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In ordinary life, surrender usually means passivity. When a soldier surrenders, he gives up his weapon and ceases fighting. When a fighter surrenders, he accepts defeat. In both cases, surrendering means cessation of activity.
Surrendering to Kṛṣṇa is different. It does not mean sitting down and expecting Kṛṣṇa to arrange everything. This is one of the misconceptions that is clarified in the Gītā. Surrender means accepting Kṛṣṇa’s instructions and acting according to His command, just like Arjuna fought with all his strength in the battle of Kurukṣetra after hearing from Kṛṣṇa.
The main point is that a pure devotee no longer acts according to his independent plan. Instead, he acts according to the desire of Kṛṣṇa. He understands that his body, intelligence, abilities, material possessions, etc. belong to Kṛṣṇa and should be used in His service. Surrender to Kṛṣṇa is thus more like a person surrendering in an argument. He stops defending his position and accepts the other person’s conclusion, acting in a new direction. Surrendering to Kṛṣṇa means to give up our material convictions and instead accept Kṛṣṇa’s conclusions given in the Bhagavad-gītā and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
There is another point: the difference between renouncing material desires and becoming a pure devotee.
A jñānī may also give up the desire for wealth and sensual enjoyment, but his goal remains selfish. He desires liberation or to merge into the impersonal Brahman. In other words, he may renounce material desires, but he does not renounce his separate interest; the material ego remains active. This is different from surrendering unto Kṛṣṇa.
A pure devotee goes further; he gives up the idea of maintaining separate interest from Kṛṣṇa. The question then is not “What will I gain?” but “What will make Kṛṣṇa happy?” We can see that the main point is unity of interest.
Surrendering to Kṛṣṇa, thus, means the surrender of the infinitesimal soul to Kṛṣṇa in a loving relationship, where one renounces his material ego while preserving his individuality. This is true union.
In the Bhagavad-gītā (8.14), Kṛṣṇa mentions:
ananya-cetāḥ satataṁ, yo māṁ smarati nityaśaḥ
tasyāhaṁ su-labhaḥ pārtha, nitya-yuktasya yoginaḥ“For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Pṛthā, because of his constant engagement in devotional service.”
This process of surrender is what makes Kṛṣṇa su-labhaḥ for such a pure devotee, and that’s how he attains Kṛṣṇa’s abode even without practicing the process of mystic-yoga. Such an exalted devotee stops trying to cross the material ocean by depending on his own strength. Instead, he simply serves Kṛṣṇa with determination and lets Him make all necessary arrangements for his deliverance.
When we speak about unity of interest and full surrender, it may appear that we are speaking about an unrealistic goal. There are, however, two points made by Kṛṣṇa in this verse that connect it with our practical reality as sādhakas. He first uses the words ananya-cetāḥ (without deviation), indicating exclusiveness of purpose, and then satatam and nityaśaḥ, emphasizing constant engagement.
Together, these words describe one who is constantly engaged in devotional service without desire for the heavenly planets or liberation. There is a great difference between having material desires and approaching Kṛṣṇa to satisfy them and having material desires and approaching Kṛṣṇa to become free of them.
Someone who approaches Kṛṣṇa asking for material benefits is a karma-miśra-bhakta, a materialistic devotee. However, one who approaches Kṛṣṇa in an imperfect stage, desiring to become free from material contamination to better serve Him, is already practicing śuddha-bhakti, pure devotion, even though in a neophyte stage. In other words, the pure devotional intention is already present in an embryonic form.
Prabhupāda refers to this class of devotee with the word “unalloyed.” Developed or not, his bhakti is pure, and he fits into the description given by Kṛṣṇa in text 8.14. Once a devotee decides that “I belong to Kṛṣṇa, and I never stop trying to serve Him,” Kṛṣṇa guides him from within, helping such a soul to surpass all material obstacles and return to Him. Once Kṛṣṇa takes charge, all obstacles are reduced, just as the great ocean becomes like the little water contained in the hoofprint of a calf.
As Prabhupāda explains in his purport to 8.14:
“A pure devotee always engages in devotional service to Kṛṣṇa in one of His various personal features. Kṛṣṇa has various plenary expansions and incarnations, such as Rāma and Nṛsiṁha, and a devotee can choose to fix his mind in loving service to any of these transcendental forms of the Supreme Lord. Such a devotee meets with none of the problems that plague the practitioners of other yogas. Bhakti-yoga is very simple and pure and easy to perform. One can begin simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. The Lord is merciful to all, but as we have already explained, He is especially inclined toward those who always serve Him without deviation. The Lord helps such devotees in various ways. As stated in the Vedas (Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.23), yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas/ tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanuṁ svām: one who is fully surrendered and engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord can understand the Supreme Lord as He is. And as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (10.10), dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam: the Lord gives such a devotee sufficient intelligence so that ultimately the devotee can attain Him in His spiritual kingdom.”
“A pure devotee cannot forget the Supreme Lord for a moment, and similarly the Supreme Lord cannot forget His pure devotee for a moment. This is the great blessing of the Kṛṣṇa conscious process of chanting the mahā-mantra—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.”
One of the great secrets of the Bhagavad-gītā is that there is no contradiction between action and surrender. The difference is not how much we act, but for whom we act. A materialist works for himself; the false renunciant tries to avoid action, while the pure devotee acts fully for Kṛṣṇa, without claiming to be the independent performer of the activity or the owner of the results.
Sahajiyās often think that a pure devotee must sit under a tree and do nothing apart from pretending to be renounced, while Kṛṣṇa teaches us that a pure devotee works harder than anyone else, but for Him. Hanumān did not become celebrated as such a great devotee by avoiding action, nor did Arjuna or Bhīma.
When we perform material action for personal enjoyment, this work ultimately produces miseries, because it entangles us in the inevitable karmic reactions. A pure devotee, however, acts for Kṛṣṇa and places success or failure in His hands. In this way, this service becomes a source of connection to Kṛṣṇa, instead of a distraction. Because he understands that results come according to Kṛṣṇa’s desires (which no one can obstruct), he also remains completely at peace, even while engaged in all kinds of endeavors, understanding that in any case, things will happen the way Kṛṣṇa decided.
There is one last question one could ask, however: How exactly does the devotee who attains perfection attain Kṛṣṇa?
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī mentions that they happily take birth when Kṛṣṇa appears as Vasudeva’s son, and become associates in His pastimes. Prabhupāda explains it in more detail in the Kṛṣṇa Book, chapter 28:
“The fact is that those who are always engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and mature, pure devotional service are given the chance, after death, to gain Kṛṣṇa’s association in one of the universes within the material world. Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are continuously going on, either in this universe or in another universe. Just as the sun globe is passing over many places across this earthly planet, so kṛṣṇa-līlā, or the transcendental advent and pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, are also going on continuously, either in this or another universe. The mature devotees, who have completely executed Kṛṣṇa consciousness, are immediately transferred to the universe where Kṛṣṇa is appearing. In that universe the devotees get their first opportunity to associate with Kṛṣṇa personally and directly. The training goes on, as we see in the vṛndāvana-līlā of Kṛṣṇa within this planet.”
As Prabhupāda explains in other passages, there are no changes in the spiritual platform. There, nothing is created or ceases to exist. However, as he explains, spiritual things increase. There are thus no limits to spiritual bliss, spiritual love, spiritual affection, etc. Therefore, our natural affection for Kṛṣṇa, which is the very nature of the soul and eternally existent, attains perfection when we come to join Kṛṣṇa in His eternal pastimes in Vṛndāvana.
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