Bhagavad-gita 18.66. What Does it Mean to Surrender to God
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · Muscat · 2019
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Invocation and initial reflections
Omnamo bhagavate vudevaya sudevaya, Omnamo Bhagavate, sudevaya sum na mo bhagavate vasudeva sriva Narayanskritya, naramchayu, narotamam, namchayva narotam, dedim, saraswati Yasam, Devi Saraswati Yam, Tatoja Modiraya,
this morning I spoke a little bit about remembering Krishna, what it means to remember about God. And then I spoke again this morning about how to be able to remember about God we have to surrender ourselves.
Because when we maintain the false concept of independence, it's not possible to think about God.
When we are in a very dangerous situation, naturally, when people feel that only God can help them or can save them, then they surrender to Him.
In a normal condition, quote-unquote normal condition, when we leave and when we kind of you know act in an environment where everything is under our control, we don't surrender to God.
And therefore we, always think about us: how we should act, what we should do to protect ourselves, how it will be, and and therefore it's it's not possible to think about God. Very rarely we think about God.
Even during kīrtana. Kīrtana is probably a very nice time to think about something else. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. And then you think about something else.
And you know, so many nice topics to think about, so many important topics, this and that.
So therefore, I said that quoting Śrīvīra Gosvāmī that to be able to remember about God, some preliminary purification of the heart has to take place, which basically means the spirit of surrender. Therefore, I wanted to speak today about this surrender.
What does it mean? What to do technically? What does it really mean? And of course, we all know that this is the last statement.
Actually, first statement in Bhagavad-gītā, and the last statement in Bhagavad-gītā, they're all about surrender.
Text and translation of Bhagavad-gita 18.66
So I will read this last verse of Bhagavad-gītā, 18.66, and then try to speak a few words about this. What does it mean to surrender?
What it really means, and how it purifies the heart and how it makes our life easier and how it makes our life more happy and how it relieves us from stress.
So let's chant this famous verse, sarva-dharmān parityajya, mām ekam śaraṇaṁ vraja. Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ. Sarva-dharmān: all varieties of religion. Parityajya: abandoning. Mām: unto Me. Ekam: only.
Śaraṇam: for surrender. Vraja: go. Ahaṁ: I. Tvām: you. Sarva: all. Pāpebhyo: from sinful reactions. Mokṣayiṣyāmi: will deliver. Mā śucaḥ: do not worry. Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me.
I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.
The Lord has described various kinds of knowledge and processes of religion. Knowledge of the Supreme Brahman, knowledge of the Supersoul, knowledge of the different types of orders and statuses of life, knowledge of renounced order of life,
knowledge of non-attachment, sense and mind control, meditation, etc. He has described in so many ways different types of religions. Now in summarizing Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord says that Arjuna
should give up all the processes that have been explained to him, he should simply surrender to Krishna. That surrender will save him from all kinds of sinful reactions, for the Lord personally promises to protect him.
In the seventh chapter, it was said that only one who has become free from all sinful reactions can take to the worship of Lord Krishna. Thus, one may think that unless he is free from all sinful reactions,
he cannot take to the surrendering process. To such doubts, it is here said that even if one is not free from all sinful reactions simply by the process of surrendering to Sri Krishna, he is automatically freed.
There is no need for strenuous effort to free oneself from sinful reactions. One should unhesitatingly accept Krishna as the supreme savior of all living entities with faith and love, one should surrender unto Him.
The process of surrender is described in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prāतिकūlyasya varjanam, rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāsao gopْتṛtve varaṇam tathā.
The six items of surrender
supreme savior of all living entities with faith and love, one should surrender unto Him.
The process of surrender is described in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ, prātikūlyasya varjanam rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāsaḥ. According
to the devotional process, one should simply accept such religious principles that will lead ultimately to the devotional service of the Lord, one may perform a particular occupational duty according to his position in the social order, but if by executing this duty, one does not come to the point of Krishna consciousness, all his activities are in vain.
Anything that does not lead to the perfectional stage of Krishna consciousness should be avoided. One should be confident that in all circumstances Krishna will protect him from all difficulties.
There is no need of thinking how one should keep the body and soul together. Krishna will see to that. One should always think himself helpless and should consider Krishna the only basis for his progress in life.
As soon as one seriously engages himself in the devotional service of the Lord, in full Krishna consciousness, at once he becomes freed from all contamination of material nature.
There are different processes of religion and purificatory processes by cultivation of knowledge, meditation in the mystic yoga system, etc., but one who surrenders unto Krishna does not have to execute so many methods.
That simple surrender unto Krishna will save him from unnecessarily wasting time. One can thus make all progress at once and be freed from all sinful reactions. One should be attracted to the beautiful vision of Krishna.
His name is Krishna because He is all-attractive. One who becomes attracted by the beautiful, all-powerful, omnipotent vision of Krishna is fortunate.
