Title: Bhakti and Self-Surrender
18th Chapter: verses 54, 55, 56
54th verse: “The one who does his work with sanctity and sacredness, he ultimately become a Prasanna-atma. He becomes identified with Brahman. He has no desires and no reason to worry. He sees everyone as the same. Such a person attains the highest devotion.”
A true devotee of God has equanimity of mind and serenity. He is not shattered by what happens outside. He experiences identity with Brahman and is established in a state of perfect contentment.
Great spiritual personalities, such as Jesus Christ, were able to withstand obstacles because of the serenity within.
The 13th verse of the 12th chapter lists the characteristics of a devotee. He is contented and derives joy from the fact that he is a devotee of God. He has strong determination to pursue his spiritual goals.
God is not mentioned in the 54th verse. Spirituality is about being a good human being, which should express in our thoughts, words and actions. Swami Vivekananda said: “Live life in such a way that Good will accept you even if you do not accept Him.”
What is the idea of God in the Gita? It is the God of everyone, present as the divine principle within everyone. He is the God of even those who do not believe in Him.
55th verse: “Such a person understands Me through Bhakti (devotion). His devotion is mixed with the understanding that God is present everywhere and within everyone. With such devotion that is combined with the understanding of the spiritual unity of creation, he understands God or the supreme reality in a comprehensive manner.”
There are two levels of Bhakti: Sadhana bhakti and sadhya bhakti. Sadhana bhakti is the means and sadhya bhakti is the goal. Bhakti is the means towards Advaitic realization, when we see God as the transcendental principle that is immanent and present everywhere.
During the early stages of Sadhana Bhakti, one should have strong determination. All great spiritual men and women has strong determination. With this determination, they promoted their ego to a spiritual ego. The ego: “I am a devotee” ultimately takes us out of ego. Sri Ramakrishna said: “You cannot root out ego. Therefore, you should give the ego a good job to do.”
56th verse: “Surrender all your actions and results to Me. Then My grace will take you to the highest spiritual destination.”
When we hit a dead wall with our own self-effort, we should surrender ourselves and give him the entire responsibility to a higher power. Then we become a tool in the hands of the higher power. All doubts vanish and karmic blocks are dismantled.
A beginner’s mind may not cooperate when he starts spiritual practices. This is due to accumulated samskaras which make him act in a certain manner. He may want to read a spiritual book, but the mind presents karmic blocks. At that time, he should surrender to a higher power.
According to Ramanuja, Prapati is the highest state of a devotee of God. Prapati means complete surrender and is composed of the following characteristics. (1) Always having a positive outlook in life, full of sattvic qualities such as serenity, wisdom, compassion, and broad mindedness. (2) Rejecting all the opposing qualities such as skepticism and self-doubt. (3) Strong faith that God will protect me. (4) Strong faith that God is the only protector. (5) A feeling of total helplessness and dependence on God (6) Total self-surrender (atmanikshepa). When the first five characteristics are fulfilled, atmanikshepa is the result. He then becomes an instrument in the hands of God and God operates through him.
In the 66th verse of 18th chapter, Lord Krishna describes the spiritual psychology of self-surrender. He says to Arjuna: “Give up all duties and take refuge in Me. Then you don’t have to worry about anything.”
Actions done expectation of results bind us. If we do the same actions without selfish desires, then the actions do not bind us. Every action can be done in a spiritual manner.
Gita has a lot of repetitions because it is a dialog between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, and Arjuna did not fully understand Lord Krishna’s teachings in earlier chapters.
According to Patanjali Yoga Sutras, a spiritual seeker should practice friendliness (Maitri) towards fellow spiritual seekers, practice compassion (Karuna) towards those who are less evolved, practice happiness (Mudita) towards those who are more evolved and practice a filtering attitude (Upeksha) towards those who may shake his faith.
