The wave subsides in the ocean. The spark becomes one with fire. The ray is absorbed into the sun. The mind merges in the Atman. The individual loses himself in the Absolute. The devotee becomes one with God. Worldly consciousness vanishes into Universal Consciousness. Man becomes God and the mortal becomes Immortal.

Atma-Nivedan is the last step towards self-realization in the Nav Bhakti marga. Although there are so many saints and sages who have shown their devotion towards supreme in the form of self-surrender and Bhakti scriptures are replete with such stories. Today we will look at two such stories. 

Ātmanivedana (आत्मनिवेदन). = “Self-surrender” = offering oneself (as a living sacrifice to the deity). 

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Surrender Is Central to All Yogas

When looking at self-surrender within Hinduism, it is natural to think first of bhakti yoga. In fact, an alternate term for bhakti yoga is sharanagati yoga—the yoga of self-surrender. 

The soul comes closer and closer to God through these practices of Navdha Bhakti. In Vaishnavism, the devotee is seen as progressing through five levels of relationship with God: neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental affections, and belovedness. Saivism has a similar paradigm for the relationships between jiva and Siva. Shaktism is has the same concept of serving oneself to the bhakti of Bhagwati. 

In all section The final stage is called prapatti or atmanivedana, defined as unconditional submission to God. 

Devotion in Karma Yoga

While most commentators agree that surrender is central to bhakti yoga, few acknowledge its importance in karma and raja yoga. Karma yoga is the path of service and sacred action. In its most profound sense, it is performing all actions in a spiritual manner, as a conscious offering to the Divine. This can be conceived of as worshiping God by serving all beings as His living manifestations. The fruit of all action is surrendered as service to the Lord, a concept known as “Ishwara arpana buddhi” in Sanskrit. 

Surrender has a seldom-recognized place in raja yoga as well, as Patanjali noted in his Yoga Sutras. Raja yoga begins with ethical restraints and religious observances followed by ever-deepening stages of concentration, meditation and contemplation. Samadhi is the goal of yoga, a oneness between the meditator and the object of meditation, and surrendering to God, to Ishvara, is the key to attaining it. 

Patanjali speaks of it as Ishvara pranidhana, the fifth essential observance (niyama), the surrender of our limited self-identity to the infinite perfection of Ishvara, the source of the yoga teachings. 

This surrender is the acceptance of God’s perfection and our desire to be influenced by that as we progress on the yoga path. We seek divine blessings, wisdom and ultimately union, samadhi, through the grace of the adi (first) guru of yoga. 

Three Examples Of Atma-Nivedanam

1. Bali Maharaja

This was an interesting case because there was a lot at stake. It is much easier to surrender fully to the transcendental path when there isn’t much to hold on to. This is one of the reasons for the recommendation to take sannyasa, which is formal renounced life. Abandon anything that will hold you down. You could have all of the money in the world, but if you are constantly worried about this issue and that, there is no peace of mind. In the same way, if you are distracted by this responsibility and that, even with a genuine desire to succeed it will be difficult to focus on devotion to Vishnu.

As a king Bali was something like formally attached. He was not in the renounced order, but when a mendicant of small stature arrived in his kingdom begging alms, Bali did not hesitate to part with his possessions. The royal advisors cautioned against haste, correctly identifying that the beggar was actually the Supreme Lord ready to take everything from the kingdom. Bali did not mind, for in full surrender a devotee can live with many possessions or none at all.

Vamanadeva, the incarnation of Bhagavan as a dwarf-brahmana, asked for as much land as would cover three steps. Vishnu is not limited by the size of His externally-manifest body. Therefore, the first two steps easily covered the entire cosmos. The last was reserved for Bali’s head. This gesture symbolized total surrender, which the demon-like people in the royal administration could not understand.

2. Ambarisha Maharaja

Another king totally surrendered, he once unfortunately came in the path of the wrath of Durvasa Muni. Ambarisha was blameless, but anger sometimes gets the better of people. In this case he was directly protected by Lord Vishnu, who sent His sudarshana-chakra to chase Durvasa Muni far and wide. Finally giving up, Durvasa asked for help. Vishnu recommended seeking pardon directly from Ambarisha. The king was more than ready to forgive. A surrendered-soul he held no grudges.

3. Rukmini Devi in Dvaraka

An incarnation of the goddess of fortune, she had a most interesting marriage story. There was prior arrangement made by the brother to have a union with a person named Shishupala. He was of bad character, and more importantly Rukmini already had her heart set on Krishna, who lived in Dvaraka at the time. In a secret letter she gave Him hints on how to come take her away by force just prior to the marriage with Shishupala.

Everything went according to plan, and the queen lived happily with her husband in Dvaraka. Rukmini served her husband daily and surrendered to the point that she dreaded the sunrise each morning, as that time indicated the start of a new day, wherein Krishna would be taken away from the home to tend to daily affairs in the kingdom.