The Bhagavad-gita begins and ends with surrender. But these two forms of surrender are significantly different. 

The initial surrender in 2.7 happens when Arjuna acknowledges that he is utterly confused, unable to figure out what to do. He turns to Krishna, acknowledging his desperate need for guidance. For all of us, our life’s external situations and our mind’s internal dispositions will bring us, sooner or later, to a similar realization. Whether it be a temptation that we just can’t break free from, or a tribulation we can find no way out of, we come to recognize and acknowledge that we can no longer manage our lives on our own; we need God to manage our lives.Surrender and Divine Management

The Bhagavad-gita ends with 18.66, where Krishna calls upon Arjuna to surrender, and Arjuna responds in 18.73 by consenting confidently: “I will do your will.” Strikingly however, in the subsequent war, Krishna doesn’t microcontrol Arjuna. Krishna doesn’t take away Arjuna’s autonomy in the name of surrender; he doesn’t reduce Arjuna to a lifeless puppet. Arjuna remains very much a person in his own right, with his own intelligence, initiative, and individuality. In extreme emergencies, Krishna does intervene miraculously but still Arjuna has to do his part. From Arjuna’s example, we learn that surrender doesn’t mean the abdication of responsibility; rather, it means the acceptance of responsibility to do Krishna’s will. 

What brings about this difference in Arjuna’s forms of surrender? Through the message of the Gita, Krishna explains and demonstrates that he is the biggest reality—far bigger than the realities of this world, including its worst predicaments. When, like Arjuna, we become grounded in this realization of Krishna’s supreme greatness, we are no longer reactive when dealing with temptations or tribulations. Instead, we become responsibly responsive: we first focus on the truth that whatever we face is still part of Krishna’s plan; and then we prayerfully contemplate how we can best play our part in his plan. Surrender and Divine Management – In other words, we appreciate that he won’t be managing our life for us, but will be managing our life through us. 

Through Gita wisdom, we understand that no matter how extreme our temptations or tribulations may be, their presence or prominence doesn’t indicate that Krishna has abandoned us or that these occurrences are happening outside of Krishna’s plan. We understand that our predicaments are very much within Krishna’s plan; and that he will empower us to keep going and keep growing through them all. This confidence was the gift of the Gita to Arjuna, and it can be the gift that Krishna gives to each of us as when we meditate on him.

Summary: 

  • Surrender begins, as it did for Arjuna in 2.7, by acknowledging that we can no longer manage our lives on our own; we need Krishna to manage our lives. 
  • Surrender culminates, as for Arjuna in 18.73, by accepting that Krishna generally doesn’t manage our lives for us; he usually manages our lives through us.  
  • Amid life’s overwhelming tribulations or temptations, the Gita reminds us that Krishna is still the undefeatable, unsurpassable supreme reality — he is always competent to help us go through and grow through every situation, provided we take the responsibility to seek and do his will.

Think it over:  

  • What is the difference between Arjuna’s surrender at the beginning and at the end of the Gita?  
  • What Gita teaching brings Arjuna to his concluding form of surrender?  
  • Think of a situation when God has managed your life through you, when you were guided by him to face an otherwise unmanageable difficulty.

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18.73 Arjuna said: My dear Kṛṣṇa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.

Surrender and Divine Management