Releasing the Sense of 'Mine'
Surrender begins when the devotee releases the grip of 'I' and 'mine', recognizing all things as belonging to the Divine.
Narada observes that the deepest bondage lies not in things themselves but in the sense of ownership the mind throws over them. The surrendered devotee continues to use possessions, relationships, and talents, but no longer clutches them as 'mine'; all are received as loans from the Beloved and returned in service. This release of mamata dissolves the anxiety of protecting what was never truly ours. Where the ego sees loss, the lover sees liberation, for nothing can be taken from one who has already given everything away. The insight anticipates the modern understanding that much suffering arises not from circumstances themselves but from our desperate attachment to controlling them.
Release the thought of 'mine', and the burden of the world falls away.
Narada's release of 'mine' anticipates the Stoic and Buddhist insight that suffering attaches not to objects but to our grasping after them.
Narada Bhakti Sutras
Written about in
- What the Narada Bhakti Sutras say about desire
The bondage is located in the word mine rather than in the things themselves. The devotee goes on using possessions and relationships, but holds them as borrowed.