Fully Surrendering (atma-nivedanam) - an essential subject

Fully surrendering means, "Surrendering the mind to Lord Krishna by thinking only about Him and by serving Him. The natural state of the mind is to think of Krishna." Unless and until we fully surrender to Krishna, Krishna is not going to take full care of us. When we take one step towards Krishna, Krishna comes forward to receive us. Anyone who has fully surrendered unto the lotus feet of the Lord, has no desires to gain any material possessions. Our business is to fully surrender to Kṛishna and seek His protection.

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes Fully Surrendering (atma-nivedanam) category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 9 quotes.

Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books


vanipedia.org 		One who seeks shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead can be saved from death. One may argue, "Does the devotee not die?" The answer is that a devotee certainly must give up his body, for the body is material. The difference is, however, that for one who surrenders to Kṛṣṇa fully and who is protected by Kṛṣṇa, the present body is his last; he will not again receive a material body to be subjected to death. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.2.33)



vanipedia.org 		A devotee who has fully surrendered to the lotus feet of the Lord knows very well that the creative energy of the living entities, from Lord Brahmā down to the small ant, exists because the living entities are part and parcel of the Lord. In Bhagavad-gītā (15.7) the Lord says, mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ: "The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts." The living entities are nothing but very small portions of the supreme spirit, like sparks of a fire. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.16.35)



vanipedia.org 		Although Bali Mahārāja fully surrendered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he could not tolerate being defamed for cheating a brāhmaṇa-brahmacārī. Being quite alert in regard to his reputation, he thought deeply about how to prevent being defamed. The Lord, therefore, gave him the good counsel to prevent defamation by offering his head. A Vaiṣṇava does not fear any punishment. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.22.3)



vanipedia.org 		Devotees, being freed from such unreasonable desires, can conquer the Lord. Such devotees are also conquered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because they are pure, being free from all material desires, they fully surrender to the Supreme Lord, and therefore the Lord conquers them. Such devotees never aspire for liberation. They simply desire to serve the lotus feet of the Lord. Because they serve the Lord without desires for remuneration, they can conquer the mercy of the Lord. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.16.34)



vanipedia.org 		The truth about Śrī Kṛṣṇa does not easily enter into the perverted brain of such mundaners infected with the empiric approach to philosophy. But a devoted person faithfully understands just what is actually stated in the pages of Bhagavad-gītā and does not resort to imagination, or the empiric philosophical approach, generally called "spiritual interpretation." Only such a devoted person can accept the logic of fully surrendering unto Kṛṣṇa and can thus adopt the process of karma-yoga to escape the dangerous bondage of work. (Message of Godhead, Chapter 2)



vanipedia.org 		This is the process accepted in devotional service, but there is something more than this. Therefore please explain what is beyond." Simply executing the duties of all varṇas and āśramas is not as good as offering all the results of one's activities to the Lord. When one gives up all fruitive activity and fully surrenders to the Lord, he attains sva-dharma-tyāga, wherein he abandons the social order and takes to the renounced order. That is certainly better. However, better than the renounced order is cultivation of knowledge mixed with devotional service. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 8.68 )



vanipedia.org 		Unalloyed devotees, who have no desire other than to serve the Lord, worship Him in full surrender and always hear and chant about His activities, which are most wonderful and auspicious. Thus they always merge in an ocean of transcendental bliss. Such devotees never ask the Lord for any benediction. I, however, am in danger. Thus I pray to that Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is eternally existing, who is invisible, who is the Lord of all great personalities, such as Brahmā, and who is available only by transcendental bhakti-yoga. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 8.3.20-21)



vanipedia.org 		In Bhagavad-gītā (10.8), the Lord says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo: "I am the origin of everything." Mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate: "whatever exists in the creation emanates from Me." Iti matvā bhajante māṁ budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ: "When one fully understands that I create everything by My omnipotence, one becomes firmly situated in devotional service and fully surrenders at My lotus feet." Unfortunately, the unintelligent cannot immediately understand Kṛṣṇa's supremacy. Nonetheless, if they associate with devotees and read authorized books, they may gradually come to the proper understanding, although this may take many, many births. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.1.4-5)



vanipedia.org 		In histories like the Mahābhārata, of course, there are topics on transcendental subjects along with material topics. The whole idea of the Mahābhārata culminates in the ultimate instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā, that one should relinquish all other engagements and should engage oneself solely and fully in surrendering unto the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. But men with materialistic tendencies are more attracted to the politics, economics and philanthropic activities mentioned in the Mahābhārata than to the principal topic, namely the Bhagavad-gītā. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.5.15)



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Vanipedia has now over 903 introductory articles compiled from Srila Prabhupada's books under the series titled Essential Subjects. All these articles can be seen in the Table of Content on the right side of this article and also here in this Umbrella Category. Browse through them to relish the breadth and depth of Srila Prabhupada's teachings - There is a subject for everyone.


   
 

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