Isvara Pranidhana (Surrendering to God)

Patanjali defines “isvara” as “Lord,” and the word “pranidhana” conveys the sense of “throwing down” or “giving up.” Thus, isvara pranidhana can be translated as “giving up or surrendering the fruits of all our actions to God.”

Many people are confused by this niyama; in part, because yoga is seldom presented as a theistic philosophy (even though Patanjali states in the 23rd verse of the Yoga Sutra that devotion to the Lord is one of the main avenues to enlightenment). In fact, some yoga traditions have interpreted Isvara Pranidhana as requiring devotion to a particular deity or representation of God, while others have taken “Isvara” to refer to a more abstract concept of the divine.

Isvara Pranidhana/best actions are surrendered

The essence of Isvara Pranidhana is acting as best we can, and then relinquishing and surrendering all attachment to the outcome of our actions. Only by releasing our fears and hopes for the future can we really be in union with the present moment.

Isvara Pranidhana/paradoxically, this surrender requires tremendous strength.

To surrender the fruits of our actions to God requires that we give up our egotistical illusion that we know best, and instead accept that the way life unfolds may be part of a pattern too complex to understand.

This surrender, however, is anything but passive inactivity. Isvara pranidhana requires not just that we surrender, but also that we act.

Conclusion of Niyamas

Patanjali’s teachings demand much of us. He asks us to walk into the unknown, but he does not abandon us. Instead, he offers practices like the yamas and niyamas to guide us back home to ourselves—a journey that transforms us and all with whom we come in contact.

Love (absolute presence) supports and sustains all that IS…  May you be blessed by these words and may that blessing extend out to all you pass and meet on the sacred journey of your life…

                                                                                                                        -Chrystal Rae