Page 127 - Liberal Exposition of Pranahuti Aided Meditation

to my advancement, that’s how the prayer goes. So this prayer level, this level of being a slave to our own wishes is something that we have got to transcend and that is possible only when we say, thou art the only God and Power to bring us up to that stage. That is the faith in the Master, that surrender to Master has to happen. Surrender has got several ways. People think by falling at the feet of somebody you have surrendered, it is not true, or we go on crowing that we have surrendered.
Prapatti is another word that we have used but then that is not in this plane. Here it is only saranathva that moves you. Tradition has mixed these two concepts so badly. The saranathva enables you to develop a confidence that the Master is there to look after me - one is that you should fall at His feet or seek surrender, another is a feeling that he has accepted your surrender. We may go from one God to another God, infinite number of Gods are there and we have found in the puranas those people who are put to difficulties running from one person to another person, nothing new, that is a familiar theme. If you have got some problem, somebody has cursed you then you go to this person, you go to that person, he says I cannot do, go to him. All sorts of running after people seeking refuge, similar is our position. Whom shall I ask? Ultimately it is only God we have to ask but then do you have that confidence that He will take care of?
The famous story of Gayopakhyana has always been a bit problem for me. I have not understood much, anyone of you can throw some light on the subject. He is a great devotee of Krishna, commits a mistake, the first person to whom he should have gone is only Krishna and then say ‘I have committed a mistake excuse me I have surrendered to you long back’ but then he knocks at all other doors. That shows the deficiency in the lack of surrender there and that is the lesson that was taught in Gayopakyana from my point of view, from the point of a sadhaka that’s how I look at it. Any lapse on my part I would like to present it before the God, before the Master in my night prayer. While going to bed, while complying with the 10th commandment, I would like to place it there instead of placing it to all others because that is the place where we can get refuge. The question is do you have that confidence.
You develop a confidence when you move from 4th knot to 5th knot is what our experience says. It becomes easy for you to practice that commandment. Till that time what shall we do, it will be a ritual. Rites and rituals are nothing new in