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Understanding Sharanagatih
Talk 1
Jiva is under the spell of beginningless maya . He has to be awakened by the teacher.
Why does the Jiva need to be awakened by the teacher? Why not he wake up by himself and
become free from samsara ?
This is because waking up is in the form of knowing oneself and the knowledge has to be
about oneself. The knower has to know the truth about the knower. Since the knower
himself is the object of knowledge, he requires external agency.
Like the eyes can see anything which is in front of them. But to see the eyes themself, we
need a mirror.
Similarly this knower is capable of knowing all objects of apara vidya like physics, chemistry,
etc. by himself. But for the knowledge of oneself he needs an external agency. That is why
for the pursuit of knowledge one requires a teacher.
Another reason is that the whole pursuit of moksha is to become free from this sense of
individuality. If I am insisting on this ahankara only, then I cannot be free from ahankara.
I feel it is me who can make it and I dont need anybody for it. So what I am doing is
accentuating and strengthening my ahankara .
Like if somebody is stuck up in the mud and if he wants to come out , the more he struggles
by himself more he will be stuck. He requires some helping hand of a person standing on
solid ground, not of one who is also stuck in the mud like him.
Similarly pursuit of moksha is the pursuit of coming out of jiva bhava ie, sense of
individuality and that you are struggling by emphasizing your jivabhava, then it will not be
possible. Instead you will be more drowned in samsara. That is why you go to a guru and
surrender to him.
What is gurusharanagati and why is it important ?
There are a lot of wrong concepts about guru sharanagati , so one needs to understand it
properly. The word gurusharanagati has 3 components guru,sharana, agati
guroh sharanagati - means surrendering to the teacher.
The word sharanagati has two components sharana and agati. Sharana has both
meanings as the altar of surrendering or the person who is fit to protect the person who
has surrendered. Agati means refuge or coming to.

In olden days gurusharanagati was in a very intense form. This person who was relatively
free from raga-dvesha, who has done a lot of upasana, who has renounced everything,who
does not have any encumberance , he goes to the teacher and the relationship clicks.
The teacher becomes his sharanya or sharana - the one to whom he is surrendering. He is
the sharanagata - the one who is surrendering . His surrendering is complete his body,
mind and possessions are all surrendered to the guru. It is characterised by complete non-
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resistance and complete acceptance. That is why the process of growth becomes very fast.
The person learns and assimilates and when his job is over, he walks out , unless guru asks
him to stay. In the earlier days this was called surrendering. But now-a-days this is not
possible. So let us understand the nature of sharanagati to see how it can be done today.
First of all we see what is not sharangati -
1) Just because you have surrendered to guru does not mean that moksha is assured.
I must be convinced of this fact that gurusharanagati is sakshaat sadhanam for
moksha. Gurusharanagati facilitates moksha, but it is not a substitute for purushartha or the
direct means for moksha.
Like for getting visa you go to an visa agent. Going to an agent makes the job easy, but still
you got to do the whole visa process of form filling, document submission, interview, etc.
The agent only facilitates the process.
Similarly gurusharanagati itself is not the means for moksha. Guru guides you well in the
path to moskha.
2) Sharanagati does not mean that you dont use your intellect anymore, but just
listen and do what teacher says whether you agree or not. You have to use your buddhi in
what you do and say.
3) Sharanagati does not mean that you should stop asking questions and raising
doubts. You can have doubts and questions about what he says. But when raising the
doubts it is not to doubt the gurus authenticity. So your tone will be one of clarification,
not of questioning authority. So one can have doubts and questions and still surrender to
guru.

4) Surrendering does not mean that you have to give all your bank accounts and
possessions to him. Guru should not want or expect that also.
5) Surrendering does not mean that if something is against my understanding of
dharma, still I blindly follow guru. If guru instructs and my commonsense also says it is
against dharma, I need not follow. You can tell the guru that you would like to follow it,
but let me understand whether I am violating any dharma.
Like if you are asked to tell a lie and project some activity which is not being done just to
raise funds for the sake of asramas , then telling lies even for a good cause is adharma
and you need not tell a lie.
Really a guru who is sharanya ie, fit to be surrendered to, will not ask you to go against
dharma. So sharanagati does not mean that you have to blindy follow something that is
completely against your value system.
So these are all the things, that are not sharanagati

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Then the question will be, then what is sharanagti ?
There can be any number of definitions. But one definition given by the masters is
Sharanagati is a particular disposition of the mind which is charaterised by certain attitudes.
The elements of sharanagati are -
1) Complete trust in the teacher. What are the areas of trust ?
Trust in his knowledge. That he knows, what he is teaching.
Trust in his capacity to guide me correctly. He knows what I need to study and how
much.
Trust that he wishes well of me. He can never mean to harm me.
Like in a good marriage, husband and wife have complete trust in each other that the other
cannot harm me.
Trust that he is committed to the teaching that he is giving to me. Means he is not
doing lip service. Either he is abiding in the teaching or he is committed to the teaching. If
you feel that the teacher teaches well, but he does not follow it himself, then surrender will
not happen. Unless you feel it is working for him, you cannot make it work for you.
If trust is lacking in any one of these areas , then sharanagati is not possible. This is the first
element of sharanagati.

2) Openness of the mind. It implies two things
I am ready to share my feelings and ideas with the teacher. I do not hide anything
from the teacher. Atleast there should be one person in life to whom you are open. That
does not mean you have to tell him everything. But the area in which you are taking
guidance from him, you should be open.
Like when you go to the doctor you have to tell him hyour symptons correctly without
hiding anything. Based on that he prescribes medicine. Similarly, based on the information
given by you the teacher prescribes sadhanas for you. So do not hide, be honest with your
teacher. This is openness form in to out.
I have receptive to whatever teacher says. I dont have any prejudices or pre-
conceived ideas. I have freshness of the mind to listen to what the teacher says. While he is
teaching, I keep aside any notions I have and listen with an open mind. Also I am not scared
to ask any doubts, which genuinely come to my mind. So this type of openness is required
for sharanagati. Otherwise pre-conceived notions will prevent you from benefitting from the
teaching.
So sharnagati means not hiding anything from the teacher and openness of mind to listen
to what he says.

3) Respect for the teacher. I look up to him as a role model whatever be the reason
either because of his lifestyle or because of his knowledge. My heart bows down to
him effortlessly.

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4) Readiness to change by following his or her instructions. Some people listen with
the right attitude, but they do what they want. This particular element has two aspects-
Readiness to change .
Change should be as per the teachers instructions. Not the way you feel you
should change.
This is an important element of sharanagati.

5) Sharanagati implies that I look upon the altar of sharanagati as an expression of the
Lord himself or atleast as an expression of the grace of the Lord.
He is an answer to my prayers. He is an expression of Bhagavans grace.

6) Gratitude to the guru. If the teacher does not accept your surrender, then surrender
is not complete. So your surrender has to be accepted by the teacher. So I thank the teacher
for accepting my sharanagati.
So sharanagati is a disposition characterised by all these attitudes.

Next question would be Why should one have sharanagati ?
One reason is that moksha is the pursuit of neutralizing the ego. If sharanagati is
done properly, it helps me to reduce my ego.
This pursuit of knowledge for moksha is such that when I listen to some ideas from
the sastra, then it may not be convincing if I am depending only on my buddhi . Then I may
dismiss the ideas without understanding it properly. So I continue to remain where I was.
This is what happen to most people. They trust their buddhi so much and do not trust
anybody else. So if something is opposite to what the buddhi was thinking, I will dismiss it.
I will not have the readiness to even look into it, because I trust my buddhi too much. So as
a result I do not learn much from Vedanta.

In Vedanta there are so many things which are not palatable in the initial stage like maya
being anaadi. Then if you have faith in the teacher and the scriptures, then slowly , gradually
your mind is able to see that. Everything is not grasped at one shot. It is a slow
transformation. Therefore in Vedanta pursuit, we need to trust somebody so that what
looks unconvincing now, will become convincing later. Thus shraddha in the form of
sharanagati is like a bridge which links these two areas - from the area of non-understanding
where I am now, to the area of understanding. That is why sharanagati is useful because
first I dont see, but I believe and later on I see what I believe.

The person who has sharanagati will be relatively relaxed. He knows he can go to
the guru for any problems or doubts. What a relief that is. In any field of life, if somebody
is there to guide you and you trust that person, you will have mental relaxation.
So surrendering relaxes you in your pursuit.
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Surrendering saves a lot of your energy. Many things you have not tried yourself. But
guru who has listened to lot of people knows what works. So he can advise him to not try
something which may not work . Otehrwise you may have to try different ways and find
out. So lot of waste of energy is avoided and energy is channelized in the right direction.

Sharanagati will help us prevent a fall in our pursuit. You are always under the
guidance of the teacher and if you are going astray, it will be noticed by the teacher. So guru
himself will warn you. So when you are about to fall, guru helps to prevent the fall.

In the Vedanta pursuit, there will always be ups and downs. So when you are down,
the teacher who is your well-wisher will boost up your spirits. If you have sharanagati, the
teachers words will boost your spirit.
That is why gurusharanagati is very useful.

Next the question will be - How to have sharanagati ?
One thing is that sharanagati cannot be forced. One cannot put a deadline or give an
injection, that one should have gurusharanagati from such and such a day. gurusharanagati
happens. Only thing is one should not obstruct it, becasue of our raga-dveshas or because of
our wrong understanding of sharanagati. What we can do, is strengthen sharanagati or
prevent it from weakening, by taking care of certain factors which will be seen next.


















