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Submit to Me – The Source of All Existence by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada  Sri Krsna has already uttered another verse to assure us: ye ’py anya-devata-bhakta Bhagavad-gita (9.23) O son of Kunti, those who worship other gods with faith verily worship only Me, but their worship is flawed. The Lord says, “If you take the initiative to concoct your own path, then you are liable to receive instructions from sources that will prove to be ineffective in the long run, for I am immanent in the universe and there is no possibility of avoiding Me. I am the source of all existence, I am full of knowledge, and I am endowed with the infinity of bliss.” We cannot receive better instruction capable of giving a more dependable or complete idea of the real goal, from anywhere else. The whole thing, the exact entity, could not be realized if we took a course different from what Sri Krsna has dictated. Sri Krsna is the fountainhead of all energies; all varieties of energy – even opposite and conflicting energies – are stored in Him. He is akhila-rasamrta-murti (the personification of the totality of nectarean, transcendent humours). We have heard His poetic verse, ye yatha mam prapadyante Bhagavad-gita (4.11) O son of Prtha, as each surrenders to My will, I certainly reciprocate with him. In fact, all men completely follow the path I have set. We are actuated by the influence of rasa. We require pleasant sensation. But we should see that our particular disposition is directed to a definite purpose. Sri Krsna is the emporium of everything. In the Gita we are given a clearly marked and exact situation of the human soul and its relation to the phenomenal existence of the Lord’s prakrti (nature). We have seen that there are two kinds of prakrti – para (superior) and apara (inferior). The living beings are known as para-prakrti but because they are infinitesimally small, they become subjugated by apara-prakrti. In other words, they can be overpowered by the deluding potency. The living beings can also dissociate themselves from this undesirable situation. How? We have the solution, the method for ridding ourselves of this shackle, in the following verse: daivi hy esa guna-mayi Bhagavad-gita (7.14) The modes of nature are certainly part of My own divine energy (maya), which is very difficult to cross. Hence, those who surrender to Me alone overcome maya. Through the use of the word mam (Me) we see that the object is singular, and that singular personality is the same throughout. The Lord sings, “I can set you free from the clutches of your present addiction to measuring things through your senses.* I can show Myself fully to you when there is no longer any need for you to exercise your material senses. I have set this engine of the three modes of nature into motion for the purpose of entrapping less intelligent people. But when they heed My dictation, they will discover that they can easily rid themselves of this troublesome entrapment by submitting to Me, and Me alone.” _____________________ There is no other way to become free from our predisposition to measure everything. We are now equipped with senses that are incapable of leading us to Truth. We are liable to be deluded by the influence of maya, and maya is but a trap. If we want to avoid that trap, we must submit to Krsna unconditionally. So prapatti, full submission, is the essential thing. We can exercise our senses but such exploits will not do any good to us in the long run unless we submit to Him, leaving aside whatever mundanity we have acquired up to this time. We must simply surrender to Him. When we simply depend on Him, He will arrange everything we need to make quick progress. We are assured that we need not follow the empirical route of depending on sense perception. Although we are inclined to try to acquire knowledge through our senses, our attempts are often frustrated. Our empirical activities often fail to make much progress, for we see that whatever we have acquired by our empiricism calls for more and more additions or subtractions as we pass along the rolling tide of time. We think we have acquired a good deal of knowledge in our thirtieth year, but soon after, by the time we reach our fortieth year, we deem that knowledge inadequate. And again, if we live for ten years more, we will have to further revise our knowledge. In this way, living for any number of years will not serve our purpose; it will not make us wise. We must come to the inevitable conclusion that all sorts of empirical knowledge are quite useless for the purpose of gaining the whole truth. We should, therefore, be prapanna. That is, we should simply submit to Krsna, and our submission should be substantiated by everything we have acquired. Whatever we have acquired must be given up with the conviction that we will be helped by Him. But if we have no such confidence in Him, we will be unable to part with our acquired things.
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