Tears. Tears shed for God instantly endear us to the Lord, dissolve the dross that impedes His vision, approximate us to the Divine Beloved and set us eventually free of the eight earthly fetters that bind us in self-chains of ignorance and phenomenal pain. Hence, to cry for the Lord as the baby cries for its mother is the way out, is the prescription laid out by Sri Ramakrishna for devotees aspiring for spiritual freedom. This, indeed, is austerity (tapasya), the austerity of the age, when distractions are many, pollution pervades the mental atmosphere and man finds himself marooned on the island of the unreal 'I'. Here Thakur has made it so easy for us to approach Him through the tears of love as Meera Bai had done centuries ago. This shedding of tears is the prelude to 'Raaganuraag bhakti' and its continuance over years refines into the climactic transcendental love for the Lord culminating in His vision.
Written by Sugata Bose
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