There are different kinds of transcendentalism. Some of them are attached to the impersonal Brahman vision, some of them are attracted to the supersoul feature, etc., but one who is attracted to the personal feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and above all, who is attracted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Krishna himself is the most perfect transcendentalist.
In other words, devotional service to Krishna in full Krishna consciousness is the most confidential part of knowledge. And this is the essence of the whole Bhagavad-gītā.
Karma yogis, empiric philosophers, mystics, and devotees are all called transcendentalists, but one who is a pure devotee is the best of all.
The particular words used here, masuchaha, do not fear, do not hesitate, don't worry, are very significant.
One may be perplexed as to how one can give up all kinds of religious forms and simply surrender to Krishna. But such worry is useless. Śrīla Prabhupāda. Sarvadaman parityajamaikam Saranam Raja Ham Twam Sarva Pyby Moksha me masucha. Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear Ramadish Krishna
Namaḥ oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine. Namaste sārasvate deve গৌরবাণী প্রচারিনে nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe.
Ванчhā-kalpatarubhyas ca kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca patitānām pāvanebhyo vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ. Jay Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhupā Nityānanda Śrī Advaita Gadādhara Śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda. Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma Hare Hare, Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Okay. We have yet another chance to surrender to Krishna. Actually, every day is our chance to surrender to Krishna. And oftentimes we live the day and actually we should ask ourselves, have I surrendered today or not?
How was my day? How did I behave? What was my thought process? How did I speak?
Krishna's extreme compassion for living entities
It's a good exercise because ultimately that's what we're supposed to do. Krishna speaks this instruction with tears in his eyes. In the verse number 63, coming close to the end of Bhagavad- gītā.
Which is the manifestation of his karuna, of his compassion towards us, living entities. He says uh no, in the verse sixty two no no no Anyway, uh in the verse sixty three uh he says uh
uh uh itita gyanam akyatam guhyat guhyataramya uh I have explained to you knowledge the most confidential knowledge. Guhyat Guchiataram. The most secret knowledge.
I have given you the most important knowledge, whatever is there. Itana makyatam. Guchiat guhyat Tararamama mayyaa. Vismrishy taat as please think about it very thoroughly. Please be very careful.
Please don't be light-minded. Please apply your mind to my instructions. Think about it. Ascertain, so that there are no doubts remain in your mind. And then yathecच्छाси тат куру and then do whatever you like.
So Krishna in this verse, in the verse 63, he basically says you're free to do whatever you like. There was one little story when Prabhupada was giving a lecture in Bhagavad-gītā.
One Indian man raised his hand and he said, Swamiji, you know my My favorite verse in Bhagavad-gītā. My favorite verse in Bhagavad-gītā is when Krishna says, you do whatever you like.
Krishna doesn't say do whatever you like. Krishna says, please, please think carefully. I gave you very important knowledge. If you understand this knowledge thoroughly, you will for sure act properly,
but still, you're free, you have the free will, you can do whatever you like. But then, and it's very interesting. Krishna says this: do whatever you like, and then uh immediately he has a second thought. No, no, no.
No, I have to tell what I mean to say. The dynamic here is that Krishna told so many things, and he's quite trust to Arjuna that he will understand if he thinks thoroughly what he meant to say.
But then somehow or other he says: just in case, just in case you didn't understand the essence, just in case you remain bewildered.
Just in case you're still confused what to do, whether to sit with a react back on a deer skin and meditate or perform your duty according to your varṇāśrama, or do something else. Just in case you don't know, please listen to me.
I will repeat the most important thing. And that's his extreme compassion.
He says, just in case you don't understand, I will repeat, and he repeats basically two verses, which are the most important verses in the whole of Bhagavad-gītā.
And if we understand these two verses, we will understand the whole Bhagavad-gītā. There is no need to read 700 verses. There is no need to study the whole Bhagavad-gītā. Just two verses is enough.
According to Krishna himself.
The two essential verses of Bhagavad-gita
And in case somebody will ask you exam to pass the exam, what Krishna says in the first chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, the second chapter, say this is all not important. You just tell Krishna himself says forget all about this. Just two verses is enough.
Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru, just remember about me and become my devotee. Do something for me, mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo 'si me. Pay obeisances to me, bow down to me.
And, uh, if you do this, mām evaiṣyati satyam te, I for sure, I will you will come to me. For sure. Very simple. Just think about me. No need to do anything else. Become my devotee.
Put some kantimala, bow down to me every now and then. Mām evaiṣyati satyam te. I tell you the truth, you will come to me. No doubt about it. Pratijāne. Pratijāne means very boldly, very solemnly, I declare now. Pratijāne.
Pratijāne means solemn declaration. I promise to you, you will come to me.
And then he says, he speaks this verse: sarvān dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi. Namraja Hamtvam Sarva Papibyo Mokshaha. And by saying this verse he he remains silent.
