Surrender to Krishna is a beautiful experience and the most wonderful concept in all of creation. It means to genuinely offer our love to Him. Those who are unwilling to surrender to Krishna with love have to surrender to Him at the time of death. Old age, disease and death are the weapons by which powerful time strangulates us. All great emperors of the world — Alexander, Napolean, Hitler, Aurangzeb — have been swept away into oblivion by the force of time. To the degree we consider ourselves the controller and proprietor of things of this world, to that degree we suffer when we face Krishna in the form of death. That surrender is too painful and immensely horrible. On the other hand, if we understand our eternal position as the servant of Krishna and humbly accept it, all our miseries will cease to exist. Krishna immediately takes the devotee under His tutelage.
Surrendering to Krishna, our original father, does not bring us any dishonor. Our surrender to Krishna is like a patient submitting himself to a doctor for treatment or a child taking shelter of his mother. A patient agrees to abide by the prescription of the doctor for his own benefit; a child experiences love and care on the lap of his mother. Krishna’s clarion call to surrender is for our salvation.
Not everyone surrenders; Krishna understands this: “After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.” (Bhagavad – Gita7.19) If we are not with Krishna, we are undoubtedly with maya, Krishna’s material illusory energy. So either to Krishna or to His material energy, we must surrender nevertheless. In fact every day, knowingly or unknowingly, we surrender to the dictum of our mind and senses, to our insatiable desires, to the demands of our bodies, to our lower self, to so many people in our daily life.
Arjuna was in acute anxiety before the Mahabharata war began, but after hearing Krishna’s message he completely surrendered to Krishna and thus paved the way for his glorious victory. Arjuna said: “My dear Krishna, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.” (Bhagavad – Gita18.73). Like Arjuna, there are many examples in history who achieved incredible fame and glory just by following Krishna’s instructions and the instructions of His devotees. By surrendering to Krishna success is certain in our life; there will be no room for anxieties and miseries.
Surrendering to Krishna opens the door for a blissful and eternal life. “For those who have accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Murari, the enemy of the Mura demon, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf’s hoof-print. Their goal is param padam, Vaikuëöha, the place where there are no material miseries, not the place where there is danger at every step.” (Srimad Bhagavatam10.14.58)”
(Extract of my article published in Back to Godhead magazine of Iskcon “Surrender out of love”)
