Does surrender take away my choice?
Four statements stand within a few verses of each other at the close of the Gita. The Lord dwells in the heart of all beings and turns them as though they were mounted on a machine (Gita 18.61). Arjuna's own nature will compel him to fight, whatever he resolves (Gita 18.59, Gita 18.60). Arjuna is to reflect fully and then do as he wishes (Gita 18.63). And he is to abandon all dharmas and take refuge in the Lord alone (Gita 18.66).
Read quickly, these seem to pull in different directions. If the Lord turns every being, where is the wish? If Arjuna may do as he wishes, why the compulsion? And if all dharmas are to be given up, what is left for a person to decide?
The short answer is that surrender in the Gita does not silence the person's own voice. It is the most deliberate use of it. The compulsion the Lord describes belongs to a resolve built on ego, which cannot hold against what one is. The cure he names is refuge, and he asks for it as a choice made after full thought. Arjuna's reply at the end of the chapter, "I shall act according to Your word" (Gita 18.73), is a free act of a man whose doubts have gone.
The ten verses and how they fit together
The passage has three movements. The first two verses give the practice and the warning (Gita 18.57, Gita 18.58). The next three show why a self-made resolve fails and who stands behind every being (Gita 18.59 to Gita 18.61). The last five give the call: refuge, free choice, and the Lord's best word (Gita 18.62 to Gita 18.66).
It comes straight after the portrait of the person who has reached freedom through action, who is calm, devoted, and keeps acting while taking refuge in the Lord (Gita 18.56; see Freedom Through Action). The counsel turns that portrait into an instruction for Arjuna. This passage is the eighth and last stop on Begin the Gita, after The Paths: Action, Knowledge, Devotion.
The ten verses read one by one
18.57: Give the actions in the mind, keep the steady intellect
बुद्धियोगमुपाश्रित्य मच्चित्तः सततं भव ॥ १८.५७ ॥
Mentally surrendering all actions to Me, regarding Me as the supreme goal, and resorting to the yoga of the intellect, be constantly fixed in mind on Me.
The verse has four parts: give all actions to the Lord in the mind, hold Him as the highest goal, take refuge in the yoga of the intellect (buddhi-yoga), and keep the mind fixed on Him always (Gita 18.57).
"In the mind" is exact. The hands keep working, and what moves is the claim over the work. This is the same instruction as the earlier one to dedicate all actions to the Lord and fight without fever (Gita 3.30; see Offering All Actions).
The second half matters as much as the first. The yoga of the intellect is the steady, single-pointed understanding that the Lord taught from the second chapter on (Gita 2.39, Gita 2.41; see Buddhi Yoga). So the surrender asked for is made with a steady intellect and not without one. The goal of the work moves from the result to the Lord, and the mind that works stays awake.
18.58: Two ways of living, leaning on Him or on "I"
अथ चेत्त्वमहङ्कारान्न श्रोष्यसि विनङ्क्ष्यसि ॥ १८.५८ ॥
With your mind fixed on Me, you will cross over all obstacles by My grace. But if, out of egoism, you do not listen, you will perish.
With the mind fixed on the Lord, Arjuna will cross all obstacles by His grace. If out of egoism (ahankara) he does not listen, he will perish (Gita 18.58).
The verse sets two ways of living side by side. In one the mind rests on the Lord, and the obstacles are crossed by help that is not one's own. In the other the person rests on "I" alone and shuts the ear. The ruin named here is the result of that closed ear. It is not a penalty laid on failure. The verse speaks to one whose mind is already on the Lord, so the warning is a friend's.
18.59: A resolve built on ego is false
मिथ्यैष व्यवसायस्ते प्रकृतिस्त्वां नियोक्ष्यति ॥ १८.५९ ॥
If, relying on egoism, you think, 'I will not fight,' this resolve of yours is false; your own nature will compel you.
If, relying on egoism, Arjuna thinks "I will not fight", this resolve is false, and his nature will compel him (Gita 18.59).
A resolve is a decision of the intellect. The Gita has said that the resolute intellect is single and the others are many-branched (Gita 2.41). A resolve that rests on ego has no single root: it rests on wounded feeling, fear of blame and a picture of oneself as the one who decides everything. "False" speaks of that foundation. It does not condemn the act of refusing. A decision that rests on the wrong ground gives way when the ground moves.
18.60: What delusion makes you refuse you will do helplessly
कर्तुं नेच्छसि यन्मोहात्करिष्यस्यवशोऽपि तत् ॥ १८.६० ॥
O son of Kuntī, bound by your own action born of your own nature, that which you do not wish to do out of delusion, you will do even against your will.
Bound by the action born of his own nature, Arjuna will do even against his will what he now refuses out of delusion (moha) (Gita 18.60).
