Thursday, March 31, 2011

Radhanath Swami on Surrender in Love

Surrender, in the material sense, means to lose. For example, Mahatma Gandhi did his nonviolent protest and Subhash Chandra Bose very expertly balanced it by declaring violent war on the British - the British surrendered and said “you can make India your independent state.” But that is not what the British wanted; they lost. India won, Britain lost. Similarly, the allied forces headed by Russia and America won, whereas Germany and Japan lost and surrendered. So, the general notion is that to surrender means to lose; something very undesirable, by force. But in Sanskrit, the meaning of the word saranagati is something very different. Saranagati is the most positive expression of our gratitude and love. It’s the most joyful experience of the heart. There cannot be love without such surrender (saranagati). Love is not selfish. Love is selfless. Love is for the beloved.
Posted by at

18 comments:

  1. Piyush SinghMarch 31, 2011 at 6:12 AM

    "Saranagati is the most joyful experience of the heart." Very true. Thank you Radhanath Swami for this very useful point.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SamirMarch 31, 2011 at 6:13 AM

    thank u for very good quote

    ReplyDelete
  3. ankur sharmaMarch 31, 2011 at 6:18 AM

    Devotees win over Krsna by their total surrender!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Vidya PathamMarch 31, 2011 at 7:11 AM

    Thank you Radhanath Swami for explaining the inner meaning of love and surrender.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sumit SharmaMarch 31, 2011 at 8:20 AM

    So nice message from Radhanath Swami. It's very clear that surrender with love is the highest goal for surrender.

    ReplyDelete
  6. GuruMarch 31, 2011 at 8:36 AM

    Wonderful article.

    In material sense surrender has different meaning and aspect but in spiritual point of view saranagati means complete dependency on Lord sri krishna and Loving reciprocation without expecting anything in return.

    Maharaj explained the real meaning of saranagati so eloquently.

    Thank you so much for sharing wonderful nectar.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Vinay MalaniMarch 31, 2011 at 10:54 AM

    The wonderful part of 'saranagati' or surrender in the spiritual realm is that we stand to gain maximum & lose absolutely nothing at all. However, like Radhanath Swami points out, thats not the motive behind saranagati for God's devotees.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousMarch 31, 2011 at 7:52 PM

    Such sweet words. I once tried explaining this idea of loving surrender to my friends. They found it much more attractive then the common view of surrender in other religions, such as Christianity, in which surrender is forced,as the alternative is to suffer "fire and brimstone"

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousMarch 31, 2011 at 10:00 PM

    This is so true. Love is for the beloved.

    ReplyDelete
  10. sandeep.abaApril 1, 2011 at 12:11 AM

    BUT The question in material or spiritual sense is that:-DO WE POSSESS ANYTHING THAT WE CAN SURRENDER?Everything belongs to Krishna & should be used for Krishna.
    All Glories To HIS DIVINE GRACE A C BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI SRILA PRABHUPADA..JAGAD_GURU SRILA PRABHUPADA KI JAI..

    ReplyDelete
  11. UdayApril 1, 2011 at 3:28 AM

    Differance in the meaning of 'Surrender' in material sense and spiritual sense beautifully brought out by Radhanath Swami.

    ReplyDelete
  12. GopasanaApril 1, 2011 at 3:33 AM

    thanks to HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj for uprooting the false common understanding of surrendering.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousApril 3, 2011 at 7:21 PM

    Amazing. Surrender is the most positive expression of our heart, when there is gratitude and love.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Radha KrishnaApril 7, 2011 at 10:58 AM

    Humility is something that has to be earned. Its not easy .. its not easy. I will say.

    ReplyDelete
  15. radhika p chhabriaMay 10, 2011 at 11:57 AM

    love is alredy there in my heart thankyou for awakening it RADHANATH SWAMI.this love will always make me surrender [saranagati] to the supreme .

    ReplyDelete
  16. ChandrikaJuly 23, 2011 at 8:44 AM

    Saranagati is the most positive expression of our gratitude and love. It’s the most joyful experience of the heart. There cannot be love without such surrender (saranagati). Love is not selfish. Love is selfless. Love is for the beloved.

    ReplyDelete
  17. surekhaNovember 12, 2011 at 8:18 PM

    Thank you HH Radhanath swami for explaining us the real meaning of surrender in a spirtual sense.

    ReplyDelete
  18. gopasanaDecember 27, 2011 at 2:36 AM

    lovely expression of real meaning of surrender

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)