Srimad Bhagavadgita Sadhaka Sanjivani -Swami Ramsukhdas
Chapter 18
Thus a striver should not depend on duties. As in the first chapter, it is mentioned `ta ime'vasthita yuddhe pranamstyaktva dhanani ca' - here `pranathstyaktva' does not mean abandonment of lives but it means abandonment of the desire to live because by abandoning the life, how will a warrior be arrayed on the battlefield? It is impossible. Similarly in the ninth verse of the first chapter, it is mentioned - `anye ca bahavah surva madarthe tyaktajivitah' - it does not mean that many other heroes are arrayed by abandoning their lives. It means that those heroes have given up hope to live alive viz., they don't care for their lives. Therefore here the expression `sarvadharmanpatityajya' should mean `abandonment of dependence on duties'. As heroes don't care for their lives, similarly devotees don't care for duties. They don't attach importance to duties. The reason is that they attach more importance to `refuge in God' than to duties. In duty there is connection with the insentient, while in 'refuge' there is affinity with the sentient. The duty is discharged according to one's `varna' (order of life) and 'asrama' (stage of life), therefore in it there is significance of the body. But a devotee takes refuge in God himself, therefore in it there is significance of God. |