He's he has said everything which he wanted to say. And still people don't understand this. I think I told you the story, and even if I did, I can repeat it again.
Then once I spoke with Indian ambassador about the meaning of Bhagavad-gītā. And the Indian ambassador was very much against Gandhi. He said Gandhi, he spoiled everything.
Gandhi said, you know, he was commending Bhagavad-gītā and said that Bhagavad-gītā is about non-violence.
How you can how you can prove on the basis of Bhagavad-gītā that Bhagavad-gītā is about non-violence? Gita is about non-violence? And I agree with him.
You know, it's Krishna always says, fight, fight, fight, and then Gandhi comes and says, no, don't fight. No need. You know, and he uses Krishna's words for this.
And I said to him, what is in your opinion, what is the meaning of Bhagavad-gītā? He said, Bhagavad-gītā is about fighting for the good cause, for for our motherhood. Just fight for this.
I said no, Bhagavad-gītā is about abandoning all kinds of, you know, he said you you have the duty to fight and we have the duty and we have to do this. I said, no, Krishna says no, this is not so important.
The most important is to render to him, to surrender to him. He says, where did he say this? I said, in Bhagavad-gītā. Where? Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaḿ śaraṇaṁ vraja. You understand?
Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaḿ śaraṇaṁ vraja. Very simple. You know, even if you don't know Sanskrit that much, everyone can understand. He says, I don't believe it. I have to check it.
So what I mean to say is that despite Krishna made it so abundantly clear, still people are confused. And therefore, Prabhupāda explains in the beginning of purport, that Krishna has said so many
things, but he wants to make clear that the essence of what he says, the essence, his message, his basic message is that take shelter
Seeking shelter and the nature of Maya
of Krishna. Take shelter of him, and he will protect you. And actually, if we even if we study the whole book, analyze the whole book carefully, we will understand that Bhagavad-gītā starts from surrender.
Arjuna says, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam. Prapanam means I am surrendered to you. I am your disciple. I am the soul surrendered unto you. Because I'm confused. I don't know what to do.
And actually, this is the situation of every one of us because this world is so complicated. It's so difficult. This world is is is very difficult. We always have to do some to make some very difficult choices in this world.
And therefore Arjuna says, I don't know what to do. I'm completely bewildered in the matter of Dharma. He says, what is this? Kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ. I have the sweetness of the heart.
My heart is not in the right position. And we know sometimes when we have very difficult choice, somehow or other deep inside we know what we should do, but there is no strength to do it.
When there is very difficult ethical choice, it's very difficult to make it. So therefore Arjuna says, kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ, I'm completely overwhelmed by this weakness of the heart.
And dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥ, I'm completely bewildered. I don't know what is my Dharma. So śiṣyas te 'haṁ said, please tell me very definitely what I should do, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam.
So that's the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā. Only after Arjuna says this very clearly, Krishna starts speaking Bhagavad-gītā. Before Krishna was just you know smiling. He says, yeah, yeah, nice, nice, nice, nice.
But then Narjuna says, please tell me very clearly, I am surrendered unto you. Then Krishna opens his mouth.
He opens his mouth because Arjuna surrenders and at the end of Bhagavad-gītā he says, just surrender unto me. Gita he says, just surrender unto me. There's nothing else to do. That's very simple. Just take shelter of me.
Trust me. I will protect you. I'm there. Don't think that I'm not there. But and then in the seventh chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, he again says the same thing.
He says that only those who surrender unto me they can daivi Hyeshaguna Mai Mama Maya Duratya. This Maya is very difficult to overcome. It's Daivi.
No, not Yayatama prapanete um Those who surrender unto me very easily can cross over this Maya. Only those. And we all know how difficult is Maya. Daivihiesha Gunuma Mai Mama Maya Duradyya. Only I can save you.
And then in the twelfth chapter again he says, just just surrender unto me, I will very quickly, I will save you from this ocean of birth and death. And still, we don't do it. You know, Krishna again and again repeats it.
We still don't understand how to do this.
The story of Parasara Bhattar and the hunter
We still somehow rather try to keep our false independence. There is a very nice story from the life of Parāśara Bhaṭṭar. It's the next ācārya after Rāmānujācārya. In Śrī Sampradāya, Rāmānujācārya is the son of Kūreśa,
very great devotee. So he was once traveling in a forest with a little group of his disciples. And in the forest he met a hunter. And then he started talking with the hunter. And the hunter said, you know what?
Very amazing thing happened to me today.
I caught a rabbit in a trap and I wanted to kill the rabbit. And all of a sudden, this rabbit started circumembolating around me, and then he put his head on my feet. And my heart melted.
And I thought, you know, I have to protect him. I cannot kill this poor creature. When Parasarabhatar heard this story, tears started flowing from his eyes and he fainted.
His disciples became very worried and they revived him from his unconscious state and they asked Guruji, teacher, please tell us, why did you faint? What happened with you?
