The path of surrendering to Krsna
Should we renounce everything and just surrender unto Krsna? Absolutely! Should we do it right now? Well, this is a little more complicated.
Should we renounce everything and just surrender unto Krsna? Absolutely! Should we do it right now? Well, this is a little more complicated.
Everyone should surrender to Krsna because this is the constitutional position of the soul. Some think that we originate from this dark material world, or from the brahmajyoti, but this is not in accordance with the teachings of our ācāryas. The soul is part of Krsna's energy, and the part is meant to serve the whole. This means our constitutional position is one of service to Krsna. As He explains in the Gītā, nāsato vidyate bhāvo, nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ (2.16): Everything that is temporary is illusory, and everything that is real is eternal.
Everything that has a beginning also has an end; it passes through transformations and eventually ends. Therefore, any material thing has a beginning. Everything that is spiritual, such as Krsna Himself, the soul, and the relationship between them, is eternal, and thus ever-existing. Such a relationship may be covered for some time when we desire to try our luck in material existence, and from that point on, every position we may find, be it on this planet, in hell, in the celestial planets, or even in the brahmajyot, is temporary. The only possible permanent situation, in the strict use of the term, is when we reach our eternal, original position in the service to Krsna. Apart from this original position, any other position is self-imposed and temporary.
Therefore, everyone must surrender unto Krsna sooner or later. Since all possible other positions are temporary, we should return to our original position of dependence on Krsna sooner or later, even though this may take a very long time. The question, however, is that one can only surrender when one is ready for it. It can't be forced or rushed.
We can see that in the Bhagavad-Gita, the final order of surrendering is given at the end of the 18th chapter. Before reaching this point, Krsna offers us many instructions that allow us to do our homework and purify our hearts so we can gradually reach this point of surrender.
On this journey, the path of karma-yoga is especially important because this allows one who is still not on a pure platform to start on the path of devotional service and gradually become purified. As one progresses and accumulates knowledge and realization, one can gradually ascend to the path of pure devotion, although it may demand an entire life or hard work.
The problem is exactly that sometimes we want to burn stages and surrender to Krsna while we are still in a material stage. Many desire to become renounced traveler preachers, for example, (and this is of course very necessary in our society), but if the heart is not pure, one will not be able to remain for a long time on this platform. This was, of course, more common in the past, while everyone would be encouraged (or even coerced) to follow the renounced path, being prepared or not, but even nowadays it can happen.
There is nothing wrong with trying the renounced path and seeing how far one can go. When done under proper supervision, this can be very nourishing and give us valuable experience that we can keep for our whole lives. However, if one becomes attached to this position and insists on being a renunciant even when it's clear that this path is not according to his or her current nature, one can get into serious trouble. One risk is to become a monkey-renunciant, who poses as a sadhu while secretly cultivating lascivious habits. Another is to insist on it in a fanatical or unhealthy way, a path that can lead to a hard heart, mental issues, or even to a spectacular fall later, when all the repressed desires and frustrations finally burst out.
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Hare krishna prabhuj.These are beautiful points, this makes the whole idea of surrender make more sense. I would not really be able to see how karma yoga could gradually progress to bhakti yoga and surrender , but this article cleared my doubts.Many thanks
Hare Krishna Prabhu ji 🙏 Prabhu ji very englightning points and one question how do we perform karma yoga , is it like whatever we do and give results to Krishna?