The Vaishnavite Acharya Parasara Bhattar was once passing through a jungle. Darkness fell, and Parasara Bhattar needed to rest somewhere. A hunter invited the Acharya into his hut for the night. Bhattar asked the hunter if anything interesting had happened to him in his life. The hunter thereupon narrated an incident.
One day, the hunter spotted a baby rabbit gambolling among the bushes in the jungle. It seemed to the hunter to be easy prey. So he decided to kill it. As he took aim, the mother rabbit arrived, and stood on its hind legs, and held out its forelegs. To the hunter it seemed as if the mother rabbit were begging him to spare the life of her little one. Moved by the mother rabbit’s appeal, the hunter desisted from killing the bunny. The hunter wondered how anyone could kill another, when an appeal for protection was made.
Upon hearing the story, Bhattar wept. When he was able to recover his composure, he explained the reason for his tears. It reminded him of the potency of Saranagati (Surrender). The rabbit which appealed for mercy and protection was an animal, incapable of even enunciating its thoughts or vocalizing its feelings. The hunter was an unlettered man, not aware of the Sastras. The animal had merely lifted its paws, when its baby was threatened, and that had been enough for the hunter to spare the life of the baby rabbit. How much more potent would be the act of anjali to the Lord, who promises to save us if we surrender to Him? The act of holding our palms together and appealing to the Lord for mercy is not difficult, and yet we do not even do that, pointed out Akkarakkani Srinidhi.
God is impartial, and He accepts the surrender of all without any distinctions of caste or status or education. If this were not the case, would He have, in His Krishna avatara, granted liberation to an earthen pot, which sheltered Him from Yasoda’s anger? In the Rama avatara, He is said to have granted moksha even to the blades of grass in Ayodhya. Saranagati is guaranteed to result in the Lord’s protection, and is not difficult to resort to.
Published - July 15, 2012 08:54 pm IST
