Faith Column | February 11, 2026

Sage Suka tells Pareekshit that dhyana should begin with focusing the mind on the Supreme form of Lord Narayana, that is His Virat form. The next stage is to focus on the Lord as antaryami, elaborated Valayapet Ramachariar in a discourse. In a small form, He exists inside everyone. He holds His weapons such as the conch, discus and mace. He has an enchanting smile. His eyes are beautiful like lotuses. His smile is pleasing. He wears a yellow garment. His jewels are studded with precious gems. His crown and earrings are of gold too. On His chest is the gem known as Kaustubha. He wears a garland of fresh flowers. It will not be possible to visualise all aspects of this small form. We can start by turning our thoughts towards each feature separately, one after the other.

Kamban says those who saw Rama’s broad shoulders could not take their eyes off them. Those who saw His lotus-like feet continued to see only His feet, without turning their attention to anything else. Those who saw Rama’s hands continued to see them and saw nothing else. Likewise, we can first focus on His feet, and then meditate on other features in succession, going up to His smile. We have to surrender ourselves to the Lord. Saranagati is the only route to liberation. We must surrender to Him even when we are young. Saranagati should not be postponed to old age. We must not think that bathing in the Ganga when we are old, and visits to pilgrim centres will automatically lead to liberation. We may wonder what the auspicious time for surrender is. There is no specific time for Saranagati. It can be done at any time. Is there any particular place for Saranagati? Again, the answer is in the negative. To surrender the atma to Him, there are no geographical boundaries or limitations of time.