This is part II of saranagathi – the surrender. “Oh! Narayana! You have all the qualities that are unimaginable, unblemished, auspicious, compassionate, brilliance, etc. You are adorned with Srivathsa (a mole in the Lord’s chest) and other precious ornaments. You have the divine weapons such as the conch, the Sudarshana chakra (this has the capacity to travel faster than the Lord Himself. This chakra means mind as mind travels faster than the body), the club, bow, arrow, sword. All your weapons are sacred and auspicious (The weapons of Narayana are considered as very powerful but Rmanujar looks upon these weapons as auspicious, as thoughts originate only from the mind. His mind was so pure). Your consort Sri (meaning Mahalakshmi) possesses all auspicious qualities that please you. You are also the consort of Bhoomi Devi (mother earth) and Neela Devi (called as Vishnupatni, wife of Vishnu. She is also called aditi, the goddess for guests. She is all extending, supporting the Heaven and Earth etc.) All the three understood you well and accordingly they function to please you (The inner meaning is wealth, etc are given by Narayana only.

This should not be interpreted as three wives.) Your other attendants possess immense knowledge and courage (referring to Adhiseshan, the snkake on which Lord Narayana lies with His consort Lakshmi, karuda, the eagle on which the He travels and Vishwaksenar, the chief of His warriors). They are called nityasuris meaning those who are in service to the Lord. They are all blessed by you to service in your Paramapada (Vaikunta) the ultimate destination we are longing for. (Narayana is seated in Vaikunda with full of grace and compassion, ready to help his devotees at anytime. Vaikunta has plenty of sweet smelling garlands ready to adorn the Lord, plenty of ornaments without comparison made out of the best diamonds and other precious stones embedded in pure gold and nityasuris who attend to the needs of the Lord. Lord Narayana is said to be fond of such adornments. This should not be taken in literal sense. These ornaments represent the worldly desires of His devotees. The Lord takes away these desires and associated sins and adorns them as his ornaments and makes them realise His pure form.) “You are the creator, sustainer and dissolver of this universe and you are doing this with such an ease. You love those who depend on you. You are in control of every activity of this universe.

You are adorning this Vaikunta exclusively to welcome your sincere devotees. I seek your lotus feet as I have nobody else to depend upon.” Ramanujar uses “Sriman Narayana” for the first time here. Sriman means ‘If you are not willing to accept me, at least for the sake of your consort Sri, you have to accept me’. Narayana in this context means ‘I have come to you through the blessings of Sri. But you know me much earlier than Sri, as you are my creator. Therefore you are my ultimate resort.’ Ramanujar uses “Aham brabadyae” which means “I am surrendering”. “I am following the footsteps of my gurus. I have not advanced enough to surrender to you in my own way. One has to give up his parents, wife, sons, relatives, friends, gurus or acharyas, wealth before making an application to you for surrender. I have disowned the above and I am willing to give up anything except your lotus feet. You are my father, you are my mother and you are everything and everybody to me. You are my guru too. Whatever I have disowned, they are in your supreme form. I seek to propitiate you, the father of this complete cosmic manifestation. I seek your mercy. Pardon me for the sins I have committed, pardon me for my omissions and commissions, please remove my sanchita, prarabdha and agamya karmas that have accrued over my previous births.” (To be continued)