There is a beautiful story about the flute of Krishna. You know Krishna always holds a flute in His hand, but there is a great story behind it. Every day, Krishna would go into the garden and say to all the plants, "I love you." The plants were very happy and responded back, saying, "Krishna, we love You, too."
One day Krishna rushed quickly into the garden, very alarmed. He went to the bamboo plant. The bamboo asked, "Krishna, what's wrong with You?" Krishna said, "I have something to ask you, but it is very difficult." The bamboo said, "Tell me. If I can, I will give it to You."
Krishna said, "I need your life. I need to cut you." The bamboo thought for a while and asked, "You don't have any other choice? No other way?" Krishna replied, "No, no other way." And the bamboo gently said, "OK, I surrender to You."
So Krishna cut the bamboo, made holes in it, and each time He did that, the bamboo cried with pain. It was painful, but the bamboo bore it with love. Krishna made a beautiful flute out of it. And from that day on, the flute was with Krishna all the time—day and night.
Even the Gopis were jealous of the flute. They said, "Look, Krishna is our Lord, but we get to spend only some time with Him. But you, you are always with Him. He wakes up with you, sleeps with you. What is your secret?"
The flute replied, "I am empty inside. I have no music of my own. The Lord does whatever He wants with me, whenever He wants, however He wants. I have surrendered completely."
True surrender is to be like the flute — empty within, allowing the Divine to play through us.
This is the essence of surrender — to let go, to allow the Divine to take over, and to know that your true self is nothing but Him.
