Does total surrender mean that there is no need to use one’s discretion?
Yeah, so when we are completely surrendered, there is no need for discretion in terms of choosing, should I do this or should I do that? Because whatever we do, that will please Krishna. Yes, that is true.
There is often this philosophical question, do we surrender the intelligence or do we surrender with the intelligence? That means, that means, you know, I have no intelligence, I will do whatever you tell me to do. Is that surrender? Or, while surrendering, we use our intelligence also. So, actually both are true.
That means, one meaning of surrender is doing what Krishna tells us to do. Or doing what Krishna's representative tells us to do. But another aspect of surrender is also using all that we have in Krishna's service.
If, the example is given of Kunti Maharani says that, let the river flow towards, just as the river flows towards the ocean, tai me ananya vishaya, maten madhupate sakre, datte muddhvata gaddha, gange gau ghamudan mati. In 1842 she says that, just as the Ganga flows towards the ocean, let my consciousness flow towards you. So, there Vishwanath Chakravartha explains the significance of this example.
He says, when a river flows towards the ocean, nothing holds the river back. And whatever comes along, somehow the river keeps moving towards the ocean. But the other aspect is, he says the river holds nothing back.
The river doesn't think, oh, let me keep 10% water for myself. All its water is sent towards the ocean. So, surrender also means that we don't hold anything back.
And if we are not using our intelligence, we could be very well holding our intelligence back. So, Prabhupada, when he surrendered to Krishna, he says there is a song, Aarki ne bhago dharma. So, in that song he says, Aache kiccha kavya tabhi, ehi anumane, nahe keno anibena, ehi ugrasthane.
So, he is saying, my dear lord, there must be some purpose for which you have brought me here. And Prabhupada, this is an interesting word here, anumane. Anumane means guess.
I am guessing that there must be some reason you brought me here. Otherwise, why did you bring me to this terrible place? This is Prabhupada's spiritual vision. He is thinking of America as a terrible place.
He is saying from the spiritual perspective it is filled with Rajoguna Tamoguna. But the point is that we see in Sri Prabhupada's example, he was observing and he was formulating strategies. Is it that when Prabhupada came to America that Prabhupada had a crystal clear blueprint in his heart.
You know, you go to the Lower East Side, you meet this person, tell him to chant Hare Krishna and he will become your first disciple. No, Krishna's guidance did not come in such a straightforward linear way. Prabhupada first went to stay with the Mishra Yoga Studio and then he was allowed to do kirtan but he was not allowed to preach.
Then he went and studied separately. Then the janitor itself stole his typewriter. And then Prabhupada went to the hippies and one particular point, the first hippie who seemed to be about to become his disciple.
So, he suddenly went mad with drug induced mania and he attacked Prabhupada. And Prabhupada had to flee from there. It was a third or fourth storey building.
He had to run down from there and run out into the streets not knowing where he could go. So, it is not that just because he was surrendered, he could just do whatever it was. He had to use his intelligence.
What should I do now? Should I go back to the house? Will he have recovered from that drug induced craze? Or should I take a ship back to India? Then he decided that some other young people were coming for his programs. So, he called one of them and they invited him to his house. So, Prabhupada used his intelligence and based on the intelligence that he used, sometimes some strategies worked, some strategies did not work.
And then the devotee, sometimes, as devotees while practicing bhakti, we should use our intelligence. Because our intelligence is also a gift from Krishna. And by using our intelligence, we can serve Krishna better.
But there come times in our life when things may not make sense according to our intelligence. But if we are told to serve Krishna, we should keep serving Krishna. So, for Prabhupada, you know, he was he was a grahastha.
Not a very well to do grahastha also. And he was not a sanyasi, he was not a preacher. And Bhakti Sahaja Yoga wrote a letter to him.
First meeting told him that he should preach in English in the western world. Again, the second letter was the same thing. Now, for Prabhupada, he would have asked, how does it make sense? How can I preach? What resources do I have? What influence do I have? Prabhupada could have asked that question.
But Prabhupada kept preaching. So, if the intelligence raises questions and objections that come in the service of Krishna, that come in the way of our service to Krishna, then we put aside the intelligence. This is what I have been told to do, I will do it.
But while serving Krishna, if the intelligence can be an aid, if by using our intelligence we can find out better, how can I serve Krishna? Many preachers have this experience that once we start speaking, ideas come. We remember some things, we get some points, we get some answers. And sometimes, when we are really inspired, we feel as if it's not I speaking.
It's like some higher power has grabbed me and is speaking through me. We feel like that. But, and that is good actually, if we have a mood of surrender and service, Krishna guides us.
So, this is just trying to become a puppet in Krishna's hands. But Brahma Mantra was actually Prabhupada. How should we feel after we give a class? So, Prabhupada gave a surprising reply.
Prabhupada said, oh, I did not speak that point. I could have quoted that shloka. I could have given that example.
Prabhupada said, don't think, oh, I gave a wonderful class and everybody is impressed. He said, be in the mood of self-improvement. So, at one level, we should become an instrument and just surrender to Krishna.
Even if our intelligence obstructs us, it doesn't make sense. This is irrational. No.
Keep serving Krishna. By the same time, while serving Krishna, if our intelligence can give us better options to serve, we can and we should use the intelligence. Prabhupada, actually, it was quite you could say, irrational for a 70-year-old man to go all the way abroad.
Now, Shruti Moraraji, when Prabhupada came to her, she was the person who sponsored Prabhupada's visit. Prabhupada told her, I want to go to America. She said, Swamiji, you are so old and America is so cold.
Prabhupada said, no, this is the instruction of my spiritual master. I must go. So, Prabhupada, from the intelligence point of view, actually going to America at that age was not a very intelligent thing to do, you could say.
But, Prabhupada did that because that was the instruction of his spiritual master. But, having gone there, Prabhupada used his intelligence. Okay, should I be here? Should I go there? So, most of the Swamis were preaching in uptown.
But, Prabhupada went to downtown because he saw this is where people are interested. So, the intelligence can be an obstacle in the path of bhakti or it can also be a tool in the path of bhakti. So, for us as devotees, we should not let the intelligence become our master.
The intelligence can be like our minister. The minister is like our advisor. Master means, if the intelligence says, don't do this, we will not do it at all.
But sometimes, in bhakti, we have to take a leap of faith. We have to take a leap of faith. This is what I have been told to do.
I have to do that. So, if we let the intelligence become our master, then we will never take the leap of faith. But, if we reject the intelligence entirely, then we may end up doing foolish things.
So, we have to use our intelligence as a minister, not as a master. And that way, we can surrender with the intelligence in normal situations, in some special situations, we can even surrender the intelligence and just, I will do your world, Krishna. Thank you very much.