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Slokam

 

Vrtha vrishti: samudreshu vrtha truptasya bhojanam |

Vrtha daanam samarthasya vrtha deepo divapi ca ||

 

Translation

 

(No purpose raining in the ocean, no purpose feeding a satisfied, no purpose donating to the capable, no purpose lighting the day)

 

Explanation

 

Every action must be useful. Here are some actions which do not serve any purpose. The ocean would neither swell nor recede by an inch on account of abundant rain or severe famine. One cannot convince a person to have food just after having a square meal. A capable candidate would fend for himself and any donation would be counter productive. Similarly burning a lamp during day time is a waste.

Our purva acharyas write " pagal vilakku pattirukkum" (a wasted lamp during day). This example is given as a reason for Sriman Narayana choosing to incarnate amidst us. If He remained in Srivaikuntha all His divine attributes would have got wasted without any beneficiary. He can be generous (oudaryam) if anyone is a beggar; He can shower mercy (dayaa) if anybody is destitute; He can pardon (kshamaa) if anybody errs. All the nitya suris and muktatmas, being blemishless, are not the right beneficiaries of these attributes. Bhagavan's divine qualities were like a wasted light during day. Thus He decided " Let Me incarnate to make My attributes purposeful. Let My kalyana gunas be a light in the dark mundane world (samsara) where many are in distress." The real value of His qualities like dayaa, kshamaa, krupa, etc are felt only in our world. Ironically, can we say that our blemishes made His divine attributes purposeful!!!

The moral is - Every action must be purposeful.