Apnapan: 5 Sutras to Make God Truly Yours | Premanand Maharaj

God Is Already Yours — One Thing You Must Remember

Shri Premanand Ji Maharaj says: "Don't worry at all. We are giving you a simple sutra for attaining God."

What is that sutra? In one word — apnapan, the sense of belonging.

Many seekers ask the same question. They chant daily, read scriptures, visit the temple, and yet the mind refuses to settle. Why? If you want the answer, read on. Maharaj ji's teaching is straightforward: spiritual practice bears fruit only when apnapan joins your devotion. Why this matters, how it works, and which 5 sutras can bring it into daily life — all of it is explained below.

(A short note for readers new to the tradition: Vrindavan is the small town in northern India where Krishna spent his childhood, and Radha is his beloved consort. Premanand Maharaj is one of its most respected living saints, teaching from the Bhajan Marg ashram.)

What Is Apnapan — According to Premanand Maharaj?

Apnapan means accepting God as completely your own, and accepting yourself as completely his. Shri Premanand Ji Maharaj clarifies that this is not a play of words. It is a matter of feeling. God himself says, "I am hungry for feeling" (bhav ka bhukha hun main). He does not measure our knowledge. He measures our heart.

Notice the subtle difference. Considering someone "your own" is a thought. Being someone's own is a state of the heart. Maharaj ji is pointing to that second one.

"अपनापन आप अपनापन समेट श्री जी के चरणों में दीजिए।"

"Gather your sense of belonging and place it at the feet of Shri Ji."

— Shri Premanand Ji Maharaj

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Where apnapan with Shri Radha Rani settles in, every offence — past, present, and future — is forgiven. Shri Hit Harivansh Mahaprabhu's words come to mind: "Even if his faults are vast as the ocean, she does not count them — he is hers."

Question: What is the difference between apnapan and self-surrender?

Answer: Self-surrender is an action. "I hand myself over to you." Apnapan is a state. "You are mine; I am yours." Surrender holds two people. Apnapan holds one. This is Maharaj ji's fine distinction.

Why Does Apnapan Lead to God-Realisation?

Apnapan leads to God-realisation because God himself declares, "aham bhakta-paradhin asmyaham" — "I am subject to my devotee." The supreme, perfectly free Brahman speaks from his own mouth and says he is bound by the devotee. Maharaj ji asks: can there be greater honour, greater love than this?

This declaration is meant for those who do not consider anyone else as their own besides the Lord. The idea is small, but living it is hard. Our trust is scattered across many places. Some lies in people, some in possessions, some in circumstances. As long as this division remains, God does not appear in his complete form.

Maharaj ji is direct about it. "The day no other dependence remains, that very day God will reveal himself. Until then the delay is from our side, not his." That sentence is worth sitting with. The delay is on our side.

How to Develop Apnapan — 5 Practical Sutras

The 5 sutras for developing apnapan are listed below. These are gathered from Shri Premanand Ji Maharaj's satsangs, and any householder seeker can apply them in daily life.

1. Daily practice of surrender. The work of satsang is to pull you a little closer to the Lord every day. Make it a daily ritual. Just as eating and bathing are part of your day, let one moment of surrender also be part of every day.

1. Trust at the feet of Kishori Ji. Maharaj ji says: "Kishori Ji has signalled that this person chants my name and depends on me — look after him, my Beloved." Taking Shri Radha Rani's name and trusting her feet — this single decision sits above all other decisions in life.

1. Gathering scattered trust. "Our trust is stuck in many places." Maharaj ji's diagnosis is exact. Slowly, through satsang and bhajan, gather the pieces of your trust one by one and place them at her feet. This will not happen by force. It will happen naturally over time.

1. Daily chanting of the divine name (naam jap). The Lord's name has the power to bring God under its sway. Maharaj ji's words are clear: "The one on whose tongue Hari's name resides — even an outcaste, even a low-born — becomes supremely worthy and worthy of reverence." There is no fixed count for chanting. Consistency is everything.

1. No bargaining with God. This is the sutra most often forgotten. We sing in the aarti, "Body, mind, wealth — all yours; nothing is mine." Then in daily life we strike a deal with him: "Do this for me and I will be yours." That is bargaining. Maharaj ji's teaching is to accept what has already been given, and only add apnapan to it.

Question: Of these five, which one should you start with first?

Answer: Sutra 4 — chanting the divine name. The other four sutras flower on their own once naam jap is steady. Maharaj ji says naam jap is the foundation on which apnapan stands.

Mira Bai's Apnapan — A Stunning Example

Mira Bai's love for the Lord was never divided. Her famous verse runs: "Mere to Giridhar Gopal, dusro na koi" — "Giridhar Gopal alone is mine; no one else is."

The whole philosophy of apnapan hides in that one line.

Shri Premanand Ji Maharaj says God loves us as much as he loved Mira ji. The shortfall is on our side, not his. We reach as far as "Giridhar Gopal alone is mine." But the second half — "no one else is" — stays unfinished. Many other things in life keep claiming equal weight from us.

This is exactly where Mira ji and we differ. Her trust was not divided, and so Giridhar himself accepted her. Our trust is divided, and that is the delay.

The Fruit of Apnapan — What God-Realisation Looks Like

The fruit of apnapan is that God remains seated in the mind without any effort. That is the actual face of God-realisation. Shri Premanand Ji Maharaj says: "When God fills the mind without any effort, fills the heart, with no other thought arising — there is no other God-realisation to wait for. It is done."

People assume God-realisation involves a miraculous vision, a burst of light, something like a camera coming into focus. No. Maharaj ji speaks plainly. This is a matter of the chest, a matter of the heart. "Pritam bas gayo mere mann" — "The Beloved has settled in my mind, body, and eyes." That is the state apnapan delivers.

Related Teachings

• How to Start Naam Jap: 25 Questions Every Beginner Has
• Premanand Maharaj Diksha: The Real Path to God-Vision
• How to Chant Radha's Name — The Simplest Path to Overcoming Maya

Closing

God-realisation is not far. What is far is apnapan. Shri Premanand Ji Maharaj keeps repeating one thing: tighten your belt; the rest of the work belongs to Shri Ji.

Source: #08 Saar Ki Baat — 30-09-2023 — Bhajan Marg

This article is compiled from the satsangs of Shri Premanand Ji Maharaj. The original video is linked above. For verification of any quote, please refer to the original satsang. All images in this article are digitally created.

Radhe Radhe 🙏