Liberated Soul or Slave of Maya: Your Choice

A devotee of the Lord can serve the Lord in any condition of material existence. Simply he has to remain always in strict obedience to the orders he has received from his spiritual master. In this way he will always remain in a liberated position beyond the influence of the material energy. This is confirmed as follows in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.187:

īhā yasya harer dāsye
karmaṇā manasā girā
nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu
jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate

"One who engages in the transcendental service of the Lord in body, mind and word is to be considered liberated in all conditions of material existence."

However, if one deviates from the orders he has received from his spiritual master, he falls down from his liberated position and once again becomes a slave of the material energy.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: How to Fully Surrender to Krishna?

Hare Krishna, dear Maharaja,

Please accept my humbles obeisances. Thank you once again for your enlightening guidance. How do we fully surrender unto the Lord? Many times, I become scared of situations around me and worry how I will be able to make it through. Deep down within I know that the Lord is here to take care, yet I get carried away at times by fear.

Humbly yours,
Vidya

Answer: Fully Surrender to Sri Guru.

As quoted in the Adi Purana, Krishna describes to Arjuna the method for being a fully surrendered devotee of Krishna. One has to fully surrender himself to the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna's pure representative, the bona fide spiritual master. This means to take complete shelter of the spiritual master by initiation and by accepting his instructions as your very life and soul.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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