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The Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose

How can I put down the feeling that I must handle everything alone without giving up my duties? Gita 18.57 to 18.66: surrender the actions in the mind, take refuge, reflect fully and then choose freely.

In brief

  • The Lord asks Arjuna to give his actions to Him in the mind and to fix his mind on Him (18.57, 18.58).
  • A resolve built on ego fails against one's nature, and the Lord dwells in the heart of all beings (18.59 to 18.61).
  • Arjuna is to take refuge, to reflect fully and then to choose freely (18.62, 18.63).
  • The four acts, the promise and the last word, abandon all dharmas, take refuge in Me alone and do not grieve (18.64 to 18.66).

How can a person put down the feeling that everything must be handled alone, without giving up duties or thought? The Lord answers in the last ten verses of his counsel. He asks Arjuna to give his actions to Him in the mind (Gita 18.57), to take refuge in Him (Gita 18.62), to reflect fully and then to choose freely (Gita 18.63). The counsel ends with the words "take refuge in Me alone ... do not grieve" (Gita 18.66).

The key idea is refuge, which means taking shelter in the Lord with the whole being, and doing so by choice after thought. The words "the most secret teaching" and "dharma" belong to the same passage.

This is the eighth and last stop on Begin the Gita, after The Paths: Action, Knowledge, Devotion. The path of the eighteenth chapter carries on at Chapter 18: The Yoga of Liberation through Renunciation.

The topic has three readings: a simple reading for anyone who feels they carry everything alone, a detailed reading that takes the ten verses in order, and a deeper reading on surrender and free choice, the readings of the last verse and the objections.

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Simple New to this topic. Plain words, one idea at a time. Putting Down the Load You Think Only You Can Carry: The Gita's Last Counsel The weight of a day comes less from the work than from the thought that "I alone hold it up" (18.57, 18.61). 7 min · Read → In Depth Know the basics. Verse by verse, with reasons. The Gita's Last Counsel, Verse by Verse: Surrender, Think, Choose (18.57 to 18.66) The Lord asks Arjuna to give all actions to Him in the mind and to keep a steady intellect (18.57, 18.58). 10 min · Read → Deeper Want the text itself: Sanskrit terms, commentary, close reading. Does Surrender Take Away My Choice? The Gita's Last Counsel, 18.57 to 18.66 The Lord asks Arjuna to give his actions to Him in the mind, to keep a steady intellect and to fix his mind on Him (18.57). 16 min · Read → Quick summary Short on time. The whole topic in a few minutes. The Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose: Quick Summary The Lord tells Arjuna to hand all actions over to Him in the mind and to fix his thought on Him (18.57-58). 9 min · Read →

Key shlokas

Concepts

Common misreadings

Part of these learning paths

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