RESULT OF SUCH DEDICATION OF ACTIVITIES
shubhaashubhaphalairevam mokshyase karmabandhanaih
sannyaasa yogayuktaatmaa vimukto maamupaishyasi // 9.28 //
You shall thus be freed from the bondage of actions yielding good and evil results. With your mind firmly set on the Yoga of renunciation you shall become free and come to Me.
Sri Krishna continues the theme how by living the life in a spirit of surrendering the fruit of all actions to the Lord, an individual achieves the highest perfection. When actions are undertaken by an individual without ego, their reactions, good or bad, cannot bind him because the vasanas in him were already eliminated due to egoless actions and absence of egocentric desires and the mind already got purified.
The next stage is to live a life of Sanyasa and Yoga. The word Sanyasa does not mean physical rejection of the world. It is a renunciation of all egocentric activities and all cravings for fruits of actions. The offering of all works to the Lord constitutes the yoga of renunciation.
Such a life would be possible for those who dedicate all the end results of their actions unto The Lord. To the one who thus lives the life of Sanyasa, Yoga is natural as through out all of his activities he remembers only The Lord, the Self, the Infinite. Such a seeker discovers the futility of his earlier identification with the false and realizes his own Divine Nature. Hence the seeker is promised that he will go to the Supreme and even while living in the body one will be free from the bondage of action.
samo’ham sarvabhooteshu na me dweshyosti na priyah
ye bhajanti tu maam bhaktyaa mayi te teshu chaapyaham // 9.29 //
I am the same toward all beings; to Me there is none hateful or dear. But those who worship Me with devotion, are in Me and I am also in them.
I am in all beings: The self is one in all beings; the same Consciousness Principle illumines the emotions and thoughts in all living creatures just as the same sun illuminates all objects in the world and its rays get reflected on all surfaces whether polished or rough.
To Me there is none hateful or dear: The Self is always the same everywhere and It neither bears distinction between the good and bad nor does It entertain love or hatred for any living being just as the same sunlight reflects on the surfaces of different types of objects, the quality of reflections being different on account of the varying quality of the respective surfaces. On the same analogy if some people show better spiritual development as compared to others it cannot be presumed that the Self is partial towards or showing any special preference to the former or having any prejudice against the latter.
But those who worship Me with devotion are in Me and I too am in them: Having said that the Self has neither love nor hatred towards anybody The Lord says that those who worship the Self with devotion rediscover that they themselves are none other than the Self that is worshipped by them.
The idea is that the Eternal Self does not choose any individual for bestowing Its grace but the individuals themselves create such environment in themselves that they rediscover the Self in themselves. A mind pre-occupied with egocentric attachments with the non-Self cannot realize the Bliss while the same mind if it is made to detach itself from all the extrovert diversions it realizes its identity with the Self. From this sense we can say that the worshipper with devotion is `blessed' by The Lord and so he is in Him and He too is in the worshipper.
api chet suduraachaaro bhajate maamananyabhaak
saadhureva samantavyah samyagvyavasito hi sah // 9.30 //
Even if the most sinful man worships Me with unswerving devotion, he must be regarded as righteous, for he has formed the right resolution.
Bhakti is selfless contemplation with a single-pointed mind upon the non-dual Brahman who is none other than the essence of the devotee himself. A constant attempt to live upto one's own Real Nature is called single-pointed devotion. If a vicious sinner changes his evil thoughts his behavioral pattern gets transformed. If such a person worships The Lord with undivided devotion he is to be regarded as righteous and thoroughly rehabilitated.
From the moment contemplation on the Supreme is taken up with devotion, the sinner becomes a saint because he has formed a resolution to abandon the evil ways of his early life. He will soon grow out of himself into the spiritual glory. The evil of the past cannot be washed away except by his turning to God with undivided heart.
This verse does not mean that there is an easy escape from the consequences of our deeds. We cannot prevent the cause from producing its effect. Any arbitrary interference with the order of the world is not suggested. When the sinner turns to God with undistracted devotion, a new cause is introduced.
His redemption is conditional on his repentance. Repentance is a genuine change of heart and includes regret for the past sin and a decision to prevent a repetition of it in the future. When once the resolution is adopted, the transformation of the lower into higher is steadily effected.
If only human effort is to be depended upon for this change, it may be hard, erroneous, imperfect and difficult to overcome the ego. By surrendering the ego when one opens himself to the Divine, The Lord takes up the burden of changeover and lifts the soul to the spiritual plane from its contamination. A peace of charcoal loses its blackness only when it is charged with fire.
kshipram bhavati dharmaatmaa shashwacchaantim nigacchati
kaunteya pratijaaneehi na me bhaktah pranashyati // 9.31 //
He soon becomes righteous and attains to eternal peace; O Kaunteya, know you for certain that My devotee never perishes.
The effect of single-pointed devotion to The Lord is stated here. Sri Krishna says that such a person soon becomes righteous - he realizes the Divine Atman in himself. He attains eternal peace - an inward peace which is beyond the tumults of the daily living. He lives in tranquility free from agitations and excitements. He rediscovers in himself his own real nature which is Supreme Peace. Such a devotee never perishes or is destroyed. The seeker of the nobler values shall have no failures if his resolve is firm and his application is sincere.
The import of this and the previous verses is that the constant awareness of the Divine Principle protects the human personality from the destructive nature of its negative tendencies. Once we place ourselves in the hands of the Divine we cannot fall into the chasm of darkness.