“To me are all the animals of the Universe surrendering, and I reciprocate the surrender of all of them. Others emulate my way to the end. O Son of Pritha.”

Context of the Verse:

            This verse is from Chapter 4 – Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga “Therefore I declare that even those who follow other paths, or who are unbending and disciplined (oppose to ones that forge a new stream) who practice devotion and who seek knowledge are also part of Me. He provides the assurance that any honest endeavor towards the Supreme is appreciated and not disregarded by Him.

            Krishna has been speaking about the timeless quality of divine knowledge and activities, and the importance of faith, devotion and surrender to him relative to dogma or strict, regulated worship.

Key Teachings in This Verse:

• Reciprocity of the Divine: So will the Divine respond according the the devotion, faith and Intent with which individuals approach Him.
• All Paths Lead to the Divine: No matter how Men find God, whether through wisdom, devotion or selfless action, they are never lost. No one way leads to the Supreme.
• Universal Inclusivity: He is not partial-everything is based on the respective surrender of everyone, whether they are a little creep or a little peacock.
• Promotion of Piety and Determinism: We humans are free to come to God in our own way – Krishna respects that freedom and yet still imparts instruction and blessings.

Relevance to Arjuna:

• The battlefield is where Arjuna is confused and dejected. Krishna uses this verse to:
• Encourage him that yielding to God is a strength, not a weakness.
• Inspire Arjuna by letting him know he is on the right track by obeying Krishna’s direction with sincerity.
• There is a tuning of the heart by Guru which elevates work to a kind of worship or activity of the heart, drawing the latter into the stream of spirituality which is most natural to God, -tuning that is the merit of the natural course of things.” But emphasize that Arjuna’s karma as a duty-bound warrior and surrendering worshipper, is itself a spiritual path.

Explanation:

            Everyone has to surrender but how one surrenders determines the way Krishna will respond and the destination the Jiva will have. And there are some who devote immediately, “Krishna is everything,” they are called spiritualists. They are known as spiritualists. And there are those who indirectly surrender to Krishna. They are called materialists.

            What is the definition of direct and indirect surrender?

            Like everybody, we’re all law abiding citizens. The fact, as we all know, is that we are decent people trying to do the right thing and comply with the directives, laws and acts of the government. Those who break that are thrown in jail. In prison they need to do the government’s bidding. But the taking of such surrender is not so nice. And it limits their pleasure and freedom. So too, everyone must submit to God. And if we do not act according to the laws of God very nicely, then we are born in this material world, and we have to take birth, death, old age, disease, so many sufferings.

            There are other enjoyments in jail and other people play sports, including cricket and badminton, and sometimes they get newspapers. Sometimes there is a feast in jail too. It is not intelligence if someone believes that life is an amazing thing, and they do not have any idea of what they deserve. Likewise, if one is content with whatever little happiness he or she can gather in this unhappy world, he or she is not a wise person.

            If somebody is prepared to stay in this material world, Krishna will guide him. OK. You are still in this world. Even if someone desires to make spiritual progress, Krishna will lead them. But everyone is following the order of Krishna, and everyone is coming to Krishna. None but the materialists are unaware that I desire Krishna, while the spiritualists understand that it is Krishna whom I wish for in their lives.

            Now, among the spiritualists there are three divisions - Gyani, the Yogi and the Bhakta. There are Gyanis, Yogis, and bhaktas. They are pulled in by different aspects of the absolute truth.

            Gyanis are those who know the truth. They do not come in pursuit of the illusion of the phenomenal world, they come in pursuit of reality. They are drawn to the truth. But reality is known in 3 stages – Brahma, Parmatma and Bhagwan. There is absolutely none at all. It is one and the same thing. God in His three features, Brahma, Paramatma and Bhagwan. But it is all according to the way, the existential viewpoint, of the transcendentalist.

            The shastras take the example of a mountain. If we look at a mountain from a distance, it appears hazy, as a cloud would appear. We see only the mountain and to the question, “What is the mountain like?” you can see it is just like a cloud. This is the Brahma aspect of Krishna. Everywhere the energy of the sun is distributed, similarly the energy of Krishna is distributed everywhere. But if one thinks the sun was just light, that is ignorance. The sun is the sun orb and the light flashing forth from it. It is also part of the sun. Yet Sun Planet is still a bit different. No one can know that the sun is just light. The light belongs also to the sun, but the sun is more than the light. Like clouds by a mountain, only in the mountain; but this is not the full sight of the mountain.

            The Yogis seek the form of the Personality of Godhead who is like the Lord Jesus Christ of the natural devotees. They wish to see God in their heart. Although we may notice the sun if we just peek our heads out of the window, all we will be able to truly see is sunshine. Going a little further, if we may so say, we may, perhaps, see the sunshine above. All the sun does not come to our place but here we have seen sun. So, though God may be far away in His own home, still, God is the reflection. He dwells in the hearts of us all in this world of matter. Hence, when one can feel that in the heart, then he is very much nearer because these indicate the mountains – a person can see the nice boundary of the mountains. A man can see a few trees over there and a man proceeds a little further, then he looks and there are many kinds of tree species. There is so much life here. There are animals. There are animals, there are human beings, there are societies, huts, and houses. And so, we know the mountain for what it is. So, in all three cases the the word mountain is applicable. A mountain is the close approximation of a cloud. A mountain is experiencing some shaping border. And a mountain also having so many living entities. These are all true descriptions. Similarly, in that, God is there in the right way and we do have Him in our heart. God is in everything, that is true as in energy. But we can also see in our hearts the perfectly clear God who is everywhere. These characteristics of God are based on His personal feature who is known as Bhagavan. A person who possesses six opulence’s.

            So, if somebody wants to be merged in the Jyoti of Krishna, He can instruct. If one aspires after the heart of Krishna, & wants to be transformed into the body of Krishna, Krishna will approve that as well. Krishna will approve that as well. And if one wants to become a devotee, somebody wants to do direct personal loving with Krishna, Krishna will direct him. Whatever we like Krishna does for us. But we need to understand what is the best desire for us that which Krishna have explained in past and Krishna will even more make it clear for us.