Preface

by Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

Sri Krishna Chaitanyadev has clearly declared within this material world the message that the fortune of Sri Krishna-prema, divine love for Sri Krishna, which condemns the four ends of conventional religion — dharma, piety; artha, wealth; kama, enjoyment; and moksa, liberation — is the fifth and supreme end of human life. Saranagati is the sole means to obtain that topmost end of human life. To enlighten the souls conditioned in the material world about this, and to reveal the process of saranagati, Sri Krishna Chaitanyadev Himself descended, along with His eternal associates and divine abode Sri Nabadwip Dham. He taught saranagati 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 saranagati through analysis and description of its limbs and sub-limbs in this small book named Saranagati.

Prior to Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur, other Acharyas also spoke at length about saranagati. Additionally, the fundamental teachings of saranagati are found within Srimad Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. The subject of saranagati is also especially well known within the Sri sampradaya. Still, the way in which Sri Krishna Chaitanyachandra has revealed the fundamental nature of saranagati is unparalleled; He has taught that saranagati is the appropriate means of attaining the fortune of the divine loving service (prema-seva) of Vrajendra Nandan Krishna, 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 saranagati, 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.