Complete Surrender to God
(Sharanagati)
God in the Gita declares the discipline of devotion (Bhakti-Yoga) as the best discipline namely surrender to Him. The teaching begins with surrender and also ends with surrender:—
"Surrendering all duties to Me. seek refuge in Me alone. O Arjuna, I shall liberate you from all sins, grieve not."
Sarvadharmaanparitajya maamekam sharanam vraj |
Aham tvaa sarvapaapebhyo mokshayishyaami maa shuchah ||
(Gita18.66)
Before this God spoke about `secret', `more secret', `most secret' and here in the sixty-fourth couplet of the eighteenth chapter, He mentioned the supreme or profoundest secret (Guhya, Guhyatara, Guhyatama, Sarva Guhyatama). Therefore the most supreme secret which God shares is "Mamekam sharanam vraj", "seek refuge in Me alone." Arjuna asks Lord Krsna, "Dharamasammudhachetaah tvaam pruchchhami", "My understanding is confused as to my duty. So I entrust you to guide me."
Lord Krsna tells Arjuna that for those things that you are confused and unable to take the right decision, leave those up to Me. Arjuna could not take the decision on whether to combat in the war or not. So Lord says that if you do not know, then do not put yourself into a dilemma. Leave all of this and surrender to Me only. I will liberate you from all sins. You need not worry. So in this, there is renunciation of all sorts of dependence. Let there be no dependence on anything at all. Give up reliance and faith in anything or anyone else. Surrender exclusively to God. Accept God as the means and the end. This exclusive surrender to God is the most confidential and the best thing told by Him.
There is an extremely great and mysterious secret in it and that is- "Aham tvaa sarvapaapebhyo mokshayishyaami maa shuchah", "I shall liberate you from all sins, grieve not." This is something very uncommon. It does not mean that Arjuna, if you take refuge in Me, then I will destroy all your sins. It is not as if Arjuna was enticed and tempted to surrender. But it means that Arjuna you surrender exclusively to Me without caring about duty. I will take responsibility for the sins incurred as a result of renouncing your duty. It is mentioned in the Gita that the man who does his duty without any desire has no adverse effect and unrighteousness does not take place. Simply take refuge in Me. And thereafter do not worry.
Nehaabhikramanaashosti pratyavaayo na vidyate |
(Gita 2.40)
"You need not worry after surrendering yourself to Me."
By this Lord Krsna means that after surrendering yourself to Him even if worry, adverse feeling, attachment or malice to the worldly things crops up, even if your mind may not concentrate on God and you may feel that you don't have promptness and faith and have such other defects, then too, you need not worry at all about those defects. After taking refuge in God, he should have no worries whatsoever. He must become free of all agitations. He should become fearless and regrets. He should become free of all doubts. Don't bother whether you will get fame or defame, praise or reproach, profit or loss, regard or disregard and what will happen in this world and in the next world. Let your attention not go towards these things at all. Simply surrender exclusively to God and leave all other dependencies. Give up dependence on all the worldly things and seek refuge in Him alone. Don't have fear, don't have regrets and gloom and also don't have doubts. Doubt arises over those things that have gone away and one feels regrets and remorse over them. Give up this sorrow and mourning. "Maa Suchah" means do not grieve whatsoever, not in the least bit.
(to be continued…)
From "Jivanopayogi Pravachan" in Hindi and "Art of Living" in English by Swami Ramsukhdasji
Ram Ram
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If in doubt regarding the translation, please read the original Hindi message by Swamiji.
FOR MESSAGE IN HINDI PLEASE VISIT Date : 16th May, 2012 "Sharanagati"
****************************************If in doubt regarding the translation, please read the original Hindi message by Swamiji.
FOR MESSAGE IN HINDI PLEASE VISIT Date : 16th May, 2012 "Sharanagati"