3.30. O Arjuna, with a discerning intellect, surrender all your obligatory duties unto Me. Free from desire, possessiveness, and anguish, perform the obligatory duty of warfare.
**Commentary:** "Mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi sannyasyādhyātmacetasā" – Generally, a spiritual aspirant harbors this thought: actions cause bondage, and yet one cannot remain without performing actions. Therefore, if I act, I shall be bound! So, how should one perform actions so that they do not become binding but rather become liberating? For this, the Lord tells Arjuna: With an *adhyātma-citta* (a heart endowed with discrimination and reflection), surrender all your obligatory duties unto Me; that is, do not consider yourself to have any connection with them. The reason is that, in reality, in all activities of the entire universe, only My power is at work. The body, senses, objects, etc., are also Mine, and the power is also Mine. Therefore, when you perform your duty with the profound conviction that "everything belongs to God and God is my own," those actions will not bind you; on the contrary, they will become your means of liberation.
It is the universal experience of all human beings that one has no real control over the body, senses, mind, intellect, objects, etc. All these belong to Prakriti (Nature) – "prakṛtisthāni" – and the Self itself belongs to the Supreme Self – "mamaivāṁśo jīvaloke" (Gita 15.7). Therefore, renouncing the sense of "mine-ness" mistakenly assumed in the body and other objects, and accepting them as belonging to God alone (which they truly are) is called "surrender" (*arpaṇa*). Hence, giving importance to one's discrimination and abandoning the foolishly assumed relationship with objects and actions is the true intent of surrender.
Through the word "*adhyātmacetasā*," the Lord's intent is that whatever path an aspirant follows, his aim should be spiritual, not worldly. In truth, the aim or necessity is always for the Eternal Principle (the spiritual), while desire is always for the non-eternal principle (objects subject to birth and destruction). An aspirant should have an aim, not a desire. A heart with an aim remains endowed with discrimination and reflection.
From a philosophical or scientific viewpoint, it cannot be proven that physical objects like the body are one's own. In reality, these objects are not one's own and not for oneself; rather, they are merely given for proper use. Precisely because they are not one's own, no one has any real mastery over them.
The entire universe belongs to God; however, the *jīva* (individual soul), due to delusion, considers God's objects as its own and thus falls into bondage. Therefore, eradicating this delusion through discrimination and reflection, and accepting all objects and actions as belonging to the Spiritual Principle (God) is to surrender them with an *adhyātma-citta*.
In this verse, the word "*adhyātmacetasā*" is of primary importance. The meaning is that it is only due to non-discrimination that the perishable body (the world) appears as one's own. If seen with discrimination and reflection, the body or the world will not appear as one's own; on the contrary, only the Imperishable Supreme Principle will appear as one's own. To see the world as one's own is downfall, and to not see it as one's own is upliftment – "dvayakṣarastu bhavenmṛtyustryakṣaraṁ brahma śāśvatam. Mameti ca bhavenmṛtyurna mameti ca śāśvatam." (The two-syllabled "mama" – "this is mine" – is death, and the three-syllabled "na mama" – "this is not mine" – is the eternal, immortal Brahman.)
**A Special Point Regarding Surrender:** The Lord says, "surrender all actions unto Me" ("*mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi sannyasya*") because man has mistakenly assumed the instruments (body, senses, mind, intellect, vital force), the means (materials useful for performing actions), and the actions themselves to be his and for himself, which they never were, are not, will not be, and cannot be. What connection can the Imperishable have with objects subject to birth and death? Therefore, whether one surrenders actions to the world, to Prakriti, or to God – the result of all three will be the same; because the world is a product of Prakriti, and God is the master of Prakriti. From this viewpoint, both the world and Prakriti belong to God. Hence, one should surrender everything to God with the thought, "I belong to God, and all things called 'mine' also belong to God"; that is, one should renounce all sense of possessiveness. After doing so, the aspirant does not need to desire anything from the world or from God; because God Himself arranges for what is needed for him.
After surrender, the body and other objects should no longer appear as one's own. If they appear as one's own, then surrender has not truly occurred. That is why the Lord instructs to surrender with a heart endowed with discrimination and reflection, so that this reality is properly understood: these objects are God's alone, not one's own at all.
The instruction to surrender to God is so extraordinary that even if done reluctantly, it is nothing but gain. The reason is that actions and objects are not one's own at all. Even after performing actions, they can be surrendered, but real surrender occurs only upon severing the relationship with objects and actions. This severance happens only when one truly experiences that the instruments (body, etc.), the means (worldly objects), the actions, and the "self" – all these belong to God alone. Aspirants often make the mistake of trying to consider the means as God's, but they do not pay attention to the fact that "the instruments and the self also belong to God." Therefore, their surrender remains incomplete. Hence, an aspirant should accept the instruments, means, actions, and the "self" – all as belonging solely to God, which in truth they are.
