Chapter 18 · Liberation through renunciation
Bhagavad Gita 18.66
Take refuge in Me alone. Do not grieve.
Shri Bhagavan
सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः ॥
sarvadharmānparityajya māmekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja / ahaṁ tvāṁ sarvapāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ
Letting go of all duties, come to Me alone for shelter. I shall set you free from every sin; do not grieve.
हिंदी · सब धर्मों को छोड़कर केवल मेरी शरण में आ जा। मैं तुझे सब पापों से मुक्त कर दूँगा, तू शोक मत कर।
What it means
Take refuge in Me alone. Do not grieve.
The Gita’s closing assurance: set aside all other supports and take refuge in Me alone. I will free you from all faults. Do not grieve.
This is the Trust’s own reading, written for this site. The verse above it is the text.
Where this verse stands
Reflection, love and surrender
Chapter 1818.63–66
Krishna gives freedom to reflect, then the intimate culmination in devotion and refuge.
This verse closes the movement and prepares the next turn.
The culmination in refuge
The verse directs Arjuna to take refuge in Krishna and promises liberation from sin. It should not be paraphrased as “ignore all responsibility” or “trust yourself.”
Read deeper · Read with 7.14, 9.18, 12.6–7, 18.56–62 and 18.63–73.
Hansi Gita Bhawan Trust · The Gita for Life
Verses that share its vocabulary
Near it in the text’s own words.
- 16.5The divine nature is held to lead to freedom, the demonic to bondage. Do not grieve, Pandava. You were born to the divine nature.
- 1.47Having spoken this way on the field of battle, Arjuna sat down on the seat of his chariot, letting go of bow and arrows, his mind shaken with grief.
- 17.9Foods that are bitter, sour, salty, very hot, pungent, dry and burning are what a person of rajas wants. They bring pain, grief and illness.
- 18.27Full of longing, eager for the fruit of action, greedy, given to injury, impure, swept by joy and grief — such a doer is declared to be of passion.
- 18.28Unsteady, coarse, unbending, deceitful, malicious, idle, despondent and forever putting things off — such a doer is called one of darkness.
- 18.35The steadiness by which a dull-witted person will not let go of sleep, fear, sorrow, despondency and conceit — that steadiness, O Partha, is of darkness.
Chosen by shared uncommon vocabulary, weighted so that a rare word counts for far more than a common one. A reading aid, not a claim that these verses mean the same thing.
Common questions
What does Bhagavad Gita 18.66 mean?
Take refuge in Me alone. Do not grieve. The Gita’s closing assurance: set aside all other supports and take refuge in Me alone. I will free you from all faults. Do not grieve.
Who speaks Bhagavad Gita 18.66?
Shri Bhagavan. The speaker is taken from the text’s own उवाच line as transcribed, not inferred from the verse number.