Saranagati Surrender

Sri Krsna Chaitanyadev has clearly declared within this mate- rial world the message that the fortune of Sri Krsna-prem, divine love for Sri Krsna, which condemns the four ends of conven- tional religion-dharma, piety; artha, wealth; kama, enjoyment; and moksa, liberation-is the fifth and supreme end of human life. Sarnagati is the sole means to obtain that topmost end of human life. To enlighten the jivas conditioned in the material world about this, and to reveal the process of saranagati, Sri Krsna Chaitanyadev Himself descended, along with His eternal asso- ciates and divine abode Sri Nabadwip Dham, He taught sarana- gati through His own practice and preaching, as well as through the practice and preaching of His capable servants. Some time later, one of His devotee-associates, Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur, gave extensive guidance about the practice of sarangati through analysis and description of its limbs and sub-limbs, in this small book named Saranagati.

Prior to Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur, other achdryas also spoke at length about sarangati. Additionally, the fundamental teach- ings of sarangati are found within Srimad Bhagavad-gita and srimad Bhdgavatam. The subject of sarangati is also especially well known within the Sri sampraday. Still, the way in which Sri Krsna Chaitanyachandra has revealed the fundamental nature of sarangati is unparalleled; He has taught that sarangati is the appropriate means of obtaining the fortune of the divine loving service (prema-seva) of Vrajendra Nandan Krsna, the whimsical enjoyer of the wives of the cowherd men of Vraja, whose divine form is the origin of the Absolute Truth. Therefore, in order to distribute these illustrious teachings of sarangati, Srimad Bhakti Vinod Thakur has invoked the benediction of that supreme munificent origin of all Avatars, Sri Chaitanyachandra, by first mentioning His name while establishing the theme of his treatise within his invocation of auspiciousness.