Sharanagati

We read another important verse from the second chapter of the “Bhagavad Gita”: “In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.”[1]

Krishnahas started the education on yoga. Before He was teaching about sankhya, analysis – if you do this, you will have the result like that; this is this, that is that – analysis. And in the previous verse He says: “Thus far I have described this knowledge to you through analytical study. Now listen as I explain it in terms of working without fruitive results. O son of Pritha, when you act in such knowledge you can free yourself from the bondage of works.”

So, before it was sankhye – “I was explaining in sankhya” – and now: buddhi-yoga. Buddhi means intellect or the yoga of enlightenment, we can say. So, the first lecture in yoga by Krishna to Arjuna is this what we have read. You can get rid of your fears. This is yoga! Yoga means to be connected, and when you are connected to Krishna, there is no fear entering. No evil spirits, no bad influence, nothing wrong can happen if we are connected. And if we analyze deeply the words of Krishna, then it is obvious from this verse, that simple analytical study will not help you to get rid of the fear. You can become very intelligent, very analytical, but you should become a yogi in order to get rid of the fear. So instead of analytic mind, we should have a synthesizing mind. Analytical means that I can cut the problem into pieces. And synthesizing mind means that I can put the pieces together, to have a brighter picture. Analysis will not make us happy and satisfied. Why? If you analyze anything material, ultimately you will find the cheating inside. Or the scandal. And if you analyze something spiritual, you will find nothing by this method. Right? Because the spiritual secrets are not under the jurisdiction of analysis. We have to submit ourselves to the higher truth. You cannot analyze that! Therefore from sankhya, from analysis, we should come to yoga, which means unifying, synthesizing. Just like Shrila Shridhara Maharaj says: thesis, antithesis, synthesis. This is yoga – to be connected, to be connected to the absolute truth. As soon as we are connected to the absolute truth, fear will be frightened away.

Once upon a time… the great sages came together and asked Brahma, the supreme intelligence in the universe: “Tell us, what is the ultimate aspect of God? What is the ultimate name of God? What is the ultimate mantra to chant? What is the ultimate form to meditate upon?” And then Brahma started his answer. He gave one secret formula. It started with “om” and ended with “swaha”. I do not want to give this mantra now. But then he started to explain the different words of the mantra and as the names of Krishna and Govinda were included, he explained that fear is frightened away if you chant these names of God. And if you chant “svaha” at the end of this mantra, this will make the whole world turn around.

Although fear is a good old friend of ours. And I agree in this world of brutal material illusion, there is a good reason to be afraid. But many people want to get rid of their fear. They go to martial arts or to psychotherapy, or whatever. But they forget about this suggestion: be connected to God, then you will get rid of your fear.

In the purports of the “Vedanta-sutra” it is explained that those who have surrendered completely, fully toKrishna, they will have no fear. But from this we can understand that those, who did not surrender completely, they will have fear, they have a good reason to fear. But if you use this sentence again for self-analysis, if we have any little fear then you should understand that “I did not surrender completely toKrishna.” But if you have become fearless, it is a great achievement.

So, surrender brings fearlessness. If I submit myself under a protective Lord, I will be protected. Even if tests are coming to me, this will be for my benefit.