THE SUPREME DOCTRINE OF SELF-SURRENDER

The path of complete devotional surrender is the most expeditious path for obtaining the grace of God. It is also known as the path of Sharnagati or Prapatti. It is the most efficacious path for those who are seeking liberation but are incapable of practising Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga or Gyan yoga due to lack of ability, knowledge and means. The Lord in His infinite mercy has ordained the path of Sharnagati or Prapatti to grant liberation or Moksha to those who are devoid of any other means of attaining salvation on their own.

For those who lack the knowledge and capacity to perform Bhakti yoga or lack the means and capability to adopt any other means or Upaya, the path of absolute unconditional surrender is assured to grant salvation if they are able to perform Prapatti properly and obtain the causeless redeeming grace of the Lord. The merciful Lord grants deliverance to all those who worship Him selflessly, having abandoned their Kartritva and Bhogtritva i.e.( the sense of agency and doership along with the desire for fruits) and realise that He is the sole object of worship, the agent, the means and the end of all spiritual pursuits. For those who seek Him single-mindedly, the Lord will remove all hindrances and release them from all sins incompatible with the attainment of Him. 

Prapatti is total unconditional submission to God coupled with an attitude of personal helplessness, self-effacement and resignation. In Prapatti implicit trust and self-abnegation in tune with God’s will alone are needed. Prapatti can be an anga of Bhakti or performed as ancillary to karma yoga or Gyan yoga to obtain the grace of the Lord. However the devotee must abandon all claims and renounce any gains or merits derived from virtuous conduct and pious deeds performed by him. He must surrender whatever benefit arises from his personal efforts, relinquishing sadhan bhava or upaya bhava in any spiritual practice or devotional activities undertaken by him. The devotee must realise that the Lord is the bestower of karmic rewards. He is the karma phal data. The motive, energy and fruit of action are all provided and ordained by Him. Hence, one must surrender the fruits of his sadhana, seeing the Lord as the only means, way and goal, acknowledging his inability to attain Moksha on his own. The only remedy for removing hindrances to spiritual advancement and liberation is to obtain the favour of the Lord by complete self-surrender.

The three components involved in Prapatti or surrender are 1) Phal samarpan or renunciation of agency or Kartritva, proprietorship or Mamta and self-interest or Svartha. This entails renouncing the sense of doership, ownership and feeling of I, me and mine in all things. The second component is 2) Bhaar samarpan or renouncing the burden of protection and giving up the onus of protecting yourself, your life, your body and your belongings. The burden of protection is surrendered to God seeing Him as the sole protector and sole refuge, eschewing all other self initiated means of protection or efforts to secure anishta nivritti and ishta prapti by other means. Entrusting one’s welfare entirely to the Lord is an essential part of complete surrender. The Prapanna or surrendered devotee must trust that the Lord will protect him and take care of him and his needs. The third component of Prapatti is 3) Swaroop samarpan or Atma samarpan which means surrendering oneself entirely to God...surrendering one’s soul, surrendering one’s life, yielding exclusively to the saving grace of the Lord and being entirely resigned to His will. The Prapanna relinquishes all individual rights and accepts everything whether favourable or adverse, as the will of God or grace of God. 

 One must approach Sharnagati with the bhava of akinchanyam and ananyagati. This means having an attitude of utter helplessness and destituteness arising from one’s inability to practise Bhakti yoga or any other means for salvation and seeing the Lord as the sole refuge and means for salvation. The Lord must be seen as the sole support, sole means and sole refuge renouncing all other fruits apart from Moksha. Forsaking all other means and fruits, one must exclusively surrender to the Lord. One must not seek refuge elsewhere other than the Lord’s sharan. These bhavs of akinchanyam and ananyagati are absolutely crucial to Prapatti. One must be exceedingly humble and earnest and depend exclusively on the Lord, forsaking other means of shelter. Prapatti is a supreme upaya to obtain the grace and mercy of the Lord. For a devotee who completely surrenders and resolves to serve the Lord and all beings for the rest of his life, the Lord takes full responsibility for that life and takes care of that devotee. All actions thoughts and feelings must be dedicated to God and one must be wholeheartedly absorbed in continual remembrance and loving devotional service to God, with all activities performed as an expression of total self-surrender. The sharnagat must also shed his ego and desires. Ego and desire must be surrendered and transcended. Surrender is not real if one is still hankering after desires and expecting God to take care of them be it via prayers or a false notion that they will be magically fulfilled due to belief in the Higher. This would be a total degradation of the code of Prapatti and the surrender would not be accepted as sacrosanct by the Lord. Surrender must be unconditional, not expecting material benefits and rewards in return. One must be entirely resigned to His will. The will of God must be accepted without protest, complaint or demands. Only seek the mercy and protection of the Lord seeing yourself as a helpless being who is unqualified to pursue other paths due to lack of ability and means. The purpose of Prapatti is to obtain divine grace, it is not be used as a means for the fulfilment of desires. Once the Lord accepts the Prapatti He will take care of the needs of the devotee on His own, provide protection and grant liberation to those who abide by the code and discipline of Prapatti. 

