Sanskrit
तमेव शरणं गच्छ सर्वभावेन भारत । तत्प्रसादात्परां शान्तिं स्थानं प्राप्स्यसि शाश्वतम् ॥ ६२ ॥
tam eva śaraṇaṃ gaccha sarva-bhāvena bhārata tat-prasādāt parāṃ śāntiṃ sthānaṃ prāpsyasi śāśvatam
Translation
Flee unto Him for shelter with all thy being, O Bhârata; by His grace thou shalt obtain supreme peace, the everlasting dwelling-place.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
“Flee unto Him for shelter with all thy being” — the word śaraṇam, shelter or refuge, appears here for the first time in this closing sequence and will recur at the chapter’s most decisive moment, verse 66. This line is priming the vocabulary for what’s coming rather than delivering the full command yet. Tam eva śaraṇaṃ gaccha sarva-bhāvena — “take refuge in Him with your whole being.” The counsel that immediately follows the machine image: the same Lord who turns you is the one to surrender to, for supreme peace.
Study deeper
Word by word
- tam eva śaraṇaṃ gacchaतं एव शरणं गच्छ
- go to Him alone for refuge (tam + eva + śaraṇam + gaccha)
- sarva-bhāvena bhārataसर्व-भावेन भारत
- with your whole being, O Bhārata (sarva-bhāvena + bhārata)
- tat-prasādāt parāṃ śāntiṃतत्-प्रसादात् परां शान्तिं
- by His grace, supreme peace (tat-prasādāt + parām + śāntim)
- sthānaṃ prāpsyasi śāśvatamस्थानं प्राप्स्यसि शाश्वतं
- you shall attain the eternal abode (sthānam + prāpsyasi + śāśvatam)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Even here, in what functions as a rehearsal for the command still two verses away, Krishna doesn’t ask for a partial gesture — sarva-bhavena, “with all thy being.” The fullness usually associated only with verse 66’s climactic surrender is already present in the priming line; nothing about the total commitment demanded at the end was actually held back until then.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you're only rehearsing a big decision to yourself, still bring your whole attention to it rather than a token version — the quality of commitment you'll need at the real moment is worth building from the very first rehearsal.
Professional
- When you pilot a smaller version of a major initiative before the full rollout, run the pilot with real, full effort rather than a token pass — the discipline the full launch will require is the same discipline the rehearsal deserves.
Family & Social
- When testing the waters on a hard conversation with a gentler version of it, bring the same full honesty you'd bring to the real one — don't hold back sincerity for the version you've decided is the 'real' attempt.
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