4. All Paths lead us to the same Lord

Teachings to treasure, teachings that transform.

Thirumoolar Thavamozhi

Motivation

 

4. All Paths lead us to the same Lord 

 Often there is doubt among devotees on which path one should take to  reach the divine. The  methods of prayers, the differences in the idol forms, and the procedures for seeking these have all been described elaborately by our elders in the past. For the aspirants who are often confused and wonder which path to take from the so many methods of prayer, our Saint Thirumoolar nails down his affirmative statements.

அப்பனை நந்தியை ஆரா அமுதினை
ஒப்பிலி வள்ளலை ஊழி முதல்வனை
எப்பரி சாயினும் ஏத்துமின் ஏத்தினால்
அப்பரி சீசன் அருள்பெற லாமே.  36

 He calls the lord (நந்தியை) as nectar that never satiates one even  after drinking it again and again (ஆரா அமுதினை). It is also nectar that keeps flowing automatically without stopping. His benevolence is incomparable (ஒப்பிலி வள்ளலை). The lord is eternal, as he will exist even after the entire creation has ended. (ஊழி முதல்வனை), he is also the reason for the creation itself.

The Saint Thirumoolar sasy that the lord is the father of all creations (அப்பனை). His name is Nandi. He is insatiable nectar. He is grace is incomparable. The lord is beyond all cycles of creation and destruction of this universe.

எப்பரி சாயினும் ஏத்துமின் ஏத்தினால்
அப்பரி சீசன் அருள்பெற லாமே.

He says that we can pray to Lord in what ever method we choose to. If we choose any path, we can get the lord's blessings that does not require us to follow any other path. The Saint says  (using the phrase அருள்பெற லாமே) to emphasize that there is no doubt that the lord blesses with what ever form we worship him.

It is a waste of time and foolish when one is only researching and searching how to worship the lord, what form to choose, which path to choose and so on. Our Saint gives us assurance, that if we are single minded and go along a path seeking the lord, he comes in the same path in front of us and blesses us.

Kanappan  gave his eyes to the lord; which teacher did he go to for advise ? Did Kanappan not get the lord's blessings?  he got it in the next second. There are many more elders like these Siva's devotee who have followed the vedic precepts and received the lord's blessings.  Therefore, do not worry about the path to follow, reminds our Saint. It is the same message that Lord Krishna gave in the Bhagavat Geeta and the Alwazhars (Vaishnava saints) have said in their poems.

 
To read other translated pages in these posts, see: Thirumoolar