Surrender is key to inner happiness

Life is never a smooth ride. One has to negotiate steep bumps or navigate potholes carefully. People are often heard to say all they want from life is inner peace, but do not know what more to do to achieve that goal. “Will tapas, yoga, nama sankeertanam help?” they wonder. Then there are those who bemoan their lot in life and want to know how to find inner peace.

There is this famous anecdote about Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. After a stay in Kolkata, he decided to set out on a padayatra and visit as many villages as possible. In one of the villages he came across an old man, who was sitting outside his thinnai (bench made of bricks) and manually pounding rice in a stone mortar. Tears were streaming down the face of the farmer, and he was sobbing uncontrollably. A concerned Paramahama approached him and softly said, “My friend. Please do not cry. Tell me, what is bothering you? Are your hands aching from pounding rice? Move aside, I will do the chore for you.” The old man shook his head from side to side, and howled more, and continued pounding the rice. Paramahamsa was even more concerned. “My friend, tell me. Is your family ill-treating you? I can talk to your sons if necessary, and stop your misery,” he said. The old man stopped the pounding, wiped the tears from his face, and said, “No, no. My family loves me. My sons and daughters-in-law are very good. God has blessed me with a huge family, who are also good.” “Are you facing financial ruin of crops? Is that why you are crying,” asked Paramahamsa. The old man again shook his head. “I am the happiest man on earth. Everything is great,” he said. “Then why are crying old man,?” asked an exasperated aide of Pramahamsa.

The old man looked at Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and said, “While grinding rice, I realised the futility of it all. I am reminded of the life cycles, of being born again and again,” said the farmer, looking at Pramahamsa, helplessly. The ascetic smiled, and told the farmer, “Remove the stone and examine the rice left in the stone,” he said softly. When the farmer obliged, Paramahamsa said, “Tell me what you see.” The old farmer peered down, then looked up at Paramahamsa. “ I don’t understand. Some are ground fine, while a number of rice grains are still coarse. What is there to learn from that ?” he wondered. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa then explained the cycle of life to him and said, “Just as how some of the finely pounded rice are closest to the stone, so too will men who have suffered in life get closer to the Almighty. “The old man immediately asked, “How do I get to that state?” And Paramahamsa told him, “Surrender is the key. Total surrender,” he said. 

How does one surrender? What do we do, when we want help , such as getting a seat in an educational institution or a job in a reputed firm? We approach those we believe are good and powerful, and appeal to their charitable nature. “You are my only hope. I am banking on you to help this deserving case. I am falling at your feet, please help me.” Falling at someone’s feet, literally or figuratively denotes complete surrender. In Thiruppavai, Andal says, “I grasp your lotus feet”. In the Bhagavad Gita too, Lord Krishna says,” Lay your sins as well as your good deeds at my feet, it will save you”. We come across similar lines in Narayaneeyam and also in many of the works of Saivite philosophers. 

All religions advocate this spiritual path. “Overcome ego and surrender to the supreme” is the guiding principle of all sects of humanity.

Most people might wonder how to surrender everything, when one has so many duties and responsibilities to fulfil in life. Total surrender can happen in small doses, snowballing into a good one. The first step is to agree to submit. There are simple tools to guide one along the way. For example, there is a guiding principle on how to view God when one goes to a temple. One has to look at the feet first and slowly lift one’s gaze up to the face. A number of temple priests also instruct youngsters to bend low in submission. Even if one were merely doing yoga or exercise, there are rules on submission. If you want to excel, the best way is to surrender, humbly.