Sharanagati

“Man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru mam evaisyasi satyam te pratijane priyo ’si me – Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.”[1]

If we want to find the essence of all the teachings, of all the many hundreds of verses and instructions included in the “Gita”, then we have to search the end chapters. And the essence, the meaning of this verse is repeated quite few times in the “Gita”, showing that there is an emotional approach to the Supreme. Because many times we try to search in different ways – by analysis, by action, by knowledge or renunciation, by force or by other methods, but actually the most direct contact with the Supreme is this loving approach.

And what Krishna says in the beginning? “Always think of Me.” How many times you have heard this verse? Hundreds, thousands of times, right? How many times our teachers have declared: “Think of Krishna”? Few words, but it takes a lifetime to realize them. Man mana – your mind on Me. So, here is this very special faculty of yours – the mind. This should be connected to the Supreme. Can you do that by force: “Now I will sit here and I will think of Krishna”? Maybe it’s possible for few minutes, but then you will remember what should not be remembered. “I should forget about all my material engagements. I should forget about illusion. Illusion?” Immediately your mind is focused more and then illusion is so charming. Illusion does a great job. She is doing her service properly. If you would do your service in the same manner, this mission would flourish like anything. Because illusion is preaching in a very powerful manner – promising much and giving much! At first glance it satisfies your desires. They say that the next car will be faster – and it is faster. Or your new computer will be two times more powerful – and it is. Still, something is missing from all the offers of illusion and this is the real engagement of the mind.

So it is not enough and is practically impossible to forcefully focus the mind on something. Better we find the natural engagement to our mind. And fortunately Krishna is – they say – He is attractive. So He is the best topic of thinking. He captures the attention. And then this faculty, this function of our mind will be naturally running to Him.

We have heard the different functions of the mind also many times – thinking, willing and feeling. That means we have to connect all these functions with the Supreme – we should think of Him, we should dedicate our willpower to Him and ultimately we should dedicate our feelings.

“Always think of Me”. This capacity of the mind is very useful for the human being, because we know that the controlled mind is the best friend. But the uncontrolled mind is the worst enemy. So better we make friends with our mind. And the best way to pacify the mind is to think of something satisfying. Our mind has a selective power – accepts what he likes and rejects what he dislikes. But Shrila Prabhupada always says that we should be intelligent, search for the highest objective. That means, use your mind to select – what is the best option. Sankalpa-vikalpa, acceptance and rejection – this is the function of the mind. But on the higher platform, on the spiritual platform the mind starts to function in a different way. Our willpower, like our sankalpa, our desire or decision is weak. Krishna’s willpower is strong – so much so that His willpower is called satya-sankalpa. That means His desires come true without any special efforts. For Him it’s enough to think and it just happens. What about you? You think of something and it happens? Sometimes yes. For example when we think of troubles, they will come to us. Or if we start to create our demons, inner dark forces, they will capture us. But in the same way, if we think of the Supreme, if we think of something very pure, if we decide that “I will dedicate my life to divinity,” it will also happen. So what does it mean – your faith is a mental concoction? Is it? Is this faith false or true? We hope that it’s real.

[1] Bhagavad Gita 18.65