Chapter 18 Shloka 57

चेतसा सर्वकर्माणि मयि संन्यस्य मत्परः।

बुद्धियोगमुपाश्रित्य मच्चित्तः सततं भव।।५७।।

The Lord advises Arjuna:

Mentally resign all actions unto Me,

keeping Me as your mainstay;

take the refuge of the yoga of intellect

and affix your mind in Me constantly.

Chapter 18 Shloka 57

चेतसा सर्वकर्माणि मयि संन्यस्य मत्परः।

बुद्धियोगमुपाश्रित्य मच्चित्तः सततं भव।।५७।।

The Lord advises Arjuna:

Mentally resign all actions unto Me, keeping Me as your mainstay; take the refuge of the yoga of intellect and affix your mind in Me constantly.

The Lord takes a succinct overview of sadhana or spiritual practice and says:

1. “Mentally renounce all actions unto Me.”

2. “Take refuge in Me and engage in action remembering Me at all times.”

3. “Taking the support of the intellect imbued with Yoga, fix your mind in Me at all times.”

It is as if the Lord is saying, “Let your mind-stuff – your chit – be like Mine.” In other words, may your mind-stuff become the epitome of silence and thus a manifestation of Brahm.

My little one, now let me remind you of all that the Lord has said, understanding which, the individual:

a) can understand the stable intellect;

b) can understand the Lord;

c) can understand Yoga.

Thereafter I shall explain what the Lord means when He uses the terms ‘I’ and ‘mine’.

At first the Lord said:

1. The Atma is eternal.

2. It is foolish to grieve over the dead or to be over anxious about those who are living.

3. The body is mortal.

4. The body is ever changing.

5. Joys and sorrows are fleeting in nature.

6. Those who look upon joy and sorrow with equanimity, attain salvation.

7. Truth is permanent, falsehood never lasts.

8. Only That Brahm is indestructible.

9. The Atma never dies, nor does it kill; nor is it born.

10. The embodied soul renounces one body and takes on another body.

11. The Atma is unmanifest, devoid of all aberrations and unassailable.

12. Do not be afraid of fulfilling your dharma – there is no greater merit in life than that attained through fighting for dharma.

13. To relinquish one’s dharma is a crime that will bring disgrace and dishonour.

14. It is unseemly to flee because of fear.

15. Look upon sorrow and happiness, victory and defeat with equanimity and fight.

This is the essence of Sankhya. The entire knowledge is contained in this.

Having said all this, the Lord says, “Now hear this knowledge of Sankhya as relevant to Yoga; also hear about that intellect, equipped with which you can rid yourself of all fetters even whilst engaging in action.”

It is said that the intellect of the Yogi is one-pointed and focused. The mundane intellect of one who is devoid of yoga is many faceted and of varied interests.

The mundane intellect

People who have such an intellect:

a) are imbued with desire;

b) are attached to discussions on the Scriptures;

c) consider heavenly pleasures to be of the greatest importance;

d) incur fruits of action which result in new lives;

e) make special efforts to attain the wherewithal for the satiation of their pleasures;

f) indulge in flowery speech so as to impress others.

In fact, it could be said that they are devoid of an intellect. Their intellect has no stability and is subject to the three attributes of Prakriti. The Lord thus says:

1. Be not influenced by the three attributes – be thou a gunatit.

2. Transcend duality and establish yourself in the eternal Truth.

3. Do not desire conjunction with sense objects, all of which are hued with the three attributes.

4. Do not seek the protection of that which is transient. Be an Atmavaan!

The entire spectrum of worldly knowledge is meaningless for the Atmavaan, since he knows that all this knowledge pertains merely to the sense objects which are coloured by the three attributes of Prakriti.

The Lord now says, “Perform all actions whilst established in Yoga. You must only engage in actions – do not fix your vision on the fruits of those actions.” The Lord now discusses ‘What is Yoga’.

1. Renounce attachment.

2. View perfection and imperfection, success and failure with equanimity.

To perceive both these with equanimity is Yoga. The equanimity of the intellect towards duality is Yoga. The state of equanimity is Yoga.

1. Such an intellect is yoked to the Supreme.

2. Yoga results in proficiency in action. Therefore the Lord says, “Make every endeavour to attain Yoga.”

3. When the intellect is immersed in Yoga, then one renounces the fruits of action and one is freed from the fetters of rebirth, attaining the Supreme State.

4. Through Yoga, the intellect is liberated from the mire of moha and thus remains uninfluenced by all speech – that which is heard and that which is worthy of being heard.

Then the intellect becomes stable and immersed in samadhi – a complete absorption in the Self. Such a one is said to have attained Yoga.

Look my little love! The Lord says:

a) when your intellect is stable;

b) when your intellect is always balanced;

c) when your intellect is ever uninfluenced;

d) when your intellect is not agitated by any attributes;

e) when your intellect is not bothered about victory or defeat;

f) when your intellect is no longer attached to the fruits of actions;

–  then Yoga shall be attained;

–  then a stable and firm state of samadhi or complete absorption in the Self shall be attained;

–  then that individual will claim no rights over anyone;

–  then that individual will be devoid of ego and its resultant effects.

