BG 18.57 — Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga

Bhagavad Gītā 18.57Chapter 18 · Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga · Krishna → Arjuna · anuṣṭubh

चेतसा सर्वकर्माणि मयि संन्यस्य मत्परः ।

बुद्धियोगमुपाश्रित्य मच्चित्तः सततं भव ॥

cetasā sarvakarmāṇi mayi saṃnyasya matparaḥ

buddhiyogamupāśritya maccittaḥ satataṃ bhava

spokensingle-voice recital; rendered via IndicF5 conditioned on a Sanskrit reference clip

meaning

With your mind, lay every action at my feet, hold me as your only aim, take shelter in the yoga of discernment, and keep your thoughts on me without interruption.

ekras · bhāṣya

Chetasa — by mind. Sarva-karmani mayi sannyasya — depositing all actions in Me. Mat-parah — having Me as supreme. Buddhi-yogam upashritya — taking refuge in buddhi-yoga. Mat-chittah satatam bhava — be Me-minded constantly.

Krishna delivers four operational instructions for the bhakta who performs all actions. Inner deposition; supreme orientation; buddhi-yoga refuge; constant Me-mindedness.

Shankara reads chetasa — by viveka-buddhi — not as emotional surrender but as clear-headed renunciation: every action, whether for visible or invisible fruit, is deposited in Ishvara by the logic of 9.27. The mat-parah has offered the entire sense of selfhood. Buddhi-yoga is the disciplined intellect's continuous orientation. Mat-chittah satatam — constant Krishna-mindedness — is the operational signature. The chapter's most concentrated practical instruction.

Madhusudana insists the verse's purpose is to demonstrate that mat-eka-sharanata — sole-refuge in Bhagavan — not karma-performance nor karma-renunciation, is the sadhana for moksha. This is exactly why Krishna addresses Arjuna as a kshatriya who must act. Chetasa is viveka-buddhi used to deposit all visible and invisible-fruit actions in Ishvara by the principle of 9.27. The chapter's whole bhakti-jnana synthesis is delivered.

Ramanuja reads chetasa as awareness that the self belongs to Bhagavan and is governed by Him — madiyatva-niyamyatva-buddhi — echoing 3.30. All actions, including the agent himself, are surrendered as belonging to and meant to worship the Lord. Mat-parah holds Bhagavan as the phala — fruit — to be attained. Buddhi-yoga is the bhakta's continuous bhakti-saturated cognition. Mat-chittah satatam is unceasing Krishna-orientation.

Madhva reads chetasa — with the jiva's cognition, itself paratantra, never self-originating — as Krishna's command: deposit all sarva-karmani into mayi, the svatantra Lord alone. Sannyasya here is not dissolution of the agent but deliberate transfer: the dasa lays each action at the master's feet while the action proceeds through the dasa's hands. The bheda-frame: real agent, real surrender, real continued action under svatantra Hari's command.

Vallabha reads chetasa as mind saturated with yoga and bhakti — yoga-bhakti-vasita — disposed to recognize Krishna as sakshat-karta — direct agent. The renunciation is not of the action itself but of independent authorship — like 'abandon the staff-bearer, not the staff': only the kartritva-claim is relinquished, not the act. Mat-parah, buddhi-yoga, mat-chittah satatam together constitute the pushti-marga's bhakta-life.

Shridhara anchors chetasa in the prior verse's logic: one who has understood dedicates every action to Bhagavan by the mind alone, making Krishna the exclusive purushartha — mat-parah, I alone am the goal worth attaining. He takes refuge in vyavasaya-atmika buddhi from 2.41 and practices karma in such a way that Bhagavan is constantly held in chitta. The chapter's bhakti-yoga signature is operationally precise.

Context

where

Chapter 18 · Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga · meter anuṣṭubh

who speaks

Krishna → Arjuna

preceded by — BG 18.56

Always performing all your actions, take refuge in me alone. By my grace you will reach the eternal, imperishable station.

What's going on

With your mind, lay every action at my feet, hold me as your only aim, take shelter in the yoga of discernment, and keep your thoughts on me without interruption.

Sūtras through this verse (113)

ĀnandagiriclassicalA

The two-niṣṭhā axisbetween

13.1Two niṣṭhās, three kāṇḍas — keystone.───→here18.57───→18.78Sealed: the means stands on the end stands.

