Allah rescues souls
Anjay-nallazina yan-hawna ‘anis-su-’i:
“We rescued those who forbade wrong.”
(The Qur’an 7.165)
“No conditioned soul can get out of material bondage without serving the Supreme Lord”, Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu continued.
(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 18.194)
Here Mahaprabhu explains that the conditioned souls can get out of material entanglement only by devotional service to Allah. A soul who is eternal and spiritual, becomes dependent on his surroundings after coming to this material world. Therefore, the spirit souls residing in the material world are called conditioned, because they are under the sway of the stringent laws of material nature. When the conditioned souls give up their service to the Supreme Lord, they begin serving material objects. Because a soul by nature is a servant of God, when he forgets God and rejects His service he becomes a servant of matter since no one can be without service. Thus one becomes a servant of his senses, whimsical desires, family members etc. This gradually makes him a slave to material objects. To become free from such slavery one must reestablish his eternal occupational duty, namely devotional service to God. Only through devotional service to the Supreme Lord can one get freed from material bondage and unlimited suffering of mundane life.
This point is explained in the Holy Qur’an in the following way:
Ya-’ayuhallazina ‘amanuz-kurullaha zikran-kasira.
Wasabihuhu bukratan wa ‘asila.
Huwa lazi yusali ‘alaykum wa mala-ikatuhu liyukhrijakum-mina zulumati’ila nur / wakana bil-mu’minina rahima
Tahiyatuhum yawma yalqawnahu salam / wa ‘ada lahim ‘ajran-karima:
“O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance;
Glorify Him early and late.
He it is Who sends blessings on you, as do His angels, that He may bring you forth from darkness unto light. He is Merciful to the believers.
Their salutation on the Day they meet Him will be: ‘Peace!’ And He has prepared for them a generous reward.” (33.41-44)
Wasta-’inu bi-sabri wa salah / wa ‘innaha lakabiratun ‘illa ‘alal-khashi-’in
‘Allazina yazun-nuna ‘anahum-mulaqu Rabbihim wa ‘anahum ‘ilayhi raji-’un:
“Seek help in patience and prayer. It is indeed hard, except to those who are humble,
Who know that they will have to meet their Lord, and that to Him they are returning.” (2.45-46)
Wallazina ‘amanu wa ‘amilus-salihati ‘ula-’ika ‘as-habul-janah / hum fiha khalidun: “Those who believe and do good works, they are companions of the Garden. They will abide therein.” (2.82)
Qul ‘amara Rabbi bilqist / wa ‘aqimu wuju-hakum ‘inda kulli masjidin-wad’uhu mukh-lisina la-hudin / kama bada-’akum ta-’udun: “Say: My Lord has commanded justice, and that you set your whole selves (to Him) at every time and place of worship and call upon Him, making your devotion to Him sincere. Such as He created you in the beginning, so shall you return (to Him).” (7.29)
Abdullah Yusuf Ali comments:
“Our devotion should be sincere, not as in other men’s sight, but by presenting our whole selves, heart and soul, to Allah. Even so, it may not be enough; for the sight of our heart and soul may be faulty. We should call upon Allah to give us the light, by which our sincerity may commend itself to Him as true sincerity “as in His sight”. Our sincerity should be real sincerity, as in His sight for when we return to Him, we shall be stripped of all pretense, even such self-deception as may satisfy us in this life.” (9, p. 404)
Falama nasu ma zukiru bihi ‘anjay-nalazina yan-hawna ‘anis-su-’i: “When they disregarded the warnings that had been given them, We rescued those who forbade wrong.” (7.165)
Wa haza siratu Rabbika mustaqima / qad fasalnal ‘ayati li-qaw-minyazak-karun
Lahum darus-salami ‘inda Rabbihim wa huwa waliyu-hum-bima kanu ya’-malun:
“This is the way of your Lord, leading straight. We have detailed Our revelations for those who take heed.
For them will be the abode of peace with their Lord. He will be their Friend because they practiced (righteousness).” (6.126-127)
From these verses of the Holy Qur’an we can understand that only by serving the Supreme Lord and by following His instructions given in the revealed scriptures can we get out of material bondage.