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Talk 2 Aug 2
Shishya is woken up by the guru. One cannot wake up by oneself. Some external factor is
required. That external factor is sastram and guru. If he tries to get out by himself, then he
will be sinking more and more because this samsara essentially consists of ahankara and
mamakara. While trying to get out of this samsara you are emphasizing this ahankara. You
say By my efforts I will do it or I will come out of it . Instead he gets more drowned. That is
why in spiritual pursuit we talk about sharanagati.
In the topic of sharanagatih three factors are involved
i) One who is the altar of surrendering - sharanyah.
The place where protection or guidance is given is sharanya or it is sometimes
called sharanam. Like hari sharanya or hari sharanam. Like Arjuna has surrendered to
Krishna. So Krishna is sharanyah.
ii) The one who is surrendering is called sharangatah. Arjuna is sharanagatah.
iii) The process or attitude is called sharanagatih. Coming to the altar of surrender is
called sharanagatih.

1) What is not Sharanagati ?
i) It is not a substitute to my effort. It helps to make the process easy, but it is not a
substitute to get moksha.
ii) Sharanagati does not mean that you dont use your buddhi. Infact you have
to use it more. But you have to use it where it is to be used appropriately. When guru is
saying something what can be the implication. Guru will not be saying everything in clear
words all the time. In Sanskrit grammar it is said - Ingitena, chestitena, mahatava
sutraprabhabhandena acharyanam abhiprayah gamyate By indication, by some action or
sometime by sutra, Panini will not say everything by sutra because sankrit grammar is so
vast. Sometimes he gives indication, or makes some usage so you know it is the rule. Same
thing here also. So one should use ones buddhi.
iii) Surrender does not mean you should not have questions. Whatever guru says
gulp it down. You digest it, chew it. So surrendering does not mean that you should not have
doubts.
iv) Surrendering does not mean that you should be frightened of guru. You should
be timid and frightened in front of guru.
v) In surrendering there should not be atmosphere of fear. Infact where there is
surrendering there will not be fear.
These are some points to keep in mind of what is not surrendering.
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2) Then what is Sharanagati ?
Surrendering is a particular mental disposition towards a person which is charaterised by a
few attitudes.
i) One should have trust in the teacher. I trust that he is my well-wisher. I trust that
he knows what he is teaching. I trust that he is able to guide me. Finally trust implies that I
give benefit of doubt to him. I ask questions, but still I am not fully convinced. At the same
time I am not in a position to say that he is wrong. In this situation I give him the benefit of
doubt.
Like in cricket the rule is that benefit of doubt is always given to the batsmen because
bowler can have another chance to make the batsmen out which the batsmen will not.
Similarly if you doubt the guru and make him out then guru is gone from your life. So give
the benefit of doubt to the teacher that he may be right. But you can want to know how he
is right. So use your brains properly. Ask questions with the attitude that o guru! I accept
what you say, but I want to be convinced how you are right. I will be happy if you are right
because really your defeat is my defeat. Until I am convinced I will keep on asking questions.
I am in the process of understanding.
Any guru who is afraid of answering questions is not fit to be sharanya. Infact he will say
dont ask stupid questions. One cannot surrender to such a person. Infact sharanya means
one who is fit to be surrendered to. If he his himself afraid of questions, then how can he
give another person protection. He can say that I will think over or check it out.
So a real guru will never dismiss or slight your question. Infact you may feel that your
question was stupid. And sometimes the guru may show the contradiction in your thinking.
Like someone asked- in Sravanmasa milk is poured on the Lord. So her question was why
waste milk on a stone staue, why not give it to the dog who will drink it. This is a question
asked often. Really by not giving it to the Lord, you are not going to give it to the dog.
So the teacher asks Why do you go to the temple and worship an idol. The person
answers - the Lord has been invoked in the temple. So here you show the contradiction in
that persons thinking. But the question is not dismissed. So trust is ability, well-wisherness
and giving benefit of doubt to the teacher.
ii) One should have openness with the teacher. Openenss means my mind is open
to receiving from the teacher and I am open with the teacher. I dont hide anything from the
teacher. Many students want to look good to the teacher, so they hide things from the
teacher. For them looking very obedient is more important than being obedient. That dioes
not serve the purpose.
Like looking healthy does not make you healthy. Like to look healthy some people take a lot
of drugs which harms their health. Similarly to look sincere we neglect being sincere,
obedient. Therefore openness means not trying to pretend to be anything other than what I
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am. If I make a mistake, then admit that a mistake is made. Guru will never say that any
mistake is unpardonable. He may say it is not proper. But if you admit then he will say it is
okay. It is not a crime to be wrong. Everybody goes wrong sometimes. So one should
nothave the pressure to be right all the time or be a perfect person. Guru himself says sorry
sometime, then shishya should not have problem to do that.

