Verse 18.66

Verse 18.66: “Relinquish all (so-called) ‘duties’, and unto Me alone as shelter, betake thyself: I shall release thee from all ‘sins’ whatsoever. (1390)

Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:

Hope gives birth to pain, or slander to sin, or misfortune to poverty; in that way ignorance (Nescience) creates religion and non-religion leading to Heaven and Hell, and therefore abandon it all (ignorance) completely through knowledge. By holding the rope in hand, all delusion of its being a snake disappears; or the home and other mundane affairs (seen) in a dream disappear by shaking off sleep; or with the disappearance of jaundice the moonlight ceases to appear yellow; or with the recovery from a disease the tongue (mouth) ceases to have bitter taste; or with the end of the day, the mirage disappears; or with the firewood, the fire (latent in it also drops down). In all these ways you do drop down all that Nescience which brings forth the humbug of religious and non-religious acts, and then you will have relinquished therewith all notions of good and evil. And with the elimination of ignorance, I myself alone remain behind automatically.

With the dropping down of sleep along with slumber, one remains all alone by himself; in that way (with the departure of ignorance) nothing else distinct from myself remains behind, the entire range of visible creation appearing to his (devotee’s) vision as identical to his Self. Getting completely one with Me, keeping no distinction whatever as regards one’s own individual Self, is what is complete surrender unto Me. With the destruction of the earthen pot, the sky (cavity) contained in it (disappears) and merges into the wide sky: in that way, surrendering completely unto Me brings about union with My essence. (Therefore) surrender yourself. Oh Dhananjaya, completely unto Me, in the way gold beads merge into gold or the waves merge into water.

The (supposed) submarine fire surrenders itself unto the sea keeping intact its individuality, Oh Kiriti, and it does not desist from burning it (sea): you should not follow that course. To surrender completely unto Me and at the same time to maintain individual existence distinct from Me is abominable (dhig), and how would the intellect not feel ashamed of holding this view (such a talk) were it to say so? Were a common female servant to succeed in winning the love of a King, she too is raised to his (Royal) position! That a being attaining Me the Lord of the Universe—and (simultaneously) not being able to snap the fetters of his existence as a distinct personality—is a wicked talk to which you do not even lend your ears. Therefore becoming one with me, one automatically renders service unto Me, and you should act in a way that the (aforesaid) service will be in your possession (lit. in your grasp) through this knowledge (of complete identity).

Once the butter is churned out from the buttermilk, it cannot again be mingled with it, even though it is put into it (buttermilk): in that way, once you surrender yourself unto Me with perfect monism, then as natural corollary, matters relating to religion or non-religion (good or evil) will not even touch you. Iron gets rusted and reduced to dust, but once it associates with a Paris and gets converted into gold, no dirt can even touch it (iron); once the fire is kindled by friction, by rubbing against each other two pieces of firewood, the fire cannot remain again shut up (latent) in the fire-wood. Can, Oh Arjuna, the Sun ever see darkness, or can dreamy delusion be experienced again after awakening? In that way, once absorbed in Me, can there remain any reason (for one) for remaining distinct from my universal Self? You need not, therefore, harbour any other idea in your mind, and I shall be all what you call your merit and sin.

The mark of the entire bondage is sin and it exists through duality. That can be destroyed through the knowledge of myself. Salt falling into water is completely converted into water; in that way, you, who have already surrendered yourself unto Me, unreservedly would be like that (viz. become one with my essence). And when this takes place you will, Oh Dhananjaya, automatically enjoy liberation. You do own me as being entirely yours and I shall liberate you through my illumination. You should therefore, henceforward, leave off all anxieties; you only do realize Me through knowledge, Oh you good Talent, and surrender yourself exclusively unto Me.”

So spake Lord Krishna—the Omniform, the Omniscient and the Omnipresent. Then extending his dusky left arm, adorned with a bracelet, he embraced the king amongst devotees, who had already surrendered himself unto Him. The embrace was only a pretext for giving his own essence (to Arjuna), which could not be reached either by words or by intellect, and from which the words having pulled back (restrained) the intellect, are forced to beat a retreat (without reaching it). With the heart meeting the heart, (the contents of) one (Lord Krishna’s) were poured into another (of Partha’s). Partha was made his own (by Lord Krishna) without snapping the (outward) duality.

