the next, fell into bad ways is of another category. The Lord reveals Himself to the devotees in different measures, according to their spiritual eligibility, says Sri Madhwacharya. ``Moksha'' is the bestowal of the Lord's grace and the way to it is pure devotion. The love of the Lord grows with the observance of ceremonial purity and ethical excellence which are necessary for devotion.

The attitude of an ardent devotee has been mentioned in the Bhagavatam. He firmly believes that the Lord alone is his sole saviour even while he is in his mother's womb. The animate and inanimate creations are a mere plaything in His hands. The extraordinary faith of Prahlada, a child born in a demon family but who due to Divine Grace, did not fear any of the gruesome steps taken by his father to kill him is categorised by saints as the acme of devotion. In order to substantiate the utterance of this young servant that God is present everywhere in all objects, the Lord appeared from a pillar assuming a queer form and destroyed the child's father, its own enemy, said Sri S.R. Raghothamachar in a discourse. This young devotee, who was privileged to listen to an exposition by Sage Narada on Divine Grace to his mother, was able to declare that neither birth in the society's higher echelons nor versatility nor mere austerity nor sacred vows alone are conducive to the pleasure of the Lord who on the other hand can be perpetuated through unalloyed devotion.

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