RamsukhdasclassicalE

Your own work as worshipbetween

18.46Worship the One through natural work.───→here18.57───→18.60What nature compels, do it as worship.

RāmānujaclassicalA

World as the Lord's body (antaryāmin)between

18.46The cluster is recalled.───→here18.57───→18.61Beings as on a machine.

show all 113

Madhusūdanaclassicalmadhusudan_bhagavad_arpana

Madhusudan Bhagavad Arpanabetween · other

12.20Mat-paramāḥ as upasaṃhāra───→here18.57───→18.66Take refuge in Me alone

MadhusūdanaclassicalD

Offer the act to the Lord and it stops bindingbetween

12.20Holding-Me-supreme seals the bhakti chapter.───→here18.57───→18.66Drop every duty; take refuge in Me alone.

MadhusūdanaclassicalF

Every middle chapter opens with a bow to the teacherbetween

15.20The closing verse names Krishna as the supreme.───→here18.57───→18.78Vyāsa, Śaṅkara, and I: one lineage named.

MadhusūdanaclassicalH

Krishna with form is the ground beneath formless Brahmanbetween

15.1Chapter fifteen unfolds what fourteen sealed.───→here18.57───→18.66Final refuge in Me is final refuge in the ground.

MadhusūdanaclassicalK

Arjuna's grief has two roots, not onebetween

11.1Arjuna marks the universal moha cured.───→here18.57───→18.73Confusion gone, memory gained — the cure complete.

MadhusūdanaclassicalB

Different students need different teachingsexit

18.1Three kinds of renouncing, one for each grade.───→here18.57───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalC

Action purifies before knowing can landexit

18.55Even hearing and reflecting need purity.───→here18.57───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalE

Devotion is how knowing actually arrivesexit

18.55Bhakti is the engine of the highest knowing.───→here18.57───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalG

Knowing and acting cannot run togetherexit

18.1At the very end, the line still holds.───→here18.57───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalI

Liberation while alive — the body finishes its runexit

18.55Knowing burns ignorance; body burns its arc.───→here18.57───→

MadhusūdanaclassicalJ

Two kinds of nature — divine and demonicexit

18.1Even renouncing splits into three by disposition.───→here18.57───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalB

Three hexads = tat tvam asibetween

15.20Whole teaching named guhyatamaṃ śāstram.───→here18.57───→18.78Colophon: three kāṇḍas, one śāstra.

ĀnandagiriclassicalC

Adhikāra: seeker vs. fulfilledbetween

12.12Bhakti's gradient is jijñāsu-relative.───→here18.57───→18.66Arjuna lacks formal saṃnyāsa-fitness.

ĀnandagiriclassicalE

Pūrvapakṣa via nanu / āśaṅkyabetween

13.1Boundary protected by stylized doubt.───→here18.57───→18.66Closing verse opened by doubt-and-answer.

ĀnandagiriclassicalI

Bhakti carries jñāna, never parallelbetween

12.20Closing the bhakti hexad on jñāna.───→here18.57───→18.66Surrender read inside the niṣṭhā-dvaya frame.

ĀnandagiriclassicalK

Upasaṃhāra — recap as instrumentbetween

15.20Whole śāstra named most-secret-teaching.───→here18.57───→18.66Final word read as the last upasaṃhāra.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalA

The carama-śloka as retroactive bracketbetween

18.46Worship-by-own-action fixes the ārādhya.───→here18.57───→18.62Take refuge in Him — the verse before the close.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalB

Prapatti — bhakti's access for those the long path defeatsbetween

12.7I lift them out of saṃsāra's ocean.───→here18.57───→18.66The phala-vilamba grief is what 18.66 closes.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalC

Antaryāmin — the indweller as standing referentbetween

18.46Worship by one's work reaches the indweller.───→here18.57───→18.61The Lord turns all beings mounted on a machine.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalD

Adhikāra — eligibility as architecture, not exceptionbetween

9.33So much more — the sociological span widens.───→here18.57───→18.66The 'sarva' includes 9.32's whole span.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalE

Pūrva-pakṣa — name the rival, close the doorbetween

13.3Knower and field: the boundary is sharp.───→here18.57───→18.66Counterfeit reasonings named, then rejected.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalG

Three yogas — three angles on one configurationbetween

6.47The mad-gatena yogi: the carama-form here.───→here18.57───→18.66The carama-śloka extracts what's common.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalH

Mā śucaḥ — the inclusio of evolving griefbetween

16.5Daivī-asuric grief closed mid-text.───→here18.57───→18.66Final mā-śucaḥ closes the long-path grief.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalI

9.24 — the standing citation for ārādhyabetween

18.46Karma-yoga's act IS indweller-worship.───→here18.57───→18.66'Mām' in the carama- śloka = ārādhya of 9.24.

