Chennai, July 9, 2013: People often wonder what we get when we surrender to Lord Narayana. What we get is moksha. But this does not mean we escape paying for our sins. We pay for them in the way in which God determines.

Once we surrender, we must accept whatever it is that God decides to give us by way of punishment. We should not judge the Lord’s deeds by what the world says. We do not know what is good for us. Neither can others decide for us as to what is good for us.

He knows best

Only God knows what is good or bad for us. Once we go to a doctor, we tell him about our ailment, and he decides upon the course of treatment.

All we can do is tell him about what troubles us. Can we also tell the doctor what medicines he is to prescribe for us?

In the same way, we go to the Lord in the hope of release from the samsaric cycle. It is for the Lord to decide how He will get rid of our sins.

We cannot be the judge of that, or the ones to decide that, said Valayapet Ramachariar, in a discourse. What we should bear in mind is the fact that the Lord will never turn us away, when we appeal to Him. He has the quality of mercy. He has the power to make decisions independent of anyone. We may suffer even after surrender, but is that new to us? Have we not faced hardship in life even before saranagati?

His sufferings too

The Vaishnavite Acharya Alavandar says that once we surrender to Him, every suffering of ours is agony to Him also, for if one who has resorted to saranagati suffers, will that not be a reflection on the Lord Himself?

The Lord considers it His duty to save us. That is why He gives us moksha, because that is what He wants for us, and He is happy to grant us moksha.

His concern for the ones who surrender is such that even if His Consort were to speak ill of them, He will not tolerate Her words of criticism. He will rush to the defence of His devotees and say that they are incapable of doing wrong, and that what they do is bound to be correct.

Source: The Hindu, DT. July 9, 2013.