The word "against your will" describes the state of a person who has denied what he is. Arjuna is a warrior by birth and training (see One's Own Duty; Gita 18.46, Gita 18.48). If he sits out the battle in a cloud of confusion, his nature will still pull him back, and he will return to it in helplessness instead of in understanding. The verse names the pull of nature without making it the master. The Gita has said that even the wise act in keeping with their nature, and that attachment and aversion in the senses are the two enemies on the path (Gita 3.33, Gita 3.34). The remedy it names is a truer basis, and the next verses give it.
18.61: The Lord in the heart, turning beings as on a machine
भ्रामयन्सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि मायया ॥ १८.६१ ॥
The Lord resides in the heart of all beings, O Arjuna, causing all beings to revolve, as though mounted on a machine, by His power of māyā.
The Lord resides in the heart of all beings and causes them to revolve, as though mounted on a machine, by His power of illusion (maya) (Gita 18.61).
The verse says two things. The first is that beings move under forces they did not make, and the image of the machine states it without softening. The second is that the one who knows those forces is within every being, in the heart. So the power that moves a person is not alien to that person. For the Gita, the same Lord is seated in the hearts of all, and from Him come memory, knowledge and their loss (Gita 15.15). The Gita has also said that this power of illusion is hard to cross, and that those who take refuge in the Lord alone cross it (Gita 7.14; see The Illusory Energy and Surrender). The next verse draws that conclusion.
18.62: Take refuge with the whole being
तत्प्रसादात्परां शान्तिं स्थानं प्राप्स्यसि शाश्वतम् ॥ १८.६२ ॥
Take refuge in Him alone with your whole being, O Bharata. By His grace you will attain supreme peace and the eternal abode.
Arjuna is to take refuge in the Lord alone with his whole being, and by that grace he will reach supreme peace and the eternal abode (Gita 18.62).
"With the whole being" means thought, word and deed together, with nothing held back. Refuge is not a feeling alone, because a person can feel it in the mind and keep the rest apart. The reward named is peace first and then the abode. The Lord has said elsewhere that to those who worship Him with undivided devotion He carries what they lack and preserves what they have (Gita 9.22; see The Steadfast Devotee and Divine Care).
18.63: Reflect fully, then do as you wish
विमृश्यैतदशेषेण यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ॥ १८.६३ ॥
Thus I have declared to you knowledge more secret than the secret. Reflect on this fully, and then do as you wish.
The Lord says that He has now declared knowledge more secret than the secret (guhyatama), and that Arjuna is to reflect on it fully and then do as he wishes (Gita 18.63).
The order is plain: the teaching is complete, then Arjuna reflects, then he chooses. "Fully" asks for reflection that leaves no part out. The teacher closes by trusting the student's own judgment, and that trust is the fulfilment of the teaching and not its end. The next three verses show it: the Lord does not drop the matter, He speaks again, out of love, and Arjuna's reply at the close of the chapter shows the free choice made (Gita 18.73).
18.64 and 18.65: The dear friend hears the best word again
The Lord says to Arjuna that he is to hear again the supreme word, the most secret of all, because he is very dear and the Lord speaks for his good (Gita 18.64). The opening of the tenth chapter uses nearly the same words: listen once more to My supreme words, which I speak out of the desire for your welfare (Gita 10.1).
मामेवैष्यसि सत्यं ते प्रतिजाने प्रियोऽसि मे ॥ १८.६५ ॥
Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me, and bow down to Me. You will come to Me alone; I promise you truly, for you are dear to Me.
Then come four acts and a promise. Arjuna is to fix his mind on the Lord, be devoted to Him, worship Him and bow down to Him, and he will come to the Lord alone. The Lord adds that He promises this truly, for Arjuna is dear to Him (Gita 18.65).
The same four acts were given earlier (Gita 9.34; see Even the Worst Offender). That repetition matters. The call to refuge is open to anyone who can turn the mind, at any stage. The Lord says plainly that even one of very bad conduct should be regarded as righteous if he worships with undivided devotion, for he has resolved rightly (Gita 9.30). The call is made out of love, twice named in the words "dear to Me". Refuge is not given to a stranger, so the surrender asked is not a surrender to an unknown power.
18.66: Abandon all dharmas and take refuge in Me alone
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः ॥ १८.६६ ॥
Abandoning all dharmas, take refuge in Me alone. I will liberate you from all sins; do not grieve.
Abandoning all dharmas, Arjuna is to take refuge in the Lord alone. The Lord will free him from all sins, and he is not to grieve (Gita 18.66).
Four points in the verse need attention. The first is "all": the instruction does not name some dharmas and spare others. The second is "alone": refuge is in one place, and it is not shared out among supports. The third is the promise of freedom, given in the Lord's own voice. The fourth is the close, "do not grieve". The Gita began with Arjuna overcome by grief, with his bow dropped and his mind in a whirl (Gita 1.47), and with Arjuna asking to be taught as a disciple who had taken refuge (Gita 2.7; see Arjuna's Despondency). The last verse of the counsel answers that first state: the grief that began the teaching is the grief that ends it.
