Chapter 18Verse 56 of 78

Bhagavad Gita 18.56

सर्वकर्माण्यपि सदा कुर्वाणो मद्व्यपाश्रयः । मत्प्रसादादवाप्नोति शाश्वतं पदमव्ययम् ॥

sarva-karmāṇy api sadā kurvāṇo mad-vyapāśrayaḥ / mat-prasādād avāpnoti śāśvataṃ padam avyayam

Translation

Doing all actions always, taking refuge in me, by my grace one attains the eternal imperishable abode.

The verse that protects the householder. Sarva-karmany api sada kurvana, performing every kind of action all the time. Mad-vyapashraya, with me as the inner refuge. The two together produce shashvatam padam avyayam, the eternal imperishable state. Notice what Krishna preserves. All actions, sarva-karmani, every duty, every chore, every transaction, every meeting. Notice what he changes. The interior reference point. Take refuge in him while still doing every act, and his prasada, his grace, carries the doer to the same state the contemplative reaches. The path is not closed to the world-engaged. It is opened, on the condition of inward refuge. This is the Gita's most generous promise to ordinary life.

Reflection

What inward refuge would let your full action-life become a path rather than an obstacle?

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Eighteen

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