Surrendering to the Lord is surrendering all thoughts and actions, not wishing for the fruits of action, not doing action to gain its fruit but doing the action because it is one’s duty. The act is dedicated to the Lord and the results, therefore, are borne by the Lord. Actions done thus – fruits abandoned at the time of the action - such action is free of karma. Since the ego, in this way, is not fed and cultivated, it disappears before long. (CWBSSB, p. 17)

 

One surrenders to himself. Recognition that the Atma is oneself is surrender. Surrender really means the realisation that all is God, that there is nobody who surrenders, that there is nothing to be surrendered, nor is there anyone to accept a surrender. All is God. There is only God. (CWBSSB, p. 117)

 

Surrender to God and to life means the absence of duality and being of the same nature as God. But such a state is beyond man’s will. Surrender is when doer, deed and object are all God. It comes naturally to a heart filled with love for God. God is as a spring of fresh and sweet water in the heart. The best tool to dig a well to that inexhaustible source and savour its sweetness is Japa. (CWBSSB, p. 125)

 

Every rise will be followed by a fall. Elation will be followed by depression. You cannot avoid such antithesis in life. Affection that follows attachment leads to pain that follows separation. Affection and pain are two things between which man is being tossed about. In order to escape from the tossing between affection and pain, the only way is to believe in and surrender to God. (SSB 1972, p. 123)

 

Man surrenders his dignity and status to other men for various purposes in life: wealth, fame, possessions, pomp, power etc. But rarely does he get the chance to surrender to the Lord for the sake of the Lord! How can he get the urge so long as he craves for the Adheya and not the Adhara? He longs for the object but does not long for the base on which the object rests. He wants the gift, not the giver! The created, not the Creator, things from the Hand, but not the Hand! He is running after a non-existent thing. (GV, p. 8)

 

You must surrender your judgement to the Lord; then the Lord will assume full responsibility and be the guardian, guide and motive power. (SSS Vol.7, p. 360)

 

God is all-powerful; God is everywhere; God is all knowing. Adore Him so long as you have breath, so long as you are conscious. Have no other thought than God; no other aim than knowing His command, no other activity than translating that command into action. That is what is meant by surrender. Render yourself unto Him. (SSS Vol.7, p. 439)

 

arva-dharman parityajya

mam ekam sharanam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo

moksayisyami ma sucah

(Bhagavad Gita, 18:66)

 

Banks have safe deposit vaults, where customers can keep their valuables, jewels, legal documents and other things like silver and gold, which attract thieves; they can then be free from worry; they can sleep in peace. Surrender them to the custody of the Bank and dismiss anxiety from the mind. That other Bank, dealing with spiritual accounts, has also a safe deposit vault. Surrender your jewels of intelligence, cleverness, capacity to serve and the gem that you most value, namely, your Ego to the care of God; then, you can be happy. Mam ekam sharanam vraja, He invites. Surrender to Me alone. Then, He assures Ma suchah: You need not grieve at

all. (SSS Vol.5, p. 216)

 

You surrender to others: you praise and extol others; you are immersed in other thoughts. How then can He assume the burden? You serve others; and press the Lord for reward! How can this be Ananyachinthana, undivided loyalty? If a man is the servant of the king he must serve him wholeheartedly; if he serves the king and loves his family, it cannot be termed unswerving loyalty. Serve whom you love, love whom you serve. That is the secret of Saranagati, surrender. (GV, p. 167)

 

For this principle of surrender there is a big curtain between man and God. On account of this curtain, man is in a state of doubt and confusion, and feels himself unable to surrender completely. This curtain is illusion or Maya. What is the meaning of illusion? Illusion refers to that which does not exist. Imagining that which does not exist to exist is Maya. Whatever you think exists, does not really exist.

 

There is only one thing, which is true; that is God, the One without a second. This world, which appears to be made up of many things, cannot be true; so it does not really exist. (DBG, p. 21)

 

Krishna told Arjuna, ‘Arjuna, you are subjecting yourself to this element of ‘time’ you are getting yourself caught up in its flow, and you are going far, far away from Me. Surrender yourself to Me and all your sorrows will soon be removed’. (DBG, p. 22)

 

