Q. What is Surrender?

A: Surrender must come from within. Sharanagati is not possible without feelings of vipannataa (utter incapacity), akinchanataa (destitution) and dinataa (penury). “In Prapanna Pathik Thakur says Sharanagati is not possible without a feeling of vipannataa”

Q. Maharaj, what is vipannataa?

A. Vipannataa is opposite of sampannataa (prosperity). It’s only when one is helpless and feels ‘I am vipanna (ruined), I have nothing (akinchana), I am a destitute (deena)’ that true sharanagati appears. Thakur is asking for that awareness. When He prays for sharanagati, he says, “I offer all my karmas at Your feet, You, accept them saying Aum Swasti.”

Q. What is Aum Swasti? Why is Thakur insisting that God should say Aum Swasti?

A. Because that’s how a petition is replied to in a puja. You say I offer such and such. You say I offer such and such thing, I hope for this, and the Brahmins say Aum Swasti i.e. So be it!” This is so beautiful. I have written about this in my preface to Prapanna Pathik.

Maharaj read out his small preface… “Thakur assumed the deen bhava the state of a destitute, and wrote from that level so that we could understand what surrender is. A pundit, a great scholar, has to come down to the level of a child to explain things to a child. That’s what Thakur has done. He is teaching us A, B, C, D.”

POWER OF SURRENDER

“Everything is about surrender. I have noticed this fact even in the humble life I have lived. For years, when I resolved to accomplish things: saying 'I will do this, I will do that' and so on, I achieved nothing. But when I left it to Almighty God, see how much has been achieved. Look at Ramakrishna Paramahamsa or Sitaramdas Omkarnath; just one person’s total surrender to God has resulted into so much. Look at Omkarnath Thakur. He started not just one but twelve religious journals… Jai Guru, Mother, Param Katha and so on. To start a single journal itself is a tough thing, he started twelve. This is the power of surrender.

You may not be able to surrender yourself completely. Never mind, give five per cent or just one per cent to God and see how miracles are achieved. This is the power of surrender.

This has been stated in The Bhagavad Gita.

The Lord says that He undertakes the yoga-kshema of His devotee. Lord says:

Ananyas chintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate
Tesham nit yabhi yuktanam yoga-kshemam vahamyaham (Chapter IX : 22)

To those men who worship Me alone, thinking of no other, who are ever devout, I provide for yoga kshema (yoga: the acquisition of what they lack and kshema: the preservation of what they have) for the maintenance of the body, even though they do not hanker for it.

Q. How to be free from the clutches of cosmic illusion (Maya)?

A. Surrender to Mayadheesh.

Q. How does one cope with bodily ailments & disease?

A. Santosh (contentment) & sharanagati (surrender) are the best remedies. Give your worries to Him, the One whom this body belongs.

BHARATA AS AN EXAMPLE OF TRUE SURRENDER

One of the best examples of surrender is Bharata. When Bharat went in search of Sri Ram after the latter had left the kingdom, the boatman stopped him suspecting that Bharata meant harm. But Bharata humbly explained that he meant no harm at all, he was only going to surrender himself at Sri Ram’s feet. When he reached the hermitage of Bharadwaja, the sage too, having regarded the big army which accompanied Bharata, suspected his intentions and for some time conversed about the purpose of his visit. “Bharata, I hope you are not harbouring any hostile sentiments towards your brother?” Hearing this charge, Bharata was speechless, tears rolled down from his eyes. Seeing Bharata in tears, Bharadwaja realised he was noble and innocent. The sage immediately invited Bharata to come and stay in his hermitage and offered him a high seat. Bharata, however, did not take the seat. He reverentially went round that high seat thrice saying, “This seat belongs to Sri Ram, not me!” And he sat on the ground where Sri Ram’s feet would have rested had he taken it.

Bharadwaja asked Bharata why he had posted the army so far away. “Why don’t you bring them here as my guests?”

Bharata told him, as a matter of deference, he had kept the army at a distance.

“Never mind the formalities, bring them here,” the sage commanded.

In those days, it was not too difficult for high sages to purify themselves. They welcomed all. No matter who came along, a soldier, an apsara, or a thief, they would just say the achamana mantra ‘Sri Vishu Sri Vishnu Sri Vishnu’, sip some water and that was all. It’s not so easy these days.”

