I bow at your feet and submit my doubts and seek for your advice. I am spiritual minded person with a belief that God is supreme, used to read books written by Chinmayananda and Adisankaracharya. While reading i have never focussed on the differences between Advaita, Dvaita, Visishtadvaita. My favorite God is Lord Ganesh. But lately came to know about sarana:gathi. I have understood sarana:gathi as a process of surrendering to Lord Vishnu or Sri man Na:ra:yana for Moksha Prapti of the one who can not follow either Bhakthi yoga, Karma Yoga or Gnana Yoga. I Want to take Sarana:gathi. I only feel that Lord Ganesh is helping me or blessing me to move ahead. Hence If I pray only Lord Vishnu, It should be perfectly alright. Is this correct or not ?. Further My understanding is also that once Sarana:gathi is taken , I become a Vaishnavaite. Which school of thought does Vaishnavism belong to ? . Also please differentiate between the school of thoughts “Dvaita, Advaita and Vishistadvaita. I bow are your feet and wait for your blessings with answer.

JAI SRIMANNARAYANA HAPPY NEW YEAR AND SANKRANTHI 2009, TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY! WE APPRECIATE YOUR INTEREST IN DOING SARANAGATHI TO LORD VISHNU. YOU MUST HAVE HEARD THAT LORD KRISHNA SHOWED HIS UNIVERSAL FORM TO ARJUNA IN 11TH CHAPTER OF

1) We know that Sriman Narayana is Supreme, as per Vedas. And this means, we reject Rajasic and Tamasic Puranas as invalid. We accept the Ithihasas, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Swami, my question is about the Mahabharata. There are so many versions in existence today. Many of these versions have tales like Shiva being called Supreme. How do Vaishnavas explain these verses? Because, I believe a team of scholars compiled an edition of every existent verse (BORI’s Critical Edition). In that edition, there are things like Bhishma telling Yudhishtira to worship Shiva, and Shiva being called greater than Vishnu. So, which is the correct version (in english) for Vaishnavas to follow? And if these verses calling Shiva as supreme are authentic, then how do we explain them? Did our poorvacharyas explain these verses? 2) My second question pertains to the Veda. I am aware that Satapatha Brahmana and other verses talk about birth of Shiva, so therby, Shiva is not Supreme. But how do we identify Vishnu as Sriman Narayana? And in Gita, Krishna says, ‘Among Adityas, I am Vishnu’. We know Adityas are created by NarayaNa. Then why does Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, call Vishnu an Aditya? I’d be grateful if you could kindly answer these questions.

1) NO DOUBT THAT THERE ARE MANY SLOKAS INTRUDED IN MAHA BHARATHA IN RECENT TIMES. AS WE KNOW THAT THE WHOLE STORY ULTIMATELY DECLARES THAT LORD VISHNU IS THE SUPREME AND MANY LIKE BHISHMA IN RAJASUYA YAGA, RISHIS IN FOREST

Jai Srimannarayana! We are happy for the interest you have in knowing things. we try to give you replies in brief at those questions only. You may go through them. =Chinnajeeyar= Why does the difference of opinion exist between Vaishnavas on who the Source of all incarnations is? Why does the Supreme Lord leave room for these differences?

ANS: GOD IS NOT A BUSINESS MAN. HE WILL NOT CLEAR THE ACCOUNT OF THE INDIVIDUAL THEN AND THERE ITSELF, WHENEVER IT IS STARTED.HE WANTS US TO REALIZE AND PRACTICE GOOD THINGS. WHAT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND IS, GOD DID