BHAGAVAD-GITA 18:66

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 18:66

 

sarva-dharman parityajya

mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo

moksayisyami ma sucah

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

sarva-dharman--all varieties of religion; parityajya--abandoning;

mam--unto Me; ekam--only; saranam--for surrender; vraja--go; aham--I;

tvam--you; sarva--all; papebhyah--from sinful reactions;

moksayisyami--will deliver; ma--do not; sucah--worry.

 

TRANSLATION

 

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall

deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.

 

PURPORT

 

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-gita, the Lord says that Arjuna should give up

all the processes that have been explained to him; he should simply

surrender to Krsna. 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 Krsna. 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 Sri Krsna he is automatically freed.

There is no need of strenuous effort to free oneself from sinful

reactions. One should unhesitatingly accept Krsna as the supreme

savior of all living entities. With faith and love, one should

surrender unto Him.

 

The process of surrender to Krsna is described in the Hari-bhakti

vilasa

(11.676):

 

anukulyasya sankalpah

pratikulyasya varjanam

raksisyatiti visvaso

goptrtve varanam tatha

atma-niksepa-karpanye

sad-vidha saranagatih

 

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 Krsna consciousness, all his

activities are in vain. Anything that does not lead to the

perfectional stage of Krsna consciousness should be avoided. One

should be confident that in all circumstances Krsna will protect him

from all difficulties. There is no need of thinking how one should

keep the body and soul together. Krsna will see to that. One should

always think himself helpless and should consider Krsna the only basis

for his progress in life. As soon as one seriously engages himself in

devotional service to the Lord in full Krsna 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 Krsna does not have to execute so many

methods. That simple surrender unto Krsna 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 Krsna. His name is

Krsna because He is all-attractive. One who becomes attracted by the

beautiful, all-powerful, omnipotent vision of Krsna 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

Krsna Himself, is the most perfect transcendentalist. In other words,

devotional service to Krsna, in full consciousness, is the most

confidential part of knowledge, and this is the essence of the whole

Bhagavad-gita. Karma-yogis, 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, ma sucah, "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 Krsna, but such worry is useless.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.