Be Truthful in Surrender
by
Swami Nikhilananda Saraswati

In Chapter 2 of the Bhagawad Geeta, Bhagawan says, Controlling or restraining the senses from all sides, through the mind and intellect, considering me as Supreme, live in the world. In order to achieve this we are advised to perform simple sadhanas or spiritual practices. Like we are told to fast, so that we may be able to control the tongue, which most times is difficult to master. We are advised to practice maunam or keep silent, in order to silence the mind.

The important thing here is that we must consider Bhagawan as the master. There should be no ambiguity about this in our mind. We must know for certain, whom we are working and struggling for. We may not know it, but often, we have more than one boss and this is the cause of our sorrow. When we examine our lives, we may find that we are being guided by our desires. In this case the desire is the boss. We may be attached to some place. In that case the attachment is the master. Bhagawan tells us that things will fall into place if He is the boss.

Otherwise, what happens? If we are ruled by pride or arrogance, then we will find that our sadhana will make this tendency even stronger. We have examples of rakshasas like Ravana and Hiranyakashapu doing tapas and becoming more entrenched in their arrogance. Lurking in our depths we also have Ravanas and Hiranyakashpus. So we must be clear about who is doing sadhana the rakshasa or the bhakta.

Bhagawan wants us to surrender everything to him for only then would our sadhana become fruitful. Otherwise our sadhana will strengthen our negative tendencies or lead to separation. If we suppress our tendencies, they will come out stronger, like the water that gushes out when the dam bursts, bringing destruction. We must intelligently control our senses and be firm in the understanding that Bhagawan is the Supreme and everything that I have is His, including this life.

The crux of the practice is to consider God as Supreme because we gravitate towards what we consider Supreme. Everyone considers something or the other Supreme. We must be completely truthful with ourselves and find out what we consider Supreme. Bhagawan says that if we surrender to Him, our senses will come under our control and our wisdom will be steady. In such a situation our mind will be stilled and we will attain the Supreme.