Surrendering to God - Sharanagati

Gist: Surrendering to God, exclusive dependence on only God, having no selfish desires. He is unable to surrender due to dependence on world, ego or vanity. To realize God and to be free of suffering, he must surrender to God. He who has taken refuge in God, is free of worries, fear, sorrow and doubt. He experiences total freedom.

Surrendering to God

Question: What does "surrendering to God" really mean?
Swamiji: Surrendering to God means not taking shelter of anyone else. Only God! Exclusive dependence on only God. Surrendering is not of the mind or intellect, but of the Self. Surrendering to God is giving up all selfish desires. When all other means of blessedness (Kalyana) are exhausted, one becomes entitled to take refuge in God.

Question: Why is one unable to surrender to God?
Swamiji: One is unable to surrender to God, due to one's dependence on the world. Also seeing something special in One's self, is an obstruction to surrendering to God. So long as one is vain about one's own powers, till then there can be no surrender to God.

Question: Why must one take refuge in God ?
Swamiji: Self (Embodied Soul)is a part of God. By taking shelter of anything other than God, one becomes subservient and suffers. Until one takes refuge in God, till then no assistance whatsoever would sustain him and he will continue to suffer
By surrendering to God, one attains God, which cannot be attained by mere effort. The essence of the Gita (Gita being the essence of Vedas and Upanishads) is to surrender to God. Without taking refuge in God, it is impossible to know Him.

Question: What are the signs of one who is surrendered to God ?
Swamiji: He is free of suffering. He is free of worries. He recognizes a constant relationship with God and hence becomes free from worry, fear, sorrow, and doubt. He has no contrary feelings, he does not check or test or doubt. He is fearless. Fear arises from others, while God is our very own. He feels total freedom (not subservient to anything or anyone).

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