The Lord now once again speaks of the Yoga of the intellect and suggests easy methods to attain such an intellect, whereby:

a) every individual can become an Atmavaan;

b) every individual can be established in Yoga;

c) every individual can relinquish the intellect which is subservient to the body-self.

The Lord now says, “Mentally surrender all actions unto Me and seek refuge in Me. Then, equipped with the intellect of equanimity, and with the state of Yoga as your mainstay, affix your mind in Me always. This is the route to immersing oneself in the Supreme – to belonging to That Supreme One.”

However, let us first understand what Lord Krishna means when He enjoins repeatedly:

–  “Surrender all unto Me.”

–  “Immerse your mind-stuff in Me.”

–  “Affix your mind in Me.”

–  “Become like Me.”

–  “Make Me your refuge.”

What does He wish to convey through these words? Look little one, the Lord is not eulogising Himself with these statements! He is not alluding to His own mind. Nor does He desire to make anyone His servitor.

Arjuna said to the Lord:

–  “I am Your disciple.”

–  “I seek Your refuge.”

–  “Grant me knowledge!” (Chp.2, shloka 7)

The Lord endowed His entire treasure of knowledge to Arjuna, but not once did He stipulate that Arjuna must become His follower. He lovingly addressed him as:

1. His friend,

2. His loved one,

–  and several other such epithets.

–  and He thus augmented Arjuna’s enthusiasm.

And what are the names by which he addressed Arjuna?

1. Ansooya – one who is devoid of jealousy and hatred.

2. Anagh – the sinless one.

3. Purusharshabha – the noblest amongst men.

4. Parantap – the great ascetic.

5. Dehabhritambar – the greatest amongst all embodied souls.

6. Taat – beloved.

The Lord gave Arjuna many such epithets – but not once did He address Arjuna as His disciple. He then said, “Arjuna! I am Dhananjaya amongst the Pandavas.” Thus saying He admitted, “You, too, are Me in essence.” “I am Vyas, the author of the Gita” – thus spoke the Lord in the Vibhuti Paad or the section where the Lord identifies Himself with the entire Creation as a divine manifestation. He took the name of several living beings and animals, saying “I am all these.” Speaking of the subtle thought processes of the individual, the Lord said “I am these as well.” Thus it is clear that the Lord does not identify Himself with a single body form; He is not speaking of Himself from the point of view of His body-self – He is speaking of Himself in identification with the Universal Atma. The Lord Himself has clarified, “Fools who are ignorant of My existence as the Supreme Lord, believe Me to be an ordinary embodied individual and are thus irreverent towards Me.”

Thus it is clear that:

a) The Lord is not seeking the worship of His body-self;

b) He is speaking of the Supreme Essence – the Supreme Brahm Himself;

c) He is referring to That Atma Self which is supreme and indestructible;

d) He is not identifying Himself with the son of Baba Nand of Brindavana – the foster father of the little child Krishna; He is identifying with That Supreme Essence who is Nand himself, as well as the little child Krishna;

e) He is speaking of the Supreme, merged in the Supreme;

f) He is telling us to lose ourselves in That Supreme;

g) when ‘I’ along with its ego unites with Ram Himself, the body that remains, belongs to Ram. The Lord is prescribing a method for this Supreme union.

Understand this carefully little one! When the body idea no longer remains, the individual abides in the Indivisible Whole. When the body idea no longer remains, then you are either all this or nothing at all. This is how the Lord refers to Himself as All. Then, revealing Brahm’s immense and immeasurable manifestation, the Lord said, “All this is in Him.”

All this can be understood when one has attained union with the Supreme. This is possible only when one’s conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind remains affixed in the Essence of the Supreme. When the intellect gains equanimity, then Yoga shall occur.

What is meant by the equanimity of the intellect?

1. The intellect that maintains its equanimity in the face of both acclaim and insult.

2. The intellect that remains tranquil in the face of both victory and defeat.

3. The intellect that maintains its equilibrium amidst both joy and sorrow.

4. The intellect that remains balanced in every situation.

5. The intellect that maintains its impartiality towards both friend and enemy.

6. The intellect that is not affected by either disease or pain.

7. The intellect that is impartial towards both good and evil.

Yoga is equanimity, this has been specified by the Lord. That is:

1. Equanimity is the route to union with the Supreme.

2. Equanimity is the proof of union with the Supreme.

3. Equanimity leads to a complete cessation of sorrow.

4. Equanimity establishes one in eternal bliss.

Only he can be established in equanimity:

a) who does not care for the body;

b) who is not influenced by any attribute of the body-self;

c) who is uninfluenced by all phases of the body;

d) who is not influenced by any joy or sorrow which is incurred by the body-self;

e) whose intellect is ever unaffected.

Such a one of stable intellect:

a) is known as a Sthit pragya;

b) is known as one established in Yoga;

c) retains his equanimity whilst engaging in all actions.

The knowledge of That One of stable intellect is marked with equanimity and can thus be called the Yoga of knowledge or Gyan Yoga.

If all this transpires, then all deeds will spontaneously be surrendered to the Lord and this dedication of all one’s actions to the Lord is the very path towards the attainment of the Supreme state. This is precisely the route being pointed out by the Lord Himself.