Madhya-līlā | Chapter 22: The Process of Devotional Service |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 22.100
ānukūlyasya sańkalpaḥ
prātikūlyasya varjanam
rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso
goptṛtve varaṇaḿ tathā
ātma-nikṣepa-kārpaṇye
ṣaḍ-vidhā śaraṇāgatiḥ
SYNONYMS
ānukūlyasya — of anything that assists devotional service to the Lord; sańkalpaḥ — acceptance; prātikūlyasya — of anything that hinders devotional service; varjanam — complete rejection; rakṣiṣyati — He will protect; iti — thus; viśvāsaḥ — strong conviction; goptṛtve — in being the guardian, like the father or husband, master or maintainer; varaṇam — acceptance; tathā — as well as; ātma-nikṣepa — full self-surrender; kārpaṇye — and humility; ṣaṭ-vidhā — sixfold; śaraṇa-āgatiḥ — process of surrender.
TRANSLATION
"'The six divisions of surrender are the acceptance of those things favorable to devotional service, the rejection of unfavorable things, the conviction that Kṛṣṇa will give protection, the acceptance of the Lord as one's guardian or master, full self-surrender, and humility.
PURPORT
One who is fully surrendered is qualified with the six following characteristics: (1) The devotee has to accept everything that is favorable for the rendering of transcendental loving service to the Lord. (2) He must reject everything unfavorable to the Lord's service. This is also called renunciation. (3) A devotee must be firmly convinced that Kṛṣṇa will give him protection. No one else can actually give one protection, and being firmly convinced of this is called faith. This kind of faith is different from the faith of an impersonalist who wants to merge into the Brahman effulgence in order to benefit by cessation of repeated birth and death. A devotee wants to remain always in the Lord's service. In this way, Kṛṣṇa is merciful to His devotee and gives him all protection from the dangers found on the path of devotional service. (4) The devotee should accept Kṛṣṇa as his supreme maintainer and master. He should not think that he is being protected by a demigod. He should depend only on Kṛṣṇa, considering Him the only protector. The devotee must be firmly convinced that within the three worlds he has no protector or maintainer other than Kṛṣṇa. (5) Self-surrender means remembering that one's activities and desires are not independent. The devotee is completely dependent on Kṛṣṇa, and he acts and thinks as Kṛṣṇa desires. (6) The devotee is meek and humble.
Lord Kṛṣṇa states in the Bhagavad-gītā (15.15):
sarvasya cāhaḿ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo
mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaḿ ca
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham
"I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas." Situated in everyone's heart, Kṛṣṇa deals differently according to the living entity's position. The living entity's position is to be under the protection of the illusory energy or under Kṛṣṇa's personal protection. When a living entity is fully surrendered, he is under the direct protection of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa gives him all intelligence by which he can advance in spiritual realization. The nondevotee, however, being under the protection of the illusory energy, increasingly forgets his relationship with Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes it is asked how Kṛṣṇa causes one to forget. Kṛṣṇa personally causes His devotee to forget material activities, and through the agency of māyā Kṛṣṇa causes the nondevotee to forget his devotional service to the Lord. This is called apohana.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness