1. Devas Surrender to Lord Rama
At the beginning, Śrī Valmiki describes the supreme master and Lord of all as waiting for the opportunity to protect His surrendered devotees. [As soon as the devas surrender unto Him and beseech Him to save them from the torments of Rāvana,] He became brilliant [in satisfaction] thinking, “I have now got the opportunity to protect those who have surrendered unto Me,” and appeared with His weapons for protecting them and stood amidst them, fully ready to award them protection [from any danger]. This is stated as:
etaminn antare vişnur upayato maha-dyutih Sankha-cakra-gada-pāniḥ pita-väsä jagat-patiḥ
“At this time, the greatly effulgent Lord of the universe, Lord Visnu bearing in His hands a conch, discuss and mace, dressed in yellow cloth, appeared.” (1.15.16)
At that time, the devas headed by Brahma and Rudra surrendered unto Lord Visņu, begging Him to award them the result of killing Ravana:
vadhartham vayam āyātās tasya vai munibhiḥ saha siddha-gandharva-yakṣaś ca tatas tvām saranam gataḥ
“We have assembled here along with the sages so that he may be killed. The siddhas, gandharvas and yakṣas take shelter of You for this reason.” (1.15.25)
2. Trisanku and Sunaḥsepa surrender to Visvamitra
In the Ramayana, the sage Valmiki also describes in detail how persons such as Trisanku and Sunaḥsepa surrendered unto persons such as Visvamitra. He does this to point out that (a) the highest duty (dharma) is to award protection to a surrendered soul and that (b) if one surrenders unto a person who is fully capable of awarding the desired protection and who is compassionate upon the surrendered soul, such surrender will invariably lead to the desired success.
3. One Must Surrender to Mother Sita
Sri Valmiki also points out that while surrendering unto the Supreme Lord, one must first submit to His consort, who mediates between the surrendered soul and the Lord and pleads for His mercy upon the surrendered soul:
sa bhrātus caranau gadhaṁ nipidya raghu-nandanah sītām uvacatiyaśā rāghavam ca mahā-vratam
“Holding His brother’s feet tightly, the greatly famous Lakṣmaṇa, the beloved descendant of Raghu, spoke to Sitä and Raghava of great resolve.” (2.30.2)
4. Bharata Surrenders to Lord Rama
Bharata surrendered unto Rama desiring the result of Rama coronation as the king of Ayodhya. [Indeed, He even said:]
śeşye purastac chalāyā yāvan na pratiyasyati
“I will sleep in front of a hut here until Rama returns [to Ayodhya and becomes its ruler].” (2.111.14)
[But it appears that Ramacandra did not fulfil Bharata’s desire though He surrendered unto Him. Why is that?] In this situation Rama had come out [of Ayodhya] to grant the result of the devas surrender unto Him when they had beseeched Him to kill Ravana Therefore, Lord Rama gave Bharata His sandals (paduka) as representative [as the ruler of Ayodhya], thus making His surrender unto Him fruitful, and after fulfilling the cherished desires devas, He [returned to Ayodhya and] coronated Himself as it’s ruler. Therefore, one cannot object that surrender unto Him can be fruitless.
5.Residents of Dandakaranya Surrenders Lord Rama
At Dandakaranya, the residents of that forest surrendered unto Rama to destroy the [evil] opponents [to their spiritual practices by praying to Him thus]:
te vayam bhavata raksya bhavad-viṣaya-vasinaḥ nagarastho vanastho va tvam no rājā janesvaraḥ
“We reside in Your territory. [Therefore,] You should should protect us. Whether you reside in the city or the forest, You are our king and ruler.” (3.1.19)
From this it is clear that residing in the territory of the Supreme Personality of Godhead like the residents of Kosala is itself surrender unto Him.
6. Jayanta the Crow Surrenders to Lord Rama
While describing the incident of the crow [who had bitten Sita devi and at whom Lord Rama had hurled a Brahmastra], sage shows that simply offering obeisances unto the Lord in full submission] is surrender unto Him:
sa pitră ca parityaktah suraiś ca samaha-rṣibhiḥ trinl lokan samparikramya tam eva saranam gatah
sa tam nipatitam bhūmau saranyaḥ śaraṇāgatam vadhärham api kakutsthaḥ krpaya paryapalayat
“Rejected by his mother and father as well as the demigods and the great sages, Jayanta in the form of the crow went around the three worlds and finally fully surrendered unto Rama. The descendant of Kakutstha, the object of shelter (for all], out of mercy, protected that crow that had fallen on the ground [while offering Him obeisances], though he deserved to be killed” (5.38.33-34)
7. Sugirva Surrenders to Lord Rama
When Sugriva had offended Lord Rama [by not searching for Sitä after Väli was killed], surrender is again described as joining one’s palms in supplication (and sincerity];
kṛtāparādhasya hi te nanyat pasyamy aham kṣamam antarenañjalim baddhva lakṣmaṇasya prasadanāt
[Hanuman to Sugriva:] “Indeed, I do not see any way for you atone] for your offense [unto Lord Rama], except by joining your palms in supplication and seeking Laksmana’s forgiveness a favor.” (4.32.17)
8. Sita Devi request Ravana to Surrender to Lord Rama
The author Valmiki informs us through the following word Sită-devi that surrender unto the Supreme Lord means being favorably disposed to Him in submission:
mitram aupayikam kartum ramah sthanam paripsata vadham canicchata ghoram tvayāsau purusa-rṣabhah viditaḥ sa hi dharmajñaḥ śaraṇāgata-vatsalah
tena maitri bhavatu te yadi jivitum icchasi prasadayasva tvam cainam saranagata-vatsalam
[To Ravana:] “If you want safety and do not want a dreadful death establish a useful friendship with the Supreme Person Räma. He knows dharma and is affectionate to those who surrender unto Him Therefore, if you wish to live, become friendly [towards Rama). Please Him. He is affectionate to those who have surrendered unto Him” (5.21.19-20)
9. Vibhişana surrenders unto Lord Rama
Sage Valmiki points out that before surrendering unto the Lord, one should abandon the association of all those who oppose such surrender. This is can be seen in Vibhişana’s surrender unto Lord Rama:
so ‘ham parusitas tena dasavac cavamanitaḥ tyaktva putrams ca darāms ca raghavam šaranam gatah
“Having been dealt with harshly and insulted like a servant by Ravana, I have abandoned my sons and wife and come to surrender unto Raghava.” (6.17.16)
When Vibhişana surrendered unto Lord Rama, his assistants [favorable to him] were also protected by Rama. Thus, the sage Valmiki points out that when a person surrenders unto the Supreme Lord Rama, even his relatives [favorable to him become recipients of the merciful glance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
10. Lord Rama shows how surrendering to Devata is not Useful
[When Ráma wanted to cross the ocean,] He surrendered unto the presiding deity of ocean [in order that the ocean would part, and He and His army of monkeys could walk to Lanka]. This is described as:
tataḥ sagara-velāyām darbhän astirya raghavaḥ anjalim pran-mukhaḥ kṛtvá prati fisye mahodadheh bahum bhujaga-bhogabham upadhayari-südanaḥ
“Then Raghava spread kusa grass with sharp edges on the shore of the ocean, joined His palms in supplication while facing the east and lay down against the great ocean. That destroyer of enemies used His arm that resembled the tender body of a snake as a pillow (6.21.1)
Through this act, it is pointed out that one should not consider an eligible person to be ineligible or an ineligible person to be eligible. Vibhisana surrendered unto Lord Rama as soon as he left Lanka, a place of impurity. Authorities state that Rama’s surrender (unto the presiding deity of the ocean) did not yield His desired result because He had surrendered to someone who was not competent to award the desired result and compassionate unto the surrendered soul.
Lord Rama did this to show that surrender unto the demigods is not useful. In we come across a similar incident. In Chapters 63 and 64 of Canto 1, Indra instructs to sensually allure Visvamitra who is engaged in austerities in order to conquer over anger. Rambha is frightened that Visvamitra would curse her. Indra assures her, that he and Kamadeva would be with her (and so there is no need for her to be afraid). She surrenders to Indra’s instructions and, lo behold, she is indeed cursed by to become a stone! (Surrendering to Indra is simply useless)
Thus, the sage Valmiki illustrates the principle that even if one surrenders unto [a competent and compassionate person] other than Rama, that surrender will yield the desired result.
11. Trijatā, requested rākṣasīs to surrender to Lord Rama
The sage Valmiki also describes an incident concerning the raksasis who were deputed by Ravana to take care of Sita in the Aśoka-vana grove in Lanka. At a certain point in time, on Ravana’s order, they threatened to kill her and feed Ravan with her flesh if she did not agree to Ravana’s proposal. At that time, Trijatā, a rākṣasī friendly to Sita, chastised the rest of the rākṣasis and related a terrible dream she had the previous night in which she saw Sītā reunited with Rama, and Ravana and followers sent to hell and punished.] Trijatā then advised them:
tad alam krūra-vakyair vaḥ santvam evabhidhīyatām abhiyācāma vaidehim etad dhi mama rocate
yasyam evam vidhah svapno duḥkhitayam pradréyate så duḥkhair vividhair mukta priyam präpnoty anuttamam
bhartsitam api yacadhvaṁ räkṣasyah kim vivakşaya raghavad dhi bhayam ghoram raksasanam upasthitam
pranipäta-prasanna hi maithili janakātmajā
alam eşa paritrātum räkṣasyo mahato bhayat
“Enough of your cruel words! Console her. I think we should beseech Vaidehi [to protect us). I saw the dream [that I related] because she has been put to distress. She will certainly be freed from all kinds of miseries and and attain her excellent beloved husband Though she has been scolded by us rakṣasis, we should beg her to protect us] for the raksasas have attained a terrible danger because of Raghava. Why hesitate to ask her this? When we humbly submit to Maithili, the daughter of Janaka, and make her happy, she alone will be able to protect the rakṣasīs from the great danger [befalling them].” (5.27.52-54)
[Later, after Ravana was killed, Rāma sent Hanuman to Sitä-devi, informing her of this good news. At that time, Hanuman expressed his desire to torment and kill all those räkṣasis who had tormented her. But,] all these räkṣasis were protected by Sitä simply because they had acted on Trijatā’s advice.
12. Conclusion
Thus, the Rāmāyaṇa states that only the process of surrender (saranagati), as set out from the beginning to the end of the book, is capable of granting all desired results, and it itself is the cause of liberation from material existence.
Reference: Sri Valmiki Ramayana, Canto 1, Volume 1, Introduction