You might wonder why the Gita was taught to Arjuna. Among the Pandavas, some of the other brothers, such as Dharmaraja for example, might be considered better qualified spiritually than Arjuna. Why was the sacred Gita not taught to Dharmaraja who was known for his outstanding moral strength? Or if you were to consider physical prowess, then Bhima, who was the most powerful among the brothers, would surely have qualified for the teachings. Krishna could have given the Gita to Bhima, but He did not why not? Why did He give it only to Arjuna? You have to understand the inner significance of this. Dharmaraja is the embodiment of Dharma, but he did not have foresight; he did not think about the future consequences of his actions. Only after events had already occurred, would he think about their consequences and feel sorry for what he had done. He had hindsight but not foresight. If you take Bhima, he, of course, had great physical strength but he did not have much intelligence. He was able to uproot a tree, but he was lacking in discrimination. Arjuna, on the other hand, had foresight. For example, Arjuna told Krishna, ‘I would rather be dead than fight against these people; it will mean so much suffering later on, even if we win the war’. In contrast to Arjuna’s anguish about all the suffering that would be brought on by this war, Dharmaraja was quite ready to get on with the battle, although later he felt deeply depressed about all the killing, when the war was over. You may also remember the famous game of dice; after Dharmaraja had lost everything including his wealth, his kingdom, and even his wife, he repented for what had happened. Whenever a person without discrimination and foresight is called upon to make a decision while in the midst of difficult circumstances, he invariably repents his actions, later on. This was also the nature of king Dasharatha, the father of Rama. Dasharatha also lacked foresight and discrimination.

 

We know that Krishna had a great deal of affection for Arjuna, but is that the reason why He taught the Gita to Arjuna, and not to one of the other brothers? No, Krishna looked at all the consequences, all the implications, and found Arjuna alone qualified to receive the Gita from Him. Arjuna foresaw what was going to happen after the war, and therefore declared that he did not want to fight, because the consequences would be very bad. He was not feeling sorry after the war was over, but before. The attitude of feeling sorry before taking action, instead of afterwards, can only be of found in a pure heart. Arjuna certainly had such a pure and sacred heart. Krishna and Arjuna were inseparably together for 75 years, because Arjuna was the very embodiment of purity and sacredness. Although they lived together for 75 years, at no time during those 75 years did Krishna teach the Gita to Arjuna, Why was this so? Krishna did not teach the Gita to Arjuna during all those years because Arjuna treated Krishna as his brother-in-law and his close friend. During all those years Arjuna was living with body-consciousness.

 

The moment Arjuna surrendered and accepted discipleship, then Krishna became his teacher and Arjuna became Krishna’s student. Only after this act of surrender on the part of Arjuna, did Krishna teach him the Gita. This means that if you really want to acquire spiritual knowledge from another, you have to relate to that person as disciple to Guru, before the transfer of knowledge can flow freely. There was a great teacher, named Uddalaka. At that time there was no greater teacher than he. But he sent his son to another teacher to learn the various scriptures. The father himself could not teach his son. He took this step because he considered himself as the father, and within that relationship of father and son, the boy, Svetaketu, would not have been able to be properly instructed in the highest knowledge. The situation was similar with Krishna and Arjuna; as long as the relationship of brother-in-law existed between them, Arjuna could not receive knowledge from Krishna. But, once this feeling of brother-in-law left his heart and the feeling of being in the presence of Paramatma, the supreme divinity, entered Arjuna’s heart, then Arjuna was able to learn from Krishna. It was only after Arjuna had surrendered completely and developed the feeling that Krishna was God that Krishna began to teach him. Arjuna said to Krishna.

 

त्वमेव माता च पिता त्वमेव ।
त्वमेव बन्धुश्च सखा त्वमेव ।
त्वमेव विद्या द्रविणम् त्वमेव ।
त्वमेव सर्वम् मम देव देव ॥

Tvameva Mata cha Pita Tvameva, 

Tvameva Bandhu cha Sakha Tvameva, 

Tvameva Vidya Dravinam Tvameva, 

Tvameva Sarvam Mama Deva Deva.

 

You are my mother. You are my father.

You are my closet kin. You are my dearest friend.

You are my wisdom. You are my treasure.

You are my everything; You are my Lord, my only Lord.

 

Thus he surrendered himself completely, and it was then that Krishna accepted him as a disciple. At that point Krishna said, ‘You do My work. Do everything for Me and I shall take care of you.’ (SBGita)

 

To realise God, you have to surrender yourself completely. When the surrender is total, a direct link with God is established. Without such surrender propitiating the lesser deities is a waste of time.

 

When one surrenders, according to the circumstances, the devotee becomes subject to some doubts and mental agitation. For instance, in the Ramayana, when Rama and Lakshmana were going in search of Sita, suddenly Lakshmana felt tired and told Rama that he was fed up with the search for Sita and would like to go back to Ayodhya to have a more comfortable time. Rama smiled and said: ‘Let us proceed. I shall explain everything later’. How did Lakshmana who previously had declared that Rama was everything to him and that he would not live without Rama even for a moment suddenly develop this attitude? How did this concern for bodily comfort arise?