iii) Readiness to change following the instruction of the teacher.
iv) Respect for the teacher.
v) There should be an element of love for the teacher. In an atmosphere of love
only there can be rapport. If only respect os there, then there may be fear and you may be
awed by him. In the atmosphere of love alone real progress can happen.
Like even in the house if you want your children to grow well, provide an atmosphere of
love. Love brings out your pratibha ie, potential to excel. So if surrendering is there in true
sense , the love will be there. If love is there then your acceptance of the teacher will be
more.
vi) Humility is also required in surrendering. My ego should not come in the way in
accepting what the teacher says. My ego is not important, but my growth is important and
following the teacher is important. You may be thinking in a particular way for so many
years and now the teachers says that your thinking was wrong. Like Suresvaracharya was a
great scholar. For 35 -40 years he was a powerful karma kandin. But when he met
Shanlaracharya and discussed with hom. He was convinced and changed his stand and
became a sanyasi. So if someone else is right, your ego should not come in the way of
accepting. When you ask a question your humility will be known. Some times when people
ask they ask from the platform of I am a knower. I already know it and I would like your
opinion also. Or I understand it but people need to be clear about it. So they talk from the
platform of equality and according to principle of hydraulics flow can happen when the tank
is higher to lower by natural flow. Otherwise it has to be pumped up. Guru does not have
the pressure to pump. He is where he is . So you have to place yourself at a lower pedestal
to receive it. In this the teacher is not the beneficiary. Therefore I have to keep myself at the
pedestal where I can receive the teaching from my teacher. That is why humility is very
important. I never try to show off my knowledge to my teacher. This is one great problem
most Vedanta students have. When they talk they have so much pressure to speak all that
they know. Really when you visit a Mahatma you should speak less and listen and absorb
more. Your speech should be in the ratio of 1 : 10 of the teacher. Then only there is learning.
Sometimes people give a talk on Vedanta to the teacher. The teacher has nothing to lose. It
is a titiksha exercise for the teacher. But you lose out from learning because of your lack of
humility.



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Talk 3 -
The necessity of guru and the attitude of surrendering to the teacher. We saw earlier that
sharnagati involves 3 factors sharanya and sharangata and sharanagati. We saw what
sharanagati to the teacher does not mean that the student should feel wretched about
himself or have an attitude of slavery . What is sharanagati is a particular disposition which
is characterized by certain attitudes like trust, respect, readiness to change, humility and
also love for the teacher and learning.

3) How sharanagati helps us by reducing our ego.
Because ego likes to always assert itself. Things should go my way and people should listen
to me. Even though there is a feeling of inferiority, still it gets expressed in this form of
aggression or undue assertiveness. That can be reduced when one surrenders. Ofcourse this
sharanagati will happen when ego is reduced. So there is a catch 22 situation also. If you
have some amount of humility, then sharanagati will happen and then when sharanagati
happens you will have further humility. Like if you have some money you can start business.
You do the business then you get more money. Some humility ahs to be there initially. Like
for education the person should have minimum IQ. The when he studies then it will improve
his IQ further. Similarly sharanagati helps to neutralize ego, saves your energy and also
keeps your mind relaxed. Onlty those who have experienced shanranagati know what it
emans to be relaxed. Like ony the children who have parents knw how relaxed it is to be
with parents. The orphans will not know this.

One more point Sharanagati helps to provide an altar to see God in somebody. The vison
of Vedanta is to see god everywhere. We have to start somewhere and guru is a good
starting point. Therefore sharanagati is very useful in having an alter of seeing gid in human
form. That is why we say gurur brahma, gurur vishnuh.- we want to invoke that.
So far we have seen what is not sharanagati, what is sharanagati, how sharanagati helps.

4) When does sharanagati happen ?
This exercise is a learning process so that we can improve our sharanagati. Whosoever you
are having the relationship of guru-shishya, there you have to apply it. Infact not only with
guru, if applied appropriately it will help in other relationships also. For sharanagati to
teacher to happen some things shoud happen -
i) First thing I need to have some clarity about what I want in my life. Like you
surrender to the doctor when you want to be free from sickness. Suppose you are alright
why should you surrender to the doctor. Only when you want something you surrender.
Suppose I want some position in the parliament or assembly, then only I surrender to the
minister or party president. So any surrendering will happen only when I have some clarity .
complete clarity comes only later. But now I see that I have been doing so many things, but I
dont seem to get fulfillment in my life or atleast I want to really study the scripture thought
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you may not connect it to your life, then only surrendering can happen. Not only should I
have clarity about what I want, I should have value for it. Like sometimes we have a fancy to
visit a country or study a language. But it is not enough that I know what I want I should
have value for that. If value is not there, then surrendering will not happen. You will have so
many conditions teacher should come to my convenience, he should be within one km of
my place then only can I go, here should be no charge because what I want to have is not
valuable. If it is valuable then you will pay any price. You are ready to go the teachers way,
you are able to surrender. Like if you have value for a doctor who meets patients only late
evening and stays at the the other end of town. But still you will take the trouble to go
because it is important to you. Suppose I have some questions, if the teacher is around I will
definitely ask him. But suppose he is far away, I take the trouble to call long distance and
clarify. So if I have a value for something, then my mind is ready to surrender. So this is the
first prerequisite for surrendering to happen.

ii) The second thing is I must have awareness of the fact that what I want is not
available only by my independent efforts. I should be convinced of the necessity of external
help. Like for a minor headache I dont go to the doctor, but take the medicine in my house.
So I should know what I want is not going to be gained by my independent activities, then I
think of the doctor. But when I know my independent efforts are not good enough o get
what I want, then only surrendering can happen. If you think you can figure out sastra by
yourself , read Sanskrit by yourself, then surrendering to teacher cannot happen. I have to
be convinced that what I want is not available by my independent efforts.