How the argument runs
| Verses | What the Lord does | What Arjuna is asked to do |
|---|---|---|
| 18.57 | Gives the practice | Surrender in the mind, keep a steady intellect |
| 18.58 | Promises and warns | Listen, and lean on Him |
| 18.59 and 18.60 | Shows why a self-made resolve fails | See what his own nature is |
| 18.61 | Shows who stands within every being | Know the Lord as near |
| 18.62 | Names the refuge | Take refuge with the whole being |
| 18.63 | Hands over the choice | Reflect fully, then choose |
| 18.64 and 18.65 | Opens His heart and promises | Four acts of turning to Him |
| 18.66 | Gives the last word | Take refuge alone, do not grieve |
The pattern is advice, reason, call, freedom, promise. Each step prepares the next. A person who had only the call would have no reason to heed it, and a person who had only the reason would have no one to turn to.
How the Lord's rule and the person's choice go together
The tension of the opening is answered by the verses themselves, when they are read together.
The Lord is within every being (Gita 18.61), and He speaks to Arjuna as to one who can choose (Gita 18.63). Both hold at once, because the Lord who dwells in the heart is the same one who gives the teaching and waits for the answer. A machine would not be asked to reflect.
The compulsion of nature (Gita 18.60) is the state of one who acts from delusion. The Gita places the way out in the person's hands: attachment and aversion in the senses are not to be obeyed (Gita 3.34), and the senses are to be brought under control first (Gita 3.41; see The Enemy Called Desire). A person is to lift himself and not let himself fall, for the mind can be a friend or an enemy (Gita 6.5). These are calls to the will, and they would make no sense if the will were absent.
Refuge is the act that carries a person from the compelled state to peace (Gita 18.62). It is taken, and the Lord responds in the measure in which people approach Him (Gita 4.11). Arjuna's reply is the end of the sequence: delusion gone, memory regained, doubts dispelled, and "I shall act according to Your word" (Gita 18.73). The sentence is in the first person, and the act is his own.
Parallels inside the Gita
| Verses | What they add | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 2.7 | Arjuna takes refuge as a disciple before any teaching is given | Arjuna's Despondency |
| 2.39 and 2.41 | The single, steady resolve of the yoga of the intellect | Buddhi Yoga |
| 3.30 and 5.10 | Offer all actions; the lotus leaf stays dry on water | Offering All Actions |
| 3.33 and 3.34 | Nature, and the two enemies in the senses | One's Own Duty |
| 7.14 | The power of illusion is crossed by taking refuge | The Illusory Energy and Surrender |
| 9.22 | He carries what the steadfast devotee lacks | The Steadfast Devotee and Divine Care |
| 9.27 and 9.28 | Whatever you do, offer it; freedom from the bonds of action | A Leaf, a Flower, a Fruit, Water |
| 9.30, 9.31 and 9.34 | Even the worst offender becomes righteous; the four acts | Even the Worst Offender |
| 10.10 and 10.11 | The Lord gives the wisdom and dispels the dark from within | Knowing His Glory Leads to Devotion |
| 12.6 and 12.7 | He lifts those who give Him all actions | The Ladder of Devotion |
| 18.9 and 18.11 | What is given up is the fruit, not the action | Relinquishment and Renunciation of Action |
| 18.46 and 18.48 | Worship through one's own duty; do not abandon it for its defects | One's Own Duty |
Where the traditions read the last verse differently
On the words "all dharmas" (Gita 18.66), one stream of commentary takes them as the many separate means and duties that a seeker takes up for liberation, to be replaced by the single means of refuge. Another stream takes them as the sense of being the doer and the attachment to results, while the duty itself goes on. Both streams agree on the centre: refuge in the Lord alone is the last support, and the verse ends the grief that began the teaching. Many readers of the second stream add that duty is not neglected, since the Gita has taught it throughout.
On who gives the freedom, one stream reads the promise as resting on the Lord alone: grace comes first, and the verse gives its assurance. Another reads the promise as the answer to Arjuna's own turning, the four acts the Lord names in the last verses but one (Gita 18.65). Both streams read the last verse as the Lord's final word of comfort, and both can point to the verses: the Lord's love (Gita 18.64) and His grace (Gita 18.62) for the first, and the four acts (Gita 18.65) for the second.
The stream of commentators devoted to the Lord names the last verse as the very heart of the teaching and the closing word of the whole instruction.
Objections and replies
If the Lord turns beings like a machine, is choice an illusion?
