Page 1 of 8

Prose 2 of SharaNaagati Gadyam

http://www.saranagathi.org/images/ramanuja.jpg

http://www.saranagathi.org/acharyas/ramanuja/articles/life.php

Dear All:

As mentioned in earlier emails, with the installation of Ramanujaacarya’s

vigraham at the Sri Balaji Temple’s new facility (at 3325 Middlebelt Road, West

Bloomfield, MI), it seems appropriate that we start chanting SharaNagati Gadyam,

the immortal work of Sri Ramanuja which describes his surrender at the lotus-feet

of Sri Mahalakshmi and Sriman Narayana.

If one studies this Gadyam carefully, word-by-word, and also makes an effort to

understand the meaning, word-by-word, one will gain all the knowledge about

Bhakti yoga and Jnana Yoga as preached by KrishNa in the Bhagavad Gita.

Indeed, Ramanuja has included several verses from the Gita in this Gadyam as a

part of his blessed utterances of surrender.

Page 2 of 8

It is said the deities at Srirangam, where Ramanuja was the head priest, actually

talked to Ramanuja when he performed this surrender (prapatti). I have started

reciting this Gadyam during each visit to the temple (daily so far this week, since

the inauguration). There are 18 main proses passages in this Gadyam, see text in

different languages at www.prapatti.com.

Presented below is the detailed text of the second of these 18 proses, in a more

easily readable form, along with an explanation. For the discussion of the first

passage click here or go to http://www.scribd.com/doc/115761097/Prose-1-of-

Ramanuja-s-SharaNagati-Gadyam . A careful and detailed study of the first few

passages makes it is easy to understand the remaining since the main ideas and also

the phrases used are repeated in the following passages.

Three major SriVaishNavite internet sources were consulted; for more details click

here or see http://www.scribd.com/doc/115438639/Jnana-Yoga-and-Ramanuja-s-

SharaNagati-Gadyam .

Sources: click here, http://sriramanujar.tripod.com/gadya_trayam.html

www.prapatti.com and http://www.srihayagrivan.org/ebooks/030_sg.pdf

Courtesy: http://www.prapatti.com/slokas/sanskrit/saranaagatigadyam.pdf

Page 3 of 8

Courtesy: http://www.srihayagrivan.org/ebooks/030_sg.pdf

Translation of the Text:

Pray Thee, bless my sincere and real SaraNAgati at the lotus feet of BhagavAn

so that it may become well and truly performed with all its angAs (formalities)

and be continued, without interruption till the goal of PurushArtha is reached.

This is with the object of securing for myself the privilege of the occupation of

ever-service to the Lord (i.e.)., the satisfaction derived in all forms and kinds

of service always suited to the conditions and circumstances for the moments

and which is the result of boundless intense devotion born out of the

experience of enjoyment of the Lord that is, the unbounded limitless, unselfish

love for no other end but that of service direct to Him,--A love perfect,

enjoyed fully in all His manifestations, not only now but continuously without any

interruption--this again promoted by the sincere one-pointed and ever intense

para bhakti (i.e, the desire for His Vision), para jn~Ana (direct perception of

God), parama bhakti (the longing to have that perception continued for ever) --

Bhakti at the lotus feet of the Lord. (This prayer to SrI is acceded by Her).

Page 4 of 8

Says SrI Devi:

astu te | tayaiva sarvam sampatsyate |

(So shall it be Thus done, All is attained).

The Lord as Ranganatha lying on His serpent bed Adishesha, as seen in

Srirangam. Courtesy: http://www.srihayagrivan.org/ebooks/030_sg.pdf

The 18 prose passages are also referred to as cUrNikaa (cUrNikai in Tamil),

derived from cUrNam (or choorNam), which means powder. ChoorNika, or

cUrNika, means grains, or particles, obtained from pounding a bigger solid object.

The “particles” here are humble offerings, in the form of words (of the gadyam)

produced by the devotion (bhakti) of the person wishing to surrender. It also refers

to the fact that what we are offering is really insignificant (like dust particles)

compared to the blessing of His grace.

Page 5 of 8

The first prose describes the Bhagavatee Sri Devi and the devotee’s (Ramanuja’s)

surrender at the lotus-feet of the Divine Mother (asmat maatram sharaNam

prapadye), who is also indeed the Mother of the entire Universe (akhila

jaganmaataram sharaNam prapadye). The second prose being discussed now

describes why the devotee (Ramanuja) wishes to surrender. Some say that when

Ramanuja performed his prapatti (surrender) at Srirangam, Mahalakshmi Herself

spoke to him directly and accepted his surrender and blessed him. Others say that

the blessing (astu te l tavaiya sarvam sampatsyate l ) simply represents Ramanuja’s

own belief of what She would say to him if She had accepted and responded to his

surrender.

पारमार्थिक = परम +अर्थिक (abstract form of after compounding or samas), the

highest (parama) goal or objective (artha), the abstract form (like happy versus

happiness) of which, after compounding, takes long vowel sound “paa”.

भगवद्चरणारववन्दयुगल = भगवत् + चरण + अरववन्द + युगल yugala means a pair,

charaNayugala is therefore two feet, charaNaaravinda means two lotus feet. Add

Bhagavat and it means of Bhagavan.

Strictly speaking, in Sanskrit, there is NO consonant sound “ळ” although it is now

increasingly used in many leading websites such as the ones cited. The original

Sanskrit word is yugalam, or mangalam (मङ्गलम ्) not mangaLam (मङ्गळम्). The

Google Sanskrit transliteration tool, for example, only gives the first option but

will give the second option if one chooses the language as Marathi (मंगळ), for

example, where the “ळ” sound is used as it is also in Tamil. Sorry, am a bit of a

‘purist’ on this point.

ऐकवन्तक Absolute, perfect, अत्यंवतक excessive, profuse, abundant

परभवि devotion for the Supreme परज्ञान knowledge of the Supreme

परमभविकृत done with the highest of devotion (eventually all of this leads from

bhagavadcharaNayugala to bhagavadanubhaba)

Page 6 of 8

पररपूणाानवरत = पररपूणा + अनवरत पररपूणा full अनवरत nonstop, incessant,

continuous

वनत्यववशदतम = वनत्य + ववशदतम वनत्य always ववशदतम superlative form of vishada

(like good, better, best), which means clear, pure, etc. hence clearest, purest, etc.

अनन्य without any other प्रयोजन tools, instruments, needs, etc. without need for

anything external, i.e., other than BhagavadcharaNaarvinda

अनावविकावतशय = अनवविक + अवतशय here अनवविक means that which cannot be

exceeded and so has no bounds or is unlimited and अवतशय means a lot, plenty,

bountiful which is followed by वप्रय which means very dear, loving

भगवदनुभवजवनत = भगवत् अनुभव जवनत means direct personal experience अनुभव of

Bhagavan and adding जवनत means produced (literally born) as a result of

प्रीवतकाररताशेषावस्िोवचत = प्रीवत काररत अशेष अवस्िा उवचत preeti means love and

preeti kaarita means produced (or made) out of love, or rendering lovingly. This is

followed by ashesha avasthaa which refers to state (avasthaa) of finding joy, in its

entirety (ashesha), in services being performed to the Lord, or just being there in

the presence of the Lord. Ucita, which means appropriate, adds to this thought.

अशेषशेषतैकरवतरूप = अशेष शेषता ऐक रवतरूप sheshataa refers offering services to

the Lord (holding the umbrella, waving the chamaram, etc.) and aika means one

and only whereas “rati roopa” refers to the joy felt from being able to observe and

enjoy the services that are being performed by other devotees. Anyone who is

rendering service is doing so for the pleasure of the Lord and the devotee is able to

derive pleasure from that pleasure.

वनत्य कैङ्कया daily (regular) services, literally anything and all that can be done

प्राप्त्यपेक्षया = प्रावि अपेक्षया praapti means to able to get and apeksha is expectation;

the expectation here is for being able to get the opportunity for render daily

(regular) services to the Lord

पारमार्थिकी having the quality of bestowing parama arthaa (already discussed)

भगवच्चरण अरववन्द = भगवत् चरण अरववन्द Lotus feet of the Lord

शरणागवतिः surrender (literally the process of coming to seek shelter or refuge)

Page 7 of 8

यिाववस्तिा as performed (in the mode of goodness, satvam)

अववरताSस्तु मे = अववरता अस्तु मे avirataa means unceasing, never ending or

interrupted and astu me means let it be

being performed by others (i.e., even when we do not have the opportunity to

render the service ourselves but are able to see and enjoy it when offered by others,

like priest, volunteers and so on at temple functions)

Prose 2 begins with paaramaarthika, which is derived from parama (highest) and

(artha) which means goal or objective. Thus, paramaartha means the highest of all

goals or objectives of life. In the Vishnu Sahasranamam, Phala shruti verses, for

examples, four “arthas” or goals are mentioned (starting with the verse

dharmaarthee praapnuyaat dharma) – dharma, artha, kaama, and moksha. The

word ‘artha’ in the second of these four means ‘wealth’, or ‘material prosperity’ or

‘treasure’. Thus, ‘artha’ also means a great treasure, something that we cherish a

lot more than just ‘money’. That is the meaning of treasure. Here Paraamaarthika is

the abstract form of Paramaartha (like happy versus happiness). What is this

greatest treasure? In the long string of adjectives we find “Parabhakti”,

“Parajnana”, etc. and further down “Bhagadanubhavajanita”.

The first and second versions given above differ slightly in how the different words

are broken up – yugala (pair) should be associated with charaNaaravinda (lotus

feet). There is really nothing wrong with splitting complex compound words and

associating them in different ways as Krishna Himself mentions, in a different

context, in Uddhava Gita (in the discussion about Mahat-tatvaas, we find different

sages talking about them differently and Krishna says all are acceptable, see Canto

11, chapter 12, verse 25). Krishna says when wise people offer differ opinions one

should not find fault (vidushaam kim ashobhanam) just accept them all and

“enjoy” the different interpretations, as being “clever” arguments (yuktimatvaad),

and not engage in acrimonious debate. All scholars especially should study this

chapter of the Uddhava Gita section of Srimad Bhagavatam to fully appreciate the

Page 8 of 8

futility of the philosophical debates that we (unfortunately) engage in. The reason

to emphasize this point here is “Bhagavadanubhavam” mentioned here by Sri

Ramanuja. This means experiencing the Divine – experiencing Bhagavan. This

highest level of devotional experience can only be derived from “parabhakti”,

“parajnaana”, “paramabhakti” mentioned here by Ramanuja, as qualifiers and

precedents, for such bhagavad-anubhavam that has the property of “Paramaartha”

and so becomes “Paaramaarthika”.

In prose 2, Ramanjua’s focus is really on Bhagavad charNaaravinda-yugala, the

two lotus-feet of the Lord. Everything stated here derives from this

charaNaaravinda. After yugala, Ramanuja adds “Aikantika” ऐकवन्तक which means

absolutely perfect. It is to these absolutely perfect lotus feet of the Lord that he

wishes to surrender. It is with expectation (apeksha) of being blessed with the

opportunity to serve the Lord, continuously, without any interruptions that the

refuge of the two lotus feet is being sought. He would like to experience this joy

fully so much so that even observing other offering service to the Lord becomes a

great source of pleasure.

Very sincerely

V. Laxmanan

December 8, 2012.