 

After they walked for some distance, they Sat under a tree. That moment Lakshmana felt the pangs for repentance. He realised his mistake, clasped Rama’s feet and said: ‘Brother! Forgive me for what I had said. I cannot understand how this bad thought came to my mind. What is the reason?’ Rama then replied: ‘Lakshmana! The region through which we passed recently was the haunt of Surpanakha. Surpanakha used to rest under the tree there. That place was surcharged with all her evil qualities. These vibrations aroused in you the bad thoughts. The moment you came out of the place your inherent good nature asserted itself’.

 

The lesson of this incident is that people will have to be careful about their association with certain places or persons. Eschew bad company. Be away from places where evil qualities are rampant. The vibrations from a place affect persons who frequent them. (SSS Vol.28)

 

The path of direct realisation of Divine consists in total surrender to the Divine as exemplified by Lakshmana in his surrender to Rama. He told Rama that after his surrender he had nothing that he could call his own and he existed only to carry out Rama’s will in every matter. (SSS Vol.28)

 

Even God surrenders to love. (EL, p.233)

 

If only you surrender your wish and will, your fancies and fantasies to God, He will lead you aright and give you peace and joy. You must not run after diverse ends and flitting pleasures. Leave everything to God; accept whatever happens, as His Will.

 

The attitude of surrender or Atmanivedana makes a person dedicate his entire personality at the feet of the Lord. In the Ramayana, too, we have an episode that illustrates this. Rama and Lakshmana were combing the forests to discover where Sita was. They were tired and thirsty. Suddenly, they came upon a clear pool. They placed their bows on the ground, and dropped their arrows, which partially sank into the wet bank. After slaking their thirst, they put the bows on their shoulders and pulled the arrows out from the bank. Rama noticed a stain of blood at the tip of his arrow and became curious to find out how it came there. Lakshmana discovered a little frog that had been hit by the arrow of Rama when he dropped it on the ground. Rama told the wounded frog, ‘Poor thing! Why did you not cry out when your hit?’ The frog replied, ‘Whenever in trouble, I cry out to you Rama. But when Rama Himself inflicts pain, whom am I to cry out to? I accepted it as His Grace.’ Bhishma adored Krishna even when He was rushing towards him with His Chakra in order to take his life. His sense of Saranagati did not desert him even at the point of death at the hands of the very person whom he revered as God. ‘Kill me or save me, I shall not falter in my loyalty,’ he said.

 

Ramakrishna had the same sense of total dedication. He was in great pain as the result of a cancer, and his disciples asked him to pray to the Mother for alleviation of the pain. Vivekananda was desperate when his Master refused to ask this little favour from the Mother with whom he was literally was on speaking terms. But Ramakrishna replied that if it was the Mother’s Will that he must suffer, he was not going to pray for palliatives. Ramakrishna had shaped his thoughts along the line recommended in the Gita Shloka (18:65):

 

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto

mad-yaji mam namaskuru

mam evaisyasi satyam te

pratijane priyo si me

 

(Become one with Me; be devoted tome; sacrifice to Me; bow down to Me. Unifying thus yourself, you will surely come to Me)

 

But his disciples were adamant. They Ramakrishna so much that one day he prayed to Mother that he may be helped to take a little food in spite of the cancer in the throat. Ramakrishna told his disciples that at that time he heard Mother admonishing him for his ignorance: ‘Are you not eating through all these billion throats? Why feel sorry that one throat is incapable of letting down food?’ ‘Vasudeva Savamidam’. This truth was brought home to the disciples by his revelation. (SSS Vol.10, pp.210-212)

 

Tyagaraja once prayed, ‘Oh! Lord, I am deeply concerned about the fear of sin. I am unable to surrender to your love. Please grant me the strength of conviction to bow down before your divine love. Please give me the strength to overcome the fear of difficulties.’ What did we achieve in our life? What is the purpose of constant contemplation of God? One who is constantly contemplating on God should be able to to keep himself away from sinful acts and develop love for God. One must strive to achieve the great treasure. One should not be deterred by sorrows and difficulties in that Sadhana. (SSS Vol.37, p. 192)

 

You talk of Sharanam (Surrender), of placing all at the Feet, but you withhold a great deal. Your minds are wayward like monkeys that skip and jump from branch to branch. Give them to Me; I can make them steady and harmless. When I say, ‘sit’ they will sit; when I say, ‘stand’ they stand. That is what Sankaracharya offered to do; he told Shiva that he will hand over the monkey that was his mind to Him so that it might be tamed and used for His delight. But, it must be a complete handing over; no reservations. (SSS Vol.42, p.92)