What does “abandon all dharmas and surrender to Me” (18.66) mean?

let go of self-reliance and anxiety and take refuge in God — not a licence to drop ethics.

Near the end, Kṛṣṇa says: “Giving up all dharmas, take refuge in Me alone; I will free you from all sins; do not grieve” (18.66). Some readers worry this means rules and morals no longer matter. The traditions read it very differently.

Śaṅkara's Advaita reads it as giving up the sense of being the doer, so that one rests in knowledge of the one Self. Rāmānuja's Śrī Vaiṣṇava tradition sees it as prapatti, total surrender, where one stops relying on one's own means and relies on God's grace. Madhva and other Vaiṣṇavas likewise stress dependence on God. None of them teaches that one may now lie, harm or neglect duty; a surrendered person naturally lives more gently.

Just before this, Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna to reflect fully and then do as he wishes (18.63). The Gītā invites, it does not compel.

Source: Bhagavad Gītā 18.63, 18.66 · Prapatti: surrender to God

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