Worshipping strength

[1]

Raji P. Shrivastava [1]

The world acknowledges, respects and worships strength. A tongue-in-cheek subhashita (verse laced with wisdom) goes: “Nobody has heard of a rajyabhisheka or coronation ceremony being performed in the jungle for the lion. A lion is recognised as king of all animals on account of his superior strength.”

The weak instinctively know the strength of the powerful. When the weak accept the leadership of the strong and the leader is humane and righteous, there is peace and happiness all around.
No power is stronger than nature and nature herself is the creation of the eternal, the formless Lord. We are conditioned in childhood to look upon God as superior and way above us, someone to look up to or to seek boons from. The child sometimes asks its mother, “Why should I pray to God?” The superstitious mother inevitably has her answer ready, “Shh, don’t ask such impertinent questions. You must pray to God because He is the greatest power we know.” As time passes, the child-turned-adult realises through life-cycle experiences that there were some phases in life where the existence of God was more evident than in others. If he is fortunate, he will also instinctively feel that God’s presence is like a continuous thread that runs through all the episodes of his life.
Through words, verses, songs, hymns, rituals, congregational prayers and other means, we praise the Lord Almighty. While praising the Lord, we remind ourselves of His greatness and our own smallness in relation to Him. By acknowledging and realising our powerlessness before the will of the Lord, we gradually surrender our ego. For a bhakt, being a raja-kan or speck of dust before the might of the Lord is the greatest feeling he can experience. He is elevated and transported into a world of bliss, by realising how puny he is, in relation to the greatness of God.
Sarva shakteeshwarahssarvah sarvashaktyaashrayassadaa
Tvamaneeha svayajjyotih sarvaanandassanaatanah
(You are the source and the controller of all powers. Devoid of desires, you are the self-radiant, always-blissful, eternal Being.)
Through sentiments like the one expressed in this ancient verse, the human being surrenders to the power of God. By voicing thoughts laced with humility, we are neither negating our identities nor relegating ourselves to nobodies who lack a will of their own. On the contrary, we are reasserting our link with the supreme spirit. In going about our daily duties, we perform tasks, big and small, through His grace. This recognition of God’s power, this sense of being rooted in faith is what takes us past many obstacles.
Whatever we do, a small act of service or a big deed of duty, let it be an offering unto the Lord, the all-powerful.