So when you have clarity of what you want, you have value for what you want and you have
seen the importance of external help, in this background when you meet a Mahatma in
whom you see the confidence of getting you what you want , then you can surrender to
him. If he himself has no confidence of reaching the goal and taking you thee then yo cannot
surrender to that teacher. Like you go the opthalmalogist and the patient says I see
everything double. Then the Doctor says why four of you have come ! He himself sees
multiple, so how can he cure you. Similarly if you see the confidence of the teacher that it is
possible to be free from samsara by getting this knowledge, then you will have the mind to
surrender. If he is talking cynically, then you cannot surrender. The first two factors are in
your hand, but for the third factor you need a lot of punyam. It is not in your hands. You
should get the right person and you should feel he is the right person. Both should happen.
Sometimes even if he is not the right person, but you feel he is the right person, then
surrendering can happen. But even if he is good and you dont feel he is good enough, then
surrendering cannot happen.
So here also you should have enough punyam to get the right person and also feel that he
can get me what I want, then surrendering will happen. If punyam is not there, then even to
the same person you will not be able to surrender. If punyam has matured, then to the
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same person you will be able to surrender. Like a boy went to see a girl and it did not click.
But after a year he saw the same girl and they got married. So the account started only from
that time.

iii) The last point is having an absence of prejudices to any particular group.
Suppose a person thinks all sanyasins are fraud, then based on that he will reject a person.
Some people have prejudice against grahastha. So even thought that person is
knowledgeable, you will not benefit. Or you could have prejudice about the frame of the
body or any other detail, then you cannot surrender. So my prejudices against certain things
can also prevent me from surrendering.

iv) There should be some readiness to take risks.
Some people are frightened to any risks in life because of some background. They cannot let
go and they think there world is out to finish them. Such people will have difficulty.
Therefore there should be some ability to take a chance. This is true not only for a guru but
in ones life also. Like women leave their house and go to their husbands house and
surrender everything to their spouse. Both husband and wife take a risk when you got
married . Infact in life, whenever you have taken a risk, you have succeeded. Similalry here
also you have tot ake some risk. If you are too frightened then surrendering cannot happen.
Surrendering means lowering your guards. Your opening yourself and letting the person in
your life.

Therefore all these things should be there - absence of prejudices, my clarity and value of
what I want and my awareness of the need for external effort,readiness to take risk. If all
these things are there, then surrendering can happen.

5) What are the factors (catalysts) that strengthen the attitude of
surrender ? Surrendering has happened, but it is not very strong in the beginning, like for
a newly married couple. There are certain factors that strengthen the attitude of surrender
to the teacher.

v) My readiness to implement the smallest thing that he teaches.
When I practice the small things in my life and I see the result, then my surrendering will go
up. Like the teacher will be talking about all types of sadhana vedantic contemplation,
japa, tapas, maunam. You feel I cannot do all these things, so you dismiss the teaching and
indirectly dismiss the teacher also. Then surrendering cannot happen. Your attitude should
be that my teacher is talking of vedantic contemplation which I cannot do, but he is talking
about simple maunam which I can definitely practice. That you try and it helps you. Nothing
succeeds like success.
Then you are more receptive and have further readiness to listen to him.
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vi) I should have the patience to listen to the teacher , let him unfold the ideas
completely and also wait for the result to come.
Suppose the teacher asks you to do a particular japa to improve your concentration. You do
it for 2-3 days and tell him that it does not work. Then you are dismissing the teacher and
the teaching because of your impatience. Some students become so impatient about
clearing their doubts, they start reading the translation before the teacher can explain it.
You have to be come a teacher to see some of the mistakes you do. Like they say an
employee should become a part of management to understand the employers view. So one
should have patience and let the teacher unfold and if certain things are not clear now, they
will become clear. It is said nicely At a given point of time, whatever I need to know will
be revealed to me. I trust God and I trust myself. Suppose one day the teacher was not
very clear in his presentation, then trust the teacher or atleast the Lord that it will be
revealed to me. Otherwise in impatience, we jump from one swami to another and you
become selective. Whatever appeals to your mind that you choose. Whatever is against
your raga-dvesha you reject, even though it is good for you. Like you select that doctor who
says what you like to hear. The doctor may oblige not to lose the patient. But a good teacher
will not. Infact you are the person who really loses out because of lack of patience.

