Surrender to the divine

Some people keep investing money in their own business even if it is incurring losses.
For representational purposes
For representational purposes

One day in Vrindavan, the gopis were drawing water from the village well. After filling their vessels, they called Krishna who was playing nearby, to help them place the pots on their heads. Krishna pretended not to hear them. He continued to laugh and play. Ignoring them, he ran away. The gopis had no other option but to help stack the pots on each others’ heads and return home.

When they reached their doorsteps, they found Krishna eagerly waiting to help them take the pots down. “Where was this enthusiasm when we asked you to help us keep the pots on our heads?” they asked in annoyance.   smiled innocently and said, “What can I do? My job isn’t to put a burden on people’s heads. It’s to remove them!”

Human beings have also created suffering in life due to misconceptions, and then they keep brooding over it. Let’s look at an example. Once, a man was standing in a train with his suitcase on his head, crying loudly. Seeing him, a fellow passenger asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” The man replied saying, “This suitcase is too heavy. I can’t carry it!” So the other passenger asked him to put it down. The first man replied, “No! How can I? I only bought a ticket for myself! I didn’t buy one for my suitcase.”

The poor man in this story didn’t realise that whether he carries the suitcase on his head or not, the train is still carrying the weight. This is what our condition has become today. We find it hard to just surrender to the Divine. In life, we can only put forth our best efforts and then surrender the rest. It is in this state that the Lord accepts all our burdens. Sorrows are our creation, not God’s.

If we want to be able to face them, then we need to unburden ourselves, like how in old times, workers would place their loads on platforms by the side of the road to get some rest. We simply need to surrender, which when viewed from another angle, is nothing but a reflection of self-confidence. It is the confidence that says the Divine will take care of everything. Self-confidence is like the booster rocket that is required to break free from the gravitational pull of our limitations. It’s the fuel in the tank of a vehicle that takes it ahead.

Some people keep investing money in their own business even if it is incurring losses. This is not the kind of self-confidence we’re talking about. We can never sleep near the den of a serpent as we will be in constant fear that the snake will emerge and bite us. Anxiety about the future and lack of faith—these are snakes we carry within. We need to surrender such anxieties at the feet of the Divine. We need to put forth our effort and leave the rest to Him. We have to develop acceptance of all situations.

The writer is a world-renowned spiritual leader and humanitarian 

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