If the devotee has some other interest apart from God, some other source of dependence, some other refuge, then that’s considered a taint in classical surrender. The best example of this is the chataka bird. The chataka bird is not satisfied with water found anywhere on this earth. Only a few drops of water from the blue cloud in the sky will satisfy him. There is so much water in the pond, the river, the ocean– but he won’t take one drop of it. This amazing bird sits thirsty for seasons, his eyes turned expectantly to the skies, his throat parched, and his life force weaning, but he will have nothing but drops of water from the rain of a blue cloud. He won’t help himself to the water from the river. That is the nature of the chataka. The blue cloud may punish him with a thunderbolt, but he never stops singing the glories of the cloud. This is surrender.

STAGES OF SURRENDER

Q. How long does surrender take? I keep surrendering so many times at the feet of Sri Guru but nothing happens!

A. Surrender is the last chapter of sadhana. One needs to do a lot of sadhana and bhajan, especially naam and pranaam before Surrender takes place. There are three stages of Surrender:

The first stage is cultivating the sentiment: I am Yours- Ami Tomari. One must accept since I am Yours, I will follow Your instructions, rules, and regulations. The Shastras, Gurumukh (order of the Guru), Saints, and The Bhagavad Gita are Bhagawan Vani (ideal instructions). The Bhagavad Gita says:

Tasmaat shaastram pramaanam te kaaryaakaaryavyavasthitau
Jnaatwaa shaastra vidhaanoktam karma kartumihaarhasi

Therefore, let the scriptures be your authority in determining what should be done and what should not be done. Understand the scriptural injunctions and teachings, and then perform your actions in this world accordingly.

Saints don’t speak anything outside of the shastra.

The first stage of ‘I am Yours’ also involves ahara shuddhi, brahmacharya and sadachar according to one’s own varna and ashram.

Ahara Shuddhi: If food is pure, then the prana is pure. With that, you attain ahara shuddhi (purity through eating sattvik food), and you can meet God.

Brahmacharya: One must not intermingle with members of the opposite sex too much. Avoid free mingling, if you engage indiscriminately, you are likely to lose your character. Bhagavan gives everyone good character (ratna) once. If you ruin it, it doesn’t come back. Physical intimacy between husband and wife is okay, but let there be no excessive indulgence.

Sadachara: Sadachara is good conduct and it is to be performed according to our varnashram dharma. The varna system is created by Bhagavan. Each person must perform his or her duty. Our success in life depends on performance of prescribed duties. One who fails to perform them, fails in life too. A Brahmin’s duty is shaastra paath, teaching shaastra, giving and receiving daan etc. A Kshatriya’s duty is dharma yuddha (protecting righteousness). They must have daya (mercy) for all beings. Daya for all beings is an important part of true dharma of kshatriyas… like this, each varna must follow its own calling.

Q. Can you please explain the Second and the Third stage of surrender?

A. The second stage says “You are mine” – Tomi Amari. This is the stage when you can rightfully treat God as yours, as a child unto his or her mother. You can demand from Bhagavan, you can even force Him. ‘You must listen to me,’ that’s what a devotee says in this stage.

Take the case of the gopis. One day when Sri Krishna left the gopis, they challenged Him that you may leave us physically, but no matter what you do, you will stay in our hearts and you will be unable to leave! This was their conviction out of love for Him. That’s the second stage sentiment.

The third stage is ‘There is no difference between You and me’. We are the same. He exists in every particle of creation. You start with this bhava: Dasoham. Das – servant, So – Ishwar, Ham – Me. ‘I am your servant’. From Dasoham you move to Soham; the Das disappears and you realize 'I am Bhagavan'. In moving from Das to Bhagavan, various stages are crossed – Aham Brahmasmi, Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma, etc.

When the sadhaka achieves the final goal, Bhagavan decides one of two paths for the realised soul.

1. Ishwar Koti wherein Bhagavan instructs him to do Jagat Kalyan, seek welfare of the world.

2. Jiva Koti – wherein Bhagavan instructs him to be reposed within himself; he cannot contribute to Jagat Kalyan. The avatara of Bhagavan controls the yuga. Bhagavan himself manifests in human form to help the timespan of the yuga. A realized soul controls the time while he/she is alive, and sometimes after leaving the body. Any realized saint can create life. They have enormous power. Thakur was such an evolved person.