Sri Ramakrishna Math : The Vedanta Kesari, Editorial: Surrender to God

The Bhagavad Gita begins with Arjuna's depression and confusion, his confession of his weakness, his surrender to Sri Krishna and his seeking the Lord's guidance:

My natural disposition is vitiated by a sense of pity, and my mind is in utter confusion regarding my duty. Lord, I beg Thee; tell me with certainty what will lead to my good. I am Thy disciple. Instruct me, who have taken refuge in Thee.

And interestingly and significantly, the Gita ends with Sri Krishna's final instruction to take refuge in Him after giving up all considerations of right and wrong.

Abandoning all Dharmas come to me as the only refuge. Grieve not; I shall deliver you from all sin.

This stress on surrender to God in the beginning and at the end of the Gita is profoundly significant. Some savants believe, and rightly so, that total surrender to God is the final as also the central message of the Bhagavad Gita. This is especially true with the Bhakti-schools of Vedanta. The acharyas of the devotional schools have gone into great details in explaining the nature of surrender to God, its conditions and types, and the way a devotee should practise it. According to Vedanta Deshika, the acharya of the Vishista-advaita school, surrender could be of three types. In the first type called swanishtha, the devotee takes refuge in God after understanding the nature of God and of himself. The second type of devotees may not know all these details, but having firm faith in the instructions of the Lord or the acharya, resign themselves to God (uktinishtha). The third type take refuge in the acharya, who in turn prays to God to protect them (acharyanishtha).

Madhusudana Sarasvati, while commenting upon the 66th verse of the 18th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita has described three degrees of surrender, depending upon the intimacy of the devotee to God:

With the maturity of spiritual practice three types of surrender to God come about--'I belong to Him indeed', 'He belongs to me indeed', and 'I am He indeed'.

According to Swami Akhandananda Sarasvati, for true surrender to God three conditions must be fulfilled: first, the devotee must depend upon God and none else--not even on his own strength or ability. For example, Sri Krishna came to the help of Draupadi only when she had given up even her own grip on her garment and raised both her hands in total surrender. Second, the one who takes refuge in God, cannot become the refuge of another; and third, one must not delay taking refuge in God--there must be real earnestness and intensity.

In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, Ishwara-pranidhana or surrender to God has been mentioned in three places and in three different senses and contexts. Initially in the first chapter, Samadhi Pada, it is prescribed as an independent means of attaining samadhi and its meaning and technique have been described clearly in five sutras. Secondly, it is mentioned as one of the parts of Kriya yoga--the three parts of which are recommended by the sage Patanjali as the very essence of a sane, healthy way of life. Finally Ishwara-pranidhana is also mentioned as one of the five niyamas or observances.

From the analysis of the view of the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras, we may infer that Ishwarapranidhana is looked upon firstly as a goal or the highest state of realization in itself, after which nothing remains to be done and God takes over the responsibility for the rest. Secondly, Ishwarapranidhana could be taken as a spiritual practice as one of the niyamas. Finally, it can also be looked upon as a way of life--an integral part of one's living, as hinted in the definition of Kriya yoga.

Those who consider surrender as the highest spiritual state, give it the status of the fifth purushartha, superior even to moksha or liberation. Ishwarapranidhana may also be translated as surrender in God. The aspirant loses his identity in the Divine and functions as a joyous instrument in His hands. Naturally he becomes the channel through which great missions get executed. The sense of fulfilment is spontaneous and need not be striven for. According to Girish Chandra Ghosh, in other spiritual paths, one may, by self-effort, reach a certain coveted goal, but in self-surrender, there is no such end or limit or goal. However, the resigned mental state of such a person surrendered to God is like that of the proverbial bird on the mast of a ship that was unaware when the ship set sail and entered the ocean from the mouth of Ganga. When it realized that it was too far away from the shore, it tried to fly back to the shore. But even after flying in all the four directions, it could not find the shore. Ultimately it settled down tired on the mast of the ship in total surrender and free from worry. Swami Turiyananda has endorsed this by saying that true self-surrender comes only after extreme self-effort.

What is the state of mind of that blessed soul who surrenders completely to God? He is like a defeated king standing in front of his victor. He is absolutely helpless and totally at the mercy of his conqueror. The same is the state of the mind of a devotee surrendered to God, except that he does not have any fear or apprehension which the vanquished king might have.

Ibrahim was deeply impressed by these answers and exclaimed, 'This should be our attitude towards God.'

I shall wear the dress given by the Lord, and eat what is supplied. I shall sit whenever I am asked to, and will be sold if the Lord decides to sell me away.

Saint Francis de Sales gives the illustration of a statue placed in a niche to explain the state of total self-surrender. If one were to ask the statue whether it is satisfied with its state, the statue would say, 'Yes, because my master has placed me here.'

Swami Shivananda has endorsed such an attitude in one of his speeches delivered at the First Convention of the Ramakrishna Mission:

Be like an arrow that darts from the bow. Be like the hammer that falls on the anvil. Be like the sword that pierces its object. The arrow does not murmur if it misses the target. The hammer does not fret if it falls on a wrong place. And the sword does not lament if it is broken in the hands of its wielder. Yet there is joy in being made, used and broken, and an equal joy in being finally set aside.

