Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 18: Freedom through Renunciation

Bhagavad Gita 18.66

sarvadharmānparityajya māmekaṃ śaraṇaṃ vraja | ahaṃ tvā sarvapāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ ||

Giving up all duties, take refuge in me alone. I will free you from all sins. Do not grieve.

Modern context

This is often called the charama shloka, the final and supreme verse of the Gita. 'Giving up all duties, take refuge in me alone. I will free you from all sins. Do not grieve.' It is read in many ways. Some take it to mean abandoning ritual rules for pure surrender. Others read 'giving up all duties' as giving up the anxious calculation of right and wrong and trusting the divine completely. Either way, it ends where the Gita began: 'do not grieve'.