Surrender to Krishna- Meaning! Is it Possible for working devotees?
ACTUAL QUESTION from a devotee (Name hidden):
“What is the meaning of surrendering to Krishna? How should we do/feel to surrender unto Him? How to differentiate between surrendering and doing your duty because we krsna says do your karma. This looks like a contradiction. I am obsessed with my tensions/confusions. Teach us the real meaning of total surrender.”
REPLY:
Yes, Full surrender to Krishna by working devotees is Possible like others!
“Surrender” means not just performing rituals and singing the glories of Krishna all the 24 hours mechanically.
Your mind should be situated with Krishna and at the same time, your senses/ organs should perform their assigned duties.
(WHAT IF A DISCIPLE IS UNABLE TO SURRENDER TO GURU? READ HERE!)
You may ask:
If I situate my mind in Krishna, how can I pay attention in performing my assigned duties?
This is also a genuine question.
Let us now see about the meaning of Surrender to Krishna and its Possibility for working devotees.
“Fixing the mind on Krishna” means, not just dumping with the contents of Krishna’s preaching and lilas all the time.
“Fixing the mind on Krishna” means, doing what Krishna said.
(Since this world is under Maya, how can we fully surrender to Krishna? READ HERE!)
For example, Krishna left this world; But, His Bhagavad Gita still lives.
Srila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON left this world; But, his preaching and writings are still living and will live.
What this shows?
If you like to fix and associate with Srila Prabhupada now, ie, even when he is no more, you can associate by following what he preached and wrote.
Isn’t it?
Similarly, fixing and associating with Krishna means, performing what He preached.
Krishna never advised to abandon our assigned duties. He advises to work leaving the results to Himself.
(Surrender to Krishna and Surrender to Guru – which is important? A detailed analysis! READ HERE!)
If you work as said by Krishna in Bhagavad Gita, that means, you are fixed in Krishna.
I am here in Tamilnadu, India. Thousands of devotees are reading my writings.
This means what?
You are connected with me through these sites that have my prepared contents.
We are not meeting each other. Still we are connected.
Therefore, to fix and connect with someone, both of them need not be in the same place.
(SYMPTOMS OF PURE AND SURRENDERED DEVOTEES! READ HERE!)
Thus, if you do what Krishna said, you are fixed in Krishna.
Karma Yoga chapter of Bhagavad Gita teaches us how to get connected to Krishna by performing our duties for Krishna and as said by Krishna.
Gnana Yoga chapter of Bhagavad Gita teaches us how to get connected to Krishna through Gyan, ie, knowledge about Krishna.
Bhakti Yoga chapter of Bhagavad Gita teaches us how to DIRECTLY get connected to Krishna through direct service to Krishna and Vaishnavas.
Bhakti Yogis are expected to naturally follow both Karma Yoga as well as Gnana yoga.
And, still, Bhakti is independent of Karma yoga and Gnana Yogas. But, if Bhakti is associated with the Karma yoga and Gnana Yoga, it will take us to Krishna fast.
(Why should we work instead of following devotion alone? READ HERE!)
That means, a devotee need not have thorough knowledge about Krishna. Example: Gopis.
However, we are learning all the three yogas in our media and through good literature because, it helps us to set our performance of devotion in a right way by learning through the experience of previous acharyas and devotees.
And, to get Krishna, performing duties is not the precondition. Even renouncement of work is included in bhakti yoga.
But, Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita that work without attachment to the fruits is better than renouncement of works.
(Why people become sanyasis though Krishna has advised to perform our assigned duties? READ HERE!)
Since we are in the kaliyuga and we have to work hard for our survival, we follow karma yoga for living and Bakthi Yoga for getting the mercy of Krishna directly. We develop Gnana to remain strong in our devotion.
That’s all.
Thus, we can conclude that we perform karma yoga instead of just karma.
Working for our pleasures adds karma.
Whereas, working for Krishna takes us closer to Krishna.
Therefore, Surrender means, leading our life as advised by Krishna.
What Krishna said?
He wanted us to work dedicating the results to Him.
(How to follow Karma Yoga? Is aiming for a good job a materialistic approach? READ HERE!)
He wanted us to know about Him through a guru.
He wanted us to surrender to Himself after abandoning all the varieties of religious practices (Not abandoning the duties).
We need not confuse with so many religious practices existing in this world.
If we simply accept Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, worship Him and also performing our duties leaving the discretion of results to Him, that means, we are in a surrendered state to Krishna.
Surrender does not mean just sitting in a solitary place all the 24 hours and praying that is impossible because we need to work atleast to maintain our body.
(WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS TO SURRENDER TO KRISHNA? READ HERE!)
And, we need to worship to Krishna to cultivate and satisfy the athma, ie, us.
Therefore,
(1) Accept Krishna
(2) Abandon all other varieties of religious practices.
(3) Work your assigned duties for Krishna.
(4) Know about Krishna from a spiritual master.
This is the surrendered state in the practical terms.
Hope you are clear about the meaning of Surrender to Krishna and its possibility for working devotees like other devotees!
(THE WAY OF LIFE RECOMMENDED BY BHAGAVAD GITA! READ HERE!)