Bhakti List Archives

Re: FW: saranagati (etymology)

From the Bhakti List Archives

vinjamoor_venkatesh • Sun Aug 25 2002 - 19:59:38 PDT 


srImathE rAmAnujAya namaha
srImadh varavara munayE namaha

Sri Mani is correct. 'saraNa' means protection and 'charaNa' means 
the Lotus feet of Sriman nArAyaNan. Actually saraNAgathi is not just 
to approach the Lord for protection, but the realized state that He 
is the ONLY protector. The word 'ONLY' is what is emphasized 
by 'gathi'. 
Sri Mani wrote :
------------------------------------------------------------------
Technically this is denoted as approaching the Lord as the 'upAya'.  
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Yes, this is what is emphasized in the slOka 'tvamEva upAya bhootOmE 
bhava ithi prArthanA mathi: saraNAgathi'. The prayer for emberumAn to 
be the upAya is called saraNAgathi.

Remember the first part of dwayam. 'srIman nArAyaNa charaNau saraNam 
prapathyE'. This clearly says that I pray to srIman nArAyaNan's Lotus 
feet (charaNau) to be the protectors (saraNam).

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam
adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan
Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh

[ While 'SaraNa' does mean protection or refuge, as stated earlier
  the preferred meaning in the context of the rahasyas is 'upAya'
  or means. This derivation comes straight from the pAncarAtra
  Agamas. -- Moderator ]



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