The Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 18 · verse 18.66

Abandoning all duties, take refuge in me alone. I will liberate you from all sins. Do not grieve.

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज। अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः॥

Transliteration

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja; ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

English translation

Abandoning all duties, take refuge in me alone. I will liberate you from all sins. Do not grieve.

Meaning — what the verse is actually saying

The Gita's most famous closing verse — the carama-śloka, the "final verse." After all the analysis of duties, after all the gradations of paths, the final teaching is simpler than all of them: surrender. Stop carrying.

Modern practice — what to do today because of this

When the calculus of duties becomes impossible — when every option seems to violate some commitment — there is a final move available: release the entire weight, trust the larger pattern, and act on what is true. The verse does not promise the absence of action. It promises the absence of the carrying.

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