Sharanagati

Which means that one level of surrender that we all tend to think of is typically when you say sharanagati, sharanamegati we say in Telugu and Sanskrit, where we say that I have all of these desires, but I have come to you as the refuge.

Instead of asking everybody else and anybody else and from the world, I have come to ask from you.

So which means the first level of Sharanagati is when you say that Swami I have desires, I have things that I want in this life but I will seek it only from you and I will receive it only when you choose to give it to me.

Right.

But the second level of Sharanagati is when you are able to totally let go of all your desires and cravings and say that you know what is best for me.

So, the whole journey is towards that.

That perfect detachment when comes where whatever comes from Swami is acceptable to me or whatever happens to me in life is acceptable because everything is God in the absolute sense.

Very, very, very easy.

But if you do, he said, by that relationship that you build of service, of Saranagati, that true sadhana path.

Sadhana begins with Saranagati.

Without that, what are we doing sadhana? Sadhana begins with Saranagati.

Right? So, uh, I just want to tell a few things.

I s- you know, one time in Hawaii, Sri Gurudev was, uh, talking about Prabhuji.

But, you know, he basically described the Mahamantra as a calling out to Krishna.

He used to refer to it as like a child reaching out, you know, for its mother or father, as In that rendering, if you will, I think we find an emphasis on the center, if you will, of Sharanagati.

Krishna is my maintainer.

Krishna is my protector.

Krishna?

like to share all of your shortcomings and kind of dissolve your material human self in that way.

Is that how Sharanagati looks like as a sub-process in Anarthani Virdi? Did you get my question?

Not entirely, but I think you're asking in the context of trying to overcome an artha, should I discuss my anarthas with Krishna and bring them up to them?

Right? Because that ability to hold yourself and control yourself, the inner senses and the outer senses, that becomes a very critical qualification for you to take to the path of spirituality.

Be it a path of bhakti where you consider sharanagati, your surrender as the means, or for the path of jnana where you're letting go of smaller comforts, seeking, uh, a higher attainment.

In fact, um, if you ask me, this is one of the most, I would say, one of the most important statements that, uh, we come across.

Here Swami says, "However much you offer yourself in surrender, it is not possible for you to enter God's abode without shama and dama." So I think this whole question of choice that we are talking about, that choice of whether to indulge the senses or whether to follow the path that the senses show you, the glitter that they show you, or to resist that and divert your attentions and your interests towards God is the first step which is most important.

That is why surrender has so much of power.

Sharanagati.

As long as we stay as an individual, as a doer, we can't find truth.

But the moment we give up, what actually is is seen.