Gadyatraya, a prose poem composed in a supremely blissful trance of overwhelming experience of the divine by Bhagavad Rāmānuja. This poem written in prose is a stream of uninterrupted flow pen picturing the transcendental experience with the divine, of the divine, about the divine by Bhagavad Rāmānuja, who is a confluence of a great intellect, philosopher, profound mystic above all a true altruist.
शरणागतिः
He is an altruist not only for his sharing of eternally elusive experience of the divine with the common folk but also in inviting each one to offer in his capacity the service unto Supreme Lord to vouchsafe His unconditional compassion, again to serve Him eternally in His sublimely transcendental abode Śrivaikuntha, here-after. What an objective he has in mind for the devotee of the Lord to uplift him from the depths of tribulations of mundane world, to make him ever joyful in the services of the Lord, wherein he is untouched by worldly miseries.
Bhagavad Rāmānuja in his encomium on the Supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa, with all humility converses with him, plead him, to be ever gracious in granting an opportunity to remain subservient eternally to the Lord. (To His holy feet)
वैकुण्ड्ठः
The poet in Rāmānuja carves an image of sublimely marvelous abode of Śrimannārāyaṇa namely Vaikunṭha, there is a lucid lyrical flow, at times prolix though, in the description of ever happy place, which is redundant with golden gardens of fabulous flowers, ponds, promenades so goes the commentary, of the abode devoid of even an iota of earthly blemish, the ultimate destination, every Śrivaiṣṇava should aspire to reach to.
श्रीरङ्गम्
ŚrīRangam, the holiest among the shrines of Viṣņu, has been the place of description with its Lord Sri Ranganatha, the supreme deity of the shrine, in one of the gadyas, Bhagavad Rāmānuja reiterates that ‘ŚriRangam’ is the designated replica of heavenly Vaikunṭha according to the will of Lord Śrīmannārāyaṇa himself.
Even as Śrīmannārāyaṇa rests on Lordly serpent Ādiseșa in his transcendental realm ‘Vaikunṭha’, his sportly-will is the cause of origination of ŚriRangam in this physical universe. The shrine at ‘ŚriRangam’ since has been highly regarded revered by every devotee of Viṣņu.
Prapatti
The triad of gadyas essentially strives to emphasize on one aspect ‘Bhakti’, devotion to the god, which still has a better epithet in ‘prapatti’, complete surrender unto the god, taking succor in Him like Vibhiṣaṇa in Lord ŚrīRāma. ‘Bhakti’, ‘prapatti’ or Śaraṇagati one may choose any of these paths leading to Divinely experience, even as every human being is divinely potential to attain to god, considering his sincere approach with non-attachment, Uninterrupted discharge of one’s prescribed duties, and knowledge of one’s self being subservient to the supreme being, Śrīmannārāyaṇa.
Dr. Bhashyam Swamy
Director & Joint Secretary