What does surrender to God (Krsna) really mean?

The word "surrender" should be properly understood so that one's so called "surrender" and voluntary service is appreciated, reciprocated with, and NEVER demanded in an impersonal dictatorial loveless emotionless reality.

Being an Impersonalist means- 

1 - Attempting to "extinguish" your individuality, unique spiritual identity, personality and free will to just become Krsna's mindless drones and controlled pawns.

2 - Being bullied, patronized, talked down too and treated and used like a slave who is NEVER allowed to think for themselves, instead of being nurtured, appreciated and encouraged to be a contributing independent living entity with the freedom of individual "self expression" when serving God (Krsna).

3 - lnactively merge dormantly into His Brahman effulgence (Impersonal Brahmajyoti) attempting to extinguish one's individuality and unique personality, which is attempting to committ spiritual suicide.

In the spiritual world with Krsna, "surrender" does NOT mean you give up you individuality, free will, sense of independent self, or being able to voluntarily make your own personal unique contributions and offerings to Krsna.

Goloka-Vrindavana and the Vaikuntha planets are very "personal" places based on loving voluntary exchanges eternally going on with Krsna and His servants and friends.

Therefore,  the jiva-soul's relationship with Krsna is unique and very personal, each jiva-soul has their own different personal exchanges with Krsna that no other jiva-soul duplicates.

No two jiva-souls are the same in Vaikuntha (in personality and character) or Goloka-Vrindavana.

Therefore REAL love, service and surrender can ONLY exist in a TWO-WAY voluntary exchange based on reciprocation, mutual respect and loving exchanges. 

Krsna NEVER forces His will on anyone in the spiritual world, all relationships with Him are voluntary.

Sadly, those who pray to be like an atom in Krsna's lotus feet are Mayavadi impersonalists, and are committing spiritual suicide by trying to extinguish their individual spiritual identity (personality) and just become one with Krsna as an inactive blissful atom in His lotus feet.

The jiva-souls are meant to be fully active in the service of the Lord.

That impersonal liberation of merging into Krsna as an individual dormant unit, is the same type of salvation demons get when killed by Krsna.

However, that kind of impersonal liberation is only temporary, even though may last for a very, very, very long time or millions of life times of Lord Brahma (His 100 year life span in human years is 311 trillion 400 billion.

The fact is, eventually the jiva-soul in the impersonal Brahmajyoti will again fall down to the material creation and again take birth in the 8 million 400 thousand species of material life. 

Impersonal liberation is NEVER permanent because the constitutional nature of all jiva-souls (marginal living entities) is to be "eternally active" as a PERSON serving Krsna in loving exchanges in full Krsna Consciousness.

The type of impersonal surrender of trying to extinguish your identity and become one with Krsna, is NOT out of selfless love, it is selfishness based on thinking of one's self only. 

Loving exchanges can never exist with just "one" like that, there must be a reciprocal relationship between "two" for love to exist.

Love cannot exist in an impersonal relationships where loving exchanges in a two-sided relationship does not exist.

The fact is, REAL love can ONLY exist when there is a TWO-WAY active voluntary exchange going on between two, between the jiva-souls and Krsna based on free will.

Srila Prabhupada - "If you have no free will, then you are a stone. The stone has no free will. You want to be stone? Then you must have free will! But don't misuse your free will. But don't try to become stone either. That is not life." (Aug 5, 1976, New Mayapur France)

Krsna NEVER forces the jiva-souls to surrender to Him, if He did, then that is NOT love, it is bulling, exploitation and slaverly, all different forms of  selfish abuse.

This impersonal version of Krsna Consciousness (so called God Consciousness), even found within many dictatorial religious communities around the world, MUST be rejected Prabhupada explains.

Srila Prabhupada - In Bengali it is said if you catch one girl or boy and forcefully demand - "you love me, you love me, you love me, is that love? You love me, otherwise I will kill you! Is that love?" So Krsna does not want to become a lover like that, on the point of revolver." (Washington DC July 1976)

Srila Prabhupāda – "Unless there are "two-persons," where is the question of love? Love means two persons, then there is exchange, then there is love. I must deal with you open-hearted, you must deal with me open-hearted, then there is love. So if you want to love Kṛṣṇa, God, then these things must be there." (Aug 9, 1976, Tehran)

Srila Prabhupada – "So everyone can know that independence means one can use it properly, or one can misuse it. That is independence. If you make it one way only, that is not independence, that is force." (Los Angeles, June 23, 1975)

Srila Prabhupada - "Unless there is a possibility of misusing our free will, there is no question of freedom." (Dialectical Spiritualism, Critique of Descartes)

Ultimately, each individual jiva-soul is a unique PERSON with their own personality separate from Krsna's Personality, who can choose for themselves how to voluntarily serve Krsna the Supreme Personality of Godhead and cause of all causes, the best way they can, or ignore Him if they want.

Free will is ALWAYS a two edged sword otherwise free will or freedom does not exist.

As Prabhupada has explained, Krsna NEVER forces the jiva-soul to surrender to Him, never forces them to love Him, that MUST be voluntary otherwise love can NEVER exist unless there are voluntary reciprocal exchanges.

Srila Prabhupada - "Love means you take and you give also. Suppose if you love somebody and you simply take from him, but you don't give. Oh, do you think it is very good? No. It is not good. That is NOT love. That is exploitation. If I go on simply taking from you, and if I don't offer you anything, that is simply exploitation." (Lecture on BG, Ch 9 text 2-5, New York, Nov 23, 1966)

Srila Prabhupada - "We have got the propensity to love. Love means somebody else. Love cannot be one or love cannot be executed only one, personally. There must be another one. I love somebody; somebody loves me, there must be lover, there must be beloved, and the transaction, then love." (Lecture on SB Canto 1 Ch 2 text 6, Delhi, Nov 12, 1973)

Srila Prabhupada - "Their (impersonalist) philosophy is oneness. So how there be love with just one? Is it possible? Have you got any such experience that love means one? No. Love means two. There MUST be two, the lover and the beloved. Kṛṣṇa is already lover. He loves you so much that He's trying to get you back. That is Kṛṣṇa's attempt. "Please, My dear boy, or My dear friend, My dear servant." (Lecture on SB, Canto 2 Ch 1 text 3, Paris, June 12, 1974).

Becoming a disciple by surrendering to Krsna's pure devotee, does NOT mean one must extinguish their individuality, unique spiritual identity, personality and free will, and become Krsna's mindless drone and controlled pawn.

No, that is NOT surrendering to Krsna's pure devotee, it is actually embracing IMPERSONALISM!

As Prabhupada - "Love means two. There MUST be two, the lover and the beloved. Kṛṣṇa is already lover. He loves you so much that He's trying to get you back. Therefore love cannot be one or love cannot be executed only one, there MUST be another one. I love somebody; somebody loves me, so there must be lover, there must be beloved.

We must understand that love means you take and you give also. Suppose if you love somebody and you simply take from him, but you don't give. 

Oh, do you think it is very good? No, it is not good, that is NOT love, that is exploitation and forced obedience. If I go on simply taking from you, and if I don't offer you anything, that is simply exploitation." (Srila Prabhupada quote 1966 - 1974, Vaniquotes)