Chapter 18, Verse 57
चेतसा सर्वकर्माणि मयि संन्यस्य मत्परः | बुद्धियोगमुपाश्रित्य मच्चित्तः सततं भव ||१८-५७||
cetasā sarvakarmāṇi mayi saṃnyasya matparaḥ . buddhiyogamupāśritya maccittaḥ satataṃ bhava ||18-57||
Meaning
18.57 Mentally renouncing all actions in Me, having Me as the highest goal, resorting to the Yoga of discrimination do thou ever fix thy mind on Me.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna gives Arjuna direct, personal instruction. Mentally surrender all actions to Me, hold Me as the highest goal (matparah), take refuge in buddhi-yoga (the yoga of steady discrimination and devotion), and keep your thought ever fixed on Me — macchittah satatam bhava.
Here the path is distilled into a living practice rather than mere theory. The technique is interior: offer every deed to the Divine in the mind, orient the whole life toward Him, and keep returning the attention to Him again and again. This is not withdrawal from action but its complete consecration. Such constant God-remembrance, woven into a life of duty, becomes the simplest and surest road to the supreme.
💡 Key Takeaway
Offer all your actions to the Divine in your heart and keep your mind constantly fixed on it.
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.