Renouncing the very form of actions and objects is not surrender. Accepting God's objects as God's alone is true surrender. One who, while considering objects as his own, surrenders them to God, receives many objects in return from God; just as the earth yields many times more grain than the seeds sown in it. However, even when received manifold, it remains limited. But one who, not considering objects as his own (considering them as God's alone) surrenders them to God, God gives Himself to him and even becomes indebted. The meaning is that by giving while considering the object as one's own (due to the object having importance in the heart), the value received is in the object itself; but by giving without considering it as one's own, one attains God Himself.
True surrender pleases God immensely. This does not mean that God gains any help from the surrender; rather, the one who surrenders becomes free from the bondage of action, and herein lies God's pleasure. Just as a small child, handing over a key found in the courtyard to his father, makes the father happy – while the small child himself is the father's, the courtyard is the father's, and the key is also the father's – yet the father is pleased not by receiving the key, but by seeing the child's sentiment (of giving). He raises his hand and tells the child, "May you become so tall!" That is, he elevates the child even above himself. Similarly, all objects, the body, and the embodied being (the self) belong to God alone. Therefore, seeing the sentiment of renouncing possessiveness over them and surrendering them to God alone pleases Him (God), and He becomes indebted.
**A Special Point Regarding Desire:** God has designed the human body in a most wondrous way. All materials necessary for a human being's livelihood and spiritual practice are abundantly available to him. The God-given discrimination is also present within him. When man, not giving importance to that discrimination, does not make proper use of the objects received, but rather considers them as his own and uses them for himself, and develops attachment for the objects received and desire for those not received, then he becomes bound in the cycle of birth and death. The objects, persons, situations, events, abilities, power, body, senses, mind, vital force, intellect, etc., that appear to be present now, were not with us before and will not remain with us forever afterwards; because they never remain the same, they change every moment. Man knows this reality. If man would accept as he knows, and bring it into his conduct, then there is not the slightest doubt about his liberation. To accept as one knows means: not to consider the body and other objects as one's own and for oneself, not to be dependent on them, and not to accept their slavery by giving them importance. Giving importance to objects is a great error. Considering oneself fulfilled by their attainment is a great bondage. It is by giving importance to perishable objects that new desires for them arise. Desire is the root of all sins, afflictions, sorrows, calamities, hells, etc. Through desire, objects are not attained, and even if attained by destiny, they do not last. The reason is that objects are transient, coming and going, while the "Self" is eternal. Therefore, renouncing desire, man should perform his obligatory duties.
Here a doubt may arise: Without desire, how will there be inclination towards action? The resolution is this: Inclination towards action occurs both for the fulfillment of desire and for the cessation of desire. Ordinary people engage in action for the fulfillment of desire, while an aspirant engages for the purification of the self, i.e., for the cessation of desire (Gita 5.11). In truth, inclination towards action is for the cessation of desire, not for its fulfillment.
The human body is given solely for the fulfillment of one's aim. When the aim is fulfilled, nothing remains to be done. Inclination towards action for the fulfillment of desire occurs only in those human beings who have forgotten their true aim (attainment of the Eternal Principle, God). The Lord has called such people "*kṛpaṇaḥ*" (wretched or worthy of pity) – "*kṛpaṇāḥ phalahetavaḥ*" (Gita 2.49). Conversely, those who engage in action keeping the aim before them (for the cessation of desire) are called "*manīṣī*" (wise or knowers) by the Lord – "*phalaṁ tyaktvā manīṣiṇaḥ*" (Gita 2.51). Service, Self-realization, and the sentiment of attaining God are the aim, not desire. The sentiment of attaining perishable objects is desire. Therefore, to think that without desire there is no inclination towards action is an error. For the fulfillment of the aim also, actions proceed perfectly.
It is only by turning away from one's whole, God, and assuming a relationship with the world (inertia) that both necessity and desire arise. When the mistakenly assumed relationship with the world is completely renounced, the necessity is fulfilled and desire ceases.
**"Nirāśīrnirmamo bhūtvā yudhyasva vigatajvaraḥ"** – Even after surrendering all actions and objects (the materials for action) to God, some trace of desire, possessiveness, and anguish may remain. For example, we gave someone a book. Seeing him reading it, a thought arises in our mind: "He is reading *my* book." This is the trace of possessiveness that remains even after surrendering the book. To renounce this trace, the Lord tells Arjuna: Do not have *desire* for new objects, do not have *possessiveness* towards objects received, and do not have *anguish* for objects lost. The litmus test of surrendering everything is that not even a trace of desire, possessiveness, or anguish remains.
