When you go to Shirdi and enter the premises, on the top, two words are always there. Nothing else is demanded of us. Shraddha and Saburi.
Saburi means patience. And shraddha is variously translated as faith or surrender.
What is real surrender?
Real surrender is when there are no more questions.
Surrender means that after a great deal of thought and great deal of effort, you have figured out that now nothing can be done.. I cannot do it, it’s not in my hands. That is the beginning of surrender. Which means you acknowledge something other than your effort.
Surrender is not laziness. Surrender is when I say, OK, that’s it, now I can’t move, now what? So, it’s also the surrender of one’s ego which thinks that it knows everything. If that is not removed, one really cannot surrender. It’s the ego that creates many problems.
While self-effort is essential, don’t think that it is the only thing that works. Leave a little bit to That. Even to surrender you need a lot of self effort. It is not easy.
If you are hungry you have to eat. There is no escape. However, you must acknowledge that there may be things beyond me. Let me do my best and surrender. Or if you don’t want to do anything, if you want to totally surrender, you should be ready to bear the consequences. There may not be at the moment but in the long run, yes.
If you surrender, by surrender you mean that you want to find the ultimate supreme truth. Then total surrender is good, but it is not easy.
Let me tell you a very interesting story. Now, please we won’t behave like what the characters in the story behave because we may not be ready for it.
This is from the Puranas. One day Krishna decided to go for a walk with Uddhava.
Knowing Krishna for so long, Uddhava thought that there is something behind this. He doesn’t say anything without some meaning.
So he said, I will come with you for a walk on condition that nothing strange happens.
He said, OK, fine, you are my friend, so it’s OK.
They arrived in front of a huge palace of a very rich man. Krishna said, I am feeling very thirsty. So Uddhava went inside and asked the owner of the house, ‘There is a dark friend of mine outside. He is very thirsty’.
The owner said, ‘of course, Atithi Devo Bhava, come inside’. And gives him the best sharbat available in the palace.
Krishna drinks it and says, this is the most tasty sherbet that I have had in my life.
Uddhava thinks now what is coming!
Krishna puts forth his hands and says, ‘May he become richer and richer and may his wealth increase and so on’.
Uddhava is relieved.
Nothing extraordinary, everything is going properly, logical.
Then they walk a bit and Krishna again says, I am feeling very thirsty.
So, now the Uddhava gets suspicious. He says, just now he had this big glass of sharbat and now he is again thirsty, something is up. So, what shall we do?
Krishna says, ‘see that, out there, there is a small hut. You see the sadhu sitting there, yogi? Go there and tell him, I am very thirsty, get something to drink.’
So, Uddhava goes and the yogi is just doing his abhisheka on the Shiva Linga. So, he waits till he pours the water completely. Then he says, ‘my friend is very thirsty, he wants something to drink.’
Yogi feels very, very unhappy and sad. He says, what can I do now? The last drop of water I had, has already been used for the abhisheka. Then he has an idea.
He says, wait a minute.
He has only one cow and he himself milks the cow and offers it to him.
Krishna drinks the milk and says, the sweetest milk I have had in my life, better than the sherbet which was given to me, sweetest.
So again, Uddhava thinks nothing is happening extraordinarily, says thank you and goes.
Suddenly Krishna says, May his cow die!
Uddhava says, what is this logic now? What justice is this? I thought you were an avatar. Is this justice? He gave you milk from the only cow he has. He is not a rich man. And you are saying, let his cow die, it is the only possession. What is this Krishna?
Krishna says, see this is the thing. You have been with me for so long, but you cannot understand my logic. Your logic is different from my logic.
He says, what logic?
I say, it’s very simple.
See that rich man, he has lots of lives to go. Let him enjoy his wealth before he comes to me, finally.
This man, this yogi, he’s almost near me. He is about to merge with me. The only thing between him and me is that cow. He loves the cow. So I take off the cow and he walks into my heart. That’s all I need to do. This is my love.
Surrender.
So, unless you are prepared to lose your cow, we shouldn’t talk high sounding words and say I surrender.
Be practical. Go slowly. The time will come when you will have no way out except that.
-Sri M