No. The verse that gives the image (Gita 18.61) says where the forces come from. The verses around it ask Arjuna to listen (Gita 18.58), to reflect and choose (Gita 18.63), and to turn his mind to the Lord in four acts (Gita 18.65). Each is a call to a will that can answer. The Gita also asks every person to refuse the pull of attachment and aversion (Gita 3.34). A being that could not refuse would not be told to.
Does "abandon all dharmas" cancel duty and ethics?
No. The Lord has said that one should not abandon the duty born of one's nature, even if it is defective, for all undertakings are covered by defects, as fire is by smoke (Gita 18.48). Worship through one's own duty leads to perfection (Gita 18.46). What is relinquished is the fruit and the claim (Gita 18.9, Gita 18.11), and even the fight is to be done with the mind offered (Gita 3.30). Both streams of commentary agree on this: the verse removes the props and the pride, and it keeps the work.
Is "do as you wish" permission to ignore the teaching?
No. It comes after "reflect fully" (Gita 18.63) and it is followed at once by a further word spoken from love (Gita 18.64) and by the call to take refuge (Gita 18.65, Gita 18.66). The teacher gives the choice to a pupil who has been taught everything. Arjuna's reply shows how he used it (Gita 18.73).
Why a warning of ruin in a counsel given from love?
The warning states a plain result: a person who shuts the ear to the one who loves him loses the help that was offered (Gita 18.58). A friend who sees a danger names it. The same love speaks in the next verses (Gita 18.64, Gita 18.65).
Is grace earned by surrender, or does surrender follow grace?
Both appear in the verses, and they form a circle that the Lord begins. He speaks first, out of love (Gita 18.64). The person answers with the four acts (Gita 18.65). Grace then brings peace (Gita 18.62). Even the wisdom by which the devotee turns is given by the Lord from within (Gita 10.10, Gita 10.11).
Questions the verses raise, answered from the Gita and the tradition
How can a person surrender in the mind and still act?
The verse asks for exactly that combination (Gita 18.57). The rest of the Gita shows how it is done: fight with all actions dedicated and the mind fixed on the Self (Gita 3.30), act like the lotus leaf that stays dry on water (Gita 5.10), and make whatever you do, eat, give or practice an offering (Gita 9.27), which frees one from the bonds of good and bad results (Gita 9.28). The tradition adds a simple form of this: each act is dedicated at its start, and its result is handed over at its close, with a short phrase of offering.
How is the pull of one's nature overcome?
The verses name its source in delusion (Gita 18.60) and its remedy in refuge (Gita 18.62). The Gita adds the daily work of not obeying attachment and aversion (Gita 3.34), of first controlling the senses (Gita 3.41), and of lifting oneself through the mind (Gita 6.5). It adds that the power of illusion that holds beings is crossed by those who take refuge (Gita 7.14). The tradition holds that the habits of the mind are loosened by steady practice and by the company of those who are devoted.
Who chooses, if the Lord is in the heart?
The individual is an eternal fragment of the Lord, who has become the living being and draws the mind and senses to himself (Gita 15.7). The Lord who dwells in the heart gives the wisdom by which the devotee comes to Him and dispels the darkness with the lamp of knowledge (Gita 10.10, Gita 10.11). So the one who chooses is not apart from the Lord: the chooser belongs to Him. The tradition says that the person shares in the Lord's freedom in the measure in which the person turns toward Him.
What becomes of wrong already done?
The promise stands as given (Gita 18.66). The Gita adds that one who turns to the Lord with undivided devotion is regarded as righteous and quickly becomes one with a steady heart, and that His devotee never perishes (Gita 9.30, Gita 9.31). Knowledge, too, is a boat that crosses the whole ocean of sin (Gita 4.36). The tradition holds the promise as the Lord's own undertaking, which stands beside the older practice of making amends, and it does not replace the duty to put right what can be put right.
What follows the counsel?
The verses that follow name who is fit to hear this teaching and the fruit of hearing and teaching it (Gita 18.67–71). They belong to the chapter-18 path (Chapter 18: The Yoga of Liberation through Renunciation). Then Arjuna replies: his delusion is destroyed, his memory regained, his doubts gone, and he will act according to the Lord's word (Gita 18.73). At the very end the conviction is given that where the Lord of yoga and Arjuna the archer stand together, there will be fortune, victory and sound policy (Gita 18.78). The tradition reads this as the picture of what follows when the Lord and the one who acts stand together.
The verses give the call. The rest of the Gita gives the way: offering, a steady intellect, restraint and duty. The tradition gives the supports: the daily offering and the readings of the last verse.
What this reading rests on
The verses are read from the site's own verse data. Where the tradition is cited, it is given as the tradition's own reading.
For the simple version, see the simple reading. For the ten verses in order, see the detailed reading. This is the eighth and last stop on Begin the Gita, after The Paths: Action, Knowledge, Devotion.