Those aspirants to whom, even after surrendering everything to God, desire, possessiveness, and anguish for the body and other objects appear due to past impressions, should never become disheartened. The reason is that he in whom desire appears is indeed desireless; he in whom possessiveness appears is indeed free from possessiveness; and he in whom anguish appears is indeed free from anguish. Similarly, he who considers the body as "I" (*aham*) is indeed bodiless (free from I-ness). Therefore, every human being is fully entitled to be free from desire, possessiveness, and anguish.
In the Gita, the word "*jvara*" (fever/anguish) appears only here. In warfare, there is a possibility of anguish arising from familial affection, etc. Therefore, to be especially careful while performing the obligatory duty of warfare, the Lord, using the word "*vigatajvaraḥ*," tells Arjuna to perform the duty of warfare free from anguish.
Since the obligatory duty before Arjuna was in the form of warfare, the Lord, with the word "*yudhyasva*," orders him to fight. Herein, the Lord's intent is not about fighting, but about performing one's duty. Therefore, whatever duty comes before an aspirant from time to time, he should perform it with the intellect of surrender to God, being desireless, without possessiveness, and free from anguish. He should not look towards its result (success or failure). To remain equanimous in success-failure, favorableness-unfavorableness, etc., is to be "*vigatajvara*"; because the happiness arising from favorable conditions and the anxiety arising from unfavorable conditions – both are *jvara* (anguish). Attachment-aversion, joy-sorrow, lust-anger, etc., are also *jvara*. In short, all mental distortions (afflictions) such as attachment-aversion, worry, agitation, restlessness, etc., are *jvara*, and to be free from them is the meaning of the word "*vigatajvaraḥ*."
**A Special Point:** When the aspirant's sole aim becomes the attainment of God, then whatever materials (objects, situations, etc.) he has, all become means (instruments for spiritual practice). Then, within those materials, there is no division of good and bad. Therefore, the material that is, and as it is, that alone and in that very state is to be surrendered to God. What God has given, that alone is to be returned to Him.
Even after surrendering all actions to God, whatever desire, possessiveness, and anguish are perceived within oneself, they too are to be surrendered to God. By surrendering to God, one becomes established in God. For one desiring to attain Yoga, action is said to be the cause – "*ārurukṣormuneryogaṁ karma kāraṇamucyate*" (Gita 6.3). The reason is that only by performing obligatory duties does the aspirant realize what and where his shortcomings (desire, possessiveness, etc.) are. That is why, in the twelfth chapter, twelfth verse, renunciation of the fruits of action (Karma Yoga) is said to be superior to meditation; because in meditation, the aspirant's attention remains especially on the restlessness of the mind, and he considers the mere fixing of the mind on the object of meditation as the success of meditation. However, his attention turns towards other shortcomings (desire, possessiveness, etc.) only when he performs action. Therefore, in the present verse, with the word "*yudhyasva*," the Lord instructs to perform obligatory duty.
Just as in the forty-eighth verse of the second chapter, the Lord instructed to perform duty being equanimous in success and failure, similarly here (in the thirtieth verse), He instructs to fight, i.e., perform obligatory duty, being desireless, without possessiveness, and free from anguish. When even a severe (cruel) action like warfare can be performed with equanimity, then what other action is there that cannot be performed with equanimity? Equanimity occurs only when the sentiment arises: "The body is not I, not mine, and not for me" – which, in truth, it is.
The performance of obligatory duty is possible only when the aspirant's aim is not the world but solely God. As the aspirant, with the aim of attaining God, becomes more and more dutiful, so do defects like desire, possessiveness, attachment, etc., automatically get destroyed, and the experience of one's natural state in equanimity is realized. Upon the complete experience of one's state in equanimity, the sense of doership is entirely eradicated, and oneness with the aim is attained. It is a rule that when there remains no wish to gain or do anything for oneself, the "*aham*" (personality) automatically vanishes.
Arjuna desires welfare (*śreya*), but by avoiding the obligatory duty in the form of warfare. Therefore, when Arjuna asks about his welfare, the Lord instructs him to perform the obligatory duty of warfare; because according to the Lord's view, welfare is attained by performing obligatory duty, i.e., through Karma Yoga, as well as through Jñāna Yoga and Bhakti Yoga.
**Connection:** Having stated His own doctrine (principle) in the previous verse, the Lord now, in the next two verses, substantiates His doctrine.
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