That embrace was just like one lamp lighting another, and thus Partha was made his own self (by Lord Krishna), without breaking (outward) duality. Then there swept such a big flood of happiness over Dhananjaya, that the Lord, even though all-pervading (big), got drowned into it. An ocean meeting another ocean, doubles the volume of water, and part of it rises up in torrential form in the sky (occupying it) for accommodating itself; in that way, the coming together of these two resulted in neither being able to curb himself; who could know how it all happened? Yet the entire universe got stuffed up (pervaded) by Lord Krishna. In this way Lord Krishna expounded the Gita Scripture—the original thread (source) of the Vedas, invested with supreme holiness on account of its (Gita’s) universal validity. You might raise a doubt how the Gita is the origin of the Vedas, I explain to you the theory underlying it, which is well-known.

This (Gita) has been expounded with asseveration through his own mouth by that great Speaker of the truth (Lord Vishnu), with that very breath the Vedas were born. Therefore what is said about the Gita being the origin of the Vedas is but proper. There is yet one more proof of it. That in which the future growth of a thing lies hidden without that thing getting itself destroyed (i.e. preserving the innate form of the thing) is what is called seed. The entire Vedas (śabdarāśī) same as (śabdabrahma) is made up of three pieces (kāṇḍa—parts viz. activism, worship, knowledge) which are (stored up) in the Gita, just as a tree (is stored up) in its seed. Therefore, I feel that the Gita is the seed of the Vedas, and it is also easily preceptible. The three parts of the Vedas appear clearly marked out in the Gita, in the way a human body is adorned by ornaments of jewelry. Now I shall show you through (your own) eyes in what particular portions of the Gita, the three parts such as activism, etc. are.

The first chapter forms only the preface to the philosophy involved in the Gita teachings, while in Chapter ii the theory of Samkhya philosophy is expounded. It is (also) suggested in Chapter ii that according to Samkhya nothing else but knowledge is necessary for securing deliverance. Then a beginning is made in Chapter iii of the subject as regards the means of securing deliverance for such as are fettered by ignorance. They (means) consist of the avoidance of (fruit) motived and prohibited actions by those that are fettered by the conceit of their body-form, and of the performance by them without fail of the prescribed, day-to-day and occasional duties (karma). This they should do in good faith—is the decision given by Lord Krishna in Chapter in and this is what is called Karmakanda (karmakāṇḍa) or the path dealing with activism. And how this performance of the day-to-day etc. duties would help in snapping the bonds of ignorance, was the point that worked in his mind (of Lord Krishna), and he announced that when the fettered being reached the stage of a ‘seeker’ (mumukṣu) he should dedicate all his actions to Supreme Brahman and continue performing them. According to Lord Krishna whatever enjoined duties (actions) might be performed through the agency of body, speech and mind—they should all in that very stage be said to have been performed with the sole intention of being dedicated to God.

The discourse on how this motive-free activism should be dedicated to God through prayers and sermons is started at the conclusion of Chapter iv and this theme of worshipping God through activism has been continued right upto the end of Chapter xi, entitled the ‘Vision of the Omni-form’. Here know this, as the Devata-kanda (devatā-kāṇḍa—Division dealing with the Worship of Deity), consisting of eight Chapters in which the Gita has cleared up all obstacles (doubts) and has made the theme clear (to understand). And by the same favour of God can be secured the true and tender knowledge, through the instrumentality of the preceptor’s school (śrīguru-sampradāya). As we take it, Chapter xii teaches that this (knowledge) should be increased through (developing) qualities like non-hatred and non-arrogance. The theme preached in Chapters beginning with the 12th and ending with the 15th is “the Ripe Fruit of Knowledge” and this is preached in four Chapters ending with “Upwending Roots”—The Jnanakanda (jñānakāṇḍa—Division dealing with knowledge).

This Shruti Scripture preaching the three divisions (trikāṇḍa) has got itself bedecked with jewel ornaments in the form of Gita stanzas, Chapter xvi expounds the group of ignorance (ignorant ones) that bear hatred day in and day out towards the means of acquiring knowledge, the means which alone yield the fruit of salvation; so the tripartite Scriptures proclaim loudly, stressing that men must try without fail to win it (the fruit of Salvation). Chapter xvii conveys the message that this enemy (the collection of vices) should be conquered with the help of the Scriptures. In this way from Chapter i to the end of Chapter xvii, the Lord has discussed the Vedas born out of his very breath, and the 18th is the top chapter (śikhara) in which is drawn up a summary of and the deductions drawn from, the discourse contained in (the previous) 17 chapters. Thus the Bhagavad-Gita Scripture, numerically formed (of chapters and stanzas) is the very Vedas incarnate, but superior to them in point of generosity (in regard to imparting knowledge).