Talk 4
We saw what are the factors required for sharanagati to happen. One needs to have some
clarity of what one wants. The only you will have surrendering to one particular type of
person. Suppose you are looking for some miracles or a solution to your worldly problems
and you go to a swami who is a good scholar, who is abiding in Brahman, then he will not
appeal to you. Your surrendering will not happen there because you are looking for
somethingelse. Therefore there should be some clarity thought not complete clarity and I
should have some value for it.
Also I should have discovered the limitation of independent effort.
Also I should have seen the confidence on the face of the teacher that he can get me what I
want.
Then you should have sufficient punya for this to happen. You cannot put an advertisement
for a srotriya and brahmanishta teacher. Even if you do that and get a response, it will not
be a genuine person. One important qualification of the right guru is that he does not have
the pressure to become a guru. Therfore punyam is required to get the right person.
One should also be free from prejudices from any particular group of people. Some people
have the thinking how sanyasi can understand the problems of us grahasthas. So they are
not fit to teach us or you look for a guru who has gone thro grahasthasram and taken up
sanyasa. Like a doctor does not need to get the disease himself to treat you.
That sort of approach is not correct. Infact many swamis have better diea of
grahasthasrama than grahasthis themselves. How a spouse should be treated ? How spouse
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should respond to his/her children ? So we need not have any prejusdices. Or prejudices
based on class brahmin or non-brahmin or region tamil or keralite,etc. Brhama jnanam
does not have any preference that it dawns upon only a particular class of people or region.
Brahmajnanam has come to all sorts of people.

What are the catalysts for saranagati ?
I should have the mind to apply the teaching of the teacher to the extent possible. I may not
be able to practice everything, but whatever is practicable I should have the eagerness to
follow. I should try to relate his or her teaching to my life and see that it works. You will be
able to see the efficacy of the teaching and that will strengthen your surrendering.
Next patience or perseverance is required. Surrendering comes stronger to women because
they tend to have patience. In the spiritual field especially in kaliyuga if women are taken
out, it will collapse. That is how it has developed. If that is ntot her then surrendering will be
affected.

vii) Attitude of gratitude. If one has gratitude to the teacher then his surrendering
will be strengthened. That can be developed also. I should keep seeing how I have been
benefited by whatever the teacher has given. I should never take this relationship for
granted. Any relationship when it is taken for granted, then it deteriorates, conflict starts
because interest is lost. Both people feel neglected. So whatever benefit I have I should see
it and be grateful. Even coming and attending Vedanta class is a blessing because atleast
those hours you are able to avoid wrong activites. That itself is growth. So you cannot say
there was no blessing at all, but maybe your expectation were unreasonable. So never taken
the relationship with guru for granted and entertain gratitude.

viii) Express this gratitude in an appropriate way. The expression can be verbal
or by action, but it should be genuine. There should be a genuine appreciation. Any attitude
when expressed in an appropriate way thro verbal or physical action gets strengthened. We
go to the temple to express our love for Bhagavan. Therefore I express my gratitude thro
guru seva or thro words. Sharanya seva is an expression of my gratitude. My expression
should not be proportion to the number of hours the teacher teaches me. My attitude
should be that whatever I do for my teacher is just trying to pay the interest for what I have
received. What he has given cannot be measured. I am happy to have this punyam to serve
my teacher and whatever I do is not enough. You should not feel I am doing too much to my
guru. Infact when you feel that way, you should not do it because it will not bless you.
In any intimate significant relationship gross calculation should not come. It should be
always what more can I give, not what can I receive. Then only the relationship will grow.
Especially in guru-shisya sambandha the attitude should be that I always wish to do more.


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ix) Acceptance that no human being can be perfect. Nobody can fulfill all my
ideals completely. If you accept that then you will remain guruless. Like some people remain
unmarried because they cannot find the ideal spouse. This can happen even with relation to
guru. Or suppose you have entered into the relationship, but you keep on expecting how
come my guru is like this. As a human being every teacher will appear to have some
limitation. Like in marriage we compromise on so many things in your spouse. Similarly no
guru will fulfill your ideals completely. But we should nto copromsie on some basic
requirements.

Qualification of a guru -
i) Sastra talks about the guru who is srotriya and braamanishta. Srotriya means
one who is well-versed in traditional teaching. One meaning of Brahma nishta is one who is
abiding in the knowledge of Brahman. This is the best guru. If the best is not possible, then
we go to the next best one who is srotriya. Another secondary meaning of Brahma nishta
is one who is committed to the wisdom of Brahman. Nishta here means commitment. Like
instead of getting a PHD husband , I get one who is studying for a PHD.
This type of description is there in the sastra. Even this may be too much for a person who is
not yet exposed to sastra. But one thing is that he should be a Vedanta student for some
length of time. He should not be a self-proclaimed guru who did not undergo any proper
study. He must have been exposed to traditional teaching. He should be a student before he
becomes a teacher.
ii) Second thing is he should have integrity. His pressure to make me a student
should not be more than my need to be his student. He should not have an agenda by which
he benefits from having me as a student. In other words he should have my benefit at heart.
Thirdly he should have commitment to what he is teaching. Means he should be walking his
talk. Vedanta is not just lip-service in class, but something he practices and believes firmly
in. He may have some defects like not being rganised, is untidy,etc. tese can be
compromised. But somehtings cannot be comprmised. His integrity, his commitment to
Vedanta teaching and his interest in my well-being all these things cannot be
compromised. If the teacher is only using me and not interested in my well- being then I
cannot surrender.
iii) Also guru should be approachable. Suppose the teacher is a great mmmaster
with thousands of students. I can hardly see him for a minute, then real effective
surrendering may not happen.
iv) Again in the gurus presence I should not be frightened. Suppose I keep on
feeling frightened, then that person is not my sharanya because I cannot grow, just like
flowers
cannot grow in fire. Similarly you cannot grow in the atmosphere of fear. You will be so
tense all the time that growth cannot happen. Suppose the teacher is always shouting,
threatening, screaming at you, then you cannot and infact you should not surrender.
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v) Also by your association with the teacher, within a few months you should have
the feeling of growing.