VedāntadeśikaclassicalJ

Sañjaya's frame — evidentiary, not ornamentalbetween

11.50Sañjaya names the viśva-rūpa as witness.───→here18.57───→18.74The frame closes: 'I heard this dialogue.'

RamsukhdasclassicalF

Surrender — the single shelterbetween

12.6Surrender every act, and He lifts you out.───→here18.57───→18.62Take refuge whole; grace is the road.

RamsukhdasclassicalH

All paths arrive at the same roombetween

12.12Even devotion holds its own gradient.───→here18.57───→18.66Devotion's flagship, and the closing door.

RamsukhdasclassicalI

The Lord already inside the heartbetween

15.15Seated in every heart; memory comes from Me.───→here18.57───→18.61He turns all beings mounted on a machine.

Ramsukhdasclassical

Sādhaka Sañjīvanī commentary at this versebetween

───→here18.57───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalD

Praśna-bīja chapter openingsexit

18.1Final chapter compresses seed and answer.───→here18.57───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalF

Which karma? — fourfold typologyexit

18.1Tyāga and saṃnyāsa named distinct.───→here18.57───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalG

Anūdyate, na vidhīyateexit

17.2Threefold faith: tagged at this site.───→here18.57───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalH

Phala-saṃkalpa is the only upādhiexit

18.1Tyāga = renouncing the relationship.───→here18.57───→

ĀnandagiriclassicalL

Akṣarayojanā — word-fit firstexit

18.1Final chapter opens with the same form.───→here18.57───→

VedāntadeśikaclassicalF

Saṅgati — anticipation-and-resolutionexit

18.1Tyāga-question resolves ch. 16-17's typology.───→here18.57───→

RamsukhdasclassicalA

What binds you (and how to let go)exit

18.1Renouncing means cutting the false relationship.───→here18.57───→

RamsukhdasclassicalB

This human birth — your one chance to actexit

18.46Worship the One through your own work.───→here18.57───→

RamsukhdasclassicalC

Desire is the root — not actionexit

18.49Free of longing everywhere — same goal.───→here18.57───→

RamsukhdasclassicalD

The three modes (sattva, rajas, tamas) at workexit

18.19Knowledge, action, doer, each one threefold.───→here18.57───→

RamsukhdasclassicalG

Equanimity in everythingexit

18.54The goal is just sameness toward all.───→here18.57───→

RamsukhdasclassicalJ

Divine vs demonic patternsexit

17.5Hard penance off-script is still demonic.───→here18.57───→

Ekrasmodernkarma_yoga

Karma yoga — the apprentice pathbetween · v2

18.46Work as worship───→here18.57───→18.66Abandon all dharmas

Ekrasmodernstress

Stress — panic to shelterbetween · v2

9.22Yogakshema───→here18.57───→18.66Take refuge

Ekrasmodernbhakti

Bhakti — devotion pathbetween · v2

12.13Dear-bhakta description begins───→here18.57───→18.66Take refuge in Me alone

Ekrasmoderntrigunametry

Trigunametry — guṇas as embodied statesbetween · v2

18.25Tamasic action───→here18.57───→18.61Lord at the heart

Ekrasmodernparadox_of_doership

Paradox of doership — kartṛtvabetween · v2

18.16Wrong-seer fails the act───→here18.57───→18.61Lord at the heart, beings spinning

Ekrasmodernforgiveness

Forgivenessbetween · other

18.42Brahmaṇa's kṣamā───→here18.57───→18.66All debts dissolved

Śaṅkaraclassicalshankara_jnana_nishtha

Shankara Jnana Nishthabetween · other

18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi by sannyāsa───→here18.57───→18.66Bheda-pratyaya dissolved