He said, just look at this hunter. This hunter is very cruel. And this hunter never promised that he will protect anyone who surrenders to him. He never promised.
And this rabbit is so stupid, he is just a stupid animal. Still, he did the right thing, he surrendered to him, and the hunter protected him.
Krishna very openly promised that he will protect anyone who surrendered to him. He said this. And we're supposed to be more intelligent, still, we don't want to surrender to him.
When I started thinking about it, I just couldn't. I was thinking about the mercy of the Lord and about the stupidity of living entities. That's why I fainted. And that's that's a fact.
You know, here the Lord says you don't need to do anything. And still we think no no this isn't it cannot be that simple. It cannot be that it's too simple. What what does it mean surrender? Let me do some yoga.
Let me do the headstand. Maybe this will help. You know, it's very interesting if you read all these books. You know, I I I I don't want to surrender to Krishna, therefore, I read all these books.
And you read these yoga books, and they say, you know, from this disease you do this, and from that disease you do this. And if you do headstand, you will become immortal. Just headstand.
I mean, I don't know for how many years you have to stand on the head to become immortal. I've never seen anyone who has become immortal this way. Still, people believe it. And people do.
They are ready to stand upside down, and they think that by standing upside down, it will save them. Why do they stand upside down? Because they think it will save them. Everyone is trying to find some shelter.
Every one of us is trying to find some shelter, we're trying to find shelter in someone, thinking that His Majesty can save us from birth and death. He cannot. He cannot save himself.
Or sometimes we go to the doctor and we say, please, doctor, please save me. And the doctor says, No, I cannot save you. Unfortunately, you will have to die. Oh no, no, no.
But Krishna says not only we will all have to die, but we also committed so many sins, so many sinful activities, knowingly and unknowingly.
How much violence we created, how much pain we inflicted to other living entities. How much pain we created in our even family, you know. So much pain is there, so much so much violence is there.
I mean, it may not be gross violence, but still there are some grudges there, so many sinful activities are there. And Krishna says: don't worry about this, mashuchaha. That's his last word. His last word, mashuchaha.
Please don't worry. Please smile. No need to worry. No need to worry. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. But what does it mean in reality?
In reality, and we all know that this much theory we know, but what does it mean? It does not mean just external sort of thing. It actually means that it has to go a little deeper within our heart.
The mood of surrender should be there. That's what Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains.
Cultivating the emotion of surrender in daily life
He says that's that's a certain emotion which we have to cultivate within our heart: the emotion of surrender. And it starts from ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlyasya varjanam.
It basically means that I should abandon I should accept everything which is favorable for me being a devotee. It basically means and I should reject everything which is unfavorable for this. And what does it mean?
It does not mean externally that I am just I am not eating meat. Meat is not favorable for Krishna consciousness. There is no doubt about it. But does it mean that anyone who does not eat meat is surrendered? No.
So many people don't eat meat. If you don't eat meat because your family doesn't eat meat, because this is the family tradition.
Or if you don't eat meat because it's bad for your health, it doesn't mean that you're surrendered. Surrendered means I don't, I will not eat it, why? Because Krishna doesn't want me to eat meat.
And that should be enough reason for us. And that's emotion. And in particular, it basically means that my guru doesn't want me to do this. Because guru becomes the representative of God. Why I don't do this?
Because guru says I shouldn't do this and I don't do it. You know. And uh I I don't have to have uh too much explanation for this, why he doesn't want me to do this. He knows better. He knows better.
Sometimes I I know I don't know how it is among Indians or here or whatever, but I know among Russians it's a very big thing about eating meat, okay, no problem. They can give up eating meat.
But eating chocolate is very difficult. To give up eating chocolate because they're so conditioned of eating chocolate, you know, from the very childhood, they used to eat, you know, big bars of chocolate.
Sometimes devotees they started arguing. Or they start saying something, you know, that it's never said explicitly. Tea and coffee is there but not chocolate. But ultimately it's the same.
Tea, coffee, chocolate, it it's it's the same sort of substance. And um and they ask why we cannot eat chocolate or why we cannot eat tea, drink tea, or drink coffee. Uh simple, because Krishna doesn't want us.
Because this influences our mind and that makes our mind artificial. All this psycho-active substances which are there in chocolate, in tea, in coffee, they all influence our mind.
And that's not good, you know, we can give the rational rational behind it and reasons behind it. Fine. But ultimately, our reason should be: I want to please God.
I'm doing it because Krishna will be pleased by me not eating chocolate. This is my sacrifice. This is my last chocolate. I give it to Krishna and I will not take it myself. So basically that's the mood.
It's like this, you know, when we have somebody who is very dear to us, then we want to do something, we don't want to do something which is not pleasing to him, and we want to do something which is pleasing to him.
And that means surrender. Surrender means personal relationship.