These are the minimum conditions one should see in the teacher. Other things may not be
as per my expectations. If these minimum things are there, then I should discount any other
lacuna that may be there. Like I wanted my teacher to look like Swami Vivekananda or he
has no beard or he is not very organized. All these things need not be considered. Some
people like surrendering to non-living teacher because living ones do not meet their ideal.
Though this will bless, but surrendering will bless you more only if it is to a living teacher. So
one condition for surrendering to guru is acceptance of my teacher with certain limitations .
Like in a marriage, you dont compromise on basic things, but some things you compromise
on. Similarly even with a guru, I dont expect him to be free from all limitations.

Talk 5-
We are seeing the importance of Guru in ones spiritual pursuit. In that connection we are
seeing what should be the attitude of a student to the teacher. It is called guru sharanagatih
surrender to the teacher.
We saw what guru sharanagati is not, what it is, when it happens, what are the benefits and
what are the factors that empower it.
One point we saw is that the student should have an attitude of gratitude to indicate that I
have a value for what I am receiving. That gratitude can be expressed in the form of stuthi,
seva with proer attitude. Seva is not an investment proposition. I will do this much seva for
getting this much. Infact seva is something like paying the interest for what we have
received. If the gratitude is there and it is expressed , then my surrendering will be
strengthened.
One more factor is one should have patience, then sharanagati will be sustained. Otherwise
one loses patience and he/she will spoil the relationship with the teacher because of
impatience.

Some more factors which are catalysts for sharanagati are
x) One should keep only one main teacher whom I consider to be the sculpture of
my life. I can listen to so many mahatmas, attend satsangs, jnana yajna, tapes, etc. But I
surrender to oen teacher with this mind that he/she will be moulding my life. Then only my
life will be mouled properly with less conflicts. Like one idol is to be made and there are
many sculptors for this one single idol. Even thought hey may belong to the same
sampradaya, each one will have their own concept of how the eye should be, how the nose
should be. So each one corrects the other. As a result either the idol will not be made or it
will have so many distortions. Similarly if you follow too many teachers there will be conflict.
Especially if they are from different sampradayas sankaracharya, madhavacharya, modern
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swamis.then you will be confused. Each will give you different and sometimes opposite
injunctions and you will not know what to do. Therefore listen to the acharyas of the same
sampradaya only and out of them also, one should be my main teacher to mould you.
So having one main teacher is very important.

xi) I keep seeing the importance of sharanagati. How it has brought relaxation in
my life and whenever I miss the spirit of sharanagati how conflicts there. So by both positive
(anvaya) and negative (vyatireka) concomitance, I see that. This helps to strengthen
sharanagati.

xii) Always remain prayerful about this relationship with the teacher. Therefore
in our tradition in the Vedas we have a prayer ma vidvishavahi may we not hate each
other. Because even in this relationship misunderstandings can happen especially for the
shishya. In any relationship when certain settlement takes place in the relationship , then
old issues come up and fighting can happen. If such a misunderstanding happens between
guru-shishya, then it is the duty not of the guru but of the shishya to clarify because the
relationship is carried by the shishya.
All these 12 points are the catalysts for sharanagati to happen.

6) Factors which are anti-catalyst or unfavorable for sharanagati
These factors are harming or affecting negatively the attitude of surrendering.
i) First and foremost is Egotism. If a person has this pride that - I am more
educated than my swami or I am coming from a very high family background or I am a rich
and influential person. If this is the attitude of a person sharangati can never happen. Even if
it happens it will get diluted or destroyed very soon. So a person should not have any
arrogance based on any achievement in life when he goes to a guru.
He should not think that I give so much value to Swamiji and how much value does Swamiji
give me. It is not important that I am important to my teacher. But he is important to me
matters. This is one of the things people miss. Like some people will complain that Swamiji
did not even call when I did not come to class for so many days. Swamiji need not
remember or miss the student. It is not a relationship based on equality like between two
friends. I need not matter to Swamiji, but Swamiji matters a lot in my life. That should be
the attitude. If you feel that my guru should give me importance then you have got ego
problem which will prevent or destroy any sharanagati. Swamiji need not suit to your
convenience. Thus ego is a very important anti-catalyst for sharanagati to happen.

ii) My obsession with my ideas. Some people read or hear something and those
ideas get set in their mind. When guru says something which is different they cannot accept
it. So he rejects the guru because he is so obsessed with his idea.

