Sharanagati Gadyam
The Sharanagati Gadyam is a Sanskrit prayer, written by the Hindu philosopher Ramanuja towards the end of the 11th century. The Gadya format is a Sanskrit literary form of elaborate prose composition. It is one of the earliest bhakti prayers in the Sri Vaishnava tradition and is the basis for many prayers, such as Raghuvira Gadyam which follows a similar style. It is recited in the 108 Divya Desam temples, including Srirangam.
Composition
According to Sri Vaishnava tradition, Ramanuja and his disciples once visited the Ranganatha temple in Srirangam on panguni uttiram, a day in the Tamil calendar month of panguni on the day of the ascension of the star called uttiram. According to tradition, the star uttiram was in ascent when the goddess of the temple, Ranganayaki, was born, and also the day she married the god Ranganatha. Ramanuja is regarded to have been inspired by the festivities of the day and subsequently composed three Gadyas: the Sriranga Gadyam, the Sharanagati Gadyam, and the Vaikuntha Gadyam.The three Gadyas present a progression of prapatti. In the Sharanagati Gadyam, the speaker surrenders to Sri and Narayana seeking release from sin and gain eternal service in Vaikuntha. The Sriranga Gadyam is a brief prayer to serve Ranganatha at Srirangam. The Vaikuntha Gadyam describes the devotee's vision of Narayana and Sri in Vaikuntha, seeking to serve them eternally, echoing the Dvaya and Tirumantra.