Bhagavad Gita 18.66 Meaning: sarva dharman parityajya

Word by word

Sanskrit & transliteration	Meaning
सर्वधर्मान्sarva-dharmān	all duties, every rule and code of right action
परित्यज्यparityajya	having wholly let go, set down completely
माम्mām	me (Krishna)
एकम्ekaṁ	alone, only, the one
शरणम्śaraṇaṁ	shelter, refuge
व्रजvraja	come, go — an imperative, spoken directly
अहम्ahaṁ	I
त्वाtvāṁ	you
सर्वपापेभ्यःsarva-pāpebhyo	from all sins — sandhi of -pāpebhyaḥ before the following m
मोक्षयिष्यामिmokṣayiṣyāmi	I will set free, I will release
माmā	do not
शुचःśucaḥ	grieve, mourn

Commentary

This is the last thing Krishna teaches, and it loosens everything he taught. Seventeen chapters of duty, discipline, right action, the steady mind — and now: set all of it down and come. Not because the rules were false, but because they were the raft, never the shore. Arjuna has spent the whole book asking what he must do. The answer is that nothing he must do will go uncarried. The Sanskrit closes on two small words — mā śucaḥ. Whatever you are still holding because you believe the holding is what keeps you upright: put it down, and see who is holding you.

Frequently asked

What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 Verse 66 mean?

It is Krishna's closing instruction: let go of every rule you have been clinging to, and come to him for shelter. He does not promise the road grows easy; he promises to carry you, and he ends with mā śucaḥ — do not grieve. Seventeen chapters of teaching lead here, to where doing gives way to being held.

What does 'sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja' mean?

Sarva-dharmān parityajya — having let go of all dharmas; mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja — come to me alone as refuge. Not the abandonment of work, but of the belief that your gripping is what keeps the world standing. The rules carried you to the water's edge; here Krishna asks you to step off the raft.

Does this verse tell me to abandon my duties?

No. The whole Gītā has refused withdrawal; Arjuna is still being sent to the field. What is set down is not the work but the ownership of it — the clinging, the accounting, the dread of getting it wrong. Do the duty that is yours. Release the grip on how it turns out.

Why does Krishna end with 'ma shuchah', do not grieve?

Because everything before it was preparation for hearing it. Arjuna's collapse in the first chapter was grief. Seven hundred verses later Krishna does not argue him out of it; he says mā śucaḥ and takes the weight himself. The teaching ends exactly where your sorrow is allowed to end.

Themes in this verse

dharma moksha bhakti

Chapter setting

Chapter 18 · Liberation Through Renunciation

The final chapter gathers everything. Arjuna asks for the difference between renunciation and relinquishment. Krishna's answer is precise: never abandon offering, giving, and austerity — they purify even the wise. But do them without clinging and without claiming their fruit. That is his settled judgment. The work that is yours must not be dropped; to quit it out of confusion is dark, to quit it because it is hard is restless, to do it because it must be done while releasing the reward is clear. No one who wears a body can drop all action. The one who drops the fruit has truly let go. Krishna then maps knowledge, action, the doer, understanding, resolve, and happiness each across the three strands. Clear knowledge sees one deathless being in all beings. Restless knowledge sees only separateness. Dark knowledge grips one small thing as if it were everything. He teaches that worship through one's own work, whatever it is, leads to perfection. Your own dharma done roughly beats another's done well. Then the teaching rises to its summit. Sheltered in Krishna, the devotee reaches the everlasting home by grace. Krishna's final instruction strips away every remaining complexity: give me your mind, your love, your worship. You will come to me. Then, in the verse that crowns the entire text, he says: let go of every rule you cling to, come to me alone, and I will carry you — do not grieve. The Gita ends not with Arjuna's philosophy but with his obedience: the delusion is destroyed, I remember myself, I will do your word. Sanjaya, the narrator, closes with a declaration: where Krishna stands and Arjuna holds the bow, there you find fortune, victory, greatness, and unfailing right. The teaching is over. What remains is whether you will do it.

All of Chapter 18