ŚaṅkaraclassicalA

Sorrow and delusion are the diseasebetween

4.42Cut the heart's doubt with the sword of knowledge.───→here18.57───→18.66Grieve not — I free you from every sin.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalB

Knowledge alone, with all action laid downbetween

18.49Action-freedom comes from full renunciation.───→here18.57───→18.66Knowledge alone is the means of liberation.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalC

Knowledge plus action will not save youbetween

5.2Each path bears fruit by its own working.───→here18.57───→18.66The combined-path view named and dismantled.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalE

Ignorance is the only enemybetween

13.2One Self lights every body as one sun lights all.───→here18.57───→18.66Beginningless habit ends only with self-knowledge.

ŚaṅkaraclassicalJ

Scripture stands behind every claimbetween

15.1The world-tree is the tree of the Kaṭha.───→here18.57───→18.66Renounce all dharmas — śruti ratifies.

RāmānujaclassicalB

The śāstra is one bracket (2.12 → 18.66)between

11.1Arjuna confirms the bracket from inside.───→here18.57───→18.66The teaching closes with one command.

RāmānujaclassicalD

Karma-yoga as kainkarya (worship)between

18.46Worship by your own work.───→here18.57───→18.65Be My worshipper.

RāmānujaclassicalE

Bhakti as continuous recollectionbetween

12.7I lift them across.───→here18.57───→18.65Recollection like sight: the final command.

RāmānujaclassicalG

Māyā is real causal powerbetween

13.2Those who posit ajñāna in Brahman fail.───→here18.57───→18.61The yantrin reading forecloses the residue.

RāmānujaclassicalH

Prapatti / śaraṇāgati — universal upāyabetween

15.4Find the Origin and take refuge in him.───→here18.57───→18.62Take refuge whole-being.

RāmānujaclassicalJ

Śeṣa-śeṣī · pati-vrata similebetween

12.7I lift him across.───→here18.57───→18.65You are dear to Me — I promise.

MadhvaclassicalT9

Devotion and grace — what knowledge cannot do alonebetween

12.5The personal route is easier — by design.───→here18.57───→18.66Drop every refuge, take the One refuge.

MadhvaclassicalT11

Only revealed scripture decides — reason alone cannotbetween

15.15The Veda's whole knowable is named as Hari.───→here18.57───→18.66The closing verdict is sealed by its own authority.

MadhvaclassicalT12

Closure by gloss — the small repertoirebetween

17.14'Worship of gods' is worship of the One.───→here18.57───→18.65'Me' at the end carries fifteen chapters of gloss.

VallabhaclassicalA

Two paths — rule-bound and grace-onlybetween

12.20The dear devotee holds the teaching fast.───→here18.57───→18.66Drop every duty; take refuge in Me alone.

VallabhaclassicalB

Grace alone — the technical markbetween

14.26Beyond the modes is grace-rooted love.───→here18.57───→18.66Final verse — pure grace, nothing else.

VallabhaclassicalC

Drop the doer, not the deedbetween

18.1The closing chapter reopens this question.───→here18.57───→18.66Drop only rival worships, never your nature.

VallabhaclassicalG

The Lord plays — calf-affection, not contractbetween

12.1The object of love is the puruṣottama himself.───→here18.57───→18.65The chariot-driving Lord is the calf-affection ocean.

VallabhaclassicalH

Stilling the mind — into the Lordbetween

12.14Steady, restrained, mind and intellect bound to Me.───→here18.57───→18.66The avatāra exists for the sake of total mind-rest.

VallabhaclassicalI

A closed three-source citation gridbetween

18.55The Nibandha's sevā-section names the means.───→here18.57───→18.66The carama-śloka is cross-stitched to Nibandha.

