Saranagathi!!

We use the word Saranagathi so very often though of course very casually.Saranagathi means surrender to the Lord,Almighty,telling him Oh God, you take charge,I completely surrender to you.Saranagathi is a divine concept where the devotee submits himself or herself completely to the Lord.
Srimad Baghavatham illustrates Saranagathy with the stories .of Ganjendra moksham, Draupadi Vastrabharanam and the story of Uttara.
In the story of Gajendran we find that when he is caught by the crocodile he thinks he can set himself free from the crocodile and so tries hard,then he takes the help of his friends and then when he realises no one can help him he finally cries to the Lord for help and there he is immediately saved by Vishnu.
Draupadi too initially cries to all the seniors, the Pandavas,Arjuna, Bheema and the others and when she realises that none of them will actually come to her rescue then she cries out to Lord Krishna,who immedialtely protects her and gives her Abhayam.
So it is with us too.We think we can solve our problems ourselves and so do not turn to GOD until we realise that we are helpless.Only then do we start praying and cryig to HIM for help and cry for protection.Surrender comes only when we have tried all other means and failed.
If we surrender to God's will and accept everything as His will then we will realise that we are taken care of all the time.
Srimad Baghavatham also tells us another beautiful stoty of Uttara,the mother of Parikshit.
Gajendra moksham and Draupadi vastrabharanam are popular and many of us have heard or read sometime or the other.The story of Uttara is not as popular and may be familiar only with those who read Srimad Baghavatham.
The story goes that Ashwathama(son of Dronacharya)sees Duryodhana lying injured at the battle field (Kurukshetra)and tells him that he will destroy the Pandavas and fulfill his wish.Saying so, Ashwathama leaves and on his way he sees an owl attacking birds sleeping in their nest and destroying them all.Ashwathama decides he too will do the same, and at midnight enters the Pandava camp and kills all there.All the five children of Draupadi lay killed by Ashwathama.Draupadi when she sees her sons dead the next morning, screams in agony and calls Arjuna.Arjuna is very upset and vows to kill whoever did this so saying they he goes in search of the killer with Sri Krishna and after a long chase they find Ashwathama, capture him and bring him in front of Draupadi. Draupadi does not want him killed because he is their Guru putra,and also she says 'I know the sorrow of amother and I do not want his mother to go through the suffering that I am now in',so asks them to release Ashwathama.More on this story in a separate post.So the Pandavas punish ashwathama by shaving of his head and release him.Ashwathama is very ashamed and on his way out vows that he will wipe out the pandavas and releases an Astra which goes straight into the womb of Uttara.Uttara is in deep pain and comes screaming and falls at the feet of Sri Krishna,surrenders to HIM and prays that he protect her womb and the baby. Sri Krishna enters her womb and protects the womb and thus Parikshit gets the Lords darshan while in His mother's womb itself.The surrender of Uttara is said to be ultimate surrender,because the moment she is affected she realises that only the lord can protect and save her and so comes rushing to Him right away.

Jai Gurudev.