Text 2

The features of surrender (śaraṇāgati) are given in the Vaiṣṇava-tantra (quoted in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 11.676):

आनुकूल्यस्य सङ्कल्पः प्रातिकूल्यस्य विवर्जनं
रक्षिष्यतीति विश्वासो गोप्तृत्वे वरणं तथा
आत्म-निक्षेप-कार्पण्ये षड्-विधा शरणागतिः

ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlyasya vivarjanaṃ
rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso goptṛtve varaṇaṃ tathā
ātma-nikṣepa-kārpaṇye ṣaḍ-vidhā śaraṇāgatiḥ

The six types of surrender are (1) to accept that which is favourable to kṛṣṇa-bhakti, (2) to reject that which is unfavourable, (3) to have the strong faith “Bhagavān will protect me”, (4) to feel utterly dependent upon the Lord, thinking “Bhagavān will take care of me”, (5) to be fully selfsurrendered (ātma-samarpaṇa) and (6) to be humble.

भक्ति-अनुकूल याहा ताहाइ स्वीकार
भक्ति-प्रतिकूल सब करि परिहार

bhakti-anukūla yāhā tāhāi svīkāra
bhakti-pratikūla saba kari parihāra

कृष्ण वै रक्षा-कर्ता आर केह नाइ
कृष्ण से पालन मोरे करिबेन भाइ

kṛṣṇa vai rakṣā-kartā āra keha nāi
kṛṣṇa se pālana more karibena bhāi

आमि आमार यत किछु कृष्णे निवेदन
निष्कपट दैन्ये करि जीवन-यापन

āmi āmāra yata kichu kṛṣṇe nivedana
niṣkapaṭa dainye kari jīvana-yāpana

Commentary: Bhajana-rahasya-vṛtti:

The symptom of śaraṇāgati evident in one-pointed devotees is that they perpetually engage in service to their Lord and accept whatever He arranges. Such devotees accept whatever punishment is meted out by Śrī Bhagavān as His mercy. They know that every action takes place only due to the desire of Śrī Kṛṣṇa; therefore they entwine their desires with Kṛṣṇa’s and thus remain peaceful. A devotee does not think that Kṛṣṇa has sent him to this world to suffer miseries, but that he chose the miseries of the world by misusing his independence. The symptom of śaraṇāgati is that one gives up the false conception of being the doer and takes shelter of guru and Vaiṣṇavas. The intrinsic characteristic (svarūpa-lakṣaṇa ) of surrender is acceptance of Śrī Kṛṣṇa as one’s maintainer (goptṛtve varaṇam). The remaining five symptoms are the marginal characteristics (taṭastha-lakṣaṇa) of śaraṇāgati.

Firm faith that “Śrī Kṛṣṇa will always maintain me” is the meaning of goptṛtve varaṇam. In Bhagavad-gītā (9.22) Śrī Kṛṣṇa says: “teṣāṃ nityābhiyuktānāṃ yoga-kṣemaṃ vahāmy aham–for those who are always absorbed in thoughts of Me, and who worship Me by every means and with one-pointed devotion, I Myself preserve what they have and carry what they lack.” He also says, “My devotees will never be destroyed.”

In the second and third verses of his Śrī Upadeśāmṛta, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has explained two of the marginal characteristics of śaraṇāgati: to accept what is favourable for bhakti and to give up what is unfavourable. These two verses were explained in detail in the second chapter of this book.