Ramayana is one of the most beautiful scriptures because it is replete with so many instances of one of the most beautiful qualities of the Lord - Mercy. It is for that reason, it is called the Saranagati Sastra. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna in his incarnation as Lord Ramachandra, personifies what he says in the the Bhagavad Gita.
sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. - Bhagavad Gita 18.66
Krishna promises us that he will deliver us if we surrender unto him. Every canto in Ramayana starting from the Bala kanda speaks about saranagathi or surrender to the Lord and how Lord Rama delivered everyone who surrendered unto him.
In the Bala kanda, all the Devas surrender to Maha Vishnu for the protection of the innocents from the demon Ravana. The Lord immediately obliges and appears as Lord Ramachandra.
In the Ayodhya kanda, Lakshmana first surrenders to Lord Rama and then Bharata surrenders. The Lord obliges them both by taking Lakshmana along with him to the forest and giving his Paduka to Bharata, which is more valuable than the Lord himself. The stalwart Acharya of the Sri Sampradhaya, Swami Desikan has composed 1008 verses on only the Paduka of the Lord called Paduka Sahasram. Such is the glory of the Lord's Paduka. There are so many other instance such as Jatayu moksha, Sugreeva saranagathi, Vibeeshana saranagathi and many more.
Saranagathi in Ramayana can never be complete without talking about one of the greatest devotees of the Lord, Hanuman. Hanuman is always in the mood to serve the Lord. There is a lot of misconception about Hanuman. We need to know who Hanuman is before we go and pray to him. He wants nothing but to serve Lord Rama. When he meets Sita devi to give Lord Rama's message, she blesses him with Ashta siddhi and Nava Nidhi (Eight spiritual perfections and Nine material prosperities). Everything one can get in this material world, but he was happy only when he got the benediction to always be Lord Rama's humble servant (sada raho Raghupati ke dasa). Hanuman will be very happy if we go and pray to him to strengthen our devotion to Lord Rama, instead we take him to be the Supreme Person and equate him with Lord Rama. We are only offending Hanuman by doing this.
All the great devotees have derived supreme pleasure in surrendering unconditionally to the Lord and He has never failed them. They want nothing but devotional service to the Lord and He reciprocates like only He can.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in his sikashtakam summarizes the mood of every devotee and what we should aspire.
na dhanam na janam na sundarim
kavitam va jagad-isha kamaye
mama janmani janmanishvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki twayi
O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth. - Sri Siksastakam Verse 4
On this auspicious day of the Appearance of Lord Rama, let us decry all the qualities that Ravana had and surrender to the Lord. He is so merciful that He even gave Ravana one last chance. After vanquishing Ravana's entire army and when Ravana was all but finished, He asked him to go that day and come the next day. In Kambar's words - "Indru poi naalai vaa". Yet, Ravana couldn't see past his envy towards the Lord. Lord Rama even gave Ravana liberation in spite of everything he had done to Him.
Krishna promises in Bhagavad Gita that he will deliver us and asks us not to fear. He also demonstrates it in so many instance. Will we be like Ravana and decry the Lord or Will we trust him and surrender unto him?
sarva-dharmān parityajya
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo
mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. - Bhagavad Gita 18.66
Krishna promises us that he will deliver us if we surrender unto him. Every canto in Ramayana starting from the Bala kanda speaks about saranagathi or surrender to the Lord and how Lord Rama delivered everyone who surrendered unto him.
In the Bala kanda, all the Devas surrender to Maha Vishnu for the protection of the innocents from the demon Ravana. The Lord immediately obliges and appears as Lord Ramachandra.
In the Ayodhya kanda, Lakshmana first surrenders to Lord Rama and then Bharata surrenders. The Lord obliges them both by taking Lakshmana along with him to the forest and giving his Paduka to Bharata, which is more valuable than the Lord himself. The stalwart Acharya of the Sri Sampradhaya, Swami Desikan has composed 1008 verses on only the Paduka of the Lord called Paduka Sahasram. Such is the glory of the Lord's Paduka. There are so many other instance such as Jatayu moksha, Sugreeva saranagathi, Vibeeshana saranagathi and many more.
Saranagathi in Ramayana can never be complete without talking about one of the greatest devotees of the Lord, Hanuman. Hanuman is always in the mood to serve the Lord. There is a lot of misconception about Hanuman. We need to know who Hanuman is before we go and pray to him. He wants nothing but to serve Lord Rama. When he meets Sita devi to give Lord Rama's message, she blesses him with Ashta siddhi and Nava Nidhi (Eight spiritual perfections and Nine material prosperities). Everything one can get in this material world, but he was happy only when he got the benediction to always be Lord Rama's humble servant (sada raho Raghupati ke dasa). Hanuman will be very happy if we go and pray to him to strengthen our devotion to Lord Rama, instead we take him to be the Supreme Person and equate him with Lord Rama. We are only offending Hanuman by doing this.
All the great devotees have derived supreme pleasure in surrendering unconditionally to the Lord and He has never failed them. They want nothing but devotional service to the Lord and He reciprocates like only He can.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in his sikashtakam summarizes the mood of every devotee and what we should aspire.
na dhanam na janam na sundarim
kavitam va jagad-isha kamaye
mama janmani janmanishvare
bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki twayi
O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth. - Sri Siksastakam Verse 4
On this auspicious day of the Appearance of Lord Rama, let us decry all the qualities that Ravana had and surrender to the Lord. He is so merciful that He even gave Ravana one last chance. After vanquishing Ravana's entire army and when Ravana was all but finished, He asked him to go that day and come the next day. In Kambar's words - "Indru poi naalai vaa". Yet, Ravana couldn't see past his envy towards the Lord. Lord Rama even gave Ravana liberation in spite of everything he had done to Him.
Krishna promises in Bhagavad Gita that he will deliver us and asks us not to fear. He also demonstrates it in so many instance. Will we be like Ravana and decry the Lord or Will we trust him and surrender unto him?
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