Anandamayi Ma

Surrender - Part 2

Dear All,

Swami explains the three stages in Surrender.

Three types of Saranagathi:

1.     Thamaivaaam (I am Thine),

2.     Mamaiva-thwam (You are mine)

3.     Thwame-Vaaham (Thou art I).

1.     The first affirms I am Yours;

2.     The second asserts, You  are mine and

3.     The third declares, You and I are One, the Same.

Each is just a step in the rising series and the last is the highest step of all. 

First Stage

Tham-eva-aham, the Lord is fully free and Devotee is fully bound (it is like the cat & the kitten). The cat shifts the kitten about as it wills; the kitten just mews and accepts whatever happens. This attitude is very gentle and is within easy reach of all.

Second Stage

In the second, Mama-eva-thwam, the devotee binds the Lord, who is to that extent un-free! Surdas is a good example of this attitude. "Krishna! you may escape from my hold, from the clasp of these arms; but you cannot escape from my heart I have bound You", challenged the Lord just smiled and assented; for 'I am bound by My devotees'. The devotee can tie up the Lord with his Prema, by Bhakthi that overwhelms and overpowers his egoism. When man is full of this type of Bhakthi, the Lord will Himself bless with everything he needs; His Grace will fulfil all his wants.

Remember the promise the Lord made in the Githa 'Yogakshemam Vahaaamyaham', "I carry the burden of his welfare".

Third and Final Stage

Next about the third stage:"Thwamevaaham ithi thridhaa"; this is the Avibhaktha -Bhakthi, the inseparable devotion. The devotee offers all to the Lord, including himself, for he feels that he cannot withhold himself.

That completes his surrender. The thwa-me-vaaham feeling is the Adwaithic Saranagathi, based on the realisation that all this ('Idam') is Vasudeva and nothing else, nothing else. So long as the consciousness of the Deha or body persists, the bhaktha is the servant and the Lord is the Master. So long as the individual feels that he is separate from other individuals, the bhaktha is a part and the Lord is the Whole. When he progresses to the State when he gets beyond the limits of the body as well as of 'I' and 'Mine', then there is no more distinction; Bhaktha and Bhagavan are the same.




Sri Rama once asks hanuman, what is your relationship with me, o hanuman!!

Hanuman replies,

At physical level (Body level), i am your dasa (deha buddyaat dasoham)-( dvaita)

As a jiva, (at mind and intellectual level), i am a drop in that ocean that you are (jivabuddyaat vadamshakah)-(vishishta advaita)

As atman, i and you are one (atmabuddyaat tvameva aham)-(advaita)

When A devotee/ sadhaka reaches this last stage described by Hanuman, He says - “the Purusha within thee, HE AM I” which is the last line of the 16th verse of Isa Upanishad.

Pūṣannekarṣe yamasūrya prājāpatya

vyūha raśmīn samūha |

tejo yatte rūpaṃ kalyāṇatamaṃ tatte paśyāmi

yo'sāvasau puruṣaḥ so'hamasmi ||

O, Nourisher, O lonely Courser

of the heavens, O Regulator,

O Sun, thou offspring of Prajapati,

Remove Thy rays, gather up thy effulgence,

So that I may see that which is

Thy most auspicious effulgence.

The Person that is in Thee, That am I.

Thus, Hanuman whispers with conviction – “O Rama, about this, i am clear beyond any doubt. This is my firm conviction !!(idi me nischitaamati)!!

The Gita does not intend that you should pluck a leaf or flower or a fruit from some plant or tree and place it before God.

Nor does it ask you to bring water from a well or river or the road-side tap.

The leaf is your own body, which like the leaf, sprouts green, fades and finally falls off from the branch.

The flower is the Heart freed from the insect pests of Lust, Anger, Greed, Attachment, Pride, Hate, etc.

The fruit is the mind, the consequence of its yearning, which has to be dedicated to God, the water is the stream of tears that flow from the eyes when one is in ecstatic Bliss at the contemplation of God's Glory.

Giving these four is the real act of surrender, Saranagathi. The offering of leaves or flowers or fruits or river water is at best a way of helping the plant or tree or river to secure a little merit. 




(Part of the above, except the description of conversation between Rama and Hanuman, is taken from Saibabaofindia.com)

Swami also has briefed about three stages in surrender as under:-

What is the difference between Devotion and surrender?

Swami explains :-

Anil Kumar: Swami! Kindly let us know the difference between devotion and surrender.

Swami: Devotion is dual. Here is one who is devoted to God. Therefore, devotion is the path of dualism. A devotee has no meaning if there is no God. So also, God is associated with a devotee. It is devotion that links them. But, surrender is non-dual. In the path of non-dualism, we find this surrender. Once you surrender to God, you do not exist for yourself any longer. You do not have anything of your own.

For example, you have water and sugar. As it is, these two are separate and different from each other in their names, forms and tastes. This is the principle of dualism, since sugar and water exist apart from each other. Now, mix both, what happens? It is neither Sugar nor is it water. It becomes syrup. So also, the devotee who totally surrenders himself to God does not consider himself as a separate entity apart from God. This is true surrender and the spirit of non-dualism.

After clearly understanding various ways in which Swami has explained, which we have read till now, starting from the first post on Surrender, we have gathered that surrender means: -

• Laying down Body, Mind, heart and soul at the feet of the Lord.
• Surrendering the “I” the ego, the notion of that I am this body, mind, intellect to Lord which means, post surrender, one has no cognition of one’s body, mind and intellect as they have already been surrendered to Lord.
• The final stage is Praveshtum, where the devotee merges in Lord and there is no more duality between Bhakta and Bhagwan.
• Devotion means dualism where devotee considers God as separate from him where as the culmination  of  devotion is surrender where, as understood in the earlier lines, all those aspects which differentiate a devotee from his Lord, the devotee’s Body, Mind, Intellect- all these are surrendered to the Lord and thus, the duality between devotee and God finally ends and as Swami has answered above, like the syrup which is derived after mixing sugar with water is neither water nor sugar but sweet essence, the devotee, upon mixing and merging with the Lord, experiences an essence which is upon mixing/merging with the Lord.

However, it is very rare that one is able to actually reach the state of surrender as explained before.

One takes up the path of devotion, chants mantra/ japa, visits temples, attends bhajans, takes up seva, does prayers for some time during the day, reads good books on spirituality, attends satsangh and genuinely feels that he is trying to surrender totally to God but the surrender as explained above – “Laying down the body, mind, heat and soul at the feet of Lord” does not happen.

Let us understand why it does not happen, in the next post.

Love.