Essence of Śrīmad-Bhagavad-Gītā

Prapatti (surrender) lies at the core of Śrīvaiṣṇava religion. Surrender to Śriman-Nārāyaṇa is taught as the primary spiritual discipline.  In the previous post, we concluded that surrender to God implies the understanding that one belong to Viṣṇu. In the next (two-part) posts, we will explore how Prapatti has been practiced by Svāmī Rāmānuja's spiritual guide, Svāmī Yāmunācārya.  Svāmī Yāmunācārya wrote the text, Gītārtha Saṅgraha, explaining the import of Gītā in brief. In a different text, Stotra Ratna, the Ācārya gives an account of his personal religion. In similar manner, Svāmī Rāmānuja has given an account of his personal religion for the purpose of his disciples through the three Gadya-s: Śaraṇāgati Gadya, Śrīraṅga Gadya and Śrīvaikuṇṭha Gadya. Writing commentaries is important. Providing an account of all that theory translates to practical life is more important for serious followers. In this respect, we see the boundless mercy of Svāmī Yāmunācārya an...

Query: All through the previous article, you kept using the words, 'surrender' and 'refuge'. What do they mean? Do I have to go to a temple and fall flat at the feet of Nārāyaṇa? Do I have chant some declaration that I belong to God? How should I take lasting refuge in God? Answer: Falling flat with complete humility towards God or uttering words that pronounce that one belongs to Nārāyaṇa can doubtlessly foster the mood of surrender and one's conviction. But, surrender is not only about participating in some rituals or undertaking some practices. It has to be based on a conviction far deeper than that.  Let us look at what the Gītā has to say about surrender to Kṛṣṇa.  In the seventh chapter, Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna, "This Māyā is constituted of the three Guṇa-s: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.  She belongs to Me and is constructed for the sake of sport by Me. Hence, it is difficult to transcend Māyā, and recognize My excellent and superlative blissful nature...

Śrīmad-Bhagavad-Gītā is the most valuable spiritual text to not only Vaiṣṇava-s but to all adherents of Vedic culture (currently, the people identified as Hindus).  The below hymn chanted by all spiritual traditions brings out the importance of Gītā: sarvopaniṣado gāvo dogdhā gopālanandanaḥ | pārtho vatsaḥ sudhīr-bhogtā dugdhaṃ gītāmṛtaṃ mahat || During Kūrmāvatāra, the tortoise manifestation of Viṣṇu, He rescued the deva-s, divine beings, by giving them a nectar called amṛta . The word mṛta means the dead. We are all blinded by the darkness of saṃsāra (material existence). Those who have submitted themselves to demoniac nature are satisfied with this blindness. They go through worldly existence dying and being reborn, again and again. This process of repeatedly accepting bodies and traveling towards death is the path of the dead, mṛta. Its opposite is amṛta. Liberation from this cycle of birth and death is possible only through this.  Ācārya-s wh...