The Last Two Verses of the Bhagavad Gita.

N K Srinivasan

The last two verses of the Gita ,verses 65 and 66 of Chapter 18, is the
quintessesnce of Bhakti yoga or Yoga of devotion..Lord Krishna tells Arjuna
about the path of devotion and surrender…This is His final message.

Any one can easily understand these two verses and what it implies. Almost
all great religions embody this message too.

We shall interpret these two verses in the light of Hindu traditions. Of

course, there are countless commentaries on these verses by learned
acharyas [preceptors] and philosophers of Hindu faith. I shall mention some
of them.
[The Lord himself prefaces these two verses by telling Arjuna: “Hear thou
again My supreme word, the profoundest of all; because you are beloved of
Me; I will speak what is good to thee.”---verse 64]

Verse 65

Fix thy heart with me; be thou devoted to Me;do worship Me;bow down to
me;Thou shall attain to Me;Truly I promise thee,for thou are dear to me.

Lord Krishna talks to Arjuna as a close friend.

He also makes His promise that Arjuna will attain the lotus feet of
the Lord.
At this stage, the reader should note that Krishna is more than just
a friend to Arjuna; Krishna has shown His cosmic form and
demonstrated that He is none other than the Supreme Being or
Paramatman. Therefore Lord Krishna is the Ishta Devata [beloved
personal God] of Arjuna. Krishna’s words have great impact on
Arjuna.

This verse is for all devotees or bhaktas ---not only of Hindu faith
but all religions which include theism or worship of a personal
God…Our Ishta devata may be Lord Rama, Goddess Parvati , Lord

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Ganesha, Jesus Christ , any saint or even a guru…Krishna’s words
apply .

A careful reading of this verse will reveal that this summarizes the
path of devotion…constant remembrance, practising the presence
of God, simple forms of worship like bowing, genuflection,
kneeling, prostration---are all mentioned. Simple forms of worship
with flower, fruit, leaf or just water is acceptable to the Lord.[verse
9-26]

Lord Krishna said the same message in the 9th chapter too—see
verse 9-34—in a slightly different context. In that chapter, the lord
wanted to tell Arjuna about the various types of sacrifices and so
on and established His stature as the Supreme being, not a mere
mortal.
This verse 18-65 is the essence of bhakti yoga.

{Unfortunately many acharyas , philosophers and preceptors with

their own sectarian views have tried to distort or twist the meaning
and import of this verse of Bhakti or devotion to suit their own
brand of yoga. Such interpretations or commentaries may appear
logical or intellectually appealing, but distorts the simple, but
profound, message of the Lord. Many saints and sages have largely
ignored such interpretations or commentaries.}

Verse 66

Giving up (abandoning) all dharmas, come to Me alone for refuge. I

shall free thee (absolve) from all sins. Grieve not!

This verse is often called the terminal , final message and named
‘Charama sloka” by Sri Ramanuja.This is the quintessence of the
path of self-surrender..[Sri Vaishnava sect of Ramanuja is largely
based on this approach.]

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 The word “dharmas” {plural} requires explanation.This word
here has also attracted lengthy commentaries and have been
interpreted in several ways.
It could mean ‘duties and rites ‘ according to Adi Sankara. It could
mean duties prescribed according to one’s caste/ashrama in life---
as interpreted by Madhusudan Saraswati. It could also mean one’s
actions , both good and bad---that is righteous and unrighteous
acts. Also ‘swadharma’ mentioned by the Lord elsewhere in the
Gita. It could also be taken as ‘rituals’ and ‘formal religions’.

My explanation is as follows: According to Hindu

sastras/tradition, one passes through three stages/ashramas: first
student life [brahmacharya] under some guru/teacher/preceptor;
then comes family life of a householder [grihasta];then one enters a
retired life, literally enters a forest or secluded place or ashram,
lead the life of a hermit, but still working for the society at large,
called “vanaprastha” {literal meaning: ‘entering a forest’}.[These
three stages are for all people, not just for brahmins or priestly
class.]
In each stage or ashrama, one has specific duties to perform; as
a student one serves the teacher or guru/acharya and his family and
the guests received by the guru.
As a householder, one supports not only his own family, but also
the King, society and the mendicants/monks who need food and
clothing and shelter.
As a vanaprastha, his duties are that of teacher, counseller and
advisor and scholar .In this process one does lot of actions.
The fourth stage is that of ‘sannyas” ---the renunciate---
completely severing ties with family and members of the society.
This verse occurs in the chapter 18, titled: “Moksha-Sanyasa
Yoga” [‘liberation –in-renunciation path”. Lord Krishna leads you
to sannyasa and defines it finally in this way---give up all actions
in whichever ashrama you are in and follow me as a renunciant…
that is abandoning all actions and surrendering to the Lord..Did not
Christ say the same thing: just follow me.?

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 While the path of surrender had been mentioned in the earlier
chapters, now it takes a definitive meaning .

This is the last verse.It is placed after verse 65, which gives the
means of devotional path or bhakti…well, bhakti could culminate
in surrender. Some acharyas gives another logical explanation.
Even the devotional method [fixing the mind on the Lord etc in
verse 65] can be difficult for many seekers…why go through all
that?..just fall at My feet in total surrender, I will absolve you of all
sins--—the Lord says. This seems to be the emphasis here in this
verse.

Note this verse carefully. The Lord says: “ grieve not”[ma

suchah’]--- take heart; what is more, the Lord promises to absolve
one of all sins…This is ,indeed , a great promise..unconditional
remission or redemption from all sins.! This means that one’s past
karmas are annulled. What more you need from the Lord!!

It is obvious why this verse had been heavily commented upon

and several sects [especially in Vaishnavism] extolling ‘saranagati’
or ‘prapatti ‘ have been built mainly on the basis of this single
verse.

Some sects believe in repeated chanting of this verse--- to remind

oneself of Lord’s exhortation and the promise made.

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