The story of Liladhar Gupta and his father
I like to tell one little story which I recently told, but I will tell it again because it's a nice story. This story was told to me by one Ayurvedic doctor in Vrindavan, Liladar Gupta.
He was brought up in a very strict environment. His father, Naratam Gupta, very traditional man, and he never allowed little boy Naratam Liladhar to go to cinema.
So, and when he was growing up, all his schoolmates and they would go to cinema and they would discuss and he was under severe social pressure. But still, you know, somehow or other he was not allowed to do this.
So when he became on his own and he went to college To Jaipur, to Ayurvedic college in Jaipur, the first thing he wanted to do, to go to cinema.
Because as we all know, forbidden fruit is very sweet. It's always very sweet. So he said, no, I got my first opportunity, first chance, I'm on my own, my father is not here.
You know, I sat down and I was, you know, I was kind of expecting so much pleasure which will come now. I will see this movie.
He said that as soon as the screen was lit up and some movie started, all of a sudden I saw huge picture of my father from the screen looking at me.
And he was looking at me and looking at me with such compassion and such love and looking at me and looking at me.
And I was looking at him and I said, okay, I understood my father and I went away and I never went to cinema anymore.
So, what I want to say is that because the relationship are there, because love was there, it was not only the strictness, if it was only strictness, if his father would only tell, don't go to cinema, you you rascal, you know, he would happily see cinemas. At the first opportunity.
But because the love was there, the relationship was there, the emotion was there, he was not able to cross the border. He was not able to do something which he knew would be displeasing for his father.
And that's what surrender means. Why I don't do it because my father doesn't want me to do it. Why I do it? Because my father, who loves me, wants me to do it.
If this emotion is there, if this rationale is there, in our heart established, why I don't do it? Because Krishna doesn't want me to do it. Because my spiritual master doesn't want me to do it.
If this is there, then you're surrendered. And if you're doing this because of social pressure and, if nobody sees this, then you do it.
Or if you have some other consideration, you know, it's good for my health, therefore I don't do it. Or, you know, she is very good, you know, ekādaśī is there. Let's fast a little bit.
It's, you know, I have some extra kilos. This is not surrender. You know, you do externally, these things.
You do ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ, you do something which is favorable. Fasting on ekādaśī is favorable for Krishna consciousness, but you have to do it with proper consciousness. Why I do it? Because Krishna wants me to do it.
And because I love Krishna. Even if I don't love him, but I want to love him. And I know he wants something good for me. If this is there, if this thought process is there, then the surrender takes place.
And if we look at the world with this thought process, then we can say I'm surrendering.
When Krishna says sarva-dharmān parityajya, he basically means please do believe that I am here, I'm personal. I'm here for you. And I love you.
And please don't do this and please know that ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ, so I protect you all. protect you all the time. Goptṛtva-varaṇaṁ tathā, and I maintain you.
Like Śrīla Prabhupāda says, you know, who maintains us? Ultimately Krishna maintains us. Krishna maintains us. We may think, you know, because I'm so clever, you know, I maintain myself. But no, no, Krishna maintains us.
And you know, if he doesn't want, we may you know, even though we do everything the same as we did, still he may, you know, he may turn off the supply somehow or other.
So what he says, please, please try to understand this. And how with understanding this?
The gradual process of surrendering mind and intelligence
It's a gradual process. Surrender is a process which takes time.
We shouldn't think that all of a sudden I become a surrendered soul. I was not surrendered, I was so independent, and then all of a sudden I become a surrendered soul. No. First, I surrender my mind.
It's very clearly said here. Anukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlyasya varjanam. The mind is programmed in a binary system.
You know zero one zero one zero zero one yes no, yes, no, yes, no, good, bad, so like something, I don't like something.
So my mind, there is a very strong program in my mind. This is what I like, and this I want, and this is what I don't like, and this I don't want.
So the first step in surrender is surrendering the mind, which is programmed in a specific way, and surrendering means that I reprogram my mind.
Now, what I want, I want what I want. I want what I like, and I don't want what I don't like.
So if I want to surrender, the first thing which I should do, uh, I want which Krishna likes, and I don't want which Krishna doesn't like.
Even though I may like what Krishna doesn't like, and I may not like which Krishna likes, but still, I reprogram my mind.
So, and that's a very important step, and it may take some time, you know, to really imbibe this spirit. I do it because Krishna, Krishna wants me to do it, and I'm doing this.
And then Krishna says, rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso goptṛtve varaṇaṁ tathā, that's buddhi. Buddhi or intelligence is this faculty of our consciousness which actually helps us to maintain ourselves and to protect ourselves, right?
Buddhi is what you know, the right course of action. By the buddhi we determine what we should do and what we shouldn't do for our protection.
And Krishna says, surrender your intelligence to me. Surrender your intelligence means always understand that I'm protecting you. And if something wrong is happening, don't think it's wrong.
