Bhagavad Gita 18.66
Spoken by Krishna ★ Essential verse · Verse 66 of 78
सर्वधर्मान् परित्यज्य माम् एकं शरणं व्रज । अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः ॥
sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṃ śaraṇaṃ vraja | ahaṃ tvā sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ ||
Abandon all dharmas, take refuge in Me alone — I will liberate you from all sins; do not grieve.
Word by word (3)
- sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṃ śaraṇaṃ vraja
- — having completely abandoned (parityajya = pari + tyaj = completely-relinquishing) ALL dharmas (sarva-dharmān — the plural and sarva [all] are emphatic: not some dharmas, not most dharmas, but ALL; includes sva-dharma, varṇa-dharma, āśrama-dharma, dharmic injunctions, merit-producing rituals, all righteous deeds), come (vraja = go/come, imperative of vraj = to move toward) to Me alone (mām ekaṃ = Me + alone; ekaṃ is emphatic: ONE alone) as refuge (śaraṇam = shelter)
- ahaṃ tvā sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
- — I (ahaṃ = emphatic I, not merely the teaching but the Divine Person) will liberate (mokṣayiṣyāmi = will-cause-liberation, causative future of muc = to release; I WILL liberate — divine promise in first person) you (tvā = thee, accusative of tvam) from all sins (sarva-pāpebhyaḥ = from all pāpas/sins/negative karmas), do not grieve (mā śucaḥ = do not + śuc = do not grieve/mourn)
- mā śucaḥ
- — do not grieve; the final three words of the most secret verse — mā śucaḥ. This exact phrase appears three times in the Gita: Ch.2 V27 (mā śucaḥ — on the inevitability of death), Ch.18 V66, and implicitly throughout. Here it is the divine reassurance after the most radical instruction: 'I take full responsibility for your liberation — do not be afraid, do not grieve.' The grief-release is the natural fruit of complete surrender (sarva-dharmān parityajya + śaraṇam vraja) — when you surrender all, there is nothing left to grieve about.
Having abandoned all dharmas, take refuge in Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins. Do not grieve.
A modern analogy
This is the Gita's ultimate surrender verse. Imagine a child who has been trying to find their way home through a complex city — following maps, asking directions, taking various routes (all the dharmas). Then a parent appears and says: 'Drop all your maps and plans. Come to me alone. I will take you home. Don't worry.' The child's complete surrender to the parent's guidance (sarva-dharmān parityajya + māṃ ekaṃ śaraṇam vraja) is rewarded with the promise: 'I WILL take you home' (mokṣayiṣyāmi) + 'don't be afraid' (mā śucaḥ).
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Abandoning all righteous deeds, seek Me as thy sole Refuge; I will liberate thee from all sins; do thou not grieve. [1]
Relinquishing all Dharmas take refuge in Me alone; I will liberate thee from all sins; grieve not. [4]
MISSING from index. [9]
Forsaking all religious duties, come to Me as thy sole refuge. I will deliver thee from all sins. Do not grieve. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
This knowledge, more secret than all secrets, has been declared to you — reflect on it fully and act as you wish.
One with no ego-doer-sense, whose buddhi is untainted — even while killing all these beings, kills not, is not bound.
The duties of Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras are distributed by the guṇas born of their own nature.
Learn briefly from Me how one who has attained siddhi attains Brahman — the supreme culmination of knowledge.
Endued with pure buddhi, regulating self with dhṛti, renouncing sense-objects, setting aside rāga-dveṣa —
Even doing all actions always, with refuge in Me — by My grace one attains the eternal imperishable abode.
Verse 66 of 78 · back to Chapter 18