Of all the means of self-realisation, loving devotion to Ishvara is considered to be the easiest and the best. According to the Vedanta philosophy, Ishvara is the Supreme Lord of the universe - its creator, preserver and absorber. He is the personified Brahman. Maharishi Patanjali, in his yoga sutras numbering from 1.23 to 1.29, has not only described the idea of Ishvara but has also prescribed various practices through which He can be attained. It has been revealed that Ishvara can be reached through willing submission to Him. Such surrender is called Ishvara-pranidhana.
Who is Ishvara ? Patanjali has declared that Ishvara is a Purusha Vishesha ; who is free from kleshas, karmas and sanskaras. Thus, Ishvara is also a soul. But, He is different and distinct from other souls. That is why He is called Purusha Vishesha, a special soul. Ishvara is free from kleshas i. e. He is untouched by afflictions such as ignorance, egoism, attachment and aversion etc. He is, thus, above the sorrows of life. He transcends karma i. e. He is beyond actions and their results. In other words, He is not affected by temporal events. He has no sanskaras i. e. He is not fettered by the accumulated latent impressions.
In the yoga sutras, Ishvara refers to the God as such and not to any particular deity. He is a personal, but an unnamed God. He is the whole of which everyone else is a part. As against the individual souls of beings, He is the Universal Soul.
It has further been stated that Ishvara is sarvagya-bijam (the seed of all knowledge). In Him abides infinite knowledge. All knowledge - of the past, present and future - flows from Him. The power of awareness of Ishvara is not limited by the senses. He can perceive everything at the same time. In other words, He is omniscient.
Being not limited by time (having no finite time-span), the beginningless and endless Ishvara is the teacher of even the most ancient. He is the master of the earliest of the sages. He is the teacher of the teachers.
Patanjali has further revealed that Ishvara is eternally represented by the sacred syllable OM (also written as AUM). OM is considered to be the symbol of divinity. It is stated to be the sound representation of the Supreme Lord, through which one can meditate upon Him devotedly. OM, which is stated to be imbued with the power of the Divine, is the common denominator between the personal Ishvara and impersonal Brahman. It represents God in all possible manner.
Pranidhana means respectful submission. Ishvara-pranidhana, thus, implies reverent surrender to God, the Supersoul. Patanjali has advised that one should repeat the name of God namely OM constantly, with a deep sense of reverence. But mere repetition of the word OM is not sufficient. Patanjali has emphasised that while chanting the names of God, one must also contemplate upon its meaning i.e. feel the reality which it represents.
The act of recitation of the divine names, with reverence and understanding, is called japa. Through constant practice, the japa becomes effortless and automatic. The mind remains fixed on Ishvara. Thoughts of Ishvara become the very substance of the mind.
In such a state of being, all the obstacles (like disease, doubt and laziness etc.) on the path of yoga are removed. The aspirant realises the self. He experiences the presence of the Divine in the innermost core of his being. Light of inner consciousness then leads one to union with the Supreme.
It has been re-iterated in sutra 2.45 that Ishvara-pranidhana brings perfection of samadhi (absorption in the self). In other words, complete and unconditional surrender to God leads to realisation of one’s essential nature.
To summarise, Ishvara-pranidhana implies dedication of everything - one’s ego, one’s actions and their reactions, one’s pleasures and pains etc. etc. - to God. Complete surrender to God, with full faith, widens the horizon of one’s materialistic and spiritual existence. One discovers his unity with the Divine. He rises above the limited idea of himself. Instead of clinging to the smallness of his egoistic being, one connects himself with the higher nature of consciousness. Keeping his individual ego aside, one identifies himself with his essential nature ; and experiences that joy which flows incessantly from the inner being.
When one devotes himself completely to the Supreme Lord, he relinquishes the idea of doership. He offers himself as an instrument in the hands of the Supreme Being and leaves everything to the divine will. He withdraws his energies away from selfish desires and directs them towards the pursuit of larger good. As a result, he overcomes all vicious tendencies of lust, greed and anger etc.
When, through the practice of Ishvara-pranidhana, one realises his unity with the Supreme Lord, all feelings of separateness and otherness vanish. In such a state of enlightenment, one is freed from the suffocating clutches of self-doubt, fears and anxieties. He experiences blissfulness, the vastness of spiritual peace.