Just understand I'm behind this. You know, so many times we think that something was wrong, but then when we look back, we understand it was actually really good. If it didn't happen, so many good things wouldn't happen.
But we are very quick in judging things. Basically, when Krishna says, surrender to me, it means that try to judge not from your own point of view.
Try to judge from the point of view, well, from my point of view, from the point of view of God. You know what basically it means that whatever is happening is for good.
Even if we don't understand how it is good, but if we have this attitude of accepting that whatever is happening to me is ultimately sent to me by God and it's for my good, uh then it means we are surrendered.
There are so many stories about this how you know those who are surrendered, they're really protected by God.
Sita's refusal of Hanuman's offer in Ramayana
There is a beautiful story about this in the Rāmāyaṇa. In the Rāmāyaṇa, it's in Sundara Kāṇḍa when Hanumān is speaking with Sita.
And Hanumān is saying to Sita, you know, if you want, sit on my shoulder and I will bring you to Ram. Immediately, no problem. I will jump over the ocean and in no time you will be with Rāma. Sit here.
And Sita looks at him and says, and Hanumān at that time just a little monkey like this. And Sita looks at him and says, I think you overestimate your strength, my dear sir. How I can sit on you.
He said, no, no, you you underestimate my strengths. I can root out the whole Lanka with Rāvaṇa and bring it to Rāma. He doesn't have to go to Lanka all the way. I can do it. And Sita says, no, no, it's okay.
Yeah, I believe you, but still I will not sit on you because only Rāma can protect me. Who you think you are? And it's very important thing because this is the consciousness which we should have.
Ultimately Krishna protects me. It's a very unusual consciousness. Very rarely it is in reality, that Krishna always protects me.
But Sita says, somebody comes to, let's say, somebody comes to you and says, I can save you from your problem. And you say, No, no, only God can save me from my problem. So Sītā exactly says this, only Rāma can save me. I'm not going to be saved by you. Because it will diminish the glory of my Lord.
You may save me, but it will not be good neither for me, nor for my Lord, nor for the reputation of my Lord. Let Him come and save me. He's the only One who can save me.
And that's actually uh the condition which uh Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains uh when you can surrender, when you have this uh consciousness that ananya-gatitva, that uh there is no other shelter. You cannot go to anyone else. There's only one source of protection. If you have this understanding, then it's there.
So and then Hanumān asks Sītā, can you tell me this? Can you tell me something you know so that I could prove to Rāma that I've seen you and I conversed with you.
And Sītā starts crying, and she said, okay, I will tell you the story which nobody in the whole universe knows. And if you tell this story to Lord Rāma, he will definitely believe you that that you've seen me.
So once we were in Chitrakūṭa and in Chitrakūṭa Rāma took a bath and he was wet and he was in my lap
and one notorious crow started pecking my feet and you know I I was trying to drive away this crow but the crow was really insistent.
And to make this long story short, you know, the Sītā she was tired and she slept and Rāma slept.
They together slept during the day, and at that moment, the crow, which happened to be an Asura, son of Indra, Kāka-sura. The crow flew to her breast and started pecking her breast, the blood started flowing from her breast, and drops of Sītā's blood touched Rāma's body and Rāma woke up. And Sita definitely woke up.
And Rāma all of a sudden saw Sītā with blood on her breast. And he asked her, who did this? And she didn't say anything. But then Rāma saw this crow, which is there, with the blood on his beak and his legs.
So this and Rāma became furious. He took a blade of grass and he chanted mantra, brahmāstra-mantra. And he threw this blade of grass. And this blade of grass started chasing Kāka-sura.
And Kāka-sura flew, and because he was powerful Asura, and because he was son of Indra, he started flying all over the universe. And he was trying to find shelter from different demigods asking them to protect.
But no matter what he tried, this blade of grass was chasing him and chasing him, and he was really frantic, and it was always behind him, and it was burning. This brahmāstra was chasing him.
But then it is said, it's very interesting what happened then.
It's little details which is not there in Rāmāyaṇa, but ācāryas they explained, then Kakasura noticed then when he goes away from Rāma further away, then the heat behind him becomes more fierce and more severe.
And then somehow or other he comes closer to Rāma. Then this brahmāstra becomes a little more pacified. And he understood that something he really realized that something is going on.
So ultimately, without finding shelter anywhere in the universe, he he just dropped practically dead next to Rāma. He's there. And that's the whole story is about our life actually. It's not about Kakasura.
We are running away from God in the fear of death. We are running everywhere, we are trying to find shelter here and there, from this doctor, or that doctor, or this state, or that state.
You know, please save me, save me, save me. But we always feel that the death is behind us. But the point is that as soon as we come closer, this brahmāstra, the thought process of this brahmāstra is very interesting.
When this Kakasura was coming closer to God, brahmāstra thought, oh, he's probably planning to surrender to God. Let me you know let him be free from my danger. So the same way with us.
