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Chapter 18
The subject of devotion, which has been dealt with specially from the seventh to the twelfth chapters is a secret of the Lord's heart, is totally different from the other two disciplines and is unique. In the discipline of devotion, a devotee depends only on God and is dedicated only to Him. The Lord concludes the gospel, commending persons to depend on Him or surrender to Him, or taking refuge in Him.
From the thirty-ninth verse of the second chapter upto the end of the second chapter, and also in the third chapter, there is predominant description of the discipline of action. In the sixty-first verse of the second chapter, the term 'Matparah' has been used for "dependence on God", which has been described in a little mom detail in the thirtieth verse of the third chapter. Thus there is also some description of devotion, with the discipline of action. In the fourth chapter, the Lord while mentioning how the discipline of action was handed down from generations, describes the divine character of His birth and activities and then the discipline of action, while explaining that His actions are models for others. In the fifth chapter, there is a comparative discussion on the two disciplines and finally the Lord briefly defines devotion and concludes the chapter. Thus the discipline of action discussed from the second chapter to the end of the fifth chapter, has been explained in a different way from the fourth to the twelfth verses, of the eighteenth chapter.
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