All Your Sorrows Will Come to an End

All the scriptures, the Vedas and the Bhagavatam, state that by surrendering to God you will attain His grace.

The Vedas state, yasya deve parabhaktiryatha . . . (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.23) “One who practices devotion to God; one who surrenders to God attains His grace.” The Bhagavatam (10.14.29, 11.12.15) says that if you wish to attain His grace, then, “You have to surrender to Him; you have to practise devotion to Him.” The Gita, 18.62, states the same, “Surrender yourself to Him and then you will attain His grace.” Similarly, 18.66, sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja, “Arjun, resigning all your duties to Me, surrender to Me . . . I assume full responsibility for the one who surrenders to Me. I forgive all his sins. I put an end to his maya. I finish the consequences of his three actions, the five afflictions, the five sheaths of maya and the three dosh. I become his servant forever.”

Now, what is surrender and how do we surrender to God? Let us consider this in brief. What were you like when you were born? You were very innocent. What does innocent mean? Natural. As you grew older you started learning artificiality, what you call etiquette in the world. In other words, you are one way on the inside and a different way on the outside. You use deception in your look and in your language. You have learnt all this deception throughout your life and the naturalness you had as an innocent child is gone.

A small child was told by his mother, “When the lady from next door comes, tell her that your mummy is not at home.” The child says, “Okay mummy, I will tell her.” When the woman from next door comes, she asks the child, “Where is your mummy?” The little boy replies, “Mummy said that when the neighbour comes, tell her that mummy is not home.” The child’s mother was listening to all this from the drawing room. She thought, “What a fool he is! Why did he have to say mummy said!” That innocent child does not know how to tell lies.

After the neighbour left, the mother came out of her room and slapped the child, “Listen! You should not have said mummy has said.” Thus, the mother — the first guru of the child — has taught the child how to tell lies. Since then, we have learnt from books and from other people. We have learnt deception, how to tell lies and how to cheat others. This is all we have learnt. Therefore, our heart is now full of impurities. And God says,

I want a pure heart. I want the heart of an innocent child. Only then will I live in that heart. Your heart is filthy, and you have all your worldly relations in there — your mother, your father, your spouse and your children. Take them all out! Only I will live in your heart. It is only then that I will grace you. This is all that God demands of us.

When you were born, whenever you wanted something, you expressed your demand by crying. When a child cries it is up to the mother to determine what it is that the child wants. This is the situation that you will have to return to. You will have to cry out to God, then He will assume your full responsibility. This crying out to God is called devotion. Meditating on God with your mind. With your mind! Please take note of this.

There are many among you who claim to have practised devotion all your life. What kind of devotion have you practised? I have read from the Gita, from the Ramayana and other scriptures. I have used rosary beads and I have performed puja. All you have done is nothing but a physical drill. You cannot attain God like this. You must love God above all else. And the love must come from your heart. A sincere love. Just like you love your mother, your father, and your children with your mind, you must love God in the same way.

He alone is everything to me. Having this sentiment in your heart, when you cry out to Him, then you will attain His grace, after you evict everyone else from your heart and bring Him in. That’s it! A great intellect is not required. There is no need to think, If only I had great knowledge of the Vedas and the Shastras like Kripalu has, then I could attain God. Kripalu can say with a challenge that there is nothing else written in the Vedas and Shastras. Cry out to God like a little child. This is all the scriptures have to say.

God says in the Rigveda, “O humans! I am your father. Call Me with tears in your eyes and I will come. Cry out to Me. Accept Me as your own from inside.” But you accept your bodily mother, wife or husband to be your own, and externally you say, “You are my only mother, my only father, my only brother, my only friend.” Are you trying to pull the wool over God’s eyes? God is noting down your ideas sitting inside you. Realise this always and everywhere. Realise that God resides within you.

If someone wins one billion dollars, he cannot contain his happiness. If he becomes a prime minister, he becomes so happy. But the Lord of countless universes resides in your heart, why do you forget this? You must always feel ecstatic. Yes, He lives inside my heart. But you forget this. Do you know this? Yes, I do. Every religion says, “God is omnipresent. God lives inside everyone’s heart.” Followers of all religions say this very loudly, but they do not realise it.

Practise while walking, while going somewhere or doing something — He lives inside my heart. Whatever time you can afford in private, be it one hour or two, sit by yourself and cry out to Him, just like an innocent child. Then you will receive His grace. Then He will give you His own eyes, He will give you His divine ears. He will give you His divine senses, His divine mind and His divine intellect. Then you will be able to see God, hear God, smell God, taste His sweetness and touch Him. Only then will you know Him and attain Him. All your sorrows will come to an end, and you will become blissful for all eternity.

Kripalu Bhaktiyoga Tattvadarshan — the essence of Vedic wisdom, spirituality and devotion in daily life