As soon as we're coming closer to God, we feel that there is less fear. But what happened with this Kakasura, as I said, he dropped dead, almost dead, half dead near Rāma's feet.
And basically it means that he surrendered to Rāma. But somehow or other because he's a sur, he just couldn't do it properly. When he dropped near Rāma's feet, his feet were facing Rāma, not his head, but his feet.
And it was very disrespectful. He's just there, but his feet are you know in the direction of Rāma. And Rāma is looking at him. And then Sītā compassionately is looking at him.
And Sītā turns this half-dead body of crow in 180 degrees so that his head is in the feet of Lord Rāma. And then she looks at Lord Rāma and said, See, he surrendered to you. Now you save him. You promised this.
Lord Rāma also promised this. He said, Tavasmiti Sayachate, he said, Abayam Sarvat Sincere feeling, I am yours. Then Abayam Sarvadatasmay, I will make him fearless.
So Sita says, now he surrendered to him, now you know let him free. And Lord Rāma says, Yes, but you know I my brahmastra cannot go in vain. So it will only take away one eye of yours.
So ever since this kākāsura is with one eye, he's just half blind. But otherwise he was saved.
So the purport of this story is that if we surrender to God, especially in the presence of his energy of Sītā, who is very kind, then for sure he will protect. And he says this. He says this very clearly.
And basically, it means that, again, that means the feeling inside. God protects me. If the feeling is there, God will protect us. If the feeling is not there, He will not protect us.
We will always feel this fear of death because the feeling is not there. And it's a fact. If the feeling is not there, God does not protect us. But if the feeling is there, the protection will be there.
The protection for sure will be there. Because you know he is he is there for us. And then so that's intelligence.
Intelligence means we have to always think what is happening for me and how what is happening is good for me.
That basically surrender means we apply our intelligence and we try to understand by our intelligence how God protects me and how God maintains me. And we will be able to understand.
And so that's we surrender first our mind, then we surrender our intelligence.
Surrendering mind intelligence and ego
And then what is remaining? Pride. Ego is remaining, right?
There are only three things which are there in our mind: the mind, intelligence, and ego. Ahaṅkāra. So the three other things, Atmanikshepa Karpanye, Atmanikshepa, you give yourself and Karpany, you feel very meek and humble.
It means you surrender your ego. You know, in the beginning we can only surrender our mind. Then our intelligence, again it's a process. And then we surrender our ego. I'm humble, I'm yours, I belong to you.
So ultimately, this is what it is, and if we do this, no need to worry about anything else. You know, the surrender process is complete.
Sarvān dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ. Aham tvam sarva papyvyo, no problem. Even if you do it at the very last moment of this.
But please don't postpone too much because death may come sooner than you expect. Death may come at any moment. So that's what I said, uh at the end of the day, we
should ask myself, how did I behave? How did I behave during the day? What was my thought process? How I was thinking during the day? How I was speaking or relating with other people?
Was I relating with other people as somebody who is always protecting myself? Or was I surrendered? Was I trying to see how God speaks with me through different people?
Or was I thinking that they're just all nonsense and they don't know how great I am, and they don't appreciate myself. You know, so that's what it means. Surrender means it's a process, and it's actually,
not even day to day, it's minute by minute process. But it's a very happy process.
We always in a dangerous position because the mind is there, the programs in the mind is there, the ego is there, the intelligence is there.
But the meaning of human life is to reprogram our mind, our intelligence, and our ego. If we do this, then we will achieve something substantial in life. Otherwise every other achievement will be finished.
You may have many good cars and villas and even citizenship in a month or whatever your dream is. But it will all be finished. Sooner or later. It will be finished sooner. Later. Sooner than you want than you want.
Definitely sooner than you want. But what is the achievement? The achievement is that what we will be able to achieve by reprogramming our mind, our consciousness. That the mind is surrendered.
I only do what Krishna wants me to do. The intelligence is surrendered. It means that I know that whatever is happening with me is happening because he is behind it.
And ego is uh surrendered and I don't think I'm very important, I don't think I'm very big, I think I'm I'm small and Krishna is protecting me. That's what it is. And it's simple. It's not difficult. Because it's reality.
What is difficult? Difficult is something which is unnatural. To do something unnatural, to become great is very difficult. To become small is not difficult because we are small.
To become big president of the country is very difficult because it's unnatural and it's not necessary. It's not needed. Nobody became happy by becoming president of America.
If you think that he's happy he's the most miserable person in the world. Still everyone wants to do it. You know, but uh if if you become very small and humble, you become happy. But still it's very difficult for us.
No, no, no, no, no. Not this. No, I'm not ready yet. When I retire, when I become old, then I may try it. No, no, don't postpone it. Become happy now. Stop worrying now. Krishna says, stop worrying now. Don't worry now.
