What does one have to do after surrender? The answer is, nothing. So does this mean one gives up doing one’s duties?
That is not how the word ‘nothing’ should be interpreted. One must do one’s duties as prescribed, but they should be perfomed in the proper spirit. One must be unattached to the fruits of one’s actions.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says that one must do one’s duties, but one has no control over the fruits. Nor must one claim any right to the results. We should expect nothing in return for what we do. This is a difficult attitude to have, but it must be cultivated, said M.A.Venkatakrishnan in a discourse. We tend to even do service to the Lord expecting some rewards from Him.
But service rendered in this spirit does not qualify to be called service at all. When we do something expecting something in return, does it not become a mere business transaction? And in any case, we do not ask the Lord for moksha. We ask for petty favours.
Even Sandipini, the teacher of Krishna, asked for the restoration of his dead son. He should have asked Lord Krishna for moksha, for who but the Lord can give us moksha? But Sandipini requested that his dead son be brought back to life. Asking the Lord for frivolous things is like asking Kubera for a mere loin cloth.
In the Katru Karavai verse of the Tiruppavai, Andal says that the Gopas of Gokula milked the cows. There was nothing surprising in their doing so, because they were cowherds. Tending to cows and milking them was their livelihood. So by milking the cows, they were only doing their duty.
Why then does Andal mention this as if they did something extraordinary? The reason for Andal’s observation is to show the importance of doing one’s duties.