The Vedas themselves are quite rich with the wealth in the form of knowledge: yet none can equal them in point of miserliness, since they whisper (communicate knowledge) in the ears only of the first three (viz Brahmins, the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas) of the four castes (cāturvarṇya). They have remained quiet, allowing no scope whatever to the rest of the human beings, viz. the Shudras and women (standing) equally affected by worldly affairs. Therefore, it appears to me (Jnanadev [Jnanadeva]) that in order to make up the former deficiency and to be serviceable equally to all, the very Vedas have assumed a different garb and have appeared in the form of Gita-Scripture. Not only that but they became available to anyone through the Gita-form, either by entering into mind through the interpretations, or into the ears through hearing, or into the mouths through reciting. A free boarding house providing food in the form of liberation has (as it were) been opened in the market-place of the worldly affairs and is available even to a dullard, writing out and simply keeping with himself in a bookform, the Gita Scripture side by side with one knowing it by rote and reciting it.

The sky cavity is the only space open for living freely in the atmosphere or for sitting on the earth or for roaming about in the sunlight; in that way the Gita is one, that gives equally to all that take its resort, without any discrimination, such as the best or the lowest, the gift of getting one with the Deity which makes the entire world feel happy (cool). Getting. afraid of the previous accusation (of being miserly) the Vedas entered into the womb of the Gita, and got their fame fully purified and brightened. Therefore Shri Gita is that form of the Vedas that can be grasped by all and which Lord Krishna has preached to the Son of Pandu. Milk is released (by the cow) from the udder for the sake of its young, yet the entire household gets its supply; in that way the entire world is rescued (from Hell) on the pretext (miṣa) of the Son of Pandu. The clouds come running with (rain) water out of kindness towards the bird Chakora yet the aggregate of created things (world) gets the cooling effect of it.

The Sun rises every morning for the sake of the, helpless lotus, the eyes of the entire universe receive light from him; in that way, on the plea of Arjuna the Lord gave an exposition of the Gita and lightened the heavy load in the form of the worldly affairs of the (people in the) universe. He is not (only) the Lord of Lakshmi, but is (also) the Sun rising in the sky in the form of his face and shedding light on the brilliance of the gems in the form of the mysteries of all the Scriptures in the three worlds. All Glory to that holy dynasty, which gave birth to Partha—who made himself eligible for knowledge and offered its enclosure free to all. Let that alone; the worthy Preceptor, Lord Krishna, then made Partha alive to the sense of duality, seeing him getting absorbed in his own Self.

The Lord then asked “Are you, Oh Partha, convinced of the principles of the Gita?”, to which he replied, "Yes, through your own Grace.”

The Lord again said, “It requires extra-ordinary strength of good luck, to secure the secret treasure, Oh Dhananjaya, and (yet) there is hardly any person who is able to enjoy the treasure already secured through good luck. See what an amount of labour must have been caused to the Gods and demons, to chum (the contents of) the big pot of the size of the ocean containing unfermented (avirajī[?]) milk; their labours bore fruit in that they could see with their own eyes the ambrosia that emerged but they failed in taking proper care of it. That (ambrosia) which was secured for getting immortality only proved fatal.

Such was the (tragic) result of securing an object, without knowing how to enjoy it. Do we not know how King Nahusha, became the Lord of Heaven, but not knowing how to behave properly he was transformed into a snake. You have, Oh Dhananjaya, secured a vast amount of merit (puṇya) with the result that you have become competent to secure (the knowledge of) this King amongst the Scriptures. You should, therefore, follow the great tradition of the Scripture and maintain it with firm devotion. Were you. Oh Arjuna, to perform that duty of maintaining it, otherwise than in accordance with the traditions attached to it, it would only produce a result, Oh Arjuna, exactly as did the churning out of the ambrosia.

Having secured out a stout and good-looking cow, you will be able to get milk from her. Oh Kiriti, only if you master the art of milching her in the evening time (the usual time of milching). In that way one should secure a worthy preceptor, and should also receive correctly the learning; yet, it all will come to fruition only if the traditions of that learning are carefully observed. Therefore, do you now hear, with great regard, the correct traditions of this (Gita) Scripture.