Why do you worry? Why you are in anxiety? Why you're so troubled in your mind? Just surrender unto me. And but as Parasara Bhattar says, you know, Lord is so kind and we are so stupid. We don't want to do it.
We don't believe him. Hunter protected little rabbit. Even though he is a cruel and he didn't promise it. Lord is not cruel and he promises it. And we think no, he will not do it.
If we surrender to him, it means that we are more stupid than the rabbit. That's the only conclusion. That's the only logical conclusion which can be done. Lord promises it, he's kind, by definition.
And we still don't want to do it.
Chanting with the spirit of surrender
So that's what it is.
It basically means every day we have to we have to measure whether I created this this sort of emotion in my heart, this sort of consciousness, that yes, I'm protected by the Lord, the Lord is taking care of me.
There is no need to be too much concerned about this. And when we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra in this spirit, then only Krishna will hear us.
And if we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra with any other spirit, Krishna will not hear us. In fact, even we ourselves will not hear us.
We chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and we will hear something else. We will hear all kinds of thoughts which are there in the mind. Does it happen sometimes with you?
You know, Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare, but all the time, but Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura very clearly in this Śaraṇāgati, in the first song of Śaraṇāgati, he says, Nanda-kumāra will only hear the prayer which is full of this Sharanagati, which is full of surrender.
If surrender is there, Krishna will hear it. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma, Rāma, Hare Rāma, immediately he will hear it. And you will not be able to cheat him.
If the surrender is there, he will hear it. If the surrender is not there, he will not hear. He has he's busy. He has so many other things to do.
But if we need him and we sincerely invest this emotion in our prayers, He will come, He will be there for us, He is ready to do it. So it's the onus is on us. The problem is with us. The problem is not with the Lord.
So, and that's what we're supposed to do every day of our life. Do I surrender now? Do I hear what Krishna wants me to say? Do I try to think and speak the way He wants me to speak and think?
Does He like the way I think about others? Does he like the way I speak about others? Or perhaps He doesn't like it because I'm not very polite in my speech or in my thoughts.
Anyway this is few things which I wanted to say. It's already late. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṇa. Maybe there's a question, or it's too late.
That's fine, you probably should keep going to use a getting asked for the time. Yes. Yes. Yes. And Krishna knows this. Therefore, He doesn't expect that we will do it immediately, but He still still hammers the same point.
Please do it, please do it. It will be good for you, please do it, please do it. Yeah. The m most simple things are most difficult.
Institutional positions versus genuine surrender
That's true. So what happens, what are you in spiritual life when you talk to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and uh you spend certain number of years and then you take up certain services and service positions,
somebody becomes something in uh in in you know as part of an institution and an organization. So you spend those number of years and then sometimes devotees can take that as an advancement and also a type of surrender.
That I surrendered, therefore, I've been able to you know acquire certain positions where I'm impacting the lives of others, you know, who are under my influence and and I guess that also sometimes makes us miss the bus when it comes to our own selves and our own sense of surrender.
Does that happen, Maharaj? It happens all the time because we didn't render in the beginning. We just thought we surrendered. It happened with Arjuna.
Arjuna says, śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam. Just teach me, I am the soul surrendered unto you. And then he says, na yotsya iti govinda, but I will not fight. So immediately after that,
He says, I am surrendered unto you, tell me what to do, but I will not go to fight. So when initially we come to spiritual life, our surrender is very much conditional.
And if we don't understand this then we will go on in our spiritual life in this with this
conditional surrender and uh it will not really we will not really develop properly because uh you know if we develop properly then our relationship with Krishna in the form of holy name will have to become more and more tight.
It basically means that our absorption in holy name should become more and more proportionately more, if we surrender, but at the same time we don't have any taste to holy name, it means that something is wrong with our surrender.
We don't really understand what it means because as Śrīla Prabhupāda clearly says here that surrender means the relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Surrender means that we know that God is personality and we become dependent on His personality and we uh manage our life according to His will not according to our will and uh we relinquish our false independence in this
regard, and in this way we become more close to Him, and it basically means that whatever is connected with Him becomes very attractive to us.
So it happens all the time unfortunately when we think we are surrendered, but in reality we are cheating ourselves. And the managerial position, career or whatever is not the criteria.
You may be a natural leader and then you become leader in you may be a natural leader and then you become leader in you surrender. Surrender is a matter of heart.
And if we don't work with our heart, with our without heart, then all these external achievements are completely inconsequential. They are not really important.
All these external achievements may serve as a substitute, but and some other other people may think he's so surrendered, but you know you will not be able to cheat Krishna. Krishna knows.
So it's a matter of heart, where your heart is. Is your heart surrendered? And it's difficult. I mean, I don't say it's easy. I know it's very difficult. But it's worth it. Okay. Thank you very much, Hare Krishna.
Śrīla Prabhupāda kī