Page 22 - Hinduism

creation. God as ruler or law giver metes out justice to every one according to the strict rules of karma and dharma. It provides no hope of mercy for the persons who violate the rules and no man is so pure or sinless as to say that he walks in the ways of righteousness. But God as mother is forgiving and no sin is so sinful as not to merit mercy or dayā. Therefore every one seeks the grace of Lakṣmi or Pārvati or Śakti as the very embodiment of redemptive love. But mercy by itself may encourage favouritism and indulgence and the sinner may exploit the quality of forgiveness. The Hindus therefore worship divinity in the dual form of Īśvara and Iśvari. Law is severe and love is indulgent; but in God law and love are wedded together and they are really one though they function as two.
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