Ekrasmodernvairagya

Vairāgya — dispassion as instrumentexit · v2

18.49Naishkarmya-siddhi───→here18.57───→

Ekrasmodernleadership

Leadership — svadharma in actionexit · v2

18.48No work is fault-free───→here18.57───→

Ekrasmodernanger_management

Anger Managementexit · other

16.22Released from the three gates───→here18.57───→

Madhvaclassicalmadhva_pratibimba

Madhva Pratibimbaexit · other

18.16Soul's non-doership, not Self's───→here18.57───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalD

The fit student vs the unfit studentexit

18.41Each order's work is born of its own nature.───→here18.57───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalI

The lover and the knower are one personexit

18.55Knowledge-standing IS the highest devotion.───→here18.57───→

ŚaṅkaraclassicalK

Liberation while still embodiedexit

18.49Action-freedom is standing in immediate liberation.───→here18.57───→

RāmānujaclassicalC

Three ṣaṭkas (1–6 / 7–12 / 13–18)exit

18.1The closing chapter gathers all questions.───→here18.57───→

RāmānujaclassicalI

Vibhūti as evidence for antaryāminexit

18.46The cluster is recalled.───→here18.57───→

RāmānujaclassicalK

Tri-guṇa diagnostic for the bhaktaexit

18.19Each instrument threefold.───→here18.57───→

MadhvaclassicalT1

Hari is supreme — the running reading-ruleexit

17.23Oṃ-tat-sat names the Lord, three times.───→here18.57───→

MadhvaclassicalT2

Soul depends on Lord — the gap that does not closeexit

18.14Of the five causes, Viṣṇu is the prime mover.───→here18.57───→

MadhvaclassicalT5

Mirror-and-image — how seeming-action worksexit

18.16'I am not the doer' names the soul, not Self.───→here18.57───→

MadhvaclassicalT6

Citation is the spine — texts carry the loadexit

18.14Āyāsya-śruti closes the agency question.───→here18.57───→

MadhvaclassicalT7

Action and knowledge — never rivalsexit

18.2The ritualists' śruti fixes the closing definition.───→here18.57───→

VallabhaclassicalD

Chapter-opening preludesexit

18.1Closing chapter's prelude seals the program.───→here18.57───→

VallabhaclassicalF

Soul as part of the highest Personexit

18.55By love alone the soul knows what and whose it is.───→here18.57───→

VallabhaclassicalJ

Strategic silence — pointers, not absencesexit

17.12The threefold yajña/dāna/tapas catalogue is skipped.───→here18.57───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalA

The Gītā as raft across griefbetween

13.2For their rescue, truth-knowledge is uttered.───→here18.57───→18.66I shall release you from every wrong.

ŚrīdharaclassicalB

The Lord descends out of compassionbetween

11.43Teacher, and teacher's teacher beyond compare.───→here18.57───→18.64Hear the supreme word spoken because dear.

ŚrīdharaclassicalC

Devotion is both the way and the homebetween

18.55Through love alone I am known in truth.───→here18.57───→18.65The same refrain sealed at the close.

ŚrīdharaclassicalF

The Lord inside as inner rulerbetween

15.15Seated in every heart; memory comes from Me.───→here18.57───→18.62Let go of self-claim; take refuge there.

ŚrīdharaclassicalJ

Insight given as a gift, not earned alonebetween

10.11I dispel the dark of unknowing for them.───→here18.57───→18.65By My grace, you reach Me through what is given.

ŚrīdharaclassicalG

Soul as His portion, neither cut nor identicalexit

18.55He enters Me; he is not absorbed away.───→here18.57───→

ŚrīdharaclassicalL

Chapter prefaces as the bhāṣya's spineexit

18.1The eighteenth gathers the whole Gītā in one.───→here18.57───→

Gauravmodernchaplaincy_kit_of_tools

Chaplaincy Kit Of Toolsbetween

17.15Mantra and speech. 'Anudvega-karam vakyam satyam priya-hitam cha yat, svadhyaya-───→here18.57───→18.61Astrology-as-externalizer and karma-as-frame for why-bad-things-happen. 'Ishvara

Gauravmodernheart_leadership

Heart Leadershipbetween

12.14'Santushtah satatam yogi yatatma dridha-nishchayah.' Always content, self-contro───→here18.57───→18.61'Ishvarah sarva-bhutanam hrid-deshe'rjuna tishthati.' The Lord stands in the hea

Gauravmodernsanatana_dharma_101

Sanatana Dharma 101between

13.27Atman / Brahman pillar. 'Samam sarveshu bhuteshu tishthantam parameshvaram.' The───→here18.57───→18.66Closing pillar in the longer CHI deliveries. 'Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam

AbhinavaguptaclassicalB

Recognition, not additionbetween

11.55See the world as Śiva's own body.───→here18.57───→18.73Confusion gone — but Anugītā still waits.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalE

Field and field-knower as Parameśvarabetween

15.16Two persons inside the field, one beyond.───→here18.57───→18.61He turns all beings like a great machine.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalG

Saṃvit: one referent under many namesbetween

12.5Every 'Me' from Krishna is Śiva-consciousness speaking.───→here18.57───→18.62Three names yoked — one referent sealed.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalH

Bhakti as non-dual recognitionbetween

12.2Two paths reconciled — one gracious face.───→here18.57───→18.65Four parallel ways of saying one thing.