The following are the angas or parts of Prapatti: 1) Anukulasya sankalpam is the resolve to act in accordance with the will of God and only do what pleases Him. Abandoning one’s ego, one should endeavour to serve and please the Lord by dedicating all actions to Him and be benevolently disposed to all beings, seeing the Lord in them. The qualities which endear a devotee to the Lord include equanimity, humility, compassion, forbearance, devotion, even-mindedness, being contented and completely absorbed in contemplation of Him, being faithful and free from raga-dvesha and being neutrally disposed to the dualities of material existence i.e. being indifferent to pairs of opposites like pleasure and pain, heat and cold, honour and disgrace, gain and loss, praise and criticism etc. 2) Pratikulasya varjanam or avoidance of all acts that displease the Lord. One must resolve to abstain from all acts that are contrary to God’s will. One must renounce selfish desires and egoistic satisfaction along with the feeling of I, me and mine. One must always abide in conformity with God’s will and never perform any acts that would displease Him or oppose His will. This includes abstaining from any actions by body, mind or speech that would cause hurt or pain to other beings, especially avoiding hurting offending or criticising the fully surrendered cherished devotees of the Lord who are most dear to Him. 3) Karpanyam or feeling of utter helplessness and unworthiness realising one’s inability to perform Bhakti yoga or any other yoga due to lack of knowledge and qualifications. Due to one’s unworthiness one does not have the means and capacity to attain liberation on his own and the Lord is the only refuge and sole protector and means for salvation. One should abandon his ego and approach the Lord with abject humility and feeling of destituteness helplessness and self-effacement, beseeching the Lord to please grant His saving grace and mercy even though I am utterly unworthy and devoid of any good qualities or merit...your lotus feet are the only means of salvation for an undeserving person like me. 4) Mahaviswasam or intense unflinching unshakeable faith that the Lord will protect and grant liberation. One must have firm unassailable faith that the Lord is the sole refuge and will surely help me and redeem me by accepting my humble offering of myself made with sincere wholehearted submission. 5) Goptritva varanam..this is a sincere heartfelt supplication to the Lord imploring Him to grant His merciful protection, seeking His grace and blessing, accepting Him as one’s maintainer. This appeal for protection must be accompanied by a feeling of absolute dependence and complete trust in God. These five steps must culminate in 6) Atma Nikshepa the final act of absolute unreserved surrender to complete Sharnagati. Atma Nikshepa means dedicating oneself completely to God and surrendering everything in God’s service. The sharnagat must make a sincere display of remorse for past sinful deeds, offering oneself to God with the conviction that the opportunity for such self dedication is only the result of the grace of God. With unflinching faith and conviction that one has no other refuge or upaya for Moksha, one must make an unshakeable resolution to always abide by the rules of Prapatti and lead their life in accordance with the will of God, seeing His lotus feet as the only upaya for salvation. After Prapatti one must perform good deeds solely for the pleasure of God not viewing them as a sadhan or upaya to accumulate merits and benefits. One must abandon egoism, selfishness and the idea of agency/doership, performing all actions solely for the pleasure of God and be an instrument of the divine will. In order to abide in the state of complete selfless surrender one must avoid all prohibited actions deemed contrary to the will of God. One must never hurt or offend or speak ill of the devotees of the Lord and always remain respectful of all beings. One must not deviate by resorting to other measures like taking refuge in others nor seek other means of shelter apart from the Lord’s saving grace. One must remain loyal, steadfast, faithful and devoted being completely reassured that the Lord will never forsake His fully surrendered devotees. One must relinquish the onus of protecting oneself entrusting the burden of protection to God. One must be satisfied with whatever is bequeathed and ordained by the Lord and accept everything as His will and grace. The Lord is both the means and the destination and no other upaya must be pursued other than His benevolent grace. One must continually offer self oblation mentally keeping oneself at His lotus feet for obtaining His constant merciful protection. One must hold tremendous faith that God will always protect the surrendered person. However, as for those who lack faith, are unable to follow the prescribed disciplines or are unwilling to eschew the path of evil or embrace a life of service...such persons are considered unfit for Prapatti and their Prapatti will not be accepted by God.