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iii) Comparing myself to other students. Swamiji gives so much importance to
that student and not me. Or he does not notice me in class but notice that student.
Comparison destroys this relationship of sharanagti. There should be no comparison with
other students. The most important question I should ask myself is Am I receiveing what I
should receive from this relationship. Am I able to hear and understand clearly what the
teacher is saying. If he does not notice me but somebody else, it is because I dont need it
and the other person needs it. It s a good thing. Like you dont go to a doctor and complain
Why have you prescribed him this expensive tablet four times a day and for me this cheap
tablet once a day only . Similarly I dont compare myself to my co-student. If something is
worth learning from my co-student I will learn it because it helps my growth. But I dont
compare how that student is getting more importance from the teacher than me.

iv) I dont compare my teacher with other teachers. Whatever is required by me is
there in my guru. My guru is the best guru for me atleast right now though future I may
have a different guru. Like my spouse feels I am the best person for him or her. He/she need
not be the best spouse in the world, but the best for me. That is the way Bhagavan has
designed. That is exactly the spouse I require to help me grow, that should be the attitude.
Similarly one should not wish that their swamiji should be like some other swamiji. I am
getting what I want to get. So no comparison wshould be made with other students or other
teachers.

v) Losing the value for the teaching I am receiving. People always want something
new and do not want to work on what they have received. Like children will have 4-5
chocolates, but will not eat them. They want more chocolates. That childish nature remains.
Similarly Vedanta is telling the same thing I am Brahman. Tell me something new. Have
you assimilated what has been taught. Please work on that and you can ask your teacher
how can I assimilate what you have taught me. So patience is required to remain with the
teacher while he is teaching and having the faith that whatever is required will be given to
me at appropriate time. So I should not have value for new things all the time especially in
Vedanta pursuit. Somehow allt he time attention is drawn to this that I am Brahman.
So I should have the mind to see whether I am able to remain there. That is the approach
of a shishya of not losing the interest in what is given.

vi) My resistance to change is another detriment to sharanagati. Some people
think they cannot change or they dont want to change. If you dont want to change
cognitively or attitudinally, then why come to Vedanta. Vedanta is not meant for
entertainment or academic excellence. It is meant for bringing inner transformation.
Therefore I should be ready to change rather than blaming others for my


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vii) One more thing which is harmful is being judgemental about the teacher based
on superficial things. Like this swami is travelling by plane or big car, so he is luxury oriented
swami. He does not have vairagyam is my judgement. Or he is using talcum powder so he is
very conscious of himself . I really dont know what is the really reason. Maybe there is
some simple explanation which I dont see, but I make a judgement . based on judgement
we dismiss the teacher and the loser is you only. One should be very careful of being
judgemental. What one has to see am I receiving what I need to know or is my teacher
contradicting the main ideals of Vedanta. If he/she is not then it should not matter. If you
have a doubt it is better to clarify with the teacher directly. A real teacher will not have any
problem in answering any questions. He will not get angry. A jijnasu can have questions, but
should have the mind to know the reason behind it and not make a judgement and dismiss
the teacher. If such a judgemental mind is there, it is very detrimental to sharanagti.

viii) I should not criticize my teacher behing his/her back
So I should always directly clarify any issue .Not only will I spoil my sharanagti, but also
other peoples. Especially in the initial stage when the relationship is getting settled, I should
not make or listen to any criticism about my teacher. Afterwards it does not matter,
because the relationship is settled and it will not perturb you. You develop the strength and
therefore you can handle the criticism and infact explain the reason for it. In sastra this
guruninda is highly criticized. The student will lose whatever he has studied if he criticises
his teacher. So criticism in any form of ones teacher should be avoided in the initial stage.
Where you are settling with the teacher and your surrendering to the teacher has not
become firm.

ix) Absence of straightforwardness. This is very harmful for sharanagti. Perhaps you
may feel it is necessary in business, but in a student-teacher relationship there should be
complete starightforwardness. They say - Vidvat janesu arjavam nitih With learned people
straioghtforwardness is the policy. Any pretension is ahrmful. Because if you are having
pretention, the teacher is very smart and it will be made out by him very easily. His rapport
with you will be affected. Because he feel if he is not honest with me, how can I help him. I
can help the person who wants to be helped. But if the person says he has no problem, he
cannot be helped. So one should be very straightforward with ones teacher. Straightforward
does not mean that one should be rude and say what comes to my mind. You dont say I
cant do this. You say it may be difficult for me to do this. You say it appropriately not
rudely. Straightforwardness should be expressed with humility. It s very important that one
is very straitghtforward to ones teacher. If one is feeling low he should tell the teacher or if
he cannot implement something , then he should say so. Dont be defensive about it. If you
are bringing change in your life, it is not to oblige guru, but for yourself.
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All these factors affect sharanagati and one should avoid them. Then only will you be
blessed. If you have the mind you will see that to the extent you have sharanagti you gain
and to the extent you dont have it, you lose. So we should be humble and prayerful
Let my attitude of surrendering be maintained, strengthened.