AbhinavaguptaclassicalI

Anugraha: grace as the active powerbetween

11.35By grace-nature, the secret discloses itself.───→here18.57───→18.62Peace by grace — never by accumulation of work.

Gauravmoderncivilizational_air_conditioning

Civilizational Air Conditioningexit

16.21'Tri-vidham narakasyedam dvaram nashanam atmanah, kamah krodhas tatha lobhah.' T───→here18.57───→

Gauravmoderninterfaith_cosmology

Interfaith Cosmologyexit

18.46'Yatah pravrittir bhutanam yena sarvam idam tatam, sva-karmana tam abhyarchya si───→here18.57───→

Gauravmodernkarma_yoga_hand

Karma Yoga Handexit

18.47Pointing finger. Svadharma. 'Shreyan svadharmo vigunah para-dharmat svanushthita───→here18.57───→

AbhinavaguptaclassicalF

Three guṇas: contractions of one consciousnessexit

17.2Even faith is graded through the three.───→here18.57───→

JayatīrthaclassicalC

Refuting Śaṅkara-style readings, named or unnamedbetween

15.16Refusing kṣara=inert, akṣara=soul.───→here18.57───→18.66Drop varṇāśrama too is blocked here.

JayatīrthaclassicalF

Bhakti-tāratamya: gradation among devotees, gradation in fruitbetween

12.20Dear devotee is at the apex.───→here18.57───→18.66All-dharma surrender is the apex grade.

JayatīrthaclassicalI

Lakṣaṇā-control — literal preferred when availablebetween

15.16Bhūta covers jīva; literal range holds.───→here18.57───→18.66Dharma as upalakṣaṇa of its own results.

JayatīrthaclassicalD

Saṅgati declared at the head of every adhyāyaexit

18.1Renunciation closes; threads converge.───→here18.57───→

JayatīrthaclassicalH

Pūrva-pakṣa explicit — nanu / iti cet / ity ata āhaexit

18.11No full renouncer; tyāga is of fruit.───→here18.57───→

Śabda · lemmas (12 unique · 14 occurrences)

चेतसा cetas — consciousness, mind, awareness · instrumental neuter singular noun
संन्यस्य saṃnyas — to renounce, cast down (sam- + ni- + √as 'throw') · conv
कर्माणि karman — action, deed, the law of action · accusative neuter plural noun · also at 1.1, 2.48, 3.26, 3.27, 3.30, 4.14 +12

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मयि·मद् mad ×3 — I, me (1st person pronoun stem); also: to rejoice (verbal root) · locative singular noun / compound
सर्व sarva — all, entire · compound
परः para — highest, supreme, beyond, other · nominative masculine singular noun
बुद्धि buddhi — intellect, intelligence, discriminating faculty · compound · also at 2.19, 2.39, 2.41, 2.44, 2.49, 2.50 +36
योगम् yoga — yoga; union, discipline, application · accusative masculine singular noun
उपाश्रित्य upāśri — to take refuge in, resort to (upa- + ā- + √śri) · conv
चित्तः citta — mind, thought, consciousness, mental substance · nominative masculine singular noun
सततम् satatam — always, constantly
भव √bhū — to be, become; the earth (verbal root / noun) · present imperative 2nd person singular verb

Praśna · so what (7)

01What exactly is being renounced — the action, its fruit, the sense of ownership, or all three — and do the schools agree?
02Is 'mat-cittaḥ satatam' (constant mind-in-Me) a psychological instruction, an ontological claim, or a devotional practice — and can a working person achieve it?

