BG 18.66

Bhāṣya on BG 18.66

Abandon all dharmas — all means and all ends — and take refuge in Me alone. I shall liberate you from all sins. Do not grieve. This is the crowning teaching of the Gītā: not action, not knowledge, not yoga alone, but surrender to the Lord is the supreme path.

— source · bhāṣya

18.66 सर्वधर्मान् all duties? परित्यज्य having abandoned? माम् to Me? एकम् alone? शरणम् refuge? व्रज take? अहम् I? त्वा thee? सर्वपापेभ्यः from all sins? मोक्षयिष्यामि will liberate? मा dont? शुचः grieve.Commentary This is the answer given by the Lord to the estion put by Arjuna in chapter II? verse 7 I ask Thee which may be the better tell me that decidedly. I am Thy disciple? suppliant to Thee teach me.All Dharmas Righteous deeds? including Adharma all actions? righteous or unrighteous? as absolute freedom from all actions is intended to be taught here.Taking refuge in Me alone implies the knowledge of unity without any thought of duality knowing that there is nothing else except Me? the Self of all? dwelling the same in all. If thou art established in this faith? I shall liberate thee from all sins? from all bonds of Dharma and Adharma by manifesting Myself as thy own Self.To behold forms is the Dharma of the eye. The support or substratum of all forms is Brahman. When you look at an object behold Brahman Which is the one essence and abandon the form as it is illusory and unreal. Have the same attitude towards the other objects which pertain to the other senses.Give up the JivaDharma (the notions I am the doer o actions? I enjoy. I am a Brahmana. I am a Brahmachari. I am endowed with a little knowledge and power? etc. and get yourself established in BrahmaBhavana (the understanding or knowledge I am Brahman). This is what is meant by taking refuge in Lord Krishna? according to the Vedantins.Work ceaselessly for the Lord but surrender the fruits of all actions to the Lord. Take the Lord as your sole refuge. Live for Him. Work for Him. Serve Him in all forms. Think of Him only. Meditate on Him alone. See Him in all forms. Think of Him only. Meditate on Him alone. See Him everywhere. Worship Him in your heart. Consecrate your life? all actions? feelings and thoughts to the Lord. You will rest in Him. You will attain union with Him. You will attain immortal supreme peace and eternal bliss. This is the view of another school of thought.Sri Sankara very strongly refutes the idea that knowledge in conjunction with Karma (action) produces or leads to liberation. He says that Karma and knowledge may not go together in the same man? that karma helps the man to get purification of the heart? and that right knowledge of the Self alone will give him absolute freedom from Samsara. He says that work and knowledge are like darkness and light? that action is possible only in this universe of illusory phenomena which is the projection of ignorance and knowledge dispels this ignorance. (Cf.III.30IX.22)

— vedicscriptures · exposition · source ↗

The Lord has described various kinds of knowledge and processes of religion – knowledge of the Supreme Brahman, knowledge of the Supersoul, knowledge of the different types of orders and statuses of social life, knowledge of the renounced order of life, knowledge of nonattachment, sense and mind control, meditation, etc. He has described in so many ways different types of religion. Now, in summarizing Bhagavad-gītā , the Lord says that Arjuna should give up all the processes that have been explained to him; he should simply surrender to Kṛṣṇa. That surrender will save him from all kinds of sinful reactions, for the Lord personally promises to protect him. In the Seventh Chapter it was said that only one who has become free from all sinful reactions can take to the worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Thus one may think that unless he is free from all sinful reactions he cannot take to the surrendering process. To such doubts it is here said that even if one is not free from all sinful reactions, simply by the process of surrendering to Śrī Kṛṣṇa he is automatically freed. There is no need of strenuous effort to free oneself from sinful reactions. One should unhesitatingly accept Kṛṣṇa as the supreme savior of all living entities. With faith and love, one should surrender unto Him. The process of surrender to Kṛṣṇa is described in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (11.676): ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlyasya varjanam rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso goptṛtve varaṇaṁ tathā ātma-nikṣepa-kārpaṇye ṣaḍ-vidhā śaraṇāgatiḥ According to the devotional process, one should simply accept such religious principles that will lead ultimately to the devotional service of the Lord. One may perform a particular occupational duty according to his position in the social order, but if by executing his duty one does not come to the point of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all his activities are in vain. Anything that does not lead to the perfectional stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness should be avoided. One should be confident that in all circumstances Kṛṣṇa will protect him from all difficulties. There is no need of thinking how one should keep the body and soul together. Kṛṣṇa will see to that. One should always think himself helpless and should consider Kṛṣṇa the only basis for his progress in life. As soon as one seriously engages himself in devotional service to the Lord in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness, at once he becomes freed from all contamination of material nature. There are different processes of religion and purificatory processes by cultivation of knowledge, meditation in the mystic yoga system, etc., but one who surrenders unto Kṛṣṇa does not have to execute so many methods. That simple surrender unto Kṛṣṇa will save him from unnecessarily wasting time. One can thus make all progress at once and be freed from all sinful reactions. One should be attracted by the beautiful vision of Kṛṣṇa. His name is Kṛṣṇa because He is all-attractive. One who becomes attracted by the beautiful, all-powerful, omnipotent vision of Kṛṣṇa is fortunate. There are different kinds of transcendentalists – some of them are attached to the impersonal Brahman vision, some of them are attracted by the Supersoul feature, etc., but one who is attracted to the personal feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and, above all, one who is attracted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Kṛṣṇa Himself, is the most perfect transcendentalist. In other words, devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, in full consciousness, is the most confidential part of knowledge, and this is the essence of the whole Bhagavad-gītā . Karma-yogīs, empiric philosophers, mystics and devotees are all called transcendentalists, but one who is a pure devotee is the best of all. The particular words used here, mā śucaḥ, “Don’t fear, don’t hesitate, don’t worry,” are very significant. One may be perplexed as to how one can give up all kinds of religious forms and simply surrender unto Kṛṣṇa, but such worry is useless.

— vedicscriptures · exposition · source ↗