The high state of total surrender described above, obviously, cannot be attained easily. Most of us have a strong will and feel that we can do spiritual practice. It is therefore not only natural but rational and wise to undertake various spiritual practices considering ourselves as the doer. The ultimate aim of all spiritual practices, however, is the total elimination of the 'unripe ego'--in whichever way it is done, it is immaterial. In the path of self-surrender, elimination of ego is tried from the very beginning. The spiritual aspirant begins with both self-effort (purushakara) and surrender (sharanagati) at the same time. In its simplest form, the practice consists in praying to God and mentally surrendering to Him at the end of the day all actions done during the day. Gradually this practice is repeated more and more often during the day till it becomes associated with every action, however trivial. This type of surrender can be done in relation to the fruits of action also. At the completion of each activity, one may sincerely and seriously surrender the fruits, good or bad, to God, and be at peace.

Many among those who try to practise this type of self-surrender often get into a mechanical rut--of merely uttering such words as krishnarpanamastu. This is because, although we make an act of surrender, we are really not sure whether God accepts them or not. It is therefore essential also to remember that God accepts whatever we offer. Then, we shall be very careful not to commit any evil. Such a conviction that God accepts the acts and their fruits which we offer can transform our life. While surrendering actions may be easier for some, surrendering the fruits of action may not be. For, essentially it also means acceptance of the results of our past actions with equanimity and without joy or sorrow. Unfortunately, we don't want to do good but want the fruits of good actions in the form of happiness. We do not refrain from doing evil, but don't want to accept the fruits of evil actions.

Far more important than surrendering action and their fruits is the renunciation of one's will and agentship. A hint as to how this could be done is found in the Bhagavad Gita in such expressions as sarvasamkalpa-sannyasi, sarvarambha-parityagi, which imply that one must not perform a willed action. A number of desires and samkalpas--the urge to fulfil those desires--might arise in us. Let them not be converted into action. If we go on curbing our urge to act, gradually our will would become weaker and weaker. This is illustrated in the conduct of Girish Chandra Ghosh after he had surrendered his will, and given his 'power of attorney', to Sri Ramakrishna. Once in the presence of Sri Ramakrishna, he happened to say, 'I shall do this.'

Immediately Sri Ramakrishna corrected him, 'No, no. 'You can't talk like that any more. Say, "I shall do this, if God wills."'

A day came when Girish did not do anything by his own will. At times he waited for long hours before knowing the Lord's will. Once he was found sitting perspiring and thirsty with a glass of water in front of him without drinking it, because he did not get the command from God to drink. Swami Adbhutananda too, would often wait for days, even months, to find out the will of God, or get his direct command before doing something.

Subduing one's will and willed desires can also be done by the practice of obedience to a superior authority. In religious organizations, this obedience is towards the official head or superior of the monastery or an ashrama, and his or her commands are implicitly followed. In general, the spiritual guru's instructions carry the same value for a disciple. In the secular setting, following the commands or directions of the senior members in the family--father, mother, etc. or of the boss in an office, also can serve the purpose of subduing one's will, if taken in the spiritual sense.

Besides, there are a number of social laws and customs, rules and regulations, which regulate the ethical and social conduct of people. A student, a teacher, a householder, a doctor--all are expected to observe ethical codes of conduct. This also helps in regulating a wayward will and can be spiritually made use of. In religious communities, there is a 'rule' which the inmates are supposed to observe. Finally, very often, during our day-to-day life, we are forced to accept such situations that are not of our choice or liking, and also to act as others expect us to. Our will and powers are, at every step, restricted and thwarted. To accept them with grace, as willed by God, is one of the methods of learning to surrender to God. If one does not take a personal decision, or wilfully initiate an action, accepts whatever comes to his lot in natural course and offers the actions and their fruits to God, one can ultimately transform oneself into an instrument in the hands of God, which is the ultimate aim of all spiritual striving.

Commenting upon the relevant Yoga Sutra, Hariharananda Aranya has very pertinently pointed out that without constant remembrance of God, Ishwarapranidhana cannot be practised. He also proposes a very effective method: place, as it were, one's mind into God's tranquil mind. In other words, think oneself to be in God and God to be in oneself, and then think that all actions are being done by God. According to the Gita too, God, residing in the hearts of all beings, moves them as puppets. In this practice, the most important element is the remembrance of God. There could thus be four aspects or parts of the practice of self-surrender: (a) meditate upon oneself as God, (b) consider God as the doer, (c) surrender the fruits of actions to God, and (d) while undertaking any action, consider that the fruits may prove helpful to yoga.

As in every spiritual discipline, there are dangers and pitfalls in the practice of self-surrender also. It is important to understand that the path of self-surrender is not one of inertia or laziness. In this, although the ego and the sense of doership is weakened, action is not abandoned. A person truly resigned will be intensely active and yet feel equally strongly that he is not the doer. Conversely, one may wrongly believe oneself as not the doer, or may deceive oneself or others that he has totally surrendered to God, and yet may be intensely egocentric. Duryodhanda's statement to Sri Krishna that, 'I know dharma, but don't practise it. I also know adharma, but do not desist from it. (Because) I do whatever you, residing in my heart, prompt me to do', is sheer self-deception. A person who has fully surrendered to God can never take a single wrong step.

Finally, self surrender can be looked upon not only as a spiritual discipline or the goal, but a way of life, as an essential value to be practised in day-to-day life. This is the purpose of Patanjali in including Ishwarapranidhana in Kriya yoga. Ishwara-pranidhana conduces to a tension-free state of mind. Our egocentric resolves and our intense desire for fruits of actions lead to tensions. Ishwarapranidhana actually means living in the present without expectations or the thought of what is going to happen in future. One must live in reality and accept things as they are.

According to Patanjali, the technique of Ishwarapranidhana consists in the chanting of the syllable Om, which is the symbol or indicator of God, together with the thinking of the meaning of the word. It is an effective means for concentration of mind and attainment of samadhi. Although a very important subject, it is beyond the scope of this essay.