People think, “Oh, God can do anything! Krishna can do anything to make us do what He wants!”
Even after explaining the whole Gita to Arjun, now He says,
“Arjun, it’s in your hands. I’ve explained everything. Now you do what you want.”
… यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु।
… yathech-chhasi tathā kuru.
- Gita 18.63
“Whatever you want, do it. I’m done talking.”
God can give us all the knowledge in the scriptures, and send Saints to teach us. In the end, it’s up to us what we do, because we have free will. That’s why, in uncountable lifetimes God has descended uncountable times. He’s taken uncountable avatars (Divine descensions). We’ve seen His avatars uncountable times. Yet we’re still here under the bondage of maya (material energy), bereft of Divine knowledge and bliss because we have free will. Even if He comes before us in His Divine form, He can’t make us surrender to Him. We have to implement His teachings, and it’s a gradual path that we follow to become surrendered.
So He says, “Arjun, now you do whatever you want.”
You can say that’s like a general statement for all souls. The Gita is universal. So in the Gita Krishna puts forth many universal principles that people can use to guide their lives. That’s why He says,
“Yathech-chhasi tathā kuru. You use this knowledge as you see fit.”
But for Arjun, He says,
सर्वगुह्यतमं भूय: शृणु मे परमं वच: ।
इष्टोऽसि मे दृढमिति ततो वक्ष्यामि ते हितम् ॥Sarva-guhyatamaṁ bhūyaḥ śhṛiṇu me paramaṁ vachaḥ.
Iṣhṭo ’si me dṛiḍhamiti tato vakṣhyāmi te hitam.- Gita 18.64
“I have one more thing, because you are dear to Me. You’re surrendered to Me.”
So, ‘sarva-guhyatamam’. See, there’s guhya (secret), guhyatara (more secret), and guhyatam (the most secret). That’s like priya (dear), priyatar (dearer), priyatam (dearest).
So He says, “Now I’m going to tell you the secret of all secrets, Arjun, because you are dear to Me. I’ll tell you for your own good. And it’s My final statement. After this, I’m really done.”
So Arjun, you can imagine, probably sat up and said, “Oh, okay, I’m ready! What is the secret of all secrets?”
मन्मना भव मद्भक्तो मद्याजी मां नमस्कुरु ।
मामेवैष्यसि सत्यं ते प्रतिजाने प्रियोऽसि मे ॥Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru.
Mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo ’si me.- Gita 18.65
It’s a promise. He says, “I promise you, if you give your mind to Me, you will come to Me forever.”
Sounds so simple, right? That’s where you take all the knowledge of all the scriptures and concentrate it down to the absolute essence. That’s it. That’s the essence. We have to give our mind to God. The whole Gita was only to get us to this point. You have to give your mind to Him. Surrender to Him. Adore Him. Love Him. If you do that, you’ll come to Him. He’s guaranteeing it. Then He says one last thing,
सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज।
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः॥Sarva-dharmān parityajya māmekaṁ śharaṇaṁ vraj.
Ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣhayiṣhyāmi mā śhuchaḥ.- Gita 18.66
“Don’t worry, Arjun. Leave your dependence on and attachment to all the other teachings, all the other paths, practices, dharmas (religious duties), everything. Leave it all and come to Me!”
…मामेकं शरणं व्रज।
…mām ekaṁ śharaṇaṁ vraj.
‘Vraj’ means ‘go’. Move. Move where? ‘Mām ekaṁ śharaṇam’. ‘Śharaṇam’ means ‘My shelter’. ‘Mām śharaṇam’,
“Come into My shelter.”
Ekam - only, “Come to Me alone, leaving the shelter of all others.”
It means the same thing as giving our mind to God. But He’s making it so simple.
He says, “If you do that, I’ll eliminate all your past karma. I’ll liberate you from all of that. I’ll give you Divine bliss and give you entrance to the Divine world!”
