Surrender

The above picture is the deity in the famous Parthasarathy Temple, Triplicane. This is Krishna, as He was in the war front of Kurukshetra, while He was the charioteer for Arjuna and delivered The Holy Gita.

In the picture one can see that His left hand points towards His legs, signifying an instruction to surrender. This is the pose He has taken to become a statue in this temple, where thousands of devotees walk in and walk out day by day with so many problems, complaints, queries, obligations, grievances and also to thank Him for the good things that have happened in their life. To all of them He gives the same answer. "Leave it at my feet."

There is much significance to the way Krishna shows His hands. If He had pointed his legs with His fore-finger with the other fingers closed, showing us the rear of the palm, it would have meant that He is arrogant about His supremacy and that He orders us to surrender. But Krishna shows the palm to us while his fingers point towards his feet. Body language experts state that when a person shows his palm to us it means he has no secrets. That is what God is. He is neither arrogant about his supremacy nor does he have any secrets to hide from us. He just makes a simple and plain statement. "Leave it at my feet." And He doesn't say that as an commandment, but as a friendly guidance, so gracefully.

When an illiterate patient approaches a doctor, he subjects himself to the later's treatment without a question. Thereby he gets the full benefit of the doctor's knowledge. The patient need not even know the name of the disease that is curbing him. Nor does he need to know the chemical formulas of the medicines, the doctor has prescribed to him. All he needs to do is to believe in the doctor and take up the treatment with complete faith.

Similarly all that a spiritual aspirant needs to do is to surrender to Krishna. Everything else is taken care of. He need not even have the knowledge of The Gita, but Krishna can transform him into a sagacious spiritual master. Once you get into the train, you just keep down all the luggage and sit simply. The train takes you.

The first thought of any creature is 'I.' And then comes 'I am'. I am this. I am that. Then comes 'I do'. This 'I' thought is given to the soul by God Himself. It is necessary to move about the mundane business. It is not a problem until the soul sticks to the truth and realizes that it is nothing. But ironically it gets deluded. The souls starts to think, 'I am .... I am this.. I am that.... And then comes the 'I do' thought. I do this.. I do that...

These thoughts give rise to pride and or guilt. They make us feel responsible. Thereby a lot of complexities are created in us. This is what our burdens are.

So this 'I' is the root cause of all miseries. Only on this 'I', do planets play their tricks. Helping us and making us feel superior. Hindering us and making us feel inferior. When we surrender giving up our ego, then the substratum of all the other thoughts is shaken.

A solid can be broken.

Can a liquid ever be broken?

A stiff one can be bent.

Can a flexible one ever be bent?

This is the secret and significance in surrendering to The Almighty.

And, surrender is not a one time process. One can't just walk into the temple of Krishna and say, "Hare Krishna! Note down my name. I have surrendered to you. It is your duty to take me back to Vaikuntha. Now I got some work. Until I meet you in Vaikuntha, it's me, so and so, signing off" and then get back to his/her own work. Though even such a lethargic prayer is answered and the individual will be taken back to Vaikuntha, the process will be tough and painful. Surrender is something which we have to do repeatedly. By constantly remembering Him.