Text 66

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
mokshayisyami ma sucah

 Translation

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.

Commentary by Srila Prabhupada 

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 Krishna. 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 Krishna. 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 Krishna he is automatically freed. There is no need of strenuous effort to free oneself from sinful reactions. One should unhesitatingly accept Krishna as the supreme savior of all living entities. With faith and love, one should surrender unto Him. 

The process of surrender to Krishna is described in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa (11.676): 

anukulyasya sankalpah
pratikulyasya varjanam
raksisyatiti vishvaso
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 Krishna consciousness, all his activities are in vain. Anything that does not lead to the perfectional stage of Krishna consciousness should be avoided. One should be confident that in all circumstances Krishna will protect him from all difficulties. There is no need of thinking how one should keep the body and soul together. Krishna will see to that. One should always think himself helpless and should consider Krishna the only basis for his progress in life. As soon as one seriously engages himself in devotional service to the Lord in full Krishna 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 Krishna does not have to execute so many methods. That simple surrender unto Krishna 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 Krishna. His name is Krishna because He is all-attractive. One who becomes attracted by the beautiful, all-powerful, omnipotent vision of Krishna 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 Krishna Himself, is the most perfect transcendentalist. In other words, devotional service to Krishna, 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 Krishna, but such worry is useless.

Commentary by Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur

"Am I supposed to perform this meditation and offering along with my varna asrama duties or without them?" "Giving up all all duties of varna and asrama (sarva dharman parityajya), surrender only to me."

One should not say that parityaja means sannyasya, to adopt the sannyasa order, because Arjuna was a ksatriya, not qualified for sannyasa. As well it should not be said the Lord used Arjuna just to instruct all other people who are not ksatriyas to take sannyasa, for Arjuna was qualified to be the recipient of the Lord's instructions, which could not be taught to others. Nor should one explain the meaning of parityajya in this verse as merely "give up all the results of activities."

For it is said:

devarsi-bhutapta-nrnam pitrnam nayam kinkaro nayam rni ca raj an sarvatmana yah saranam saranyam gato mukundam parihrtya kartam

Anyone who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, the giver of liberation, giving up all kinds of obligation, and has taken to the path in all seriousness, owes neither duties nor obligations to the demigods, sages, general living entities, family members, humankind or forefathers.   SB 11.5.41

martyo yada tyakta-samasta-karma
niveditatma vicikirsito me
tadamrtatvarh pratipadyamano
mayatma-bhuyaya ca kalpate vai

A person who gives up all fruitive activities and offers himself entirely unto Me, eagerly desiring to render service unto Me, achieves liberation from birth and death and is promoted to the status of sharing My own opulences.  SB 11.29.35

tavat karmani kurvita na nirvidyeta yavata mat-katha-sravanadau va sraddha yavan na jayate

As long as one is not satiated by fruitive activity and has not awakened his taste for devotional service by sravanam kirtanam visnoh [SB 7.5.23] one has to act according to the regulative principles of the Vedic injunctions. SB 11.20.9

ajnayaiva gunan dosan mayadistan api svakan
dharman santyajya yah sarvan mam bhajet sa ca sattamah

He perfectly understands that the ordinary religious duties prescribed by Me in various Vedic scriptures possess favorable qualities that purify the performer, and he knows that neglect of such duties constitutes a discrepancy in one's life. Having taken complete shelter at My lotus feet, however, a saintly person ultimately renounces such ordinary religious duties and worships Me alone. He is thus considered to be the best among all living entities. SB 11.11.37

The meaning of the word should thus be explained using all these statements of the Lord with no contradiction. The meaning can indeed be understood correctly by the prefix pan which means "completely."

"Surrender only to me (mam ekam saranam vraja)." This means that there should be no worship of devatas, astanga yoga, jnana or dharma or other elements in that surrender.

"Previously I have said that you were not qualified for ananya bhakti, the highest type of bhakti, and that you were qualified for karma misra bhakti, when I said 'Whatever you do, whatever you eat, do it as an offering to me.' But now, by my great mercy, you have qualification for ananya bhakti. That ananya bhakti can only be attained by the causeless mercy of my ekantika bhakta. Though that is a rule 1 myself have made, I am now giving the mercy myself, breaking my own vow, as I did in the fight with Bhisma.

"And by following my orders you should not fear some loss on your part in giving up nitya and naimittika karmas. The order to perform these nitya karmas was given by me in the form of the Vedas. Now, I am ordering you to give them all up completely. Is there sin in not performing your nitya karmas? No, rather the opposite, in performing nitya karmas you will commit sin, because of disobeying my direct order."

"But if someone surrenders to another person, he becomes dependent, like an animal purchased for a price. He does whatever you make him do. If you put him in one place, he stays there. If you offer him food, he eats. These are the characteristics of surrender."

"But the Vayu Purana says:

anukulyasya sankalpah pratikulyasya varjanam raksisyatiti visvaso goptrtve varanam tatha nihksepanam akarpanyam sad-vidha saranagatih

Anukulya means conduct pleasing to the Lord and according to the scriptures. Pratikulya means the opposite. Goptrtva means to think of the Lord and no one else as ones protector. One should have faith (visvasah) that in times when ones own existence is threatened, the Lord will give protection, as in the case of Gajendra or Draupadi. Nihksepanam means employment of ones gross and subtle bodies for Krishna's service. Akarpanya means that  one  should  not  make  a  show  of ones  own  humility.

Surrender (sarana gati) consists of performance of these six items in relation to the Lord."

"Then starting today, if I surrender to you, I should then do whatever you say whether good or bad. If you make me perform dharma, then I will not worry at all. But if you engage me in adharma, since you are the Supreme Lord and can do what you want, then what will happen to me? Please tell me."

"I will free you from all sinful reactions, from whichever reactions exist from the far past and recent past, and whichever ones arise from acts I will make you perform in the future. This is not impossible for me to do, though it cannot be done by anyone else you surrender to. Taking you as the means, I am giving instructions to the whole world. Do not feel grief for your own welfare or that of others. May you and all other people, giving up all dharmas, your own and everyone else's, absorbing your thoughts and actions in me, surrendering to me, remain in contentment. I myself have accepted the burden of freeing you from sin and freeing you from samsara."

ananyas cintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate tesam nityabhiyuktanam yoga-ksemam vahamy aham

But I carry the burden of supply and maintenance of those who desire constant association with me, and who, thinking only of me, worship only me. BG 9.22

"Do not lament thinking 'Oh, I have thrown my own burden on my master!' It is no strain at all for me, who am most affectionate to my devotee. Nothing else remains to be instructed."

Thus the scripture has been concluded.