For the Prapatti to be fruitful one must fulfil all the prerequisites,  promise to abide by the rules and injunctions and adhere to the prescribed disciplines with supreme unwavering faith in the unsurpassed efficacy of Prapatti. One must maintain an attitude of meekness and humbleness, aware of one’s littleness, inability and ineligibility to attain Moksha by other measures. The Lord is the sole protector and maintainer and the responsibility of protecting oneself must be entirely entrusted to God. The surrendered devotee must dedicate all his actions to God and refrain from all concerns of protecting himself, his body, his life, his family and possessions, reposing resolute faith in the Lord that He will protect and maintain him providing for all essential needs and bodily necessities.

Prapatti can also be performed as an accessory to Bhakti yoga or Gyan yoga. Prapatti is a supreme upaya that offers expeditious results both on its own and also when combined with other conventional paths for the attainment of liberation. Prapatti is an easy to practise path that guarantees salvation to all. Prapatti can be performed ancillary to Bhakti yoga. Bhakti yoga requires a sinless pure heart and single-minded intense love for the Lord. It involves rituals and practices of worship and the stringent performance of devotional activities on a daily basis without fail. Bhakti yoga is rigorous in itself and requires the support of Karma yoga for purification and Gyan yoga for attaining self-realisation. God when totally satisfied with the Prapatti bestows Brahma Gyan on the soul. Hence, Prapatti also facilitates the spiritual quest of a seeker seeking the supreme goal of enlightenment and self-realisation. For the bhakta, Bhakti is the means for liberation but Prapatti is ancillary for clearing of Karmas. For the Prapanna, Lord’s feet are the means of liberation but Bhakti helps in the service of the Lord. Prapatti is needed to perfect and complete Bhakti yoga. Sinful tendencies or Paap vasanas are endless and accumulated since beginningless time. They act as obstacles on the path of Bhakti and can only be annihilated by the grace of the Lord. In order to obtain the grace of the Lord Prapatti is performed. Prapatti is also necessary to surrender one’s ego, which might get inflated due to the spiritual accomplishments made in the pursuit and practice of conventional spiritual paths. Moreover, Bhakti yoga cannot be maintained or successfully completed just by self effort. God’s grace is needed for the successful completion and fruition of Bhakti. To continue Bhakti yoga without mistakes and ensure success, divine grace is required which is evoked by Prapatti. Thus, Bhakti yoga requires Prapatti as an accessory for commencement, proper performance and completion. However, unlike Bhakti, Prapatti does not require the support of Karma yoga and Gyan yoga to achieve fulfilment. In many cases where there is no rush for Moksha, Bhakti yoga may be performed just to enjoy the ecstasy of Bhajan sukh for many lifetimes. But the shortcut of Prapatti may be added when one seeks to attain Moksha expeditiously. 

Surrender is an essential step in order to obtain divine grace as God’s grace alone can remove the hindrances such as impure tendencies and sinful reactions that impede the completion of Bhakti. The grace of God is absolutely essential to expedite the attainment of liberation. Thus the supreme upaya of Prapatti is an infallible remedy to achieve permanent release from the interminable cycle of birth and death. It is utterly dependent on obtaining the causeless redeeming grace of the Lord by unconditional devotional surrender. It is an unfailing ideal path for those who cannot subject themselves to the stringent disciplines of other yogas. Hence, all those who are unqualified or incapable of practising other conventional paths of salvation can pursue the effortless path of Prapatti by seeking the infallible refuge and merciful benevolent grace of the Lord to transcend the bondage of Samsara. However, one must satisfy the essential requirements. Unfaltering abidance to prescribed disciplines and other integral components of Prapatti along with transcendence of desires and annihilation of ego are all necessary conditions for the successful performance of this highly effectual and fruitful path of absolute trust and surrender.