BHAGAVAD-GITA 12:6-7

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 12:6-7

 

ye tu sarvani karmani

mayi sannyasya mat-parah

ananyenaiva yogena

mam dhyayanta upasate

 

tesam aham samuddharta

mrtyu-samsara-sagarat

bhavami na cirat partha

mayy avesita-cetasam

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

ye--those who; tu--but; sarvani--all; karmani--activities; mayi--unto

Me; sannyasya--giving up; mat-parah--being attached to Me;

ananyena--without division; eva--certainly; yogena--by practice of

such bhakti-yoga; mam--upon Me; dhyayantah--meditating;

upasate--worship; tesam--of them; aham--I; samuddharta--the deliverer;

mrtyu--of death; samsara--in material existence; sagarat--from the

ocean; bhavami--I become; na--not; cirat--after a long time; partha--O

son of Prtha; mayi--upon Me; avesita--fixed; cetasam--of those whose

minds.

 

TRANSLATION

 

But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and

being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service

and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son

of Prtha--for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth

and death.

 

PURPORT

 

It is explicitly stated here that the devotees are very fortunate to

be delivered very soon from material existence by the Lord. In pure

devotional service one comes to the realization that God is great and

that the individual soul is subordinate to Him. His duty is to render

service to the Lord--and if he does not, then he will render service

to maya.

 

As stated before, the Supreme Lord can be appreciated only by

devotional service. Therefore, one should be fully devoted. One should

fix his mind fully on Krsna in order to achieve Him. One should work

only for Krsna. It does not matter in what kind of work one engages,

but that work should be done only for Krsna. That is the standard of

devotional service. The devotee does not desire any achievement other

than pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His life's mission

is to please Krsna, and he can sacrifice everything for Krsna's

satisfaction, just as Arjuna did in the Battle of Kuruksetra. The

process is very simple: one can devote himself in his occupation and

engage at the same time in chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna

Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Such

transcendental chanting attracts the devotee to the Personality of

Godhead.

 

The Supreme Lord herein promises that without delay He will deliver a

pure devotee thus engaged from the ocean of material existence. Those

who are advanced in yoga practice can willfully transfer the soul to

whatever planet they like by the yoga process, and others take the

opportunity in various ways, but as far as the devotee is concerned,

it is clearly stated here that the Lord Himself takes him. The devotee

does not need to wait to become very experienced in order to transfer

himself to the spiritual sky.

 

In the Varaha Purana this verse appears:

 

nayami paramam sthanam

arcir-adi-gatim vina

garuda-skandham aropya

yatheccham anivaritah

 

The purport of this verse is that a devotee does not need to practice

astanga-yoga in order to transfer his soul to the spiritual planets.

The responsibility is taken by the Supreme Lord Himself. He clearly

states here that He Himself becomes the deliverer. A child is

completely cared for by his parents, and thus his position is secure.

Similarly, a devotee does not need to endeavor to transfer himself by

yoga practice to other planets. Rather, the Supreme Lord, by His great

mercy, comes at once, riding on His bird carrier Garuda, and at once

delivers the devotee from material existence. Although a man who has

fallen in the ocean may struggle very hard and may be very expert in

swimming, he cannot save himself. But if someone comes and picks him

up from the water, then he is easily rescued. Similarly, the Lord

picks up the devotee from this material existence. One simply has to

practice the easy process of Krsna consciousness and fully engage

himself in devotional service. Any intelligent man should always

prefer the process of devotional service to all other paths. In the

Narayaniya this is confirmed as follows:

 

ya vai sadhana-sampattih

purusartha-catustaye

taya vina tad apnoti

naro narayanasrayah

 

The purport of this verse is that one should not engage in the

different processes of fruitive activity or cultivate knowledge by the

mental speculative process. One who is devoted to the Supreme

Personality can attain all the benefits derived from other yogic

processes, speculation, rituals, sacrifices, charities, etc. That is

the specific benediction of devotional service.

 

Simply by chanting the holy name of Krsna--Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna,

Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare--a

devotee of the Lord can approach the supreme destination easily and

happily, but this destination cannot be approached by any other

process of religion.

 

The conclusion of Bhagavad-gita is stated in the Eighteenth Chapter:

 

sarva-dharman parityajya

mam ekam saranam vraja

aham tvam sarva-papebhyo

moksayisyami ma sucah

 

One should give up all other processes of self-realization and simply

execute devotional service in Krsna consciousness. That will enable

one to reach the highest perfection of life. There is no need for one

to consider the sinful actions of his past life, because the Supreme

Lord fully takes charge of him. Therefore one should not futilely try

to deliver himself in spiritual realization. Let everyone take shelter

of the supreme omnipotent Godhead, Krsna. That is the highest

perfection of life.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.