Sanskrit
सर्वकर्माण्यपि सदा कुर्वाणो मद्व्यपाश्रयः । मत्प्रसादादवाप्नोति शाश्वतं पदमव्ययम् ॥ ५६ ॥
sarva-karmāṇy api sadā kurvāṇo mad-vyapāśrayaḥ mat-prasādād avāpnoti śāśvataṃ padam avyayam
Translation
Though ever performing all actions, taking refuge in Me, by My grace he obtaineth the eternal indestructible abode.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The devotee keeps performing “all actions,” continuously, while depending on Krishna throughout — and by that grace alone reaches “the eternal indestructible abode.” This closes a loop opened back in chapter 3: action itself was never the problem, attachment and self-dependence were, and a person can stay fully active in the world while the actual liberating work happens through grace rather than through the actions themselves. Sarva-karmāṇy api sadā kurvāṇaḥ — “performing all actions, always” — and still reaching the imperishable abode, by grace (mat-prasādāt). The Gita’s final refusal of quietism: full engagement, surrendered.
Study deeper
Word by word
- sarva-karmāṇy api sadā kurvāṇoसर्व-कर्माण्य् अपि सदा कुर्वाणो
- performing all actions always (sarva-karmāṇi + api + sadā + kurvāṇaḥ)
- mad-vyapāśrayaḥमद्-व्यपाश्रयः
- taking refuge in Me (mat-vyapāśrayaḥ)
- mat-prasādād avāpnotiमत्-प्रसादाद् अवाप्नोति
- by My grace he attains (mat-prasādāt + avāpnoti)
- śāśvataṃ padam avyayamशाश्वतं पदं अव्ययं
- the eternal, imperishable abode (śāśvatam + padam + avyayam)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Sadā — “ever,” “always” — is doing real work here: this isn’t describing occasional acts of surrendered action interspersed with ordinary self-interested ones, it’s describing one continuous mode sustained across everything a person does. The promise attaches not to a special category of sacred action but to the whole undifferentiated stream of “all actions,” performed the same way, all the time.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- Don't reserve your best, most surrendered effort for the moments that feel significant — the actual practice is showing up the same way continuously, across ordinary and important tasks alike, not switching modes for special occasions.
Professional
- Don't treat detachment from outcomes as something you switch on only for high-stakes decisions — the discipline that actually holds up under pressure is the one practiced continuously across routine work too.
Family & Social
- Don't save your full presence for the big family moments and coast through ordinary days — the steadiness that makes a relationship work is the one held continuously, not the one reserved for when it visibly matters.
Ask yourself
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