Chapter 18, Verse 56
सर्वकर्माण्यपि सदा कुर्वाणो मद्व्यपाश्रयः | मत्प्रसादादवाप्नोति शाश्वतं पदमव्ययम् ||१८-५६||
sarvakarmāṇyapi sadā kurvāṇo madvyapāśrayaḥ . matprasādādavāpnoti śāśvataṃ padamavyayam ||18-56||
Meaning
18.56 Doing all actions always having taken refuge in Me, by My grace he obtains the eternal indestructible state of being.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna offers profound reassurance. One may be engaged in all manner of actions, fully active in the world, yet by taking refuge in Him — mad-vyapashrayah — that person attains by His grace the eternal, imperishable state.
This dissolves any lingering fear that worldly life and liberation are incompatible. Activity is no barrier; the key is the inner refuge and the divine grace (prasada) that responds to it. The busy worker who keeps the heart anchored in God reaches the same eternal goal as the meditating recluse. Liberation here is not earned by works alone but received as grace by the surrendered soul, transforming a life of action into a continual movement toward the Imperishable.
💡 Key Takeaway
Even amid ceaseless activity, taking refuge in the Divine brings, by grace, the eternal imperishable state.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | काम्यानां कर्मणां न्यासं संन्यासं कवयो विदुः | सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं प्राहुस्त्यागं विचक्षणाः ||१८-२||
śrībhagavānuvāca . kāmyānāṃ karmaṇāṃ nyāsaṃ saṃnyāsaṃ kavayo viduḥ . sarvakarmaphalatyāgaṃ prāhustyāgaṃ vicakṣaṇāḥ ||18-2||
18.2 The Blessed Lord said The sages understand Sannyasa to be the renunciation of action with desire; the wise declare the abandonment of the fruits of all actions as Tyaga.
एतान्यपि तु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा फलानि च | कर्तव्यानीति मे पार्थ निश्चितं मतमुत्तमम् ||१८-६||
etānyapi tu karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā phalāni ca . kartavyānīti me pārtha niścitaṃ matamuttamam ||18-6||
18.6 But even these actions should be performed leaving aside attachment and the desire for rewards, O Arjuna; this is My certain and best conviction.
न हि देहभृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्यशेषतः | यस्तु कर्मफलत्यागी स त्यागीत्यभिधीयते ||१८-११||
na hi dehabhṛtā śakyaṃ tyaktuṃ karmāṇyaśeṣataḥ . yastu karmaphalatyāgī sa tyāgītyabhidhīyate ||18-11||
18.11 Verily, it is not possible for an embodied being to abandon actions entirely; but he who relinishes the rewards of actions is verily called a man of renunciation.