What is the mark of him who has received the richest treasure—the Life Eternal? Self-surrender. Such a one has found his refuge in the Lord.
The teaching of the Gita is summed up in the one line: “Mamekam saranam vraja”. “Seek refuge in Me!” This “seeking” is not a search for some snug corner of “safety” against the storms and tempests of life. He who would seek refuge in Krishna, in the Lord, must be prepared to face storms and triumph over them in the strength of the Lord. To “seek refuge” is not to shirk life’s battle but to fight it and emerge victorious. To “seek refuge” is to face abuse, insult, dishonour, disgrace, misunderstanding, and malice with a smile on your face and a prayer in your heart. The way of “seeking refuge” is the way of victory.
The man of self-surrender is free from all attachment and fear. He has no attachment for any earthly creature or object, for he is riveted to the Lotus Feet of the Lord. And he is fearless, for he lives and moves under the protection of His loving gaze. He who trusts can have no fear. All fears and anxieties are crimes against the love of the all-loving Mother. To trust is to live in the certainty that all that happened was for the best, all that is happening is for the best, and all that will happen will be for the best.
Yes, God is the all-loving Mother who loves each one of us. This Mother Divine needs us, each one of us. Each one of us fulfils a need in God which none else can satisfy. And loving us as she does, the Mother will not permit any harm to come our way. So let our prayer, each day, be: “Thy Will be done, O Lord! And Thy Will is sweet, sweeter than honey, sweeter than nectar!”
He who would grow into this realisation, for him, verily, every day is Deepavali, a Festival of Light, and every moment he has the joy and gladness of a little child sitting in the lap of the Mother Divine. For him, verily, life is a Feast of Love.
Dada J P Vaswani was a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader.
