If we surrender to Krishna because of fear that we will face problems otherwise is that surrender genuine?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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If we surrender to Krishna because we are afraid that we will make wrong decisions if we don’t surrender, or we feel that we will fall to sensuality, then so we say, I want to surrender to you Krishna.
But we don’t mean it. Then what happens? Is it OK? See, actually, we shouldn’t think of material life and spiritual life like isolated compartments. That it is not in specific decisions, we could say, OK, this is material, this is spiritual.
But in our overall consciousness, the material and spiritual consciousness, it’s like our growth is on a continuum. It is analog. It is not digital.
So you say, right now I am speaking about Krishna. Now, is it that I am purely motivated only by the desire to please Krishna? If I had waited for that, I would have been waiting for the rest of eternity to start speaking about Krishna. You know, there’s a normal human desire, which is there always for some other things.
We may desire that, oh, if I sing about Krishna, if I speak about Krishna, people should say you speak so nicely. But then over a period of time, we start seeing that, OK, I may speak nicely, as I said earlier, I may speak nicely about mundane subjects, but that doesn’t connect me, that doesn’t satisfy me. So the important thing is to start connecting with Krishna.
So even if the intention is not pure, we start connecting with Krishna. And yes, it is true that if we are surrendered to Krishna, we’ll make wiser decisions. If we are not surrendered to Krishna, we’ll make short-sighted decisions.
So I would say that even if that is the motivation of surrendering to Krishna, that is fine. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that, he talks about four categories of people who come to him. That is 7.16 in the Gita, And then two verses later he says that, That next verse he says that, all of them are large-hearted.
Now Sripad Ramanacharya in his commentary there explains that, why is Krishna talking about all these people as magnanimous, charitable. He says, Krishna is so eager for bhakti that even if somebody comes to him with a less than pure motive, Krishna says, at least you have come to me. At last you have come to me.
After so many times. So Krishna is happy about that. So in that sense Krishna is happy however way we connect with him.
So when we are saying, oh Krishna, I surrender to you. Now when we say, we shouldn’t think of surrender simply as like Draupadi raising her hands in surrender, which is fine. It is one way of surrender.
But Arjuna also says to Krishna, I surrender to you. Krishna says, sarva-dharmātmāti mam ekam saranam. Surrender to me.
And Arjuna says, I surrender to you. Karishye vacanam tava. But Arjuna’s surrender is not by raising his hands up.
Arjuna’s surrender is by picking up his bow. Readiness to fight. Sometimes surrender can manifest as helplessness.
Sometimes surrender can manifest as readiness. So both are forms of surrender. And at different times we will surrender in different ways.
So we may surrender to Krishna and in that surrendered mood we may wholeheartedly work. I have to make the right decision. I have to do this.
Surrender is not the, surrender doesn’t mean giving up. Surrender means actually going up, connecting with Krishna and then doing whatever is appropriate for us. So we may, so if we think that I don’t have the intention to surrender, that means if we think that we still want material things to work out in a particular way.
That doesn’t mean we are unsurrendered. What will mean if we are unsurrendered is, if we make our bhakti conditional to material things working out in a particular way. If this doesn’t work out, I’ll stop practicing bhakti.
Not like that. But sometimes certain material results, certain material factors are important for us. Krishna, I surrender to you.
But I want this to work like this. Now Prabhupada writes in a purport that a devotee desires but does not demand. So we can always desire.
It’s not that surrender means we have to give up desires. We can desire, you know, if I pass in this exam, then this can happen. If this works out, then this can happen.
I feel this is favorable for my bhakti. Therefore I want this. So desiring is not a problem.
But when we make it to demand, and we start thinking, because this has not happened, therefore Krishna doesn’t love me. And therefore I will not love Krishna. Then that becomes a problem.
So desiring is perfectly fine. And we shouldn’t think that just because we have some desire, that doesn’t mean we are surrendered. Surrender essentially means that we accept whatever happens and continue serving Krishna.
But that accepting whatever happens doesn’t mean that we don’t do our part. When I started public speaking, we had been given some guidelines. So the last guideline was depend on Krishna.
In bracket, but only after you have prepared. So if I don’t prepare for a class, then I say I’m depending on Krishna. That is not surrender.
That is irresponsibility. So we have to do our part. And when things are beyond our control, then we accept Krishna.
Whatever is your will, I accept it. Does this answer your question? Thank you.