Continuing our series on sharanagati and presentation of the content of our upcoming release of Sharanagati accompanied by the Gentle Moonlight Commentary by Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, this post explains the relationship between sharanagati and the appearance of Sriman Mahaprabhu.
atyanta durlabha prema karibāre dāna
śikhāya śaraṇāgati bhakatera prāna
(Sharanagati: 1.2)
atyanta–extremely; durlabha–rare, precious, difficult to obtain; prema– divine love; karibāre–in order to do; dāna–distribution; śikhāya–teaches; śaraṇāgati–surrender; bhakatera–of the devotees; prāṇa–the life. [2]
(2) To distribute the most rare form of prem, He teaches sharanagati, which is the life of the devotees.
Sri Laghu-chandrika Bhashya
by Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj
atyanta durlabha prema: “The most rare form of prem.” This refers to the fifth (ultimate) end of human life, Sri Krishna-prem. The rarity of Sri Krishna-prem has been noted by Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhu in his Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu (1.1.36):
jñānataḥ sulabhā muktir bhuktir yajñādi-puṇyataḥ
seyaṁ sādhana-sāhasrair hari-bhaktiḥ sudurlabhā
In Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita (Adi-lila, 1.4), this most rare form of prem, which Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to distribute, is described as follows:
anarpita-charīṁ chirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ śachī-nandanaḥ
“May the radiant, golden Lord, Sri Sachi Nandan, always be manifest in the core of your heart. He has mercifully descended in the age of Kali to give the wealth of His own devotion, supremely exalted madhura-rasa, which had never been given before.”
śaraṇāgati: “Surrender.” This means sarva-bhave Bhagavad asraya, to take shelter of the Lord in all respects. Sharanagati is defined in essence in Sri Sri Prapanna-jivanamritam (1.35):
bhagavad-bhaktitaḥ sarvam ity utsṛjya vidher api
kaiṅkaryaṁ kṛṣṇa-pādaikāśrayatvaṁ śaraṇāgatiḥ
“Having faith that everything is obtained by serving the Supreme Lord, abandoning subservience to even scriptural injunctions, and taking shelter of the feet of Sri Krishna exclusively, is known as sharanagati.”