94 - Self-surrender and God’s Grace | Swami Tattwamayananda

Bhagavad Gita | The Essence of Vedanta

Summary:
9th chapter: verse 22, 23, 24
22nd verse: “People who meditate on God as not separate, who worship Him in all beings, who are always engaged in that divine pursuit, who engage in noble, unselfish deeds – for such people, I carry what they lack, and preserve what they already have.”
This is one of the most celebrated verses of the Gita. Lord Krishna makes a big promise in this verse. “If you do God’s work, God will work for you.” When we do good, noble deeds without selfish motive, then some of our problems are automatically solved.
In all spiritual traditions, there is a strong emphasis on God’s grace. If we surrender to God, our problems are mysteriously solved; our karmic blocks are removed. Such surrender needs to be complete, without any second thought or doubt. If there are doubts or second thoughts, our energy and concentration get dissipated.
Doubt can be of two types. (1) Creative doubt, which is coupled with shraddha, and demonstrates a true thirst for knowledge. (2) Skepticism– seekers who ask questions without any shraddha. Their mind is closed, they don’t derive any benefits from answers to their questions, and they keep asking the same questions again and again.
The devotee needs to blend his own effort with God’s grace. Self-effort helps him reach a level of spiritual fitness to become graceworthy and recognize God’s grace as God’s grace, not an accident.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna provides an analogy on combining self-effort with God’s grace. If a boat is tied to an anchor, the effort is needed to first untie it and row it to the middle of the river. Only then, it can use the power of the wind to move further.
Saint Teresa of Avila provides an analogy on the need to remove all doubts when surrendering to God. Before irrigating a field, one needs to remove the weeds and make it ready for irrigation. Similarly, doubts should be removed and then the mind should be connected to the perennial waters of God’s grace.
Sri Ramakrishna and Girish Chandra Ghosh’s story illustrates the importance of sincerity and integrity in self-surrender. Girish had high integrity but was an alcoholic and not ready to do even a single prayer every day. Sri Ramakrishna asked him to give him his power of attorney. Thereafter, it became impossible for Girish to touch alcohol.
There is a contrasting example in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Pratap Chandra Hazra was a devotee who lacked sincerity. He worshipped in a bombastic manner and had a high opinion of his own spiritual attainment. As a result, he could not completely surrender to Sri Ramakrishna.
According to Narada Bhakti Sutra, highest devotion means complete dedication to a higher ideal. When we pour oil, it has a natural, continuous flow. Similarly, the mind should flow to God, naturally and continuously.
23rd verse: “Those who worship other gods with shraddha – not for highest enlightenment but for material prosperity – in reality, they are worshipping Me, although they are using the wrong method and are not aware of it.”
To whichever god we pray, the prayer goes to Brahman. Fulfillment also comes from Brahman.
There is a difference between a spiritual person and a religious person. A spiritual person is dedicated to a higher ideal without any selfish, worldly motive. A religious person may pray for material comforts, and he has more distance to travel before he becomes spiritual. Both are knocking at the same door, but depending on how they approach, they get different results. The spiritual person prays for contentment, devotion and welfare of humanity.
25th verse: “The votaries of different deities, they reach those deities. The one whom you worship, you reach him.”
Depending upon our own mental makeup, we evolve our own ideas of God. First stage in our evolution of concept of godhead was ancestor worship. The next stage was the worship of the divine power behind natural phenomena.
At the primitive stage, we may give a human dimension to the transcendental reality. As we evolve further, we are not satisfied with that idea of God. We feel it cannot be the highest idea of God.
According to the Bhagavata Purana, the highest devotee of God is one who sees the presence of God in everything, and the presence of everything in God. All lines of demarcation disappear for him. He sees all humanity as one spiritual family.
23rd and 24th verses are about those devotees who have not reached the highest stage, but who are working towards reaching that stage.