Acceptance of the Lord as Our Sole Maintainer.
Sacinandana Swami: We are discussing the road of sharanagati – taking shelter, which leads us to Lord Krishna.
Our third step is goptritve-varanam or accepting the Lord as one’s sole maintainer.
On His way through South India Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu sang:
“Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna
Krishna Krishna pahi mam
O Lord Krishna! Maintain me. “
Now, seeing the Lord as one’s maintainer requires faith. Bhaktivinoda Thakur sings a song which creates such faith. He says:
“O youthful prince of Vraja. You are the Lord of all Lords. By Your will the material universes are created and destroyed. By Your will Lord Brahma creates, Vishnu maintains, Shiva destroys and according to Your will maya constructs the prison house of this world. You are my only protector and maintainer. “
Then he says:
“I’m no longer confident of my own strength and endeavor. I have become solely dependent on Your will.”
This is how he sings. To someone who hears this for the first time this might sound like resignation, accepting one’s defeat, becoming, let me say, an escapist and not taking responsibility. But it is not.
It is a spiritual turn to our ultimate shelter, our natural holding context: the Lord of whom we are an inseparable part. It is like a spark entering the fire to dance, maintained by the flames. It is its birthright, it’s meant to exist in this way.
We souls have many desires with innumerable ends in mind, yet only if Krishna wills our desires are fulfilled.
Stepping into this awareness and leading life with Krishna is the joyful process of sharanagati.