BHAGAVAD-GITA 12:6-7

BHAGAVAD-GITA 12:6-7

ye tu sarvani karmani
mayi sannyasya mat-parah
ananyenaiva yogena
mam dhyayanta upasate

tesam aham samuddharta
mrtyu-samsara-sagarat
bhavami na cirat partha
mayy avesita-cetasam

WORD FOR WORD

ye--those who; tu--but; sarvani--all; karmani--activities; mayi--unto
Me; sannyasya--giving up; mat-parah--being attached to Me;
ananyena--without division; eva--certainly; yogena--by practice of
such bhakti-yoga; mam--upon Me; dhyayantah--meditating;
upasate--worship; tesam--of them; aham--I; samuddharta--the deliverer;
mrtyu--of death; samsara--in material existence; sagarat--from the
ocean; bhavami--I become; na--not; cirat--after a long time; partha--O
son of Prtha; mayi--upon Me; avesita--fixed; cetasam--of those whose
minds.

TRANSLATION

But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and
being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service
and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son
of Prtha--for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth
and death.

PURPORT

It is explicitly stated here that the devotees are very fortunate to
be delivered very soon from material existence by the Lord. In pure
devotional service one comes to the realization that God is great and
that the individual soul is subordinate to Him. His duty is to render
service to the Lord--and if he does not, then he will render service
to maya.

As stated before, the Supreme Lord can be appreciated only by
devotional service. Therefore, one should be fully devoted. One should
fix his mind fully on Krsna in order to achieve Him. One should work
only for Krsna. It does not matter in what kind of work one engages,
but that work should be done only for Krsna. That is the standard of
devotional service. The devotee does not desire any achievement other
than pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His life's mission
is to please Krsna, and he can sacrifice everything for Krsna's
satisfaction, just as Arjuna did in the Battle of Kuruksetra. The
process is very simple: one can devote himself in his occupation and
engage at the same time in chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna
Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Such
transcendental chanting attracts the devotee to the Personality of
Godhead.

The Supreme Lord herein promises that without delay He will deliver a
pure devotee thus engaged from the ocean of material existence. Those
who are advanced in yoga practice can willfully transfer the soul to
whatever planet they like by the yoga process, and others take the
opportunity in various ways, but as far as the devotee is concerned,
it is clearly stated here that the Lord Himself takes him. The devotee
does not need to wait to become very experienced in order to transfer
himself to the spiritual sky.

In the Varaha Purana this verse appears:

nayami paramam sthanam
arcir-adi-gatim vina
garuda-skandham aropya
yatheccham anivaritah

The purport of this verse is that a devotee does not need to practice
astanga-yoga in order to transfer his soul to the spiritual planets.
The responsibility is taken by the Supreme Lord Himself. He clearly
states here that He Himself becomes the deliverer. A child is
completely cared for by his parents, and thus his position is secure.
Similarly, a devotee does not need to endeavor to transfer himself by
yoga practice to other planets. Rather, the Supreme Lord, by His great
mercy, comes at once, riding on His bird carrier Garuda, and at once
delivers the devotee from material existence. Although a man who has
fallen in the ocean may struggle very hard and may be very expert in
swimming, he cannot save himself. But if someone comes and picks him
up from the water, then he is easily rescued. Similarly, the Lord
picks up the devotee from this material existence. One simply has to
practice the easy process of Krsna consciousness and fully engage
himself in devotional service. Any intelligent man should always
prefer the process of devotional service to all other paths. In the
Narayaniya this is confirmed as follows:

ya vai sadhana-sampattih
purusartha-catustaye
taya vina tad apnoti
naro narayanasrayah

The purport of this verse is that one should not engage in the
different processes of fruitive activity or cultivate knowledge by the
mental speculative process. One who is devoted to the Supreme
Personality can attain all the benefits derived from other yogic
processes, speculation, rituals, sacrifices, charities, etc. That is
the specific benediction of devotional service.

Simply by chanting the holy name of Krsna--Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna,
Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare--a
devotee of the Lord can approach the supreme destination easily and
happily, but this destination cannot be approached by any other
process of religion.

The conclusion of Bhagavad-gita is stated in the Eighteenth Chapter:

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

One should give up all other processes of self-realization and simply
execute devotional service in Krsna consciousness. That will enable
one to reach the highest perfection of life. There is no need for one
to consider the sinful actions of his past life, because the Supreme
Lord fully takes charge of him. Therefore one should not futilely try
to deliver himself in spiritual realization. Let everyone take shelter
of the supreme omnipotent Godhead, Krsna. That is the highest
perfection of life.

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with
permission.