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03Kṛṣṇa has repeatedly offered karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, and bhakti-yoga as paths — does this verse finally rank them, or does each school read its own preferred path confirmed here?
04If Madhva's school holds that the jīva is eternally distinct from Brahman, does renouncing action 'in Kṛṣṇa' threaten that boundary, or does it depend on it?
05Vallabha reads Kṛṣṇa as the real agent (antaryāmī); what moral responsibility — if any — remains with the human actor under that reading?
06How does Madhusūdana's synthesis avoid the charge of inconsistency — if Advaita holds the self is Brahman, why address a kṣatriya as a separate devotee at all?
07This verse is addressed at the close of the Gītā (18.57 of 78); does its position as near-final instruction change how each school weighs it relative to earlier instructions?

Vyavahāra · try it in your life

Advaita

Before beginning the workday, use a moment of viveka (clear discernment) to internally mark: 'This work serves no personal accumulation — I deposit it.' The goal is not emotional feeling of devotion but clear-eyed clarity that the self claiming the outcome is a conceptual overlay. When a project succeeds or fails, the practitioner asks: 'Whose success is this claiming to be?' That inquiry is the chetasā-sannyāsa in daily life.

Viśiṣṭādvaita

A manager using this framework treats every report, decision, and outcome as kainkarya — service to the Lord who is the ground of the team as His body (viśeṣaṇa). Before a difficult meeting, the reframing is: 'I belong to Bhagavān, this team belongs to Bhagavān, I am executing His governance.' This is not passivity; Rāmānuja's framework demands engaged, caring action — it only relocates the locus of ownership from ego to Bhagavān.

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Dvaita

Madhva's framework asks for rigorous honesty about hierarchy: am I acting as a servant who knows the master's authority, or am I quietly claiming independence? In practice this means pausing before self-congratulation and attributing capability to Hari's grace — not as a rhetorical flourish but as ontological fact. The daily discipline is to hold the distinction (bheda) clearly: 'I am capable only because Hari's energy runs through me; the capability is His, the execution is mine as instrument.'

Śuddhādvaita

Vallabha's instruction in daily life is: drop the claim of kartṛtva (authorship), not the action itself. A parent caring for a child can do so fully — every nappy-change, every school pickup — while internally releasing 'I am making this happen.' The rapture (āhlāda) that Puṣṭi-mārga points to is the lightness that comes when the burden of being the responsible agent lifts: Kṛṣṇa is doing this through me, I am the delighted instrument.

Bhakti

Śrīdhara's 'brahma-arpaṇam' principle applied to professional life: each deliverable — a document, a design, a meal cooked — is offered as an oblation (haviḥ) into the fire of work that is itself Brahman (brahma). The 'mat-cittaḥ satatam' is maintained not by withdrawing from work but by a quick interior return to the single-pointed goal (mat-paraḥ) between every task. Consistent practice makes this return faster until it becomes the default orientation.

Advaita-Bhakti

Madhusūdana's synthesis is particularly useful for intellectuals who oscillate between philosophical inquiry and devotional longing. The practice is to let Vāsudeva be 'priyatama' (most beloved) — not a concept held at arm's length but an actual relationship of love. When the mind drifts to the 'rajanī or kāminī' (the project, the recognition, the relationship that currently holds most emotional charge), the instruction is a clean redirection: 'Return to the one address.' Both the jñāna and the bhakti are present — the viveka that renounces, and the love that draws the mind back.

Adhiṣṭhāna · substrate signature

substratev2.6-frozen

parserByT5-Sanskrit-multitask (Nehrdich/Hellwig/Keutzer EMNLP 2024)

mūlaBelvalkar critical edition (BORI 1947), via Ambuda multi-witness

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weightsa=1 · b=0.01 · e_v=0.005 · z=0.2 · h=0 · th=0.01

anchorfit on Ramsukhdas's Sādhak Sañjīvanī (1980), frozen across the eight-commentator panel; cross-validated R@4 = 71.6% on Śaṅkara

extracted2026-04-21

methodPaper 1, Section II.B

↓ view raw per-verse object (JSON)↗ per-verse-object schema ↗ substrate code (MIT) + data (CC-BY 4.0)

The schema generalizes to any bounded-polysemy corpus with discrete primary text units, attested witness traditions, identifiable schools, and formal substrate. Port the per-verse object; refit weights on a domain-appropriate Layer-3 anchor; ship.

Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 18, Verse 57: Krishna to Arjuna — Mokṣa-Sannyāsa-Yoga